2022.9.28
The items Song Ya had ordered online gradually arrived. She grabbed a small cart and went down to the first basement level to collect the deliveries.
The basement was a parking garage connected to the elevator. On the right side of the elevator were several rows of locker-style delivery boxes.
She had ordered quite a lot online. Scanning the codes, dozens of lockers opened at once.
Song Ya first unloaded the packages onto the ground, planning to load one cart at a time. Most of her online orders were food items:
Two boxes of self-heating hotpot, two boxes of self-heating rice, two boxes of cola, two boxes of small buns, two boxes of bottled water…
Why two boxes of each? Most sales offered the second box at half price or just one yuan. Who could resist such a deal?
She stacked the heavier items on the cart until it was nearly as tall as herself, then began pushing it inside. With security cameras monitoring the lockers, she wasn’t worried about theft.
Song Ya moved the first load into the living room and returned for the next. She had bought so much online that it would take three or four trips to bring everything upstairs.
On her last trip, she noticed the neighbor across the hall—an older lady—carrying one of her packages upstairs. Since it was from a flagship store, the logo was clearly visible.
Song Ya stepped forward, blocking her path, frowning. “Mrs. Liu, that’s mine.”
The older lady, realizing it was Song Ya, immediately became furious, clutching the package and puffing her neck out. “You say it’s yours! What proof do you have? Just because you order deliveries, I’m not allowed to?”
Song Ya twitched her mouth, having never encountered such an unreasonable person in her life. She pointed to the package. “My name is on it. Check if you don’t believe me.”
Mrs. Liu hugged the package tightly. “This is mine.”
Song Ya didn’t want to argue further. She pointed to the surveillance camera above the lockers. “I can have property management check the footage and report it to the police.”
The moment “police” was mentioned, Mrs. Liu froze. She tossed the package onto the ground. “So what? Such a fuss over a little food! You’d really call the cops? Do you think they’d care?”
Muttering to herself, she walked toward the elevator. She had heard noises earlier and, out of curiosity, tried to sneak one package, but ran into Song Ya, so she had no choice but to return it.
Song Ya ignored her and completed her final trip, moving all the packages upstairs.
After organizing everything, she went to the flower-and-bird market and bought several half-finished potted plants: strawberries, oranges, dragon fruit. She also purchased empty pots, soil, feed, and easy-to-grow seeds like leafy greens and chives.
Finally, she visited her warehouse in the suburbs. She received several messages from suppliers confirming that all goods were ready.
With so many items, Song Ya didn’t bother counting them. These supplies alone could sustain her for many lifetimes. She placed everything into her storage space and left the empty warehouse without looking back.
That evening, she picked up takeout and gave each of the two drivers a 1,000-yuan red envelope. “Today’s the last day. The typhoon will start tomorrow. Everyone at the construction site is going home to rest, so you guys rest too. Thanks for your help.”
The drivers accepted the envelopes with wide smiles. “Not a problem! It’s our duty.”
After handling all this, Song Ya went to the bank. Despite her extravagant spending recently, she had already used up nearly 900 million yuan. Most of her money had gone to food. On the way home, she would stop at any supermarket or store selling food to stock up.
After withdrawing 100,000 yuan and placing it in her bag, she returned home. Upstairs, she moved the new potted plants inside and organized the packages in the kitchen. Since they had been busy, most meals were takeout, and the kitchen was practically unused. The fridge was filled with frozen foods and drinks.
She placed the potted plants on the living room windowsill.
2022.9.29
With the typhoon approaching, businesses began giving early holidays. That morning, they received a local SMS notification:
“Dear residents, the typhoon will make landfall in our city at 3 a.m. on October 1, lasting roughly three days. Please stay home and stock up on supplies.”
As Song Ya, Lin Nan Nan, and Liu Haowen were preparing to go shopping, Zheng Yiming returned carrying a suitcase.
Lin Nan Nan waved. “Hello, little brother. Are you moving back in? Haven’t seen you in two months.”
Zheng Yiming nodded. “Yes. I resigned over there and came back to rest a few days.”
Lin Nan Nan, being naturally friendly, asked, “By the way, little brother, the typhoon’s coming today. We’re going shopping soon. Want to come with us?”
Zheng Yiming lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, and replied, “Sure. I’ll put my luggage down first.”
Watching Zheng Yiming walk away, Lin Nan Nan nudged Song Ya gossipingly, winking. “Song Ya, this little brother is really handsome. Consider someone younger.”
Unexpectedly, Lin Nan Nan was thinking along these lines. Song Ya rolled her eyes and whispered, “Forget it. Can’t ruin a national treasure.”
“We just graduated a year ago, at most one or two years older than him. Don’t act like a forty- or fifty-year-old auntie. This little brother is really cute. If I weren’t taken, I’d go for him,” Lin Nan Nan continued her teasing.
Song Ya valued her life—extremely so.
Back in the team days, she had heard that Zheng Yiming, despite being captain of the first squad, was a high-and-mighty figure. Many women tried to attach themselves to him because of his strength, but without exception, they all got rejected.
Song Ya knew her own limits. Approaching him frivolously would be suicide. All she wanted was to cling to his power, hoping that when Zheng Yiming formed his squad, she could be part of the support team.
“Let’s go.”
Zheng Yiming had somehow arrived behind them, stopping their gossip instantly.
Lin Nan Nan touched her nose and said nothing further.