[edited]

Jiang Ning surveyed her surroundings and spotted the rabbit droppings. 

This fellow was often hungry and valued survival supplies even more than she did, and now it didn’t even spare the wild rabbits. 

Jiang Ning searched nearby and indeed found a burrow entrance. She hastily plugged it with mud. 

Before long, a gray shadow darted out of the hole and scampered away. 

Coke dashed after it like a lightning, biting it’s neck fiercely and slamming it to the ground. 

After a few rounds, the gray rabbit went silent. 

Then, proudly carrying it back, Coke showed off to Jiang Ning, “Meat!” 

After enjoying the thrill of the hunt, it continued digging and pulled out a large gray hare from the hole. 

Nonstop, it kept on digging. 

Three medium sized rabbits later, a whole rabbit family lay neatly together. 

Wild rabbits weren’t like domestic ones, they had no value for breeding. Besides, she and Coke weren’t lacking meat now, so she decisively killed and stored them away. 

On her way back, she deliberately detoured to the place where pigs were slaughtered, and she collected all the building materials piled up by the other buildings in her space. 

As the items disappeared into her space, Coke widened his eyes in shock, “Woof!” 

Jiang Ning pinched it’s dog head, “Don’t be afraid, sister can do magic.” 

Back at the community, the sky gradually darkened. 

There were still countless pairs of eyes watching, but seeing Jiang Ning was only carrying a bundle of firewood back, their hearts finally settled. 

People on the 18th floor are not always lucky every time. 

Just as she entered the building, Zhang Chao came out to greet her, “Why did you just come back? Lu Yu and I were just about to go out to find you.” 

Jiang Ning tiredly said, “I searched several places, but couldn’t find anything, not even a piece of moldy bread.” 

“The nearby areas have been turned upside down. It’s not easy to find things.” Lu Yu was a little worried. “I heard that some communities were robbed. We should be careful even if we don’t go out.” 

After exchanging a few words, Jiang Ning went into her house, took off her raincoat, changed clothes, and pulled out the vegetables from her balcony. 

The vegetables had been watered with nutrient solution and had grown quite well, but the leaves were still slightly yellow, different from those grown under normal sunlight. Still, it was good that they thrived despite the rainy weather. 

Unable to rely solely on meat, she also took out the mushroom bags filled with shiitake and elm oyster mushrooms and headed to 1803. 

The three were astonished to find not only vegetables but also fresh and plump mushrooms. “Anning, you could join a survival challenge show.” 

“I’m also lucky. When I just moved, I happened to buy some mushroom bags online. I didn’t expect that they would really grow mushrooms.” 

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

“Following Anning, we’ll definitely never starve.” 

The atmosphere was quite harmonious as they busied themselves in the kitchen. 

Before long, Huo Yishen and Doudou also came over to help, bringing ten eggs and half a pound of bread. 

“Anning, we need you at home.” Zheng Weili smiled, “It’s quiet on the 18th floor when you’re not around. Look, as soon as you come back, it became lively.” 

The atmosphere was okay, and Jiang Ning was in a good mood. “Just wait, I’ll show you something good tonight.” 

With one dragging the four others, the group of amateurs got busy. 

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

The little girl was so well behaved that it was unbelievable. Jiang Ning nodded, “Okay, I’ll give you one tomorrow, but you can’t spoil it.” 

Doudou subconsciously looked towards 1801, as if seeking his approval, “Brother.” 

Seeing the longing in her eyes, Huo Yishen spoke up, “Remember to thank your sister.” 

Doudou happily pounced over, “Thank you, sister, now I can grow mushrooms.” 

Jiang Ning rubbed her head, “Take good care of them.” 

Lu Yu almost cut her hand while slicing meat, so Jiang Ning had to step in personally, slicing the meat thinly and marinating it with a little oil, starch, and soy sauce. 

The hot pot base ingredients are first stir fried in a pot, and then they poured the mandarin duck pot to cook. On the other side is a light mushroom soup, with a few green onion roots and soaked dried matsutake mushrooms thrown in. 

The living room in 1803 was very spacious. They closed the doors and windows tightly, set up the dual flavored hotpot on a portable gas stove, and soon the rich and domineering aroma of hotpot filled the air. 

Sitting around the hotpot, everyone had smiles on their faces, just the smell alone made their mouths water. 

The ribs went into the pot, and the marinated lean meat only needed a minute to cook. 

“This is so blissful,” Zhang Chao exclaimed although his tongue got scalded, “The meat is tender and fragrant.” 

The others didn’t hold back either they eagerly pick up their chopsticks. 

Doudou couldn’t eat spicy food, so 1801 served her a non spicy dishes. 

Zheng Weili teased her, “Doudou, is Anning’s cooking better than your brother’s?” 

Doudou glanced at her brother cautiously, then smiled sweetly, “My brother’s cooking is delicious too.” 

Come on, everyone knew that 1801’s cooking skills were inversely proportional to his looks, even worse than Lu Yu, who was practically living off his girlfriend. 

“Where’s Coke?” Zhang Chao looked around. 

Jiang Ning replied while eating, “At home.” 

“Call it over, it’s part of our group now,” Zheng Weili, who loved dogs, said, “Coke is amazing. It knows immediately if there’s any activity downstairs, like it has ears in the wind.” 

It had an especially strong energy. Not to mention Lu Yu, even Zhang Chao together with someone else wasn’t a match for it. 

“Now that we have it guarding the house, we can finally get a good night’s sleep.” 

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

They had to work together in the future, so it’s not special treatment. 

Jiang Ning was somewhat moved, “Okay.” 

She opened the door and asked Coke to come over with a rice bowl in his mouth. 
 

Doudou picked up a rib from her bowl and secretly fed it to Coke. 

The two little ones couldn’t eat spicy, so they could only stick to the mushroom broth, which was delicious and sweet. 

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

Each person got a can, Doudou drank Sprite, while Coke had the rib soup, “Woof!” 

Lu Yu, while drinking his beer, sighed, “If it weren’t for the flood downstairs, considering our dinner tonight, who would have thought that it’s the end of the world?” 

Zhang Chao tried to lift the mood, “Let’s look ahead. As long as we work together, every day will be a good day from now on.” 

They finished most of the meat and then added the seaweed and winter melon into the hotpot. 

Jiang Ning brought the winter melon, which can withstand storage for several months without spoiling. 

The elm oyster mushrooms were very fresh and left a lingering taste in their mouth. 

The vegetables were the same, tender and delicious when boiled in the soup. 

“They hadn’t eaten vegetables since the typhoon hit, so now having them in their mouths felt incredibly satisfying. They were like starving ghosts finally being fed.”

“If it weren’t for Anning, I would have forgotten what vegetables taste like.” 

“The nutrient solution we brought back is great. It promotes the rapid growth of vegetables, so we won’t run out of them in the future.” 

This was great news, and everyone was excited. 

Vegetables were good and eating them lifted their spirits. 

As they ate and chatted, they eventually added some noodles to the pot, filling everyone’s stomachs. 

Despite having stocked up on supplies, under Zhang Chao’s constant reminder, Zheng Weili and Lu Yu dared not be wasteful. They ate only enough to be seven-tenths full each day and they mainly rely on porridge and noodles. They were not even willing to eat the rice. 

Today’s meal, however, left them feeling satisfied. It felt like they were dreaming, as if waking up from a nightmare where the flood had subside, and they were still in the familiar world they knew, as if there were no apocalypse. 

They dreamed every night, but inside and outside of their dreams, they were still immersed in water. 

Today’s meal finally released the suppressed emotions in their chests. After sorting through them, they mustered the courage to continue pushing forward. 

One day, this natural disaster would end, and their previous life would return.