“Don’t worry. You were all able to make it here through the horde, so there definitely won’t be any problems,” Yang Minghao stepped forward to offer a few words of comfort. “By the way, where did you park your cars? Is it still possible to drive out from there?”
“We can’t get out,” Peng Zhixue sighed and shook his head. “The zombies are blocking everything, packed tight as a sieve.”
Yang Minghao continued to probe indirectly, trying to find out who held the car keys. Upon getting his answer, he couldn’t help but frown. It didn’t really matter to him whether those three returned or not, as long as they left their belongings behind.
“Do you think the zombies in that area might have dispersed by now?”
As Yang Minghao spoke, he observed the expression on Peng Zhixue’s face, trying to figure out exactly where the cars were parked. “Maybe they went back to where the cars are, took the supplies, and drove off?”
After all, everyone was afraid of being left behind alone.
Peng Zhixue’s heart skipped a beat. “That… shouldn’t be possible…”
“Hah, I was just guessing. Don’t overthink it.”
He was clearly wavering, yet he still refused to reveal more information. Just as Yang Minghao was about to add fuel to the fire and continue, the chains on the door rattled at an inopportune moment.
Hearing Cheng Yan’s voice, Peng Zhixue hurriedly moved the obstacles aside to open the door for them. Seeing the three of them return safe and sound, carrying two large bags of supplies, the expressions on everyone’s faces were quite a sight.
Song Jinhe and the others returned to their room to distribute the goods. Holding the clothes his companions had specifically brought back for him, Peng Zhixue felt a wave of mixed emotions. He recounted Yang Minghao’s probing word for word.
“They want to go to a shelter. Are we going to follow them when the time comes?” Zhang Yi looked toward Song Jinhe.
“Once the water recedes, I plan to leave the city,” Song Jinhe said, pulling out a map.
The shelters in Minghai City didn’t last long. Once they fell, it would be difficult to get out.
The bath center wasn’t a place for long-term living either. They had rainwater to use now, but once the drought arrived, even basic survival needs would become a problem.
In the lounge area, several people were talking, their eyes still darting toward the path Song Jinhe’s group had taken.
“They brought back so many things, yet they still wanted Sister Zhou’s dried noodles. They’re the only ones here who aren’t short on food or clothes. On such a cold day, they didn’t even think to bring back some clothes for everyone; they only think of themselves.”
“Before, it was normal for them to want to trade with Sister Zhou when they didn’t have food. But now they have so much, and Sister Zhou has a child. I heard they don’t even need that medicine themselves; it would have been a simple matter of helping out.”
“I can’t exactly ask for the items back once they’ve been given away,” Sister Zhou stood to the side, her face showing conflict.
A passerby couldn’t help but comment, “Why was no one willing to help Sister Zhou find medicine at the pharmacy back then? That was life-saving stuff. If they really wanted to take advantage of the situation, they would have asked for much more than just that.”
“What Xiao Li says is true,” Sister Zhou said, looking away sheepishly.
Originally, she hadn’t felt much about it, but seeing them return with so many supplies and then thinking of the little she had left, it felt like a thorn had been planted in her heart. The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she became.
Song Jinhe had only been lying in bed for a few hours when she was woken by a knock on the door. Opening it, she saw that besides Cheng Yan and the others, several people were standing there, some even bringing their children.
“I heard you found a lot of food when you went out yesterday?”
Without waiting for the overly familiar woman to continue, Song Jinhe spoke with an air of understanding, “You want to ask where we found it, right? It’s in the mall next door. There’s still plenty left; you’d better go early if you’re going.”
the smile on Tian Hui’s face froze. Who wanted to ask where to find supplies? Going out was far too dangerous!
Initially, the person they intended to find wasn’t Song Jinhe, but the more approachable-looking Zhang Yi and Cheng Yan in the next room.
To their surprise, those two had said that the supplies were found together and they couldn’t make the decisions alone, which led them back to Song Jinhe.
The man beside Tian Hui cleared his throat. “Little Song, what we mean is… could you spare some food for us first? Not much was distributed from the kitchen earlier, and so many days have passed. Sigh… You capable people can find food outside, but we really have no other way.”
“We know it’s not easy to go out and find food. It’s fine if we adults eat less, but we have children. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the nerve to ask this of you.”
A flicker of a sneer passed through Song Jinhe’s eyes. She really couldn’t see how they didn’t have the nerve.
“Look, how about this? Just consider it a loan from us. We’ll pay you back once we find food later.”
“You should be able to spare some food from what you have,” Sister Zhou said, her eyes darting around, her voice very low.
She was originally too embarrassed to come, but she was afraid that others would get a share while she ended up with nothing because she didn’t show up.
Seeing that Song Jinhe remained silent, Tian Hui pulled her young child over and spoke softly, “Xiao Han, go ask the big brother and sister if they can share some food with you, okay?”
“Don’t ask. No.”
Song Jinhe’s cold tone made several people freeze. They hadn’t expected her to be so heartless—refusing to share even a bit of food with a child while holding two large bags of goods. Wu Dayong was right; these people might as well have died outside.
“I’ve already told you where the supplies are. I still need to rest.”
If they wanted to coordinate to move the remaining supplies from the restaurant back to the bath center and then distribute them fairly, that would be fine. The four of them couldn’t carry that much back, and her Space was already full.
But if they wanted a free handout, that wasn’t going to happen.
Watching Song Jinhe close the door with a cold face, everyone’s expressions turned very ugly. Tian Hui’s son even stepped forward and kicked the door twice as a vent.
Song Jinhe turned and pulled the door open, her tone icy. “Keep him in check, or I won’t be polite.”
“How can she have no human feeling at all? A grown person having the nerve to pick a fight with a child,” Tian Hui said crossly.
Failing to get what they wanted from Song Jinhe, everyone turned their gaze back to Zhang Yi and Cheng Yan.
“Please, just help us. Cheng Yan, my child even calls you ‘big brother,’ and you’re a medical student. You surely can’t bear to watch a child go hungry and cold.”
Cheng Yan held his palms out, a certain phrase echoing in his mind: Encouraging someone to study medicine is like inviting a lightning strike.
“If you want to go look for supplies, I can give you a map of the route. I can’t spare any food.”
If he gave once, there would be a second and a third time. In the apocalypse, everyone lived day to day; no one was obligated to indulge anyone else without a close relationship. His experience at the hospital had shown him the darkness of the human heart.
After wasting half a day and failing to get even a grain of rice, the group didn’t forget to hurl a few indirect insults as they left. Meanwhile, as early as two hours ago, some people had already set out with bags. As the weather grew colder, they needed supplies.
Those who hadn’t moved were either waiting to see how it went or still had enough supplies to last a few more days.
By evening, seeing that those who went out had returned with food, Tian Hui and her group set out as well, dragging their families along. Seeing the round-eyed children, Qiu Ling and the others didn’t have the heart to refuse and brought out a few discs of handmade noodles.
“Thank you so much! You’re the kind ones, unlike Little Song and her group. It’s one thing to refuse to lend us food, but they even said they’d be impolite to a child!”
Tian Hui spoke with great enthusiasm until she closed the door. Then, the gratitude on her face vanished instantly. “They brought back so many things, yet they only gave us two noodle discs. Hmph.”