For ordinary people, without the protection of a car’s air conditioning, even a distance of just a few hundred meters was almost impossible to cross.
After drinking plenty of the space’s water and covering herself from head to toe in sun protection gear, even Mo Fei found it somewhat difficult to walk under the blazing sun.
Thinking that a short burst of pain was better than prolonged suffering, Mo Fei simply broke into a run. However, when she reached the pharmacy a few hundred meters away, she discovered that it was closed. An A4 notice taped to the rolling shutter read:
[Business hours have been changed to 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Please help spread the word. For urgent matters, please contact 187oooooo.]
Mo Fei had come full of anticipation and was just about to leave in disappointment when she noticed that the famous Yuanda Shopping Mall was not far from the pharmacy.
It looked as though people were being evacuated there.
She focused her attention in the direction of the mall, and the sounds from over there immediately became clear.
It turned out that the shopping mall had lost power, just like the hotel.
Nearly every storefront along the street was in the same situation.
There had originally been quite a few people inside the mall. Some had been sitting in the lobby enjoying the free air conditioning, while others had been lining up in the supermarket on Basement Level 1 to buy vegetables.
Now that the power had gone out, and it would take time before electricity was restored, the mall management had no choice but to organize an evacuation.
The crowd packed the mall’s entrances and exits. The cool air inside had not yet completely dissipated, and many people were reluctant to leave. Many others had finally managed to grab some groceries from the supermarket, only to discover the power outage when they were about to pay. They were so frustrated that they refused to leave no matter what anyone said.
Mo Fei quietly slipped in through an unused emergency exit. It happened to be the back entrance of the supermarket on Basement Level 1.
The original owner had once brought the children to this mall. She had gotten lost on Basement Level 1 and had entered the supermarket through this very entrance.
Mo Fei tried pushing the door and found that, in order to evacuate the crowd, the supermarket had indeed opened every exit. The door in front of her opened with a single push.
Passing through two powerless security gates brought her into the household goods section of the supermarket.
This area was relatively secluded, and there were still a dozen or so scattered customers here. The security guards had probably not reached this side yet, so these customers had not been evacuated.
Over the past week, nearly all the food and anything that could help people stay cool had been sold out.
The restocking speed simply could not keep up with everyone’s buying frenzy. However, the shelves in the household goods section in front of her were fully stocked with everything they should have.
Mo Fei casually grabbed a shopping cart.
Regular toothbrushes, electric toothbrushes, water flossers, regular, herbal, and baking soda toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash… These were all daily necessities. Without even looking at the prices, Mo Fei cleared out two entire rows of shelves before moving to the other side.
Towels, adult laundry detergent, children’s laundry detergent, dish soap, floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, hand soap, laundry soap, bath soap, shampoo, body wash, mosquito repellent… It would be incredibly difficult to resume production of these industrial products in the future.
Mosquito repellent was especially important. Who knew what mosquitoes and insects would evolve into by then? Maybe each one would be as big as a fist. Just imagining it made Mo Fei’s skin itch. She had to stock up on these as well.
Mo Fei swept through the shelves row by row, grabbing huge quantities of wet wipes, toilet paper, facial tissues, and sanitary pads. Although people in ancient times could wipe themselves with sticks or leaves, Mo Fei had no intention of following their example. When she turned into an area lined with mirrors, she realized it was the skincare and cosmetics section.
Naturally, these were also the hardest items to sell recently. They all sat neatly on the shelves, with plenty of stock available.
Mo Fei had absolutely no interest in makeup. She mainly bought sunscreen, moisturizing cream, and similar products, tossing more than a dozen containers of each into the shopping cart.
Next to the household goods section was the snack section, more commonly known as the junk food aisle. Mo Fei found almost nothing there.
Whether it was potato chips, spicy strips, nuts, preserved fruit, jerky, or instant noodles, only display samples remained on the shelves. Beside them was a basket of tags that read: Please present a tag to a supermarket employee to collect the item.
When it came to implementing the national purchase limit policy with precision, this supermarket had certainly gone all out.
“Let’s check out the fresh food section,” Mo Fei thought.
Things like live fish and live shrimp surely could not also require claim tags.
Mo Fei was right. The fish, shrimp, and other live seafood in the fresh food section were all still swimming in their tanks.
Once a supermarket lost power, meat, fish, noodles, and frozen convenience foods would spoil very quickly. The supermarket manager was anxiously urging people to restore the electricity. However, because too many employees had called in sick, there was a severe staff shortage. Everything had descended into chaos, making it impossible to follow the emergency power outage procedures.
“This one for braising, this one for steaming, this one for chopped chili fish head, these for garlic crayfish, these for shrimp soup…”
“Is anyone still here?” At that moment, someone in the distance shone a flashlight in her direction.
Mo Fei answered, “Yes. Could you help me net these fish?”
The employee shined the flashlight on Mo Fei’s face, then at her shopping cart stuffed to the brim. “Please come outside with me first. Shopping has been suspended for now.”
“Oh, come on. I finally picked out all these things. Doesn’t your supermarket have an emergency generator?” Mo Fei asked because she was certain they did.
The employee hesitated for a moment. “We do, but for safety reasons, you’d better come with me first. You can leave your things here. There’s no rush.”
Mo Fei thought that it probably was not just for the customers’ safety, but also for the safety of the merchandise. In the darkness, there would inevitably be people taking advantage of the confusion to steal. Although she had her space, she ultimately did not take that opportunity.
Mo Fei acknowledged him and followed the employee toward the exit.
However, luck was truly on Mo Fei’s side. After taking only a few steps, several popping sounds rang out, and the power that had been cut off suddenly returned. The mall’s emergency generator had kicked in.
“Can you help me net the fish now?” Mo Fei asked, still unwavering in her original goal.
Employee: “…”
In the end, Mo Fei got exactly what she wanted and pushed two shopping carts to the checkout counter. One cart contained all the household supplies she had selected earlier, while the other was filled with seafood.
Since most of the people in the mall had already been evacuated, there were only two or three customers left at the checkout.
Mo Fei quickly paid for everything, then pushed the shopping carts outside. She wheeled them into an empty emergency exit, then waved her hand and stored everything inside her space.
What she cared about most were the live shrimp and fish.
This was also the first time Mo Fei had placed living creatures into her space. Since the system had mentioned that a livestock breeding function had been added during the previous space upgrade, she directly released the fish and shrimp into the small river inside the space.
As soon as they entered the river, they immediately calmed down and began swimming leisurely through the water, as though it had always been their home.
Mo Fei also checked on the corn she had previously planted in the black soil. Even though she had left it unattended for quite some time, it had already grown full ears of corn. She thought that when the time came, she could try making pine nut corn to see how it tasted.
After finishing everything, Mo Fei quickly headed toward the underground parking garage of Changchuan Hotel.