Surviving the apocalypse with a wife and a system! [GL]

He Baoping slowly turned his head from the chair, his brows knitting slightly as he looked at the bag. He let out a quiet breath, something between a sigh and a tired laugh. "That child... even now, she’s still thinking about others. Not many people would do that anymore."

Aunt Qian wiped at the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand, but the tears did not fully stop. "Exactly. At a time like this, everyone’s holding onto whatever they have, afraid someone else will take it. But she... she still remembered us. We didn’t even help her much."

He Baoping pushed himself up slowly and walked over, crouching beside the bag to take a closer look. Inside were neatly packed frozen items, enough to make several proper meals if they planned carefully. He nodded to himself, his expression growing more serious. "This isn’t just a small gesture. She gave us real food, things that can actually keep us going."

Aunt Qian followed his gaze and spoke more quietly now, as if afraid someone outside might overhear. "If we portion this properly, and add it to the rice and flour we already have... we could stretch it for quite a while. Maybe even a month, if we’re careful."

He Baoping gave a slow nod, his eyes softening. "Then we’ll make it last. No wasting anything. Since Xiao Bai went out of her way to bring this to us, we can’t just sit around waiting to die. We’ll hold on as long as we can."

Aunt Qian let out a small breath, something steadier this time. "You’re right. We’ll take it day by day. As long as we’re still here, we’ll live properly."

He Baoping reached out and patted the bag lightly, almost like he was acknowledging the effort behind it. His eyes were slightly red now, though he did not say anything more about it. The kindness they had received in such a harsh time weighed on him more than any hardship.

The apartment itself was quiet, but not unprepared. Every container that could hold water had already been filled. Pots, bowls, buckets, even the bathtub and the vegetable washing basin in the kitchen were brimming to the edge. They had feared the water supply might be cut at any moment, so they had acted early, storing as much as they could while it was still running.

Because of that, at least for now, they did not have to worry about thirst. With the added food Xiao Bai had brought, their situation, though still uncertain, no longer felt as desperate as before.

Inside the apartment, Qian Fang stared at the bag on the shoe cabinet for a long moment, her eyes getting wet before she could fully stop it. She tried to speak normally, but her voice still carried that soft, touched wobble people got when they were trying not to cry in front of someone. He Baoping stood beside her and sighed deeply, looking at the bag with the same kind of quiet gratitude. They were both old enough to understand exactly how valuable that food was right now. If they ate carefully, it really could last them a while, especially when combined with the rice and flour they already had at home.

The old couple also knew they were fortunate in another way. They had already been worried about the water being cut off, so they had filled every pot and pan they owned. The bathtub was full. The vegetable washing basin was full. Even smaller containers had been filled wherever they could be. They had prepared early enough to have a little security. That would not solve everything, but it would keep them going for some time. In the apocalypse, that kind of planning mattered. It meant one more day of stability, one more day of not panicking over every glass of water.

Meanwhile, Bai Li had already hurried up to the tenth floor and then went back to her own home.

The dried vegetables like wood ear mushrooms, silver ear mushrooms, and dried bean curd sticks from the space were piled up in the kitchen. There was simply no place to put the remaining frozen food, so Bai Li had to put them in the vacuum space to prevent them from spoiling. The kitchen looked busier than usual because every flat surface had already been taken over by supplies. A pile of dried vegetables sat on one side, and the frozen food had been tucked away as neatly as possible, because in this kind of world anything edible was worth handling carefully. Bai Li stood there for a moment with her hands on her hips, looking over the mess and feeling a little satisfied. At least today had not been wasted. She had brought back real things, useful things, the kind of stuff that actually mattered. Even if some of it was not fresh enough to eat right away, it was still good to have. In an apocalypse, usable was better than pretty, and Bai Li knew that better than most people now.

Bai Li told Yan Cijin that she was back and would tidy up before going to eat. Otherwise, the little one would want a hug, and she wouldn’t be able to hold her while she was all dirty. She did not want to walk into Yan Cijin’s place with dirt, sweat, and the smell of zombie blood still stuck to her body. That would be rude, and more importantly, the little girl would definitely rush toward her the moment she saw her. Lili loved hugging people when she was happy. She would reach out with both arms and cling on with total trust, and Bai Li already knew she would not be able to resist picking her up. But if she was still dirty from running outside, that would not be good for the child. So before anything else, she decided to clean up properly and make herself look decent. That was the least she could do before going over to eat and talk.

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TO BE CONTINUED.

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