"I heard the person died three days ago."
"Sigh, it’s really pitiful. There wasn’t even anyone around when they passed away."
"It’s better this way. It’s a kind of relief."
The crowd chattered away, talking all at once. At this moment, the couple from the apartment across the hall came downstairs, clutching several massive bags. They rushed over, shouting as they ran, "Make way, make way!" With that, they started pushing their way to the very front of the line.
The people at the front scowled and reprimanded them, "Everyone is lining up. What are you two pushing for? Please wait in line!"
Someone even shouted directly at Wang Liping, "Sister Wang, there are two people here who aren’t lining up!"
Wang Liping walked over, recognizing the couple from room 1601, and immediately said, "Yang Hong, Zhang Qiang, you two go to the back and line up."
Yang Hong and Zhang Qiang were incredibly shameless and refused to budge. Yang Hong, in particular, stiffened her neck and argued stubbornly, "Sister Wang, we live on a high floor, so it’s inconvenient to come down. That’s why we’re late! In fact, we came down early this morning. If you don’t believe me, ask Zhang Qiang!"
Zhang Qiang nodded cooperatively beside her. "That’s right. We were the first ones to come downstairs."
Wang Jian Country heard the commotion and turned around. Seeing it was the couple Zhang Qiang and Yang Hong, he couldn’t help but frown.
"Get in line!" Wang Jian Country shouted at them with a dark expression.
Because Wang Jian Country was tall and burly, his sheer size was intimidating enough. Zhang Qiang and Yang Hong didn’t dare to argue anymore. Although they were internally dissatisfied, they reluctantly went to line up.
Wang Jian Country walked over again and asked, "You two are from the same family, right? Only one person per family can go in. The other must wait outside!"
Hearing this, Zhang Qiang and Yang Hong became even more displeased. Ultimately, the couple decided to have Zhang Qiang wait outside while Yang Hong went in to grab supplies. They ended up right behind Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka.
The remaining families arrived one after another. Wang Liping counted the people and announced, "Everyone is here. Now, we will enter the room in groups of eight."
Wang Jian Country opened the door to room 709 and let the first eight people inside. After the first eight people came out, it was the next group’s turn.
Yang Hong was extremely anxious, craning her neck to peek into the room and constantly muttering, "The people in front have taken everything. Will there be anything left for us?"
Zhang Qiang said from the side, "I’ll go up to the eighth floor to save a spot. That way, we’ll be the first in line up there!" With that, Zhang Qiang hurried up to the eighth floor to secure their place.
It was finally the turn for the group containing Yang Hong, Chen Momo, and Xu Xiaoka. When their group of eight entered the room, they found it dead silent. There was no food left; even if there had been, the previous group had already cleared it out.
The moment Yang Hong heard she could take things, she charged to the front, bumping around the room like a headless chicken. Most of the people who entered picked out smaller items. Some took thermoses, some grabbed blankets, and others chose chairs. Although Chen Momo held a plastic bag, she only used it as a disguise to put on a show.
For example, Chen Momo thought the solid wood wardrobe in front of her was quite nice. It would fetch a good price once the apocalypse was over. She took it and stored it in her spatial dimension. There was also a sofa set that looked brand new; even the plastic wrapping hadn’t been removed. She took that as well and placed it in her space. As for the other large items, she secretly collected them all into her dimension while no one was looking.
Everyone was too busy searching for what they needed to notice that Chen Momo had already stashed away many large items.
Outside, Wang Jian Country was keeping track of the time. Seeing that the time was up, he shouted, "Alright, it’s time for the next group to go in!"
Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka’s group lined up and exited.
Xu Xiaoka showed Chen Momo what she had gathered. "Here’s a flashlight, two bottles of mineral water, and a padded jacket." After showing off her items, Xu Xiaoka asked Chen Momo, "Momo, what did you get?"
Chen Momo opened her bag, which contained only four cartons of milk and a box of cookies. These were an unexpected find; she had discovered them on top of the wardrobe when she was storing it in her space. Perhaps because the top of the wardrobe was too high, no one else had noticed the milk and cookies. Therefore, Chen Momo placed them in her bag to keep up appearances.
Next, they headed to the elderly person’s apartment on the eighth floor, entering in lines just like before. This time, Chen Momo, Xu Xiaoka, and the rest were at the front of the line.
The family on the eighth floor used to run a snack shop, so the elderly person’s home was stockpiled with quite a few snacks. Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka each filled their bags to the brim. Of course, Chen Momo discreetly stored even more snacks inside her spatial dimension. The other families also found food, happily packing their bags full.
When Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka returned to their respective homes, Xu Xiaoka insisted on sharing some of her belongings with Chen Momo to take back for Xiao Bao.
"Momo, I’m by myself, so I can ration my food," Xu Xiaoka said. "You and Xiao Bao are two people, so you should eat more." As she spoke, she tried to hand over some items from her bag.
Naturally, Chen Momo declined. From their few interactions so far, she had confirmed that Xu Xiaoka was genuinely a kind-hearted girl. Even in such extremely harsh conditions, she still thought of others.
Chen Momo returned to her apartment and took inventory of her spatial dimension. The items she had acquired from the two elderly people’s homes were as follows: a mahogany wardrobe, a brand-new sofa set, a screwdriver toolkit, two tables, two coffee tables, and a golden Buddha statue. As for the things in the external bag, they were merely worthless items used as a smokescreen.
After taking stock, Chen Momo called her son’s name, "Xiao Bao?"
She called out twice, but there was no response. Thinking her son was just too focused on something, Chen Momo walked into the bedroom and pushed the door open, but there was no sign of Xiao Bao.
Chen Momo turned pale with fright. "Xiao Bao?"
She searched all over the apartment but couldn’t find him anywhere. Now Chen Momo was truly panicked. She immediately prepared to go outside and search for him. Just then, the couple from across the hall returned. Seeing Chen Momo looking for her son, a mocking smile appeared on both their faces.
"Mommy! You’re back?" a childish voice came from behind the sofa.
Chen Momo froze. "Chen Xiaobao?"
As it turned out, after Chen Momo had left, Chen Xiaobao got sleepy. However, he was afraid that if he fell asleep, someone might carry him away, and he wouldn’t get to see his mommy when she returned. So, he laid a mat in the gap between the sofa and the wall, lay down, and fell fast asleep. This way, with the sofa blocking him, no one would discover him even if he slept, and he wouldn’t be taken away!