Chapter 45: Splitting Up

Jiang Yuan raised her eyebrows. Even if Zhang Kaiyang hadn’t said anything, she had already planned to do a sweep.

Since he mentioned it, she might as well go with the flow.

“Alright, I agree!”

“There seem to be several shops here selling food. Let’s check them all out and see what we can bring back.”

“Brother Song, how about we work a little overtime today? If things go smoothly tonight, we can come back again.”

Song Yi munched on a piece of beef jerky, his expression cold.

The three of them stared at him, clearly waiting for his response.

“Let’s see how it goes.”

Zhang Kaiyang looked a bit discouraged, but Jiang Yuan was pleased. It was fine if they went together, but even if not, it didn’t matter much.

In the apocalypse, no relationship was truly stable.

Husbands and wives, brothers, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters—any of them could turn on each other.

Just walking together for a while was already something to be thankful for.

Later on, she would come back here on her own anyway. There were so many supplies and undeveloped places—it was hard not to be tempted.

“Alright then. Once we finish eating, let’s head back out. Didn’t Mianmian mention some great spots?

Song Yi has a point—who knows what’ll happen when we get back.

Let’s gather what we can and stash it somewhere hidden.

Even if we can’t take it today, we can always come back later. Don’t you think?”

Zhang Kaiyang was delighted that Jiang Yuan supported his idea.

“You’re right, Sister Yuan! That gives us a backup plan.

If we gather more stuff, we’ll be more secure.”

“I think it’s doable too,” Ye Mianmian added, shifting the pressure to Song Yi.

“Then let’s make the most of today—tomorrow, the wind is going to pick up.”

“Well, the wind’s already strong today. Probably won’t be that different,” Zhang Kaiyang said casually.

Jiang Yuan’s heart tensed at his words. If that’s the case, they might not be able to leave tomorrow. They’d better stay alert.

“Alright, let’s eat quickly and get moving…”

“Got it!”

Once Song Yi made the decision, everyone felt a weight lift from their shoulders and hurried to prepare.

They cleaned up quickly, stuffing the trash into a bag. Zhang Kaiyang moved to toss it out the window.

“Hold up! If someone sees that, won’t it reveal our presence here?”

“Ah! What was I thinking? Trust you to think of that, Sister Yuan. Let’s get to work!”

Jiang Yuan gave him a look of mild contempt. That facepalm he just did really made him look like a fool.

She decided to stick with Ye Mianmian. The girl was beautiful and delicate—she just wanted to stick close!

They locked up the place just in case.

But things weren’t as lucky after that. Another shop on the 17th floor sold children’s clothing, and the company name was displayed at the door.

“I’ll head in and pick out some clothes for my daughter. I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“I want to go back to my company too. I have some personal things I want to grab.”

Ye Mianmian also expressed her desire to go out on her own. Song Yi didn’t stop them.

“Alright, let’s head down toward the 15th floor and meet there. Everyone, make the most of your time.”

“Got it…”

“Okay…”

“Let’s go, Sister Yuan. I’ll open the door for you…”

“Thanks, big guy.”

“The shop upstairs is still open. I’ll head up first. Sister Yuan, do you need any cosmetics? I’ll grab you some if you want…”

Ye Mianmian kindly offered, and Jiang Yuan accepted with a smile.

Two minutes later, Zhang Kaiyang picked the lock.

“That was too easy. Sister Yuan, hurry up. Song Yi and I are heading down.”

Zhang Kaiyang grinned smugly, looking quite full of himself.

“Sure, leave the downstairs door open—I’ll check it out too. I might find something I want.

And everyone has different interests—you never know what you’ll stumble upon.”

She wanted to say that girls tended to be more detail-oriented and might notice things others missed.

“No problem.”

This building wasn’t as elevated as the one at Lushan Yayan, and the flooding had already submerged up to the 6th floor—where they’d stopped.

They chose to meet on the 15th floor, which made it easy to reach nearby floors or respond quickly in an emergency.

The children’s clothing store wasn’t as big as the snack shop next door, but it had a full stock.

There were three display rooms: one for summer clothes, one for spring/autumn, and one for winter.

All the sizes ranged from 90cm to 150cm.

What was most needed now was winter clothing. Jiang Yuan went in and packed up all the winter gear. She didn’t even spare the autumn clothes and took the floor racks too—easier to carry and saves space.

She also selectively placed a down jacket and a pair of padded pants in a mesh bag. These were the size her daughter Xiaonuan wore, and it wouldn’t look suspicious.

Summer clothes could wait. She already had a lot stocked up from earlier, including from a mother-baby store.

In the central hall, she stopped at the front desk and pulled out a dead potted plant.

She packed the pot, complete with soil, into her storage space. There were also six unopened packages—she’d open them later.

She grabbed two packs of tissues, a cherry blossom-themed pen holder, and half a box of winter melon lotus leaf tea—gladly accepting all of it.

The break room was decent too. It had milk tea packets, herbal teas, instant coffee, and even a fridge.

Unfortunately, everything in the fridge had spoiled, and the stench made Jiang Yuan almost gag.

She slammed the door shut. There were still some ice creams inside—what a pity.

Luckily, she found six unopened barrels of drinking water and half a barrel on the dispenser. She packed all of them.

She’d keep some for herself and put the rest into her bag—except the water, which was all going in storage.

She was looting a company, after all. It wouldn’t make sense to leave empty-handed.

The office here wasn’t fancy, but it had leather chairs and solid wood desks.

She took what she could, and seeing no one around, she got bolder.

She used her space’s “soil” freeze function. Although it didn’t have a lot of dirt, the soil from the flowerpots was usable.

None of the plants were alive anyway. She pulled them all out.

As for the one lucky money tree still alive—if possible, she’d replant it directly in the ground.

This batch of soil was enough for four turns. Including the first one stored earlier, she now had the potential for 20 additional uses.

Jiang Yuan noticed several icons appearing, one resembling a green stone tile.

That kind probably wasn’t actual soil—it looked like paved ground, like in pedestrian zones. She didn’t want that.

She was planning for storage now and future planting.

No time to overthink. She claimed twenty square meters, bringing her total space to just over a hundred. She was thrilled.

There was also a small storage room, but she decided to leave it.

Many of the items inside were winter clothes—better to leave them for someone who really needed them.

Thinking this, she headed downstairs.

On the 16th floor was a women’s fashion livestream room. The door was open—seemed the others had already been here.

Jiang Yuan called out twice, but there was no response.

Most of it was autumn wear. She had enough clothes herself but picked out two trench coats and a few sweaters, plus over ten sets of activewear.

Later on, activewear would be more practical.

She spotted some fleece-lined pants and took more than twenty pairs—for herself and her mother.

The break room had already been searched—probably by Song Yi and Zhang Kaiyang.

This place was small. No front desk, and the office was just a tiny room.