Lan Jin was honestly at a loss for words. She asked, "So you think arms can just be yanked off and shoved anywhere?"
Qiao Qiao blinked at her with a puzzled look, then earnestly tried to reattach the arm to the Barbie doll. But she was just a toddler—putting it back properly wasn't happening.
She shoved the doll's arm into a hole in the leg joint, jamming it in with all her strength. After poking and twisting, the leg socket finally gave way, and the arm stuck. But with an arm coming out of the leg, the whole thing looked absurd. Qiao Qiao stared at it, visibly dissatisfied. Then she yanked the arm back out and looked up at Lan Jin, her face full of frustration.
"Mama, wrong."
Lan Jin rubbed her forehead. "Of course it's wrong. Your arms don't go on your legs, do they?"
Qiao Qiao squinted at the doll again, as if finally understanding. "Oh."
Then, with great determination, Qiao Qiao shoved the doll's left arm into the hole on the right shoulder. The arm stayed on, but the pose was backward and looked even stranger than before. Still, the arm was on, and that was all that mattered. Qiao Qiao lifted the doll proudly toward Lan Jin, waiting for praise.
Lan Jin didn't want to crush her little one's confidence, so she smiled and said, "Qiao Qiao did great. Mama's little girl is so smart. Next time, try to be a little gentler, okay?"
Not that a two-year-old really understood what "gentle" meant, but Qiao Qiao clearly caught the praise loud and clear. She beamed and nodded, even if she didn't fully understand.
But after being cooped up indoors for more than half a month, Qiao Qiao was clearly hitting her limit. She tossed the mutilated Barbie behind her and pounced into Lan Jin's arms, wrapping herself around her like a little koala.
"Mama, go outside. Don't wanna stay."
Lan Jin didn't want to stay cooped up either. But there was nowhere to go, and it would be a long while before that changed. She glanced at the time—it was almost ten.
"Qiao Qiao, you and Nana go into the space first. Mama needs to grab supplies."
"No. Go too."
That wasn't an option. Lan Jin explained gently, "The lady who came last time said only Mama can go down. They made a rule. So not this time, sweetie. But next time, if they allow it, Mama will bring Qiao Qiao too."
Qiao Qiao wanted to throw a fit. But before she could, Lan Jin had already sent her and Nana into the space. Out of sight, out of reach. Even if Qiao Qiao wanted to protest, she had no chance.
Of course, the space wasn't empty. There was a straw hut with a kids' toy area, and a bit further away, a full children's play zone. Lan Jin had picked it up from a supermarket while gathering supplies. It took up space, but Qiao Qiao loved it. When she got tired of it, Lan Jin figured she could just toss it out.
When Qiao Qiao first got her hands on it, she was obsessed. She played in it for days, giving Lan Jin a much-needed break. But no matter how fun a thing is, play it too much and you get bored. Sure enough, today she had wandered back to the corner of the living room to mess with her Barbie again.
Still, now that she was back in the space, and staring at her personal playground, the urge to play returned. Before long, she had scrambled into it and was having fun all over again.
Satisfied, Lan Jin checked on her through the space's mental link, then slung her supply bag over her shoulder and headed downstairs.
There were no stairs on her floor, but since the distribution point was in the emergency stairwell, she could just use that. She'd barely stepped into it when she ran into someone—Huang Jinghe.
Lan Jin didn't know Huang Jinghe well, but since they crossed paths, she greeted him out of courtesy. Besides, the boy looked so young. Around kids like that, she always felt the urge to offer a little reminder. Just a simple word or two. Nothing more.
"You're heading down now too?" Lan Jin asked.
Huang Jinghe nodded. "Yeah. When they first announced it, there were too many people. This late, there should be fewer. I don't like waiting in line."
"Same here. That's what I was thinking too. It's almost ten. Should be a lot quieter now."
Sure enough, just as they predicted, barely anyone was around. They descended from the 32nd floor all the way to the second. Only then did they see a small queue.
The people in line glanced over and groaned with envy.
"Wow, you two are smart. Coming down now. We've been standing here forever."
"Well, we didn't want to deal with the line," Lan Jin replied.
"Can't blame you," one woman muttered. Then she added, "We've got absolutely nothing left at home. Until the community gives out more supplies, we've run out. If I don't line up, I get anxious."
The person in front of her nodded. "Same here. Before the last batch came, I lived on lotus root powder for days. It's tasty, sure, but eat it every day and you get sick of it. Thank goodness we still have water and electricity. Otherwise even that would've been useless."
Lan Jin didn't join in the conversation. With so many people around, anyone paying attention could tell exactly why they were saying these things.
Still, since she stayed quiet, the two women turned to her instead.
"Hey, girl, what have you been eating? Got plenty of food at home?"
As soon as they said that, heads turned toward her.
Lan Jin smiled. "Food? Not much at all. Before the last distribution, I was eating dog food for days. Even my dog started giving me attitude. Every mealtime, it would bare its teeth at me."
These days, dog food wasn't exactly a hot commodity. And people weren't quite desperate enough to start eating it either. So when they heard her joke, a few actually chuckled.
"You've got a dog?"
"Yeah. My friend's Rottweiler. Purebred guard dog. Looked fierce, super loyal, so I kept it. Of course, if you've got a dog, you stock up on dog food. Never thought I'd end up needing it for myself."
Keeping a dog used to be great. But now, with people struggling to feed themselves, pets had become a burden. Still, no one looked particularly envious. Everyone returned to their own business and kept lining up. After all, they'd heard enough.
Lan Jin rolled her eyes, but obediently stayed in line behind them. Huang Jinghe quietly queued up behind her.
As for why she made up that whole story?
It was all thanks to Nana.
Back when Qiao Qiao had been secretly fed chocolate behind her back, she'd panicked. Chocolate is toxic to dogs. Worried sick, Lan Jin had given Nana some spirit spring water. She figured it boosted people's health, so maybe it could help a dog too. She didn't expect it to make the dog immortal or anything—just hoped it'd flush out the chocolate.
To her surprise, Nana had reacted just like they had the first time: curled up in pain, suffering for a while. But after it passed… the dog changed.
Now, whenever Nana stood up, she looked fierce and powerful.
Granted, she was still small, only about three months old. But after drinking the spirit spring water, it was like something awakened in her. She understood every word Lan Jin said. Her instinct to protect them had grown even stronger. And just like Lan Jin and Qiao Qiao, her strength had also taken a massive leap forward.