"Let's keep looking around and see if there's anything else we can find," Lan Jin said. "Once we've gathered everything, then we can figure out how to bring it all home."
Back inside the employee lounge, they found more snacks left behind by the staff. Anything with a broken seal was unusable, of course, but there were still quite a few unopened ones—potato chips, chocolates, fruit candies, cookies—snacks of all kinds, neatly preserved.
Lan Jin didn't hesitate. She stuffed the items into her backpack. "Let's pack it all together for now. We can split it later. This way it's easier to carry."
After confirming there was nothing else useful in the lounge, she and Ling Jiang dragged the boxes of water out.
But just as they stepped into the hallway, they ran into Huang Jinghe and Lao Gao, who had also finished scavenging and were coming to find them.
The moment the two men saw Ling Jiang dragging six full boxes of bottled water, their eyes lit up.
"That's a lot of water! We also found some snacks, but not much," Huang Jinghe said, holding up a few packets for display.
Lan Jin quickly unzipped her backpack and said, "Put them in here. We found snacks too. This stuff is valuable. Let's keep it all together and divide it once we're back."
Neither of them hesitated. They stuffed their snacks into Lan Jin's bag.
But the water and the kayaks weren't going to make it back up all the floors again.
Lao Gao suggested, "Why don't we store the water and the kayaks in the storage room at our martial arts gym? These things are heavy. We can come back for them later."
Huang Jinghe looked doubtful. "But your gym only has two floors. It's probably flooded by now. Can we really store anything there?"
"Not the second floor, obviously. But we've got a small storage room on the third floor. It's well hidden. That section connects directly to this office building, so we can just move everything over from here."
Having a safe place to store supplies was a blessing, and no one objected.
The four of them went downstairs together and carried the water, the kayaks, and all the snacks to the small storage room. Then they grabbed a few large bags and began scouring the building.
This office tower had 32 floors. It was tall, and climbing all the way up was exhausting—but not for them. They were already used to stairs.
They started from the top floor, the 32nd, and worked their way down, room by room. But their luck didn't hold. After clearing four floors in a row, they had found nothing. Then, on the 28th floor, they made an unexpected discovery—a food-streaming company. There were snacks and food laid out even outside the office. And inside a small supply room, they found more—much more.
Lan Jin's eyes sparkled. "This is a lot! If we bring it all back, it'll last us a long time."
Ling Jiang grinned. "Exactly. Snacks, meals, drinks—they have everything."
Most of it was still within date. Judging by how much was left, it seemed like the company hadn't turned in their supplies for contribution points when the government called for donations. If they had, there wouldn't be this much left.
But it didn't matter. Either way, it was now a windfall for them.
Their four oversized bags weren't enough to carry everything. It took two trips to the storage room before they finally cleared out the entire office.
They continued down five more floors. Aside from a bit of instant coffee and some unopened bottled fruit tea, they found nothing else.
By now, it was around noon. They didn't have time for a proper meal, so they just snacked a little and kept working.
At one point, Ling Jiang glanced over and asked, "You really left the kid and the dog at home? Isn't that dangerous? Aren't you worried?"
"Worrying won't help. I already left them food. Nana will take good care of Qiao Qiao."
Of course, both the child and the dog were inside her space. There was no safer place than that. The others just didn't know, which was why Lan Jin truly had no concerns.
As they moved lower, they found a few more small caches of supplies on the 16th, 13th, and 7th floors. Beyond that, nothing.
Even so, once they returned to the martial arts gym's storage room, the items they had gathered filled an entire corner.
The four of them stuffed their bags and sacks full, trying to squeeze something into every last inch. Still, it wasn't enough.
Lao Gao gave up and sighed, "Seriously, there's no more room. We can't carry all this back in one trip."
Lan Jin said, "We've still got room on the boat for a few boxes of water. But the rest… we'll definitely have to come back. There's one problem, though. This storage room is only on the third floor. At this rain rate, it'll probably be underwater by tomorrow. If we're going to take it, it has to be today. Do we bring some back now, then come back for the rest? Or try moving it somewhere else?"
Ling Jiang shook her head. "There's nowhere else. Let's just take it back today. It's still early. We'll make two trips. We can get it all home. The only thing is..."
"The only thing is whether everyone can handle being stared at by the entire community while we carry it out," Lao Gao added, clearly amused.
But compared to the risk of losing everything, a few stares were nothing. They would definitely make another trip.
Each of them took a big backpack. On top of that, each carried a large sack. Then they started the journey home.
...
The rain still hadn't stopped.
Now that they had cargo on board, they paddled more carefully than they had that morning.
When they finally reached the entrance to their neighborhood, Lan Jin noticed something.
"The water level's risen a lot. Can we still get back through the walkway we used earlier?"
Huang Jinghe said, "As long as it's not jammed in the middle, we should be able to go either up or down."
Once they entered the neighborhood, it was just as she feared. All eyes were on them as they made their way back.
People started speaking almost in unison.
"You found supplies, didn't you?"
"Obviously. Look at those bags, stuffed full. They must've found a ton."
"Hey! Since you've already found supplies, let us borrow your kayaks for a bit."
"Don't be selfish. That kind of equipment should be shared."
"You've got some nerve. That's their property. What's wrong with using your own stuff?"
"Exactly. But can I rent it? I'll pay with whatever I find."
But no matter what anyone said, they ignored it all.
When they reached Building 12, the water level had risen just enough that the kayak floated straight into the corridor. There was no need to climb over the railing like they had in the morning.
However, the stairwell was packed with people waiting for them.
The moment their kayak entered the corridor, residents from the building surrounded them.
They peered into the kayak, eyes fixed on the supplies piled up inside. Of course, if possible, they wanted to borrow the kayak too.
The one who spoke up, naturally, was their building leader, Su Han.
===
Yay, we've reached Chapter 100~! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ♡
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