Tan Wanwan’s Home

The night Chen Caifeng moved into the master bedroom, she called Ma Tian in to pour her a glass of water.

Once he came in to pour water, he never left.

Previously, Chen Caifeng had grabbed Tan Wanwan’s hand and, upon learning that Tan Wanwan was willing to give up the master bedroom, had been tearfully grateful.

Qian Ying was wary of a man entering their home, and the other roommates also disapproved.

They squeezed Tan Wanwan’s living space and didn’t want to share it with Chen Caifeng and Ma Tian.

Chen Caifeng had made a firm promise that Ma Tian would stay in the hallway and never disturb the girls inside the room.

But Ma Tian still came in.

Chen Caifeng clutched her belly and wailed, “I don’t want to trouble you all with chores, so I asked my husband to come in and give me a hand. You’re all college students, Wanwan, you’re the kindest of all. You can’t just stand by and do nothing, pity my baby at a time like this — his dad isn’t here with me, and I’m so worried.”

Ma Tian’s gaze roamed over the female students, deliberately lingering on their chests and lower abdomen.

Qian Ying’s face turned ashen.

But she couldn’t speak up. After all, Qian Ying was not the homeowner, and if she said something, Chen Caifeng, that feisty woman, would bark back tenfold.

And faced with Chen Caifeng’s pleading, Tan Wanwan couldn’t bring herself to say no.

At this moment, Tan Wanwan curled up on the sofa in the living room.

She knocked on her roommates’ doors, but no one opened — all pretending to be fast asleep.

Tan Wanwan knew they were blaming her for letting Ma Tian move in.

Ma Tian obviously had bad intentions written all over him.

Tan Wanwan didn’t dare knock on the master bedroom door.

Regret surged in her heart, though she didn’t know exactly what she was regretting.

If only she hadn’t let Chen Caifeng move in.

At least then she could still stay in the master bedroom, close the door, and seal the cracks so no cockroaches could get in.

Why did she have to go through this?

In the beginning, Chen Caifeng had clearly sought out Teacher Xiao Yu.

Why was Yu Xifeng so cruel?

She could turn a blind eye to a homeless pregnant woman.

If Yu Xifeng had accepted Chen Caifeng, now Ma Tian wouldn’t be living in her home.

Tan Wanwan could feel cockroaches crawling over the quilt, as if crawling on her own body, and she trembled uncontrollably beneath the blanket.

She didn’t dare confront her roommates or Chen Caifeng and poured all her resentment onto Yu Xifeng.

Why didn’t Yu Xifeng accept Chen Caifeng?

It was all Yu Xifeng’s fault.

The current situation was something Yu Xifeng deserved.

But it ended up falling on Tan Wanwan.

Tan Wanwan was nearly driven crazy by the cockroaches and hadn’t even thought to properly seal the food.

In the two bedrooms, neither Chen Caifeng nor the roommates wanted Tan Wanwan to come in and take up their already limited space.

With the overwhelming invasion of insects, rice, flour, dried vegetables, and sausages were quickly consumed.

The next day, when Yu Xifeng got up, there were hardly any cockroaches outside the window.

Still, many lingered in the hallway outside.

Although it was daytime, the light was dim, so Yu Xifeng turned on a desk lamp.

Little Orange (Xiao Ju) pressed against the doorframe, his head flattened.

Yu Xifeng checked the surveillance and considered it — letting Little Orange out for a meal wouldn’t be a problem.

As long as she watched carefully so no one downstairs saw the cat.

At times like this, having a cat around could cause unnecessary suspicion.

Cockroaches blocking the doorway was hardly a pleasant thing.

Yu Xifeng stroked Little Orange’s fur and opened the front door.

Little Orange darted out like a mouse thrown into a rice bin, visibly excited.

Yu Xifeng whispered sharply, “Eat up and come back, don’t play too long.”

The cat seemed to understand, grabbing cockroaches and stuffing them into his mouth.

The cockroaches scattered, none daring to approach Little Orange.

Yu Xifeng stayed by the entrance.

After about fifteen minutes, she waved, and Little Orange squeezed back through the gap in the metal door, belly full and round.

Since the cockroach infestation began, Little Orange hadn’t really eaten any proper cat food.

Yu Xifeng ignored him for now, powered on her fitness equipment, and jogged on the treadmill for half an hour to warm up, breaking out a thin layer of sweat.

She wiped the sweat with a towel, and then remembered something she had neglected.

She hadn’t stored hot water — mainly the hot water for bathing.

Despite all the stockpiled supplies, after a disaster there would still be inconveniences.

But compared to others, her life was already far better.

Not just in terms of supplies.

Yu Xifeng clearly understood future trends, so she held no expectations, and having space and stockpiled resources, she didn’t feel panic over the present.

She enjoyed every thing she did right now.

Working out, cooking, eating, petting the cat.

Or just daydreaming.

Every extra second alive was a blessing.

From the supplies she brought back from the supermarket, Yu Xifeng found an electric kettle.

She freed up a water tank specifically to hold hot water.

The space had an endless supply of spring water — heating a bucket took only five or six minutes.

Bathing in the bathroom would leave used water with nowhere to go, potentially disturbing neighbors downstairs.

Yu Xifeng turned back and entered her space.

Over these days she had accumulated almost a day and a half’s worth of time — just over 32 hours.

If real danger came, the space would be enough for her to use for emergencies and rest.

Washing her hair and bathing would be quick — about fifteen minutes total.

Before bathing, Yu Xifeng stared into the mirror for two seconds and found a pair of scissors.

Her hair was now down past her ribs, quite long.

With one snip, she cut off more than half, leaving it shoulder-length.

It was just long enough to tie up, easy to manage, and a hat could fully cover it.

The cut hair would save water during washing.

Using about one and a half buckets of hot water, Yu Xifeng changed clothes and stepped out of the space.

In the front hall, the timer hourglass had passed a little over fifteen minutes, matching her estimate.

In the flowerbed, the fruit trees she had planted had grown taller than her, thriving together.

In a few more dozen days, she thought she could finally eat the fruit.

Yu Xifeng was looking forward to it.

To save time, she didn’t linger, stroked the coconut tree leaves, and left the space.

The corpse had been dumped in the backyard — she would deal with it when the opportunity arose.

Yu Xifeng began heating her future bathwater.

Fuel stockpiles were limited, and this resource was relatively scarce.

Though she had enough to last a while, Yu Xifeng was reluctant to use it.

To avoid fuel consumption, she relied on hand cranks and pedals to recharge the batteries.

Thus, pedaling the stationary bike had become part of her morning exercise.

Whatever it was, it was exercise.

She used the electric kettle to boil water and stored it in the space.

After two days, she had filled half a water tank.

At night, the hallway erupted again.

Yun Jie’s anti-assault alarm blared through the entire building.

The whole neighborhood heard the sharp siren.

Three men had gathered in front of Yun Jie’s door.

“This is bad, this woman’s making such a big fuss.”

One man didn’t care, “Relax, no one dares come here. If it gets serious, we just…”

He snorted, leaving the rest of his threat unspoken, but cruelty was implied.

“Yesterday, three bodies were found floating by the supermarket. That’s much more serious than our situation. If things get real bad, just toss ’em in the water — no one will find out.”

“In my opinion, Xu Yun is pretty, but that Yu woman next door is the real deal — whose mistress she is, I don’t know. That face, that waist, she’s truly something else.”

Ma Tian’s voice was clearly heard on the surveillance footage.