Chapter 16 – The Space Expands

Tang Xiaoman swore she hadn’t meant anything by it.

Whether it was men or women, a broad chest simply looked impressive.
She’d only meant it as a simple compliment—pure appreciation.

But No. 01, whose chest muscles were the most massive of the group, flushed bright red. For a moment, he had no idea how to respond.

The quicker-witted bodyguards, however, caught on immediately.

So the boss likes guards with big chests!

Unwilling to be outdone, No. 02 immediately stripped off his shirt and proudly showed off his rock-solid muscles.

“Miss Tang, my chest muscles are pretty big too.”

He struck several textbook bodybuilding poses, displaying his well-developed physique from every angle, clearly confident in his body.

One move stirred up a chain reaction.

A few more guards began striking poses of their own, flexing and preening—and not forgetting to throw flirtatious glances at Tang Xiaoman.

The female bodyguards, seeing the men putting on a show, grew anxious. It wasn’t exactly convenient for them to start taking off their shirts.

The salary for the first month alone was **two hundred thousand**. And every month after that, the pay doubled.

They absolutely couldn’t lose out. Losing meant elimination.

“Miss Tang, if you look closely… I’m actually pretty well-endowed too!”

One of the female guards blushed as she pushed her chest forward.

Tang Xiaoman stood there, completely bewildered.

…What on earth was happening?

Was there some kind of misunderstanding here?

Instinctively, she glanced at Zhou Yichen beside her.

The corner of Zhou Yichen’s mouth twitched slightly. The look he gave her was… complicated.

Tang Xiaoman: “…”

Forget it.

She wasn’t even going to explain.

The apocalypse was coming soon anyway. Who cared about reputation?

You couldn’t eat it.

—

Tang Xiaoman had just headed back to her room when Zhou Yichen stopped her.

“Miss Tang, the diesel, gasoline, and gas canisters you asked me to stockpile have all been secured.”

Her eyes lit up immediately. She was extremely satisfied with his efficiency.

“With you handling things, I can relax.”

He really was useful.

Still, Zhou Yichen couldn’t help adding a reminder.

“Stockpiling this much fuel is dangerous. It also violates safety regulations.”

Tang Xiaoman spread her hands helplessly and lowered her voice, half serious and half joking.

“Safety regulations only matter when the world is safe. I’ve got someone high up looking out for me—heard some rumors that things are going to get very unsafe soon. Better to stock up on diesel.”

Zhou Yichen: “…”

From his expression, she could tell he still had that same *complicated* look again.

Whatever. He wasn’t a machine—everyone had their own thoughts. As long as he followed her orders, that was enough.

After all, she was the boss.

—

Back in her room, Tang Xiaoman took a hot shower.

Wrapped in a bath towel, she stepped out and blow-dried her hair.

Feeling a little thirsty, she pulled a glass of lemon water from her space and drank half of it in one go.

Having a storage space really was convenient.

The only regret was that it was too small.

Still, she tried to stay content. No one could have everything.

Fresh from her shower and not sleepy yet, she used her consciousness to rummage through the room inside her space, searching for the jewelry she’d bought earlier—worth nearly ten million—to pick something to try on.

But no matter how thoroughly she searched the room, then the entire space again…

The jewelry was gone.

How was that possible?

Tang Xiaoman was certain she had stored every piece inside the space. There was no way she’d made a mistake.

She entered the space personally and searched again.

Still nothing.

She stood there, stunned.

The space had **eaten her jewelry**?

Several minutes passed before she noticed something strange.

The **countdown timer** inside the space now read **one and a half hours**.

That meant she could stay inside it **half an hour longer every day**.

The virtual interface showed the room area had increased to **eighty-four square meters**—four square meters larger than before.

The storage volume had also increased by **thirty cubic meters**.

Tang Xiaoman blinked in shock.

Then delight burst across her face.

The space had **grown**!

It had swallowed the gold, silver, and jade jewelry she’d bought—and then expanded.

Which meant that if she kept feeding it valuables like that, it would continue to grow.

At last, Tang Xiaoman knew how to spend the rest of the money in her account.

Before, she’d regretted how limited the space was.

Now she’d found the solution.

Only then did she notice the jade bracelet on her wrist had become even clearer and more luminous than before.

Excitement wiped away any trace of sleepiness.

She nearly rushed straight out to every jewelry shop in the city and bought them empty.

Unfortunately, at this hour all the gold and jewelry stores were closed. If she actually started banging on their doors, people might mistake her for a robber.

She took several deep breaths and forced herself to calm down.

But sleep was impossible.

—

Around midnight, Tang Xiaoman knocked on Zhou Yichen’s bedroom door.

He had probably already gone to bed.

“Who is it?” he called from inside.

“It’s me,” she replied.

A moment later, Zhou Yichen opened the door, already dressed.

He was fully clothed—his collar even buttoned neatly to the top.

Tang Xiaoman: “…”

Why did she feel like he was guarding against a thief?

“Miss Tang, do you need something?” Zhou Yichen asked. His deep eyes held a trace of caution, and he deliberately kept a safe distance.

Tang Xiaoman clicked her tongue.

“Come closer. I’m not going to eat you.”

Hmph. Was he treating her like some kind of lust-crazed woman?

Zhou Yichen remained composed.

“You can give your orders from there. I can hear you.”

After a pause, he added,

“I can read lips.”

Tang Xiaoman was speechless.

She shot him a glare and said bluntly,

“You’re working overtime tonight.”

—

Zhou Yichen accompanied his boss to the temporary storage room holding the diesel.

The makeshift warehouse had been built from synthetic boards by Zhou Yichen and several guards. Inside were **five tons of diesel** and **one ton of gasoline**.

The **two hundred gas canisters** were stored in three other rooms.

Tang Xiaoman herself had another **ton of diesel** stored separately.

Once the apocalypse began, the shortage of electricity would be a long-term challenge.

Solar panels degraded over time and couldn’t function during the long polar nights. Manual generators required too much physical effort and time.

Diesel generators, however, were reliable and simple.

Her chainsaws also needed diesel. Large vehicles often ran on diesel as well.

In the apocalypse, diesel would become a **hard currency**—perhaps even more valuable than gasoline.

Tang Xiaoman took out one of her diesel generators and asked Zhou Yichen,

“Do you know how to operate this?”

He examined it briefly.

“Yes.”

“Try it now. See if there are any issues.”

Zhou Yichen quickly assembled the generator, added diesel, and soon started it.

The power indicator lit up, showing the battery charging.

But the noise was tremendous—loud enough to wake everyone sleeping in the entire club.

“Do you have a way to reduce the noise?” Tang Xiaoman asked. “Or at least keep it within a reasonable decibel range so people can sleep normally?”

Zhou Yichen finally realized she had woken him up in the middle of the night **purely for work**.

There were no ulterior motives.

He quietly let out a breath of relief.

At least he didn’t have to consider resigning for now.

“I can solve it. We just need to install sound-dampening equipment.”

He paused before adding,

“Good soundproofing equipment is expensive.”

Tang Xiaoman didn’t even ask the price.

“Then buy **a hundred sets** of soundproofing equipment. When they arrive, install and test them personally to ensure the lowest possible noise levels.”

She continued,

“And in five days we’ll hold the first evaluation. The bottom five will be eliminated. You’ll need to prepare combat equipment for the ten who remain.”

Another **one million yuan** was transferred to Zhou Yichen’s account.

He stared at her, slightly stunned.

“Miss Tang… the one million you transferred earlier still has over two hundred thousand left. Then you gave me another million for diesel, gasoline, and gas canisters—we only spent one hundred fifty thousand. There’s still eight hundred fifty thousand remaining. And tonight you transferred another million…”

Her money seemed endless. She kept sending it to him faster than he could spend it.

Tang Xiaoman’s expression turned serious.

“There will be many places to spend money in the future. You don’t need to report every little expense to me.”

“My time is limited.”

“You’ll help me with the stockpiling from now on.”