She had been indignant just this morning over hitting Chen Caifeng—what was she doing knocking on the door at this hour?

Yu Xifeng didn’t want to bother with her and tapped to start another game.

Each round lasted about a minute. After three consecutive rounds, Tan Wanwan still hadn’t left.

The knocking was persistent, as if she wouldn’t stop until the door was opened.

Expressionless, Yu Xifeng opened the inner door.

The scent of steamed sweet potatoes still lingered in the hallway. Tan Wanwan caught a whiff, and her eyes lit up.

She hesitated, then stammered, “Miss Yu, I… I don’t have any food left at home. Can I… buy some from you?”

There were still three other roommates in Tan Wanwan’s unit. Their supplies had been limited to begin with, so it was inevitable that food would run out quickly.

Yu Xifeng shook her head. “Not for sale.”

She had no intention of opening that door.

Tan Wanwan bit her lip, her eyes misting over. “Then can I borrow your inflatable kayak? My roommates and I want to go to the supermarket to get some food.”

“The market price for the kayak is two thousand. How much are you offering?”

“I can transfer it to you.”

But with withdrawals no longer possible and the signal unstable, cash had begun circulating again in the market.

Yu Xifeng knew better than anyone that once the natural disasters started, money in an account became just numbers.

Paper currency wouldn’t be usable for much longer either.

Transactions in the building hallway had already regressed to basic bartering.

Yu Xifeng shook her head. “I only accept cash. Or you can trade something in exchange.”

Tan Wanwan looked extremely aggrieved, as if Yu Xifeng were intentionally making things difficult.

“You hit Sister Caifeng today—her stomach’s been hurting ever since. Don’t you have even a little bit of compassion?”

What Tan Wanwan really wanted to say was: Yu Xifeng had so much food—why couldn’t she spare just a little?

Her mother had given Yu Xifeng so much money.

How could a teacher treat her student like this?

Yu Xifeng asked, “Did your roommate send you? Or was it Chen Caifeng?”

“What does that have to do with them?” Tan Wanwan frowned.

Tan Wanwan wasn’t someone with strong opinions. Since Chen Caifeng and Ma Tian had just been beaten up by Yu Xifeng, her roommates had probably pushed her to come ask.

Yu Xifeng curled her lips into a mocking smile. “You’d better figure something out: is it your whole house that has no food—or just you?”

“What do you mean by that?” Tan Wanwan glared at her.

She had never cooked a day in her life. At home, she didn’t handle meals either.

The food was always taken care of by her roommate Qian Ying.

Yu Xifeng looked at her deeply. “Stop calling me Miss Yu. I tutored you, and our deal was done a long time ago. I won’t sell you food. If you want to rent the kayak, it’s two thousand per person. You can also pay with gold, silver, or antiques. Come back if you’ve decided.”

She closed the door.

Tan Wanwan stood outside, her expression a mix of awkwardness and helplessness.

Her roommates were still waiting at home.

“Wanwan, what did Miss Yu say? I saw them bring home several huge bags of food. Even if they kept two-thirds for themselves, there’s at least a hundred pounds of supplies in her place,” Qian Ying greeted her eagerly.

“She said… she’ll only rent the kayak. Two thousand per person,” Tan Wanwan muttered.

Qian Ying’s face changed, gripping her hand tighter. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

Out of the four roommates, Qian Ying came from the poorest family. Two thousand was her entire semester’s living expenses.

She asked tentatively, “Then… Wanwan, are you going to rent it?”

Tan Wanwan looked dazed.

She was thinking about what Yu Xifeng said.

Was it the whole house that lacked food, or just her?

“I remember we had two bags of Thai fragrant rice before. That should be about thirty jin (15 kg),” Tan Wanwan said suddenly.

“Huh? That much?” Qian Ying’s expression changed for a moment. “We’re four people, and every meal we cook two large bowls.”

Tan Wanwan stood up and walked straight to the kitchen.

Inside, the storage bin for rice only had a thin half-bag left, with a small bowl sitting in it.

“Two big bowls, huh?” Tan Wanwan scooped out two large bowls into the pot.

“But we just ate this afternoon. Why are you rinsing rice again? It won’t last at this rate,” Qian Ying hurried over to stop her. “Besides, you’ve never done kitchen work before—why the sudden interest?”

“I just want to see how much two bowls of rice make,” Tan Wanwan said. “Why is it that my bowl always has less than half a serving?”

The more she thought about it, the more off it seemed.

“Two preserved chickens—we had two. I didn’t get more than five bites of meat,” she continued. “Where did my chicken go?”

Qian Ying’s face darkened. “What’s your problem, Tan Wanwan? Are you going crazy or something?”

The other two roommates quickly backed Qian Ying.

“Yeah, we’ve all seen how much Qian Ying cooks every day.”

“She’s been considerate, handling everything because you didn’t want to do chores. Saying that stuff hurts her.”

Qian Ying even looked hurt, just at the right time.

Their words shook Tan Wanwan’s suspicion. Her resolve wavered, and so did her anger.

She lowered her head. “I didn’t mean anything. Miss Yu told me to come back and check—is it the whole house that’s out of food, or just me?”

After a brief pause, the roommates exchanged glances.

“She hit a pregnant woman. You’re her student, and she wouldn’t even lend you food. How can you believe anything she says?”

“We’re struggling here—we should stick together. People who try to divide us like that clearly have poor character.”

Qian Ying added, “I heard from others in the building—she’s actually someone’s mistress. Right before the typhoon, it was a workday and she didn’t even go to work. That house? Bought by her sugar daddy.”

Tan Wanwan was easily distracted by the explosive gossip. “Really?”

“Of course! You know how hard it is to get a kayak now? Not even money can buy one—it had to be a gift from her sugar daddy.”

“She’s so smug about it, too. Acting all high and mighty, but she’s just a mistress.”

“She probably can’t stand seeing proper relationships. Why else would she hit Sister Caifeng? Her belly is so big. If something happened, there’s not even a hospital available right now.”

Their gossip built on one another’s words. Now that they had a shared topic, the atmosphere between the four girls quickly returned to normal.

Chen Caifeng lay on the couch, holding her belly and occasionally groaning. She didn’t join the conversation.

That night, Tan Wanwan gave the master bedroom to Chen Caifeng, who wasn’t feeling well. The other roommates squeezed into the smaller room, so Tan Wanwan had to pull out a spare blanket and sleep on the couch.

Day 36 of the torrential rain.

Yu Xifeng found half a cockroach in her house—fished out of Little Orange’s mouth.

She was lying on the couch playing a game.

Finally, she’d broken her Fruit Ninja record—scoring 634 points.

Little Orange had crawled into the cushion of the leather sofa.

Yu Xifeng was too deep in her fruit-slicing battle to pay attention.

Then Little Orange jumped in front of her, opened its mouth, and spat out half a cockroach.

Yu Xifeng put down the tablet, sat up, looked at the cockroach, then at Little Orange, her expression conflicted.

“Was it tasty?”

“Meow—”