Chapter 18 Chaos in the Supermarket
Yan Mo and his friends took out the rubber boat and placed it on the water to inflate it. The people who were gathered below in the nearby buildings and wanted to go out all looked over at them, especially when they saw that there were only two of them going out, their eyes were filled with eagerness to try.
When his eyes fell upon the long swords in their hands, he became timid and hesitated to move forward.
After exchanging glances several times, when Yan Mo and the others were ready to set off, someone couldn't help but step forward and ask.
"Hello, can you take us with you? We can pay, or you can put forward any conditions you have."
"If I can take you with me, I won't charge you. But you have to give us 10% of the supplies we buy."
Yan Mo did not refuse and put forward his own conditions.
"Okay, I'll go discuss it with them."
The man was obviously not stupid. The conditions proposed by Yan Mo were not excessive. It was a good deal to exchange 10% of the supplies for a safe exit and return. Soon the man came back with the other two boys behind him.
"My name is Zhang Song, and these two are my brothers. This is Ma Zhengzhen, and this is Bao Xingsi. We have agreed to all the conditions you proposed."
Zhang Song introduced the two young men following him to Yan Mo and Xiang Wen.
"Yan Mo."
Yan Mo had no intention of communicating too much with them. He just said his name and stopped talking. He left the rest to Xiangwen.
"I'm Pi Xiangwen, you guys come up quickly, we're getting ready to leave. If you wait any longer you won't be able to snatch anything." Pi Xiangwen called the three of them up in a familiar manner, and the group disappeared at the gate of the community under the envious gazes of the people around them.
Along the way, Xiangwen never stopped talking. He was chatting with the other three people on the boat, quietly guiding them to say the information they wanted to hear. Yan Mo seemed to be sitting aside concentrating on operating the rubber boat, but in fact, this rubber boat did not require any human control at all. He silently listened to every word they said.
As the group arrived not far from the supermarket, they saw that the area was full of people rushing to buy things like them. Some of them were using rubber boats like them, so they were not too conspicuous.
After discussing it, a few people decided to deflate the rubber boat first and then inflate it again when they get out.
Just by looking at so many people outside, one could imagine how chaotic the supermarket was. If they acted together, those with bad intentions could avoid them. If someone really bumped into them, the five of them would not be afraid.
The situation in the supermarket was far more chaotic than Yan Mo had imagined. It had just been hit by heavy rain and floods. If one had stockpiled goods for a week as the official notice had given, the quantities of rice and noodles were huge and it was impossible to finish them so quickly. It should be no problem to last a week, and if one saves a little, it should be no problem to last a month.
The heavy rain has been going on and the authorities have not released any news or launched any rescue operations. It is normal for people to panic. It is also normal to rush to buy things in supermarkets that are open as usual. But it is far from the extent of fighting over a big bag of instant noodles.
It seems that staying at home for a long time and the heavy rain have had a certain impact on people's emotions, making them depressed, impulsive, irritable, and restless. Under the influence of such emotions, people often do things similar to venting to relieve their inner restlessness.
Yanmo had indeed not considered people's emotions before, which was a big omission.
If the government does not take any action after a while, even if people still have food stored at home, order will be disrupted.
In order to avoid being exposed, Yan Mo and Ni Xiangwen had to join in the active rush to buy supplies. Both of them were tall and stood out in the crowd.
Being tall also has its advantages. Long arms can easily reach goods placed high up, avoiding competition with others for supplies placed low down. Even after the two of them had their hands full, they were still squeezed in the crowd and could not get out, so they could only go with the flow.
It might be because they were both tall, standing close together with long swords on their backs, so no one snatched anything from them. On the way here, they were squeezed and saw many people who failed to snatch supplies and stole them from those who succeeded.
Before entering the supermarket, they agreed on a meeting place in case they were dispersed by the crowd. Those who came out first waited in the stairwell at the southeast corner after entering the supermarket.
The stairwell is located in a remote corner with a pile of boxes in front. It is difficult to find if you are not careful. It is a relatively safe place. If someone is alone and hides here, they will not be easily robbed.
Yan Mo and Fu Xiangwen came out early. The people coming in and coming out squeezed each other and successfully drowned them. No one noticed them and they reached the stairwell safely.
As the two of them followed the crowd along the way, Yan Xiangwen did not forget to talk to the people around him to find out information. Yan Mo also gained a lot of useful information from the conversations of the people around them. The more information they knew, the more solemn their eyes became.
As soon as he reached the stairwell, Xiangwen couldn't wait to say something, but Yan Mo stopped him with a look. Xiangwen swallowed the words back. He had a lot to say but couldn't, and it was really uncomfortable to hold it back.
He could only pace back and forth on the stairs in frustration. He waited for more than half an hour before the other three people came out. Zhang Song and the other two were well-dressed when they went in, but they looked completely different when they came out.
From the clothes of the three people, it can be seen how intense the entanglement they encountered was. The clothes were neat and tidy before they went in, but became wrinkled after they came out. Fingerprints can be seen on them, and the clothes have lost their original shape.
He looked tired and was breathing heavily, but his hands were still tightly holding the stolen things, which had not been taken away by anyone.
Before they could catch their breath, they heard other people talking outside the door.
"Brother, I just saw them go in from here, but I didn't see them come out, so they must still be inside! Those three guys have a lot of stuff in their hands. If we can grab it, we can definitely hold out for a long time."
"Good boy, if it's really as you said, I'll give you more things when I go back this time."
The footsteps gradually approached. Yan Mo reached out to lock the door of the stairwell, put his finger to his lips to ask others to keep quiet, walked upstairs, and signaled them to follow him with his eyes.
The three people who just came in didn't understand what was going on. They were being targeted. They were too careless and didn't notice that someone was following them.
Yan Mo led them upstairs. He had just observed that there was another floor selling food on the upper floor of the supermarket. Now that the water level was so high, they could go out through the window on the second floor without going through the main entrance.