Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but take a few steps toward the door. Through the glass door, she could clearly see the scene across the street.

Supermarket employee Wang Manman is desperately protecting a shopping cart full of supplies.

Four young men violently surrounded the vehicle and looted it. Wang Manman's thin body was almost hanging on the handlebars, but she was easily pushed aside.

In the chaos, someone suddenly shoved her, and Wang Manman stumbled, screaming as she lost her balance.

She was still futilely gripping the edge of the cart with one hand when she fell to the ground along with the overturned cart.

The carefully arranged boxes of strawberries, blueberries, and cherries inside the car suddenly burst open, spilling bright red and deep blue fruits all over the ground, a stark contrast to the gray-black road.

The men who were robbing the items were stunned for a moment, but they completely ignored Wang Manman, who had fallen to the ground and was crying out in pain.

Their eyes were only on the expensive fruit, and they immediately bent down and began to scramble for it.

Several pedestrians who had been standing and watching on the roadside were first stunned, and then some of them, with flickering eyes, tentatively took a step forward.

Seeing that no one stopped them, they quickly joined in bending down to pick up the items.

"My feet... hurt so much..." Wang Manman slumped onto the cold asphalt road, crying out in pain, tears welling up in her eyes.

But her voice was weak and was quickly drowned out by the rustling sounds of picking things up and the heavy breathing around her.

No one looked at her, and no one stopped. The delicious fruit quickly disappeared into hurried hands, leaving only messy packaging and the woman's helpless sobs.

In this situation, a silent consensus quickly spread through the air—the supplies must not be stolen!

While organizing his supplies, Lao Li thought for a moment and immediately buried the two plastic-sealed bags of rice that needed the most protection at the bottom of the shopping cart, then piled them up from bottom to top according to their importance, his movements very smooth.

After a brief silence at the makeshift cashier, the cashier pulled open several drawers at her feet, quickly pulled out cartons of expensive cigarettes and several bottles of fine liquor, and stuffed them into a large black garbage bag next to her.

Then, he quickly put another garbage bag over it, tied it tightly, and casually pushed it into the dirtiest corner under the cashier counter, where it was mixed in with the actual cleaning tools.

There was no verbal communication, only the sound of rapid breathing, the occasional clattering of objects, and eyes filled with barely suppressed panic.

Everyone seemed to have been triggered by some kind of survival instinct, spontaneously and tacitly hiding the most precious and easily portable supplies around them.

Xu Xiaoyan glanced down at her shopping cart, which was piled high with all kinds of knives, and suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Pushing her out like that, she practically had "Come and take me away!" written all over her face.

Without the slightest hesitation, she abruptly turned the car around, no longer heading towards the exit, but instead plunged back into the hardware section lined with shelves, her eyes quickly scanning the nearby surveillance cameras.

She deliberately navigated through narrow aisles and blind spots between shelves, eventually stopping in a secluded corner obscured by tall shelves and difficult for cameras to fully cover.

She glanced quickly to the left and right to make sure no one was watching, and decided now was the time. Focusing her mind, she seemingly casually brushed her hand across the shopping cart piled high with knives.

In an instant, the gleaming cleaver, slicing knife, and fruit knife in the car vanished as if by magic, silently transferred to her own personal consciousness space.

The shopping cart was emptied immediately, leaving only a few plastic bags with brand logos that were deliberately left behind.

She walked briskly to the shelf next to her, as if she were routinely organizing merchandise.

The shelves were piled with daily necessities such as folding clothes hangers, washbasins, laundry detergent, and mops.

She worked quickly and almost roughly, stuffing all these things into the plastic bags that originally contained the knives, until they were bulging.

Then, she piled these "disguised" supplies back into her shopping cart, making it look like a cart full of ordinary yet substantial supplies.

She pushed the "disguised" shopping cart, but her eyes swept towards the snack section—where there were high-calorie, portable, and energy-boosting treats.

Xu Xiaoyan appears to wander casually among the shelves, but in reality, she has carefully planned her famous route, deliberately detouring to corners that are difficult for the camera to cover or storage areas piled with boxes.

She paused slightly in a blind spot obscured by a large promotional display.

Right here, she pretended to organize the bags in the shopping cart with her left hand, while her right hand swept across the nearby shelf with lightning speed.

Within easy reach, boxes of French chocolate truffles, large packages of mixed nuts, and even several boxes of unopened beef jerky and cheese biscuits at the bottom... vanished instantly.

A small section of the shelf suddenly became empty. She haphazardly pushed aside the other scattered items to barely cover the abrupt emptiness.

Xu Xiaoyan pushed the cart and quickly turned into the next blind spot of the surveillance cameras.

Her gaze was precisely fixed on the small steamed buns that were filling and kept for a long time, the individually wrapped egg yolk pies, and the whole bags of rice crackers on the shelf.

With a swift flick of her fingers, these dry goods, which could fill one's stomach and were not easily spoiled, vanished from the shelf in an instant, quietly being stored in her space.

Then, her gaze shifted to the colorful snacks on the nearby shelf that were difficult to preserve for long.

Fluffy, easily damp cotton candy, chocolate that melts easily at high temperatures, and sweet and sour preserved plum candy with tangerine peel that doesn't keep for long—with a slight urge, I bought them all in bulk.

She thought to herself, anyway, who knows what the supermarket will be like after today, and the doors definitely won't be able to open. Before things get completely chaotic, it shouldn't be a big deal for her to take a little extra.

Xu Xiaoyan pushed the handcart piled high with mops, laundry detergent, washbasins, and plastic buckets out. The overly ordinary and even somewhat cheap cleaning supplies inside served as the best disguise.

She had already started walking towards the supermarket entrance when a thought flashed through her mind like lightning—the small truck parked in the backyard of the warehouse!

She abruptly stopped, a fierce internal struggle raging within her.

Leaving directly is the safest option; pushing this "broken-down" cart, no one will notice her, but that truck...

It could carry far more supplies than she had imagined, and would become a crucial means of transportation in the future.

"Taking advantage of the chaos...isn't that a bit much?" A faint voice echoed in her heart. It was the instinctive conscience she had developed over twenty years of following social rules. Taking company property in the chaos was theft.

But then, another, calmer, even colder voice quickly overwhelmed the former:

"What companies are left now? The supermarkets are almost emptied! If you don't take it, someone else will drive it away in the next second, or it might not even be able to be driven away and will be destroyed in the chaos! Its value will be completely gone!"

This brief struggle lasted only a few seconds. The urgent need to survive ultimately overwhelmed the moral constraints of the past. She took a deep breath and quickly made a decision.