At noon, the three of them had milk powder oatmeal porridge. The fresh milk in the small shops had mostly expired, but the milk powder was still drinkable.
Chen Wan lightly tapped her fingers on the dining table in front of her, her gaze fixed on Jiang Yanxin, who was still drinking the oatmeal porridge across from her. “Yanxin, I was thinking that if we gather some more supplies this afternoon, we can drive out of here.”
Jiang Yanxin paused for a moment, looking at Chen Wan. “Where are we going next? Have you decided?” Chen Wan nodded and replied, “To Funan City. Your parents and sister are over there. I thought it would be better to go and check on them. What if they’re okay?”
Jiang Yanxin’s pupils contracted, clearly not expecting Chen Wan to say that. How did this new Chen Wan know about her family? And why was she so kind to help her find her parents and sister? She had indeed been worried about her family’s safety before, but at that time, she couldn’t even protect herself and her daughter. She could only think about it but couldn’t do anything. Now, this new Chen Wan suddenly said this, making Jiang Yanxin unsure of her intentions. But no matter where they went, the decision wasn’t in her hands; it was up to the person in front of her.
Moreover, compared to other places, she herself also wanted to go to Funan City. Jiang Yanxin could only follow Chen Wan’s words and replied, “Okay, but Funan is a bit far from here. I don’t know if the journey will be smooth.”
Chen Wan saw her worry and comforted her softly, “Don’t worry. This RV has a high safety factor. It should be enough to get us to Funan City.”
Jiang Yanxin nodded, trying hard to keep her face straight without showing any extra expression. She wanted to see what Chen Wan was really up to.
After lunch, Chen Wan raised all the steel plates protecting the glass around the RV, letting a large amount of sunlight flood in, making it feel a bit dazzling for a moment.
She turned off all the lights in the RV, sat in the driver’s seat, and prepared to drive slowly along the street while letting the system search for any remaining supplies. After driving only about 500 meters, the system’s mechanical voice sounded in Chen Wan’s mind, “Detected a large amount of clothing in the shop on the left.”
Chen Wan nodded, parked the car, and Jiang Yanxin, seeing her about to get off, coaxed Yang Yang for a while before following Chen Wan out of the car.
The two had scavenged before, so they had some tacit understanding. They stuffed anything useful into their bags, as the trunk could hold a lot.
This shop sold casual wear, so along with clothes, there were quite a few shoes. These were consumables in the apocalypse. Chen Wan saw them and stuffed them into her bag. In no time, two large bags were filled to the brim.
Jiang Yanxin did the same. She counted the pants in the store; there were dozens hanging outside alone. Although they might not fit perfectly, she and Chen Wan would have enough to wear. Thinking of this, Jiang Yanxin paused. Why was she thinking about Chen Wan? The future was uncertain, so why include Chen Wan in her plans? Jiang Yanxin discarded these thoughts and quickened her pace. Soon, the clothes and shoes in the store were all moved out by her and Chen Wan, even emptying the small warehouse in the store.
Chen Wan didn’t rush to get back in the car. She saw a pharmacy not far ahead, next to a bookstore, and said to Jiang Yanxin, “Let’s check the pharmacy. If there are any medicines left, we can take some.”
Jiang Yanxin nodded, “Okay.”
When they reached the store entrance, several small red dots appeared in Chen Wan’s mind, startling her. She grabbed Jiang Yanxin’s wrist and took a few steps back.
Jiang Yanxin didn’t shake off Chen Wan’s hand. Seeing Chen Wan’s serious expression, she also started to worry.
At that moment, the pharmacy door was opened by a few young people. Leading them were two tall male alphas, with two female Omegas and a male Omega standing behind them. One of the female Omegas had an injured arm wrapped in bandages. They all held weapons and were glaring at Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin.
However, the two alphas’ gazes towards Jiang Yanxin were somewhat indecent, making Jiang Yanxin instinctively frown. Chen Wan naturally noticed this, released Jiang Yanxin’s wrist, and took a step forward to shield her.
Chen Wan’s action surprised Jiang Yanxin. She looked at the person shielding her with a complicated expression.
The two male alphas, their view blocked, finally spoke up. The leader asked, “Who are you? This is our base. What do you want?”
“This is just an abandoned pharmacy. We just want to grab some daily necessities and leave. We mean no harm,” Chen Wan said, looking directly at the male alpha.
“I said this is our base. Who knows if you’re good or bad? All the supplies here are ours. If you want medicine, you can trade something for it,” the crew-cut male alpha continued.
Chen Wan thought he was being unreasonable. In the apocalypse, there were plenty of abandoned pharmacies and hospitals. Why should she trade supplies? She glanced at the crew-cut man but didn’t respond. Instead, she turned to Jiang Yanxin behind her and said, “Since there are people here, let’s go somewhere else.”
Seeing that there were five people on the other side, including two male alphas, Jiang Yanxin didn’t want Chen Wan to get into a conflict with them. She immediately agreed, “Alright, let’s check out the next two streets. There should be pharmacies or clinics there too.”
Chen Wan nodded at Jiang Yanxin, took her hand, and prepared to head towards the bookstore. Books were useless in the apocalypse, but Yang Yang liked listening to stories. Chen Wan thought of getting more storybooks for Yang Yang. At this stage, children were curious about everything, and reading more stories would be beneficial.
The crew-cut man felt humiliated being ignored. Pointing his cleaver at Chen Wan, he said, “I’m talking to you. Didn’t you hear me?”
Chen Wan turned around and stood still, her tone unchanged. “I heard you. Didn’t you say this is your base and we can’t enter? We’re leaving now. What more do you want?”
The calmer Chen Wan was, the angrier the crew-cut man became. His voice suddenly rose, “What are you pretending for? There are only two of you, and one is an Omega. Aren’t you scared? I’m telling you, these streets are our territory. You’re not allowed to scavenge here. And if you took anything from this street, give it back.”
Chen Wan let go of Jiang Yanxin’s hand and handed her backpack to Jiang Yanxin. “Hold this for me.”
Jiang Yanxin grabbed Chen Wan’s wrist. “Let’s just go. They have more people. Don’t start a conflict.”
Chen Wan handed her backpack to Jiang Yanxin and said softly, “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. We’ve already backed down, but he’s being aggressive.”
Hearing Chen Wan’s words, the crew-cut man got even angrier. He was the leader of this group. Before the apocalypse, they were all students at Wei Bei University. When the apocalypse broke out, they were out shopping and formed a small team.
The crew-cut man was a sports student, tall and strong, so the others usually listened to him. However, as the apocalypse dragged on, his temper grew worse. He not only made his girlfriend obey him but also often had physical contact with the other male and female Omegas. The injury on his girlfriend’s arm was from being thrown aside during an argument.
The already arrogant crew-cut man couldn’t stand being ignored by Chen Wan. To him, Chen Wan was provoking him. He also had another motive for not wanting Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin to leave—he found Jiang Yanxin attractive and had other thoughts.
In the apocalypse, morality had collapsed, and the ugliest sides of people were often brought out. The crew-cut man was no exception. His current girlfriend was with him mostly because she was forced.
“Enough talk. Leave everything you took or surrender and join our team,” the crew-cut man said, approaching Chen Wan with his cleaver.
Chen Wan didn’t hesitate. She walked towards the crew-cut man empty-handed. Seeing that Chen Wan had no weapon, the crew-cut man sneered and pointed his cleaver at her. “You think you can challenge me with nothing in your hands?”
Chen Wan didn’t waste words. As the crew-cut man waved his cleaver, she suddenly grabbed his hand tightly, twisted it, and snatched the cleaver, throwing it aside. The crew-cut man reacted, swinging his other fist at Chen Wan’s face.
Chen Wan was prepared. She dodged and then punched the crew-cut man hard in the face. He staggered back several steps and fell to the ground, spitting out blood and several teeth.
The crew-cut man didn’t expect to meet such a tough opponent. He shouted to his teammates, “What are you standing around for? Get her!”
Another alpha saw that Chen Wan seemed trained and didn’t dare to move. The Omegas were even more hesitant. No one followed the crew-cut man’s orders.
Covering his mouth, the crew-cut man stood up, glaring at his companions. “You guys just wait.”
He reached for the cleaver Chen Wan had thrown aside. Now, he was truly intent on killing, his face red with anger, ready to fight Chen Wan to the death.
Chen Wan, of course, knew what the guy was trying to do. Before he could pick up the kitchen knife, Chen Wan kicked out again. This time, she used about seventy to eighty percent of her strength. The idiot was sent flying backward, only stopping when his back crashed into a roadside trash bin. At this moment, he didn’t know what he had hit, but cold sweat was pouring down his face, and his previous arrogance was completely gone.
