[edited]

Jiang Ning walked into her kitchen. She took a clean egg and dipped it into the white wine bowl. After that, she rolled it in the salt bowl two times before wrapping it in plastic wrap. “It’ll be good to eat in a month.” 

Just as she was about to take a nap, there was a knock on her door. 

1801 and 1803 were about to go out, and even Doudou even wore a raincoat. 

Huo Yishen wanted to take two of them out for training. Seeing that Coke was very excited, Jiang Ning thought for a moment and didn’t refuse. “Wait a moment.” 

She went back to get her makeup box and applied a dark color to Doudou’s face. 

There is nothing wrong with letting Doudou see this cruel apocalypse as soon as possible but she was too fair and tender, which made her easily noticeable when going outside. 

After finishing applying makeup on Doudou’s face, Jiang Ning finally stopped, feeling satisfied. 

Suddenly, Coke’s face appeared, as if asking to be painted too! 

She applied some makeup that made it look like the ghost of a painting, with a dark brown face that was rather ugly. 

Feeling a blow to its confidence, Coke snorted and left with the instructor without looking back. 

When she woke up from her nap, Jiang Ning prepared to give Grandma Zhong acupuncture. 

Grandma Zhong took out some roasted sweet potatoes wrapped in cloth from her pocket. “Jiang Ning, my waist has gotten much better. Thank you so much.” 

The sweet potatoes were still warm, but Jiang Ning declined, “I already charge for the treatment. You keep them for yourself.” 

Food sustains life, and she wouldn’t snatch opportunities for others to survive. 

Grandma Zhong insisted on giving it to Jiang Ning as a token of appreciation, but then there was suddenly a knock on the door downstairs. 

“I’ll take your kindness,” Jiang Ning told her to keep it. “If you really want to give something, you can use sweet potatoes as payment for future treatments.” 

The knocking downstairs continued, and after a while of no response, a loud voice rang out, “Girl on the 18th floor, I’m here to seek treatment from you. Open the door quickly.” 

With such a confident voice, what kind of illness could there be? 

Jiang Ning, annoyed by the noise, went downstairs and said coldly, “What’s the matter?” 

A middle aged woman in her forties or fifties, upon seeing her come down. She quickly put on a smile. “Dr. Jiang, right?” 

“I’m not a doctor, I’m just a student at the medical school.” 

“Dr. Jiang, I have a headache and a fever. Could you please take a look at me?” 

“I charge for medical consultations.” 

Upon hearing this, the middle aged woman’s smile froze. “What? I just have a headache and a fever. Just give me two pills.” 

“Do you go shopping at the department store for free?” Jiang Ning couldn’t be bothered with her. “I don’t have any medicine here, and I can’t treat your illness.” 

“No… no medicine? Then can you give me an acupuncture at least?” 

“I can give you an acupuncture, but it’ll cost you five kilograms of grain each time.” 

“What? Why is there a cost for providing acupuncture, and why does it have to be five kilograms of grain?” 

The woman got angry and exclaimed, “Young girl, that’s not how you should behave. We’re neighbors, we should help each other. Even if you’re hoarding so many good things, not sharing is one thing, but now you’re asking for our lifesaving food? You’re too heartless!” 

Jiang Ning opened the door and drew her knife. “Say that again.” 

“What are you doing? Are you trying to kill someone?” The woman jumped back in fear, taking a few steps back. “I know people at the police station. If you dare to touch me, you won’t get away with it.” 

She was just too noisy that it’s ringing her ears. 

Jiang Ning swung her knife. 

“Ah, murder! Someone on the 18th floor is a murderer, a heartless monster…” 

“Go ahead, scream all you want. But look at you, you’re still full of energy and with a thick waist and buttocks. You’ve clearly had your fill; you’re only coming here to stir up trouble afterwards, right?” 

Jiang Ning remembered her well. She had come from out of town to look after her grandson. Selfish and opportunistic, she would rummage through trash bins in every building and even resort to begging for half drunk bottles from others. 

“You’re talking nonsense…” The woman’s face turned pale instantly, her voice noticeably weaker. “There’s no food in my house. We’ve run out of supplies long ago.” 

Indeed, she had stored quite a bit of food at home. When the typhoon came, she went door to door borrowing food from neighbors and ended up acquiring quite a lot. Who knew she would be exposed like this? 

She had heard that there were medicines on the 18th floor and came up wanting to get some, but she didn’t expect that the girl with surname Jiang, to be so difficult. 

The woman’s voice weakened, “We really don’t have any grain. If we did, we would have brought it in exchange for medicine.” 

“I’m not coveting anything you have, but if you dare to scheme against me again, don’t blame me for breaking into your house!” 

Seeing the fierceness in Jiang Ning’s eyes, the woman broke out in a cold sweat and dared not cause any more trouble. She quickly went downstairs to hide her things. 

She didn’t get the medicine, but she had caused trouble for herself now. 

Back upstairs, the acupuncture continued. 

“Jiang Ning, that woman speaks harshly. Don’t take it to heart,” Grandma Zhong chatted with her. “She lives downstairs from me and she’s always trying to take advantage. She often brings her child to my place to freeload. 

She hasn’t raised the child properly either; whenever she sees something good, she grabs it and won’t let go. Eventually, we stopped letting them in. 

By the way, you should also watch out for the girl living next to me. She’s been speaking ill of you.” 

“The one with the hair she cut?” 

Grandma Zhong lived on the 12th floor; she should be referring to Su Mengyao. 

“Yes, she’s been asking around about you, indirectly, asking if you have medicine.” 

Grandma Zhong wasn’t naive; she knew that girl had ulterior motives. “I told her you didn’t have any medicine, but she didn’t believe me. She influenced those people too; it seems they have a deep prejudice against you.” 

After a lifetime of experiences Grandma Zhong had seen it all. “Jiang Ning, this disaster is harming people’s hearts. I know you’re capable, but you still need to be cautious.” 

Having died once, Jiang Ning couldn’t be unguarded. She was selective about her patients; not everyone who came to her would be treated. 

In her previous life, she had seen the darkest aspects of human nature in this building. Those she was willing to treat were those whose conscience hadn’t completely collapsed, even though they may end up dying in the end. 

Thinking of Su Mengyao, Jiang Ning squinted. “What did she say about me, Grandma Zhong? 

“She didn’t say it directly, but she insinuated and hinted that you have something,” Grandma Zhong recalled another incident. “She even deliberately tried to strike up a conversation with that handsome young man in your building, but unfortunately, the young man completely ignored her.” 

Striking up a conversation with Huo Yishen? 

“So young and already so scheming. Her art of seduction can be quite powerful. She even intentionally stumbled and fell in front of the young man, but he remained upright and didn’t even glance at her before walking away.” 

Grandma Zhong wasn’t just talking about Su Mengyao; several other pretty girls in the building behaved similarly, some even resorting to using their bodies to exchange for food. 

For a packet of instant noodles, they would engage with two or three men at once… 

Ah, how could the world be like this? 

Even Zhong Ping had been harassed but thankfully, she was strict, and he didn’t dare to misbehave. 

Zheng Weili and the others didn’t return until it was almost dark. They brought back a lot of firewood and even dragged a large stainless steel water tower behind them. 

Coke was very strong; he dragged a large tree branch upstairs and then followed Doudou, who was carrying firewood. “Sister, open the door, we’ve brought a feast.” 

The dog was very excited, constantly jumping into her arms and rubbing against Jiang Ning, getting her all wet. 

Doudou had some scratches on her face, probably from falling or scraping against something, but her eyes sparkled brightly when she smiled. 

She leaned in close to Jiang Ning’s ear and whispered, “Sister, there’s meat. Coke found it, and Brother cooked it.” 

Oh, no wonder the dog looked so proud its waiting for her praise. 

She petted the dog’s head and even gave it a kiss.