"Boss Xu, where have you been? Something's happened in the east of the city. We've been dispatched there to provide support. Come back right away!" Xu Huan received an urgent call from his colleague.
He rushed to the police station. As soon as the elevator reached the first floor, he rushed out and brushed past Chu Xiang, who was just entering the elevator. They both saw each other!
Xu Huan was in a hurry to leave, and although he saw him, he didn't stop: "Something big might have happened in the east of the city. Let's talk about finding Pan Xin another time."
Xu Huan's prediction was correct; the panic intensified, and robberies were already occurring in the streets of the eastern part of the city.
The eastern part of the city is the least economically developed of the four districts. The supply of goods was already insufficient. With the continuous accumulation of snow and the paralysis of traffic, people could only walk home after purchasing their goods.
To those with ulterior motives, these were seen as "mobile supply packages," and fueled by panic, women and the elderly on the streets became prime targets for attack.
People at the bottom of society, with no money, no supplies, and no shelter, became the first group of desperate criminals to take the plunge.
Now that this trend has emerged in the east of the city, if it is not controlled, it will encourage more people to follow suit. Therefore, the city is now deploying police forces to maintain order and prevent the situation from escalating further.
Xu Huan was among them, and he didn't dare to delay and hurried back to the police station to report.
Chu Xiang also saw Xu Huan. He was very flustered because of the phone call earlier and seeing Xu Huan in the elevator. He had guessed that Xu Huan was here for Pan Xin.
"Luckily he left, otherwise this would have been really difficult to deal with." Chu Xiang returned home with the food and saw that Pan Xin was still asleep, and he was instantly furious!
"You're having an easy time, but I still have to go out and work hard to grab food!"
Pan Xin woke up immediately upon hearing the word "food." She had been hungry all day and had no energy left to sleep.
"Chu Xiang, can you give me something to eat? I'm starving."
Chu Xiang knew she hadn't eaten in a long time, so he just tossed her some biscuits: "Eat sparingly, there's not much left to buy outside now."
Pan Xin sat on the bed and wolfed down her food...
Chen Nian had already woken up in the hospital and completed the discharge procedures. He and his father braved the cold wind and heavy snow and slowly walked home.
It's impossible to hail a taxi now. The streets are full of hurried pedestrians, some carrying food and rushing home, others empty-handed and bewildered...
The snow was falling even heavier, and every step was bitterly cold. The temperature was -8 degrees Celsius. The snow fell completely and piled up everywhere. It shouldn't be long before the snow was above our knees.
Chen Nian tightened his clothes and helped his father walk with difficulty, knowing that he had to get home as soon as possible.
He looked at the hurried pedestrians on the street and felt incredibly fortunate that he had listened to Wang Feifei and stockpiled some extra supplies. He asked his father:
"Dad, is the supermarket closed today?"
"No, I brought you to the hospital as soon as you got home injured in the early morning."
Fortunately, the store wasn't open, which saved them from the looting frenzy. If it had been open, their small supermarket would probably have been emptied in half an hour.
Chen Nian recalled that before he met Chu Xiang, he was locking the door, and it seemed that he was interrupted by Chu Xiang before he locked the roller shutter.
Oh no! Not knowing if anything had happened at the supermarket, Chen Nian and his father quickened their pace and hurried home.
Fortunately, the hospital wasn't far away. When they got home, they found that the supermarket door had been pried open, but they hadn't managed to. Luckily, Chen Nian had listened to Wang Feifei and added an extra lock to the glass door.
However, the truck bed at the entrance suffered damage. The bed had no reinforced locks, and the chains were easily opened. Inside were some supplies that hadn't yet been moved into the supermarket.
When they inspected the carriage, they found that everything had been removed.
Chen Nian's heart tightened. He realized that next time it wouldn't be about stealing train carriages; protecting the supermarket was the most important thing!
He and his father lowered the outermost roller shutter of the supermarket and reinforced it with an extra lock. To prevent violent impact, they also moved the truck next to them and parked it across the front of the roller shutter, completely blocking the supermarket entrance.
After doing all that, the two entered the house through the back door.
Chen Nian's home is a separate space within the supermarket. Back then, to pay off debts, his father didn't rent another place to live; instead, he simply fenced off a makeshift area in the supermarket's warehouse.
Unexpectedly, this actually helped them get food. If they lived elsewhere, even if there were supermarket supplies available, it would be difficult for them to access them.
The small home built by Chen Nian's father has a small bedroom, a bathroom, and a simple kitchen. With a supermarket full of supplies, it should be fine for long-term living.
Chen Nian also asked his father to bring out the diesel generator he had bought a few years ago. Back then, due to frequent power outages caused by municipal pipeline maintenance, his father had specially bought a diesel generator to avoid power outages at the supermarket, and it was finally coming in handy.
We don't have much diesel at home, so we need to find a way to buy more and stockpile it...
Also, the weakest point of the supermarket is the back door. Fortunately, not many people know about the back door, and he added an extra lock, so there shouldn't be a big problem.
Seeing Chen Nian busy as soon as he got home, his father felt sorry for him and handed him his phone with a smile: "Call your daughter to let her know you're safe. She was very worried about you when you were unconscious. Now that you've been discharged, tell her too."
Chen Nian felt a warmth in his heart when he realized that Wang Feifei had been caring about him all along. He took the phone and dialed, answering after one ring. Wang Feifei's polite yet slightly anxious voice came through the phone:
"Uncle Chen, is Chen Nian awake?"
"Feifei, it's me."
"Chen Nian, you're awake! That's great! You should hurry home now, the snow is getting heavier, and if you're late, you might not be able to get back!"
"I'm already home."
"So fast! Is the supermarket okay? Are all the supplies there?"
"Yes, everything's there. I locked it up as you told me. By the way, what about your side? Have you prepared enough food?" Chen Nian was watching over the supermarket, a little worried about her.
"I'm fine here, I have everything, you don't need to worry. Chen Nian, make sure to lock the door. I saw on the news, there have been robberies in the east of the city..."
Just then, a commotion arose downstairs in the unfinished residential complex, and Wang Feifei became alert: "Chen Nian, I have something to do, let's talk next time."
She ended the call, then secretly peered out the window with her binoculars. There were three cars parked at the entrance of the residential complex, along with some other people.
It turned out that the neighbors who went out to buy supplies had returned. There were several boxes piled up next to their car, which must have been the supplies they had bought.
They distributed the supplies on-site, and each household took their share home.
It seems like this trip was quite fruitful, and the atmosphere in the neighborhood group chat is great. "Romantic Flight" said in the group:
"We were lucky today. We managed to collect some supplies from several surrounding villages. Fortunately, we got back early, or we would have been stuck on the road."
"I have already sent the amount of supplies for each household to the group chat. Please remember to transfer the money to me."
"What! This little thing costs two thousand yuan!"
The neighborhood group chat exploded!
At this moment, Zhao Qian arrived at Wang Feifei's door with a bag of apples.
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