"No," Huang Yaru blurted out, then explained, "I usually sleep at home during the day and work at night, so I rarely have the opportunity to eat at home and therefore I haven't stocked up on any food. I'm really sorry."
Nodding silently, Tang Xiaoquan noticed that Huang Yaru didn't seem to be lying.
However, this also meant that his first plan to gather supplies had failed.
According to his initial idea, if Huang Yaru's home had food supplies like rice and flour, they could easily use the makeshift bridge from the balcony to get into her home and acquire these resources.
The advantages of this approach were obvious: they wouldn't have to risk their lives going out to take chances, because nobody knew which household in the corridor might still have surplus food.
Furthermore, it would save them the hassle of dealing with numerous zombies, because without a key, they would have to break into other people's homes, which would definitely attract zombies and pose a threat to their safety.
But going to Huang Yali's house would be different. The presence of the makeshift bridge greatly reduced the threat of direct contact with zombies, and the only thing they had to deal with was the one zombie roaming on the balcony. And dealing with that zombie was undoubtedly an extremely simple task.
Unfortunately, plans cannot keep up with changes in reality, no matter how good the plan was.
That's why the Law of Survival states in Rule Ten: You never know what will happen the next second, so don't put all your hopes on one thing. To survive longer, you must have a backup plan.
So, Tang Xiaoquan had already prepared a second plan.
Picking up a few strands of shredded potato with his chopsticks, Tang Xiaoquan tossed them into his mouth. After casually chewing for a couple of moments, he spoke up, "Since you don't have any stock, does that mean we have to take the risk and go out?"
"Go out?" Wang Qiang furrowed his brows and replied hesitantly, "No way! Is it really that urgent? We still have some food left!"
Tang Xiaoquan ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice in silence; he could hear the trace of reluctance in Wang Qiang's voice, clearly still holding a grudge over what happened in the morning.
In response, Tang Xiaoquan could only sigh helplessly in his heart.
But regardless of his sighs, some things needed to be said, especially at such a critical moment where there could be no ambiguity.
So…
"Qiang, it's been three days since today began. We previously agreed that we'd start gathering supplies in 3 to 4 days, or have you forgotten?"
Raising his eyebrows at Wang Qiang, Tang Xiaoquan quietly waited for his response.
"Um~" Perhaps feeling a bit sheepish under Tang Xiaoquan's serious gaze, Wang Qiang hesitated for a long time before stammering, "Of course I remember, my point is, before we act, shouldn't we plan it out well first? We can only ensure nothing goes wrong if we've got a solid plan!"
"Hehe," listening to Wang Qiang's half-hearted words, a smile appeared on Tang Xiaoquan's lips.
His friend here was straightforward by nature, not at all good at lying; he'd get nervous and stammer whenever he lied.
So…
"Don't worry, Qiang, I've already got a plan. Here, take a look," saying this, Tang Xiaoquan fished a key ring wrapped in a plastic bag out of his pocket and tossed it onto the table.
"I found this on that zombie this morning. I carefully remembered that he should be living in this building, so..."
"So, you crazy bastard!" Wang Qiang swept the plastic bag aside and threw it to the ground, angrily yelling, "What's wrong with you?! Who rummages through the dead for no reason?! And if you do, why the hell put it on the table? Are you trying to turn us into zombies too?!"
Shaking his head helplessly, Tang Xiaoquan pointed amusedly to the key ring on the ground and replied, a bit at a loss for words, "I... didn't I wrap it in a plastic bag? Besides, if touching it really led to infection, could we still be sitting here just fine?"
Wang Qiang paused slightly at Tang Xiaoquan's question.
Right, I did valiantly battle those zombies. If I were to mutate, it would've happened long ago.
Feeling somewhat reassured, Wang Qiang was more at ease now, but the next second he realized that agreeing with Tang Xiaoquan would only lose him face in front of Huang Yaru.
So, he pouted and changed the topic: "So, what the hell is this lousy plan of yours!"
Suppressing his urge to burst into laughter, Tang Xiaoquan's lips twitched slightly before he continued, "My plan has to do with this key. As I said earlier, the owner of this key definitely lives in our building, but I can't confirm which floor he resides on yet."
At this point, Wang Qiang quickly interjected, "No way, you don't know which floor he lives on, so what's the point? We can't just risk our lives for nothing!"
"No, no, no," Tang Xiaoquan waved his hands repeatedly, "It's not that bad. I thought it over carefully: when the zombie was banging its head against the door, it was facing the door frame, which means it came from upstairs and was blocked by our wooden door, thus keeping it banging."
"And since we're on the 5th floor, with only the 6th and 7th floors above us, barring any surprises, the owner of this key should be renting in one of those two floors."
Wang Qiang nodded slightly, having no qualms with Tang Xiaoquan's analysis. After pondering for a moment, he agreed, "Alright, if that's the case, when do you say we should make our move?"
"As soon as possible!"
The Law of Survival, Rule Eleven: When in crisis, if your plan has more than a 50 percent chance of success, you should implement it as quickly as possible.
Because waiting equates to death; only by taking action can you hope to survive.
However, moving quickly doesn't mean being reckless, so after those four words, Tang Xiaoquan added, "So, let's all rest well tomorrow, gather our energy, and act the day after tomorrow!"
"Us? Together?" Hearing these keywords in Tang Xiaoquan's words, the previously silent Huang Yaru barely flinched.
She slowly put down her chopsticks, pretended to cough slightly, and then asked nonchalantly, "Will I need to join the action then?"
"Absolutely!" Tang Xiaoquan raised an eyebrow at Huang Yaru beside him with a meaningful smile, "Didn't I just say? Everyone together, haha."
With that, Tang Xiaoquan buried his head back into his rice, finding today's rice particularly fragrant and sweet...