Lan Jin really did want to use the elevator, but there was still so much left to move. If anyone saw them hauling that much, it would definitely raise suspicion. But taking the emergency stairs from the first floor all the way up to the thirty-second? Even with spiritual spring water to boost her stamina, she wouldn't make it.
After thinking it through, she said, "Let's wait for now. I'll go find a vehicle. We can load everything into it and leave it parked in the garage. Then, we'll bring it all upstairs late at night when no one's around, using the elevator."
But with all the flooding recently, where would they even find a working vehicle?
Lan Jin said, "I can get one. Some places didn't flood. You go home first. I'll definitely find a vehicle before everyone gets off work."
The two of them divided up the current load of supplies. Just as Huang Jinghe was about to leave with his share, a soft knocking came from the door.
Knock knock.
The knocks were surprisingly gentle. But the person outside didn't say a word after knocking, which instantly gave Lan Jin a bad feeling.
Normally, when someone knocked—even if there was no response—they'd usually say something like, "Anyone home? I'm from such-and-such place."
That's what the community staff had done before. Even when Huang Jinghe came looking for her, he'd called out too, which is why Lan Jin had felt safe opening the door back then.
But this person said nothing. Just knocked. It reminded her of those two unsettling knock incidents during the poisonous fog days.
Lan Jin stared toward the door, motionless. Huang Jinghe, who had been on the verge of leaving, also froze, his movement suspended in the air.
He didn't like this kind of knock either. Just hearing it made his hair stand on end.
Bang, bang.
The next round of knocking was much louder than before. Even from inside the apartment, they could faintly hear someone muttering outside: "That's strange. I just saw a man and a woman go in. Why isn't anyone answering?"
Huang Jinghe glanced at her and whispered, "Sister Lan, should we open the door?"
Lan Jin pressed her lips together and whispered back, "I don't know anyone here. So open or not, it doesn't matter. I choose not to."
But since Lan Jin wasn't opening the door, Huang Jinghe couldn't leave either. He set his bags down and sat on the living room sofa.
Unfortunately, the person outside wasn't giving up. The knocking turned into kicking. Heavy thuds slammed against the door, making Lan Jin jolt in shock.
What kind of person throws a tantrum at someone else's front door?
Lan Jin stormed to the entryway, yanked open the inner door, and shouted, "What are you kicking for? This is my home! If you feel like kicking, go kick your own door!"
The woman outside had assumed no one was home and had gotten a little rough with her actions. Hearing Lan Jin suddenly yell startled her so much she almost jumped. But she wasn't the type to back down easily.
"You were in there the whole time, pretending to be dead?"
"It's my door. I can open it or not, that's none of your business. Try kicking it again, and I won't be so polite."
Lan Jin slammed the inner door shut with a loud bang. A gust of dust flew out, right into the woman's face. Worse still, she hadn't even said what she came to say yet. But now, with tempers flaring, there was no point in sticking around just to get angrier.
When the woman returned home, a man inside asked, "What happened? I told you to borrow a car, and you ended up arguing instead?"
That's right. The woman had her eyes on Lan Jin's camping vehicle. She had seen it earlier—it could hold a lot of supplies. If she could borrow it, she wouldn't have to carry everything by hand. But who knew she'd get shut down before she even asked?
The woman grumbled impatiently, "If you want to borrow it, go ask her yourself. I'm not going back. That woman's got a nasty attitude. She was clearly home but pretended she wasn't. Just didn't want to lend it out. So stingy."
The man didn't quite follow her logic. "You never even said what you needed. How would she know we just wanted to borrow the car? Maybe she would've lent it. Honestly, the way you knocked was weird too."
Bottom line: the woman hadn't handled it well. But the man had no intention of going himself either. Criticizing others was easy. Putting himself in a position to be rejected? Absolutely not.
Back in Lan Jin's apartment, while that woman had gone home, she told Huang Jinghe to hurry back to his own place too. Then she left for a walk and found a quiet spot with no one around to pull the camping vehicle out from her storage space.
She drove it straight into the underground garage and waited a while. Around 4 in the afternoon, she gave Huang Jinghe a call.
When Huang Jinghe arrived and saw the vehicle, his eyes widened in awe. "Whoa. This thing is huge."
"Of course. We'll load the supplies into it and leave it parked underground. Once it's late, we can move everything upstairs."
They had already made several trips earlier, using those two small trolleys. The haul didn't look like much from the outside, but they had actually cleared out a small corner of the warehouse.
Now, if they filled this vehicle too, they could take back almost half of what was left in storage.
Lan Jin said, "My friend was worried this vehicle would draw too much attention. They didn't want me driving it out in the open. Do you think we should move the supplies outside first using our little trolleys, then load the vehicle somewhere nearby?"
Huang Jinghe replied, "No need to make it so complicated. Let's just park it here and drag everything over like before. We can use the same two trolleys. Let's go now. But Sister Lan, will Qiao Qiao be okay alone at home?"
Lan Jin had actually left Qiao Qiao inside her storage space. But what she told Huang Jinghe was that she'd locked Qiao Qiao in the master bedroom, with toys, snacks, and Nana keeping her company. She said one day without her would be fine.
But that was before the woman came knocking. Now that there was a chance she might come back, banging and yelling again, Huang Jinghe was uneasy.
"Sister Lan, maybe you should stay home with Qiao Qiao. I'll move everything on my own. When it gets late and Qiao Qiao's asleep, we can both carry the supplies upstairs."
Lan Jin shook her head. "That won't do. There's way too much to move. You'd wear yourself out. Don't worry. Qiao Qiao's brave. She'll be okay."
She paused, pretending to think, then added, "Look, I just want to get this done quickly. Even if she gets scared, it'll just be for today. Sure, you could move it alone, but it'd take much longer. With both of us, it's faster. Let's not waste time. We finish early, we rest early."
Since Lan Jin insisted, Huang Jinghe didn't argue further.
They still followed the earlier plan: drive the vehicle near the supply depot, use the two small trolleys to haul the goods to it, then park the vehicle in the underground lot. Huang Jinghe stayed inside to guard it until nightfall. Lan Jin would come back to help carry everything upstairs.
Lan Jin appreciated his thoughtfulness. She really did feel this young man had been raised well.