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Chapter 35
Even though it was nearing nightfall, the sky outside gave her the illusion of a bright morning.
Had the rain stopped?
Shu Fu pulled open the window and leaned out to take a look. Even with the security bars in the way, she could clearly see the pale blue sky and the clouds tinged with a faint orange hue on the right side of the horizon—the light of the setting sun shining from behind.
The rain really had stopped.
She opened the window wider and stretched out her hand to feel the air. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the crisp, rain-washed scent, mixed with the earthy aroma of soil and the fresh fragrance of plants.
From upstairs and downstairs, many other residents had also opened their windows to enjoy the rare rain-free moment. She could hear the excited laughter of children saying they wanted to go to the west-side hallway to bask in the sun. The elders, meanwhile, were busy discussing how they needed to take out their clothes and bedding to air them. With the constant rain, everything inside had become damp—mold creeping into the corners, blankets and clothes reeking of mustiness.
Leaning against the windowsill, Shu Fu quietly gazed at the distant dam. Beyond its towering walls, an endless expanse of water stretched out. But as she listened to the sounds of activity around her, she allowed herself a small smile.
She didn’t know how long this break from the rain would last, but as long as it wasn’t raining, she was happy.
Feeling in good spirits, she decided to tidy up the rental house a bit. After all, starting tomorrow, she would need to be out for twelve hours a day.
She returned to her floating island house, put on a pair of fleece-lined sweatpants, and retrieved a lazy mop and bucket from her storage space. Entering the shower room, she filled the bucket with stored water from her compression tank.
Ever since she discovered that the purified water from her floating island house was exceptionally clean, she had made it a habit to store any unused water daily. Now, this compression tank was filled with previously saved purified water.
It was a shame that her raft couldn’t be used on the water at the moment—meaning the three daily automatic water fishing attempts and the 50L of purified water she could generate were going completely to waste.
Lou Yuncheng had rivers, and the outskirts had lakes and streams, but the city still maintained order, and surveillance was everywhere. Hiding in a car with one-way tinted windows to collect supplies was one thing, but openly deploying her raft on the water? That was out of the question.
In Lou Yuncheng, household water supply was available only during two time slots each day—once from 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning and again from 8:00 to 9:00 at night.
Currently, most water plants in Muzhou and Xiren provinces had started operating in designated zones, with some areas installing multi-layer filtration and disinfection systems. Fully purified water was bottled and directly transported to disaster zones or shelters—safe for drinking in case of extreme shortages.
Other areas simply collected and purified rainwater for local residents, clearly labeling it as non-drinkable household water.
Lou Yuncheng was no exception. The tap water here was strictly for cleaning and daily use.
At first, people were outraged. Complaints flooded the internet, with endless rants and curses. But eventually, as people realized their anger changed nothing, they simply adapted.
After all, the world was drowning. Entire nations had lost vast amounts of land—some, like the neighboring Huagou, were on the verge of disappearing completely. Huaguo had lost about one-sixth of its territory to flooding, and many disaster victims didn’t even have clean water to drink, let alone use for daily needs.
With clean water becoming scarce across the globe and water plants overwhelmed, the situation was understandable. At least they weren’t being forced to drink the non-potable purified water—things could have been worse.
Looking at the desperate refugees online, people gradually stopped complaining.
After months of scheduled water supply, residents had adapted. Almost every household now kept extra-large water barrels, filling them up during supply hours to ensure they had water for the rest of the day.
Some, if they could afford it, had even installed water tanks at home or on their rooftops, connecting them to their household plumbing. This way, after storing water during the supply hours, they could use it as needed—making life almost as convenient as before.
After all, many people had never trusted tap water before anyway. They wouldn’t even drink it after boiling, preferring purified water instead—even for cooking.
Now that her raft was out of the water, Shu Fu felt she shouldn’t just be using up resources without replenishing them. She decided to buy two large water storage barrels—one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom—to store enough water for daily use during the scheduled supply hours.
For tasks like wiping furniture and mopping the floor, she could just use the purified tap water from Lou Yuncheng.
**
Around 8:00 PM, she received a notification that her property management friend request had been accepted, along with a reply.
Since she had specified her identity and request when adding them, they got straight to the point—asking her to provide her rental contract details and car license plate number.
She quickly responded, and the other party replied just as fast. They told her to come downstairs before 6:00 PM the next day.
They would be assisting with the distribution of purchased goods for Buildings 3 and 4 around that time and would take the opportunity to inform her of her designated parking spot and provide her monthly parking permit.
They advised her to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early at the second-floor hallway of Building 3 to avoid disrupting their work schedule.
Shu Fu agreed immediately and transferred the parking fee for the month.
**
The next morning, she allowed herself the luxury of sleeping in a little. It was past 9:00 AM by the time she emerged from her floating island house and stored away the raft.
Sitting at the dining table in her rental unit, she had a bowl of preserved egg and lean pork congee along with half a serving of a crispy pancake roll. After finishing breakfast, she prepared to head out.
The rain still hadn’t returned. Overnight, the temperature had risen slightly, and the air felt a bit stuffy. Unlike yesterday evening, when the sun had come out, today was an overcast day.
Shu Fu wasn’t sure if the rain would start again at any moment, so she wore a waterproof shell jacket when heading out, though she skipped the fleece layer in between. It was around 20°C outside—too warm for fleece—so just a light double layer would do.
She went to the bathroom, tied her hair into a bun in front of the mirror, then grabbed a black baseball cap and put it on, along with a black face mask.
Her shell jacket was a deep gray, keeping a low profile. In her backpack, she only packed a compressed water bottle and a bag of bread. The bottle was filled with freshly brewed latte from her coffee machine.
Today, she planned to go out and buy some essentials for her rental apartment, including large water storage barrels, visible toiletries, and kitchenware like bowls and chopsticks. She didn’t want to display any items from her Drift Island house in the apartment, so she’d pick inexpensive ones—things she wouldn’t mind leaving behind if necessary.
The one exception was large soup pots—those, she wanted to buy high-quality ones. Since the rental had a gas stove, she planned to cook a few big pots of soup and store them.
These items weren’t restricted, and she could have had them delivered.
However, the nearest supermarket with a decent selection of goods was six kilometers away, and today, every delivery service was overwhelmed. It seemed everyone was scrambling to place orders now that the rain had stopped. Supermarkets had already stopped accepting new delivery requests, and even express delivery services were maxed out.
Traffic was congested, and finding parking took a while. By the time Shu Fu entered the supermarket, she wasn’t surprised to see it packed with people.
Even though the store had just opened, the fresh produce, seafood, and meat sections had been completely cleared out. Fortunately, staples like rice, flour, cooking oil, and bottled water were continuously restocked. Otherwise, those would have been gone too.
Still, the restocking pace couldn’t keep up with demand. When two employees pushed a cart loaded with rice, noodles, and instant ramen into the aisle, they didn’t even bother shelving the items. Instead, they let customers grab directly from the cart.
Everything was limited per person, so while people were frantic, there was no outright fighting. Each person could buy one large bag of rice, two packs of noodles, and two five-pack bundles of instant ramen. The store had ample stock, so no one had to fight over supplies.
However, with so many people crowding around to grab items, bumping into each other, shoving, and noisy chatter were inevitable.
Fortunately, the section Shu Fu needed was relatively empty. Items like toothbrush cups and wash basins weren’t in high demand. She also grabbed plenty of towels and underwear—things she hadn’t stocked up enough on in Suicheng—as well as biodegradable food containers and trash bags.
On her way to another aisle, she spotted tea leaves and coffee beans and decided to stock up.
The electronics section wasn’t too crowded either. She noticed the same model of the coffee machine she had previously purchased. Coffee machines needed regular maintenance to prolong their lifespan, but the cleaning process was cumbersome. She had tried once and hadn’t managed to do it properly, so she decided to buy a couple more machines—easier to replace than to clean.
She also picked up table lamps, power banks (since their lifespan was limited and they couldn’t be salvaged from the water), and a few other small appliances.
From her two months of experience living in Suicheng, she decided to buy some high-capacity drone batteries as well.
Finally, she reached the item she was most eager to buy: large soup pots.
The largest pot was 66 liters—technically more of a soup barrel than a pot. It was made of 304 stainless steel, weighing 13 kilograms empty, with a 45 cm diameter and a 50 cm height. It barely fit on a gas stove.
There were even bigger ones that didn’t fit on the shelves, placed separately. The largest was 60 cm x 60 cm, weighing over 22 kilograms empty—too big for a gas stove and too heavy to use as a water storage barrel. It was also too expensive.
After some thought, she bought four of the 45 cm x 50 cm stainless steel soup barrels. Prices had gone up, costing 350 each.
Then she headed to the hygiene section, where she found foldable bath tubs—ideal for storing room-temperature water.
The largest size available was 75 cm x 100 cm. She grabbed four—one for the rental apartment, while the other three would go into her space storage. Once she got her raft back on the water, she’d have more containers for storing purified water.
Since she was buying bulky items, a supermarket employee helped her transport everything to checkout.
The checkout line was long, with people scrolling on their phones while waiting. Some who had come with friends were chatting to pass the time. It took Shu Fu over half an hour to get to the register. Once outside, she couldn’t push two carts by herself, so she called over another employee for help.
Luckily, the Jeep she had rented had a high body and a spacious trunk. She managed to fit all the soup barrels and large bags inside. The foldable bathtubs had to be secured on the roof rack. Shu Fu climbed up and down on her own, strapping everything in place.
By the time she finished, it was already past noon. She checked a food app and found a small stir-fry restaurant a few blocks away with parking available out front. She ordered a plate of stir-fried eggs with green peppers and a twice-cooked pork dish.
The restaurant was small, but the food was excellent. Before leaving, she ordered ten portions of every dish she liked from the menu for takeout.
By this time, she had already stored the soup barrels and other bulky items in her space storage. With this latest haul, her remaining storage capacity was limited. After carefully estimating, she figured she had about 20 cubic meters left.
But when it comes to actually storing things, those 20 cubic meters definitely can’t be fully utilized.
It’s like playing with a jigsaw puzzle—if all the pieces you have are of different sizes and arranged in disorder, even if their total area matches the space available, it’s impossible to fit them all in perfectly.
So, the actual usable space is probably around 17 to 18 cubic meters. She needed to keep that space as backup and couldn’t keep stuffing things inside.
It would be best to go back and reorganize everything today.
**
After 4 PM, Lou Yuncheng, which had been overcast all day, finally started raining again.
At first, it was just a light drizzle, but within an hour, it turned into heavy rain. By now, everyone was used to it—they had already closed their windows early, pulled out their rain gear, and went on with their day as usual.
Not long after, all Lou Yuncheng residents received a strong wind warning on their phones.
One emergency news app even issued a typhoon alert.
The internet immediately buzzed with discussion. While people took the strong wind warning seriously, the mention of a typhoon sparked a wave of protests.
— “Are you kidding me? This is an inland city! And it’s a hilly region! Where would a typhoon even come from?”
— “Yeah, the worst we’ve had before was just half an hour of thunder and lightning, some egg-sized hail, and strong winds, but nothing over level 8!”
— “Level 8? I think it was worse than that…”
— “I bet this emergency alert system is just malfunctioning!”
— “Not necessarily. Do you even realize what’s going on now? Forget being an inland city—this place hasn’t been ‘inland’ for a while. The floods have already reached the suburbs. And just a few days ago, wasn’t there a tsunami outside the dam? That video was terrifying—did you all forget so quickly?”
— “Correction! A tsunami happens in the ocean! In a flood zone, it’s just a giant wave!”
— “Building 1, Apartment 2206, what’s with the nitpicking? Disasters are about the impact they cause. A forty-meter-high wave—that’s taller than some tsunamis! The tsunami alarms went off multiple times that day! After the waves subsided, the water level outside the walls rose by more than four meters! That’s basically a tsunami!”
— “Enough arguing! The wind outside is crazy right now. Aren’t you guys worried about the deliveries you ordered today? I live alone with my six-month-old baby, and I usually can’t go out to buy supplies—I rely entirely on delivery. If my order doesn’t arrive today, I won’t even have water to make baby formula tomorrow!”
— “Building 3, Apartment 1211 here—I have extra water. We can trade! If the neighborhood committee or property management doesn’t show up, just come to my place!”
— “Thank you! Thank you!”
— “Oh wow, Building 4, Apartment 1005 playing hero again? My place is short on supplies too—wanna trade with me too?”
…
As Shu Fu went downstairs, she kept checking various online updates and group chats to see how the residents were reacting. The chat groups were buzzing with activity, with people constantly spamming messages.
She was heading downstairs to meet the property management. With the wind and rain so strong, the elevator wasn’t safe, so she took the stairs instead, arriving ten minutes early to account for the time it took.
Lou Yuncheng had never experienced winds stronger than level 8 before, but just because it hadn’t happened before didn’t mean it never would—especially considering the enormous waves that had just hit a few days ago.
The wind was already too strong now. Judging by its intensity, it was clearly exceeding level 8.
Thinking in reverse—since they were still within the “mission period,” unexpected events and disasters were bound to happen. It was entirely possible that Lou Yuncheng would see winds over level 11 or 12 tonight. Her car definitely couldn’t be left outside.
The property management had arranged to meet 10 to 15 minutes early, but Shu Fu waited in the second-floor hallway until 6:30 PM, and no one from management had shown up.
She wasn’t the only one waiting—plenty of others were there too, most likely waiting for their deliveries.
Out of the four buildings in Jixing Community, only Buildings 3 and 4 were connected by two passageways. Buildings 1 and 2 were standalone, so deliveries for Buildings 3 and 4 were distributed in the second-floor hallway of Building 3.
Since the weather had been fine yesterday, not many people had chosen to order delivery today. Even so, the spacious hallways were still crowded with people. Groups of neighbors who knew each other clustered together, gossiping about others. Some people, growing impatient, waited near the elevators and discussed whether they should go down to the underground parking lot instead—after all, with the heavy rain, the delivery drivers might not even take the elevator up.
— “It should be fine—it’s just one floor up by elevator…”
The first floor was a large parking lot, so the second floor was essentially ground level. Its layout was different from the upper floors—several residential units had been removed to make space for wider hallways, especially near the elevators.
There were three elevators in the middle, with plenty of open space around them.
Shu Fu also stood near the elevator area. Since she was new and unfamiliar with anyone here, she leaned against the wall, observing the people around her.
Her gaze swept across the crowd and landed on a few people she recognized from the group chat.
One of them was likely the resident from Building 3, Apartment 1211—a woman in her thirties wearing casual winter clothes, her hair tied up messily. She was holding a baby, about six months old, bundled up tightly.
Beside her stood a middle-aged woman in her fifties, chatting with her while occasionally playing with the baby. She was probably the resident from Building 4, Apartment 1005—the one who had just offered to help in the chat.
Shu Fu’s gaze lingered on the woman for a moment.
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she had that familiar feeling again—the sense of seeing a stranger who looked vaguely familiar, yet being unable to recall where she had met them before.
Shu Fu couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the woman. Could she be the target of this mission? But she really didn’t recall ever meeting her before.
As she was still wondering, the middle elevator suddenly chimed, and the doors opened. The people nearby immediately moved toward it, their faces filled with anticipation.
Sure enough, the newcomers were staff from the property management and the neighborhood committee, arriving to distribute supplies. They all wore the same identification badges. Inside the elevator, apart from three people, there was also a large foldable cart piled high with various bags, all bulging with supplies.
The three looked rather disheveled—they had likely come up from the underground parking garage. Although they weren’t drenched, their hair was noticeably damp.
One of them, a man in his thirties wearing glasses, had raindrops all over his lenses, and his glasses were slightly askew. He was struggling to pull the cart out of the elevator with the help of the other two, not even having time to adjust his glasses.
Shu Fu immediately recognized him—he was the property management staff she had been waiting for. She had seen his selfies in his WeChat Moments before.
Perhaps due to the late hour, the howling winds outside, and the large number of people waiting inside, the three workers all had furrowed brows. Seeing the chaotic crowd, they quickly waved their hands and told everyone to form a line.
Shu Fu didn’t need to collect supplies, so she stepped past the crowd and walked straight up. Before she could even speak, the man automatically directed her to queue up. Shu Fu didn’t move and simply clarified her reason for being there in two sentences:
“I’m here to pick up my monthly parking permit. Can you give it to me now, or do I need to wait until you’ve finished distributing the supplies?”
As she spoke, she handed him a thick napkin.
The property management worker, surnamed Zhou, immediately relaxed upon hearing this. He took the napkin and finally had a chance to remove his glasses and wipe them dry. Meanwhile, the other two had already started verifying purchase records and distributing supplies.
Zhou explained that due to the weather delay, he was too busy to handle her request and directed her to another property staff member named Zheng, who would be coming up soon.
At that moment, another elevator door opened, revealing three more workers pushing a second foldable cart stacked with shopping bags.
Zhou waved and called out, “Xiao Zheng, come here for a sec. This is about the parking permit I mentioned earlier. Take care of it.”
The person called Xiao Zheng turned around, revealing a familiar face.
One of the property management staff of Jixing Community was none other than Zheng Feifei!
Seeing her, Shu Fu felt a sense of relief, like a second shoe finally dropping.
Sure enough, as Zheng Feifei walked toward her, Shu Fu’s wristband vibrated slightly—mission accomplished.
**
Twenty minutes later, in the underground parking garage.
After parking in the designated spot, Shu Fu got out and locked her car.
She walked to the other side of the vehicle, where Zheng Feifei stood with reddened eyes, clutching her arm, looking like she was about to cry.
“…I really can’t believe I’m seeing you here. I don’t even know how I’ve made it through these past few months… I regret not listening to you before. I kept hesitating and missed my chances, and now look at the mess I’m in… I didn’t mean to lose contact with you. Some things happened here—things I don’t even know how to explain yet…”
Shu Fu thought the words sounded oddly familiar. Then, she quickly remembered the messages she had sent to Yao Ruoyun and Lu Zheng earlier. What a coincidence.
But her messages had been complete fabrications—she hadn’t expected Zheng Feifei to actually have gone through something.
She sighed, reached into her pocket space, pulled out a galaxy-themed lollipop, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into Zheng Feifei’s mouth.
“Here, your favorite lollipop. It’s even your zodiac sign.”
Zheng Feifei, mid-sob, paused and puffed out her cheeks. She took the lollipop out of her mouth, examined it closely, and murmured in surprise, “It really is! It’s Libra! How did you happen to have a Libra galaxy lollipop with you?”
“I saw it in the supermarket this morning and bought it. It’s almost like I had a premonition I’d see you here today.” Shu Fu made up an excuse.
But Zheng Feifei totally bought it. Her sadness was already fading.
“You know what? That’s so true! We haven’t seen each other in so long, and yet here we are, in the same city, even living in the same community!”
She popped the lollipop back into her mouth. “After I lost my phone, everything went downhill. I couldn’t remember anyone’s numbers, and I couldn’t recover my WeChat or any of my other accounts because I forgot the passwords. During the evacuation, I was just happy to find a place to rest and eat—there was no way to get a replacement SIM card… Then, when I finally arrived in Lou Yuncheng and went to buy a new phone, I realized all my money was in my phone! My ID was missing too! Thankfully, my parents’ bank cards were still with me… But at the time, so many people were pouring into Lou Yuncheng, and there was a huge demand for replacement SIM cards. The wait time was several days… So in the end, I figured, why not just get a new number?”
Actually, there was more to her story. She hadn’t just chosen to change her number—when she finally retrieved her old one, she received a flood of threats and disgusting messages. Terrified, she decided to permanently cancel it and start fresh.
Shu Fu didn’t pry. Instead, she took out her phone, saved Zheng Feifei’s new number, and added her on WeChat. Then she praised, “I never expected to see you here either. And now you’re even working as property staff—truly the ultimate chosen worker.”
Zheng Feifei caught the teasing tone and laughed as she pinched Shu Fu’s cheek.
“Are you calling me a workaholic?! I have to support my family now, okay?”
Shu Fu couldn’t help but glance at the other person a few more times. Could this person be the target of this mission? But she really didn’t remember ever meeting her.
As she was wondering about this, the elevator in the middle suddenly dinged, and the doors slid open. The people standing nearby immediately moved, crowding toward the elevator with expectant expressions.
Sure enough, the arrivals were property management and neighborhood committee staff distributing supplies. They all wore matching identification badges. Inside the elevator, along with three people, was a large foldable cart packed with various bulging bags.
The three looked quite disheveled. They must have come up from the underground garage. While they weren’t drenched, their hair was still damp.
One of them, a man in his thirties wearing glasses, had rain droplets all over his lenses. His glasses sat slightly askew, but he was too busy—struggling alongside the other two to pull the cart out of the elevator—to spare a moment to adjust them.
Shu Fu immediately recognized him. This man was the property manager she had been waiting for—his WeChat Moments had a selfie of him.
Perhaps because it was late, the wind was howling outside, and many people were waiting, the three staff members looked tense. Seeing the chaotic crowd, they quickly waved their hands to get everyone to line up.
Shu Fu didn’t need to collect supplies, so she bypassed the crowd and stepped forward. Before she could speak, the property manager told her to get in line.
She didn’t move and instead explained in just two sentences, “I’m here to pick up my monthly rental parking permit. Can you give it to me now, or do I need to wait until after you finish distributing the supplies?”
As she spoke, she handed him a thick napkin.
The man’s expression softened instantly. He accepted the napkin and finally had the chance to take off his glasses and dry them. Meanwhile, the other two had already begun checking purchase records and handing out supplies.
The property manager’s surname was Zhou. He explained that due to the bad weather, they were running late and that he didn’t have time to handle it himself. Instead, he directed her to another property staff member with the surname Zheng, who would be coming up shortly.
Just then, another elevator opened, revealing three more people pushing a second cart, also piled high with shopping bags.
Manager Zhou waved and called out, “Xiao Zheng, come here for a second! It’s about that parking spot we talked about—take care of it.”
The person called Xiao Zheng turned around, revealing a familiar face.
One of the property managers of Jixing Community… was actually Zheng Feifei!
Seeing her, Shu Fu felt an unexpected sense of relief, as if the second shoe had finally dropped.
Sure enough, as Zheng Feifei walked toward her, the wristband on Shu Fu’s hand vibrated slightly—mission complete.
After parking in her designated spot, Shu Fu locked her car and walked to the other side.
Zheng Feifei, her eyes slightly red, hooked her arm around Shu Fu’s and looked like she was on the verge of tears. “I can’t believe I’m seeing you here… I don’t even know how I got through these past few months. I really regret not listening to you before—hesitating every time and missing my chances, ending up in this mess… I didn’t mean to lose contact with you. Some bad things happened here, and I still don’t even know how to explain…”
Shu Fu found her words oddly familiar. Then she remembered the message she had sent to Yao Ruoyun and Lu Zheng earlier—what a coincidence.
But that was something she had completely made up. Who would have thought that Zheng Feifei had actually gone through something?
With a sigh, Shu Fu reached into her pocket space, pulled out a galaxy-themed lollipop, unwrapped it, and popped it into Zheng Feifei’s mouth. “Here, your favorite lollipop—your zodiac sign, too.”
Zheng Feifei, who had been pouting as she sniffled, suddenly puffed out her cheeks. She paused her whimpering, took the lollipop out to examine it, and whispered in surprise, “It really is! It’s a Libra one! How do you happen to have a Libra-themed galaxy lollipop with you?”
“I saw them in the supermarket this morning and thought, for some reason, that I might run into you today.” Shu Fu made up an excuse on the spot.
Zheng Feifei completely bought it, and her sadness visibly lifted.
“That’s so crazy! We haven’t seen each other for so long, and after moving to a different city, we somehow ended up in the same community!”
She popped the lollipop back into her mouth. “After I lost my phone, I was totally screwed. I couldn’t remember anyone’s number, and since I forgot my passwords, I couldn’t log into WeChat or any of my other accounts. Just getting a place to eat and sleep was hard enough, let alone replacing my SIM card… Later, when I finally got to Lou Yuncheng, I went to buy a new phone, only to realize that all my money was in my phone! My ID was gone too. Luckily, my parents’ bank cards were still with me… At that time, a ton of people were pouring into the city, all needing to replace their SIM cards, and the wait time was several days. In the end, I just decided to get a new number…”
Of course, she left some things out. It wasn’t just that she couldn’t recover her old number—when she finally did, she was bombarded with threats and disgusting messages. Out of fear, she canceled that number altogether and started fresh.
Shu Fu didn’t press for details. Instead, she took out her phone, saved Zheng Feifei’s new number, added her on WeChat, and then teased, “I never thought I’d run into you here. And now you’re even working as a property manager? Truly the chosen worker.”
Zheng Feifei caught the teasing tone and playfully pinched Shu Fu’s cheek. “You calling me a corporate slave?! I have a family to support now, okay?”
“Yeah, working in property management is pretty good—close to home, lots of connections, and a great source of information.” Unlike before, property management now played a much larger role, even assisting the government and neighborhood committees in purchasing limited-supply goods for residents. It was a much better job than being a desk clerk.
“Yeah, my mom said the same thing.” Zheng Feifei nodded. She then asked which floor Shu Fu lived on and shared that she lived in the neighboring Building 4, which had connected walkways—making things even more convenient in the future.
“Building 4?”
“Yeah, 10th floor, unit 05!”
Hearing the familiar address, Shu Fu suddenly realized—so the middle-aged woman she saw earlier, who had been comforting the single mother in unit 1211, was actually Zheng Feifei’s mother! No wonder she had looked so familiar!
Zheng Feifei noticed her expression and understood immediately. “Uh… you’ve met my mom already, haven’t you?”
“…Yeah.”
“…” Feifei knew her mother too well. Just from Shu Fu’s reaction, she could almost guess what had happened. She had a ton of things to rant about, but she had to get back to work soon.
As they headed toward the stairwell, they noticed that the crowd waiting for supplies had dispersed. Instead, loud exclamations were coming from the western hallway.
Shu Fu and Zheng Feifei exchanged a look and quickly ran over.
The western corridor was a long, semi-open walkway, similar to the one in Shu Fu’s old building in Suicheng.
After the disaster began, the railing had been reinforced with glass panels—not tempered glass, just regular glass. It could block wind and rain but not hail, so an additional fine-mesh stainless steel security net was installed.
Though the net was ugly—like the ones used in safari park vehicles—it had excellent protection. No matter how strong the storms in Lou Yuncheng were, the glass inside had never shattered.
The hallway was about two meters wide, fairly long, and walled off on one side, behind which was the elevator area.
Now, everyone was pressing up against the glass, staring outside with excitement.
Then—
Slap! Slap!
Something was falling from the sky.
Fish!?
It was raining fish!?
Realization struck Shu Fu. She suddenly stepped back, yanked Zheng Feifei with her, and shouted to the others, “Danger! Get back now!”