Upon hearing Gu Pingsheng's words, the other girls snapped back to reality and hurried to scavenge for supplies.
Liu Xiaofang, her face still flushed, shyly ran off to gather resources. She hadn't expected herself to be so bold. After all, she couldn't even muster the courage to speak to Gu Pingsheng. She might as well be dead.
"Help! Damn it!"
Liu Xiaofang's hands trembled as she reached for the bread. Li Ruoyao watched her with an inscrutable expression, her thoughts unknown.
Zhang Keke and Luo Xiaoxue exchanged glances, their eyes filled with intrigue. In class, everyone knew about the close relationship between Gu Pingsheng and Li Ruoyao, the class monitor and study commissioner. Though they weren't a couple, it didn't stop the other girls from shipping them.
And now, another confession had emerged. This was going to be interesting.
...
Lin Qiunan's talent, the Divine Hint, had informed her that the zombie crisis was resolved, so she too arrived at the small shop. No one objected, as they knew they'd need Lin Qiunan's talent in the future.
...
Gu Pingsheng headed straight for the beverage cooler. Without a doubt, the most crucial resource was water. Humans could survive without food, but not without water. Naturally, Gu Pingsheng aimed for the most valuable items.
The cooler had double doors and contained about 200 bottles of water, many of which were 1-liter or 2-liter bottles. Gu Pingsheng quickly grabbed them one by one.
Seeing Gu Pingsheng's actions, many of the girls also started taking water. Since there were many people at the cooler, Li Ruoyao didn't join in. Instead, she focused on the shelves with bread, cakes, instant noodles, and self-heating rice meals. Not taking water wasn't a big issue; she could always trade with Gu Pingsheng later.
Just then, a sneaky figure slipped in. Zhang Keke, who was closest, frowned and quickly grabbed the person's arm.
"Huang Ting, the class monitor said those who got here first should scavenge first. Once we're done, then it's your turn!"
The girl who got off the bus was Huang Ting. She shouted, "Zhang Keke, why are you so stingy? There are so many supplies here. What's wrong with me taking some? This is a small shop!"
Everyone else paused their scavenging, and Gu Pingsheng coldly stared at Huang Ting. "Please leave and return to the bus. Wait until we're done scavenging."
"By then, there won't be enough! Class monitor, are you just going to watch me starve to death?"
"That's your problem!"
Li Ruoyao scolded, "Get out!"
She pushed Huang Ting out. Huang Ting glared venomously at everyone before returning to the bus. Inside the bus, many of the female students looked at Huang Ting as if she were a clown. Though most were timid, they adhered to the rules. At worst, they'd just gather fewer supplies.
Soon, all five beverage coolers were emptied. Each cooler held about 200 drinks of various kinds. Gu Pingsheng specifically chose water, cola, Sprite, and iced tea. He aimed for popular drinks.
Each inventory slot could only hold one type of item. Gu Pingsheng filled slots with 200 bottles of 500ml C'estbon Mineral Water, 100 bottles of 500ml Nongfu Spring, 100 bottles of 500ml cola, 30 bottles of 1.5-liter cola, 100 bottles of Sprite, 100 bottles of iced tea, and 56 bottles of 2-liter Nongfu Spring. These took up eight slots. Although the larger bottles didn't fill the slots completely, Gu Pingsheng knew their higher value.
He also had a compressed biscuit, which he put in his pocket. Now, he had two slots left for food.
Quickly, he selected 100 cups of braised beef instant noodles. Unfortunately, he couldn't pack them by the box; each cup counted as one unit. If he could, he'd have packed the entire cooler.
For the last slot... Traditional old-style bread? It was large enough to fit, but there wasn't much left. Once he packed one type of bread, he couldn't pack another.
Maybe Weilong spicy strips? No, there were too many, and they were too small. Chips wouldn't work either; they weren't filling.
Ultimately, Gu Pingsheng chose canned goods. He spotted a shelf in the corner with plenty of Ganzhu Brand classic dace with black bean sauce cans. They had a long shelf life, tasted good, and provided protein, though they were a bit salty without rice.
But a bit of salt was good for replenishing electrolytes. Gu Pingsheng quickly grabbed the cans.
The small shop mainly stocked snacks like bread, cakes, chips, spicy strips, and biscuits. There were no compressed biscuits; otherwise, Gu Pingsheng wouldn't have discarded the one he had to free up a slot.
Soon, Gu Pingsheng filled a slot with 100 cans of fish. He must have taken them all, though there were still many left.
Gu Pingsheng glanced around and saw Luo Xiaoxue grabbing small bags of chips, looking around nervously as if afraid someone would notice and snatch them away.
Gu Pingsheng was speechless. "Xiaoxue!"
Luo Xiaoxue shrank back. "Class monitor, don't take my chips!"
"Grab the canned goods. There are plenty left."
"I won't! I like chips."
Luo Xiaoxue insisted.
"I'll take them if she won't!" Zhang Keke hurried over to grab the cans.
Li Ruoyao also rushed over to take some, as there were still many luncheon meat cans.
Gu Pingsheng didn't bother with the little rascal. After all, she had the Healing Art. He wouldn't let her starve. If she wanted chips, she could have them.
After filling his personal inventory, Gu Pingsheng went to the counter. There were many items there, including Zhonghua and Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes, some condoms, lighters, and more.
Gu Pingsheng took a few packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and a dozen lighters. Once everyone had finished scavenging, their inventory slots were full, so they carried large bags of items in their hands.
Gu Pingsheng held three boxes of old-style bread, two bags of salt, and three bags of sugar. His pockets were filled with lighters and a few packs of cigarettes from the counter.
Li Ruoyao had many cans that wouldn't fit in her backpack, and her pockets bulged with unknown items.
Zhang Keke's pockets were stuffed with Snickers bars, and she secretly stashed some in her bra or other clothing.
Liu Xiaofang carried two 3-liter bottles of water, with two bottles of soda tucked into her hood.
Luo Xiaoxue's pockets and hands were filled with instant noodles, crispy snacks, and small bags of chips.
Everyone looked at Luo Xiaoxue with strange expressions. What a waste of a good opportunity...
It seemed she only took snacks that weren't filling and could cause indigestion.
Gu Pingsheng called to the students on the bus, "We've finished scavenging. The small shop is safe now, and there's still about half the supplies left. You can come down."
The small shop was quite large. Besides the emptied beverage coolers, there were still plenty of snacks.
Upon hearing Gu Pingsheng, Huang Ting and a few others rushed out of the bus and into the shop. The other girls followed suit.
Once everyone was off the bus, Gu Pingsheng and his group returned to it. The driver's seat had ample space.
Gu Pingsheng placed the three boxes of old-style bread, salt, and sugar at the foot of the driver's seat. Li Ruoyao's seat was near the door, so she planned to store her supplies under Gu Pingsheng's dashboard.
"Ruoyao, what supplies did you pick?"
Gu Pingsheng asked. He had noticed her browsing the bread and cake section for a long time, likely gathering many supplies.
"Hmph."
Li Ruoyao turned her head, displeased.
Gu Pingsheng was puzzled. He didn't understand why Li Ruoyao was upset.