Chapter 13: Scarcity of resources and self-sufficiency(1/2)
When the supplies were distributed in the second week, they were reduced as Wen Qizhou speculated. Each family could only receive two bottles of mineral water and two bags of compressed biscuits, and there was no instant noodles.
The residents were anxious.
The water they stored during the water restriction period was almost at its bottom. No matter how much they saved, it could not support a family's daily water supply. Many people had not taken a shower for more than three days.
"Is he sending beggars away?" A young man was so angry that he smashed the compressed biscuit on the ground: "Whoever likes it can eat it!"
His leaked emotions moved the others, their eyes were blazing with fire, and curses and sighs were intertwined.
There are also young people who are showing off their bottles, unscrewing the caps of mineral water bottles and drinking them all, as if they don’t care about the future.
Someone shouted: "Is anyone going to the supermarket? If we continue to be so passive, we will all starve to death!"
What he meant by "going to the supermarket" was clear to the men, women and children present.
Yuan Chuan is eager to try.
Just as he was about to raise his arm, Wen Qizhou quickly pressed his shoulder, signaling him not to be the first to express his opinion.
"I'll go with you!" A middle-aged man in his early forties broke the quiet atmosphere.
After that, more and more people came forward.
Sister He, who was elected as the building manager two days ago, did not agree with their approach: "What is the difference between doing this and robbing?"
"The difference is huge! We are more qualified and moral than the robbers. No matter how much we take, we will put it on the counter according to the price on the label!"
"No one in the supermarket is open now. Who will you leave the money to? If something goes wrong in the future, who will be responsible?"
"I won't let you take responsibility anyway!" The middle-aged man didn't want to get entangled with her, so he called the people who wanted to go with her to discuss the destination.
Sister He's face turned green after being ignored. She said "Don't regret it" and left angrily with a loudspeaker.
But no one paid any attention to her.
Residents were attracted by the "Supermarket Tour" plan. If they were determined to go, they went home, picked up their backpacks, and gathered on the first floor.
Chi Yue and Wen Qizhou were also among them.
What is surprising is that this time not only Mrs. Yuan is traveling with us, but also Zhong Chen, Zhou Wenwen and the short-haired girl.
More than 30 people set out in great force and walked to the shopping mall inside the CBD with flashlights.
The glass door of the shopping mall was smashed, and the debris on the ground told them that another wave of people had already arrived first.
The leading middle-aged man felt uneasy and quickly walked to the supermarket on the first floor. When he saw scattered items on the shelves, he said to everyone: "Go and get whatever you need. We will be at the door in an hour."
See."
Everyone rushed to the drinks area.
Chi Yue and Wen Qizhou followed them around the shelves to avoid arousing suspicion.
At present, only drinks and coffee are left. Although they don't quench their thirst, they are at least drinkable. Some people complained but kept picking up things, eager to fill the whole package.
They took a few token bottles and quietly moved to other areas. After a while, they successfully found the location of the warehouse.
The warehouse is not large, and the goods are crowded together. You can only rely on the signs in front of each row of cartons to identify what is inside.
They checked carefully to make sure there was no third person in the warehouse. After hearing Qizhou, they turned off the flashlight and went to the door to let out air.
Chi Yue began to collect supplies.
She collected several boxes of home textiles, clothing, daily necessities, seasonings, kitchen utensils and other things that could be used in daily life.
Then we walked to the food and drinking area.
Behind the row of rice, flour, oil and mineral water, there wasn't even a box of stock. There was no doubt that it had been taken away by the authorities.
She scanned forward with her flashlight and found that the amount of fast food and dairy products was pitifully small, so she stopped collecting them.
They are not short of water and food, and there is no need to hoard goods for the sake of hoarding goods and depriving others of hope.
"Qi Zhou? Where are you?" Hearing Yuan Chuan's call, Chi Yue picked up a box of dairy products and walked out quickly.
Wen Qizhou waited for her to come out before responding.
He told the specific location, taking into account that others could hear it, and did not mention the warehouse: "Come over and help me."
"immediately!"
Yuan Chuan, who hurriedly pretended to be a fan of prickly heat, took his wife Lu Hui and followed the sound to find them.
He raised his smile and said, "Did you find something good? You still need my help."
"storehouse."
"What the hell?!"
Lu Hui saw their intention, grabbed Yuan Chuan's arm, and reminded him to lower his voice: "Have you guys gone in to take a look?"
She has a gentle temperament and speaks softly, making her feel very comfortable.
Chi Yue got along quite well with her.
"I've seen it." She raised her wrist slightly, indicating to them to look at the box of dairy products: "There are a lot of things in it. You go in and pick first. When you're almost done, I'll call the others."
"Okay." Lu Hui thanked her softly.
She dragged Yuan Chuan, who was so excited that his eyes were shining, into the warehouse to look for useful things.
At first seeing the mountains of cargo boxes, Yuan Chuan was full of energy, but when he realized that they couldn't finish them all, his feelings of pity and regret made him wilt again.
He wiped his sweat and turned to look at Wen Qizhou, who was tying the cargo boxes together: "Where did you find the rope? Is there any more?"
"Yes." Wen Qizhou pointed it out to him.
When they were about to finish, Chi Yue, who was leaning by the door, called over the neighbors who were walking around the supermarket.
When she heard that she had found the warehouse, people who were still frantically grabbing supplies from the shelves came running following the flickering light of their flashlights.
Stacks of cargo boxes came into view, and no one paid attention to Yuan Chuan and Wen Qizhou's behavior of getting the supplies in advance.
Not long after, they followed Wen Qizhou's example of tying up the cargo boxes tightly with ropes, and then carried or dragged them out.
Recently, the temperature difference between day and night has shortened.
The temperature at night is also over 40 degrees.
They faced the evening wind carrying a heat wave and walked on the silent streets with heavy loads. It didn't take long for them to be covered in sweat.
"It's so hot! Let's walk slower."
"If I had known there were so many things in the supermarket, I should have driven out tonight."
I saw a thin woman walking with difficulty, and the short-haired girl showed great kindness.
She let go of the rope that she and her boyfriend were holding, stepped forward, stretched out her hand and said, "Sister, let me carry it for you."
"No need." The other party took two steps back and defensively avoided the short-haired girl's hand: "I can carry it myself, thank you."
"But……"
"Brother Liu, wait for me!" The thin woman, who suspected her motives were impure, hugged the supplies tightly, turned around and ran forward.
The girl with short hair was embarrassed.
Her boyfriend's face flushed with anger: "Yang Beijia! Can you have a certain level of kindness? We can't even carry our own things, so you still have time to help others?"
"Isn't it right to respect the old and love the young? I just wanted to help her by the way. Why are you angry at me?"
"Is the important point now that I lose my temper? Think before I ask you for help! Can you look at your own situation?"
Yang Beijia didn't realize that her actions made her boyfriend and roommate dissatisfied, and they just wanted to argue about right and wrong.
She was self-centered, corrected his thoughts fiercely, and detailed his problems.
Not to mention the people close to you who can't stand it, even those who stop where they are to rest will have a headache.
"It's a pity that the hospital is closed." Yuan Chuan, who was irritated by the heat, was so angry at her quarrel that he said sarcastically with a straight face: "Otherwise, you can go to the psychiatric department for treatment."
"You are the one who is sick!"
Because of what happened to Mrs. Wang, Yang Beijia hated them and impulsively kicked the cardboard box next to him.
Chi Yue lowered her eyes and took a look.
Then he realized: "That's my thing."
"So what if it's yours?" Yang Beijia glared at her and said, "You can only bully the weak."
Perhaps because she was embarrassed by her boyfriend, or perhaps because she was sure that Chi Yue would not do anything in public, in order to vent her unhappiness, she deliberately kicked the cardboard box as a ball.
"Since you like kicking things so much──" Chi Yue said in a long voice, grabbing her by the back of the collar: "Then kick as much as you can."
She pressed the opponent's head and "kicked" the cardboard box.
"Ah!!" Yang Beijia, who was pressed against her hip, knelt on the ground unable to move and screamed.
The carton contains drinks.
Her forehead hit her, making a series of crisp banging sounds, which echoed in everyone's ears, making them tremble with fear.
The boyfriend, who had a dark face and wanted to leave, saw this scene and turned back the same way, trying to stop him.
To be continued...