Xu An turned off her phone. The water outage had no impact on them; their stored water supply was enough for generations.
As for the households willing to pay high prices for food, Xu An scoffed.
The television and radio were incessantly broadcasting rescue notices. Anyone with a brain knew the current situation. Before national rescue arrived, no one would dare to act rashly, let alone easily trade away their supplies.
Xu Yan looked at her phone, a flicker of hesitation on her face, before turning it off.
Xu An watched her mother, who seemed to want to say something but didn't, until she turned and walked away. Only then did Xu An’s suspended heart finally relax. She had been worried about what she would do if Xu Yan tried to persuade her to trade their supplies. She hadn't expected her mother to say nothing at all.
Xu An picked up the watermelon sorbet and popped a spoonful into her mouth. The icy, refreshing taste directly stimulated her taste buds. Happiness made her eyes narrow.
Gou Dan wagged its tail beside her, its expression seemingly saying, "I want some too, I want some too." Xu An scooped out a few watermelon balls and tossed them into Gou Dan's small food bowl.
The heat brought on a wave of sleepiness. She took advantage of the water outage to take a shower.
"Mom, you should rest. You didn't sleep well at all last night," Xu Yan's eyes were bloodshot, and Xu An felt a pang of concern.
"Mom will practice dodgeball for a bit longer, then go to sleep." After this ordeal, she understood her daughter's persistent efforts. Although she wasn't as capable as her daughter, she at least couldn't be a burden to Xu An. She had considered trading supplies with neighbors while looking at her phone earlier, but seeing her daughter's expression, she suddenly realized that it was now the apocalypse. The human warmth, social order of the pre-apocalypse world would be gradually eroded. Her misplaced kindness might bring disaster upon her and her daughter.
Xu An watched her mother perspire profusely while still practicing, feeling gratified and clenching her fingers. In her previous life, she had always found her mother's constant nagging unbearable. But after being reborn, she realized how much Xu Yan loved her. It was a love without reservation, untainted by any self-interest.
Almost to the minute, after Xu An finished her shower, the faucet finally ran dry. Fortunately, they had bought a simple shower setup, so there was no need to boil water. Placing the water on the balcony, it warmed up in less than half an hour. She carried the water bucket into the bathroom and told Xu Yan, "Mom, you should go take a shower." Then, remembering something, she added, "From now on, don't flush the toilet with water. Just use the cat litter directly."
"Okay, Mom knows." With the entire complex experiencing a water outage, if anyone found out they still had water to flush the toilet, it would cause an uproar.
Xu An browsed the property management group chat. Besides a few owners still complaining, no one else was speaking. The complex had been considerate enough to give advance notice of the water outage, hoping those people could accumulate some water for survival. After all, one could last a week without food, but without water, a person wouldn't live for three days.
Her freshly washed hair dried completely in less than five minutes indoors. She thought to herself, this saved her the trouble of using a hairdryer. Sitting on the laid-out mat, the ice bucket from yesterday had 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 air cooler. Gou Dan chased the cool air flowing out, then moved to another spot to continue napping. She mixed goat milk with dog food and added some frozen fruit to feed Gou Dan. After eating, Gou Dan seemed a bit more energetic. It stood up and walked a few steps before lying down again.
Xu Yan fell asleep on the sofa after her shower, while Xu An watched variety shows with headphones on. They had agreed to sleep in the living room for the next few days, so they could deal with any issues promptly. Regardless of how difficult life was for others outside, their family, at least, 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 directed an air cooler towards Gou Dan, who shifted its position and continued sleeping. She looked at the peaceful sleeping faces of Xu Yan and Gou Dan and let out a soft chuckle.
As the days passed, the temperature gradually returned to normal.
In the early hours of this day.
Xu An opened the window, held a thermometer, extended her hand out, and then pulled 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. Peeking through the window, Xu An saw many people starting to move under the cover of night, some driving away and others returning with supplies. Those who got out of their cars mostly returned home dejectedly. Xu An guessed they might not have found any food. It made sense; the power had been out for several days. In this scorching heat, frozen meat and produce would have surely rotted by now. People venturing out for supplies were still resorting to bartering. The real breakdown of order would begin with the outbreak of the zombie horde. At that point, not only would bartering be out of the question, but people would be fighting tooth and nail for a single piece of bread.
Xu An carefully closed the curtains again. When planning her evacuation route, she had specifically marked several gas stations, intending to collect them all. After all, in the apocalypse, these would be ownerless. Whoever seized them would own them. Moreover, these were non-renewable resources, so the more the better. She figured the zombie horde would arrive within the next few days. She planned to lie flat at home and wait until the zombie horde had passed before observing the government's actions.
Every day, she guided Xu Yan in practicing simple combat moves and taught her how to chop zombies. She tested the knife Xu Yan had bought; it was very sharp, easily cutting through a solid wood table, let alone dealing with zombies. Of course, Gou Dan wasn't idle either. She trained Gou Dan to use the cat litter box and to develop basic jumping and evasion reflexes. However, Gou Dan had been acting strangely lately. Whenever she was nearby, the dog would hold it in rather than relieve itself. It would only go after she left the room. Xu An observed this a few times and couldn't help but chuckle. "Is Gou Dan shy now?" All she got in response was Gou Dan's helpless barks. After all, as a puppy, it had no right to privacy, even if it was a male dog.
After the family finished their tasks, they took a shower and comfortably sat on the mat, enjoying the cool breeze. The weather was too hot, so they were too lazy to cook. They simply took out ready-to-eat food. Sweet and sour pork ribs, cold cucumber salad, lemon shredded chicken, and two bowls of iced mung bean soup. They even prepared a portion for Gou Dan. Eating iced mung bean soup in such hot weather was pure bliss! After finishing their meal, Xu An lay back comfortably on the mat.
Since she had discovered sprouts growing in her space last time, she had been checking on them periodically. Those sprouts were thriving, showing impressive growth in just a few days. She noticed that the color of the seedling was greenest after she had eaten her meal. This discovery made her suspect that her suddenly increased appetite might be related to this seedling.