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As others watched Director Xu leave, some gathered around Xiao Liu to continue raising their concerns, while others turned to drive to the supermarket to buy supplies.
Having something to buy was better than having nothing at all.
Their vegetables and fruits had already rotted. Even if they had some rice left, they couldn’t just eat it dry.
Ji He was about to head back inside when three elderly women grabbed her.
“Girl, you didn’t finish the instant noodles we gave you yesterday, did you?”
Ji He nodded.
The old woman in front of her immediately beamed. “Sweetheart, how about we trade some meat for your instant noodles?
“The power is out, and our freezers are defrosting. There’s too much frozen food inside—if we don’t eat it now, it’ll just go to waste. Meat is way more nutritious than instant noodles, anyway.”
Ji He didn’t mind. “I’m fine with that, but how do you want to trade? I don’t want you to feel shortchanged.”
“Aiya, there’s nothing to feel bad about. If we don’t trade, we’d just have to throw it away. How about this: we won’t go by weight. One pack of instant noodles for one piece of meat. I even have a whole chicken. Three packs of instant noodles, and it’s yours. Deal?”
“Sure, as long as you decide. But don’t give me too much, or it’ll go to waste.”
“Alright! We wouldn’t scam you, girl. You’re too skinny—go home and eat more meat.”
The three old women happily went home to fetch the meat, while Ji He went inside to get the instant noodles.
She didn’t take too many—just the 30 packs she had traded for yesterday.
After waiting outside for a short while, the three elderly women returned, each carrying a small bag.
Seeing Ji He, they handed her the food.
“Girl, look, we made sure to give you plenty. Take it home and eat well.”
As soon as Ji He took it, she felt its weight. She opened a bag and twitched at the corners of her mouth.
It was all meat. Various cuts defrosted from the fridge, some already warm to the touch. She sniffed them—no spoilage yet.
But if she didn’t eat them soon, they’d go bad.
She didn’t say much, simply handing over the instant noodles. “Grandmas, this is all I have. Is it okay?”
“Of course, it’s fine!”
The three old women had a rough idea of how much they had given away yesterday. Now that the deal was done, they took their instant noodles and ran.
To them, trading their perishable meat for long-lasting food was a huge win.
If this girl had adults at home, they wouldn’t have let her trade so easily.
Now that the food was in their hands, it was theirs. Even if they regretted it later, there was no way they’d return it.
Ji He chuckled but said nothing, turning back inside to continue cooking.
She weighed the meat she received:
Ji He smiled to herself. Just how much food had these old ladies hoarded at home?
If the heatwave hadn’t caused a power outage, they could have lived off their stockpile for two months!
She took out all the chicken hearts and feet she had in her space, adding them to the batch she received today, soaking them in a plastic basin.
She would prepare them all at once.
Then, after washing her hands, she continued making wontons and steamed dumplings.
Her goal for today: use up 150 pounds of flour!
Now that she had meat, she decided to be generous—she would use all the meat she got today.
She worked through the entire night again.
After finishing the dumplings, Ji He moved on to stir-frying chicken hearts and braising chicken feet.
Once those were stored away in her space, she started making porridge:
By the time she finished, it was 6 a.m.
Ji He stored the last pot of green bean porridge in her space and looked at the five remaining large barrels. Satisfied, she let out a deep breath.
Just five more barrels to fill—once they were packed with food, she would have enough supplies to last half a year!
Ji He lowered her head and started cleaning up.
Maybe it was because of the heat, but there were more insects than usual.
In just one night, countless flies and mosquitoes had invaded her house. She had spent so much effort swatting them down.
After wiping every corner clean, she stored all the food from the kitchen into her space.
Yawning, she got ready to take a shower and sleep.
For now, bathing wasn’t a problem—but who knew what the future would be like?
She set an alarm and fell into a deep sleep as soon as she hit the bed.
At 2 p.m., Ji He woke up on time.
The first thing she did was store more water in her space, then she logged into her game’s chat channels.
As usual, the chat was a chaotic mess.
The messages scrolled endlessly. Over the past few days, Ji He had been lurking and had figured some things out.
There were two main troublemaking gangs:
Even their names sounded ridiculous.
Besides them, there was another group calling themselves “Successors of Socialism,” constantly arguing with the first two.
They didn’t seem like an official organization—more like a bunch of idealistic young people.
Of course, there might be more factions, but for now, these three were the most active.
The first two gangs encouraged rioting and looting, constantly spreading doomsday rumors.
The third group opposed them, relentlessly criticizing their actions.
Ji He still stayed silent. She was sure there were many others like her—ordinary people who just wanted to survive peacefully, uninterested in choosing sides or getting involved in any fights.
She closed the game chat and opened the community owner’s group chat.
As soon as she did, bad news popped up.
The heatwave had taken its toll—three elderly residents hadn’t made it through the night.
Their families were now cursing the government for inaction, claiming that if they had air conditioning, their loved ones wouldn’t have died so soon.
Ji He sighed and closed the group chat.
Then she opened the early market chat.
There were still plenty of messages—many people were looking to buy bottled water and generators.
[Spring Blossoms (Vegetables Available)]: Romaine lettuce, 500 yuan per half a pound. 20 pounds available—once it’s gone, it’s gone.
[Old Li the Grain Seller]: You could have just taken it by force, but you gave us some vegetables instead. Thank you.
[Spring Blossoms (Vegetables Available)]: [Image] [Image]
[Spring Blossoms (Vegetables Available)]: Once this batch sells out, I don’t know when the next one will be. This damn weather is insane. I’m running my air conditioner 24/7 just to grow these, and I’m still losing money! The seeds won’t even sprout properly. After today, I’m done. The more I grow, the more I lose!
[Vegetable Prince]: Everyone should try growing bean sprouts at home—it still counts as fresh greens.
[Spring Blossoms (Vegetables Available)]: Grow bean sprouts? My water supply is cut off! I’m drinking bottled water!
[Old Li the Grain Seller]: Can’t afford vegetables anymore. Old Wang, bring a chicken.
Lhaozi[Translator]
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