Although the vegetables were thriving in the storage space, other things didn't fare so well.
Back when Lan Jin had first planted tea trees and fruit trees inside the space, things seemed fine at first. But to call what happened next "unexpected" would be putting it mildly.
As soon as she planted them, the nutrients in the trees were quickly absorbed by the space's soil. The branches shriveled, turned brittle, and finally broke down completely—vanishing into the ground like they had never existed. Within a single day, the trees had dissolved into fertilizer, not even a twig left behind. When Lan Jin entered the space again, she couldn't even find a trace of what she'd planted. It wasn't until she stayed up late one night to observe that she finally figured out what had happened.
Still, Lan Jin refused to give up. If the regular soil didn't work, what about the black soil? She took the remaining saplings she hadn't planted yet and tried them in the black soil section.
To her surprise, the trees not only grew tall overnight, but the very next night they even produced fully ripened fruit.
Unlike vegetables, the fruit trees didn't vanish after harvest. The fruits continued to grow endlessly. As long as she waited a day, she could pick fresh fruit again. It was even more convenient than vegetables.
After that, Lan Jin would bring Qiao Qiao to eat the fruit she had bought and stored before the disaster. After eating, she'd clean the fruit pits and toss them straight into the black soil. No need to sprout or prepare them—just throw them in, and two days later, the same type of fruit would be ready for harvest.
In the days that followed, whenever she had spare time or got bored, she'd head into the space to plant or pick a few things. Eventually, a neat little pile of fruits and vegetables grew next to the house inside the space. On this particular afternoon, Lan Jin picked a few fresh fruits and brought them out for an afternoon snack for two people and one dog. They smelled sweet and delicious.
The next morning.
Just as the sky began to lighten, a notification arrived from the staff: meal delivery had begun. But there were too many buildings and not enough workers, so deliveries had to be done in shifts by zone. Even though everyone was growing impatient, they had no choice but to wait at home.
Finally, at 11:40 a.m., the long-awaited food arrived at their building.
With a call from the staff, nearly everyone opened their doors, grabbed their residence cards, and headed downstairs to join the growing line.
In situations like this, Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe never bothered rushing out with the crowd. There was no strict time limit to collect your order, and if no one showed up after a while, the staff would move on. So the two of them waited about thirty minutes before heading down together.
They met at the emergency stairwell. Voices echoed through the space as residents chatted and shuffled about. The two walked slowly downward. Even though they had waited half an hour, the line still stretched all the way up to the sixth floor.
Lan Jin stared in disbelief. "That's a lot of people."
"No kidding. We waited half an hour and it's still this long?" Huang Jinghe looked just as stunned. He quickly added, "Should we come down even later tomorrow?"
Lan Jin nodded. "I think waiting another hour might be better."
In front of them stood a young girl. Hearing their conversation, she turned around and joined in cheerfully. "You two have it easy. I came down as soon as I got the notification. I live on the twelfth floor. When I stepped out, the line had already reached the tenth. If I'd waited just a little longer, it would've stretched all the way to my front door."
That meant it had taken half an hour just to move four floors. It sounded exaggerated, but honestly, it wasn't surprising.
"Maybe the supplies had just arrived and weren't sorted yet. With so many people ahead, and each one collecting a bunch of things, it probably took a while to find the right items. The line should move faster later," the girl added.
And it made sense. The longer this went on, the fewer people would come out to collect supplies. Even if folks were willing to trade everything they had at home, supplies were limited. Once they ran out of things to trade, what then? Most people had just been too hungry at first, so they bought a lot. But soon, that would change.
Lan Jin figured she'd adjust her own purchasing from the canteen later too. When others had no money and you were still buying freely, it was only a matter of time before people started pointing fingers.
Another thirty minutes passed. The line finally reached the second floor. Ten more minutes, and they turned a corner where Lan Jin could finally see how the process worked.
There were five staff members and one soldier.
Three workers searched through piles of supplies. Another stood nearby, checking the orders on residents' phones and calling out the family name and last few digits of the order number. Once the three searchers found the right items, they handed them over to another staffer at a desk.
This last worker held a small device like a payment terminal. They'd first enter the number of contribution points to be deducted. Then the resident would press their card to the machine. A receipt would print, and the points would be deducted automatically—just like the old days at the supermarket. No PIN needed. The receipt even showed the remaining balance.
Security was no issue either. The residence card had the person's photo on it. If someone didn't match the picture, the staff would ask questions and scan the card with a special machine to verify their identity. So impersonation wasn't a concern.
The soldier, naturally, stood next to the person deducting points. Ever since the poisonous fog appeared, people's tempers had gotten more unpredictable. Having someone there to maintain order was only common sense.
Even though Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe had come down late, there were still plenty of people ahead of them. She saw nearly everyone walking away with two big bags—one holding their boxed meals from the canteen, the other filled with limited supermarket goods.
When it was finally their turn, Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe each only collected their three meals. Compared to everyone else's full arms, their haul looked a little pitiful.
Lan Jin didn't mind, but Huang Jinghe hadn't had freshly cooked food in ages. Even though it was just a boxed meal, he was practically beaming with excitement. Holding the box in his hands, he grinned. "Sister Lan, this is a lot of food. I think one box is enough for me."
Lan Jin nodded. "Right? I was planning to share one with my little one, but with how big this is, I don't think we'll even finish it."
Of course, throwing out leftovers wasn't an option. She added, "Good thing we still have electricity. If we can't finish it, we can just reheat it and eat it tonight or tomorrow."
When they reached the thirtieth floor, Huang Jinghe turned and asked, "Sister Lan, are you going to order again tomorrow?"
"Of course. You are too, right?" Lan Jin replied.
He nodded seriously. As they walked up the stairs, he mumbled, "Yeah, I'll order every day. My mom told me, once the canteen opened, we should eat from there every day while we can. Save the stuff at home if it can last. She didn't explain everything, but I have a feeling she knows more than she's saying. She…"