After saying that, Zhou Wangye strode forward.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiangwan bit her lip and lowered her head.
Why did President Zhou say that?
Before this, she had always called Lin Ran “Miss Lin.”
Sometimes, when Lin Ran bullied her too harshly, she had even called her directly by name—“Lin Ran.” President Zhou had never interfered.
But now, Lin Ran had only become a little more obedient, and President Zhou was already scolding her.
What should she do?
Had President Zhou stopped hating Lin Ran so much?
Then in the future…
Gu Xiangwan’s thoughts became tangled.
Meng Yan deliberately slowed his pace to wait for her.
“Secretary Gu, let’s catch up with President Zhou.”
The man didn’t dare reach out to pull her along. He felt unworthy.
Before the apocalypse, Secretary Gu had graduated from a prestigious university, while he had only finished junior high school.
And now that the apocalypse had arrived, she had awakened a spatial ability, while he remained an ordinary person.
He could see that she liked President Zhou. He felt envy, but he couldn’t bring himself to be jealous.
He was simply too inferior. It was only natural for Secretary Gu to like President Zhou.
Gu Xiangwan looked up and forced a smile.
“Thank you, Brother Meng.”
“You’re so kind to me. I’m fine—I’m already used to being treated like this by the young lady…”
But Meng Yan didn’t follow her words. Instead he said,
“The young lady is still young. She’s only 19 this year. Don’t take what she says to heart.”
Meng Yan had followed Zhou Wangye for two years, so he had known Lin Ran for just as long.
In his eyes, Lin Ran was like a child who hadn’t grown up yet.
Although she often teased him, what rich young lady didn’t have a bit of a temper?
Besides, compared to those second-generation rich kids who drank heavily, took drugs, and broke the law, Lin Ran was only a little willful.
Gu Xiangwan walked ahead, feeling disappointed.
Meng Yan even claimed to like her, yet he didn’t stand on her side when Lin Ran deliberately made things difficult for her.
Forget it. No need to rush.
She didn’t believe Lin Ran could pretend to be obedient for a lifetime.
In a few days, President Zhou would surely hate her again.
After thinking this through, Gu Xiangwan stopped talking and followed the others.
He Sheng and Secretary Wang led the way at the front.
When they encountered ordinary zombies, they used fire axes to chop them down. If they encountered mutated zombies, they used their abilities.
Fortunately, the highest-level zombies here were only Level 2, so everyone handled them easily.
Zhou Wangye walked behind them, protecting Lin Ran.
His grip was strong as he held her arm—like grabbing a little chick.
Lin Ran sucked in a breath. Her arm would definitely bruise.
But she wasn’t someone who couldn’t appreciate kindness.
His intention was to protect her, so she didn’t struggle.
If things were truly like in the novel, the male lead wouldn’t even bother protecting her.
Thinking about it now, the heroine had dared to push the original Lin Ran into a zombie horde because she knew the male lead truly hated her and nothing would happen.
The zombies here all wore uniforms—they had been RDC security guards and workers.
After clearing them out, the group went directly to Warehouse No. 3.
This was the grain and cooking oil storage warehouse.
After checking the warehouse, they found no survivors.
But the surveillance cameras were still operating.
Zhou Wangye immediately used his lightning ability to destroy all the cameras.
“Secretary Gu, put half the supplies from Warehouse 3 into your space.”
Gu Xiangwan nodded and quickly began storing items.
A Level-3 spatial ability user still couldn’t collect things from a distance—they had to touch the object first.
Zhou Wangye glanced at Lin Ran, who obediently followed behind him.
She wasn’t causing trouble and wasn’t rushing to grab supplies.
He nodded with satisfaction.
Still fairly obedient.
He then sent He Sheng, Secretary Wang, and Meng Yan outside to guard the door.
Now only three people remained inside Warehouse No. 3.
Zhou Wangye leaned close to Lin Ran’s ear and whispered,
“Collect all the salt and sugar into your space.”
His breath brushed against her ear, making it itch.
His voice carried a deep magnetism—most women might feel like their ears were about to get pregnant.
But Lin Ran felt nothing toward the male lead.
The reason was simple—
She valued her life too much.
Whoever got involved with the male lead rarely ended well.
Lin Ran snorted.
“I want to collect meat and fruit, not this.”
Zhou Wangye almost wanted to rub his forehead.
He truly hated dealing with idiots.
But for the sake of future plans, he patiently explained,
“Salt and sugar are strategic supplies. In the apocalypse—”
Then he realized Lin Ran probably wouldn’t understand and changed his explanation.
“Soon enough, one bag of salt could be exchanged for ten jin of grain.”
How could Lin Ran not understand?
But she had to maintain her character setting.
If she suddenly became smart, sensible, and strategic, the male lead would definitely become suspicious.
She had already realized something—
Characters in a novel weren’t just flat paper figures. They had their own thoughts.
Now that she had a spatial ability, the male lead saw value in her.
He wouldn’t let the heroine casually throw her into a zombie horde anymore.
As for whether speaking to the male lead like this might make him retaliate later?
Heh.
By then, she would already have run away.
“Fine, I’ll collect it,” Lin Ran said reluctantly.
Zhou Wangye quickly stopped her.
“I’ll cover for you. Collect it secretly—don’t let anyone know.”
Lin Ran rolled her eyes.
“So troublesome.”
But inside she was overjoyed.
If the male lead personally stood guard for her, couldn’t she secretly smuggle a lot of supplies into her own space?
What a profit.
With the current chaos and no supply inventory, the male lead would never know exactly how much was in the warehouse.
He would never notice what she secretly took.
After all, who would imagine she had two spaces—her ability space and a ring space?
Last night she had checked the ice cream stored in the ring space.
She discovered that only the warehouse area inside the ring remained unchanged. The ice cream in other areas had begun to melt.
That meant supplies that didn’t spoil easily could be stored on the open land, while perishable items could go into the warehouse area.
Perfect.
She was truly a genius.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiangwan was collecting supplies when she noticed President Zhou standing very close to Lin Ran, even whispering in her ear.
A flash of hurt passed through her eyes.
President Zhou…
Hmph. Lin Ran must be deliberately seducing him.
President Zhou was only taking care of her because of Madam’s request.
After all, Gu Xiangwan had worked beside him for a year.
No one knew better than she did how much he disliked Lin Ran.
She steadied herself and continued collecting supplies.
President Zhou admired her calmness and sense of the bigger picture.
That was a quality Lin Ran didn’t have.
She had to maintain it and not disappoint him.
Meanwhile, Lin Ran followed behind Zhou Wangye like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar.
For every three portions of supplies she stored in her ability space, she secretly smuggled one portion into the ring space.
Shopping for free felt amazing.
After leaving Warehouse No. 3, they entered Warehouse No. 5.
Warehouse 5 was a massive cold storage facility, filled entirely with frozen meat.
Once the surveillance was destroyed, Lin Ran rushed straight into the seafood section before Zhou Wangye could even speak.
Frozen salmon, king crab, Antarctic sweet shrimp, Thai black tiger shrimp, oysters, cod…
There were also shrimp paste, crab sticks, seafood balls, and more.
Fresh seafood might taste better, but in the apocalypse, who could afford to be picky?
Thankfully the electricity hadn’t been cut yet.
If they came a few days later, all these good things would have spoiled.
This time, she stored half the inventory into her ring space.
Enough for her to eat for several lifetimes.
From the remaining half, she only stored one-fifth in her ability space.
After assigning tasks to everyone, Zhou Wangye suddenly realized Lin Ran was missing.
His expression darkened instantly.
When he found her in the seafood section, she was putting a box of imported salmon into her space.
“Lin Ran! Who allowed you to act alone?”
But the moment she turned around, her eyes sparkled.
“Big brother! This is your favorite salmon. I stored several boxes for you!”
Zhou Wangye narrowed his eyes.
Idiot. All she thinks about is food.
Yet strangely, the words stuck in his throat.
He coughed lightly.
“The seafood section hasn’t been cleared yet. What if there are zombies here? It’s dangerous!”
When Lin Ran heard the word zombie, she immediately pretended to be frightened and rushed to his side, trembling.
“Where? I’m so scared!”
Inside, Lin Ran thought:
Please. I’m not scared at all. I’m just acting for you.