Zhao Pingan saw her come out and immediately greeted her with great enthusiasm.
He took the two boxes from Annan's hands and, with a slightly awkward smile, said, "Idol, why did you bring me so much?"
Annan was bewildered: was this guy speaking ironically?
To her surprise, Zhao Pingan weighed the boxes in his hands and continued, "Why don't you wait a moment? I'll go home and bring you something else. It feels like I'm taking advantage of you, trading a piece of cloth for all this food."
Annan was speechless.
Seeing he wasn't joking, Annan stopped him, "No need, this is fine!"
Zhao Pingan looked at her with admiration: "My idol is truly kind-hearted!"
"Idol, next time when my snacks are finished, can I bring something to trade with you again?"
Annan shuddered at the constant "idol" he kept calling her. "I'm probably younger than you. Just call me Annan."
"Alright, Idol."
...
Zhao Pingan took the boxes and, after greeting her, prepared to head home.
Annan called out, "Hey, aren't you going to check what's inside?"
Zhao Pingan grinned, "No need! As long as it's snacks, my mom will love it. You wouldn't possibly have put stones in there, would you? I trust my idol's taste, haha!"
Annan watched him walk away, feeling like this guy was missing a screw somewhere.
How should she put it? He was unusually optimistic—no matter the situation, he could always smile brightly, like the sun.
Sometimes, even she was infected by his cheerfulness.
...
Zhao Pingan returned to the top floor, carrying the two boxes.
Hu Cuilan took them from his hands and asked, "A piece of old cloth, and you got all this food in return?"
She couldn't help but sigh inwardly: That girl on the 14th floor has decent fighting skills, but her brains don't seem to be in the right place.
Someone gives her a piece of cloth, and she gives up all this food?
Zhao Pingan retorted, "What do you know! My idol is generous and kind-hearted! Besides, it wasn't just some old cloth, it's a new, high-tech fabric."
"High-tech, low-tech, I don't care. As long as it gets us good food, it's good tech."
Hu Cuilan continued to unpack the boxes with scissors.
"Good heavens! So much food?!"
She tore open a package of spicy strips and chewed them with gusto. "I told you before, you stocked up on all that dry food, but why didn't you get some spicy snacks or something!"
"My dear mother, when did you ever see a doomsday survival movie where the heroes are hoarding spicy strips?" Zhao Pingan replied helplessly. "Having dry food is already good enough! Out there, some people can't even find expired bread."
While eating the spicy strips, Hu Cuilan pulled out a self-heating hot pot from the box.
"Then how did Annan get all that? Enough talk, let's have hotpot today! My mouth's as dry as a desert…"
Mentioning Annan, Zhao Pingan stopped arguing: his idol certainly was more prepared than he was, and there was no denying it.
Hu Cuilan opened two bottles of mineral water and poured them into the hot pot.
"You say you, you didn't even stock up on hotpot base. Doesn't that taste better than compressed biscuits? After we're done, I'll keep the broth for the next round, and we can cook noodles with it."
Zhao Pingan nodded. "Alright, I'll handle the noodles."
Seeing how his mom used to refuse leftover food, but now she couldn't bear to waste the broth, he sighed.
This apocalypse was nothing like he had imagined.
His initial impulse to stock up on supplies had come from the reckless actions of the small country—constantly provoking others, dumping nuclear waste, and generally making a mess of things.
Sharing a planet with such people had truly made him feel unsafe.
So, he had prepared himself for mutant zombies, natural disasters, and all the other end-of-the-world scenarios.
When he first started hoarding supplies, he had imagined how cool it would be to be ready for the apocalypse, to have built a survival fortress, and be totally prepared.
But now, he realized that the once ordinary and stable world was the most precious thing of all.
Unfortunately, time could not be reversed. Though the small country had disappeared, the few humans who remained now faced unprecedented challenges.
...
Elsewhere, Wai Wenbin went to the 13th floor to borrow a kayak from Sun Peng.
When Sun Peng opened the door, he didn't recognize him at first.
Wai Wenbin, sporting a swollen face, explained for a long while before Sun Peng finally recognized him.
Fearing he might not return it, Sun Peng lied and said the kayak was out with Wang Xiaoyu.
But to maintain his image as the building manager, he still let Wai Wenbin borrow the bathtub for the price of two boxes of biscuits.
Wai Wenbin didn't even have two boxes of biscuits left, and was now on credit.
With the travel equipment in hand, he hurried with Qian Ying'er to the 12th building and knocked on Wang Ge's door.
When Wang Ge heard the sound, he eagerly opened the door, only to find two strangers standing there.
"You are...?"
"It's me! Wai Wenbin!"
Wang Ge looked at his swollen face and couldn't reconcile it with the youthful Wai Wenbin he remembered.
Wai Wenbin awkwardly pointed at Qian Ying'er, "My cousin, Qian Ying'er! Wang Ge, don't you recognize her?"
Wang Ge frowned as he looked at them.
"What happened to you two?" He glanced behind them. "Where's that beautiful woman you mentioned?"
Wai Wenbin forced a smile, "Wang Ge, she's not here today. How about you just make do with us for now?"
With that, he pushed Qian Ying'er forward.
She stumbled and fell straight into Wang Ge's arms.
Startled, she burst into tears, wailing loudly.
Wang Ge was stunned as she smeared snot all over his face while crying and sniffing.
Is this woman alright...?
He pushed her away, "What's wrong with her?!"
Wai Wenbin awkwardly pulled her back, "Behave yourself! Stop crying!"
He then turned and explained nervously, "My cousin hit her head and suddenly became a bit... silly..."
Wang Ge gave her a disdainful look, "Go, go, go! Get lost! She's too ugly, I'm not having it! Just bring that beautiful woman next time!"
With that, he slammed the door shut.
Wai Wenbin's face alternated between blue and white, but he couldn't say anything. He could only pull Qian Ying'er's arm and scold her.
"Stay in line!"
Then, he dragged her to the next house.
They climbed the entire building, but no one else was willing to trade with them.
Every time someone opened the door, they were greeted with the sight of a swollen-faced woman, with no distinguishable features, laughing idiotically through her runny nose.
"Hee hee hee! Handsome guy, hello!"