Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe had gone to different banks. After they split up, Lan Jin took Qiao Qiao and Nana for a short walk around the neighborhood before heading off to meet up with Huang Jinghe again.
By then, Huang Jinghe had already withdrawn the money. Neither of them wasted a single minute. Carrying large sums of cash, they hurried straight back home.
It didn't even take a full night for the news to spread. By the next morning, before the sky had even begun to lighten, a long line had already formed outside the bank.
But the crowd was massive, and with the scorching heat and endless mosquitoes, waiting in that line was pure misery.
Still, there was one detail that didn't quite match Lan Jin's memory. For the first two days, the withdrawal limit had indeed been 100,000 yuan, and on the third day, it dropped to 50,000. But starting from the fourth day, it was reduced again to 20,000. By the fifth day, only 10,000 could be taken out. Then, on the seventh day, all the banks abruptly shut their doors. As for whether they'd ever reopen—well, that was anyone's guess.
Once the money was withdrawn, the next step was spending it.
Soon after, an announcement from the top spread like wildfire through every neighborhood chat group. Residents were instructed to take their withdrawn cash and head to designated supply depots to buy necessities.
And it had to be these specific depots. Regular supermarkets and cafeterias still only accepted contribution points, so shopping there was pointless.
The good news was that there were no purchase limits at the supply depots, and prices hadn't been raised.
Finding these supply points wasn't hard either. To handle the shopping demand, the venues had to be large. Most of the nearby big-name supermarkets were simply repurposed into supply depots. The names were swapped, and that was that.
However, there was one big change. While regular supermarkets used to open from 7:30 in the morning until 10 at night, these supply depots now ran on standard business hours—9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It was a shift that took some getting used to.
Once the residents got the message, they began cursing under their breath while hauling out every container, basket, and bag they had at home. Then they hurried off toward the nearest depot.
As for Lan Jin, she and Huang Jinghe had already gained an early advantage thanks to the heads-up from Huang Jinghe's parents. Even before the public notice went out, they had already paid for the items they needed. All the supplies were moved into a small storage area tucked in a quiet corner, waiting for them to come transport everything home.
Delivery service? Sorry, not available.
Lan Jin couldn't help but sigh. Having "connections" really did make life easier.
Since no one would be delivering, they had no choice but to carry the items themselves. Each of them hauled two large bags down the road. But the few bags in their hands were nothing compared to the mountain of goods still waiting in that storage space. It would take forever if they moved it all this way.
Lan Jin glanced at the bags in her hands and said, "The walk back isn't far, but with just two hands, we can't carry much at all. Right now, there's no one around, so it's fine to make a few trips. But once more people show up, hauling this much stuff is going to attract too much attention."
Huang Jinghe understood. He had also been stunned when he first saw how much they had stocked. It wasn't that he feared hard work, but just like Lan Jin said, constantly bringing back piles of supplies would draw too many eyes.
He frowned. "What can we do? I really don't have anything at home to help carry stuff. And there's no one I can ask to help either."
Even if someone could help, no one would dare to ask. It would basically be shouting to the world, "I've got loads of supplies—come rob me!" So manual labor was the only safe option.
Lan Jin had a ton of things stored in her personal space. There might be something in there that could help. She put on a thoughtful look while secretly rummaging through her storage. Sure enough, she found several camping trolleys. These weren't meant for heavy-duty industrial hauling, but for regular supplies, they were perfect. Each one had a surprisingly large capacity. Just one trolley could carry what would normally take two or three trips.
She turned to Huang Jinghe and said, "I remember I bought a camping trolley a while back. It's a bit big, but if I can find it when I get home, it'll definitely make things easier."
After bringing the supplies upstairs, Lan Jin pulled out the camping trolley from her storage.
The trolley was even more spacious than she remembered. It could easily carry a good amount of supplies. But while it worked well for food, it didn't seem sturdy enough for hauling bottled water.
So she dug around again and pulled out an old grocery cart. This smaller cart was square, had a lid, and could fit two crates of bottled water along with some other items. Once the lid was closed, she could even stack two more crates on top. It was the kind of cart that looked ordinary and wouldn't attract much attention—perfect for this situation.
When Huang Jinghe saw both items, his eyes lit up. "Sister Lan, this is amazing. It'll save us so many trips."
Lan Jin nodded. "One for water, one for food. While it's still quiet outside, we can use the elevator. Later on, we might have to take the stairs."
They both knew it wasn't smart to flaunt their supplies. So they picked up the pace. Except for the first trip, the next two runs went smoothly. Hardly anyone was around, and they were able to ride the elevator up to the thirtieth floor and carry everything home.
But by the time they headed out for the fourth trip, they began to notice more people rushing toward the supply depot with baskets and carts of their own. It wasn't just the elevator that was getting crowded. Even the stairwells, once a safer backup, were no longer safe.
The two of them waited by the stairwell side door for nearly an hour. When they saw the elevator had barely moved, they quickly squeezed in and brought another load of supplies upstairs.
They rushed to make one more trip, and by the time they got back, there were noticeably more people returning with goods.
That time, Lan Jin stashed the grocery cart and took only the camping trolley with her. Then she and Huang Jinghe went out again.
When they finally got back and boarded the elevator with their fully loaded trolley, someone inside gave them a curious look.
"You two grabbed a lot of stuff, huh? That's a pretty big cart."
Lan Jin smiled and replied, "It's for both our households. We each got our own supplies, just sharing one cart to bring it home. Much easier than carrying everything by hand."
Hearing that it was for two families, the others in the elevator stopped asking questions. With so many people crowding the supply depots, even entire families working together couldn't get much. Seeing others returning with such a large haul easily triggered jealousy.
But if it was split between two homes, then it didn't seem quite so excessive. That helped everyone feel a bit better.
After they exited the elevator and returned to Lan Jin's apartment, Huang Jinghe finally understood what she had been doing.
"Sister Lan, you're really sharp. How did you know someone would ask us about the cart?"
"Of course they would. They didn't manage to grab much, and here we are each pushing a full trolley. Who wouldn't be curious?"
Huang Jinghe nodded quickly. This was just good, practical experience talking. But now he was uncertain about one thing.
"Sister Lan, should we keep using the elevator?"