Looking at Lin Nannan’s angry face, Song Ya comforted her, “Nannan, they can’t break in. This anti-theft door is high-grade and very hard to pry open. Even if they dare to come in, they won’t be able to beat us.”
Lin Nannan finally relaxed a little, her temper coming and going quickly. “I know, Xiaoya. You’d better not go out recently. Your fighting skills aren’t as good as mine. If someone attacks you, that would be bad.”
They had just taught that group a lesson earlier, and those people were probably still holding a grudge. If Song Ya ended up alone, they definitely wouldn’t show mercy.
“Alright, I understand.” Song Ya nodded and smiled. As if remembering something, she went back to her room and brought out the two knives.
“I bought these before because they looked nice. I’ll keep them in the living room. If someone really breaks in, we won’t need to hold back.”
Lin Nannan nodded.
That afternoon, a sudden commotion erupted outside the door. The noise was so loud that it could be clearly heard even inside the apartment.
When Song Ya stepped out, Zheng Yiming, Lin Nannan, and Liu Haowen followed her.
They opened the door and saw that the door to Aunt Liu’s apartment across the hall was wide open. Just as they stepped out, a shadow flashed past quickly in the corridor, followed by the hurried sound of someone rushing down the stairs.
The four of them didn’t chase after the person. Instead, they were puzzled about why Aunt Liu would leave her door open like that.
They looked inside and discovered someone lying in a pool of blood.
It was Aunt Liu.
Lin Nannan froze for a moment before grabbing Liu Haowen’s arm, her face turning pale. “Sh-She… she’s dead?”
Song Ya hadn’t expected that before she even made a move, Aunt Liu would already be killed by someone else. It must have been the person who just escaped.
“Someone probably tried to break in and rob the place. They fought, and she got hit,” Song Ya said, trying to comfort them. She reached out and closed Aunt Liu’s door. Out of sight, out of mind—otherwise, every time they opened their own door, they’d see a corpse, which would definitely ruin their mood.
Lin Nannan remained silent for a while before tugging on Song Ya’s arm. “Let’s hurry back inside. These people have already gone crazy. There’s nothing they wouldn’t do. Today it’s Aunt Liu’s family—tomorrow it could be us. We’d better just stay at home.”
As she spoke, she quickly ushered everyone back in and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Still shaken, Lin Nannan began taking deep breaths after entering the apartment. Seeing this, Song Ya comforted her, “Nannan, it’s okay. They definitely can’t get in here.”
Lin Nannan pressed her lips together. “I just didn’t expect them to actually kill someone.”
Song Ya didn’t say anything more.
After all, Huang Guolin had been killed by her.
For the next few days, none of them went outside.
After more than twenty days of typhoon weather, it finally stopped near the end of the month.
During those days, it wasn’t that no one tried to pry open their door—it was just that the door Song Ya installed was far too sturdy to break. Late at night, they could often hear faint rustling sounds outside.
Song Ya woke up a little early one morning and glanced at the sky outside.
She vaguely remembered that after the typhoon would come torrential rain. The weather would only clear for half a day before the rain began around one in the afternoon. That rain would trigger severe flooding lasting more than half a month. Later, when the temperature dropped too low, the floodwaters would freeze, and only then could people step on the ice and go outside.
Thinking of this, Song Ya immediately went to wake up Lin Nannan, Liu Haowen, and Zheng Yiming.
“The hail has stopped. Hurry up and go out to buy supplies,” Song Ya called to them.
It was only a little after five in the morning. The sky was still dim, and most people were still asleep, unaware that the hailstorm had ended.
“It stopped?” Lin Nannan looked outside and saw that the hail had indeed stopped, but it had fallen so heavily over the past few days that the ground was still covered with large and small chunks of ice that hadn’t melted yet.
“Let’s hurry and go buy things. If the hail starts again, who knows when it’ll stop next,” Song Ya said.
Lin Nannan nodded. Although they still had food at home, if they kept eating like this, it wouldn’t last very long. Because of the heavy hail these past few days, they hadn’t even taken out the trash. They decided to bring it down and throw it away while they were out.
Song Ya went back to her room and took out the cash she had withdrawn earlier. She handed Lin Nannan fifty thousand yuan.
“Let’s split up. Zheng Yiming and I will buy food. You and Liu Haowen buy daily necessities—gas canisters, warm clothing, chargers, and things like that, just in case.”
Lin Nannan looked a little stunned while holding the fifty thousand in cash. “Do we really need to bring cash? My phone still has battery.”
“Just in case. The hailstorm was too heavy—many power lines were smashed. If the signal goes down in some places, you two should also bring something for self-defense,” Song Ya reminded her while packing her things.
Lin Nannan didn’t waste time. She found a backpack and stuffed the money inside. “Alright, I’ll take it for now. I’ll transfer the money back to you later. Be careful, and call me if anything happens.”
“Okay. Let’s regroup before one in the afternoon. Then we’ll check what else we’re missing,” Song Ya said, nodding.
Zheng Yiming had been quiet the whole time. After hearing Song Ya’s arrangements, he simply followed behind her.
The power in the high-rise building had stopped, so they could only take the stairs down.
Fortunately, although there had been heavy rain before, the underground parking garage hadn’t been flooded. They headed straight there. Lin Nannan and Liu Haowen had an SUV, and the two of them drove out immediately after getting in.
Song Ya also owned a car, but it was a small mini electric vehicle. In this kind of weather, it might easily get stuck.
Just as she was hesitating about whether to drive it out, Zheng Yiming pointed at a tall pickup truck.
“Take my car.”
Song Ya didn’t hesitate and got straight into Zheng Yiming’s vehicle.
The two groups drove out of the garage one after another. Zheng Yiming headed directly to the nearest supermarket.
By the time they arrived, it was already a little after six in the morning. The supermarket had opened, and quite a few people were already inside.
It seemed that many people, like them, had rushed out as soon as they realized the hail had stopped.
Since it was still early, the supermarket wasn’t too crowded yet. The two of them each pushed a shopping cart. The rice section had already been surrounded by early-arriving aunties, and Song Ya couldn’t squeeze in at all. Fortunately, Zheng Yiming was tall with long arms and legs. He simply reached up and grabbed rice bags from the top shelf.
The sign there said limit two bags per person, so the two of them could only take four bags in total.
Luckily, there were no purchase limits on other items.
Most people were still scrambling for rice, and the seasoning aisle was almost empty.
Song Ya started stuffing every type of seasoning into the cart. After glancing at the prices, she realized they were about twice as expensive as before.
But at a time like this, who cared about the price?
Having food was the only thing that mattered.
Perhaps because the hailstorm had lasted so long, all the fresh vegetables and fruits were gone from the supermarket. Only long-lasting items like oranges, apples, and potatoes remained.
They didn’t have the luxury to choose. They grabbed large bags of whatever vegetables were left. They also took frozen meat, meatballs, and similar items.
After filling two carts completely, Song Ya went to grab a third cart. This time, she filled it with various ready-to-eat side dishes, canned vegetables, and canned meat.
By the time they had filled three carts to the brim, it was already past seven.
At this hour, more and more people had realized that the hail had stopped, and nearby residents were rushing to the supermarket as quickly as possible.
Once the crowd grew larger, the entire supermarket descended into chaotic panic-buying.