Ye Xin looked outside through the peephole.
A middle-aged man in his forties was pounding on the door of Apartment 1803 with an elderly woman. Behind the old woman stood another woman in her forties and a man in his twenties. They appeared to be a family.
Following the principle of the less trouble, the better, Ye Xin had no intention of getting involved in other people’s affairs.
Meanwhile, her mother was still busy in the kitchen, preparing Kung Pao chicken, stir-fried pork with scrambled eggs and wood ear mushrooms, braised spare ribs, braised pork, steamed fish…
Both gas burners were being used. Her mother had already prepared seven or eight dishes, each in portions large enough for three meals. They were packed into disposable food containers and stored inside the little wooden house in the space, ready to be taken out whenever needed.
Although it was raining, the temperature had not dropped noticeably. The humid, stuffy air made it difficult to breathe, and even the walls of the room were damp.
Even with the air conditioner running, Ye Xin still felt sticky all over.
She rushed into the bathroom for a shower, then made a cold salad with chrysanthemum greens. Together with her mother’s Kung Pao chicken and stir-fried pork with wood ear mushrooms, plus two cans of beer, it made another satisfying meal.
As he ate, Xuanxuan said, “Mom, if the entire apocalypse could be like this, how wonderful would that be! It’s just a pity that we’ll still have to move later.”
Ye Xin placed a piece of meat into Xuanxuan’s bowl.
“Don’t worry. Even if we have to move, things won’t be like they were before.”
“Eat up. Tomorrow, we’ll have Grandpa make you a punching bag. Don’t neglect your training.”
Xuanxuan nodded vigorously. “Got it, Mom! And Little Wolf, too. Little Wolf can’t skip his training either.”
“Woof!”
Little Wolf barked at Ye Xin.
Ye Jianhua laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Little Wolf’s training.”
As he spoke, he tossed Little Wolf a piece of steamed bun.
“From now on, you’re with me. Eat more. Don’t give up halfway when the training starts.”
Little Wolf whimpered, lowered himself to the ground, picked up the bun, and moved closer to Ye Xin.
It seemed to be saying: What a cheapskate! He wants to train me and only gives me one piece of bread!
Xuanxuan burst out laughing.
Ye Xin had no choice but to take a large meaty bone from her space and toss it to Little Wolf.
Little Wolf happily grabbed the bone and ran off.
Just after the family finished eating, there was a knock at the door.
Ye Xin thought it was Su Jing, but when she opened the door, she discovered that it was the family who had just moved into 1803.
The woman in her forties stood outside holding a bag of seafood.
“We just came here from B City. From now on, we’ll be neighbors. I hope we can look out for each other.”
Ye Xin was taken aback. She stepped aside and let the woman in.
“You’re too kind. We’re neighbors now, so of course we should help each other. Just look at this weather. Who knows what things will be like from now on?”
The woman sighed.
“At least there aren’t any thunderstorms here. You have no idea—B City just experienced a severe thunderstorm. Many residential buildings have become uninhabitable.”
From the woman’s explanation, Ye Xin learned that Apartment 1803 also belonged to her family.
Her home in B City had been hit by the thunderstorm as well. Under the intense lightning strikes, they hadn’t had time to take anything with them. They had hurriedly grabbed some daily necessities and fled. They hadn’t even had time to retrieve the keys to this apartment.
The woman asked Ye Xin if she knew anyone nearby who could replace door locks. Their lock had been damaged, and they urgently needed a new one.
Ye Xin did know someone who changed locks, but with weather like this, there was no way the person would come out.
Ye Xin took out the old lock she had just replaced, along with its keys, and handed them to the woman.
“This is the lock we just replaced. If you don’t mind, you can use it for now. The keys are here, too.”
“Once the rain stops, you can find someone to replace the lock properly.”
The woman looked at the torrential rain outside and had no choice but to accept the lock.
“Ah! Thank you so much. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able to sleep peacefully tonight.”
Looking at the three keys in her hand, she knew that the security door of this apartment complex came with exactly three keys. It seemed that Ye Xin genuinely wanted to help her.
The woman took the lock and left.
Ye Xin shook her head.
“Let’s just consider it repaying her kindness.”
After all, she couldn’t accept the seafood for nothing.
Ye Xin picked up her phone. The family group chat of Gu Nan’s family had exploded with messages!
Her mother-in-law was angrily cursing her father-in-law:
“You old bastard! You’ve finally gotten what you deserve, haven’t you?”
“You promised to buy a house for us to spend our retirement in, but instead you brought some little vixen in to live there! Why didn’t that lightning strike kill both of you?”
Then she called out to Gu Nan:
“Son, how are your injuries? What did the doctor say? When can you be discharged?”
Gu Nan remained silent.
His mother became even more anxious.
“That damn woman! She took all the money from our family. How are we supposed to live from now on?”
Her sister-in-law couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Big Sis, my family has nothing left to eat. Could you send us some food? I’ll give you money.”
“Get lost!”
Gu Nan’s mother exploded in anger.
“You little bitch! Your family has plenty of money. All you do is order takeout every day. I need to save my food for myself. I don’t have any extra to give you.”
Gu Nan’s father’s younger brother couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Come on, Sis-in-law. Don’t talk like that. You’re acting as if everyone in this family is wrong and you’re the only one who’s done nothing wrong.”
“Didn’t you know your son was cheating? You were the one encouraging him!”
“And why did your husband cheat? Wasn’t it because you were too domineering? He simply couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“What does it have to do with you that we order takeout? If you don’t want to help, just say you don’t want to. Why are you going on and on about all this nonsense?”
Gu Nan finally sent a message:
“Mom, the hospital says I need to pay my medical bills. I’m out of money. Can you send me some?”
His mother replied with an angry emoji.
“How can such a minor injury cost so much money? Did they say when you’ll be discharged?”
Gu Nan sent a crying emoji.
“The doctor said I was bitten too badly by a stray dog, so I have to stay in the hospital for observation. I should be fine after about a week!”
“Mom, I can’t even afford to eat anymore. Sob… Please send me some money quickly! Even the hospital food has to be fought over now, and it’s ridiculously expensive.”
The corner of Ye Xin’s mouth twitched.
Don’t worry. Soon there won’t be any food left in the hospital to fight over. You’ll have plenty more to cry about later.
She put her phone away and began sinking her consciousness into her space, using her mental power to organize the supplies inside.
She piled all the coal, oil drums, and other supplies on the black soil into a corner so they wouldn’t take up too much planting space.
Then she divided the black soil into separate plots and planted potatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, and other vegetables.
Next, she cleared out an area in the northeast corner and planted the apple trees, persimmon trees, and grapevines she had dug up from her parents’ home.
By the time she finished everything, it was already past nine o’clock. Her father was still busy making a sandbag.
Ye Xin quickly took her son to bed. He was still growing, so he needed to get enough sleep.
Before the typhoon arrived, Ye Xin planned to brave the storm and go out one more time tonight in an inflatable boat!
Seeing all those supplies being submerged beneath the floodwaters was simply too painful.
She set her alarm for one in the morning. By then, everyone else should be asleep, making it less likely that anyone would notice her going out.
She lay in bed, listening to the rain outside as she planned where to go tonight and where they should eventually build their base.
Gradually, Ye Xin drifted off to sleep.
That night, she had a strange dream.
She dreamed of a vast mountain range stretching for hundreds of miles. Halfway up the mountain stood a villa. Strangely, it was the only villa there.
Around the villa were rows of temporary prefabricated houses, apparently built by construction workers. Beyond them stretched endless mountains.
Every now and then, the howling of wolves could be heard from the forest…
The scene suddenly changed.
Her son, Xuanxuan, was standing on the roof of the villa, waving at her.
“Mom! I love our new home! Come take a look!”
Suddenly, a wolf leaped out from behind Xuanxuan.
Its blood-red jaws opened wide and lunged straight at him!
Ye Xin jolted awake.