Chapter 39: Frenzied Cooking

Jiang Yuan watched the group chat and sighed — they said they’d “go ask,” but it clearly looked like they were getting ready to loot.

1201: “That place is on the first floor, probably flooded already.”

0401: “Then that’s it, we’re screwed!”

1201: “Signal is poor now too. Loads of people called for emergency services yesterday, but no one picked up.”

0902: “Could this really be the start of the apocalypse?”

Jiang Yuan saw the message from Zhang Kaiyang and thought to herself, This kid is always stirring things up.
But since he was usually quite active and suddenly went quiet, it did seem suspicious.

0402: “Don’t spread panic.”

0801: “If the convenience store in Building 15 is flooded, maybe we can still fish some stuff out?”

0902: “Forget it. If our building’s like this, people from Building 15 probably already cleared it out.
The owner isn’t stupid — better to sell things off than watch them get soaked.”

Zhang Kaiyang’s comment left everyone in silence.

Still, Jiang Yuan knew this wouldn’t be the end of it.
Distrust toward property management was growing.
The supermarket near the entrance was like a piece of juicy meat — everyone was eyeing it.

Sure enough, other group chats started buzzing too, all talking about the supermarket.
People even @-mentioned the owner of the convenience store in Building 15.

Owner: “No stock left. Everything’s sold out. There’s nothing now.”

No one was surprised, but people were still clinging to hope.
Someone even asked if he’d saved any goods for himself — hoping to get a piece of the pie.

After that, the owner stopped replying, and the group went quiet again.
Soon, people started redirecting their frustration toward the supermarket at the property entrance.
Once a seed of doubt is planted, it’s hard to uproot.

Jiang Yuan figured that store owner was probably going to be in trouble.

No time to overthink. Their family of four held an emergency meeting.

“Dad, Mom, the situation’s getting tense. If the water gets cut off, the weather and everything else won’t hold out for long.
Let’s see what food we have left — cook everything.
Once it’s prepared, it won’t spoil easily in this weather. Even if we lose gas, we’ll still have food.”

Jiang Baodi nodded in agreement:
“We stocked up on propane tanks and coal — we can still reheat stuff when needed.”

Qin Yue looked nervous, as if the apocalypse was already here.

“Let’s hurry then. We’ve eaten a lot recently, so there’s room in the fridge and freezer.”

“Dad, Mom — keep it simple. Dumplings, buns, anything that’s easy to eat later.”

Even though there was still food in the freezer, it never hurt to have more.
As soon as they decided, everyone got busy.

Little Nuan was very well-behaved and even helped pick vegetables, which made Jiang Yuan proud.

They also had to deal with the meat. It couldn’t be left as-is — needed to be defrosted, blanched, then cooked.
With two gas burners and a pressure cooker, everything had to be running full throttle.

Jiang Yuan asked her parents to handle the dough-based foods, while she focused on the meats in the kitchen.
This also gave her a chance to sneak some things into her space.

They had disposable meal containers at home, so she packed a lot into portions.
Convenient whether for personal use or storage in the space.

But that space really needed organizing.
There were too many things inside, and no shelves to keep it tidy.

She had already exchanged most of her points for land, not storage shelves, which made it a pain.
There weren’t extra shelves at home either — and if one suddenly went missing, her parents might get suspicious.

She considered telling them about the space — it would make things much easier.
But the more people who knew, the greater the risk.
And since the space could be robbed, even if her parents kept the secret, if someone used violence… the consequences would be unthinkable.

So, she worked non-stop all the way until night, and the results were excellent.

She made cola chicken wings, pork ribs with green beans, braised carp—
Also loads of fried goods: beef jerky, fried ribs, radish meatballs, crispy pork strips, and diced chicken breast.

Plus, all the ready-to-cook frozen items she had bought earlier —
French fries, skewered pork, shrimp balls, meat-on-bone skewers…

That’s not even counting what was outside — she stored over 40 containers inside the space.
This way, meals would be quick and easy later.

Since braised meats tend to be juicy, she put them on a separate shelf beside her bed to avoid mess.

She had been on her feet the whole day — it was 10 PM before she finally sat down.

Little Nuan was exhausted and nodded off. Her mom noticed how tired she was and sent her to rest.

Jiang Yuan quickly washed up and went to bed. Everything was fine —
Except her calves were cramping from standing too long.

She hadn’t even checked her phone. The group chats had exploded.

That afternoon, six people from Building 13 had gone outside with large tubs.

Someone filmed a video, clearly from an upstairs window.
After that, discussion in the group got heated.

Some prayed quietly, others hoped the group could bring back supplies.
Their target was the supermarket by the property entrance. Jiang Yuan suspected they’d formed a private chat after the public discussion.

Later, another group went out.

In the afternoon, a body was seen floating outside the compound.
Several people filmed it — many different angles.

It was terrifying. Everyone’s first reaction was to call the police.
But the results were predictable — despair began to spread.

Fortunately, the six who went out came back, and with a full haul.
That sparked a wave of cheers in the group.
Someone even posted the video to other groups — it gave a sliver of hope to those feeling helpless.

Now, people became active again.

Xia Chaoyang and Bai Mengmeng were particularly lively on WeChat, harmonizing like a duo.
But their private four-person chat also lit up, and Jiang Yuan checked it right away.

As it turned out, Zhang Kaiyang was sighing about the situation and giving real-time updates:

Zhang Kaiyang: “Now that this has started, more people are definitely going to head out for supplies.
The stores near the gate probably won’t be spared.”

@Everyone: “Should we go out again while there’s still time?”

The group fell into silence… until Song Yi spoke up first.

Song Yi: “I agree. Later, there may be nothing left. This is still one of the better chances.”

Zhang Kaiyang: “Brother Song, how about we hit the supermarket near the property office this time? It has more stuff.”

Ye Mianmian: “They already brought back a lot today. Not sure what’s left.”

Zhang Kaiyang: “Even scraps are better than nothing. We have to go check.”

Ye Mianmian: “Sigh… If only we could get to my office — there’s tons of stuff there.”