[edited]

Huo Yishen grabbed his sister and followed unhurriedly.

Jiang Ning walked slowly while observing her surroundings and taking some time to calm her emotions. She noticed a few traditional Chinese medicine practitioners setting up their stalls, offering treatments for injuries and massages.

However, due to the lack of medicine and the extreme cold, with everyone bundled up in thick clothing, there were very few patients. Those who did stop by mostly came for consultations.

The marketplace was quite large, with vendors selling all sorts of items, the most common being second-hand clothes. Piles of cotton coats, pants, sweaters, and other garments were heaped together, but they looked rather dirty and messy. Despite their appearance, many people inquired about them, though their expressions often revealed their discomfort.

It was obvious where these clothes came from—taken off the bodies of the dead. This practice was highly taboo, but the survivors had no choice. Without these clothes, they would freeze to death.

Survival was the most important thing.

After browsing for about an hour, Jiang Ning was the only one who bought something. However, Zhang Chao and Lu Yu were in good spirits. The prices of tea, cigarettes, and alcohol had increased, especially for fever and anti-inflammatory antibiotics. A strip of medicine could be traded for several pounds of grain.

Everyone on the 18th floor had medicine. As long as they stayed healthy and didn’t fall ill, they could trade their medicine for a substantial amount of food in the future.

Hoarding medicine was like investing in real estate; they waited for prices to rise to maximize their profits.

With medicine in hand, they felt secure and more confident about the future.

Jiang Ning played dead, and Huo Yishen didn’t bring up the embarrassing incident with the little umbrella.

Three days later, the neighborhood committee announced that the survivors could collect the grain that had been stolen from them. Based on the confessions of the criminals, the distribution would vary: communities that lost more would receive more, and those with fewer losses would receive less. Although absolute fairness was impossible, they aimed to ensure fairness for the majority.

The Jinrong Community was severely affected, with each person entitled to 2 pounds of grain.

Since the 18th floor hadn’t been robbed, when the survivors lined up to collect their grain, Jiang Ning chose to stay home and relax.

Everyone in the community knew that the 18th floor hadn’t been robbed. Many people watched from the shadows and they were ready to report if they dared to collect the grain.

However, despite their long wait, the people from the 18th floor never showed up.

Surprisingly, the so-called “devils” had a conscience and didn’t compete for the grain.

If they could maintain this attitude, then these ‘devils’ might be quite welcome. At least their presence made external criminal elements think twice before targeting the community.

The Zhong family also didn’t collect any grain.

Although their food stores weren’t abundant, the Zhong family was better off than many other survivors. With three people working, they could earn 35 pounds of grain per month. By living frugally and staying healthy, they could just manage to get by.

However, the news was mixed. The government announced thousands of new job openings, but simultaneously, they reduced the distribution of relief grain to once every two weeks.

The survivors were dismayed but powerless to change the situation.

With family members working internally, the Zhong family received news faster than others. Grandma Zhong specifically came to Jiang Ning’s door. “Little Jiang, this time they’re hiring a lot of people, including those with farming experience. Are you interested?”

Grandma Zhong wasn’t skilled in other areas, but she was an expert in farming. Before marriage, she had spent her life working in the fields. It wasn’t until she married into the Zhong family that she moved to the city.

She was too old to venture out now, but she could teach the younger ones, helping them find jobs.

After the Dragon Slaying Society was taken down, the military and government forces cracked down on criminal organizations. The situation outside improved significantly. The security patrol quickly filled its ranks, with hundreds of members patrolling in shifts around the clock, making it much safer than before.

Jiang Ning had no plans to go out. She decided to stay home and relax with her dog.

Huo Yishen needed to take care of his sister, so he also declined her offer.

It was even more impossible for those in 1803; Zhang Chao and Lu Yu decided to stick with Brother Shen and learn some survival skills.

“They wanted to become real men!”

“Thank you, Grandma Zhong. We’ll come to you if we need anything.”

The so-called “devils” didn’t need jobs. If they blended in and earned a living like ordinary people, how would they be any different from the average survivor?

If they abandoned their fierce reputation, those evil-minded people with malicious intentions would come to provoke them, leading to more harm than good.

Moreover, earning food wasn’t easy. Risking their lives at work only to be robbed on payday was a common occurrence.

No need to ask; in her previous life, Jiang Ning had risked her life working, only to almost get stabbed and lose her food.

It wasn’t out of the robbers’ kindness that she survived; she knew some martial arts. But back then, with insufficient food and clothing and faced with overwhelming numbers, she was lucky to stay alive.

In short, the residents of the 18th floor chose to continue their laid-back approach.

Back in her room, Jiang Ning fell into deep thought.

To be honest, the swift resolution of the Dragon Slaying Society completely surprised her.

She hadn’t expected the police to not only believe the report but also to act decisively, they even coordinated immediately with the military to strike hard and eliminate the criminal dens.

She had anticipated the chaos to last for several more months, but this swift action not only reduced the sacrifices of the military and police but also saved countless survivors.

This stirred something within Jiang Ning.

Having witnessed the dark side of human nature in the apocalypse and having met a tragic end herself, she couldn’t bring herself to trust or help other survivors. However, she couldn’t deny that until her death, the government had never given up on rescue efforts.

Call it selfish if you will, but even if the food rotted in her storage space, she wouldn’t extend a hand to individuals. Yet, she had received help and rescue from the government, and as long as her safety was assured, she didn’t mind offering some help.

After much consideration, Jiang Ning picked up her pen to write a letter.

She had only lived for three years in apocalypse: half a month of typhoons, three months of floods, one year of extreme cold, followed by extreme heat, earthquakes, and eventually, her demise.

The extreme cold was manageable with enough food, drink, and blankets. But the initial extreme heat was excruciating.

The southern coastal region was already like a sauna, with people feeling like they were being cooked. The oppressive heat and humidity caused countless illnesses.

Especially during the months when the ice melted and the floods returned, stagnant water led to the decomposition of frozen corpses and accumulated trash from survivors.

The extreme cold had frozen the odors and bacteria, but the extreme heat turned it into a hellscape. The harsh environment bred bacteria and viruses, leading to epidemics and pest infestations like mosquitoes and rats, which further harm the survivors.

Just thinking about the thumb-sized cockroaches running everywhere almost made Jiang Ning vomit, not to mention the mutated rats with sharp teeth that could bite through glass…

The government had indeed spared no effort in disaster relief, but they had no idea what would happen next. They were constantly playing catch-up, often with minimal results.

They had just developed cold-resistant potatoes and distributed them to survivors for planting when the extreme heat arrived.

They worked day and night to create anti-toxin mosquito repellents, only to face swarms of giant cockroaches.

Many researchers died at their posts and never waking up again.

After much deliberation, Jiang Ning wrote down the disasters she had experienced. Whether the city administration believed her or not was out of her hands.

If they believed her and prepared in advance, they might avoid many pitfalls and save more survivors.

If they didn’t believe her then that’s fine, it was only human nature.