Jiang Ning looked around and noticed some rabbit droppings.

This guy often went hungry and was even more careful with survival supplies than she was—he didn’t even spare the wild rabbits.

“A crafty rabbit has three burrows.”

Jiang Ning searched nearby and indeed found a burrow entrance, quickly blocking it with mud.

Not long after, a gray shadow crawled out of the hole and fled to the side.

Kele (the dog) dashed after it like lightning, biting its neck and slamming it hard on the ground.

After a few rounds, the gray rabbit stopped moving.

Then Kele proudly brought it back to Jiang Ning, as if asking for praise—meat!

After enjoying the thrill of catching it, Kele went back to the hole and pulled out another large gray rabbit.

Nonstop, more kept coming out.

Three medium-sized rabbits in total—one whole rabbit family neatly gathered.

Wild rabbits aren’t like farmed ones; they have no breeding value. Besides, she and Kele weren’t short on meat now, so she decisively killed them and threw them into her spatial storage.

On the way back, she deliberately went by the pig slaughter area and collected all the building materials piled up from the other residential complexes into her space.

The space made the items disappear, and Kele was startled, its eyes wide as it barked, “Woof!”

Jiang Ning patted its head, “Don’t be afraid, big sister can do magic.”

Back in the residential area, night gradually fell.

Countless eyes still watched, but seeing Jiang Ning only come back with a bundle of firewood, their minds finally eased.

The people on the 18th floor weren’t always this lucky.

Just as she went upstairs, Zhang Chao greeted her, “Why are you back so soon? Lu Yu and I were just about to go look for you.”

Jiang Ning was tired, “Looked in several places. Forget dog food, I didn’t even find a piece of moldy bread.”

“The nearby areas have been thoroughly scavenged; it’s not easy to find anything,” Lu Yu said worriedly. “I heard some complexes were looted. Even if we don’t go out, we have to stay careful.”

After some small talk, Jiang Ning went inside, took off her raincoat, changed clothes, and pulled the leafy greens growing on the balcony.

The greens had been watered with nutrient solution and were growing much better, though the leaves were a bit yellowish, unlike those grown under normal sunlight. But given the rainy weather, this was pretty good.

Eating only meat would upset her stomach, so she also grabbed the mushroom bags full of oyster and elm mushrooms to take up to 1803.

The three people there were stunned, not only because of the greens but also the fresh, plump mushrooms. “Aning, you could join a survival reality show.”

“I was just lucky. When I moved here, I happened to buy a box of mushroom bags online. Didn’t expect the mushrooms would really grow.”

“There’s nothing you can’t figure out.”

“Following Aning, we definitely won’t starve.”

The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and the group started working busily in the kitchen.

Soon, Huo Yishen and Doudou came over to help, bringing ten eggs and half a catty of noodles.

“Aning, it’s good that you’re home,” Zheng Weili smiled. “It’s been really quiet on the 18th floor when you’re not here. When you come back, it livens up.”

The mood was good, and Jiang Ning was in high spirits. “Wait and see, tonight I’ll show you what I can do.”

One leading four, she took the “life idiot” team and got busy.

Zhang Chao chopped ribs, Lu Yu washed the lean meat, Zheng Weili picked greens, and Doudou clung to the mushroom bag, saying, “Sister, I want to grow mushrooms too.”

The little girl was extremely obedient. Jiang Ning nodded, “Okay, I’ll give you one tomorrow, but you can’t grow it wrong.”

Doudou instinctively looked at Huo Yishen, as if seeking his approval. “Brother.”

Seeing the eagerness in her eyes, Huo Yishen said, “Remember to thank Sister.”

Doudou happily jumped over, “Thank you, Sister! I can grow mushrooms now.”

Jiang Ning ruffled her hair, “Grow them well.”

Lu Yu nearly cut his hand while slicing meat, so Jiang Ning took over, slicing thin meat pieces, marinating them with a little oil, starch, and soy sauce.

She first fried the hot pot base in the pot, then poured it into the divided hot pot to cook. On the other side was a light mushroom broth with a few scallion roots and soaked dried matsutake mushrooms.

The living room in 1803 was spacious. Everyone closed the doors and windows tightly and placed the divided hot pot on a portable gas stove. The rich and strong hot pot aroma quickly reached a boil.

They sat around the hot pot, smiling; just smelling the aroma made their mouths water.

The ribs went into the pot, and the marinated lean meat only needed to be blanched for a minute before it was ready.

“So lucky,” Zhang Chao said, burning his tongue. “This meat is tender and fragrant.”

The others didn’t hold back and all started eating eagerly.

Doudou couldn’t eat spicy food, so Huo Yishen helped by picking the non-spicy pieces for her.

Zheng Weili teased, “Doudou, is Sister Aning’s cooking as good as your brother’s?”

Doudou carefully glanced at her brother and gave a sweet smile. “Brother’s cooking is good too.”

Come on, everyone knew Huo Yishen’s cooking skills were inversely proportional to his looks—he was even worse than Lu Yu, who just lived off others.

“Where’s Kele?” Zhang Chao turned to look.

Jiang Ning ate while replying, “At home.”

“Call it over! It’s part of the team now,” Zheng Weili said fondly of the dog. “Kele is amazing. As soon as there’s movement downstairs, it knows right away. It’s like it has super hearing.”

Full of energy, not even Lu Yu alone could compete with it, let alone Zhang Chao.

“Now with it guarding the house, we can finally sleep well.”

Doudou also liked Kele, and everyone agreed to call it over.

They had to work together from now on and couldn’t treat anyone special.

Jiang Ning was a bit touched. “Okay.”

She opened the door and let Kele bring its food bowl over.

Doudou took some ribs from her bowl and secretly fed them to the dog.

The two little ones couldn’t eat spicy food and could only scoop from the mushroom soup side, which was fresh and sweet.

Zhang Chao grabbed a few cans of beer, “Come on, we finally had a good meal today, let’s celebrate!”

Everyone had a can—Doudou drank Sprite, and Kele got rib broth. “Woof!”

Lu Yu drank beer with a sigh, “If it weren’t for the flood downstairs, with this meal tonight, who would know it’s the end of the world?”

Zhang Chao set the mood, “Look forward. As long as we work together, every day can be as good as this.”

After eating most of the meat, they put in some kelp and winter melon.

The winter melon was brought by Jiang Ning. It was durable and wouldn’t spoil for months.

The elm mushrooms were very fresh, leaving a lingering taste in the mouth.

The greens, when blanched in the soup, were incredibly tender.

They hadn’t eaten vegetables since the typhoon started. Eating them now felt so satisfying, like starving ghosts finally fed.

“If it weren’t for Aning, I’d have forgotten what vegetables even taste like.”

“The nutrient solution we brought back works well; it makes the greens grow quickly. We won’t lack vegetables anymore.”

This was great news, and everyone was excited.

Vegetables are good; eating them made everyone feel great.

They chatted while eating and finally added some noodles to the pot to fill everyone up.

Though they had stockpiled a lot of supplies, under Zhang Chao’s constant reminders, Zheng Weili and Lu Yu didn’t dare to waste anything. They ate only 70% full daily, mostly porridge and noodles, even sparing rice.

Tonight’s meal was so satisfying—pure bliss!

It felt like a dream: the flood had receded, and it was still the familiar world they knew—no apocalypse at all.

They dreamed every night, but inside and outside the dream, they were still stuck in water.

Tonight’s meal released all the pent-up frustration and pressure in their chests. After tidying themselves up, they could muster the courage to keep going.

One day, this natural disaster would end, and the beautiful life they had before would return.