Chapter 001 Inheriting the Family Business​​

“Just so we’re clear upfront, the expiration date on this batch is in ten days. If you resell it and there are any problems, we take no responsibility,” the driver stated flatly, standing beside the large truck’s cargo compartment.

“Relax, the corresponding contracts are already signed. Once these goods are in my hands, I take full responsibility for whatever happens next,” Qin Qing replied, taking the delivery slip from him and signing it. “Didn’t your boss tell you?”

“Still gotta emphasize it. Better safe than sorry,” the driver said, watching Qin Qing finish signing. He turned and opened the compartment door. “One thousand cases total. Twenty-four packs per case. Twenty-four thousand packs altogether. Fifty cents per pack.”

Qin Qing looked down at her phone, tapped a few times, then lifted it to show the payment confirmation screen to the driver. “Twelve thousand yuan total, already transferred to your boss.”

At the same moment, the driver’s phone pinged with a notification.

He glanced down at it, then slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Where do you want these? We’ll help you unload them.”

“Just put them in the storage room inside. I cleared it out earlier,” Qin Qing gestured towards a small open door in the corner of the supermarket. “Just stack them in there.”

“Got it. We’ll get to it then, Boss.” The driver immediately called over his helpers to start moving things.

One thousand cases, all cartons of instant noodles. Retail price three yuan a pack. But because they were nearing their expiration date, they were being cleared out at a loss-making price of fifty cents a pack.

The driver used a specialized hand truck, pushing a dozen or so cartons at once towards the supermarket. As he neared the storage room, he glanced back at the supermarket owner, curious how she planned to sell these noodles.

Instant noodles with only ten days left on their expiration date would be incredibly hard to move quickly through this tiny supermarket. Once they expired, even just sitting on the shelves, they could easily invite fines.

Qin Qing sat behind the cash register, listening to a voice message from a friend.

“What’s going on? Why’d you quit so suddenly? Weren’t we supposed to be office drudges together?”

“I went home to inherit the family business,” Qin Qing pressed the voice-to-text button and sent the message.

The message had barely sent when a video call request popped up on her phone.

She tapped ‘Accept’. An excited voice burst out immediately: “No way! No way! No way! Don’t forget your old friends if you strike it rich! Did you really go back to inherit the family business?”

“Of course not,” Qin Qing chuckled. “You know my family situation. What ‘family business’ do I have to inherit? I just got tired of the job, wanted to try a small business. Sold my place in Ning City and came back to this little town to open a small supermarket.”

“That street-front shop your family used to rent out?” Her friend tried to see the surroundings through the camera.

Qin Qing obligingly turned the camera lens so her friend could get a good look at the small supermarket.

It wasn’t huge—after all, it was a small-town store—but it was well-stocked. It had pretty much everything a city supermarket would carry: everyday snacks, drinks, daily necessities. Even some farming tools sat in one corner.

Since the shop was in the town, villagers from nearby often came in to buy small farm tools they needed.

“Why’d you decide to open a supermarket?” her friend asked curiously.

“The previous tenant’s lease was up, and they didn’t want to continue. So I just came back to take over,” Qin Qing said, slowly panning the phone around to show all the goods. “Come visit when you have time.”

“I’ll try when I’m free,” her friend sighed. “Got a new project at the company recently, it’s a pain. Working overtime every day. If I had a shop like this, I’d quit too and just chill… Wait a sec, did you say you sold your apartment? Did you really need to sell it just to run a supermarket back home? Wouldn’t renting it out be better?”

Qin Qing walked back to the cash register and glanced at a small mirror placed nearby. Through the reflection, she clearly saw the complex mix of sorrow and sadness in her own eyes.

“You really should come visit when you get the chance,” Qin Qing turned back to face the phone camera.

“Okay, okay, I definitely will,” her friend agreed, not pressing further. Suddenly, she covered her camera. “Oh shoot, gotta go, the boss is coming over. Talk later!”

Qin Qing had barely acknowledged when her friend ended the call.

Inside the supermarket, the delivery driver and his crew were still busy hauling the cargo.

The instant noodles were light. At first, they moved them a dozen or so cartons at a time. Now they were doing twenty or thirty per trip. All the noodle cartons were stacked so high the workers had to stretch on tiptoes to push down the topmost boxes.

Qin Qing didn’t pay attention to their unloading process. She looked down at the time on her phone.

350 days left until the apocalypse arrived.

The apocalypse began with unexpected violent storms, erratic temperature swings, and abnormal wildfires. But what truly shocked the world was the sudden, unprecedented magnitude-10 earthquake. Billions were injured, hundreds of millions died, and nations suffered catastrophic losses.

And that was just the beginning.

Before communications were completely severed, the world united to confirm the cause of Earth’s abnormal state: geomagnetic fluctuations. This didn’t just bring unpredictable extreme weather; it also triggered changes within the human body itself.

Commonly known as—superpowers.

Qin Qing awakened a spatial ability. But in that already broken era, her spatial power proved almost useless. In the end, she lost consciousness during another wave of extreme weather.

When she woke up, she was back. One year before the extreme weather began.

But even back now, she realized there was little she could do. Current human technology was utterly incapable of countering the extreme weather effects caused by geomagnetic fluctuations, let alone the devastating magnitude-10 earthquake that caught everyone unprepared.

Faced with the unpredictable forces of nature, humanity wasn’t as powerful as it imagined. It remained as fragile as an ant.

Coincidentally, she received a call from her tenant then, wanting to end the lease. Thinking she only had a year before the extreme weather hit, she resigned, sold her apartment, and returned to the town.

However long she managed to live, at least in her final years, she wanted to find some happiness.

“Boss, all one thousand cases are put away. Want to check the count?” The driver and his helpers emerged.

“No need. I trust you,” Qin Qing stood up, walked to the cooler, grabbed several bottles of cola, and handed one to each person. “Thanks for the hard work. Tell your boss if they have any more goods near expiration, I’ll take them as long as the price is right.”

“You want that much near-expired food?” The driver unscrewed the cap and took a big swig, his curious gaze landing on Qin Qing.

“I have partnered streamers,” Qin Qing smiled. “As long as the price is good, they can move things fast.”

“Ah, makes sense. Streamers do sell stuff quick,” the driver nodded in understanding. “Alright then, we’re off. I’ll mention the near-expired goods to the boss. If there’s anything suitable, we’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good.”

Qin Qing walked the driver and his crew back to the truck and watched them drive away.

For a while, the street remained quiet. Barely anyone walked past, and no one spared the supermarket a second glance.

The supermarket did get daily business, but over the years, more and more people had moved to the cities. Even in the town, the population had dwindled, causing the supermarket’s business to decline steadily. That was precisely why the previous tenant had wanted out.

Hearing Qin Qing was willing to take over, the tenant had practically given her all the existing stock at a low price, handed over all the supplier contacts, and wished her prosperous business as they left.

“Qingqing?”

“Grandma Zhao.”

“The shop… they said it changed hands, but it’s you running it now?” Grandma Zhao peered inside the shop, confirming Qin Qing was the only one there, before asking.

The little supermarket in the town wasn’t big, and customers were few. Qin Qing hadn’t planned on hiring anyone; she’d handle everything herself.

“Yes, I’m running it myself,” Qin Qing nodded. “What do you need, Grandma Zhao?”

“Just a bottle of soy sauce. I can grab it myself,” Grandma Zhao said, stepping into the supermarket. She skillfully picked a bottle off the shelf. “Everyone’s heading to the cities these days. Why’d you come back?”

“Just taking a break for a few years,” Qin Qing replied, scanning the soy sauce. “Nineteen ninety.”

“I’ll take two candies,” Grandma Zhao plucked two pieces of candy from a small bin nearby and handed over twenty yuan. “Come to my place for dinner tonight. You haven’t been back for ages. I haven’t been around here the past couple of days. If I’d known it was you back, I’d have come to get you sooner.”

“Maybe in a couple of days? Got a lot to sort out with the shop right now,” Qin Qing replied, putting the soy sauce into a bag.

“Alright, I’ll come get you in a couple of days then,” Grandma Zhao watched Qin Qing bag the sauce. “My place is empty these days. It’d be nice to have some company over for dinner.”

“I’ll definitely come over in a few days,” Qin Qing handed the bag to Grandma Zhao. She didn’t ask about the family situation; it was obvious they were likely working away.

She was the same herself. If she hadn’t suddenly quit her job, she might only come back twice a year. After all, she was alone in the family now; coming back held little meaning.

After seeing Grandma Zhao off, the street truly emptied.

Qin Qing found a moment to slip into the storage room and transferred all the instant noodles into her spatial storage.

Food stored within her space wouldn’t rot or spoil. Noodles nearing expiration? No problem. Even noodles past their expiration date would have their countdown halted the moment they entered her space.

During the initial phase of the extreme weather, food transportation wasn’t disrupted yet, and supplies were relatively ample. But as the extreme weather worsened, humanity gradually entered days of food and water shortages.

The instant noodles she hoarded might not be needed immediately. But given time, they would become crucial.

At eight PM sharp, Qin Qing locked up the shop and went upstairs to her bedroom to rest.

The building was a two-story structure, designed from the start with this layout: shop on the first floor, living space on the second. Each floor was about 150 square meters. The second floor had a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom.

Her room faced the back, overlooking a river.

At night, with the small window open, a cool breeze drifted in—perfectly comfortable during this spring-summer transition season.

Mosquitoes were kept out by the netting, eliminating the annoying buzzing. This made her sleep especially deep and refreshing.

Thump… thump thump… Bang bang bang bang bang… Rustle rustle rustle…

Qin Qing rolled over in bed, lying flat, her eyes opening.

The sounds persisted in her ears, impossible to ignore. She sighed and sat up.

Moonlight streamed through the open window. Qin Qing turned her head to look outside, and in that instant, her eyes widened in disbelief.

How could there be… two moons?