50: Chapter 50: For every step forward, there must be a step back.

The other end of the phone was quiet for a long time, so long that Xu Wanning suspected the signal had cut out. She checked; the signal was fine. Why was there no sound? Was what she said too bold?

"Wanning." Lu Chengyue's voice was even lower, erupting from his chest.

"Hmm?"

"Can you, please, not always be like this?" There was a hint of pleading in Lu Chengyue's voice.

Xu Wanning curled her lips. "Be like what?"

"Don't, don't let me..." He didn't finish the sentence.

Xu Wanning finished it for him: "Don't let me be unable to handle it." Hehe, what I want is for you to be unable to handle it.

The heat was just about right; it was time to pull back some firewood. "Alright, I won't be like that in the future." With that, she hung up the phone.

For the next three days, Xu Wanning didn't contact Lu Chengyue. She didn't post on social media, didn't send messages, and didn't speak in the group chat.

Finally, on the 28th, Lu Zhiyu couldn't take it anymore. "Ningning, what happened between you and my brother?"

"Nothing happened." Xu Wanning exercised earnestly. Over the past few days, she had been able to accept the intensity Su Chenyu set, and could increase it a little later.

Lu Zhiyu looked confused. "He asked me yesterday if you were doing well lately."

Xu Wanning held back a laugh. "What did you say?"

"I said you were doing great, eating and sleeping well. He just said 'oh,' and hung up."

Lu Zhiyu was quite indignant. She was his sister, yet he didn't even ask how she was doing.

Xu Wanning's smile deepened. "Zhiyu, your brother has been unwilling to take that step, so I used the push-and-pull method.

"I've teased him, but to advance, one must also retreat. If I keep attacking, he'll think he's indispensable to me and that he has the victory in the bag.

"But, once I retreat, he will realize how much he cares about me, just like now."

Lu Zhiyu opened her mouth. "Ningning, why didn't I notice before that you're a dating expert?"

Xu Wanning grinned. "I'm not, I learned it all from books."

Lu Zhiyu spread her hands. "What books? Let me learn too."

"The Art of War!" Xu Wanning burst into laughter.

Lu Zhiyu laughed along, but as they laughed, they both sobered up and said in unison, "We forgot to hoard books!"

Of course, what they needed to hoard wasn't what was in the library, but novels from major websites, as well as TV series, movies, short dramas, and anime. What would be the point of life without these?!

The two quickly got off the equipment. The workout at the Gym for today was about done. "Coach, we have something to do, so we're leaving."

Su Chenyu was helping Zhou Ke with back training and nodded.

They greeted Jiang Heng and the others and left in a hurry. This was a huge project; just downloading TV series would take a very long time. They had to get everyone who was free at home to help download.

After returning home, Xu Wanning wanted to have everyone use their computers to download, only to realize that there were still many electronic devices they hadn't hoarded.

The goods they had previously hoarded based on the scale of a supermarket only included rice cookers and electric woks; other various large home appliances were completely missing. Oh my god, there were still things they hadn't hoarded.

She hurried to find Grandpa Zhou. "Grandpa, do you have any channels to order appliances? Washing machines, air conditioners, refrigerators, computers, tablets, mobile phones, electric hot water faucets, water heaters, etc., we need them all."

"Yes, I'll order them right now." He still chose to order from abroad, leaving the domestic ones for their compatriots. It didn't matter if those were shipped from China; domestic manufacturing was more reassuring.

The Lu family, Wen family, and Song family had also brought a lot of money, and they had hoarded quite a bit of stuff over the past few days. Once they heard about The Apocalypse and what needed to be hoarded, the first thing they thought of was food.

"Grandpa, we also need to hoard some clothes. Each person needs at least ten outfits for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, plus underwear and socks to change into."

Grandpa Zhou nodded. "Got it. I'll ask my friend who does clothing wholesale to help me order a batch from Guangzhou. There's enough time for them to continue producing more. Giving them money might even help them hoard more goods after The Apocalypse is announced."

Things that could continue to be produced in a short time should be ordered domestically. The money wouldn't flow out, and it could help more people later.

"Alright." Xu Wanning gathered everyone to start working. They needed to see what else hadn't been hoarded and get it done quickly. Once it was announced in a while, they wouldn't be able to hoard anything even if they wanted to.

They divided the work of hoarding supplies, while the rest of the people continued to download various books, TV series, movies, short dramas, and so on.

Xu Jingan specifically requested that they must download Northeast Errenzhuan for him, as well as collections of various skits, plus storytelling.

If there was time, they should also download local operas from various places; these things needed to be passed on.

Xu Wanning took out her phone, found the number that had been quietly sitting in her phone, and sent a message.

"[The Great Leader, the country's various intangible cultural heritages, national treasures, books, research institutes, biopharmaceutical institutes, talent in various fields, etc., also need to be centrally protected.]"

The other side replied quickly: "[Rest assured, it is proceeding in an orderly manner. On the 1st of next month, it will be officially notified to local governments, military, police, and firefighters, and then gradually promoted.]"

"[Good.]" She didn't expect progress to be this fast; they were already going to let some people know first.

She had originally been a bit panicked, but she felt at ease instantly. With the country behind them, she truly felt at ease.

Xu Wanning shook her phone. "I just contacted The Great Leader. He said they are already in the process of protecting important national resources in an orderly manner. Next Monday, they will notify the respective governments, military, and firefighters, and then gradually promote it."

"That's great!" Everyone couldn't help but be happy. The country was still the most reliable.

Knock, knock, knock.

A knock sounded at the door.

Xu Jingping ran to open the door. Everyone put their things away and returned to their rooms; they couldn't let anyone else discover anything just yet.

Seeing a woman outside, Xu Jingping was stunned for a moment. Who was this person?

"Excuse me, does Song Yunqing live here?" Gu Xi was also stunned for a moment.

Xu Jingping nodded. "Yes, you're here to pick up Dongdong, right?"

Gu Xi nodded. "Yes."

"Come in." Xu Jingping scanned the yard. Only Xu Wanning was left playing with Dongdong, so he stepped aside from the gate.

As soon as Dongdong saw his mother, he trotted over and threw himself into her arms. "Mommy, Mommy, wuwuwu."

Dongdong hadn't cried or made a fuss for the past few days, and only relaxed when he saw his mother.

Gu Xi hugged him with heartache. He had gained quite a bit of weight; it seemed he had eaten well here these past few days. "Wanning, thank you all for taking care of Dongdong."

Xu Wanning shook her head. "You're welcome, Sister Gu Xi. Does this mean you can go back and open your shop?"

Gu Xi nodded. "Yes, my dad and my mother-in-law went over to take care of my mom."

Xu Wanning smiled. "That's good. Qingqing and Yangyang are at the shop."

Song Yunqing now loved dealing with flowers and plants; in her words, it was comfortable.

"Okay." Gu Xi hesitated for a moment. "I'll have to pay you back that money later. Don't worry, I'll wire you the remaining revenue after covering expenses for Dongdong and me."

Xu Wanning originally wanted to wave her hand and say it wasn't necessary, but then she thought it better to accept. With money, she could hoard more food, especially for children. When The Apocalypse was announced, it might be too late for Sister Gu Xi to hoard. "Sure, whatever works for you."

Gu Xi left holding Dongdong.

Knock, knock, knock. Not long after Gu Xi left, the door was knocked on again.