19: Red-eyed mutant mice appear

Xiao Guan limped back to the 10th floor with Li Yanping, panting heavily from the exertion.

Along the way, no one came to help, all claiming to be "hungry" and "out of strength."

Understanding everyone's predicament, Xiao Guan had no complaints and struggled to support Li Yanping's corpulent body as he headed towards 1002.

The main door had already been removed, with only the bedroom door remaining untouched.

The same was true for the other two households.

Ever since Yulan Garden lost power and water, Xiao Guan had led the refugees in collecting all usable wood and planks to build fires for cooking noodles or to serve as mattresses for those sleeping in the corridors.

Because some residents disagreed with taking in refugees, Xiao Guan could not force the issue and could only arrange for people to stay in the corridors on each floor.

The property management colleagues and the residents affected on the lower floors were crammed into the spacious living room of 1001.

Having not washed for several days, coupled with improper waste disposal, a sour, foul odor permeated the air.

Seeing Xiao Guan return bruised and swollen, empty-handed, everyone disappointedly averted their gaze, tacitly ignoring his injuries.

It wasn't their doing, so why should they care?

Xiao Guan didn't notice their indifference and knocked on the tightly shut door of the secondary bedroom.

Jiang Zixuan opened the door.

Behind her were Jiang Zhengkang and the severely injured Jiang Ziming, who was lying on the bed.

Not wanting to be squeezed in with the dirty refugees, Jiang Zixuan knew Xiao Guan was soft-hearted and easy to talk to, so she feigned pity to gain sympathy, securing the right for her family to stay in a private room.

Seeing Li Yanping leaning weakly on Xiao Guan, her exposed skin covered in injuries, Jiang Zixuan immediately reached out to help her.

Jiang Zhengkang also went over to support Li Yanping.

Jiang Zixuan: "Xiao Guan, how did my mom get hurt?"

Just as Xiao Guan was about to explain, Li Yanping suddenly flung off Jiang Zhengkang's arm and pushed Jiang Zixuan to the ground.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Without a word, Li Yanping used both hands to slap Jiang Zixuan's face.

"Ah! Mom, what are you doing?!"

"Yanping, you're crazy!" Jiang Zhengkang and Xiao Guan tried to pull Li Yanping away.

But Li Yanping, weighing nearly 200 pounds, was pressing down on Jiang Zixuan, and the two of them couldn't budge her.

Jiang Zhengkang tried to pull Jiang Zixuan out.

Li Yanping was like a hungry wolf fixated on its prey; as soon as Jiang Zixuan moved, she moved with her, slapping relentlessly, the blows echoing loudly.

Until more than ten minutes later.

Li Yanping's hollow eyes gradually focused.

Realizing what she had done, she screamed and got off Jiang Zixuan.

Jiang Zixuan's cheeks were swollen from the beating, her eyes narrowed to slits.

Blood of varying shades oozed from her skin, her head was buzzing, and her ears felt a needle-like stinging pain.

"I'm sorry, Zixuan, Mom doesn't know what happened just now, it was like I was possessed, I just wanted to slap you, my poor daughter."

Li Yanping cried out in distress, stumbling as she picked up Jiang Zixuan, and along with Jiang Zhengkang, placed her next to Jiang Ziming on the bed, then turned to Xiao Guan and shouted, "What are you still standing there for?! Go get us some medicine!"

Xiao Guan suddenly snapped back to reality and went out to find medicine.

Ignoring her own injuries, Li Yanping stayed by the bed, holding Jiang Zixuan's hand, apologizing repeatedly: "Mom really doesn't know what happened."

"It must be that slut Jiang Fei playing some trick! Otherwise, why would I be like I'm cursed ever since I came back from the 22nd floor!"

She would never have dared to lay a hand on her precious daughter before!

The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was Jiang Fei's doing, and Li Yanping began to curse.

Jiang Zhengkang couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but say, "Can you stop blaming Fei Fei for everything?"

"You suddenly went crazy and hit Zixuan, what does that have to do with Fei Fei?"

"You even went upstairs with Xiao Guan and the others to ask Fei Fei for a rubber boat and supplies, how could you have the nerve? If you had been nicer to her before, would she have given us nothing?"

"Jiang Zhengkang, how dare you criticize me?! Haven't I been good enough to that ungrateful wretch?! I think you don't want to live this life anymore!" Li Yanping screamed and lunged to scratch Jiang Zhengkang's face.

Already accustomed to Li Yanping's shrewish behavior, Jiang Zhengkang crouched down, covering his head, not wanting to argue with her anymore.

Listening to Li Yanping's noisy voice, Jiang Zixuan wanted her to be quiet, but her face was too swollen to speak.

Especially with Jiang Ziming next to her, still emitting the stench of rotting flesh.

So annoying!

She was really fed up with life here!

But she had nowhere to go now, and not enough food to get through the flood.

Jiang Zixuan suddenly remembered the man she had seen on the 4th floor.

He was a resident of the 22nd floor.

Not only was he handsome and had a rubber boat, but he also brought back many supplies last time.

If only she could get close to him, that would be great.

—

The rain intensified again, as if to completely submerge the city.

In just three short days, the water level had reached the 7th floor of Yulan Garden.

Since she couldn't go out anyway, Jiang Fei entered the Supermarket, intending to plant more vegetables, but found that the bok choy seedlings on the ground had rotted.

My vegetables!!!

Jiang Fei looked at the seedlings with a pained heart, but she didn't know how to plant.

And the internet was down now, so she couldn't look it up online.

Should I ask the neighbors and Xiao Hua Lao?

Jiang Fei left the Supermarket and went out to ask.

But Lu Yu and Xiao Chuxia were both clueless about it, so Jiang Fei had to temporarily give up farming and instead stockpile cooked meals.

So many meats had been unlocked on the 2nd floor of the Supermarket; it would be a shame not to store some.

Coincidentally, she had bought a lot of curing spices at the wholesale market, so she could cure a batch for future barbecues.

A week passed in a flash.

Jiang Fei was in the Supermarket warehouse, tallying the fruits of her labor these past few days.

Braised beef brisket with tomatoes, spicy diced rabbit, honey-glazed char siu, pork ribs with corn, cumin lamb, salt-baked chicken, braised duck offal, sweet and sour fish, braised pork hock, and so on, she had made a large pot of each.

In addition, she had steamed 3 large pots of multi-grain corn buns, exhausting all her utensils.

Now, if Jiang Fei wanted to cook a bowl of noodles, she had nothing to put it in.

One-third of her stored condiments were also empty.

She needed to find time to go on a free shopping spree soon.

Jiang Fei left the Supermarket warehouse, incidentally taking out a portion of braised chicken as dinner.

The tender, stewed chicken, soaked in rich, fragrant broth, was savory and smooth on the palate, and paired with soft, chewy rice, it was irresistible, making one crave bite after bite.

After dinner, she drank a cup of hot milk tea, then Jiang Fei contentedly went to wash up, turned off the lights, and went to bed.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle—"

"Squeak—squeak squeak—"

Hearing the sharp, tiny sounds, growing closer and closer, Jiang Fei groggily opened her eyes and suddenly met a pair of blood-red eyes.

A brick-sized rat stood by her bed, its mouth open.

"?!"

Jiang Fei's body reacted faster than her brain; she sprang up with a carp jump, quickly pulled out her gun, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The rat's head exploded, and its body fell to the ground.

Confirming there were no more rats in the bedroom, Jiang Fei went to turn on the light.

Zzzzt zzzzt—sparks flew.

Jiang Fei immediately backed away.

Clearly, the rats had chewed through the electrical wires.

Taking out a flashlight, Jiang Fei walked out of the room with her gun.

Two large rats had overturned the living room's trash can, greedily eating the leftover chicken bones inside, making chilling crunching sounds.

Jiang Fei shot one rat with each shot, eliminating the rats in the living room.

Finding no more signs of rats, Jiang Fei connected the floor lamp to the generator and inspected the house.

Finally, in the kitchen, she discovered the range hood duct that had been opened by rats.

She had been cooking frequently during this time, so she hadn't sealed the duct completely.

In her previous life, these mutated red-eyed rats had appeared after the insect plague, so why were they appearing early?

Jiang Fei didn't have time to think; she sealed the duct with cement, then took out rat poison and insect repellent, scattering them in every corner of the room, and changed to a new set of bedding, disinfecting everything inside and out.

After doing all this, Jiang Fei packed sticky traps and other rat-killing gadgets into a box and went out, intending to clean the corridor, but saw piles of charred, unidentified objects on the ground outside.

A strange meaty aroma, tinged with a burnt smell, permeated the air.

Jiang Fei moved her flashlight around.

A pale-faced Lu Yu leaned weakly against the door of 2203, holding a dark spray gun in his hand.

"Cough... I'm injured, can you help me bandage it?"