Xu An dug out a few watermelon balls and dropped them into Gou Dan's small food bowl.
The heat made her sleepy, and she took a shower before the water supply stopped.
"Mom, you should rest. You tossed and turned all night and didn't sleep well," Xu Yan's eyes were bloodshot, and Xu An felt a pang of heartache.
"Mom is just practicing dodging for a while, then I'll go to bed."
After this experience, she also understood her daughter's painstaking efforts. Although she wasn't as capable as her daughter, she at least couldn't be a burden to Xu An.
She had considered selling the supplies to the neighbors just now, but seeing her daughter's expression.
She suddenly realized that it was already the apocalypse.
The warmth and coldness of human relationships, and the social order before the apocalypse, would all be gradually eroded.
Her gratuitous kindness might bring disaster to their mother and daughter.
Xu An watched her mother, who was sweating profusely but still insisted on practicing. While feeling comforted, she couldn't help but clench her fingers.
In her previous life, she always felt her mother was just nagging all day, which was incredibly annoying.
But after being reborn this time, she realized how much Xu Yan loved her.
It was a love without reservation, without any ulterior motives.
Almost to the minute, after Xu An finished her shower, the faucet completely ran dry.
Fortunately, they had bought a simple shower setup, so there was no need to boil water. They placed the water on the balcony, and it heated up in less than half an hour.
She carried the water bucket into the bathroom and said to Xu Yan, "Mom, you should go take a shower quickly."
Then she remembered something and reminded her, "Don't flush the toilet with water from now on. Just use cat litter."
"Okay, Mom understands."
The entire community had lost water. If anyone found out they still had water to flush the toilet, it would cause an uproar.
Xu An browsed the property group chat. Except for a few owners still complaining, no one else was talking.
The community was quite humane, giving advance notice of the water cutoff, hoping those people could conserve some survival water.
After all, one could last a week without food, but without water, a person couldn't survive three days.
Her freshly washed hair dried within five minutes indoors.
She thought, this saved her from needing a hairdryer.
Sitting on the spread-out cooling mat, the ice bucket she had placed yesterday had already melted, and the water inside had become warm.
She stored the warm water from the bucket into her space and took out some ice cubes, putting them back into the evaporative cooler.
Gou Dan chased the cool breeze blowing out, then moved to another spot to lie down.
She mixed goat milk with dog food and added some frozen fruit to feed Gou Dan.
After eating, Gou Dan looked more energetic. He got up and after only a few steps, lay down again.
Xu Yan fell asleep in the living room after her shower, and Xu An watched variety shows with earphones on.
They had agreed to sleep in the living room for the next few days so they could handle any emergencies promptly.
No matter how difficult life was for people outside, at least their family was living quite comfortably.
In the middle of the night, she was too hot to sleep. She got up, stored the water from the ice bucket into her space, and replaced the ice cubes again.
She aimed an evaporative cooler at Gou Dan. The dog shifted its position and continued to sleep.
She looked at Xu Yan and Gou Dan sleeping peacefully and let out a low chuckle.
As the days passed, the temperature gradually returned to normal.
One early morning, Xu An opened the window, held the thermometer, stuck her hand out, and brought it back in after three minutes.
"34 degrees."
Although it was still hot, it was considered cool compared to the night of the volcanic eruption.
Xu An saw through the window that many people were taking advantage of the night to act. Some were driving away, and some were collecting supplies and driving back.
However, after several days of high temperatures and power outages, most of the food had spoiled and rotted.
There was very little edible food.
Most of the people who got out of their cars returned home dejected.
People were now on the verge of societal collapse. Most people went out to find supplies, still through bartering.
When the zombie horde erupted, that would be the true moment of societal decay.
At that time, forget about trading; people would fight tooth and nail for a piece of bread.
Xu An pulled the curtains closed again.
She had secretly gone out a few times under the cover of night and collected a large amount of gasoline and diesel.
In the apocalypse, these were non-renewable resources.
When planning her escape route, she specifically passed by several gas stations, intending to collect them all.
After all, in the apocalypse, these were ownerless items.
Whoever grabbed them owned them.
Counting down, the zombie horde was just a few days away. She planned to lie low at home and see what the government's actions were after the horde passed.
She guided Xu Yan in practicing some simple fighting moves every day and also taught her how to slash zombies.
She tested the knife Xu Yan had bought. It was very sharp; even solid wood tables could be cut through with ease.
Not to mention dealing with zombies.
Of course, Gou Dan was not idle either. She trained Gou Dan to use the cat litter for the toilet, as well as some basic reactions like jumping and dodging.
However, Gou Dan had been a bit strange lately. As long as she was around, the dog would hold it in until it was unbearable and wouldn't go to the toilet.
It would only go after she left.
Xu An observed it a few times and couldn't help but laugh.
"Is Gou Dan shy now?"
All she got in return was Gou Dan's pathetic yelp.
After all, as a puppy, it had no right to privacy, even if it was a male puppy.
After the family finished their tasks, they took a shower and sat comfortably on the cooling mat, enjoying the cool breeze.
The weather was too hot, so they were too lazy to cook. They simply ate ready-made food.
Sweet and sour pork ribs, cold cucumber salad, lemon shredded chicken, and two bowls of iced mung bean soup.
She also prepared a portion for Gou Dan.
Eating iced mung bean soup in such hot weather was simply a treat!
After eating, Xu An lay back on the cooling mat contentedly.
Since discovering seedlings growing in her space last time, she had been checking on them from time to time.
The seedlings were doing well, growing impressively in just a few days.
She noticed that after she finished her meals, the seedlings were the greenest.
This discovery made her suspect that her suddenly increased appetite might be related to these seedlings.
...
A few more days passed. She turned on the radio, continuing to listen for news.
The sound from the radio was intermittent, and apart from waiting for rescue, there was no other useful information.
It only said that the public should hold on, and supplies were being prepared for distribution.
Xu An frowned. This distribution would be in vain. She was afraid that even if supplies were sent, no one would be alive to receive them.
If she remembered correctly, the zombie horde was due in the next few days.
She looked at her phone. The signal was already very weak. "It seems this phone won't last much longer."
Not long after, the global network would be paralyzed, and communication equipment would be disrupted, making mobile phones useless.
Just as Xu An was about to lie down, she heard a knock on the door.
"Knock... knock... knock..."
"Is anyone there? Is anyone home?"