Behind the shop was the largest section of the wet market—the vegetable and fruit area. Unfortunately, all of it had rotted beyond recognition.
Whether due to poor storage or damage during the zombie outbreak, everything had decayed even faster than normal.
The fruits and vegetables were no longer usable, but the baskets and crates used to store them still were. She collected about thirty to forty of them into her farm space.
This time, before storing them, she silently planned their placement in her mind to avoid the clutter she had made before.
“What guess?” Ruan Zhe asked while scanning the surroundings.
“The zombies appeared before the heavy rain,” Fu Yinli said. “And time outside seems to move slightly faster than inside our farm. Otherwise, things wouldn’t have spoiled so quickly, and people wouldn’t have disappeared so fast.”
Inside and outside the RV, their sense of time had become blurred, but from the clues, they could still draw conclusions.
Ruan Zhe thought for a moment. “There must still be other survivors. Humans are very resilient. We just need to protect ourselves first.”
So when it came to that mother and daughter earlier, she would no longer extend unnecessary kindness.
Fu Yinli nodded. “Do you want to rest for a bit?”
“No need. It’s better to finish quickly.”
That was also why they were killing zombies. After this, they needed to stay hidden here and gather supplies—with zombies nearby, there was no way to feel at ease.
“Alright. Stay with me.”
Fresh vegetables and meat were out of the question. What had excited Ruan Zhe earlier was the other side—the grains, oils, and dry goods section. These stalls took up little space in the wet market, but they were fully stocked.
They didn’t bother choosing carefully anymore and planned to collect everything.
First was the grain and oil shop, selling rice, millet, flour, assorted beans, and cooking oil. There were only two stores, but the stock was plentiful.
She alone stored more than thirty sacks of rice.
After that, they even took a weighing scale from the shop and moved on to a nearby dry goods store, collecting items like mushrooms, red dates, goji berries, vermicelli, dried noodles, seaweed, and kelp. They also took spices such as star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and dried chilies, along with a spice grinder machine.
After finishing, Ruan Zhe felt a bit tired.
Fu Yinli handed her a piece of chocolate and opened a bottle of water. She ate and drank quickly, and soon felt much better.
With her energy restored, she continued collecting condiments—soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar, MSG, doubanjiang, pickled vegetables, and fermented bean curd.
As for the noodle shop next door, fresh hand-pulled noodles, dumpling wrappers, and rice noodles were already ruined. They could only take the dry noodles and the noodle-pressing machine.
In the breakfast cooked-food section, buns and steamed bread had spoiled, but they could still take the steamers, soy milk machines, and jianbing (Chinese crepe) equipment.
Fortunately, the pickled foods stored in jars and large vats were still fine. They took some preserved vegetables such as pickled mustard greens, dried radish, pickled cabbage, sugar garlic, kimchi, and sour beans.
“There are sunflower seeds here,” Fu Yinli said, already about to move on, but Ruan Zhe stopped.
“Let’s go back to the car and rest for a bit first,” he said, turning back to support her. Her face was already pale, though her eyes were still bright.
Ruan Zhe didn’t insist. If she collapsed here, being unable to move would be dangerous.
“I’ll finish collecting these first.”
Sunflower seeds, peanuts, chestnuts, walnuts, pistachios—there were even multiple flavors of sunflower seeds.
After finishing, the two returned to the RV.
“Sit still. Don’t move anymore,” Fu Yinli said, half-carrying her onto the vehicle. After helping her sit down, he poured her a glass of lightly salted water and began preparing food.
The pre-prepared meals finally proved useful. After simple reheating, they quickly ate chicken stew and scallion pancakes.
Perhaps because she was too exhausted, Ruan Zhe ate almost silently, saying nothing. By the end, she could barely keep her eyes open. Fu Yinli wiped her mouth with a tissue and carried her to the bed.
She fell asleep almost instantly, but her brows were still slightly furrowed, as if uneasy.
Fu Yinli gently smoothed her forehead with his finger, then quietly cleaned up the trash from their meal and threw it outside.
Washing dishes with water was too wasteful—they would save it for cleaning blood off their faces, and wash dishes back in the farm.
After that, Fu Yinli parked the car in a corner so only the front needed to be guarded.
He sat in the middle seat, using a cloth dampened with rainwater to slowly wipe his blade, iron rod, and crossbow bolts.
He was still too weak. Too useless. Otherwise Ruan Zhe wouldn’t be so exhausted—fighting zombies, collecting supplies, even managing crops all at once.
Outside, the rain grew heavier. Visibility blurred again, and thunder rumbled overhead.
Fu Yinli felt that this time, the heavens would give no one any chance to breathe.
He needed to become stronger—strong enough to make Ruan Zhe feel more at ease.
Ruan Zhe was awakened by the sound of rain outside. Fu Yinli had just draped another blanket over her and was taping the windows shut.
The rain was too heavy; water was seeping in through the cracks.
She immediately woke fully and jumped out of bed. “We need to go out again right away.”
With rain this heavy—and possibly getting worse—the vehicle would soon become difficult to operate.
“Alright.”
Since the car couldn’t easily enter, they changed into rain gear, grabbed their weapons, and got out.
Their next target was the last section of the wet market: several miscellaneous shops selling disposable bowls and chopsticks, plastic wrap, dishwashing liquid, cleaning cloths, and small kitchen tools like peelers and graters.
In the grain-processing shop, they also collected ground sesame paste, peanut butter, and the machines used to make them.
Next to it was the only tailor shop, right beside a shoe repair shop—rare sights in modern cities.
Ruan Zhe picked out usable clothes, shoes, sewing machines, needles, thread, and fabrics from both stores.
As for the flower shop… since they were already here, she took a few pots of lucky bamboo and pothos.
After collecting everything, they planned to rest there for the night, observe the situation, and decide whether to move.
They slowly walked back—but before they got close, they saw movement near their RV.
“Damn it, I told you to go, so go! What are you whining about!”
A rough male voice rang out.
A small boy sounded frightened. “Dad, I’m scared…”
The man walked out of the shop, looked around, then kicked the boy in the leg.
“Useless trash. Get lost!”
The man was holding a steel rod. He had already checked—the car seemed empty—but that didn’t mean no one would return.
How had this vehicle even gotten here? He had been hiding in this area for a long time and hadn’t seen anyone.
He walked over and tried the door. It wouldn’t open.
He raised the iron rod and smashed the window.
The glass shattered instantly.
But at the same moment, he collapsed to the ground.
A crossbow bolt was firmly embedded in his back.