บท 5: Cunning Woman
Since their freshman year, Alexander had been pursuing her. He treated her with tenderness, consideration, and anticipated her every need. He thought ahead of her, and whatever she wanted, he had already thought of. If she said east, he would never go west. He obeyed her every word.
To outsiders, she seemed especially happy, but only she knew that she despised Alexander yet enjoyed being pampered by him.
With love in his eyes, Alexander gazed at Beryl and took out an exquisite box from his pocket. "Open it and see what's inside."
Beryl furrowed her brows. Could it be a ring? He was proposing, and she couldn't possibly agree. Her lifelong companion could only be Einar!
She took the box disdainfully and casually opened it. When she saw the jade bracelet inside, a strong surge of surprise filled her eyes. Yes, Alice had given her this bracelet in the previous life, and it had a space inside!
Seeing Beryl's ecstatic expression, Alexander couldn't contain his own joy, feeling immensely grateful to Alice. "Do you like it?" he softly asked.
Beryl nodded vigorously, cradling Alexander's handsome face and giving him a grateful kiss. It was the first time in their two-year relationship that Beryl had taken the initiative to get close to him.
After a few perfunctory words to Alexander, Beryl couldn't wait to drive him away and rushed into her room to contemplate the jade bracelet. In the previous life, she had opened the space when her blood contaminated the jade. Beryl's eyes lit up as she picked up a needle, pricked her finger, and let a drop of blood flow. She smeared it on the jade.
Beryl stared without blinking, full of anticipation. Ten seconds... one minute passed. The jade showed no sign of change. Beryl furrowed her beautiful eyebrows and muttered, "Why is there no reaction? Is the blood not enough?"
Thinking so, Beryl resolutely picked up a fruit knife, made a cut on her finger, and fresh blood welled up, accompanied by a sharp pain. She bit her lip, smeared the blood on the jade, but even when the jade turned red, there was no change.
Beryl panicked. Why was it like this? Why was it different from the previous life? Where had the problem occurred?
She repeatedly examined the jade, which was exactly as she remembered. Alexander shouldn't deceive her. Even if he were to buy it, he couldn't possibly find the same one in such a short time. The apocalypse was approaching, and there was no space for her to do anything.
If heaven allowed her to relive this life, wasn't it to change her destiny? On the other side, Alice was not idle. She went to the warehouse, storing medicines, hovercraft, charging devices, gasoline, and diesel in the space. The three-story warehouse was full when she arrived, but nothing was left when she left.
Everything was bought, and the money in her account was almost spent. She took out the remaining three hundred thousand and put it into the space as a backup.
...
On the third day before the disaster, Allen family and his group set off and soon noticed the dark sky, thick with ominous clouds.
"Mom, Dad, the weather doesn't seem good. Let's stay in Serenity Springs for a couple of days and wait for clear skies before continuing our journey."
Clear skies were impossible. Tomorrow's weather would only get gloomier, and the day after would bring rain, leading to an irreversible catastrophe. Alice's initial goal was to move her whole family to Serenity Springs, where the building was high and wouldn't be submerged.
Since they had already set off, they had no intention of returning to the villa. They agreed to Alice's proposal. Serenity Springs was in the prime city center. They bought the highest floor, the 16th floor. The space was vast, but there were only three rooms in the house, so the older brothers had to share a room.
Of course, this also had its advantages. If someone wanted to stay overnight, they had a reason to refuse. The family temporarily settled down, and Alice asked her older brother for a million. She converted the remaining tens of thousands in her account into cash, realizing she was out of money.
After the money arrived, she took out her phone and ordered a bunch of supplies through the app. She bought 500 kilograms of rice, pork, chicken, duck, lamb, beef, and ribs, each in 30-kilogram quantities. This was considering that the double-door refrigerator at home couldn't fit so much, so she reduced the quantity.
For vegetables, she only bought those that could be stored for a long time. She bought 100 kilograms of winter melon, 50 kilograms of potatoes, 50 kilograms of purple sweet potatoes, and some other types of green vegetables. Bottled water was also essential, so she ordered 30 barrels of water.
"What are you doing, little sister?" Arnold asked curiously when he saw her focused on her phone.
"Buying supplies. I checked the weather forecast just now, and it's going to rain for the next few days. Heavy rain is expected the day after tomorrow, so it's better to buy now while it's convenient to go out," she explained.
Arnold agreed, taking out his phone, "I'll buy some too. What do you all like to eat?"
Alice looked at him, "Anything will do, just buy as much as possible."
She hadn't planned to take out the supplies from her space so soon; they were reserved for the apocalypse. With five family members, the things she ordered might not be enough for a month, so the whole family had to pitch in.
"Mom, Dad, and Second Brother, you should also buy supplies. Stocking up is a good idea," Alice suggested.
Following Alice's advice, the family went on a buying spree. One refrigerator wouldn't be enough, so Alice ordered two more double-door refrigerators, five generators, and ten large water tanks. Water and power outages were inevitable, so they had to fill the water tanks before it happened, as a backup. The water tank in her space was also filled early on.
The next morning, it was still raining lightly outside. Even though the weather forecast predicted heavy rain the day after tomorrow, nobody paid too much attention. Shortly after breakfast, the refrigerators were delivered to the door. Alice signed for them, and with these two new refrigerators, they now had a total of three large refrigerators primarily used for freezing meat.
Alexander looked at her in shock, "Little sister, why did you buy so many refrigerators? One is enough for the house."
Alice shook her head and whispered, "One is not enough, three are barely sufficient."
Atticus and Blanche looked at her in disbelief, evidently thinking the same as Alexander. They had assumed earlier that she had accidentally ordered too much, but now it seemed she intentionally bought all of it.
"Alice, we won't stay here for long. Buying these is a waste," Blanche said softly.
Alice calmly responded, "But I bought a lot of meat. If I don't put it in the refrigerator to freeze, it will spoil."
The others didn't know how much "a lot" was in her definition until an hour later when the doorway was piled with a mountain of supplies, leaving them dumbfounded. Alice had bought the most, while the others only bought enough for three days.
Seeing the puzzled and hesitant expressions of the family, Alice chuckled, "It's going to rain heavily for the next few days. I feel at ease knowing we have enough supplies at home."
"Little sister, it's good to be cautious, but you're overthinking this. These supplies are enough for a month," Alexander felt she was excessively worried, thinking it was unnecessary.
Atticus didn't want to discourage her and instructed his two sons, "Since your little sister has bought them, put them in the refrigerator. If we can't finish them, we can give them away."
Alice smiled and didn't explain much. Even if she explained that the heavy rain would last for more than a month, they wouldn't believe it. In a few days, they would find out for themselves.
After an hour of organizing, the family filled the house to the brim. Seeing Alice's satisfied expression, they held back their words. They decided to treat it as a game of stockpiling with her.
Alice stood at the doorway and assessed the situation. The quality of the doors and windows was good; they didn't need to be replaced. However, it was necessary to install an iron gate at the staircase entrance to prevent outsiders from coming up. She informed her family and, taking advantage of the light rain, went out.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง