Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

After all that, she felt a slight fatigue.

It wasn't physical fatigue, but more like mental exhaustion, as if I had been doing intense math problems for several hours straight. It seems that using this ability requires mental energy.

She slumped back onto the sofa, looking at the living room that had been tidied up again. Her heart was in turmoil. What did it mean that an ordinary supermarket warehouse manager had suddenly gained a spatial ability that only existed in novels?

Unexpected windfall?

Superheroes?

Or... the apocalypse?

She recalled her severe headache and hospital check-up that morning: "Was it because of this leaf mark? Where did it come from?"

She tried to recall if she had come into contact with anything strange or been to any unusual places recently, but all she could remember was the ordinary life of going between the supermarket, the warehouse, and home.

"No matter what," Xu Xiaoyan clenched her fist, her eyes gradually hardening. This matter absolutely could not be known to anyone. She understood the principle that possessing a treasure is a crime.

In the time that followed, Xu Xiaoyan adapted to the strange space in her mind while carefully concealing her unusual behavior.

She even tried to categorize and organize the things in the space.

With a thought, the items inside would move according to her wishes, giving her, the warehouse manager, a strange sense of comfort and accomplishment.

When Xu Xiaoyan discovered that the yogurt and popsicles she had put in had not melted even after a whole day, confirming that the space had the property of freezing time, she did not feel relieved at all. Instead, a deeper chill rose from the bottom of her heart.

Isn't that how it's always written in novels? The protagonist suddenly gains an incredible spatial ability, it's either rebirth or the end of the world is coming!

Once the idea took root, it grew wildly. The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Otherwise, how could she explain this sudden supernatural ability?

There's no such thing as a free lunch, and she certainly wouldn't be given such a useful "cheat code" out of thin air.

"What if... what if it really is?" She sat on the sofa, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, her heart pounding like a drum, a strong sense of urgency gripping her.

If the apocalypse really comes and order collapses, food, medicine, weapons, energy... these are the hard currencies. Right now, besides a little savings and this empty house, she has almost nothing.

Preparations must be made in advance!

We must stockpile supplies!

But stockpiling goods takes time and effort, and even more so, it requires a reasonable and unsuspecting reason to leave her job. She is just an ordinary worker and doesn't have the confidence to simply quit.

The next day at work, Xu Xiaoyan, sporting dark circles under her eyes, went to find her direct supervisor—warehouse manager Peng Mingda.

Manager Peng is a middle-aged man in his forties, slightly overweight, and usually easy to talk to, but he hates it when his subordinates "make trouble" for him when he is busy.

"Manager Peng, I would like to apply for ten days of annual leave," Xu Xiaoyan said, trying to make her tone sound normal.

Peng Mingda looked up from a pile of shipping orders, adjusted his glasses, and immediately frowned:

"Annual leave? Xiao Xu, didn't you just take sick leave? Look at this warehouse right now, it's peak season! The goods are almost piled up to the door, we're working non-stop every day and still can't finish, and you want to take annual leave now?"

He pointed to the noisy, bustling warehouse area outside, his tone clearly displeased:

"It's only natural that you were sick before, and I had no choice but to approve it, but now the supermarket is at its busiest time."

Everyone is short-staffed. If you suddenly want to take ten days of annual leave, let's not even talk about work arrangements. Let's just say I approved your annual leave.

When others see this, they follow suit and ask for annual leave too. Should I approve it or not? No, no, I definitely won't approve any annual leave during this period. I'll wait until the off-season in two months.

Xu Xiaoyan's heart sank. She knew that what the other party said was reasonable. From the supermarket's perspective, her request was indeed somewhat inappropriate.

She opened her mouth, trying to come up with a plausible reason, such as an emergency at home, but couldn't come up with a convincing one.

Seeing that she was speechless, Peng Mingda waved his hand and said, "Alright, go back to work. Don't think about these things anymore. We'll talk about it after this busy period."

Are we just going to let it go like this?

Xu Xiaoyan stood still, her mind flashing through various post-apocalyptic novel scenarios: water and electricity cut off, famine spreading, people fighting tooth and nail for a bag of biscuits...

But I'm stuck here because of this few days of holiday, missing the golden time to prepare, and I'll regret it later.

No! We absolutely cannot let small gains lead to big losses!

A surge of do-or-die courage welled up within me. Work was important, but compared to my life, it was utterly insignificant.

She took a deep breath, her gaze hardening, and looked at Peng Mingda, saying each word clearly:

"Manager Peng, I know you're busy right now, and my request is indeed putting you in a difficult position. If annual leave isn't possible..."

So, may I apply for a one-month unpaid leave?

I do have very important and urgent personal matters that I need to deal with immediately, otherwise I wouldn't have made this request. I promise to come back and work hard in a month.

Peng Mingda was stunned, completely unexpected that she would propose such a plan: unpaid leave?

This is even more outrageous than taking annual leave. He carefully examined Xu Xiaoyan and found a kind of determination and urgency in her eyes that he had never seen before, which did not seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision or a mood swing.

He pondered for a moment. Xu Xiaoyan was usually a diligent and conscientious worker, not the kind of employee who would cause trouble unnecessarily.

Her insistence, even at the cost of giving up a month's salary, might stem from some unspeakable difficulty.

No matter how busy the supermarket is, losing one person will only cause a temporary shortage, as they can always be reassigned.

However, if we force her to resign, and push her too far, she might quit, which would be a greater loss, as it's not easy to find a skilled warehouse manager right away.

After weighing the pros and cons, Peng Mingda sighed, his tone softening somewhat.

"Sigh... Xiao Xu, you've really given me a tough problem. Taking unpaid leave... Supermarkets don't usually have this kind of precedent."

However, seeing that you really have something urgent to do, alright, I'll make an exception this time and grant you a month's leave!

"Just one month, not a single day more! You must come back on time after one month, otherwise I really can't keep you in this position."

"Thank you, Manager Peng! Thank you! I will definitely be back on time in a month!" Xu Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief and bowed repeatedly to express her gratitude, a huge weight finally lifted from her heart.

After receiving the approval for leave without pay, Xu Xiaoyan did not go home immediately; she stood outside the supermarket warehouse.

The afternoon sun was a bit dazzling, but her mind was unusually clear and calm. One month, thirty days—she had to make the most of every second.

First, there was the funding. She had saved up a small amount of money after working and living frugally for several years, about 180,000 yuan, which was her start-up capital.

Clearly, this is a drop in the ocean compared to the need for large-scale stockpiling of supplies.

But she remembers that supermarkets occasionally have some near-expiry or damaged items at very low prices, and she can take advantage of information asymmetry and spatial characteristics to prioritize stockpiling these.