Lin Zhuoran left them a car when he departed, so they wouldn't have to walk.
"What should we do now? Should we head towards the South Sea to find Qin Chuan and the others, or should we act on our own?"
Xu An quickly emerged from the emotions of bidding farewell to her friend and pondered for a moment.
"Let's go on our own. Qin Chuan is leading a large group. Even if they find something, it's unlikely we'll get any of it. We can take a detour past the southern base and might discover something ourselves."
"Alright, we'll do as you say."
The two drove along the road, heading in the opposite direction of Lin Zhuoran.
As they found a small inn, night had already fallen. When Xu An and Zhou Haimei got out of the car, they noticed a small SUV parked at the entrance.
Xu An walked forward, crouched down, and touched the car's hood and the fuel tank.
"It's still warm, so someone must have been here recently. Do we still want to stay here?" Xu An asked for her opinion.
Zhou Haimei also looked a bit conflicted. They had been living in the car for several days, and she really wanted to find a bed and sleep properly.
However, if someone else was going to disturb them, it would inevitably lead to another sleepless night. The two had been traveling day and night, rushing south, and were already exhausted.
Xu An naturally saw the exhaustion on Zhou Haimei's face. She looked towards the inn, "Let's go and take a look. If it doesn't work out, we can slip away."
She smiled slyly, which brought a hint of a smile to Zhou Haimei's face.
"Okay."
Xu An had seen a faint light in the inn through the mist earlier. Upon closer inspection, she was surprised to find that there was still electricity here.
After all, it had been a year and a half since the apocalypse.
Nowadays, besides the major bases, there were no more power plants operating elsewhere.
"How strange, there's still an electric light here."
The two, filled with surprise, knocked on the inn's door.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
"Coming, who is it!"
Judging by the voice, it sounded like a middle-aged woman with an exceptionally loud and confident tone.
"Hello, we are survivors from the north. May we stay here for the night?"
Seeing only two young girls, Xu An, the woman smiled kindly. "Oh my, how come there are only two girls? At this late hour, why don't you have any men to protect you!"
Xu An smiled awkwardly, thinking what use was a man? When it was time to die, they would die just the same.
But outwardly, she maintained a well-behaved demeanor, "Everyone in our family... only the two of us sisters are left."
At this moment, Xu Yan, who was applying a facial mask on the lighthouse: "..." Unfairly implicated.
Xu An's appearance was too alluring. As long as she deliberately showed weakness, her face would carry an innocent and pitiable aura. Even the usually flamboyant Zhou Haimei, due to the continuous travel, had her ostentatious red hair dulled by the sand and dirt.
At this moment, she surprisingly looked somewhat pitiful.
The woman looked at the two girls before her with sympathy.
"Come in quickly. You're going to the southern base, aren't you? But Auntie here charges for accommodation, do you have any supplies with you?"
Although she let them in, the woman's eyes kept darting to the bags on their backs.
After all, despite pitying the people before her, the woman herself had a large family to support.
There were simply too many pitiable people in the apocalypse.
Sympathy and compassion wouldn't fill their stomachs.
"What are your charges here?" Xu An and Zhou Haimei exchanged glances.
She hadn't expected to find an inn still in operation in the apocalypse.
This innkeeper, though seemingly ordinary, must possess some strength to run an inn safely in the apocalypse without attracting unwanted attention. She couldn't be a simple person.
Upon hearing this, the woman knew that these two girls had something of value on them. This way, she could ask for a little less and consider it a favor, without breaking her own rules.
"Here, accommodation for one person is three jin of rice per night. If you need bathing water, you'll have to add another three jin."
After speaking, she glanced at Xu An and Zhou Haimei. "If you don't have rice, other items can be exchanged."
Xu An looked at the innkeeper and asked, "I have compressed biscuits, instant noodles, and chocolate. Can these items work?"
Before the woman could reply, a little girl, about ten years old, ran out from behind the counter. Her somewhat gaunt cheeks were adorned with deer-like eyes.
She was very beautiful.
The little girl had her hair styled in two pigtails, but perhaps due to long-term malnutrition, her hair looked a bit dry and yellow.
"Mommy, I want to eat chocolate." She clung pitifully to the woman's slender leg, hiding most of her body behind her mother's leg.
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Indeed, cute children, no matter when, possess the power to heal hearts.
The woman dotingly stroked the little girl's nose.
"You little glutton." Then, she turned back to Xu An, "How many days do you need to stay? Do you need hot water? We don't provide food. If you're only staying for one day, just give me one chocolate bar."
Xu An rummaged through her backpack and took out two chocolates and four packs of instant noodles, with a few individually wrapped candies interspersed among them.
The woman hadn't even had time to speak when she said, "No, no. Little girl, what you've given are rare items and can be exchanged for a lot of things. Just one chocolate bar is enough."
Xu An smiled but didn't take the items back. "Sister, please take them. Could you trouble yourself to get us some hot water? We'd like to take a bath."
"Alright, alright. However, the water here is all in buckets. You can just wipe yourselves down; you can't rinse like the showers you had before." The woman's face reddened slightly, seeming a bit embarrassed.
Xu An waved her hand nonchalantly. In such circumstances, having a bucket of hot water to wipe themselves clean was already a great fortune; they couldn't possibly ask for anything more.
A hint of joy also appeared on Zhou Haimei's face. "It's okay, it's okay, a little hot water is fine. Thank you."
The woman didn't act coy about this anymore. Cradling the little girl leaning against her, she took the items from Xu An's hand.
"Go up to the second floor from here. The room at the very end is a double room. That room is our best room, and we'll give it to you. We'll bring the hot water up shortly."
After thanking her, Xu An and Zhou Haimei headed upstairs.
The girl beside the woman also blinked, looking longingly at the candy and chocolate in her hand.
The woman smiled, squatted down, unwrapped a candy, and gave it to the girl.
"Eat it quickly. You should thank that sister just now. Without her, you wouldn't have such sweet candy to eat."
The girl nodded ignorantly, feeling as if the candy in her mouth was sweet enough to melt her heart.
The woman's name was Zhang Cuifen. Before the apocalypse, she was the owner of this inn. Because the place was remote, her inn often experienced power outages, so she always had a backup generator. Even for daily water supply, she relied on a well she dug in her backyard.
Who would have thought that her seemingly run-down and backward little shop would save her family's lives at a crucial moment?
After the initial panic and chaos subsided, they dared to reopen the shop for business, barely managing to provide for their family.
Fortunately, her husband and son were strong and tall, and their charges were reasonable.
The inn continued to operate safely.
The road to the southern base was a necessary route, with many survivors coming from all directions to seek refuge at the southern base.
Thus, Zhang Cuifen's little shop had become a resting place.