ITBBS Chapter 1

On August 21, 2022, in Y City, at 5 AM.

In a luxurious villa in the city center, Shen Yao, who was sleeping soundly in bed, once again dreamed of that strange place. It was overgrown with weeds, desolate everywhere, and extremely scarce in supplies. The people in her dream were not only hungry and poorly clothed but also incredibly thin. Men, women, and children all had thin and pale faces, with high cheekbones and deep eye sockets. They resembled skeletons, which was quite terrifying.

“Ah—”

Shen Yao suddenly sat up in bed, her eyes filled with panic and confusion from the nightmare. She instinctively rubbed her sore head and took some time to regain her composure.

“That scene again.”

Shen Yao murmured softly, recalling the images from her dream, which filled her with a strong sense of unease.

Everything in that scene felt too real, as if she were actually living there.

Suppressing her unusual feelings, Shen Yao got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. After applying a light makeup to cover her fatigue, she turned to the closet.

She picked out a casual short outfit from her closet and put it on. After checking her reflection in the mirror, she felt relieved that her appearance was in good condition.

Then Shen Yao sat quietly on a hanging rattan chair, staring blankly.

Sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, she looked at the sea of flowers in her garden, her thoughts drifting away…

Shen Yao kept reflecting on the abnormalities of the past few days. She recalled the various time-travel novels she had read and the stories her grandmother told her about their lives during difficult times. Many people had starved because they had no food. Some were so hungry that they resorted to eating tree bark and mud because of a lack of food. Life was very hard.

She thought about her own good luck since she was a child and how it had allowed her to avoid many dangers.

Could this be a warning from heaven, suggesting that she might travel back to those difficult times?

Shen Yao began to panic. Why would she travel back several decades to an era where everything was scarce? People had to toil in the fields every day just to earn work points. Not only were they exhausted every day, but they couldn’t even have a full meal.

If she really were to travel back to the past, how would she survive? She had never done any farm work. She would surely starve to death.

Although she had a space where she usually grew medicinal herbs, grains, fruits, and vegetables, she operated it with her mind and had never done the work herself. Her delicate hands probably wouldn’t know how to hold a hoe.

However, since these abnormalities had appeared, and even her space spirit had fallen into a deep sleep since yesterday, she couldn’t just sit and wait for death. Who knew when she might actually time travel? So she needed to prepare in advance.

She didn’t want to passively wait at home for something to happen. With her assets of hundreds of millions and a space, it would be foolish not to stock up on supplies.

After all, during difficult times, what was most lacking was supplies. Shen Yao didn’t hesitate and immediately took action.

She first sold the company left to her by her deceased parents and the clothing factory she had founded later, as well as all the stocks she held.

Shen Yao knew that her actions would certainly cause a big sensation, but she couldn’t explain her unusual behavior to anyone. How could she tell them that she might time travel back several decades ago?

People would probably just think she had lost her mind. So she could only say that she was tired and wanted to rest.

Next, Shen Yao put all the items from her two villas and several luxury cars in the garage into her space and urgently sold both villas.

Both of her properties were in good locations and had large areas. Even though she was selling them quickly, they still fetched a good price.

During this time, Shen Yao also opened an account and deposited 200 million, having her lawyer draft a will.

If she were to die unexpectedly one day, all her assets will be used to establish an orphan relief foundation to help disabled children in orphanages.

After spending several days converting all her assets into cash, Shen Yao began a massive purchasing spree to stock up on various supplies.

The next morning, Shen Yao rented a dozen temporary warehouses in a remote suburb. Then, she drove to Y City’s largest wholesale market and found the manager. “Manager Li, I want to open a department store and need to wholesale a large amount of grain, oil, and dry goods. So please make sure the prices are reasonable.”

“Of course, Miss Shen. You can rest assured about the prices. What exactly does Miss Shen need and in what quantities?”

“I need 200,000 catties¹1 caty=0.6 kg each of rice and flour. I want the best rice, and the flour must be of good quality and taste.”

“That’s no problem. We will prepare the stock according to Miss Shen’s requirements,” Manager Li nodded and said.

“I also need 50,000 catties each of millet, brown rice, cornmeal, corn kernels, dark flour, sorghum flour, coarse and fine wheat bran, and sweet potato flour. For red beans, mung beans, soybeans, black beans, sesame, glutinous rice, purple rice, and black rice, I need 30,000 catties each. And for soybean oil, peanut oil, tea oil, rapeseed oil, and sesame oil, please prepare 20,000 catties each.”

“Additionally, I need salt, soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, fungus mushrooms, various dry goods, and all other spices, 20,000 catties of each. Oh, and also 30,000 catties each of white sugar, brown sugar, rock sugar, and noodles.”

Thinking that just fine grains wouldn’t be enough, Shen Yao decided to prepare coarse grains as well, as she wouldn’t want to draw envy by only eating fine grains during hard times.

“Alright, Miss Shen. Do you need anything else?” Manager Li asked with a smile.

“Do you have wholesale household goods, like bedding and toiletries?” Shen Yao thought it was essential to prepare daily necessities, and they had to be plain and durable. After all, luxurious items would be useless in difficult times.

“Yes, we have a section for wholesale household goods, and we have a complete range of items.”Then please prepare 60 cotton quilts and down comforters, as well as silk quilts and blankets, each weighing between 5 to 10 pounds. I need 600 four-piece bedding sets, all in plain colors that are dirt-resistant and durable, and also 600 boxes each of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap, laundry liquid, laundry powder, dishwashing soap, and towels of all sizes, bath towels, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, toothpaste, and toothbrushes, all of which must be unscented.”

“That’s all for now. Manager Li, please help me prepare these first. I’ll send the address to your phone to deliver directly to the warehouse.”