Chapter 46: Staying Behind Alone

Fortunately, the table, sofa, and coffee table were all made of solid wood.

Outside, there was a small rest area with two completely dried-up potted plants. She took them too—it wasn’t a wasted trip.

What she needed most now was soil. Everything outside was flooded, and even before that, soil was scarce.

Once the extreme cold arrived later, most of the land would be frozen under the ice, unless it was at high elevation and not waterlogged.

Right! She could head to the mountains later to collect soil.

But that was for the future. For now, almost every office in the building had at least a few potted plants.

Little by little, it would add up—she wasn’t picky.

There were still two accessory shops on the 16th floor selling mainly hair clips, and one store selling glass beads…

These items were pretty useless in the apocalypse.

So she focused on collecting wood and soil—that was enough. The rest had probably already been looted by the other two.

Still, on a whim, she picked up a camellia-shaped claw clip, thinking she could give it to Ye Mianmian later. She couldn’t help it—it was just so pretty.

Meanwhile, Song Yi and Zhang Kaiyang were busy on the 15th floor. It was a pharmaceutical company, and although it didn’t have many actual medicines, there was a display cabinet.

This was a company with a lot of employees, so the perks were good and there was a lot of leftover stuff.

There were over twenty delivery packages—and that was just the unopened ones.

When she got there, Zhang Kaiyang was eagerly opening the boxes like mystery loot.

“Mingjie, come join us!”

“No thanks, I’ll help Song Yi search for some supplies instead.”

Zhang Kaiyang enjoyed the thrill of surprises and didn’t stop her.

Song Yi had already searched half the area, so Jiang Yuan headed for the front desk and then the back office.

Since there were more people now, she didn’t collect any bulky furniture, but she made mental notes of where everything was.

She’d come back for them later.

Soon, they finished up there too.

The group carried their haul up to the 17th floor. Ye Mianmian had also returned, carrying two large bags.

“I took all the afternoon tea snacks and little treats from our company, plus a bunch of tissues and cotton towels. Those are super useful too!”

“You’re amazing, Mian-jie, seriously impressive.”

Zhang Kaiyang couldn’t help teasing, but everyone was genuinely pleased with the bounty.

“Here, Mianmian—I saw this and thought it suited you.”

Jiang Yuan handed her the claw clip. Ye Mianmian looked surprised for a moment, then happily accepted it.

“Thank you, Mingjie. I also grabbed two sets of skincare products for you—these are really expensive. We usually can’t even bear to buy them for ourselves.”

Clearly, they were high-end luxury products, and Jiang Yuan was delighted.

Zhang Kaiyang rolled his eyes and handed Song Yi a stick of beef jerky. “Song-ge, I think you’ll really need this beef jerky. It’s my gift to you.”

Jiang Yuan and Ye Mianmian both gave him a sarcastic side-eye.

No one dared waste time or split up—just in case something unexpected happened.

By 9 p.m., they had thoroughly searched the entire above-water portion of the building.

They had found three more snack shops and one store selling grains, preserved meats, sausages, and local specialties.

The 17th floor was packed to the brim with supplies—almost to bursting.

Ye Mianmian started preparing food. No one dared eat anything cold, so they used flashlights with cold light to cook.

The supplies from downstairs were stored on the 7th floor; everything above came from the 17th.

“With all this stuff, we can survive for a while. I live alone, so I could probably hole up for two years without going out,” Zhang Kaiyang said proudly.

“Don’t get too cocky. The real problem now is how we’re going to transport all of this back.”

Jiang Yuan didn’t want to rain on his parade, but the reality was unavoidable.

“Yeah, there’s no way we can carry all this in just one or two trips,” Ye Mianmian sighed. Truly, blessings and misfortunes come hand in hand.

“Well, even if it takes two trips, we’re not just going to abandon this stuff. It’s all good supplies.”

“Exactly,” Song Yi said, reassuring everyone. “We have to bring it back. Besides, we probably won’t get another chance to come out anytime soon. We need to endure for now.”

Hearing Song Yi’s calm, confident voice made everyone feel more secure, and Zhang Kaiyang breathed a sigh of relief. His precious stash was safe—for now.

“I don’t think this place is safe. Someone should stay behind to guard the supplies. If anyone else comes along, at least we’ll be able to deal with it—or warn the others if things go south.”

Everyone silently agreed with Jiang Yuan’s reasoning.

No one wanted their hard-earned loot to end up benefiting someone else.

But who would stay behind? That was the question.

Ye Mianmian looked worried. Of the group, she was the weakest in terms of combat.

“I’m scared to be here alone… Could I please not stay?”

Time to play the role of comforting big sister.

“Mianmian, don’t worry. You’re so pretty—of course we wouldn’t leave you here alone.”

That brought to mind all kinds of terrible scenarios. Ye Mianmian shivered in fear.

“I need to go back with Song-ge to help drive the boat. That leaves…”

Everyone turned to Jiang Yuan. She was momentarily startled, but quickly composed herself.

As long as no one noticed her hesitation, it was fine.

“Looks like it’s down to me. That’s okay. But at least leave me a flashlight. The one I brought isn’t very reliable.”

That was basically a non-condition, so everyone quickly shifted focus.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”

Song Yi suddenly asked, looking directly into her eyes, as if trying to see something deeper.

“Do we have another option?” she replied.

No—there weren’t any other choices.

“Okay then. Be careful. If anyone comes, just hide.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not stupid,” Jiang Yuan shot back, annoyed that he was making things so tense.

“Everyone rest for a bit. We move out at midnight.”

“Got it…”

At best, that meant two hours of rest. Tonight was going to be an all-nighter.

“I’ll call my dad ahead of time. Once you arrive, he can come down and help carry things…”

More people meant more speed.

More speed meant less risk.

“Okay!”

At 10:30, everyone began moving supplies. They started with the food, all of which was on the 17th floor.

The 7th-floor stuff came later and wasn’t as important.

They all had a “just in case” mindset, so they took the most crucial items first.

They opened both inflatable rafts—one with a motor, one without—completely filled them with supplies.

Everything was covered with plastic tarp. The equipment was actually quite complete.

By the time everything was ready, it was already 10:40.

“Jiang Yuan, don’t worry. No matter what, I’ll come back for you. Stay safe.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I trust you guys. And even if you don’t make it back—it’s fine! I’ve got so much stuff here, I won’t go hungry, haha…”