After receiving a loving kiss from her poop-scooper, Kele was so excited she spun around in circles on the spot, almost about to pee.

Dou Dou wasn’t to be outdone; she grabbed her arm and said, “Sister, outside is so scary! There’s water everywhere, flooding the houses. But Dou Dou isn’t afraid!”

“Mm, Dou Dou is really brave.”

Jiang Ning rewarded both of them with a piece of candy, then went downstairs to help carry firewood.

The water tower was very large. Three men lifted it together and carried it directly up to the rooftop.

After putting away the assault boat and the inflatable boat upstairs, Zheng Weili opened her large backpack and pulled out a plastic bag containing a snake and two wild rabbits.

“We went very far. There’s a cluster of villas halfway up the mountain, which are already mostly flooded. The water tower was what Ah Shen wanted. We were supposed to come straight back after finishing, but Kele ran up the mountain.”

Worried something might go wrong, the group hurried after it and found Kele struggling with the snake.

Huo Yishen’s eyes and hands were quick; he used a soldier’s entrenching tool to chop off the snake’s head.

They got several jin (a few pounds) of snake meat, and everyone was very happy, but Kele still refused to leave.

Unable to persuade the dog, the group picked up firewood as they walked deeper into the mountain, only to find Kele digging into a rabbit’s nest.

“Ah Ning, you’ve definitely found a treasure. This isn’t just a dog; it’s practically a spirit.”

Jiang Ning laughed, “Kele has been wandering outside for years; her survival skills are far better than ours.”

Zheng Weili was amazed, “I’ve never seen such a smart dog. It even climbed a tree! If it weren’t for Deep (Shen Ge), we wouldn’t have been able to control it at all. It still wouldn’t want to come back when it got dark.”

Gluttony is a dog’s nature, but only a dog that has experienced hunger will have the intense urge to hoard food.

Thinking back to the pig they hunted last time, there was no way it would willingly come back—of course it would dash into the mountain.

Jiang Ning didn’t go out but contributed by guarding the home base. Since the dog was a major contributor to the hunt, they decided to split the rewards evenly.

She didn’t want to take advantage, but Zheng Weili and the others disagreed, “Kele is part of us too. We can’t treat it differently. It worked just as hard as we did. If you feel bad, you cook, and we’ll help.”

In the end, Jiang Ning didn’t cook but acted as strategist, guiding Huo Yishen’s cooking.

They skinned the snake and gutted it, then stewed it with a bowl of black beans in a pressure cooker.

The two rabbits were fat; one was braised red, the other spicy hot.

They cooked some stir-fried greens and served mixed grain rice. Everyone was extremely satisfied.

“Ah Ning, we’re planning to go again tomorrow,” Zhang Chao asked. “Are you joining?”

The villa owners had already evacuated, so there was no hope for food supplies, but many of the wooden furniture pieces could be chopped into firewood to bring back.

Also, the water tower on the rooftop was quite good. They planned to bring back two more and install one on each house, so they wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble fetching rainwater from balconies.

Huo Yishen suddenly spoke up, “There are quite a few water towers over there. We should bring back several more. When the rain stops, the water supply won’t recover quickly. We need to make a water storage plan.”

Zhang Chao and the others were a bit stunned but soon agreed with his suggestion.

His and Jiang Ning’s survival skills were strong; it was wise to listen to them.

Jiang Ning had no objections. “We need to keep one here. Who do you think should go?”

Zheng Weili didn’t like staying indoors and was getting stir-crazy. “I’ll go, but Kele has to come with me.”

“Woof!” The dog agreed.

“I want to go too,” Dou Dou eagerly raised her hand. “I can help gather firewood.”

Huo Yishen wanted her to get used to the outside world. “Okay, but no crying.”

“No crying,” Dou Dou rubbed her bottom. “Brother, I fell today and didn’t cry.”

So, the whole group decided Jiang Ning would stay at the main base while Kele went out on the mission for her.

In the middle of the night, when everyone was deep asleep, loud noises came from downstairs and went on for a long time.

Jiang Ning was woken up and saw Kele lying still in the doghouse. She turned over and went back to sleep.

In the morning, still reluctant to get up, Kele excitedly tugged at her blanket.

The poop-scooper, quickly get it ready; time to go to work.

Jiang Ning yawned and got up, feeding it chicken breast mixed with dog food, applied ointment to its skin fungus, and put on a raincoat.

For lunch, no showing off—plain dog food with white porridge, packed into a thermos flask and stuffed into her bag.

Kele carried the bag in its mouth, opened the door by twisting the handle, and didn’t forget to look back at her.

It seemed to say: “Poop-scooper, I’m going out to earn some food. You stay home and don’t run around.”

Jiang Ning was amused and went forward to hug it. “Alright, be careful and don’t overdo it.”

Huo Yishen’s door opened, and Dou Dou came out wearing a raincoat. “Sister, I want a hug too.”

It seemed Huo Yishen had talked to her. The little one was more and more expressive and even greeted Zheng Weili and others one by one, completely different from the shy and scared child she was when they first met.

Kele walked last, always glancing back at her, reluctant to part.

The only difference after training with Huo Yishen was a clear increase in responsibility.

Jiang Ning closed the door and went to the balcony. Soon, she saw several people and the dog rowing away in the assault boat.

Just after they left, He Zhi’an’s team followed in the inflatable boat.

Not only He Zhi’an, but Yang Weicong and others followed too, along with people from other apartment blocks.

Unknowingly, the 18th floor had become a weather vane.

They wondered endlessly why, though everyone was searching for supplies, the 18th floor always came back fully loaded while others couldn’t even find firewood.

Why was the gap between people so big?

No matter. Since they couldn’t compete or join them, they had to find a way to follow along.

Jiang Ning counted quietly; quite a few were secretly tailing them.

Though being watched, she wasn’t worried—Huo Yishen would shake them off.

After breakfast, she continued reading medical books. Around ten o’clock, Grandma Zhong came upstairs for acupuncture.

After several days of treatment, her back injury had improved significantly; she no longer needed family members to help her upstairs.

Grandma Zhong was in a good mood and held Jiang Ning’s hand tightly. “Xiao Ning, the Xu family got robbed last night. That’s karma for them.”

It was the same big woman who came looking for medicine and threw a tantrum before.

Late at night, someone pried open her door, knocked her out with a blow, and took all the food from the house.

She woke up and threw a fit again, even bothering He Zhi’an in the morning, demanding every house be searched.

If He Zhi’an had ten lives, he still wouldn’t dare organize a search, especially after hearing how much grain the Xu family lost—he almost spat blood.

There were over two hundred jin of rice, flour, oil, plus quite a bit of oil, cured meat, and pickled vegetables.

“Probably an exaggeration. Who would store that much?”

Grandma Zhong shook her head repeatedly. “Those kind souls who lent them grain were furious and almost started a fight. They said she’s truly heartless and deserves to be broken into.”

Jiang Ning listened from the side. “You should be careful too.”

Grandma Zhong, an old fox, said, “My family has no grain either. Now we only eat one meal at noon, barely half full.”

Soon it was noon, and they still hadn’t returned.

The water tower wouldn’t take long to carry back, but Jiang Ning was a little worried about Kele and wanted to call, but there was no signal.

Every fifteen minutes, she watched from the balcony.

At three in the afternoon, Huo Yishen finally appeared.

She counted carefully—not only was everyone back, but the dog stood at the front of the assault boat like a triumphant hero riding the waves.

She went downstairs to help.

As the assault boat approached, Jiang Ning immediately sensed something was wrong!