I Hoard Supplies and Raise a Child in the Wasteland World by Drawing Cards (GL) - Chapter 1
When Lin Ran woke up, her head felt like it was exploding, ten times worse than a hangover. She opened her eyes to the pristine white ceiling and a soft mattress beneath her.
Lin Ran propped herself up and sat. She pinched her thigh hard; the intense pain reminded her that she was alive.
Just a few minutes ago, she had been shot and killed while protecting her employer from danger. How was she suddenly alive again?
Lin Ran’s brow furrowed, her body moving faster than her mind as she got up to find a mirror. What greeted her was still her old body: slender, serene, with a faint aloofness in her eyes. Her red lips were pursed, and her inky long hair was casually draped over her shoulders, adding a touch of languidness to her overall look.
Lin Ran lifted the hem of her pajama top. A blooming rose tattoo adorned her lower abdomen, not because she liked it, but to cover a scar. The tattoo and scar were still there, confirming this was her previous body. But she’d been shot; how had she suddenly appeared here?
Just as Lin Ran was about to search the room for more clues, a harsh mechanical voice echoed in her mind, “Hello, Host Lin Ran, the Card Draw System has been activated. System 33 will serve you wholeheartedly.”
Lin Ran looked around, eventually realizing the voice had come from her own mind.
“No need to look, dearest. I, 33, am residing within your body. Due to your excellent physical condition and combat skills in your previous life, the Card Draw Main God System deemed you suitable for survival in the apocalypse, which is why you were transported into this book.” The system’s mechanical voice continued, making Lin Ran uncomfortable.
“You’re saying I’m in a book now? How do I get back, or rather, how do I survive?” Lin Ran had lost her initial tension. A qualified private bodyguard, regardless of other qualities, must have excellent psychological fortitude.
“Dearest, you are very clever. However, you have already died in the normal world and can never return. Being chosen by the Card Draw Main God System is equivalent to the Main God granting you a second life. Please cherish it. If you die again in this world, then you will be truly dead.” The system tried to act cute with its mechanical voice, making Lin Ran even more uncomfortable.
Lin Ran nodded and continued to ask, “Then do I have to complete any tasks? What do I need to do?”
“No, the Card Draw Main God System will not issue any tasks. Your only job is to stay alive, dearest. In five days, the Q2 planet you are currently on will face the apocalypse. Please prepare yourself as soon as possible. Oh, and this book is only half-written. I’ve already sent the original text to you, dearest. You can study it yourself.”
After that, the system fell silent. Lin Ran’s thoughts moved, and sure enough, half a book appeared in her mind. She still had some questions for the system, “System? 33? Don’t I have any special abilities? How do I draw cards?”
The room was silent, with no further sound from the system. Lin Ran tried calling out a few more times, but the system still ignored her. If it weren’t for the half-book in her mind, Lin Ran would have thought she was experiencing a hallucination before death.
She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, wondering if she could find anything useful in the book. However, after only a dozen pages, Lin Ran couldn’t stand it anymore. Although the book was set in a post-apocalyptic world, it was filled with the cliché plot of the female lead getting entangled with her numerous “backup” love interests. And her current identity’s original owner was merely a simp for the female lead, Mo Shuyu. Later, when Mo Shuyu sought refuge with her, the original owner thought her good days had come, only to find that Mo Shuyu had colluded with another lover and directly caused her death.
Lin Ran’s brows furrowed as she read. What kind of insane plot was this? The original owner was still simping in the apocalypse; it served her right to be killed. And Mo Shuyu, the female lead of this book, was even more absurd, juggling so many Alphas—truly a time-management master. She decided to focus on saving her own life and stay far away from the female lead.
Thinking this, Lin Ran quickly pulled out her phone, only to find she had just 100,000 yuan left. Lin Ran’s heart sank; 100,000 yuan was useless. Because the book’s description of the original owner, a mere cannon fodder, focused entirely on how she groveled to the female lead, providing no other details, Lin Ran was completely clueless about the original owner’s life.
Fortunately, she found the property deed for this 140-square-meter three-bedroom apartment in a small drawer in the wardrobe. She wasn’t sure if this Q2 Planet was similar to where she lived before, with online loans and high-interest loans, but Lin Ran decided to pursue them all.
She drove straight to the bank to mortgage the apartment, getting 5 million yuan which was transferred to her card. After that, she took out every online loan she could, barely scraping together 200,000 yuan. Combined with the 100,000 yuan in the original owner’s card, she had a total of 5.3 million yuan. This still wasn’t quite enough, but it was enough to get some things done.
Lin Ran wasted no more time. She quickly found the largest local explosion-proof renovation company online. It was said that many wealthy families in Jiangbei City had their homes renovated by this company.
Lin Ran drove to the company. After explaining her needs to the front desk, the receptionist politely led her into a small meeting room.
Soon, several designers in professional suits entered the meeting room. The one leading them was a female Alpha. Upon seeing Lin Ran, she politely greeted her, “Hello, Miss Lin. Our company can fulfill your desired renovation style, but replacing so many things will require a substantial budget……”
The other person spoke tactfully, but clearly didn’t believe Lin Ran could produce so much money at once. Lin Ran directly interrupted her, “Just tell me how much the budget needs to be. I not only want to reinforce all six sides of my room to be explosion-proof, but also install bulletproof glass in the room. And my room door and the main door – both need to be reinforced with bank-grade explosion-proof doors. Besides that, I need you to complete the work within five days. How much will all of this cost?”
The smile on the female designer’s face noticeably stiffened, but she still politely said, “Miss, your original requests already incur high costs, not to mention your urgent timeline.”
Lin Ran didn’t want to waste time with pleasantries. The apocalypse was coming soon, and she needed to quickly prepare other supplies. “Just give me the quote.”
The designer noticed the impatience on Lin Ran’s face and quickly said, “Okay, Miss. What you just mentioned—installing explosion-proof thickened steel plates on all six sides of the room, replacing all glass with bulletproof glass, and replacing your bedroom door and the main entrance with bank-grade explosion-proof doors—would originally cost 2.7 million yuan and take half a month to complete. For an expedited job, we’d need to charge an additional 500,000 yuan in rush fees. So, including the original 2.7 million, you’d need to pay us a total of 3.2 million yuan.”
The designer looked at Lin Ran’s expression, and seeing that Lin Ran’s face was normal, she continued, “Because these materials are expensive, so you’ll need to pay us an 80% deposit upfront. Would that be acceptable to you?”
Lin Ran nodded. “How much in total, and when can your team start working?”
“The deposit is 2.56 million yuan in total. Once you’ve paid the deposit, our staff will immediately order materials from the warehouse. These building materials will be delivered to your home by noon, and work can begin in the afternoon. If it’s convenient for you, you can leave us a spare key.” The designer’s attitude became more eager when she saw Lin Ran had no objections.
“Okay, I’ll pay now.” Lin Ran said, then scanned the QR code to pay, left her home address and a key, and then hurried away.
Just paying the deposit had significantly reduced the money in Lin Ran’s bank account. After leaving the renovation company, she continued to try contacting the system in her mind, but it was still like a stone sinking into the sea.
Without any golden finger (cheat-like ability) boosts, Lin Ran didn’t know what the system’s “card draw system” was, so she could only rely on her own experience to hoard some supplies first. At the same time, she also had to quickly find someone to modify her car. Once her home became unlivable, a highly secure car would be essential for escape.
Lin Ran quickly searched online and finally found a local custom car modification company. Lin Ran planned to completely modify her current SUV: the entire body would be reinforced with explosion-proof steel plates, all the windows replaced with bulletproof glass, and the tires changed to wear-resistant ones. This way, when the apocalypse arrived, she could use this car to save her life.
After making up her mind, Lin Ran drove directly to the modification company. Due to the high difficulty of Lin Ran’s requested modifications and the urgent timeline, they finally settled on 2 million yuan for the car modifications. However, it still required an 80% deposit upfront, which was 1.6 million yuan.
After these transactions, Lin Ran only had 1.14 million yuan left on her card, but fortunately, after the apocalypse, no one would care about deposits or anything like that anymore.
Leaving her SUV at the modification company, Lin Ran then went straight to the supermarket and ordered a truckload of food and water. She paid the supermarket extra money to have them deliver these items to her residence and help her move them inside.
After finalizing these arrangements, Lin Ran took a taxi home. She’d need to keep an eye on things when the supplies were being moved.
The building the original owner lived in was 21 stories tall, and her home was on the 10th floor. There were four households per floor, with two on the left side of the elevator and two on the right. Beyond her own security door, there was another iron gate leading to the hallway. This iron gate was shared by her unit and the neighbors in 1003.
Lin Ran exited the elevator and was about to enter her home, opening the iron gate in the hallway, when the neighbor from unit 03 coincidentally came out.
Lin Ran’s mind was completely focused on the apocalypse, so she only glanced briefly at the woman. Her neighbor was a beautiful woman with a slightly cold demeanor. She had fair skin and wore a string of clear green beads on her pale wrist. Her upturned eyes narrowed slightly when she looked at Lin Ran, and her red lips were tightly pursed, appearing quite guarded against Lin Ran.
Lin Ran merely gave the woman another fleeting glance. A neighbor she wasn’t familiar with—perfect, less trouble.
Lin Ran pressed her fingerprint, turned the doorknob, and seeing that the woman from unit 03 was still watching her, she gave the woman a perfunctory nod before entering her home without hesitation and closing the security door.
It wasn’t until she heard the “bang” of the door closing that Mo Shuyu snapped out of it. Lin Ran, that clingy person, actually didn’t bother her today? She didn’t even say a single word?
Previously, her body had been controlled by an unknown force, making her do many things against her will. This included juggling five or six “backup” partners. Fortunately, she had only met them for meals and shopping; during the period of control, she had no substantial progress with them, not even holding hands. Otherwise, Mo Shuyu herself would have been disgusted to death.
She had only regained control of her body a few days ago. As soon as she was free, Mo Shuyu directly blocked all those backup partners. Lin Ran was the only one she couldn’t deal with, because Lin Ran had bought the apartment next door to hers in order to pursue her. She had been agonizing over what to do, but seeing Lin Ran today, had she given up on pursuing her? That would be wonderful!