Du He instinctively answered, “Yes.”
Ke Bei nodded and said, “Okay.”
Then she turned to her husband. “Wait in the car for a bit. I’ll go in and take a look, I’ll be back soon.”
With that, she got out of the car.
This time, however, Cheng Qian didn’t listen. He turned off the engine and got out of the car with their son.
Naturally, Du He followed them.
Ke Bei stopped in surprise.
“Together,” Cheng Qian said simply, walking over to her side.
Seeing her husband like this, Ke Bei didn’t argue and walked with them toward the market.
Although called a market, it was really just a single street, with a row of shops on each side.
At the far end of the street was a large open space. Through the waist-high weeds, a few intact concrete platforms could still be seen.
It was clear this had been an open-air market, like an early morning market, but now there wasn’t a single person inside.
Ke Bei found this somewhat strange. After all, the disaster had just begun, and people’s alertness shouldn’t have been this high yet.
A huge market with no one at all seemed a bit unusual.
But she didn’t care much.
She casually walked to a shop near the edge of the street, used her backpack to conceal herself, and pulled a pair of bolt cutters out from her space. In a few swift movements, she removed the padlock on the rolling shutter.
Her movements were so smooth that Du He, following behind, could only stare in astonishment.
Ke Bei pushed the door open and went inside, immediately starting to collect items from the shelves.
This shop was a small supermarket, not very big. It had a counter, two freezers, and six three-tiered shelves.
The first four shelves held all kinds of food: instant noodles, biscuits, sausages, drinks, and the like.
The last two shelves were stocked with daily necessities: basins, towels, toilet paper, brooms, mops, and so on.
It was clear that this supermarket primarily served the market workers, offering items that were practical and affordable.
Ke Bei had already bought a lot of similar food earlier, so she didn’t take too much this time. She only took part of each shelf’s stock, leaving the rest for those who would come later.
Seeing her move, Cheng Qian started acting too.
He went straight to the counter and cleared out the cigarettes, alcohol, lighters, batteries, and similar items.
Xiao Tian ran to the back two shelves.
The little guy didn’t even glance at anything else; he only grabbed the scissors and fruit knives from the lowest shelf, along with a large bundle of hemp rope and several rolls of tape, stuffing them all into his backpack.
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and grab some! Otherwise, what are you going to eat on the way home?”
Seeing Du He frozen in place, completely not sure of what to do, Ke Bei realized the boy still hadn’t fully grasped that the world had changed. She had to remind him.
“Oh, oh!”
Hearing her words, Du He finally snapped out of it. He quickly took off the backpack he was carrying and, following their example, started stuffing items into it.
Once Du He’s backpack was nearly full, Ke Bei stopped her own gathering.
She turned to Cheng Qian and said, “You two go wait in the car. I’ll pay for this.”
Then she pulled out her phone and scanned the payment code posted on the counter.
Cheng Qian knew his wife’s plan, she was trying to get him to take Du He away.
This time he didn’t argue. He called Xiao Tian over, had him grab Du He, and led the two of them outside.
Du He tried to pay, but Cheng Qian tugged him by the arm and pulled him out.
Once she confirmed the three had left, Ke Bei walked around the store again, restocking what she needed, especially large bottles of water and drinks.
She also emptied the freezers, taking everything inside that Du He hadn’t been able to reach earlier.
The food and groceries could be left for those who came later.
But the market was already empty, and with the power likely to go out soon, the frozen dumplings, tangyuan, ice pops, and yogurt in the freezers would spoil quickly.
It was better to take everything away.
After gathering the items, Ke Bei tucked a roll of cash into the drawer behind the counter.
The signal was bad, so paying by scan was impossible, but since she still had cash, she wanted to leave some behind.
The mutation had just begun, and cash still had value.
Whether the store owner returned later or someone else discovered it, leaving some money behind could provide help, it was a way to make the resources count.
After leaving the small supermarket, Ke Bei didn’t linger. She went straight to the farm supply store diagonally across.
She collected all the items inside: hoes, axes, machetes, nitrile gloves… even pesticides and sprayers, and stored them in her space.
Even more surprisingly, she found a box of unopened flamethrowers with matching gas canisters, which she also took without hesitation.
These flamethrowers were designed for farm sterilization, each with five nozzles and a flame reaching temperatures up to 1500°C.
Although a bit bulky, they could serve as extremely effective weapons in a critical situation.
When Ke Bei exited the market carrying all the items, the three of them were standing by the car, watching her direction.
Feeling satisfied with her haul, Ke Bei generously handed Du He a thick, high-quality steel machete.
The blade was over half a meter long, with sharpened edges on both sides, one shaped like a sickle, the other like an axe.
It could be used to cut overgrown branches or for self-defense, making it a rare and valuable tool.
“Sis, give me your phone number. Once I get home, I’ll transfer the money to you.”
Du He, holding the machete, didn’t know how else to express his gratitude. He clung to Ke Bei, his face earnest.
“No need, it’s a gift. Oh, wait a moment.”
Ke Bei pulled her sleeve free from Du He’s grasp and strode toward a nearby van.
The van was old, but it was clear that it had been in regular use, so there was little chance it would be out of gas or broken down.
Ke Bei walked over, rummaged through her bag, and pulled out a small hammer, raising it to smash the door, only to be stopped by Cheng Qian.
“No need,” he said, looking at his wife with a hint of helplessness. “Did you forget what I do for a living?”
Ke Bei realized and couldn’t help but smile at him, sheepishly lowering her hand.
Cheng Qian was indeed a professional.
His movements were so practiced that Ke Bei barely understood how he did it before the door was already open and the van was started.
“Get in,” he said, stepping out of the vehicle and gesturing to Du He.
“You opened it for me?” Du He pointed to himself, incredulous.
“Yes. From here, we go our separate ways. Be careful on the rest of your journey, protect yourself.”
Ke Bei patted his shoulder as she spoke.
Although she hadn’t spent much time with the boy, she could tell that Du He was well-mannered, fundamentally kind, and considerate of others.
Seeing him reminded Ke Bei of herself eight years ago, thinking of the hardships she had faced after running away from home.
Within her means, she wanted to help Du He a little.
Hearing her words, Du He’s tears flowed again.
The tall young man sobbed loudly, completely unrestrained, face streaked with tears, nose bubbling, utterly distraught.
He cried so intensely that even Xiao Tian looked at him with a hint of disdain.
Du He clung to Ke Bei’s hand, calling her “sister” over and over, insisting she leave her name and address so he could keep in touch and return the money once he got home.
No matter how much Ke Bei insisted it wasn’t necessary, he wouldn’t let go.
Finally, Cheng Qian couldn’t bear it any longer. He grabbed Du He’s phone, entered his own contact information, and forcibly pulled Ke Bei’s hand free from Du He’s “grip,” bringing the matter to an end.
Regardless of Du He’s emotional ups and downs, after finishing the handover, the three of them said their goodbyes and got back in the van, continuing toward their destination, the military airport in Zhoujia Town.
It seemed like a long time, but in reality, because they were preoccupied, Ke Bei and the others spent just over half an hour clearing the shelves at the market, and saying goodbye to Du He took another ten or so minutes, so in total, they hadn’t wasted much time.
It was barely noon.
At the pace they had been moving, it would take at most another hour to reach the airport from here. Even if they went slower now, they should still be able to arrive on time if everything went smoothly.
Thinking this, Ke Bei suggested to her husband, “I can drive. You take a break?”
“No need. You’re not familiar with these roads,” Cheng Qian shook his head, refusing.
Hearing that, Ke Bei didn’t insist. Instead, she pulled two boxes of fried chicken and three burgers from her space to serve as lunch for the family.
Since regaining his abilities, Xiao Tian’s digestive system wasn’t as fragile as when he was little, so as long as the food wasn’t too greasy, eating some meat was fine.
Ke Bei handed him a box of fried chicken and a burger, then fed a piece of chicken to her husband.
Cheng Qian bit into the chicken while driving, enjoying the food his wife offered him.
Fried chicken, burgers, and iced cola, it all felt surreal to Ke Bei, as if she were in a dream, blurring the line between reality and fantasy.
If it weren’t for the worsening road outside the window, with branches occasionally snapping against the vehicle, she might almost forget that the mutations had already begun.
They drove for another half hour, making several turns, each one worsening the road conditions.
At first, although they weren’t on the highway, the roads were normal, and they could still occasionally see one or two cars behind them.
Now, they couldn’t even recognize the road, let alone see other vehicles.
It felt as if they were driving through a forest, constantly having to break through branches that had grown into the path.
After about ten more minutes, there was simply no road left. Even Cheng Qian had no choice but to stop the car.
“We should be about twenty kilometers out. The rest we’ll have to walk,” he said helplessly.
It was normal for military airports to be in remote locations, and rough surrounding roads weren’t unexpected—Ke Bei had mentally prepared for this.
Hearing this, she checked her son’s clothing to make sure no skin was exposed that might get scratched by branches, then got out of the car.
Cheng Qian went first, Ke Bei brought up the rear, and Xiao Tian stayed protected between them. The family made their way along a narrow path almost hidden by overgrown bushes.