Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao met up with Gu Yanlin in Country D, packed up their purchases, and immediately left without lingering.
Their next stop was Africa, where they traveled through several countries, buying large quantities of coal, oil, and natural gas, and took off as soon as they received the goods. Even so, they still attracted the attention of some interested parties.
However, their vigilance was high, and they disguised themselves and used fake documents at each location so that they were not immediately found.
By the time they returned home, there were less than two weeks left until the apocalypse was expected to arrive.
Once home, they didn't rest, pulling out the procurement list and seeing that everything listed had been checked off. They finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Their tense nerves finally relaxed, and a wave of exhaustion swept over them, prompting them to rush to their rooms to shower and climb into bed.
During more than half a month abroad, the urgency of time meant they often worked around the clock. In addition to the fear of exposure, which had them constantly on the move, even sleep was uneasy when they did manage to rest.
When Gu Yanzhi awoke, the room was still pitch dark. She reached for the spot beside her, still warm, but Song Zhao was not there.
Yawning, she sat up and picked up her phone to check the time. It was already past 2 p.m.
She had slept for more than twenty hours, feeling refreshed and her exhaustion entirely gone. She got up and drew back the blackout curtains. The bright sunlight streamed through the window, warm and comfortable. Gu Yanzhi stretched lazily, standing by the window, enjoying the rare leisure.
Song Zhao came in just then. The sunlight cast on the girl, warm and beautiful, leaving Song Zhao momentarily dazed.
Hearing the commotion, Gu Yanzhi turned her head. Seeing Song Zhao, her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Zhaozhao, good afternoon."
Song Zhao smiled as well, walked over to Gu Yanzhi, wrapped her arms around her, and leaned her head on Gu Yanzhi's shoulder to enjoy this quiet time together.
"Grr..."
Suddenly, Gu Yanzhi's stomach growled, breaking the beautiful moment.
"Hungry, huh? Go wash up and then come eat," Song Zhao said a bit sheepishly. Airline food was terrible; Gu Yanzhi hadn't eaten much on the plane, and after coming home yesterday, she went straight to sleep. She hadn't eaten for almost a whole day and night.
"Okay," Gu Yanzhi replied, turning to tiptoe and kiss Song Zhao's cheek before heading to the bathroom.
After washing up, Gu Yanzhi walked into the living room to find that Song Zhao had already set the table with food.
Song Zhao handed her a bowl of rice and served herself another, sitting across from her.
"Sis, Brother Zhao, good morning."
"What are we having, smells delicious."
After only a couple of bites, Gu Yanlin came out of the room yawning, eyes still sleepy.
"Hurry and eat before it gets cold."
Gu Yanlin quickly brushed his teeth and dashed to the dining table, serving himself a bowl of rice and eating happily.
After the meal, Song Zhao brought over two large boxes, delivered that morning, containing jade that had been collected by an agent during this time.
"We probably spent all the money, right?" Gu Yanzhi asked, opening the boxes to reveal hundreds of pieces of jade inside.
The quality of the jade was very good, the most abundant being old pit glass species jade, with the lowest quality being ice jade. So many were worth at least over two billion.
After stocking up, they were left with roughly that amount of money.
"Yes, just the right amount," Song Zhao nodded in response.
Their original plan was to spend the remaining money on rare metals, to be used as capital after the apocalypse ended. But after discovering the secret that the space could upgrade, they decided to invest in jade for the space upgrades instead.
After all, the space was their best asset for surviving the apocalypse.
After dinner, Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao went out for a walk to aid digestion, leaving Gu Yanlin alone, grumbling as he washed the dishes at home.
The neighborhood was starting to fill up, though still not crowded, but already possessing a lively atmosphere. Children ran back and forth along the roads, and there were a few couples like them taking a stroll.
"I hope the government believes that letter," Gu Yanzhi muttered softly, looking at the mundane yet vibrant scene.
While abroad, they sent anonymous emails to government departments, detailing the imminent arrival of the apocalypse and outlining the natural disasters that would accompany it.