Chapter 67 – Analyzing Places with Supplies

“It’s him!”

“Geez, that guy is seriously bad news.”

Having spent more time with Zhang Kaiyang, Ye Mianmian was now more relaxed and casual with her speech—not as reserved as before.

“Exactly, he’s so selfish. Didn’t he come knocking last time, trying to get help?”

Jiang Yuan joined the conversation, while only Song Yi listened silently on the side.

“Right? This time he went to the 8th floor trying to use someone else’s bathroom. The residents didn’t agree—probably said something he didn’t like—so a fight broke out. Lots of people went to watch. There were women on both sides, and when I got there, they were pulling each other’s hair. The scene… tsk tsk…”

He shook his head as he spoke.

Ye Mianmian gave him a meaningful look that made him uncomfortable.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Haha, I was wondering… if you and Sister Yuan ran into the same problem, would you also end up like them?”

“Pfft…”

Ye Mianmian didn’t say more, clearly uninterested in engaging further.

“Forget hair-pulling—if it came to real fighting, no one’s going to hold back.”

Jiang Yuan casually said that to ease the tension.

But unexpectedly, her words reminded the others of how they had previously killed the people on the 20th floor. The atmosphere grew even more awkward.

“Zhang Kaiyang, someone came to our floor last night.”

“What? I didn’t hear anything.”

Then, Song Yi explained briefly what had happened the night before.

“You mean that old lady?”

“Yeah. Do you know which unit she’s from?”

“I think I’ve seen her a few times… probably the 14th or 15th floor. Not too low, anyway. That day, it was Sister Yuan who had me go downstairs, and I heard some people in the stairwell talking about it—not 100% sure, though.”

Zhang Kaiyang shared what he knew. Ye Mianmian, meanwhile, looked worried.

“Sister Yuan, I don’t think that group of people will let this go easily. We need to stay alert these next few days…”

Jiang Yuan understood what she meant, but there wasn’t much she could do.

“Even if we knew exactly who it was, there’s no way to notify anyone. The internet’s gone.”

She was stating facts, but they were hard to hear, and everyone fell silent.

“It’s okay, Sister Yuan. We’ll keep a close eye. If anything really happens, at least we’ll be able to help somehow.”

Zhang Kaiyang was determined to do what he could.

“Alright, thanks in advance.

By the way, Mianmian—where’s your grandma? Haven’t seen her around.”

“My grandma went to bed. Old folks sleep earlier.”

Fair enough, though it was a bit too early.

“The weather’s getting worse. You guys should exercise more to strengthen your bodies. If the cold gets worse and someone catches a cold, it’ll be a real pain.”

Ye Mianmian frowned—it wasn’t a big deal for young people, but her grandma’s health was definitely a concern.

“Lately, I’ve been working on a plan.”

As she spoke, Jiang Yuan pulled out a map and a pencil she had brought with her.

Ye Mianmian quickly cleared off the coffee table.

Once the map was spread out, Jiang Yuan focused on the three of them.

“Experts predicted the heavy rain will last about a month. If it stops or even slows down, we’ll need to head out again.

Here’s what I think—the colder it gets, the more likely it’ll freeze once the rain ends. When that happens, everyone will be out scavenging, and society won’t bounce back immediately.”

“Do you think it will recover?”

Ye Mianmian looked at her with a mix of hope and doubt.

“It probably will—but not right away.

Think about it—there’s so much water, it won’t drain quickly. With the temperature dropping, if it freezes early, then all manpower and resources will be tied up with emergency repairs.”

Song Yi nodded and picked up the thread.

“Right. Low-lying areas will be more severely flooded and harder to deal with once frozen. Electricity, water, gas, and communications are all big issues. Food and drink won’t even be a priority at first.”

“Exactly. So when people are able to go out, some places will be looted for sure.

If we want to get good supplies, we have to act first.

Look here—and here—these spots…”

The three of them leaned in over the map on the table.

The places she had marked were all nearby. One of them was a service station off the highway.

“There’s a small convenience store here and a gas station—and most importantly, it’s really close. Even closer than Mianmian’s company!”

“Right! And that place is on high ground. Last time we went to pick up Sister Yuan, we could still see that service station from the road,” Zhang Kaiyang added, analyzing the route.

“Gasoline, diesel—those are huge assets. Think about it, these are hard to come by. It’s better to have them stocked in advance.”

Jiang Yuan emphasized this deliberately because she remembered seeing a generator while helping Ye Mianmian move—it was likely purchased during the extreme heat period to run an air conditioner.

“Exactly! With diesel, we can run the generator and cook too.”

Her point hit home, and the others nodded in agreement.

“There’s also this place—a small liquefied gas supply depot. Restaurants near the university town get their gas from there. If we go early enough, we might get quite a bit.”

“That’d be amazing. With no electricity and no natural gas lately, I’ve been so anxious.

If not for these self-heating meals, I’d be freaking out.”

“Yeah. With gas canisters, we can cook—at least boil water. That alone would help a lot.”

Jiang Yuan continued calmly, explaining each of her marked locations.

“This shopping area is also promising—though we don’t know for sure. It has a three-floor supermarket. They bought stuff from here before.”

Song Yi rubbed his chin and gave his thoughts.

“That one’s a bit iffy. Let’s mark it as tentative for now.”

“Okay.”

Even though it was a little disappointing, it was reasonable.

“There’s one more place. I used to have a friend whose father worked here—this is a government grain storage site.”

She looked up at their reactions as she spoke.

“Sister Yuan, if that’s a grain reserve, wouldn’t there be guards?”

“Yes. Normally there are six people on duty. Not sure about now.

But if we manage to secure that place, we’ll never have to worry again.

Before the heavy rain started, a lot of stock was probably moved out, but the rest should be more than enough to feed all of us.

Grains, vegetables—maybe even meat?”

“But… if we go there, wouldn’t that technically be a crime?”

Exactly. It would mean standing in opposition to the government, cutting off any future reintegration.

It was a dilemma Jiang Yuan couldn’t explain fully—because of the apocalypse scenario.

“Not just that—it’d be extremely difficult. So that’s our last resort.

The earlier targets—if we go, we need to go early, before others beat us to it…”