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Chapter 4: Life Is More Important Than Money — This Is No Time to Make a Profit
The supplies inside Xia Xiaoman’s storage space were piled high like a small mountain.
The medications she had salvaged from the pharmacy’s stockroom were fairly complete.
She had:
…all common medicines.
For bottled medicines like the antitussive syrup with screw-top lids, she checked them — some bottle mouths had residue or dirt.
Fortunately, the bottles were sealed with foil caps, so the medicine inside wasn’t contaminated.
Any medicines with intact foil seals were still usable; only a few bottles without foil seals had been polluted by floodwater.
As for topical treatments, she also had a good stock: plasters, rubbing alcohol, red medicinal liquid, Yunnan Baiyao (herbal trauma treatment), gauze, hydrogen peroxide, iodine — everything one could need.
Some bottles of alcohol had been tainted by the flood, but she planned to repurpose them later as alcohol lamps or cleaning solvents for stubborn stains.
Medical supplies like masks and thermometers were also part of her haul, plus several boxes of family planning products.
The masks were all vacuum-sealed and luckily uncontaminated. The thermometers had been thoroughly soaked, but those could be washed and still used.
She had also collected some traditional Chinese herbs, though many were ruined by the water. The remaining ones she couldn’t identify, so they were no use to her — she figured she’d sell them to a pharmacy when the opportunity arose.
Her supermarket haul was even more impressive.
By rough estimate, she had collected enough food and daily necessities to last one person several decades.
Feeling quite pleased, Xia Xiaoman pulled out one of the premium chicken legs she had always wanted but never bought because they were too expensive.
Now, savoring the juicy leg, she scrolled through her phone and checked the neighborhood chat group.
EggYolkSauce-504:
“Weren’t the supplies supposed to be delivered by noon? It’s already 12 — where are they?”
Lin-403:
“Same question. I’m starving. Is anyone kind enough to share? I can pay.”
Seeing that message, Xia Xiaoman hesitated for two seconds.
Then decided:
Forget it. Life is more important than money — now’s not the time to earn.
Still munching on her fragrant chicken leg, she kept reading the group chat.
XuYu-303:
“Aunties, uncles, big brothers and sisters — please let me stay over! The water’s about to reach the second floor. Probably going to flood my place this afternoon. Anyone have a spare room?”
HuaShao-801:
“Little sister, my place has space. Add me on WeChat, DM me.”
Lin-403:
“(＿) Please, I’m begging you! I’ll pay ten times the price if you give me something to eat!”
BrotherBin-603:
“There’s a supermarket across from the complex. How about we go scavenge some food there?”
EggYolkSauce-504:
“Better not! The flood outside is too deep, and the water’s full of debris. What if someone drowns or gets injured by floating junk?”
Ang-703:
“It’s pouring rain and there’s thunder. Too dangerous to go out. Better stay home and wait — the rescue team won’t abandon us.”
Perhaps because they trusted the rescue team, no one else mentioned going out to look for supplies.
Xia Xiaoman switched to her news app to check updates.
While she’d been out scavenging, two more cities in her province had been hit by floods.
Other provinces were in no better shape.
Remembering what the village committee secretary had said yesterday, Xia Xiaoman checked on her hometown’s status.
Her village had been half-buried by a landslide, and the surviving villagers had been relocated to a school in the nearby town.
In one video posted online, soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army were seen digging through mud and rain, trying to retrieve those buried beneath.
Xia Xiaoman let out a heavy sigh and switched back to her chat app.
Her class group chat had over 99 unread messages — classmates were sharing their flood experiences.
Most of her classmates lived in dorms.
One had even filmed the campus flooding.
In the video, floodwaters had already reached the third floor of the dormitories, and students from the first to third floors had all been moved to higher empty dorms.
Those who couldn’t be accommodated were sent to the teaching building.
Despite everything, the students in the video looked optimistic.
It was their first time experiencing a flood, and to them it seemed more like an exciting, real-life adventure game.
Some bold students were even diving off balconies, swimming through the murky floodwater like it was a pool, throwing themselves into it with youthful energy.
Only after being scolded by teachers did they climb back up and jokingly apologize.
Other kind-hearted students shared their snack stashes with their roommates, playing cards and enjoying a rare moment of peace.
And some stepped up — volunteering to help with rescues, relocating teachers and students, and protecting important books and materials.
When her phone warned of low battery, Xia Xiaoman shut it off and plugged it into her power bank to charge.
After eating two more buns to fill her stomach, she took three large freezers from her storage space and used them to block the doorway.
Only then did she return to her bedroom for a nap.
It had been a long time since she’d slept until she naturally woke up.
When she opened her eyes, it was already past 3 PM.
She turned on her phone and saw a new friend request:
“Hi, I’m Sun Qing from Floating City University, Civil Engineering major. Can you accept my friend request?”
Xia Xiaoman tapped on the profile — it was a cool-looking girl with short hair.
She’d seen Sun Qing before.
Apparently, she lived in the same complex, just not in the same building.
One night after a late shift, Xia Xiaoman had been followed home. Sun Qing happened to be passing by, greeted her loudly on purpose, and scared off the stalker.
After a moment’s thought, Xia Xiaoman accepted the request.
SunnyDay:
“Hi, I’m Sun Qing.”
LittleFull:
“Something you need?”
SunnyDay:
“Sorry to bother you. I live on the 3rd floor — it’s flooded. Just wanted to ask if there are any empty units in your building.”
LittleFull:
“704 is empty.”
SunnyDay:
“Thanks! Do you have the landlord’s contact info?”
All four units on Xia Xiaoman’s floor had the same landlord.
When the complex first launched, the landlord had noticed the small unit sizes and bought four units outright to rent out as investment.
Xia Xiaoman sent the number and then switched to the neighborhood group chat to check for updates.
Not much activity since noon — likely because people’s phones had run out of power.
With the power out for more than a day, unless someone had a power bank, most devices were probably dead by now.
Around 4 PM, a loudspeaker announcement echoed through the building.
Xia Xiaoman opened her door just in time to see Glasses Guy also coming out.
He glared at her — but when she raised her fist, he immediately turned tail and ran downstairs.
Messing with her was a death wish — a smart man doesn’t argue with a woman who can fight.
Xia Xiaoman also headed downstairs.
The loudspeaker was announcing that rescue supplies could be collected on the third floor.
The staircase at the third-floor landing was packed with people waiting for supplies.
Before she even got close, Xia Xiaoman spotted Sun Qing, arms full of bags.
Sun Qing saw her too and grinned.
“Hey, I’m Sun Qing.”
She pointed to a girl with a bun beside her.
“This is my friend, Ye Xiaojie.”
Ye Xiaojie gave Xia Xiaoman a shy smile.
Xia Xiaoman nodded.
“I’m Xia Xiaoman. How’d you two get here?”
Sun Qing smiled.
“Lucky timing — we ran into the rescue team handing out supplies and asked them to give us a lift.”
“Let’s catch up later — we’ve got to haul our stuff upstairs. You go grab your share!”
Sun Qing and Ye Xiaojie started climbing, just as Glasses Guy came down with his supplies.
He used the excuse of helping carry things to try and touch Ye Xiaojie’s hand, but she smoothly dodged without making a fuss.
Later, when Xia Xiaoman came back upstairs with her supplies, she saw Glasses Guy curled up on the sixth floor landing, groaning in pain, his nose and mouth covered in blood.
Lhaozi[Translator]
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