The third morning, grocery shopping.
Lin Mo opened Baidu Maps and searched for nearby hardware stores. Following the navigation, she found a small shop with a sign reading "Lao Zhou Building Materials." She pushed open the door and went straight to the point, asking the owner who was welding: "Boss, do you have tempered glass? I drove a van here and want to take it directly."
The owner, a middle-aged man, looked up and examined her, then replied unhurriedly: "Miss, tempered glass is usually custom-sized. What kind do you need?"
Lin Mo deliberately feigned ignorance: "My grandpa saw on Douyin that the world is ending and we need tempered glass. The old man insists on taking it home tonight. What do you have in stock?"
"Old folks can be stubborn. When they say that, as children, we just have to go along," the owner chuckled. "But we only have 1200×1000mm in stock right now. Others need custom cutting, which takes a couple of days for delivery. What size does your family need?"
Lin Mo pretended to be clueless: "I don't understand any of this. Let me send a WeChat message to ask Grandpa for the dimensions."
She then swiped to the WeChat chat page, where she happened to have a message to reply to.
Jian Qing: "(Crying emoji) Ahhh, I'm about to head to Southeast Asia, finally escaping the cold snap. Why did you mail me a down comforter? I need mosquito repellent and montmorillonite powder!"
Lin Mo's fingers flew across the keys as she replied, with a hint of imperceptible bossiness in her tone: "Global cooling is coming—better safe than sorry. Make sure to bring it. If you throw away my good intentions, I'll cut ties with you."
Jian Qing replied almost instantly, the screen full of shock: "Ahhh? Have you been hacked? Saying such cheesy lines? That's not like you!"
Lin Mo continued to threaten: "You know the consequences, heh."
She didn't want to act childish, but if she spoke normally, Jian Qing would most likely ship the down comforter back to S City.
After sending the message, she looked up and said to the boss: "Boss, my grandpa says these will do. How heavy is one piece?"
"Around 30 kilograms—this is the thick type."
"Then I'll take three pieces. Please help me load them into the car, and also a few sets of protective iron grilles."
Lin Mo decided to buy more. Besides building the 6-square-meter bathroom, she also wanted to expand the train outward by another meter, increasing the first carriage from 12 to 15 square meters, so she could continue adding furniture later.
She paid promptly, and the owner called a worker to help. The two carefully wrapped the glass in foam padding, tied the iron grilles securely, and loaded them one by one into the van.
The glass and grilles were very heavy, but fortunately, the train had already expanded two meters toward the yard. Lin Mo could park the van right against the yard edge and directly store the supplies into the train from inside the van, saving her the trouble of heavy lifting.
As night deepened, only the dim yellow glow of streetlights lit the neighborhood. Occasionally, a late-returning resident hurried past, but no one paid attention.
She turned off the car's lights and waited a moment, confirming no one was around. Then she selected the glass icon on the control panel and reached out toward the building materials in the darkness.
Familiar silver particles coiled around them, absorbing everything into the train. She didn't know which alternate space the supplies went to, but a small label reading "90kg" appeared under the glass category on the control panel.
The iron grilles were directly converted into general building materials, and the corresponding value on the panel increased. She still hadn't bought the marble, tiles, or paint. Lin Mo checked the time—the building materials market should still be open.
Her phone vibrated. She glanced at the delivery app and saw that four or five SF Express packages had been signed for. She went home first, moving the pile of packages as tall as a person at the door into the house. Without time to open and inspect each one, she simply stored them all into the empty second carriage.
Checking her purchase history, she saw that the down jackets, down pants, snow boots, and other warm clothing she had ordered yesterday had arrived. SF Express was fast—next-day delivery.
She browsed other logistics information. Yunda, YTO, and ZTO packages had also arrived in S City, showing an expected delivery for tomorrow. Many supplies were shipped from cities around S City, so no wonder they came so quickly.
Turning off the phone screen, Lin Mo restarted the van and headed to the building materials market. She picked out tiles, marble, and waterproof coating, and had the boss and worker load everything into the van.
A stretch of road outside the market was quite secluded, so she took the opportunity to use her gas-siphoning tool, pumping twice to obtain 100L of gasoline.
By the time she dragged her exhausted body back to the neighborhood, it was already past ten in the evening. She pulled out her phone to search for outdoor supply stores, only to remember they would have closed long ago. She could only wait until tomorrow to buy a solar generator. She sighed softly and stored all the remaining building materials from the car into the train, when suddenly a hollow, burning sensation rose in her stomach.
She had eaten dinner, but rushing around late at night and repeatedly using her ability to store supplies had drained her. Now she was so hungry she was breaking out in a cold sweat.
From outside the neighborhood gate came the aroma of barbecue, tempting her to swallow, but Lin Mo suppressed the urge. She wanted to check the bathroom's setup first. Barbecue wasn't as good as ordering takeout; when it arrived at home, it would save time.
She popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth to tide her over. The sweetness gradually dispelled some of the hunger. Lin Mo took a deep breath, opened the system panel, and selected the "Dry-Wet Separation Bathroom Blueprint," confirming the consumption of materials to build a 6-square-meter space.
The next second, the sound of mechanical assembly, crisp and rapid, rang out in the carriage. After about two minutes, a bathroom icon appeared on the panel.
[6m² Dry-Wet Separation Bathroom. Can be dragged to deploy.]
Lin Mo quickly walked to the second carriage, moved the delivery boxes and other items inside to the first carriage, freed up the space, and decisively selected "Deploy." A flash of pale blue light, and the interior had completely transformed.
But the light was too dim to see the details.
She slapped her forehead and chuckled ruefully: "Forgot to turn on the yard light."
Once the yard light was on, the light shone through the carriage's large windows, revealing the bathroom clearly.
The overall style was a warm, natural wood aesthetic, with light wooden herringbone floors that were gentle and pleasing. The three-part layout was clearly divided by glass doors with wooden frames. The shower area and toilet area were side by side, and at the front was a super spacious vanity area.
On the left side of the vanity area, there was a built-in wooden cabinet of the same color, for daily necessities. Directly ahead was a large mirror. The sink was very wide, with space on the counter for toiletries and skincare products. Below the sink, space was reserved for a washing machine and dryer.
Her eyes swept over the empty space opposite the sink, and an idea immediately struck her: She could put a large wooden clothes rack here to hang bathrobes, towels, and change of clothes for easy access. And place a few large storage bins for toilet paper, sanitary pads, and laundry detergent—keeping everything tidy without wasting space.
Lin Mo internally calculated this, growing more assured the more she thought about it. Her fingertips brushed the cool, smooth marble countertop and the wooden cabinet: "The texture is so good~"
She opened the system panel, found the washing machine and dryer icons, and dragged them directly to the reserved spots under the sink. With this move, the first carriage, which had been slightly cramped, instantly felt much more open.
Although there was no running water or electricity yet, and the bathroom couldn't be used, looking at this neat layout filled Lin Mo with a sense of security.
Thinking that the building materials added tonight were enough to continue expanding the carriage, she summoned the dark silver construction hammer, gripped the handle with both hands, and swung it toward the rear boundary of the train, expanding the space by 1 meter in length, 2 meters in width, and 3 meters in height.
"Three square meters—I'll just use it as a storage room." She designated it as the third carriage.
There was an iron door behind the shower area, and opening it revealed the storage room—which was a bit strange. Fortunately, the system had a function to swap carriage positions, so she swapped the two.
This storage room came just in time. Earlier, the kitchen was so packed that there was no room to stand, and more packages would be coming. Now she could finally free up space. She could move all the long-shelf-life supplies from the kitchen there and sort the opened packages into the storage room for easy access later.
Remembering the enthusiastic girl at the building materials store, Lin Mo decided to have her custom-make shelves. This time, she wanted them 2.5 meters high, preferably five tiers, to maximize vertical space. And add a folding ladder to easily reach items on higher shelves. Unfortunately, it was too late now—the girl must have already left work.
The next day, a sharp alarm clock cut through the early morning, dragging Lin Mo out of her hazy sleep. She sat up, struggling even to open her eyes.
She let out a long yawn before barely pulling herself together.