That evening, while her parents were watching television in the living room, Lin Wan found an excuse.
“Mom,”
Holding her phone and pretending to read a message, she tried to sound as casual as possible.
“Our department is doing that outdoor team-building drill next week, right? The logistics department suddenly ran out of staff for procurement, so they dragged me in to help. They want me to go to the Metro Wholesale Store tonight to bring back some basic supplies so they can load them onto the trucks tomorrow. Can I borrow your car keys?”
Li Shulan was watching a family drama on TV. Hearing this, she turned her head and replied casually,
“Oh, team building… alright, alright. Go ahead. The keys are on the shoe cabinet. Drive carefully. I heard they’ve been cracking down on drunk driving lately… and come back early.”
Beside her, Lin Jianguo was staring intently at the stock market K-line chart. He merely responded with a brief “Mm.”
Lin Wan then looked toward her father and asked, “Dad, did you put all the family’s money into the stock market today?”
She had spent the entire day writing the supply list and had not noticed when her father had gone out. Now she could only ask.
“No. Today is Saturday, the market isn’t open. I’ll invest next Monday. Right now is the best timing.”
“Got it,” Lin Wan said.
She did not say anything else. Inside, she quietly let out a breath of relief. It was good that he had not invested yet—there was still a chance to get the money to buy supplies. She just had not thought of a good excuse for it yet.
She grabbed the car keys from the shoe cabinet and quickly pushed the door open.
Outside, the sticky heatwave air rushed toward her and wrapped around her instantly.
Without slowing down, she almost ran downstairs.
Her mother’s white little Polo was parked below the building.
She started the car, and the old engine let out a strained humming sound.
Opening the navigation system, she set the destination to the largest warehouse supermarket in the area.
After twenty minutes of driving, she arrived.
The enormous supermarket sign shone dazzlingly in the night.
After parking the car and pushing open the supermarket doors, a complicated smell mixed with air-conditioning, cooked food, and plastic packaging rushed out.
Inside, the place was brightly lit like daytime. The massive space echoed with the clattering of shopping carts, children crying, and the noisy shouting of promotional loudspeakers, weaving together into the bustling, lively atmosphere of a peaceful and prosperous world.
Lin Wan expressionlessly pushed three large metal shopping carts.
The heavy metal frames made dull scraping sounds under her hands.
Her goal was clear.
Like a machine programmed to sweep up goods, she headed straight for the food section.
Entire boxes of military compressed biscuits were lifted into the cart.
Without stopping, she moved to the canned goods section.
Canned beef? Entire boxes into the cart.
Luncheon meat? Stack the whole cartons on top.
The shelves were visibly emptying at a rapid speed.
In front of the instant noodle aisle, she did not even bother distinguishing flavors. Wherever she walked, she swept everything up—braised beef noodles, pickled cabbage noodles, shrimp-flavored noodles…
Cartons of colorful boxes were piled into the second shopping cart until it was quickly filled.
Then came the grain and oil section.
Ten-jin vacuum bags of rice—she lifted them like sacks of grain, tossing two at a time into the third cart without effort.
Five bags of rice…
The shopping cart wheels creaked under the unbearable weight.
In the milk powder section, both infant formula and elderly nutrition milk powder were stacked in full cartons.
Wherever she passed, the shelves rapidly became empty.
The surrounding customers turned their heads one after another, their uncertain and astonished gazes landing on her. The sound of whispered conversations lingered in the air.
“Oh my god! What’s that girl doing? Preparing for war? Even looting wouldn’t be that ruthless!”
“Look at her—like the stuff is free. Her eyes are staring straight ahead. It’s kind of scary…”
“Hey, did you hear? The weather station issued a warning. Next week the temperature might break 45 degrees! It’s going to roast people alive! Maybe she’s stockpiling food to prepare for the heat?”
“Seems like it! Look at what she’s buying—everything filling and long-lasting! How many years does she plan to eat this for? Crazy…”
Lin Wan paid no attention to the discussions.
Inside her heart there was only a cold mockery.
Laugh.
Go ahead and laugh.
In a few dozen days, when the first torrential rain—so overwhelming it would seem to drown the entire world—poured down from the sky…
When floods broke down your doors…
When the extreme cold froze the blood in your veins…
You would fight like beasts over a single bottle of mineral water or a hardened biscuit.
Only then would you realize how ridiculous and pitiful today’s self-righteous comments were.
She pushed the three mountain-like carts, piled high and on the verge of collapsing.
Deliberately avoiding the crowded main checkout counters, she turned toward a relatively quiet checkout lane in a corner.
A young couple stood ahead of her in line, paying for only a few snacks and drinks.
When it was Lin Wan’s turn, the female cashier—who looked to be in her forties and had a somewhat sharp expression—stared at the three “mountains” of goods that nearly blocked her view.
When she saw that they were all rice, grain, oil, and compressed foods, her eyebrows instantly twisted into a tight knot.
She raised her head and looked Lin Wan up and down, her gaze filled with undisguised scrutiny, suspicion, and even a faint hint of… vigilance.
“Beep—”
“Beep—beep—beep—”
The monotonous sound of the scanner echoed repeatedly, sounding particularly harsh in the quiet corner.
On the checkout screen, the string of numbers representing the total price kept jumping upward wildly.
At that moment, the phone in Lin Wan’s coat pocket vibrated.
Her movements did not pause at all.
Expressionless, she pulled the phone out of her pocket.
The screen lit up.
On the lock screen, a preview of a WeChat message appeared.
Sender: Zhou Qing.
Message preview:
“Wanwan~ what are you busy with? Did I wake you up this morning? I’m really sorry, don’t be mad. What’s wrong with you lately? You haven’t even posted on Moments recently (づ??????)づ Is work stressing you out? Don’t push yourself too hard! Are you free this weekend? Let’s chat! I’ll treat you to your favorite cheese strawberry drink~”
Lin Wan stared at the pink heart emoji and the name “Zhou Qing” on the screen as her gaze slowly darkened.
The surrounding noise seemed to fade away instantly.
Even the bright supermarket lights became pale and glaring.
It was as if she once again saw that frozen stairwell.
Zhou Qing’s smiling face.
Holding out that bottle of icy “life-saving water,” speaking in a sweet, cloying voice:
“Wanwan, drink some water to warm up. Look how frozen you are…”
But after the water slid down her throat, what followed was a burning agony that scorched her organs.
Testing her?
So soon?
Like a venomous snake, flicking its tongue as it quietly crept closer.
Lin Wan’s fingers unconsciously tightened, yet her fingertips were ice-cold.
Slowly, firmly, she pressed the lock button on the side of the phone.
The screen went dark instantly.
A lifeless black surface reflected her current eyes—cold and utterly devoid of warmth.
She lifted her head.
Her gaze, like two knives tempered in ice, shot straight at the cashier who was still scanning slowly while glancing at her from time to time.
Her voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable pressure as it struck the other woman clearly.
“Please hurry.”
“I’m in a hurry.”
The cashier was startled by her gaze. A sudden chill inexplicably ran up her spine, and her hands subconsciously began scanning the items several times faster.
At last, the long receipt—like a roll of paper spilling endlessly from the printer—was printed out, hanging down and dragging across the floor.
Lin Wan glanced at the final number at the bottom of the receipt without even blinking.
She directly took out her phone and scanned the payment code.
With a soft beep, nearly twenty thousand yuan vanished instantly.
After paying, the real problem appeared before her.
Three shopping carts.
Each piled high like a small, unstable mountain.
Bags of rice, entire boxes of canned food, cartons of compressed biscuits… bulky and incredibly heavy.
But the car she had driven was her mother’s small Polo, whose trunk and backseat space were extremely limited.
Not to mention fitting all three mountains—she probably could not even fit one.
And how could she avoid the curious gazes of familiar neighbors and the security guards in the residential compound while quietly transporting such conspicuous supplies back home?
She took a deep breath.
With both hands pushing hard, she began moving one of the carts filled with rice and grain—the heaviest but relatively least noticeable one.
Step by step, she walked decisively toward the supermarket’s bright automatic sliding doors.
The doors opened silently to both sides.
Outside, the night was thick and inky, like spilled black ink.
Only the giant supermarket sign and streetlights cast pale circles of light.
Lin Wan pushed the heavy cart forward.
Her small figure was swallowed by the enormous shadow of the supplies.
Step by step, she walked into the scorching darkness that seemed capable of swallowing every secret.
Behind her, the supermarket’s automatic doors slowly closed, sealing off the noise and cold air inside.
The harsh checkout lights stretched a long shadow behind her.
And all of this…
Was only the beginning.
A brutal race against time, against human nature, and against a collapsing world had just begun its bloody opening act.