Haishi had the nation’s largest university town, home to eight universities. Their dormitory areas used to be interconnected, but after multiple outbreaks of brawling between students from different schools, the universities eventually redrew their boundaries and walled off each school’s dormitories. They even pooled their money to build high walls.
That was why Xu Kewang and the others couldn’t climb over the wall and escape.
Every dormitory area had a Small Supermarket opened by someone with connections to the school principal. By the time Xu Kewang and Wencai arrived, it was already packed with people, while the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen.
It seemed that they weren’t the only ones who had heard those strange mechanical voices and discovered the school had been sealed off. The others had gotten to the Small Supermarket even faster.
The food section was the most crowded, with people arguing fiercely as they fought over the things they wanted.
Xu Kewang was slender. She quietly squeezed through the gaps between people and, while they were still arguing, frantically grabbed whatever she could.
If the school didn’t reopen anytime soon, that meant the supermarket wouldn’t be restocked either, so the food they stockpiled needed to have a long shelf life.
Her eyes swept over the shelves as her hands kept moving. She grabbed six large multipacks of Instant Noodles, not caring what Smell they were, taking anything edible.
Next came the Ham Sausage, Luncheon Meat, and canned food on the upper shelves.
Wencai stood behind that wall of people, extending just one hand to take the things Xu Kewang passed her.
Several patches of the shelves suddenly emptied. Only then did the arguing people react, but before they could make a scene, Xu Kewang slipped away through the crowd like an eel.
“Holy crap, who’s that? She’ll take anything, even chicken stewed with Mushroom flavor!”
“You’ve still got time to be picky? If we don’t grab stuff now, there won’t be anything left! Who cares if it’s chicken or duck? When you’re starving, even chicken tastes like dragon meat!”
“Hey, hey, those in front, don’t clear everything out! Can’t you leave some for the rest of us?”
The shouting was almost deafening. Wencai was terrified, afraid someone might start a fight and accidentally hit her.
Xu Kewang, meanwhile, was like a ruthless shopping machine, darting nimbly through the crowd and never coming away empty-handed.
Chocolate, potato chips, Energy Bars—high-calorie foods were essential in cold weather.
Pork jerky, vacuum-packed braised meat, various nuts, freeze-dried vegetables and fruit—enough to ensure a balanced diet even if they never left home.
She also grabbed some Oatmeal, pasta, dried noodles, and other staple foods from the bottom shelves.
Unfortunately, the supermarket had no Rice.
The Small Supermarket also had no cooking oil, soy sauce, or other everyday condiments. Xu Kewang grabbed ten packets of salt and ten packets of white sugar, along with the rock sugar on the shelves. If they ran out of food, drinking salt water or sugar water could still keep them alive.
The crowd grew larger, and the shelves grew emptier.
There were still many things Xu Kewang wanted to take, and she and Wencai clearly couldn’t carry much more. Just as she began to feel anxious, a hand broader and longer than hers suddenly appeared. “I’ll help. Keep grabbing things.”
She turned and saw that Xie Yue and Ning Yiwei had arrived too. Not only had they come, they’d brought a camping cart and a large suitcase.
What a lifesaver.
She had no time to praise them and only called out, “Go get water, as much as you can.”
Then she ran to the household supplies section.
Everything had happened so suddenly that most people grabbing supplies were acting on instinct. Food came first, so even with the school sealed off because of the epidemic, food was what everyone cared about most. While people were fighting over it, the household supplies section remained relatively quiet.
But Xu Kewang had already figured out roughly what they needed in her sleep.
She took lots of sanitary pads: regular, overnight, extra-long, as well as period underwear and tampons. These were very important for women.
The Small Supermarket had no medicine, only a few Band-Aids, so she took several boxes.
The biggest surprise was that there were more than a dozen Power Banks gathering dust in a corner, apparently unsold. She saw the price tags and couldn’t help clicking her tongue. No wonder they hadn’t sold.
Two hundred yuan apiece—what a rip-off.
She’d initially wanted to grab them all, but hesitated at the last moment and took only six.
Then she went around to another set of shelves and took more than a dozen packs of wet wipes, two large bundles of toilet paper, Heat Packs, hot water bottles, glue, Tape, and 502 adhesive.
“How’s it going? Are you done?” Ning Yiwei ran over and asked, dragging the suitcase. “A Yue and the others went back to deliver the water. They’ll be back soon.”
She frowned. “There are more and more people, and there isn’t enough to go around. I’m afraid someone’s going to try to take our stuff in a minute.”
The large suitcase was useful, but it attracted too much attention.
Xu Kewang swept up several solar-powered Flashlights and two small lamps. “That’s enough. Let’s go. Staying here any longer really is Dangerous.”
As they were leaving the Small Supermarket, Xu Kewang sensed several hostile looks.
She looked back, but all she saw was a sea of bobbing heads. There was no way to tell where the Malice was coming from.
A few girls stockpiling this much stuff could easily attract the attention of people who preyed on the weak. Xu Kewang turned and found a fruit knife in the Small Supermarket.
However, while looking for a knife, she noticed a small Iron Shovel and a few packets of Seed on the very bottom shelf.
She thought about it. A University had once had an agricultural science major, but a few years ago it had been merged into a branch campus. Later it became a separate agricultural college and moved to the eastern suburbs.
The Seed packets were all covered in dust, so they must have been sitting there for years.
She didn’t know if they would be any use. Thinking of the cactus she’d planted on her dormitory balcony, which had mostly died, and the pots that were now empty, she took all of them.
“Let’s go,” Xu Kewang said, pulling Wencai along as they ran. The suitcase rumbled over the ground. “Xie Yue and the others are here.”
Seeing their companions arrive, the two of them were both Relieved.
Xu Kewang spotted a three-story building two buildings away. It was the student activity center, and the Infirmary was on the Third Floor. After a moment’s thought, she said, “You go back first. I’ll go get some medicine.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ning Yiwei said. “My family runs a clinic, so I know a lot about medicine.”
The four continued to split up and act. Xu Kewang and Ning Yiwei took the quieter paths and soon reached the activity center. It was deserted, desolate.
But when they reached the Third Floor, they both sucked in a breath.
The empty Infirmary looked as if it had been ransacked by thieves. It was a complete mess, with medicine boxes scattered across the floor, some trampled flat. It was clear that a huge commotion had taken place there.
“Let’s see if anything’s still usable.” She pulled out a fruit knife and went straight inside without hesitation.
Ning Yiwei bent down to pick up medicine boxes. “These are for clearing heat and detoxifying—useful. These are for colds and fevers—useful. Tsk, looks like these people only recognize the common, popular medicines. They didn’t take things like Chinese Patent Medicine.”
That was good news. Xu Kewang rummaged through everything and found a few packs of Bandage and some Masks.
“There are only a few half-full bottles of Alcohol left,” Ning Yiwei said, giving one a shake. “Better than nothing, so take them. I found lots of Anti-inflammatory and Pain-relieving medicine, as well as hemostatic spray. Is that useful? Should we take it?”
“Take it all, all of it,” Xu Kewang said as she stuffed things into the new suitcase Xie Yue had just given her. “People have already taken almost everything here. There’s no need for us to leave anything for anyone else.”
Ning Yiwei watched her practiced movements, the corner of her mouth twitching.
“So, is that why you’re grabbing so many protective suits?”