I Hoard Supplies and Raise a Child in the Wasteland World by Drawing Cards (GL) - Chapter 8

Around 4 p.m., the property manager called Lin Ran. Lin Ran could already guess what he wanted to talk about.

She had 11,000 yuan left on her card. She would keep some for food and use the rest to get the most value out of it. After all, this money would be worth less than toilet paper tomorrow.

Lin Ran answered the phone in a good mood.

“Miss Lin, we’ve received complaints from tenants in your building that you’ve installed surveillance cameras in the hallway. This isn’t allowed. You can only install them at your own door, not on every floor,” said the property manager, Wang Dong, his voice filled with anger.

“Manager Wang, please don’t get so worked up. My company has a small task for me, so I’m only installing them for today. I’ll have them removed tomorrow afternoon. Your office is on the second floor, right? Just wait for me for a bit. I’ll come over and explain,” Lin Ran said. She then went to the supermarket downstairs to buy some things. She bought two gift boxes of wine, with each bottle costing 800 yuan. For cigarettes, she bought two cartons of the 650 yuan brand. The total cost was 4,500 yuan.

Lin Ran took the items to the second floor of the property management office and went directly to the manager’s office. Wang Dong frowned, about to say something, but when he saw the items in Lin Ran’s hands, he immediately held back his angry words.

“Manager Wang, I’m so sorry to cause you trouble. I had to install those because of a task from my company. The infrared cameras are new, and my boss asked me to do an experiment. They’ll be removed tomorrow afternoon. Could you please help me with the complaining residents? This is a small gift. Please don’t despise it, Manager Wang,” Lin Ran said with a smile.

Wang Dong glanced at the items Lin Ran brought. The wine and cigarettes weren’t cheap. His expression immediately softened. “Alright, since you’ve said so, I’ll definitely cover for you, my friend. But they must be removed by tomorrow at the latest, or I won’t be able to handle it.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t put you in a difficult position. They’ll be removed tomorrow for sure. Besides, our company is just doing an experiment. To be honest, those infrared cameras are quite expensive, and the company wouldn’t want to keep them installed here anyway,” Lin Ran explained with a smile.

“That’s true, that’s true. Alright, then. We’ll do it this way. I’ll reply to them in the group chat.”

“Thank you, Manager Wang. I’ll let you get back to work. I won’t disturb you anymore,” Lin Ran said with a smile.

“Alright, alright,” Wang Dong nodded. He was happy to get so many good things for free. His eyes squinted in delight as he @everyone in the group chat.

Guanghua Complex Building 9 Owner Group:

Property Manager Wang Dong: @everyone. Regarding the private installation of surveillance cameras in the hallway, the property management has already investigated. All residents can rest assured that the cameras will be professionally removed tomorrow afternoon. Please do not try to remove them yourselves to avoid electric shock. The property will not be held responsible for any injuries caused by improper removal.

1103 Wang Wuyang: Who did it? Are they sick? Why would you install a camera in the hallway? Property management, you have to find someone to remove them tomorrow afternoon.

801 Ma Shuai: Exactly, they must be crazy. Which alpha installed it? Are they after my girlfriend because she’s pretty? That’s so creepy.

801 Zhang Yingying: This kind of person is so annoying, invading everyone’s privacy for their own selfish reasons. But at least the property management promised to remove them. If they’re not gone by tomorrow, let’s all go to the property management office together.

1804 Li Kang: Agreed. If they’re not removed tomorrow, we’ll all go to the property management office and demand a solution. @Property Manager Wang Dong.

Wang Dong saw so many people were unhappy in the group chat, and he was still a little worried, so he called Lin Ran again.

“Lin Ran, you have to keep your word. You must have seen everyone’s comments in the group chat. I’m covering for you, so please don’t get me in trouble. You absolutely must have them all removed by tomorrow afternoon,” Wang Dong urged.

“Don’t worry, Manager Wang. They’ll be removed tomorrow afternoon. My company needs to get the equipment back, so you don’t have to worry,” Lin Ran reassured him with a smile.

Wang Dong felt a bit more at ease with Lin Ran’s calm tone. He then went back to the group chat and replied.

Property Manager Wang Dong: I understand everyone’s feelings, but the workers are only available to come tomorrow afternoon. Please rest assured that the privately installed cameras in the hallway will be removed tomorrow afternoon.

After Wang Dong said that, the group chat finally quieted down.

Lin Ran scoffed as she looked at the group chat. Removed tomorrow? The apocalypse was coming. Who would have the time to worry about the cameras they installed?

Around 5 p.m., all the items in Lin Ran’s apartment were put back in their place. An engineer in Lin Ran’s bedroom helped her download the software to control the building’s cameras on her computer and explained how to use it in detail.

Lin Ran was not unfamiliar with these things, but she listened carefully to the explanation to avoid any mishaps. Next, she had to move some of the food, daily necessities, and bottled water into her room. Lin Ran didn’t trust Lin Zhong, so keeping most of the supplies with her was the right choice.

Thinking about this, Lin Ran was about to start moving the supplies, but she heard a notification from her phone. Lin Ran looked at it and saw that it was a WeChat message from Chen Jinquan.

Chen Jinquan: So you don’t want to work anymore? This is your stuff. I had someone pack it up for you. Get out tomorrow.

Chen Jinquan: You dare to mess with me? I’m telling you, if you still want to work at the company, you’ll have to pay for my meal today, or you’re fired.

Chen Jinquan: Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you scared? I thought you were so tough. Is this all you’ve got?

Lin Ran: Are you sick? You should go see a doctor.

After that, Lin Ran blocked Chen Jinquan. When Chen Jinquan tried to send her another message, he only received a red exclamation mark.

Lin Ran didn’t care at all. These people had no idea that a disaster was coming tomorrow.

Just as Lin Ran was about to start moving the supplies, the system that had been silent in her mind for a long time reappeared.

“Hello, darling, System 33 is here to serve you.”

“You’re back? Why didn’t you respond when I was looking for you a few days ago?” Lin Ran asked, gently tapping her knee with her fingertips.

“I apologize, darling. I just arrived in this world, and my integration with it was insufficient. So I experienced a malfunction a few days ago and was under repair. It’s fixed now. Do you have any other questions for me, darling?” the system’s jarring mechanical voice sounded again.

“Of course I do. Other protagonists with systems have special abilities. Do I? And how does the card-drawing system work? You haven’t told me any of this,” Lin Ran said, thinking about it.

“I apologize, darling. I was in a hurry last time. You do have special abilities, of course, and you have three initial ones: an initial storage space (1 square meter with a height of 2.9 meters, which can be upgraded by drawing cards), an initial Tang Dao (which will upgrade as you kill more zombies), and an initial purple heavy-duty motorcycle (bulletproof and can be upgraded by drawing cards).”

Lin Ran’s eyes immediately lit up. If nothing else, the storage space alone would be a huge help. Even though it was only one square meter, it was 2.9 meters high, which was as tall as a room. A one-square-meter space could hold a lot of supplies.

Thinking of this, she quickly asked, “How do I use these abilities?”

“You just need to think about it, darling. These three abilities are closely linked to you. You can try them out now.”

“Okay,” Lin Ran nodded. With a thought, she felt the presence of the space in her mind.

The system reminded Lin Ran in her mind, “Darling, please note that only non-living things can be stored in the space. You can’t enter it yourself.”

“Got it,” Lin Ran nodded.

With a thought, she extended her right hand, palm up. A moment later, with a thought, an ancient wooden Tang Dao appeared in her hand. The hilt and scabbard of the Tang Dao were all made of wood and were reddish-brown.

Lin Ran pulled out the blade, and a chill rushed toward her. The blade looked no different from an ordinary Tang Dao sold on the market, but it gave Lin Ran a strange feeling. She looked at the Tang Dao carefully. The blade was 83 centimeters long, the hilt was 25 centimeters long, the blade was 3 centimeters wide, and its thickness was 3 millimeters. It didn’t feel heavy in her hand. Lin Ran was a little skeptical. Could such a slender Tang Dao be more effective at killing zombies than an axe or a kukri knife?

But Lin Ran didn’t dwell on it. Being able to conjure a sword out of thin air was certainly a special ability.

She put the sword back in its scabbard, and with a thought, the Tang Dao quickly disappeared from her hand.

Next, Lin Ran had another thought, and a heavy-duty motorcycle suddenly appeared in her room. It looked cool and the color was unusual—a flashy purple. It was very eye-catching. Luckily, Lin Ran’s bedroom was big enough, or such a large motorcycle wouldn’t have fit.

Lin Ran sat on it and tried it out. The seat was quite comfortable. If she had known about this earlier, she wouldn’t have bothered with customizing the SUV.

Lin Ran got up, and with a thought, the purple motorcycle disappeared. Lin Ran realized that the Tang Dao and the motorcycle didn’t take up any of the space in her storage area.

As if it knew what Lin Ran was thinking, the system explained, “The Tang Dao and the motorcycle are part of the system, so they won’t take up any storage space.”

Lin Ran nodded. “That’s good.”

After replying to the system, she immediately went to the study. Lin Ran first put a few large barrels of bottled water into her storage space. In the gaps, Lin Ran stuffed in a lot of small bottled water and electrolyte water until the storage space was half full. Lin Ran stopped at that point.

No one knew if the water would be polluted after the apocalypse. People wouldn’t starve to death within a few days without food, but dehydration could be fatal.

Lin Ran left half of the space for food and daily necessities. She went to Lin Zhong’s room, which was still full of food and daily necessities. Lin Ran picked out some well-sealed canned food, as well as some high-calorie chocolate bars, instant noodles, and self-heating meals, and neatly stacked them in the space. She used one-third of the remaining space for food.

Lin Ran used another third for daily necessities, putting in some toilet paper, sanitary napkins, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash, and other items.

In the last third of the space, Lin Ran put in two crossbows, a hundred bolts, two kukri knives, an axe, an entrenching tool, a high-magnification telescope, a military canteen filled with water, a military mess kit, an alcohol stove, solid alcohol blocks, a fire knife, a fire starter, and so on. Her small space was quickly full.

Because the storage space was a vacuum, she didn’t have to worry about flammable items catching fire, which saved Lin Ran a lot of worry.

Lin Ran sighed and muttered, “I wish it were bigger.”

But she was content with what she had. Being able to carry so many supplies with her in a storage space was already very good.