Chapter 12 Supermarket Contradiction Gray Fog
On the sixteenth day of the apocalypse, Qiao Qiao was woken up at 5:30 in the morning.
Due to the news released last night, the supermarket will definitely be crowded today. After discussing, the two families decided to set out on time at six o'clock.
For breakfast, we had freshly squeezed soy milk and old-fashioned fried dough sticks, plus a salted duck egg for each person.
As of now, Qiao Qiao has 11 opportunities to sign in, Qiao Huizhou has 15, and Qiao Xinghe has signed in several times before, so he has 10 opportunities left.
Now there is only one set of gas mask and protective clothing produced by the system at home. For safety reasons, it is best to extract two more sets. Not only gray fog, but also can be used in the future.
[Whether to draw a card]
【yes】
[Congratulations on receiving N-grade mineral water 500ml*6]
[Congratulations on getting an R-level gas mask*1]
【Congratulations on winning N-grade Coke 330ml*6】
[Congratulations on winning an N-grade down quilt*1]
[Congratulations on winning 1 N-level long down jacket]
[Congratulations on getting N-level cooling patches*10]
[Congratulations on winning N-grade boneless chicken feet 1kg*1]
[Congratulations on getting 3 pieces of N-grade honeycomb coal]
[Congratulations on winning N-level hot pot base*1]
[Congratulations on winning N-level warming pads*10]
Qiao Qiao was lucky and got a gas mask from the tenth company.
Qiao Huizhou has [SR-level card European Emperor Arrival], and an R-level card will appear in ten consecutive draws.
[Congratulations on winning 1 R-class speedboat]
[R-class speedboat: a speedboat specially designed for fishermen. It can accommodate 9-11 people, has 40 horsepower, and consumes 15 liters of fuel per hour.]
After Qiao Xinghe drew cards many times, the goddess of luck finally favored him and he drew an R-level card.
[Congratulations on getting an R-level gas mask*1]
All three of them were equipped with gas masks and protective clothing. Qiao Qiao used the ones produced by the system, and his parents wore medical sterilization grade ones. Each of them carried a large mountaineering bag.
When they arrived at the 16th floor at six o'clock, Grandma Wang and her husband Grandpa Jiang were already ready.
Two people were carrying huge backpacks, one was holding a suitcase, and the other was pushing a shopping cart. They were obviously preparing to stock up because of last night's news.
After all, no one knows what will happen in the future, and it’s not good to always trouble others.
"Let's go."
The Qiao family’s car is an imported high-end SUV with ample space, enough to accommodate five people and luggage.
Instead of going to the supermarket opened by the Qiao family, the few people chose a supermarket in the largest local shopping mall.
Shrouded in gray fog, even with the fog lights and high beams on, visibility was still less than five meters. Qiao Xinghe didn't dare drive fast and could only move forward slowly at a speed of 10 miles per hour.
Although many people chose to stay at home, there were even more people who lacked food. People with tightly wrapped clothes could be seen everywhere on the road going out to buy things.
A place that would have taken half an hour to reach if there was no traffic jam actually took an hour and a half to get there.
The mall opens at eight o'clock. When everyone parks their cars and arrives at the gate, there are already hundreds of people queuing in front.
"I didn't expect there would be so many people even if I arrived half an hour early." Grandma Wang sighed.
"Food spoils too quickly nowadays. Once the package is opened, it can only last for two days at most. The tap water also has a strange smell, so people can only buy food every day." Grandpa Jiang said. "Let's look for a plastic sealing machine later."
The mall opened on time at 8 o'clock, and everyone rushed into the supermarket on the basement floor, fearing that they would not be able to grab the items if they were slow.
Grandma Wang and Grandpa Jiang's movement speed is not at all like that of people in their 70s, and their physiques are as agile as those of young people.
"As expected of the people who have dominated the park for many years." Qiao Qiao couldn't help but complain as he looked at the two elders' backs.
In order to save time, several people's backpacks and suitcases were all placed in the car, and each person pushed two of the supermarket's largest shopping carts when entering.
The supermarket is on the underground floor and covers an area of more than one thousand square meters.
After entering from the main entrance, the entire supermarket is divided into two parts. On the left are the fruit area, vegetable area, and seafood refrigerated area; on the right are the snack area, food area, and daily necessities area.
"Let's go get the things first." Grandma Wang and Grandpa Jiang said something and left.
Before setting off, Qiao Qiao and the others had already discussed that now that their family had everything they needed, there was no need to compete for daily necessities with other people who were in short supply.
As various disasters continue to occur, industry and manufacturing will be severely hit, and it is necessary to stockpile some tools that will be difficult to manufacture later.
Qiao Huizhou was responsible for going to the fruit, vegetable and fresh produce area on the left to buy some items in moderation to cover up his tracks.
Qiao Xinghe went to the food area to buy some milk, eggs, various seasonings and other items.
Qiao Qiao went to the daily necessities area to stock up on some tools.
Warm baby, handheld electric fan, laminator, hot water bottle, kettle, pots and pans, light bulb, toilet water and toiletries...
Since no one is buying these things for the time being, the price has not increased. Qiao Qiao does not need to compete with others for them and can directly put all the goods on the shelf into the shopping cart.
It’s a pity that the deli and dessert sections were closed, otherwise she would have cleared them out.
Unlike Qiao Qiao's smooth sailing, even though prices have increased several times, other areas are still crowded and everyone is frantically buying things.
Rice, flour, grain, oil, vegetables, fruits and seafood are the items that people fight over the most.
More than a dozen security guards were scattered around to maintain order, and other staff members kept replenishing stocks, but even so, the supply could not keep up with the demand.
"Don't rush, don't rush. Everyone has some. If you take so much, you can't finish it, so it's bad. There are plenty of vegetables. There's no need to stockpile or fight over them."
No one took her words seriously. Now many small supermarkets are out of stock and residents can only go to large supermarkets to make purchases. Coupled with last night’s news, they are all afraid of price increases or shortages in the future.
It is simply unreasonable to expect people to remain rational in this situation.
An hour later, more and more people came, and the three members of the Qiao family had filled all six shopping carts and weighed some bulk items.
Qiao Qiao and Qiao Huizhou went to queue up to pay the bill, while Qiao Xinghe went to help Grandma Wang and the others.
The checkout lines are as long as those during the Spring Festival, there are only half as many cashiers as before, and the speed is frustratingly slow.
Factors such as large crowds, wearing masks for long periods of time, and slow checkout times have invisibly increased people's hostility, and conflicts have gradually increased along with their frustration and confusion.
A middle-aged woman ran out of patience and finally couldn't help yelling at the person in front of her, "Why are you so slow? What are you doing? Hurry up!"
The man who was checking out was not to be outdone. He shouted back, "Can't you see what I'm doing? If you're blind, don't come out and hang around. It's your fault for coming late and queuing behind me. You have to accept it even if you don't want to."
Qiao Qiao quickly put the scanned items into the shopping cart while watching the hustle and bustle at the checkout counter next door.
Middle-aged woman: "You have such an ugly mouth, are you starving to death and can only eat shit!"
Man: “Fuck you…”
"ah!"
A scream interrupted their quarrel.
"What's wrong?"
"Someone fainted, call the police!"
"Stay away from him, be careful of getting infected!"
Qiao Qiao stood on tiptoe to look, and found that an old man in the queue behind her suddenly fainted, and the dark red blood stained the disposable mask that had faded after washing.
People around quickly took out their mobile phones, some called the police and some dialed the emergency number.
"Let's go." Qiao Huizhou retracted his gaze, and after paying the bill, the two left first.
Finding an empty corner away from surveillance cameras, Qiao Qiao put all his things into the backpack.
It would take some time for Grandma Wang to come out, so Qiao Huizhou took Qiao Qiao to several nearby pharmacies.
There were quite a few people in the pharmacy, but most of them were buying masks, cough suppressants, painkillers, antipyretics and the like, of course all of these were out of stock.
They bought some montmorillonite powder, anti-allergic drugs, digestive tablets, heart disease medicine, asthma medicine, iodine, Band-Aids, Yunnan Baiyao, Fengyoujing, etc. The more the better.
Only after receiving a call from Qiao Xinghe did I end my trip to the pharmacy and return to the supermarket.
At this time, the line at the entrance of the mall supermarket was almost stretched to the side of the road, and there were so many people. During the time when the supplies were being loaded onto the car, three or four quarrels had already occurred.
On the way back, Qiao Xinghe was still driving.
It was almost 12 o'clock when I got home. Looking at the still thick gray fog outside the window, I felt a little depressed.
According to psychological research, if people stay in a dark environment for a long time, it may interfere with their biological clock, leading to insomnia, loss of appetite, indigestion and other problems. It will also affect their mental health, making people feel lonely, depressed and low in mood.
Qiao Qiao has been at home for some time. Normally, she wouldn't feel anything when she drew the curtains and turned on the lights. But now, she feels uncomfortable after only being out for a few hours.
“Sizzle—clang!”
When they were waiting for the red light, there was a loud noise in front of them. It turned out that two private cars collided, one was driving straight and the other was turning back without seeing the road clearly.
Qiao Xinghe took a look and said nothing, then drove straight back to the underground garage.
Several people carried their things into the elevator and swiped their cards to press their respective floors.
"Thank you, it's really troublesome." Grandma Wang and Grandpa Jiang said with guilty looks on their faces.
"Auntie Wang, it's okay. It's just a small favor. We don't have much food at home anyway, so we have to go to the supermarket anyway." Qiao Huizhou said with a smile.
"It's different." Grandma Wang shook her head. "If you need help in the future, feel free to ask. We will do our best as long as it is within our ability."
"Okay, I'll definitely come to you if I need anything." Qiao Huizhou didn't take this to heart. It was normal for neighbors to help each other.
After returning home, the three of them sorted the supplies.
Because weighing is too troublesome, I don’t buy much fruit and vegetables.
The fruit is only five pounds each of oranges, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and cherries;
Vegetables are five pounds each of spinach, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes;
The seafood includes five pounds each of salmon, shrimp, river shrimp, hairy crab, swimming crab, scallop and clams.
Three cartons of fresh milk, 20 boxes in each box; five cartons of yogurt, 12 boxes in each box; four pounds of eggs, about 200 eggs; a certain amount of dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.
Repack it into a storage box and put it into the system backpack.
The three of them were a little tired, so they didn't cook for lunch. Instead, they took out the pork trotter rice takeaway they had ordered earlier, ate it simply, and then went back to their room.
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