Chapter 53 Canned Fruit

It was completely dark.

Zhao Xuan felt like he was going crazy.

If she wasn't crazy, why would she follow a madman through the streets and alleys, letting him lead her into unfamiliar residential buildings?

This is a dilapidated residential building on Renmin Road. There are almost no supplies left in the building, and the doors of almost every household are wide open, indicating that some group of survivors had thoroughly looted the place. In the stairwell on one of the floors, there are three skeletons lying across the floor. The dust on the ground is thick, but black splattered bloodstains are still faintly visible, suggesting that a deadly fight had taken place here.

Zhao Xuan gripped the dagger in reverse and carried a flashlight in the other, slowly making her way inside. 460 followed behind her, also vigilantly watching their surroundings.

Zhao Xuan disliked walking through unfamiliar residential buildings late at night. Her whole body was tense. She knew that there was probably no one else in Taiping Town besides this madman, but the unknown always brought endless fear. If it weren't for the dog, she would never have come along.

The madwoman seemed very familiar with the area. The stairwell was completely dark, and she seemed to be in a good mood, humming something as she lightly stepped over the skeletons in the stairwell, as if stepping over a large rock. She led Zhao Xuan to the door of a house. The door was wide open, and when Zhao Xuan shone his flashlight inside, he saw that the house was in a mess, clearly a place visited by survivors.

The madman walked in first, found a sofa that hadn't overturned in the thick dust, sat down, and then grinned foolishly at Zhao Xuan.

Zhao Xuan inspected every part of the house. It was an ordinary house with nothing special about it. Because there were no security bars, the windows were almost all smashed. Wave after wave of survivors had entered the house and looted everything that could be used. She even saw a pile of extinguished campfires in one of the bedrooms, which meant that someone had camped there a long time ago.

Zhao Xuan turned around and saw that the madwoman was still sitting on the sofa. Her eyes were fixed on the spot where the TV should have been, but which was now just a bare wall.

She seemed to be watching TV, as if she were at home. But at first glance, her appearance was somewhat eerie.

Suddenly, a thought struck Zhao Xuan. She took out the bunch of keys the madman had given her, then took one and walked toward the front door of the house. When she tried the sixth key, she heard a "click" in the silence, and the key could actually turn the lock.

Zhao Xuan went back to the apartment where he had been sleeping before.

As Zhao Xuan turned back, the madman silently followed.

Zhao Xuan took out his sleeping bag again and spread it back in the bathroom. The rest of the items were still neatly placed in the bathtub and on the shelf. Crazy woman hugged her knees and leaned against the pillar where she had been tied up, craning her neck to look curiously at Zhao Xuan.

460 barked at her a few times, and she was so frightened that she shrank her head back.

Zhao Xuan discovered that when the madwoman was calm, she could understand what he said, such as simple things like eating and "shh—". After discovering that there was something delicious for Zhao Xuan, the madwoman became very obedient to him. For example, she knew that when Zhao Xuan was cooking, she should wait quietly to the side and not move, preferably like she was tied to a pillar and not move.

In her system of cause and effect, perhaps she was able to get the delicious food from Zhao Xuan's hands only by maintaining the posture of being tied to the pillar.

Dawn would break in two hours. Zhao Xuan had just stayed up all night again. Her heart was pounding. She planned to eat something and then take a nap to recharge before heading out, otherwise she might suddenly die while carrying supplies. She divided the cooked soup and rice into three portions, one for the two of them and one for the dog. Zhao Xuan also used scissors to cut some pickled scallions and kimchi into the madman's bowl.

After dinner, Zhao Xuan slept in the bathroom with 460, while the madman stayed alone in the living room. The madman knew how to open doors, so Zhao Xuan locked the bathroom door. With the dog beside her, she wasn't worried about the madman attacking her at night.

I slept very peacefully.

Zhao Xuan didn't sleep for long. When she woke up in the morning, she slung her tools over her shoulder and went out with the madman and the dog. Zhao Xuan pointed to one of the keys in the large bunch and waved it at the madman. The madman would think for a moment, then grin foolishly and lead Zhao Xuan to the house corresponding to the key.

Taiping Town had been ransacked by too many people, and the houses were mostly empty, some even with collapsed walls. But the madwoman seemed to be very familiar with these houses. Wherever she went, she would sit inside for a while, usually in the living room, staring straight ahead as if she were watching TV.

Once Zhao Xuan finished searching, she would consciously follow him.

When searching the fifth house, Zhao Xuan found it to be an intact house, at least the door was completely locked from the inside.

As soon as he inserted the key into the lock, he heard a "click" and a smell of dust wafted out. Zhao Xuan quickly put on a mask.

The door opened.

This is indeed a house that has not been invaded. Taiping Town has a large population, but there are not many houses like this that are intact. Usually, such houses have high-quality security doors and windows, or are located on high floors.

This family owns one of the few high-rise residential buildings in Taiping Town, and for some reason, they have installed very sturdy security grilles at such a high altitude.

It was clearly an unnecessary step, but it has protected the house until now.

There was no body in the house, and everything was left in its original place. There were even a few teacups on the tea tray on the coffee table, the water in them had dried up, but it was clear that the family had sat here and drunk tea before they left.

The food in the refrigerator was already rotten, and it emitted a terrible stench whenever it was opened, so Zhao Xuan quickly closed the refrigerator again.

The house, which had been uninhabited for a long time, was full of mold, especially inside the refrigerator. Inhaling mold can make you sick. Zhao Xuan opened all the windows to ventilate the house.

Almost everything in the kitchen was rotten; the rice had clumped together, and the seasonings were moldy. Zhao Xuan found an unopened bottle of soy sauce and a can of oil. She held them up to the light and saw black mold floating in them, then put them back.

This was also a large house, with four bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms. Zhao Xuan patiently searched every part of the house and even found a storage room.

The kitchen faces the sun, while the storage room is in the shade. It's not big and contains some tools, household items, and food.

The tools included a small axe, various sizes of pliers, and screwdrivers. On the bottom shelf were a complete pour-over coffee maker, a barbecue grill, a home oil press, and other large items. All of these were brand new, suggesting the family had recently renovated and moved in, and these new purchases hadn't yet been used.

Zhao Xuan picked up the hand-cranked coffee grinder, looked it over, and wondered if it could be used to grind soybeans for soy milk or peanuts for making Lei Cha (a type of tea). Cranking it by hand would be less strenuous than using her small stone mill, right? Thinking this, she figured if this place had a hand-cranked coffee grinder, they probably had a household grinder too. So she searched for a while longer and found a brand new household grinder, but it needed electricity. Gritting her teeth, she decided to take the small grinder with her. The hand-cranked grinder wasn't heavy, so she took it with her.

Finding an oil press was unexpected for Zhao Xuan. She and Lu An had previously discussed finding one to press peanut oil, as hand-pressed peanuts yielded too little oil, leaving their peanuts untouched. They'd come to Taiping Town hoping to find one, reasoning that a town bordering several rural areas must have one. However, they'd only considered commercial oil presses, thinking some shops might still have them. Zhao Xuan was surprised to find a home-use one. While home presses also require electricity, they were much lighter and more compact than commercial ones, making them convenient to use at home. Zhao Xuan was determined to take it with her.

Besides a full range of small appliances, the storage room also contained large quantities of toilet paper, wet wipes, and sanitary napkins. The wet wipes were unusable, but the toilet paper and sanitary napkins were intact. Zhao Xuan and Lu An were very economical with toilet paper; like plastic, it was used up little by little, and Zhao Xuan disliked the feeling of using hard paper for cleaning.

Besides the paper, there was also some disinfectant, laundry detergent, dish soap, and even a few bars of sulfur soap.

The storage room was dry and sheltered from direct sunlight, so these items were well preserved.

Zhao Xuan happily carried things outside.

In addition to these daily necessities, she also found a row of wines, milk powder, and a lot of canned fruit in the living room cabinet.

People in Taiping Town have similar tastes in interior design. They like to build a foyer between the dining room and the living room, with shelves above and cabinets below. The cabinets usually contain food such as wine or snacks.

As long as the liquor isn't broken or leaking, it's safe to drink. Zhao Xuan likes to use liquor to marinate meat, and she can also use it to sterilize when necessary. The milk powder, however, had long expired. She cut it open with a dagger and found it had clumped inside; it was undrinkable.

She felt a little regretful, so she took out the canned fruit one by one. As she was taking them out, she noticed some intense gazes directed at her—Crazy and 460 were squatting behind her, intently watching the canned fruit she was putting out.

Zhao Xuan stared at them for a moment, then pried open a can of yellow peaches.

The moment the can was opened, a sweet, fruity aroma wafted out. The juice inside was clear, and the yellow peach flesh looked silky and sweet. Zhao Xuan carefully lifted the lid and took a bite, finding that it hadn't changed in taste. He then picked up a piece of fruit and put it in his mouth. The cool and chewy texture tasted exactly the same as he remembered.

After confirming that it hadn't spoiled, Zhao Xuan handed it to the madman: "Here, eat it." Then he unscrewed another can, tasted it, and only placed it in front of 460 after confirming it was safe to eat.

Zhao Xuan counted them; there were twenty-three cans of fruit in total, including oranges, yellow peaches, pineapples, and mixed fruit, as well as several cans of fish and luncheon meat. She glanced at the man and dog happily eating, then turned and found a fairly sturdy canvas crossbody bag in the bedroom, putting it on the madman.

The madwoman obediently let Zhao Xuan put the mask on her.

Zhao Xuan took out several cans, mostly fruit cans, and stuffed them into her crossbody bag.

"Everyone who sees it gets a share," she said.

She wasn't sure if the madwoman could open the cans herself, but she seemed to know what was edible and what wasn't, so Zhao Xuan gave her a lot of canned fruit. That way, by looking through the glass jars, she would know what was edible and would try to open them to eat.

As for how long this fragile glass jar could be kept in the madman's backpack, that remains unknown.

After sorting through the wine and canned goods, Zhao Xuan found an unopened jar of honey and several jars of sugar.

In addition, there is a large walk-in closet in the master bedroom. The clothes and bedding inside are still in good condition. Perhaps because it is a new house, some pillows and blankets are still unopened. Zhao Xuan picked out some new ones and put them in several large dust bags.

This place was well-stocked, and Zhao Xuan, being rather greedy, packed the usable items into two large portions. She planned to take the urgently needed items, such as food and daily necessities, with her. The less urgent items, like blankets, clothes, and rain boots, were stuffed into the storage room; she and Lu An could retrieve them later if they had the chance. Lu An would probably like the small axe and similar tools that were already in the storage room; he could get them next time if needed.

Zhao Xuan even found a small safe nailed to the wall deep inside the wardrobe, which probably contained some jewelry. Zhao Xuan had no interest in this completely useless jewelry; after glancing at it, he began searching for the clothes he wanted.

As she left the house, she secretly took off the key and hid it in her pocket.

She locked the door from the inside, secretly using it as a safe storage location for her goods.

After that, she found a few more houses that had been ransacked. Zhao Xuan found some things here and there, and if she found any food, she would share some with the madman.

In the afternoon, the two people and the dog entered a relatively intact house.

This was clearly a small house where an elderly couple lived, with two bedrooms and a living room. Zhao Xuan judged that the elderly couple lived here because the furniture, including the refrigerator and television, was covered with white lace cloth, and there was a large cross-stitch on the wall next to the sofa, with the words "Harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things" embroidered on it.

There was a family photo covered on the shelf next to the TV. Zhao Xuan lifted the family photo, wiped off the dust, and looked at the dozen or so smiling strangers in it. Suddenly, she was stunned. She turned around and looked at the madman sitting on the sofa in the living room, "watching TV".

Oh, Zhao Xuan suddenly understood.

In this family photo, there's a woman smiling happily, with two small dimples—even though her appearance has changed drastically, Zhao Xuan can still vaguely make out from her silhouette that this "madwoman" is the woman in the photo. She's holding a child, with a slightly older child standing in front of her, and the man standing next to her looks a lot like the two children; perhaps he's her husband.

—This home is the home of her relatives, perhaps even the home of her parents.

She keeps a large bunch of keys, and she can accurately find the house that the keys match. Does this mean that the owners of these houses all come from this family photo?

These are all her relatives' houses, and for some reason, she is looking after these houses belonging to her closest relatives.

Zhao Xuan gave her a bowl of hot soup with rice. She thought Zhao Xuan was a good person, so she brought him to visit her relatives and friends.

Perhaps it wasn't just because of a bowl of rice soup, but also because of the two preserved vegetable pancakes they gave her last year.

This madman thought that anyone who could give him food was a good person, which is why he secretly followed Zhao Xuan after discovering her whereabouts.

Zhao Xuan sighed as he guessed this.

She put the family photo back where it belonged and got up to continue searching for supplies. She knew this was the house of the mentally ill woman's relatives, but so many years had passed, and she guessed her relatives would never come back.

There weren't many things to find in the small house. The old man was always very frugal, and he would store the good food and useful items until they were about to expire. So, the things in the house were either completely expired and unusable, or they had been looted by the survivors.

There was no old man's body in the house, but in the second bedroom lay the skeleton of a young man.

This was clearly the body of a survivor who had used this place as a temporary base, because Zhao Xuan saw a sleeping bag and an unusually large canvas backpack next to him.

The man, dressed in a stylish windbreaker and hiking boots, died in a corner, curled up with his limbs twisted.

This was a man who died of a serious illness. Even though he managed to escape, he still couldn't escape the fate of being infected.

Zhao Xuan didn't dare to touch the corpse. She dragged out her large backpack and quickly closed the door to the second bedroom.

She thought that someone so well-equipped should have a lot of useful things in their backpack, but when Zhao Xuan opened the large backpack, she felt that her eyes had only just been opened to the world.

My backpack was stuffed full of figurines, plush toys, and game cards!

Each figurine was securely wrapped in shockproof film, and when Zhao Xuan unpacked them, their colors were practically brand new. She also pulled out a red and blue mobile suit, perfectly protected by a small bag, from a hidden compartment in the backpack. Survival necessities only made up a small portion of the backpack; Zhao Xuan rummaged through it and realized she didn't really need the rest.

This reminded Zhao Xuan of the initial group of people in the apocalypse. Some carried huge suitcases when they fled, but they were full of short skirts and high heels that made movement difficult. Others carried suitcases of incredibly heavy jewelry. Still others carried suitcases full of cash. Some laborers even carried stacks of reports, still thinking about finishing their work even though they had no future on the run.

These people aren't stupid; they're just overly optimistic about serious illnesses. With city order disrupted, they take their beloved belongings, thinking they can escape for a few days and then return once life returns to normal.

People born into comfort often do not think about danger.

The young man who died in the second bedroom had taken his "wives" with him when he fled. He loved each of them indiscriminately, so he took them all with him.

Zhao Xuan put these exquisite "wives" back into her large backpack, while she held the red and blue machines and a row of game cards in her hand, flipping them back and forth.

I wonder if this thing will still work after it's been charged?

Leaving the red and blue machine behind, Zhao Xuan threw the large backpack back into the second bedroom and closed the door again.

She stuffed half a jar of sugar into her backpack, meaning she had traded the sugar for the red and blue machine from the skeleton.

Zhao Xuan had a lot of candy, and she felt it wasn't a bad deal to exchange half a jar for it. She also couldn't just take the things from the backpack without giving them away. She always felt that the skeleton, whose attributes were related to the two-dimensional world, had a deep-seated obsession, and if she didn't exchange her own things for its red and blue machine, Zhao Xuan would feel a chill run down her spine.

The two people and the dog wandered around outside all day. As evening approached, Zhao Xuan took out a key in order, and the madman led her to a building she was very familiar with.

This is a residential area next to the Jiguang Warehouse. The top floors are all duplex structures. Zhao Xuan and Lu An searched for supplies in one of the houses and placed the three skeletons inside. Just yesterday, Zhao Xuan entered this house again and took away a few toys.

Today, she, the madman, and 460 stood at the door of this house again.

Zhao Xuan unlocked the door with her key. Yesterday, she had risked being lowered from the top floor to enter through the window, but today she was able to walk in openly through the main door. Zhao Xuan felt a little amazed.

The interior layout remains the same.

Zhao Xuan and Lu An were very careful while searching for supplies, trying their best not to damage anything and putting things back in their place if they weren't needed. Lu An said they were searching for supplies out of necessity, not as antisocial vandals, and that regardless of whether the owner of the house would return, they should not conduct a destructive search.

The desire to destroy is like a great flood; if it is not contained and channeled, it will overwhelm a person's humanity and reason.

However, after Zhao Xuan opened the door, the docile madman looked at everything in the room and suddenly let out a heart-wrenching howl!

"Aaaaaah!" she screamed, pulling hard on her hair. Zhao Xuan watched as she ripped out a large clump of hair, blood dripping from the roots!

460's fur stood on end, and she barked wildly as she stood in front of Zhao Xuan, but the madwoman did not attack Zhao Xuan. She howled and collapsed to the ground, muttering words such as "Baby...my baby".

Zhao Xuan saw tears streaming down her face.

She was in great pain, but she was trapped in this mindless body and unable to express herself.

Zhao Xuan wanted to tie her up with a rope first, but the madwoman was terrified at the sight of the rope and jumped up from the ground, screaming and running downstairs.

She cried like a wild beast, her hoarse sobs echoing through the empty town of Taiping. She quickly ran into the ruins and disappeared, but her cries continued to reverberate for a long time before fading away.

Zhao Xuan was somewhat bewildered by everything that had suddenly happened. After a long while, she looked back at the house again and seemed to understand something.

Zhao Xuan returned to her original encampment. She left the door slightly ajar, but the madman didn't return until midnight.

Zhao Xuan's feelings were complicated. She knew that even if the madman came back, there was nothing she could do. She couldn't cure the illness, and she certainly couldn't take the madman away.

So why am I waiting here?

The night was deep and there was no sound outside. Zhao Xuan sat against the wall in the bathroom for a long time with 460 in her arms. Finally, she decided to pack her things and go home.

She needed to travel under the cover of night.

She rolled up her sleeping bag and packed away her small stove and pot. She put some odds and ends into a thick leather bag containing scissors, spoons, and other small items. She also brought the small mirror her dog had given her; it was lightweight and could be used to check what was happening around the corner. Now, she had placed it against the corner of the wall near the bathroom door, angled directly towards the front door. Zhao Xuan hadn't closed the door; if the madman returned, Zhao Xuan, sitting quietly in the bathroom, would know immediately through the mirror. However, the door remained ajar.

Zhao Xuan kept all the rice crusts and pickled vegetables, as well as several jars of sugar she had collected that day. She placed all these things under the pillar where the madman always stayed, together with the empty bowl the madman had used. After thinking for a moment, she added two cans of fruit.

If the madman comes back, she will find the food.

The supplies she and Lu An had previously stored here had been moved onto the tricycle, and with the supplies collected today, the small tricycle's back was piled higher than ever before.

The heaviest oil press was placed at the bottom, followed by food and drinks wrapped in clothes. Soap and other cleaning supplies were placed in the middle, and rolls of paper were on top. Everything was covered with plastic film and then secured with rope. After all this was done, the tires were flattened.

Zhao carried some emergency supplies and a red and blue machine on his back, while the dagger, axe, and flashlight were hung on the front of the vehicle for easy access.

After doing all this, Zhao Xuan put on his hat and gloves and set off.

460 instinctively tried to jump into the back of the tricycle, but found there was no place for it to stay. It barked twice unhappily and followed behind the tricycle.

Zhao Xuan didn't ride very fast; the wheels left two deep tracks on the ground.

She hadn't planned to bring so much stuff home, but greed overcame reason, and she set off home, panting heavily.

The matter of the madman didn't linger in Zhao Xuan's mind for long. After leaving Taiping Town, she was eager to return home, resting in the tall grass by the roadside whenever she got hungry. Because she had left the food for the madman, she could only open a can of food to eat. The weather hadn't warmed up yet, and the can of food was frozen cold at night. She shivered as soon as she took a sip of the sugar water, but she endured the cold and ate a couple of bites. She then shared the remaining half-can of fruit with the madman. Zhao Xuan screwed the lid back on, put the remaining half-can of fruit into her backpack, and continued on her way.

The high-sugar canned fruit provided a good source of energy, and Zhao Xuan, after a long and arduous journey, finally returned home safely.