The next day, Wu Xiaolan woke up bright and early and drove her small cargo truck to the largest nearby agricultural products market.
This was when fruits and vegetables were at their freshest—not only packed with moisture and crisp in texture, but also offering the highest quality appearance.
Over the next few hours, she fully entered a frantic shopping mode.
First came the absolute essentials for surviving the apocalypse: rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil.
Even though she had emptied Sun Xueqin’s grocery store the day before, she still felt it wasn’t enough.
She wasn’t short on money now; the more she could buy, the better.
She walked straight to the grain section.
“Boss, give me 500 bags of flour and 500 bags of rice, 100 catties each.”
The grain and oil store boss asked curiously, “Miss, what do you need this much grain for?”
“It’s International Women’s Day, handing out welfare to female employees. Our company has a lot of people,” Wu Xiaolan made up an excuse with a straight face.
It was just an excuse anyway; the boss asked casually, and she answered casually.
She didn’t believe that for a transaction worth over 200,000 yuan, they would refuse to sell just because they doubted her intended use.
Sure enough, though skeptical, the boss was still happy to see a big deal walk in and cheerfully called his employees to haul the goods out from the warehouse.
Next, Wu Xiaolan bought 500 barrels of bottled oil in bulk at the same shop, along with various seasonings like sugar, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
Ready-made dried noodles, instant noodles, vermicelli, and dehydrated dried vegetables—she picked all the ones with the freshest production dates and had the boss deliver everything to her designated location.
Leaving the grain shop, Wu Xiaolan headed to the frozen food section.
First, she bought frozen staples: boxed dumplings, wontons, steamed buns, flower rolls, red bean buns, custard buns, glutinous rice balls, glutinous rice cakes, hand-grabbed pancakes, stuffed pies, spring rolls, xiaolongbao…
Then she bought frozen vegetables: green peas, corn kernels, diced carrots, broccoli…
Finally, she also procured a large amount of pre-made convenience foods: fried chicken nuggets, Orleans chicken wings, spicy pepper drumsticks, french fries, hash browns, onion rings, cod fillets…
Because she bought so much, the boss even threw in two air fryers as a gift.
After having people load the items onto her small cargo truck, Wu Xiaolan bought a bunch of hot pot meatballs, frozen desserts, frozen seafood fish blocks, and more on the side.
In short, whatever her eyes landed on, she grabbed a few boxes of it, and whatever didn’t fit in the truck was sent to the fixed pickup location.
Leaving the frozen section, Wu Xiaolan returned to her car, tucked all the goods inside into her spatial dimension, and headed over to the snack section.
Considering water and electricity would be cut off in the apocalypse, making it inconvenient to start a fire and cook, Wu Xiaolan purchased a massive quantity of canned goods—meat, fruit, and vegetable cans, she wanted them all.
On top of that, compressed biscuits, chocolate, and various candies were indispensable; though lacking in nutrition, these could quickly replenish physical energy.
The small cargo truck was quickly piled full again, forcing Wu Xiaolan to alternate between stashing goods into her space and continuing her shopping spree.
Afterward, Wu Xiaolan went to the fresh produce section.
She pre-ordered 100 slaughtered pigs, 100 slaughtered cows, and 2,000 slaughtered chickens from the vendors.
These would be her primary sources of nutrition in the apocalypse, so she had the vendors vacuum-seal and package the meats in advance before delivering them to the designated spot.
Simultaneously, she pre-ordered 500 flats of fertilized eggs for various poultry, 2,000 breedable live fish, 50 head of breedable livestock each, and 500 head of poultry each from the respective vendors.
These breedable livestock represented the hope of survival under apocalyptic conditions, especially the poultry and fertilized eggs—as long as conditions permitted and they were raised properly, they would breed endlessly and bring more survival opportunities.
Wu Xiaolan had the vendors deliver these livestock she ordered to the Songshan villa, which had plenty of open space and a large courtyard attached to the villa itself, making it just right to accommodate them.
Hearing the delivery address, the vendor assumed Wu Xiaolan was opening a farmhouse resort and signed the contract without the slightest suspicion.
Not only that, to secure a long-term partnership, he also generously gifted Wu Xiaolan 100 little chicks.
Before leaving, Wu Xiaolan bought several boxes of vegetable and fruit seeds at the agricultural market.
Though she didn’t know whether the polluted soil of the apocalypse could sprout new hope, having seeds meant having a future; whether self-sufficiency could be achieved in the doomsday depended entirely on them.
With everything arranged properly, Wu Xiaolan drove toward the medical wholesale market.
Arriving at the medical wholesale market, Wu Xiaolan chose to make decentralized purchases to avoid drawing attention.
She bought some cold medicine here, some anti-inflammatory drugs there, and switched to another shop for antibiotics and first-aid kits.
After all, the apocalyptic weather and environment would be volatile, viruses and bacteria would multiply, and the probability of people getting sick or injured would spike.
Therefore, whether it was colds and fevers, gastrointestinal discomfort, trauma care, or vitamin supplements—she stocked common medicines and medical supplies by the box wherever she could think of them.
After signing the contracts and arranging for deliveries, Wu Xiaolan didn’t waste a single second, heading separately to a few of the city’s largest purified drinking water specialty stores.
With severe pollution in the apocalypse, water resources would definitely be limited.
She purchased a massive volume of barreled water, bottled water, various models of water purification equipment and tools, and dozens of large, sealable empty water barrels that could attach to external faucets.
Presently, the apocalypse hadn’t broken out yet, and water quality was relatively clean.
She decided to store tap water in barrels so that when the apocalypse broke out, she could filter and boil it to drink, or use it for washing her face and bathing.
As for that clean bottled water, she would save it for emergency use.
Right across the street happened to be a hardware city.
Considering electricity and lighting issues during the apocalypse, Wu Xiaolan ordered solar charging panels, small generators, storage batteries, a large quantity of candles, lighters, high-powered flashlights, and various battery-operated portable lamps…
In short, after purchasing every lighting and power-generation equipment she could think of, Wu Xiaolan consulted reference materials and, following the hardware store owner’s suggestions, bought a huge pile of parts, accessories, and small tools.
For instance, various electrical wires, power strips of all styles, locks, nails, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, hammers, and the like.
Right next door was an outdoor gear store, where she ordered fishing gear, binoculars, walkie-talkies, radios, mountaineering backpacks, sleeping bags, moisture-proof mats, portable stoves, cassette stoves, and gas canisters…
The future city wouldn’t be safe. If her safe house wasn’t safe either, she might face the risk of roaming everywhere in her RV; these outdoor supplies would be her guarantee for sleeping under the stars in the future.
After instructing the boss to send them to the designated location as well, Wu Xiaolan navigated her way to an outdoor clothing mall.
There, she purchased sturdy cargo pants, windbreakers, thermal underwear, down jackets, quick-drying clothes, hiking boots, raincoats, rain boots, hats, and gloves…
She picked sturdy, durable fabrics across the board, opting for drab, inconspicuous color schemes.
Surviving alone as a girl in the apocalypse was extremely unsafe.
Finally, Wu Xiaolan went to the bookstore and bought some professional science popularization books.
Knowledge is power, and learning is a skill.
There was still a lot she needed to learn, such as agricultural planting, mechanical maintenance, medical first aid, basic self-defense…
Naturally, she also bought a few web novels on the side to pass the time.
Otherwise, cooped up alone in a safe house during the apocalypse without anything to relieve the boredom, she would probably go crazy.
Wu Xiaolan busied herself all the way until afternoon, just as the sun was about to set, finally finishing the purchase of all the supplies on her checklist from last night.
To celebrate this monumental moment, she decided to treat herself to a seafood feast.
Arriving at the city’s highest-spec grand hotel, she ordered a whole table of seafood.
There was steamed king crab, scalded grass prawns, goose liver cheese-baked lobster…
A full table overflowing with dishes; Wu Xiaolan’s eyes went straight when the food was served.
It had been many years since she last ate with such uninhibited gusto.
Ever since her grandfather passed away, she had lost her source of living expenses.
Lin Yue’e and Chen Tao didn’t care about her at all; most of the money in her hands was lucky money saved up bit by bit from Wu family relatives during past holidays.
If she didn’t spend frugally, she wouldn’t even be able to afford her university tuition.
Back when they were young, both Chen Yue and Chen晨 (Chen Chen) had extra pocket money, and she had once innocently asked herself if she had done something wrong.
Later on, she realized the ones who were wrong were those two parasitic bloodsuckers, Chen Tao and Lin Yue’e.
Putting aside Lin Yue’e as her stepmother, this father of hers didn’t deserve to live in this world either.
Looking at the table full of delicacies, bittersweet tears streamed down the corners of Wu Xiaolan’s mouth.
At that moment, two harsh, grating voices sounded from behind.
“Yo, who do I take this to be? Isn’t this Wu Xiaolan?”
The waiter had forgotten to close the private room door when serving the dishes earlier. Su Yao, wearing big wavy curls and carrying a fake Hermès bag, swayed her hips as she slowly strolled in.
Behind her was Zhao Yu, who had acted as her toadying lapdog ever since high school.
Over the years, Su Yao had cycled through several boyfriends, but her bootlicking lapdog Zhao Yu had remained steadfast and consistent.
The two walked in one after the other, looking all around.
When they caught sight of the table of dishes, their expressions instantly shifted. Yet to hide their internal reluctance and jealousy, they had to force it down hard.
“I heard this restaurant was holding a lucky draw today, and someone won a free king’s meal. We were wondering who was so lucky—turns out it was you, Wu Xiaolan.”
Zhao Yu’s tone carried disdain, as if winning a meal made one inherently inferior.
Wu Xiaolan hadn’t expected to run into these two jinxes in a place like this, and half of her great mood instantly evaporated.
“Where did these flies come from?”
“Buzzing around, so noisy.”
Having been classmates for three high school years, Zhao Yu was long used to being scolded by Wu Xiaolan, and his skin was as thick as a city wall.
He sneered contemptuously: “What are you putting on airs for? With that poor, pauper look of yours, if you hadn’t gotten lucky in a draw, could you come eat at a place like this? Do you really think you’re still the eldest daughter of the Chen family?”
Back in high school, to cover up Wu Xiaolan’s identity, Chen Chen and Chen Yue had deliberately spread rumors claiming her mother was a mistress who ran off with an older man, and that Wu Xiaolan was only taken in to be raised out of charity—which was why she didn’t even share their surname.
Quite a few people believed it.
After all, Wu Xiaolan was utterly helpless and alone, and her only grandfather who treated her well had come down with Alzheimer’s and was sent to a nursing home by her maternal cousin Wu Zhigang.
At that time, Chen Tao had already seized control of the majority of the company’s power. Who would offend the young master of the Chen family for the sake of a “mistress’s daughter”?
Seeing Wu Xiaolan stay silent, Su Yao grew even more smug.
Covering her mouth, she feigned surprise: “Wu Xiaolan, don’t tell me you’ve been kept as a sugar baby by some old man?”
With that, she let out a deliberate chuckle, hypocritical and affected enough to make someone sick to their stomach.
Knowing she couldn’t chase these two flies away immediately, Wu Xiaolan lost her appetite completely.
She rang the bell to summon a waiter: “Your restaurant’s environment isn’t very good; there’s been a dog barking the whole time.”
Rushing over, the waiter apologized profusely—it was indeed his fault for not closing the door properly, letting random idlers barge in.
He turned unpleasantly to Su Yao and Zhao Yu: “You two, please don’t disturb other guests’ dining and leave the private room immediately.”
Refusing to leave, Su Yao stood her ground even when blocked by two waiters, pulling on her voice to yell: “Wu Xiaolan! Who are you calling a dog?”
Glancing at her sideways, Wu Xiaolan said, “Whoever answers answers.”
Zhao Yu’s eyes widened.
He was already short and stout, and at the moment he looked as angry as an inflated toad.
“Wu Xiaolan, we were classmates once; if you aren’t going to treat us to a meal, fine, but you dare curse us? Believe it or not, I’ll tell Uncle Chen and have him properly discipline you!”
“Sue me wherever you want, just don’t disgust people in my space.” Wu Xiaolan looked at the waiter: “Does your establishment not have security guards? Can’t you hear the dog barking?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, we’ll chase them out right now, absolutely refusing to impact your dining experience.” Hurriedly calling security over, the waiter had Su Yao and Zhao Yu escorted out of the private room.
Stamping her foot at the entrance of the private room, Su Yao fumed: “Wu Xiaolan! Don’t think eating a meal here makes you hot stuff!”
“At least I’m paying for it with my own money,” Wu Xiaolan taunted from behind the private room curtain. “Unlike some people, who probably only came here to take photos for check-ins?”
Su Yao and Zhao Yu were left completely speechless.
As minor internet influencers with under ten thousand followers, they were indeed here today to scout the location and take photos.
A table of model dishes was shot in rotation; unless they were million-follower top influencers, the merchants wouldn’t let them eat the food.
Too lazy to tangle any further, Wu Xiaolan had all the food packed up and stood up to walk toward the cash register.
Watching her back, Su Yao suddenly regained her haughty momentum.
“Paying just one yuan to eat a free king’s meal—what’s the difference between that and begging?”
“Exactly,” Zhao Yu echoed. “Only poor and incompetent people go around taking advantage of things.”
They had just received a message from Chen Yue: Wu Xiaolan had severed ties with her family and was long past being the eldest daughter of the Chen family.
To make matters worse, she had been fired by her company and reduced to an unemployed wanderer.
Therefore, they were certain Wu Xiaolan couldn’t possibly have paid out of pocket to eat here—she must have won a lucky draw to freeload at a high-end hotel.
Too lazy to deal with these two giant idiots, Wu Xiaolan scanned the QR code to pay directly.
As she turned around, watching the expressions of the two before her transform from smugness to shock, followed by jealousy and a defensive breakdown, she flashed a cold smirk.
“Do your jobs properly and stop daydreaming about hooking up with fake big-spenders. The food here isn’t that expensive; you guys can afford it too.”
At that moment, Su Yao completely lost it; the jealousy and reluctance deep in her eyes could no longer be masked.
In her eyes, they both shared an “unseemly” background—so why was Wu Xiaolan living a better life than her?
Weren’t they both illegitimate daughters?
Why did her father refuse to give her even living expenses, whereas Wu Xiaolan, even after being kicked out of the house, could still waltz in and out of places like this?
Unwilling to let it go, she hurried to Wu Xiaolan’s side.
“Don’t rush off just yet. There’s a piece of news I’m notifying you about—wondering if you want to hear it or not?”
With an icy expression, Wu Xiaolan looked at the person blocking her path: “Not listening. Don’t tell me, just keep it bottled up inside.”
Stumped for a moment by the retort, Su Yao watched Wu Xiaolan push past her to leave and could no longer bother playing coy, blurting out at top speed: “Wu Xiaolan, next week’s high school class reunion—do you dare come?”
Staring at Wu Xiaolan with a calculating gaze, she silently swore that if Wu Xiaolan agreed to come, she would definitely humiliate her at the reunion.
On top of that, their class monitor Gu Yichen would be coming too; that guy used to have a secret crush on Wu Xiaolan but couldn’t get her. Seeing her in this down-and-out state now, he’d surely be utterly disappointed.
By then, she’d seize the chance to get Gu Yichen drunk—was there any doubt she’d marry into high society then?
Arms crossed, Zhao Yu stood to the side. Completely missing Su Yao’s inner schemes, he chimed in with a sarcastic tone: “Why would Wu Xiaolan attend a class reunion? She’s not even in the class chat group; who recognizes her as a classmate?”
Wu Xiaolan agreed with that point.
High school had been the darkest period of her 22-year life.
Not only did she fail to make friends, but she was also frequently bullied at school under the leadership of Chen Chen and Chen Yue.
Such a class reunion—it wasn’t that she didn’t dare go, but that there was simply no need.
Looking at Su Yao, Wu Xiaolan warned her word by word: “Zhao Yu is right, I don’t have classmates. Please stop harassing me, or else I’m calling the police.”
Su Yao glared fiercely at Zhao Yu—what a pig of a teammate!
Realizing he had spoken wrongly, Zhao Yu hurriedly corrected himself: “Hey, Wu Xiaolan, actually there are still classmates who miss you—like Lan Xinran, she’s coming this time too.”
Hearing that familiar name, Wu Xiaolan, who had already reached the outside of the hotel, instantly halted her steps.
Lan Xinran.
This name was like a pebble tossed into a deep pool, sending layer upon layer of ripples through Wu Xiaolan’s heart.
During those high school days, Wu Xiaolan always walked the campus alone, the surrounding laughter having nothing to do with her.
Until Lan Xinran shone like a beam of light into her world.
Lan Xinran was an orphan, transferred into Wu Xiaolan’s school during her freshman year due to stellar grades.
On her first day of enrollment, she became Wu Xiaolan’s desk mate.
Because their learning paces differed, Wu Xiaolan took the initiative to help her catch up.
From that day on, the two became each other’s best friends.
Yet back then, Wu Xiaolan was constantly targeted by the bullying ring led by Chen Chen, which often dragged Lan Xinran into the crossfire.
Even so, Lan Xinran never abandoned Wu Xiaolan. Having learned a bit of self-defense at an orphanage growing up, she would always step forward whenever Wu Xiaolan was bullied.
With her around, the bullying clique headed by Chen Chen reined it in quite a bit.
That lasted until Wu Xiaolan’s grandfather passed away, and Lin Yue’e completely ripped off her mask.
From then on, Lin Yue’e refused to let Wu Xiaolan come home to live, leaving Wu Xiaolan with no choice but to board at school.
Little did she know, Lin Yue’e had planned this all along.
Chen Chen’s gang mistook Lan Xinran—who was wearing Wu Xiaolan’s pajamas—for her, and catching Lan Xinran off guard, shoved her straight down from the second floor.
That single moment felt like a deliberate slow-motion shot, permanently etched onto Wu Xiaolan’s retina.
When Wu Xiaolan rushed over, Lan Xinran was already curled up on the ground, her face as pale as paper, cold sweat oozing from her forehead, biting her lips tightly without letting out a single cry, while her leg was twisted at an abnormal angle.
Chen Chen’s gang froze in place, vicious grins of successful mischief still lingering on their faces, which instantly shifted into a trace of panic.
They hadn’t expected to push the wrong person either.
A fury capable of destroying everything rushed straight from the soles of Wu Xiaolan’s feet to the top of her head, burning away all her reason and forbearance.
Scanning the area, she spotted a mop leaning against the corner.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she snatched the mop and swung it toward Chen Chen.
Before everyone could pull them apart, Chen Chen was beaten bloody.
Still unsatisfied, Wu Xiaolan grabbed Chen Chen by his hair—which was stiff with hair gel—and slammed it savagely against the floor.
The final outcome was that the school fired the head teacher and the dormitory supervisor, and covered all of Lan Xinran’s medical and nutritional expenses. As for Wu Xiaolan and Chen Chen’s siblings, they were left for their families to handle.
But Lin Yue’e coddled her precious son, crying and making a scene at home.
Chen Tao, without distinguishing right from wrong, tricked Wu Xiaolan back home and broke one of her arms.
Wu Xiaolan didn’t cry, because starting from that day, she knew she was an orphan too.
At the hospital, two helpless girls made hardship tangible.
Lan Xinran had rolled down the stairs and suffered injuries all over her body, her leg encased in a thick cast hoisted high up in the air.
With her left arm in a sling, Wu Xiaolan used a single hand to laboriously pour water, wipe her face, and feed her.
Instead of offering apologies, the Chen family sent people to “remind” them: “Family shame shouldn’t be aired outside; calling the police benefits no one.”
The hospital window reflected the cold lights of the city, while their world was left with only the sound of each other’s breathing and the pungent smell of disinfectant.
At that moment, it was the cold weight of the plaster, the lingering dull pain after painkillers wore off, and the pitch-black darkness of an uncertain future.
One day during their hospitalization, Wu Xiaolan went to the cafeteria to get food.
Head Teacher He Shuang came to visit Lan Xinran. She was one of Lan Xinran’s sponsors and also the scapegoat fired because of this incident.
Bringing a bouquet of flowers which she placed on Lan Xinran’s bedside table, she earnestly advised Lan Xinran:
“Xinran, transfer schools. These wealthy kids aren’t people ordinary folks like us can afford to cross. For the sake of your future and your safety.”
She said a lot, all genuinely for Lan Xinran’s good.
Looking out the window, Lan Xinran nodded gently after a long silence.
She was an orphan with no capital to act willfully.
“Thank you, Teacher. I’ve thought it through.”
Barely thirty years old, He Shuang gave her a relieved smile: “No one can predict what the future holds, but to repeat that old cliché: as long as the green hills remain…”
Wu Xiaolan only found out that Lan Xinran was transferring schools on the day she was discharged.
She didn’t try to make her stay, silently pulling out most of the money in her bank card.
Inside were the lucky money she had saved up since childhood and the meal money she had occasionally skimped on.
Fearing Lan Xinran wouldn’t accept it, she tucked the cash into a box along with a note, placed it on Lan Xinran’s bedside table, and quietly checked herself out of the hospital.
“Keep the money, it’s my compensation.”
Clutching that note, Lan Xinran finally let large tears fall, smashing onto the white bedsheet.
The transfer procedures were completed in silence.
The day Lan Xinran left limping, Wu Xiaolan stood at the school gate with her arm in a sling, watching from afar as her figure vanished around the street corner.
She hadn’t asked for Lan Xinran’s new school, nor her new address.
The Chen family would never allow her to make friends; she couldn’t drag Lan Xinran down with her.
From then on, two tracks that had briefly intersected parted ways entirely, with no goodbye.
As years flowed by, those days they weathered together, the silent support, and the scalding tears at parting all sank deep into the memories, forming scabs, yet never vanishing.
Therefore, when Zhao Yu spat out the name “Lan Xinran,” the lake of Wu Xiaolan’s heart, dormant for so many years, was struck by a massive boulder.
Astonishment, nostalgia, guilt, and an indescribable yearning flooded her instantly.
If Lan Xinran was truly going, then even if it was a sea of daggers and flames, she, Wu Xiaolan, would keep the appointment.
“Alright.” Wu Xiaolan agreed readily, looking at Su Yao and speaking word by word: “Time, address—send it to me.”
She was going to confirm whether the light that had once shone into her gloomy youth was still safe and sound, and perhaps to make up for some of the regrets of being powerless to protect her back then.
More importantly, with the apocalypse approaching, she didn’t want Lan Xinran struggling to survive alone in the end times.
The small cargo truck drove away from the hotel parking lot into the distance.
Only then did Su Yao and Zhao Yu remember: neither of them had Wu Xiaolan’s contact information—how were they supposed to send it to her?