To be honest, Lin Yi had thought about having a child with Wen Jianshu, but with her own daughter already so grown up, she was genuinely afraid of what Tang Mo might think.
Hearing her daughter's words today, she felt a wave of relief. It seemed some things weren't so impossible after all.
'Maybe stocking up on some baby formula wouldn't be so bad... What if it brings us good luck?'
Seeing her mom's expression, Tang Mo knew what was on her mind.
As long as baby formula remained sealed, it had a very long shelf life. Even after the expiration date, it was still perfectly edible.
'In the apocalypse, baby formula was one of the most vital nutritional resources. There was absolutely no harm in stockpiling more of it!'
And so, she stopped teasing her and obediently went back to her room to pack her bags.
The arrival of the apocalypse wasn't actually a sudden event. If one observed carefully, the signs were there.
In late July, people on the street were already wearing long sleeves and pants. The sudden cool spell made everyone incredibly happy.
Only Tang Mo knew that this was all just a prelude to the apocalypse.
The countdown to the apocalypse was now only 20 hours.
Tang Mo wasn't taking much luggage to school. In fact, she had put most of her things into her Space. She simply changed into some comfortable athletic wear and slung on a backpack containing two bottles of mineral water and some bread.
After saying goodbye to her mother and Uncle Wen, Tang Mo took a taxi back to her school.
Her school, T University, was the best comprehensive university in T City, with a fairly balanced male-to-female ratio. It was currently summer vacation, so most students had gone home. Only those staying for experiments or who lived too far away remained. Including faculty and staff, there were still around a thousand people on the vast campus.
'Thank goodness it's the holidays. If it were during the semester, with several thousand people, the school's food supplies wouldn't last for six months.'
Tang Mo was in the department of Biological Sciences, or the Life Science Institute for short. Because of the nature of their studies, many experiments couldn't be halted, so a good number of students stayed at school during the holidays. In Tang Mo's four-person dorm, two of her roommates had already returned early.
Given Tang Mo's personality, she got along harmoniously with her roommates. Fortunately, the other girls in her dorm were all pretty easy-going. While they weren't attached at the hip, they were certainly closer than most other classmates.
She arrived at the school around noon. Her two roommates were out, so Tang Mo did a quick clean-up, grabbed her phone, and headed out. The apocalypse was tomorrow, and she still had the 5,000 yuan her mother had just sent her. It would be a waste not to spend it all.
At the campus supermarket, Tang Mo found an employee and ordered 10 cases of mineral water, the 24-bottle kind. Aside from the water from those two huge freezers in her Space, an entire wall was stacked high with mineral water cases—probably eighty or a hundred of them. But she couldn't reveal any of that. These ten cases were to be kept in her dorm, out in plain sight.
In truth, Tang Mo's Space was already packed to the brim. The items she was buying now would have to be kept in the dorm. After all, she couldn't just conjure food out of thin air. And while Space Ability Users would emerge after the apocalypse, Tang Mo had no intention of easily exposing the secret of her Jade Pendant.
Besides mineral water, Tang Mo focused on long-lasting, filling foods like compressed biscuits, instant noodles, sausages, and chocolate.
After buying ten cases of each, most of her money was gone. Satisfied, she gave her dorm address to the staff member.
"I'm an officer in the institute's student union. This is all for an event, so please deliver it quickly. The event starts tonight." Seeing the employee's dumbfounded expression, Tang Mo offered an explanation to avoid any future trouble.
'Oh, it's for an event. No wonder.' The supermarket employee clearly believed Tang Mo's story. He nodded and said she wouldn't have to wait; they would send people to help her deliver everything right away.
Fortunately, Tang Mo lived on the third floor, so they got everything into the dorm without much trouble.
The four-person dorm room was quite spacious. In addition to loft beds with desks underneath, each resident had a large, lockable cabinet.
Tang Mo emptied her cabinet of clothes and clutter, then locked all the food inside.
A few cases wouldn't fit, so she took out two cases of water, one of instant noodles, one of compressed biscuits, and one of chocolate and arranged them by her bed. Since she had a top bunk with a privacy curtain, pulling it shut would hide everything from view.
When Tang Mo's roommates returned in the afternoon, she dragged them back to the supermarket, using a pre-semester sale as an excuse to get them to stock up on food and water too.
"Tang Mo, even if stuff is cheap, we don't have to buy this much, do we? It's not like we're a bunch of hamsters," said Li Lanlan, who was always one to speak her mind. She was completely baffled by Tang Mo's abnormal behavior.
"Our professor's a workaholic. Once the experiments start, who knows if we'll have time to shop or even eat? It's more convenient to have extra stuff in the dorm," Tang Mo said, tossing nut bars and other snacks into her basket. She still had a few hundred yuan left and planned to spend every last bit of it tonight.
Her roommate, Song Qing, was a top student. She didn't say much after hearing this, but her hands never stopped moving as she selected various items. When it came to her experiments, she was even more prone to forgetting to eat and sleep than their professor. Tang Mo had a point; stocking up wasn't a bad idea.
"I give up, you two are unbelievable." Watching her two roommates turn into full-on hoarders, Li Lanlan resigned herself to her fate, grabbed a basket, and started shopping.
In her previous life, Tang Mo had been in a terrible slump. Her roommates' help was indispensable in her surviving those first six months. They had not only dragged her along on missions but also stood up for her when she was ostracized and couldn't get food, fighting her corner. She would never forget their kindness.
'In this life, I might not be able to save everyone, but I can at least give my roommates a heads-up and help in small ways. One should always know how to be grateful.'
'Besides, we'll all be living together for the next six difficult months. If they have more supplies, my own life will be easier. It's not like I could just stand by and do nothing if they were starving.'
"Let's buy some things for Professor Tian, too. He's old, and it's not convenient for him to get out," Song Qing spoke up. Quiet and thoughtful, she was the most meticulous of the group.
"Okay." Remembering the professor, who was in his sixties, Tang Mo almost slapped her thigh in realization.
'Professor Tian was so good to me in my past life! He even used the last vestiges of his professorial authority to protect me and shared his own food with me. How could I have forgotten him?!'
She did a quick mental calculation of the cash she had left. 'Hm... not enough.'
'No problem, I'll use my credit card.' Tang Mo made the decision in an instant.
'In less than two weeks, society would collapse anyway. No one would be going to work, money would be worthless, and food would become the only currency. Naturally, the credit card bill would never have to be paid.'
'I'm truly sorry,' Tang Mo thought to herself, 'but I'm being forced into this.'
Tang Mo muttered a silent apology to her credit card, then unhesitatingly ordered many more cases of water and food, having the supermarket staff deliver them directly to Professor Tian's room in the faculty dorms.
That evening, after they had hauled all their purchases back, Tang Mo insisted on treating everyone to a grilled fish dinner.
"My treat today, so don't hold back," Tang Mo announced, brandishing her credit card once again. She ordered two two-pound grilled fish, five or six other side dishes, and that wasn't even counting the rice and drinks.
When all the food arrived at the table, Li Lanlan and Song Qing were stunned!
"Tang Mo, I've figured you out," Li Lanlan declared. "You're no hamster. You're a pig!"
Song Qing nodded in agreement.
Tang Mo simply ignored them, burying her head in the feast and eating with gusto.
'The apocalypse arrives tomorrow. This really is the last supper. If I don't eat well and stuff myself, I'll regret it for a lifetime.'
'In my past life, I skipped dinner the night before the end because I was trying to lose weight. I'm not making that same mistake again. I have to eat properly.'
Seeing that Tang Mo was too busy to pay them any mind, Li Lanlan and Song Qing said no more, picked up their chopsticks, and joined the feeding frenzy.
That night, after washing up and getting into bed, Tang Mo found she couldn't sleep. Her mind raced, replaying events from her past life and her present one.
'I've done everything I can for now. Mom's side is settled. Uncle Wen will protect her, and Mom has the supermarket building as a fallback. I feel much more at ease about her.'
'It's not that I don't want to be by her side, but what's the point of just being company if I don't get the abnormal treasure and become stronger? Once the first six months of famine are over, mutant beasts will be everywhere. With my ordinary attribute values, how could I possibly protect Mom?'
'Companionship is one thing, but becoming a powerful shield she can rely on is far more meaningful. I've been clear on that from the very beginning,' Tang Mo thought.
'In this life, I have the Space Jade Pendant as my treasury and a powerful weapon for self-defense. Barring any surprises, I have a rough idea of what's to come, and the dorm is packed with food and water.'
'With all these advantages, I have to live a better life this time around.' Tang Mo's hand brushed against the edge of an instant noodle case beside her bed as she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.