Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

"I heard you." Chen Dazhuang slammed the cup down on the bedside table with a dull thud. "They say, they say, all you hear them talking about all day long."

Chen Dazhuang's wife stopped what she was doing and looked at Chen Dazhuang, who had always been good-tempered.

In her memory, Lao Chen had always been a very good-tempered person.

What's wrong with me today?

Chen Dazhuang looked at his wife, who seemed oblivious to what had happened, and sighed.

"They say Lin Guangtou divides survivors into different classes—then let me ask you, what class are you in, living in this shop? What class am I in, cooking in the canteen every day? We have no superpowers, no guns, no connections; we couldn't even afford a house before the apocalypse, yet after the apocalypse we live in a three-story shop. Who allocated this shop to us?"

Chen Dazhuang's wife stammered, "It's Lin Guangtou."

Chen Dazhuang clapped his hands and spread his hands, saying, "That's right. Lin Guangtou said that the canteen cooks should live close to the canteen so that they can get up in the middle of the night to make midnight snacks for the patrol team. You moved in with me not because you're the cook's wife, but because you can help me out when the patrol team is hungry in the middle of the night. She said it's called distribution according to work—the more work you do, the room you get."

His wife opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

Chen Dazhuang's tone softened a bit, but the meaning behind his words was still very firm.

"You said she killed that woman too brutally. That woman clung to the safety bar, preventing the convoy from leaving when the monsters charged. We were in the truck at the time. You saw it with your own eyes—that… yes, little Mu Xue made a wall of fire with a Molotov cocktail, and outside the wall were all the monsters. The woman blocking the way was still screaming. If Lin Guangtou hadn't fired, the wall of fire would have gone out, and the monsters would have rushed in. The first one to die would have been the driver, and the second would have been us. I was sitting in the back of the truck, with only a kitchen knife in my hand. Do you think she should have fired?"

His wife lowered her head, her fingers repeatedly stroking the needle and thread, her eyes a little red.

She said in a wronged tone, "I'm not saying she's wrong. I'm just afraid. Afraid of what people say behind my back, afraid that one day someone will really rebel, afraid that our hard-won peaceful days will be gone again. When Lin Guangtou was around, they only dared to gossip behind my back. Now that she's gone, these people are talking more and more, and getting bolder and bolder. Today, Old Zhao even got into an argument with someone in the cafeteria, saying that Lin Guangtou's hierarchical system is just abusing his privileges. I'm afraid that one day..."

"What are you afraid of?" Chen Dazhuang took her hand in his.

His hands were rough, with large knuckles, the result of years of scrambling in the wok, yet they felt incredibly light when he held hers. "They only dare to gossip behind her back. If you really asked them to rebel, who would dare!"

Seeing his wife's still worried face, he couldn't help but continue to comfort her, "This afternoon, a strange beast appeared on the wall. A policeman was seriously injured and had to be taken to the infirmary. Every ration Lin Guangtou sets isn't for nothing. The people carrying guns on the wall are eating the best food because they might not be able to come back tomorrow."

"I took the kitchen knife from the kitchen, and I have medium-ration rations, because I don't have to fight on the front lines. You, on the other hand, are helping with logistics, and you have basic rations. Isn't that right?"

Chen Dazhuang's wife wiped away her tears.

She had also heard about this incident; it was said that the policeman had his stomach cut open by a strange beast, and his intestines were spilling out.

I don't know if they're dead or not.

Chen Dazhuang continued, "Before the apocalypse, we worked hard for seven years, just enough to save up for a down payment on a house. We hadn't even seen that tiny house before the apocalypse came. Did you think it was fair back then? I didn't think it was. But now I think it's fair—at least in the base, if you work, you get food; if you work your life away, you get a good place to live. It's fairer than before the apocalypse."

His wife remained silent for a long time, then placed the needle and thread on the bedside table and leaned on his shoulder. "Tell me," she said, "this shop really is our home now?"

"If it's not ours, whose is it? I fixed the roller shutter, I moved the sofa here, I built the stove. And this bed, I traded it with Lao Liu. If this isn't a home, what is it?"

Chen Dazhuang pulled her closer and looked up at the window, where the glass was blurred by the rain.

"I used to work my ass off and still couldn't afford a house, but now I've got a shop building for free. Is that lucky or unlucky?"

"I don't know," she said softly. "But at least tonight, I have a place to stay, hot water, and you. It's better than that leaky rental before the apocalypse."

It's still raining.

It made a soft, rustling sound as it hit the roller shutter.

Chen Dazhuang patted his wife on the back and then turned off the light.

In the darkness, only the breathing of two people mingled with the sound of rain, quiet and reassuring.

Early the next morning.

The sun had not yet fully risen, and the whole world was still shrouded in twilight.

Lin You opened her eyes. She had only been in a light sleep all night, her hand still gripping the hilt of the knife.

The sounds made by the strange beast woke her up more than ten times throughout the night.

The roars of strange beasts in the distance, the strange noises coming from the streets, and the occasional screams of humans.

Each time, she opened her eyes, listened for a moment, and then slowly closed them.

The activity of those strange beasts subsided after the first rays of dawn.

Lin You rolled out of bed, glanced at Mu Xue who was lying on the hospital bed, fast asleep and clutching a shotgun, and looked down at the bandage on her arm.

After moving my fingers a few times, I could no longer feel anything unusual on my arm.

With a "whoosh," the mantis knife was sheathed.

After a quick tidying up, I woke up the still-sleeping Mu Xue.

Mu Xue opened her eyes, and after a moment of confusion, she saw Lin You standing in front of her, fully armed.

He then sat up. "Is it dawn?"

"Okay, let's pack up, we're ready to go."

Lin You left those words behind and headed downstairs.

Push open the door to the consultation room.

The corridor was filled with the smell of rain and earth.

The rain from last night has stopped, but water droplets are still dripping from the eaves, making a "drip-drip-drip" sound as they hit the stone slabs in front of the clinic.

The sound was accompanied by the sound of dripping water and a rhythmic rustling sound.

Listening to the rustling sound, Lin You walked to the end of the corridor and found that Zhou Wenqing had already gotten up and was squatting at the door, sharpening his shovel with a whetstone.

The tip was sharpened to an exceptionally fine point, gleaming with a cold light.

The shovel blade moved back and forth on the whetstone, making a rhythmic sound.

"You're up really early." Lin You leaned against the door frame.

"I can't sleep." Zhou Wenqing didn't look up, but tested the sharpness of the shovel blade with his fingers.

"What about the two children?"

Zhou Wenqing leaned the shovel against the wall, stood up, looked at Lin You, and remained silent for a while. "You keep your word."

Zhou Wenqing's only concern was the safety of his two loved ones, a matter that had been troubling him all night.

"I keep my word."

Zhou Wenqing nodded and turned to walk towards the other end of the corridor. "I'll go wake Xiaoyuan and Xiaoning up."

"Hmm." Lin You leaned against the door frame, watching the morning light grow brighter on the horizon. As she spoke, she stuffed a cookie into her mouth and turned to walk upstairs.

Mu Xue had already packed her things and was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

Soon an SUV left the clinic and sped off northward.

The car was very quiet.

The two children leaned against the rear window of the car, watching the town recede into the distance.

The expression on his face showed reluctance.

They had relatives left behind here, and although the town was very dangerous, they were reluctant to leave.

As the SUV was about to leave the town, Zhou Wenqing looked at the distant grave mound, his eyes filled with an undisguised sense of parting.

"If you need, you can take another look," Lin You said, driving without turning her head.

Zhou Wenqing withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and said, "No need. Sometimes parting is inevitable. I think A-Jie won't blame me."

The SUV drove out of the town and continued north along the winding mountain road.

The morning mist and sunlight shone through the thin clouds onto the asphalt road, turning last night's rain into a very thin layer of moisture.

Mu Xue held a shotgun in her arms, her face still showing signs of fatigue.

Clearly, he hadn't slept well last night; he was leaning against the car door, and couldn't help but let out a big yawn.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" Lin You asked while driving.

Mu Xue rubbed her face, took out two cans of Red Bull from her spatial storage, opened one and handed it to Lin You, who was driving, "How could I possibly sleep well? It wasn't quiet outside last night."