Chapter 69 - 65: Why Should I Hand Over the Food I Found Myself for Others to Distribute?

Chapter 69: Chapter 65: Why Should I Hand Over the Food I Found Myself for Others to Distribute?

The second day of the apocalypse was a busy one for everyone.

While the women sorted through the supplies, they took advantage of the still-running water to fill every available container they could find in the apartments, capping them for later use.

Meanwhile, the men were on the rooftop, building a greenhouse under Wang Xiuying’s direction.

Fueled by the potent energy and satisfying fullness of the Energy Bricks, everyone was full of vigor, working with great enthusiasm.

Even the laziest of them, Yang Yi, reluctantly worked under the supervision of Liu Ye’ye and Shen Xinyi.

It wasn’t a total loss for her, though.

While sorting through the rooms, she found a lot of ready-to-eat food. She snacked as she worked, filling her belly with tasty treats and regaining her energy.

"Ooh... Tonkotsu ramen..."

While carrying things out of one of the apartments, Yang Yi discovered an unopened case of instant Japanese Tonkotsu Ramen on top of a kitchen cabinet.

A full 18 packs inside!

She glanced behind her. Neither Liu Ye’ye nor Shen Xinyi was around; the two of them had just taken a load of things up to the sixth floor.

’Only I know about this... In that case, this box...’

A sly idea formed in Yang Yi’s mind. She quietly opened the case of instant noodles, stuffed all the individual packs into her large transport box, and covered them with some daily necessities like soap and laundry detergent.

Then she carried it downstairs.

When she passed the sixth-floor storage area... she didn’t stop. She ran straight back to 501 and stuffed all 18 packs of Tonkotsu ramen into the wardrobe in her room.

Then she quickly carried the half-box of daily necessities to the sixth floor and placed it in the spot Qiao Ping had designated.

Qiao Ping gave the panting, out-of-breath Yang Yi a puzzled look.

"You carried so little... and you’re already this tired?"

"I’m out of shape, so what?"

She shot Qiao Ping a glare, then picked up a large box and left.

After that, she repeated the process, moving all the tasty food and drinks she found into her bedroom... until she had filled an entire wardrobe.

It was enough for her to eat by herself for many days.

Looking at the full wardrobe, a smug smile appeared on Yang Yi’s face.

’You all can go eat your feed. This lady has plenty of good food.’

’She wasn’t stupid enough to wait for others to hand out rations!’

...

That evening, everyone gathered together.

"I have some good news! For the next few days, our meals are going to be incredibly lavish."

Qiao Ping announced excitedly, holding up her ledger.

Zhao Wenjie, exhausted, flopped on the sofa and asked, "Why’s that?"

"Because we found a huge amount of frozen goods in everyone’s refrigerators. There’s fish, meat, shrimp, dumplings, wontons, scallion pancakes, and even some frozen pre-made meals."

"We need to eat them quickly, or they’ll all spoil when the power goes out."

"Sister Qiao, could you please cook me one... no, two servings of pork and chive dumplings? With a whole head of garlic, thanks."

Zhao Youcai began ordering food from his spot on the sofa.

"I want meat. Any kind of meat is fine," said Huang Zhiqiang, completely drained.

"I’ll eat whatever you’re making." Zhou didn’t like to cause trouble for the team.

Stabbing zombies in the morning and building the greenhouse in the afternoon had exhausted the men.

"Alright, you guys just sit tight. Dinner will be ready soon."

Qiao Ping had spent most of the day sitting and directing, so she wasn’t tired and could handle cooking with ease.

Only Yu Dong still had some stamina left. He sat on the sofa, slowly recovering his strength and watching the team with a hint of relief in his eyes.

This time, because there were more people, their progress on all fronts was ahead of schedule.

It was only the first day, but they had already finished clearing the zombies from Building One and had begun gathering supplies.

Last time, it had taken a great deal of effort. He, Zhou, and Liu Ye’ye had been working at high intensity constantly. Exhausted by nightfall, they could only rest for a bit before having to cook for themselves.

Now, they could come back from work to a ready-made meal.

This was the advantage of a team.

After a day of working together, the group members were no longer strangers to one another. Only Wang Xiuying still didn’t fit in. Not only could she not join their conversations, but her yapping Teddy also annoyed some of them.

She made some food for herself, then returned to the 32nd floor with her little Teddy in her arms.

"You know, that old lady is in really good shape. I couldn’t climb all those stairs... It’s too exhausting."

The chubby Huang Zhiqiang shuddered at the thought of climbing stairs. A trip from here to the 32nd floor would completely drain his stamina... He’d have to rest for a long while before he could do any work.

On the evening of the second day of the apocalypse, while they still had electricity, the small team ate a sumptuous dinner.

Only Yang Yi seemed to have a poor appetite, claiming she was full after just a few bites.

Yu Dong collected the spears from Yan Yikai and Zhao Wenjie, and the six of them returned to 503 to rest.

「Late that night.」

Zhou held Yu Dong’s phone, watching the video of him and Mei kissing passionately in the elevator, a look of profound loss on his face.

"Zhou, still want to delete the video?"

"Of course not!"

Looking at Yu Dong’s teasing expression, Zhou finally understood what he had meant back then.

The very video that had once been used to threaten him had now become his most precious memory of Mei.

CLICK.

Hearing the sound of a lighter from outside, Yu Dong pushed the door open and saw Zhao Youcai standing alone on the balcony, smoking and staring blankly out the window...

"COUGH, COUGH~ COUGH, COUGH~"

...

"Babe, why didn’t you eat today? There was so much food... was there nothing you liked? Are you hungry now? I can go cook you some dumplings. Babe, it’ll break my heart if you go hungry..."

Zhao Wenjie babbled on, holding Yang Yi’s hand.

"I’m not an idiot. I ate my fill ages ago. *Hic*~"

"Oh? You... you found something to eat this afternoon? That’s good. I was worried you hadn’t eaten."

"Hmph. If I were as dumb as you, I’d be stuck eating those pig feed biscuits."

"It’s not pig feed, it’s an Energy Brick. They’re actually pretty good..."

"Whatever. I’m not eating that stuff anyway~"

"You don’t have to eat them for the next few days, since everyone can eat what’s in the refrigerators. But after that’s gone... you’ll have to eat them too. You can’t just act on a whim. We have to hold on and survive until the army comes."

"Hehe~ Don’t worry, I have my own food."

"Huh?"

Yang Yi opened her wardrobe, showing off the food she had stuffed it with: instant noodles, bread, cookies, ham, canned goods, candy, chocolate... The whole wardrobe was full of tasty things.

"This is... Where did you get all this?"

"I found it all myself, of course."

Zhao Wenjie immediately realized what had happened, and his expression changed.

"This stuff... Does Sister Qiao know about it?"

"Of course she doesn’t, are you stupid? If she knew, she’d confiscate it all. She’s a traitor, sucking up to that little bitch Shen Xinyi. She’s not on our side."

"You stole this?! Didn’t Brother Dong say at noon that everything should be collected and then distributed?"

"It’s food I found myself. Why should I hand it over for someone else to distribute?"

"But... you took so much. What about everyone else?"

"It’s not like they have nothing to eat, right? Let them eat the pig feed. From what I can see, they’ve got plenty of it."

Seeing Zhao Wenjie still hesitating, Yang Yi pinched him.

"Relax, nobody saw. I’ll just eat it secretly here in the room. As long as they don’t find out, it’ll be fine."

Zhao Wenjie remembered the spear Yu Dong had driven through a zombie’s skull, and his warning at noon. His palms instantly started sweating.

"No way, Babe. Tomorrow, you have to hand the food over."

Hearing this, Yang Yi’s eyes went cold. She crossed her arms and stared at Zhao Wenjie.

"Zhao Wenjie, do you not love me anymore?"