Even though Kele wasn’t weak, there was still hope it could become stronger—after all, no one could resist the temptation of dog meat under the threat of starving to death.

So, Kele had to become stronger.

Huo Yishen’s request was simple: “I’ll help you train the dog, you teach Dou Dou to read.”

Such a request? Jiang Ning was a bit stunned. “Dou Dou is smart and well-behaved. You can totally teach it yourself.”

Huo Yishen looked a little awkward. “I’m not good at teaching reading. Training dogs is much easier.”

Jiang Ning was a bit embarrassed. “Fine, then let’s exchange.”

He helps train the dog, she teaches Dou Dou to read.

Just as she opened the door, a black shadow pounced, a low growl filled with anxiety and restlessness, its paws clawing at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning stroked its head, “It’s okay, I’m not leaving.”

Stray dogs were hard to calm, so she fed it a sausage.

But it was still restless, following Jiang Ning everywhere, not allowing her out of sight.

Today she was not only exhausted but also starving.

The unexpected reunion with Kele was truly worth celebrating. Jiang Ning took out steamed ribs, drunken goose, farmhouse stir-fried pork, and beer.

Even if she wasn’t hungry, the dog’s eyes were fixed on the food, drooling.

Jiang Ning gave it some plain ribs, then ate while watching dramas to relax.

Kele was so greedy, it jumped on the sofa, laying on her, occasionally pushing her shoulder with its paw.

Seeing Jiang Ning unmoved, it ran to its food bowl and grabbed its meal—“Pooper scooper, food!”

“What a clever one,” Jiang Ning threw it a bone to chew, “Don’t overeat, there’ll be good food every day from now on.”

After the meal, they still had to teach Kele to use the bathroom.

Not only Kele, but also the breeding rabbits and a litter of babies.

Though the balcony was sealed with glass, it was still damp, which made the rabbits very listless. She placed lots of cardboard and moved them to the bathroom, which was much better.

Once tamed, they weren’t afraid of people and started roaming inside the house.

When Kele saw the rabbits, its eyes flashed green and it instinctively lunged to bite, but Jiang Ning immediately gave a fierce look to stop it. “No!”

From now on, she and Kele would eat meat or porridge, fully relying on the rabbits.

Having lived together before, Kele understood her temperament fairly well and could only endure the itchy teeth.

It wasn’t hungry now; it would bite when hungry.

Kele was intelligent—after over an hour of training, it finally used the black garbage bag-lined basket in the bathroom as a toilet.

The rabbits, however, were stubborn. No matter how she taught, they didn’t learn, making her clean several times a day.

Jiang Ning sighed, “Kele, the responsibility of taking care of them is yours from now on.”

Be a good dog and help your human with chores.

By the time she finished, it was already late at night. Jiang Ning went to bed, but Kele dragged its bed in with it.

Alright, who told it to be so insecure? She understood.

She woke up several times throughout the night, all because of Kele.

It was extremely sensitive to sound, getting up at any noise downstairs and guarding the steel front door.

Long-term stray life had changed the dog’s nature—it wouldn’t make noise easily to avoid alerting enemies.

Though it was just an apartment building, it reflected the harsh realities of life, full of dirt and ugliness.

At around seven in the morning, Jiang Ning was woken up by restless Kele.

Opening the door, Yang Weicong’s classmate was knocking nonstop downstairs. “Jiang Ning, Acong got stabbed by you yesterday and was bitten by your dog. Now he has a fever. You have to take responsibility.”

Jiang Ning closed the door, washed up, and had breakfast.

A simple bowl of pork bone noodle soup and two small steamed buns.

Kele had half a bowl of dog food and four small steamed buns.

Just as she finished cleaning up, Lu Yu came to knock, ready for today’s mission—spend one million yuan.

Besides taking care of the kid, Zheng Weili now had the task of watching the dog.

There was a punching bag in the hallway, brought by Lu Yu and Zhang Chao, so she could practice boxing and not be their target anymore.

At the department store by nine, there was still a huge crowd lining up. Suddenly, a staff member announced through a loudspeaker that today’s food supplies had sold out and those in need should come early tomorrow.

“I got here at midnight last night, how come it’s all gone?”

“I lined up at nine last night and still didn’t get any.”

Suddenly, wails and complaints erupted, public dissatisfaction boiling over, but what could be done?

With real armed troops present, no one could rush in and grab food.

Tired faces full of unwillingness lingered for a while before leaving disappointed.

Almost everyone at the department store came mainly for food, and maybe to pick up some other things.

After the crowd dispersed, the huge mall suddenly felt empty.

Compared to last time, the goods were noticeably fewer; anything that could fill stomachs had been snatched clean.

They had introduced purified tap water at 10 yuan per liter, but customers needed to bring their own containers.

Thinking about the floating corpses in the water, Lu Yu and Zhang Chao lost interest immediately.

Most of the mall sold electronics, clothes, bedding, and household goods, so even with money in hand, there was little to buy.

There were still two rubber boats left. Lu Yu thought about buying one as backup but dared not ask at 50,000 yuan each.

Jiang Ning had clear goals: prepare extreme cold survival gear for them.

She wasn’t short of supplies, but couldn’t just give them away; she needed to get through the road first.

Scarce daily necessities had skyrocketed in price; clothes and bedding didn’t rise much since money needed to be saved for food.

While wandering around, she spotted a mink fur coat.

A purple mink coat that reached over the knees, soft to the touch and very warm to wear.

Checking the price—49,999 yuan.

There were both men’s and women’s styles, with little price difference. Jiang Ning immediately bought seven, including one for Kele, to alter later.

She spent 350,000 yuan in one go. Lu Yu’s heart was bleeding. “Why not get a cheaper one?”

“If we don’t spend now, are we saving it for toilet paper?”

Besides the mink coats, there were warm cotton jackets, down coats, outdoor jackets, quilts, socks, boots, thermal underwear, and more—they could buy whatever they wanted.

Unfortunately, there were no pet supplies, or she would’ve stocked up for Kele as well.

While shopping, a middle-aged man approached quietly and said, “Miss, want some food?”

He looked shifty and clearly wasn’t a good person.

Jiang Ning had noticed him tailing her while buying the mink coats, thinking he was a thief or robber, but it turned out he was a food dealer.

“What food?”

“Rice.”

“Soaked rice?”

The man nodded. “There’s also unsoaked rice, but it costs twice as much.”

“What’s the price?”

“Soaked rice is 2,500 yuan per jin [half a kilo], unsoaked is 5,000.”

Jiang Ning thought for a moment. “How do I know eating soaked rice won’t kill me?”

“Miss, rest assured, we’re honest in business, no cheating anyone.”

He pulled out some broken rice from his pocket, yellowish and dull in color, but it didn’t smell bad.

“How much do you have?”

“However much you want, I have.”

Jiang Ning calculated, after accounting for expenses, “2,000 yuan per jin. I want 250 jin.”

The man holding the rice was speechless…