[edited]

Back upstairs, Zheng Weili wanted to give Jiang Ning some firewood.

Jiang Ning declined, “I have plenty of clothes and blankets, and I use firewood relatively slowly. You take them back and stockpile them. If I need some, I’ll chop it myself.”

Knowing her personality, Zheng Weili didn’t insist.

Lu Yu knocked on the door of 1801, and everyone gathered at 1803 again. “Good news!”

Many people went to Fengshan to chop wood today and heard quite a few exciting pieces of news: “The government is going to distribute supplies.”

Previously, during the floods, not to mention that residents couldn’t travel conveniently, but many government departments were also paralyzed. Now that the floods have frozen, although the weather is cold, at least people can move around freely.

“The government will distribute relief rations the day after tomorrow, once a week, one pound each time. Residents can bring their ID cards to their original community committee location to collect them.”

One pound of rice per week is indeed very little. The natural disasters came suddenly, and all the supplies were submerged in water. The coastal cities have relatively low elevations, and although the national grain reserve warehouses are located at higher positions, how much could they transfer in time with the combined force of typhoons and floods?

Fengcheng has millions of people, and even if more than half of them unfortunately died, there are still at least over a million survivors. It’s really not easy to come up with so much food.

“In addition, the government announced that banknotes will be invalidated, and new currencies will be introduced later. For now, bartering will be used.”

This news is irrelevant to the residents. After all, the money in their hands has long been spent. It’s a loss for those who profited from disasters. They probably cried themselves to sleep.

“In addition to distributing relief rations, the government is also recruiting. There are as many as several thousand positions, ranging from technical researchers to public corpse collection teams.

The compensation will be in the form of food. For scarce research and development technical talents, they can receive two to three tens of pounds of grain per month, while public labor will receive five pounds of grain per month, including their lunch meal.

Lu Yu joked, “Anning, do you think we should apply?”

“It’s up to you. I definitely won’t.”

Whether it’s technical or manual labor, five pounds of grain per month is barely enough to sustain oneself. But with the weekly relief rations, they can barely make it through.

Lu Yu was joking. The mission of the 18th floor is to defend their stronghold, not to earn a meager five pounds of grain.

If they manage their resources conservatively, 1803 can easily survive for two years.

The government has turned from passive to proactive, and various departments are actively responding to disasters. Who knows, things might get better in the future, and they won’t need to risk their lives to earn such a small amount of food.

Besides, having the opportunity to earn doesn’t necessarily mean having the opportunity to spend.

So, all the members of the 18th floor declined to participate, and they refused to compete with others for jobs.

When Jiang Ning left, she noticed that Zhang Chao had an injury on his hand and couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?”

“It’s nothing serious. We were targeted by several groups of people when we were chopping wood in Fengshan. Not only did they want to steal our firewood, but they also wanted to take our steel saws. We managed to fend them off.”

The situation outside is too chaotic. Not to mention going out alone, even three people together are at great risk. They could easily fall victim to someone’s schemes if they aren’t careful.

Zheng Weili was keeping watch, but they were still targeted while Zhang Chao and Lu Yu were chopping wood.

Jiang Ning wanted to say a few words of comfort, but she didn’t know what to say.

After all, this was not only normal in this situation but it would also become increasingly cruel in the future.

…

On the day of distributing relief rations, Zhang Chao came early to knock on her door.

Jiang Ning didn’t want to wait in line. “You guys go ahead, I’ll stay behind to watch over the place.”

So, 1803 went to the neighborhood committee early to queue up.

The resilience of human life far exceeds imagination.

Staying indoors without going out felt like the whole world had come to a stop; it was filled with quietness.

However, when the relief rations were distributed, there were crowds everywhere.

They left in the morning and didn’t return until after one in the afternoon. The three of them took out the rice bags from under their thick clothes.

… 

The new rice was mixed with broken rice, and to prevent others from impersonating and collecting extra rations, only the individuals who presented their ID cards could queue to receive them.

The scene was chaotic, but police officers armed with live ammunition stood guard. No one dared to cause trouble at the distribution point, but it was still dangerous away from it.

Pickpockets resurfaced, bag-cutting gangs were everywhere, and there were even cases of snatch and run.

In order to receive more rations, human creativity knew no bounds. The people in front of Zheng Weili brought out their elderly mother in her eighties, covering her tightly with several thick quilts.

But just before they received the rations, the elderly mother passed away.

The family members cried and complained on the spot, saying that the government’s policies were to blame for the death of their elderly relative.

The commotion attracted many onlookers, murmuring about the government’s injustice and supporting the family’s demand for compensation.

The volunteers distributing rations, who used to work in a hospital, came over, uncovered the quilts to check on the elderly woman, and found that her body was already stiff, indicating that she had passed away at least more than 24 hours ago.

The unrest was immediately reversed, and the troublemakers’ eligibility to receive rations was canceled.

One of the troublemakers was about to protest but was met with the menacing barrel of a gun.

This was not a peaceful time, and the police were not hesitant to use force.

Lu Yu reminded, “Anning, there are pickpockets and robbers everywhere. When you receive the rations, make sure to hide them well. Don’t let anyone get close.”

There were even some near the entrance of the residential area, but Lu Yu and Zhang Chao both had weapons on them, so those individuals didn’t dare to approach.

Jiang Ning nodded. She changed her clothes and wanted to leave Coke in 1803, but it clung to her pants and refused to let go, insisting on going out to play.

“No, it’s full of people who want to eat dog meat outside.”

It didn’t listen. The dog didn’t want to listen.

If it wasn’t taken out today, the pooper scooper wouldn’t be able to leave!

Doudou opened the door and ran out excitedly. “Sister, let’s go.”

Jiang Ning frowned and looked at Huo Yishen. “You’re taking Doudou out?”

“Yeah, to see the outside world.”

Well, there’s nothing wrong with gaining more experience and insight. People have to grow up, especially in the last days. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire.

Jiang Ning had nothing more to say, but Coke refused to accept it.

Even Doudou was going out, why couldn’t it?

In the end, fearing that it would cause trouble outside, she had to find a rope and tie it up.

The dog was naturally free-spirited and loved its freedom. Being tied up was a great humiliation, but Coke endured it. After all, the person tying it up was the pooper scooper.

So, Jiang Ning took Coke, Huo Yishen took his sister, and they walked downstairs towards the neighborhood committee.

The neighborhood committee wasn’t far, about a kilometer or so, but the icy ground made walking slow.

Jiang Ning’s concerns were not unfounded. Before leaving, she specifically removed the mink coat from Coke’s body, but it still managed to attract everyone’s attention.

They had seen dogs before, but they had never seen such a sturdy and beautiful dog. Its posture was upright and majestic.

This was too much. Was there no justice in the world?

Damn it, do they want people to live or not!

Facing the greedy and hungry eyes, the dog was not afraid at all and stared back fiercely.

The girl holding the rope seemed to be someone you can’t trifle with, and the man standing beside her looked as cold as ice. It felt like his gaze could kill.

They were probably members of a criminal organization; otherwise, how could they afford to keep a dog, let alone dare to bring it out for a walk?

Look at the intimidating aura. Just the glare alone could make people shudder.

It’s easy to judge whether they were part of a criminal organization or not—just look at the dog they kept. This momentum—the dog was able to take advantage of this person’s power!

They can’t afford to offend, can’t afford to offend them!