The messages in the group chat were too painful to read. After a few glances, Stella Sterling closed the chat and started looking at the news online. As it turned out, the vitriol on the web was far worse than in the homeowners’ group. It wasn’t that property management was shirking its responsibility; her residential complex wasn’t the only one to lose power. People all over the internet were discussing the outage.

At first, everyone assumed it was just a typical power outage and didn’t think much of it.

But as more and more people began discussing the outages in their own regions, everyone started to realize something was wrong.

If people from all over were reporting outages, it meant the entire country was dark.

What century was it? For a nationwide blackout to happen, given the country’s level of development—the whole thing was just plain bizarre!!!

Soon, everyone connected the outage to the blizzard that had been raging for days.

People were already on edge, and now the panic intensified. They flooded official social media accounts with comments—some hurling abuse, others expressing their concern.

The authorities, in turn, came forward to reassure the public, stating that power would be restored to normal soon and that there was no need to worry.

They also reminded everyone that due to the severe snowstorm, it was best to stay indoors as much as possible.

With this official reassurance, people calmed down a little. Besides, with the power out, there was no way to charge their devices, and everyone wanted to conserve their remaining battery life to contact friends and family. As a result, the internet finally grew quiet.

The next day, the power was indeed restored. Early in the morning, someone’s lights flickered on, and they couldn’t help but let out a joyful shriek that echoed through the building. That’s how everyone else learned the power was back, and a chain reaction of screams and cheers erupted.

Even Stella Sterling, who was usually a deep sleeper and lived in an apartment with superb soundproofing, was woken up by the incessant cheering.

Listening to the commotion outside, all her sleepiness vanished. She decided to just get up, and after making a simple breakfast, she went online for a bit. She saw that many night owls were still up, and others had already woken, all of them celebrating that the power was back on.

Stella Sterling felt herself get caught up in the joyful atmosphere. In high spirits, she "liked" the official government post and praised the utility workers online.

It had to be said, her country’s efficiency was incredible. For the workers to toil through the night in such weather to repair the grid, all so the power could be back on this morning...

Probably only her country could pull off something like that.

Although whether the power was on or not didn’t really affect Stella Sterling, she still felt happy and proud of her country.

She knew that even in the face of such a severe cataclysm, her country was always fighting back. In her past life, the government had held out for a long time, working behind the scenes. Otherwise, many people wouldn’t have even made it through the first wave of disasters.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then logged off.

She knew this restoration of power was only temporary. Before long, the grid would go down again, and the next time, it would be for good. Everyone would be left to fend for themselves, with many people forced to live a primitive existence.

She recalled that in her past life, she had been in the hospital around this time. The hospital had lost power then, too, but it had immediately switched over to its backup generators. She had been following the news online, and just like now, the power had come back on the second day. However, if she remembered correctly, it had gone out again in less than twenty-four hours.

A few days after that, the hospital couldn’t hold out for long, and its systems began to collapse—

So, in other words, the power would only stay on for less than a day this time. It would be gone before nightfall.

She knew this but said nothing online. She recalled the people who had tried to post warnings earlier. Not only had no one believed them, but they had been viciously attacked for it. She wasn’t about to go looking for that kind of trouble.

Those who refused to believe would never be convinced, and those who were willing to believe had already sensed that something was wrong and begun their preparations.

Done with the internet, Stella Sterling double-checked that all her electronic devices were fully charged and that the power banks she’d bought were at maximum capacity. Only then did she enter her space to get to work.

A new batch of vegetables had ripened, and the fruit trees were beginning to bear fruit. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before she could harvest them. Stella Sterling grinned from ear to ear.

’With just this, I’ll never have to worry about going hungry.’

She busied herself in the space. When she was finished, she saw that her allotted time there was almost up. Remembering that it had been a few days since her last trade-in, she tossed a piece of jade jewelry into the exchange zone before exiting.

It was almost noon, and the smell of cooking wafted in from outside. Stella Sterling’s stomach immediately began to growl incessantly.

She was tired after working for so long, so she didn’t feel like cooking lunch. Instead, she took out a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs and a dish of braised carp from her space, then went to cook some rice to go with them. As the rice steamed, a thought struck her. ’I can’t believe I didn’t prepare any cooked rice to store in the space. That way, whenever I don’t feel like cooking but want rice, I can just grab some and eat right away.’

’I wouldn’t even need to reheat it. Things come out of the space just as hot as they went in. It’s incredibly convenient!’

But since she hadn’t thought of it before, she had the main dishes ready but still had to cook the rice herself, which was a waste of precious time.

With that in mind, Stella Sterling decided to put everything else on hold that afternoon and dedicate her time to cooking rice.

’I prepared all sorts of other hot meals, but not my absolute favorite—steamed rice. What an oversight.’

Mulling this over, she dug into her meal. Perhaps it was because of all the hard work, but her lunch tasted exceptionally good today.

’My space is perfect in almost every way,’ she thought, ’it’s just not fully automated. I have to organize everything I put inside, and I have to harvest the ripe crops myself. I can’t just control it all with a thought.’

She sighed for a moment but then calmly accepted it. ’Nothing in this world is perfect, after all. My situation is already amazing. Compared to everyone else, I’m luckier than I can possibly imagine.’

As she ate and thought, her resolve hardened. That afternoon, she began cooking pot after pot of rice. She didn’t even answer the door when people came knocking several times.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t hear them. She just didn’t want to deal with anyone, and more importantly, she refused to waste time.

The power was going to go out for good today. Once it did, any electricity she used would have to come from her own resources. That’s why she had to seize this opportunity to get everything ready.

Once a pot of rice was cooked, she’d pack it into the large tubs she had bought. She poured in pot after pot, and the fresh, clean fragrance of the rice was enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

"All done!"

After storing the last pot of rice in her space, she finally stopped to rest. She had worked all afternoon and managed to fill one of the large tubs. ’At least my efforts weren’t in vain,’ she thought. ’This will be my supply for a rainy day.’

"Ah, I’ve worked so hard. I think I’ll reward myself with a whole fried chicken for dinner!"