Snowstorm: I'm Super Rich in the Apocalypse

An hour later, the floor representative of building 401 sent out a notice requiring every household to send one person to shovel snow.

Lu Ruisheng had already put on a super thick down jacket, snow goggles, knee-high snow boots, and gloves and a scarf, bundled up with not a thing exposed, and left his apartment upon receiving the notice.

At the entrance, he ran into Chen Shaonan, who was wrapped up just as snugly. Although his down jacket was not as thick as Lu Ruisheng's, he wore more layers underneath and could withstand the cold just as well.

Gu Pan watched from her window. With many hands making light work, a snowplow farther down the road was spreading de-icing agent, followed by people sweeping clean. Although the snow piles on both sides of the road were still over ten meters high, at least the main road was passable, and people could get out.

At that moment, most people probably saw hope, but Gu Pan knew the cold snap wouldn't pass so quickly, and endless disasters lay ahead.

It took Lu Ruisheng a full hour to return. Due to the limited supply of the de-icing agent, in order not to leave those in the buildings behind without any, they had been very conservative with it, which naturally meant more manual labor was needed.

Gu Pan made some ginger soup for Lu Ruisheng, and when he returned, she had him drink a bowl to ward off the chill.

By evening, all the building entrances in the community were finally accessible.

During dinner, the floor representative @everyone again: "Tomorrow, supermarkets throughout the city will sell goods in limited quantities. Everyone should go early to the nearest supermarket to queue up."

After reading the message, Gu Pan said to Lu Ruisheng, "There's a time and quantity limit on purchases tomorrow. Each person will only be able to buy a random food pack, maybe biscuits and instant noodles, or some rice and flour, and not everyone will be able to buy one."

Lu Ruisheng could imagine the situation: "Our region isn't a major grain-producing area or a key transit hub. The reserves are not large. With these temperatures, vegetables and fruits are all frozen and damaged. The only items for sale are these, and surely some merchants will hoard them for sale at high prices."

Gu Pan, recalling her previous life, sighed in agreement: "You're right. Before our deaths in our previous lives, there were still rich people who had no worries about food and clothing. People with money and power always suffer less, no matter the circumstance."

"Should we call the people across from us to queue up early, have them stock up more, for the safety of our own family?" Lu Ruisheng asked Gu Pan.

Although the two of them had their Space, they couldn't completely avoid going out as this would raise suspicions. Normally, they needed to join the crowds like everyone else, to let others see Lu Ruisheng's strength. This way, the fact that they weren't short on food wouldn't seem strange, and they could better hide their secret.

Besides, the couple living across the hall were physics and chemistry teachers. If the generator or something similar broke down in the future, having a physics teacher around wouldn't be a bad thing— and their consideration for them wasn't just because they were neighbors.

"Okay, then you call Teacher Chen. Oh, and also call Dr. Feng in 601 to ask as well. After all, having a doctor is useful to us."

"What time should I arrange with them to queue up for tomorrow?"

"Not many people are alert on the first day, so just getting there at dawn is fine. From the second day on, people will start queuing overnight, but it only lasted for three days anyway."

After hearing this, Lu Ruisheng called Chen Shaonan, agreed on a time, and planned to go out at 5:30 a.m. the next day.

Then, Lu Ruisheng also called Dr. Feng Zhekai in 601, advising to queue up early the next day as a precaution and asking if he wanted to join them.

Feng Zhekai was very willing, saying it was better to have company.

The next morning, Lu Ruisheng got dressed very quietly, intending to queue up for supplies on his own.

However, Gu Pan, honed by her habits from the apocalypse, woke up at the slightest sound: "We agreed to go together. I haven't been out in ten days and would also like some fresh air."

"With such cold weather, if you want some fresh air, just stand outside the building for a while."

"In our previous life, you went out alone. This time I want to see it too, as such harmonious scenes will soon be rare."

Lu Ruisheng understood Gu Pan and didn't stop her: "Okay, then dress warmly. Be fully equipped before going out."

"Yes, don't worry. I have all my memories from my previous life. I have experience."

The two of them chatted as they dressed, donning warm thermal underwear, with sweaters and knitted pants on top, then ate breakfast.

Afterward, they put on down jackets, down pants, hats, gloves, and scarves; goggles were a must in case the sun came out, to prevent eye damage without protection.

Finally suited up in their snow gear, the two stepped outside.

Chen Shaonan was already prepared. Hearing their door open, he came out too, with his family of three all going together, reasoning that three people could split up to queue and buy more this way.

His family did not like asking for help, so they preferred to be over-prepared rather than coming up short. Besides, their boy was already fifteen or sixteen, and the couple wanted to train him to experience the hardships of life under these harsh cold conditions.

When they reached the sixth floor, Feng Zhekai, who was on his own, greeted them as he saw them descending, and they all went out together.

As they went downstairs, they tread lightly, since people were still living in the stairwells on the first and second floors.

Cars couldn't be driven now, as the temperature was too low to start them, and a ten-minute walk east from their community would get them to a supermarket.

No one talked much on the way there because it was too cold; speaking caused frost to form on the edges of their scarves and down jacket hoods.

Because the supermarket had red flags and lanterns placed conspicuously, though the snow was piled high on both sides of the road, the high-rise buildings and lanterns served as guides so they wouldn't get lost.

What was a ten-minute journey on normal days took fifteen minutes today. When they arrived, there were two queues, each with over twenty people.

They hurried to line up as well.

Since there were two different lines, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng split up, one to each, remembering that different essentials were available on each side, allowing them to get a bit of everything.

Chen Shaonan suggested that the men and women from the two families should also separate to queue, for safety, so he and Gu Pan lined up on one side.

Duan Shumei, Chen Lang, and Lu Ruisheng were on the other side.

Feng Zhekai naturally joined Gu Pan and Chen Shaonan's side.

Once they took their places, more people steadily arrived, and by dawn, there were over two hundred people in line.

Tables were set up in advance at the front of both queues, with signs indicating where to start lining up, so everyone was fairly orderly.

While waiting, they overheard people talking and understood that most households sent out only one person due to the freezing weather, everyone hoping that the hardship would end within a few days. Nobody thought about hoarding too much, since the supermarket had begun to sell, who would run out of food in the future?

Those who arrived early simply did so because they anticipated a crowd on the first day of sales and wanted to get home sooner after buying their necessities, unaware of how valuable their decision was.

At seven-thirty, the supermarket doors opened to prepare for the sale.

Because of the long line of people, the sale officially started at eight o'clock, with each person limited to one share and no cutting allowed.

Soon it was Gu Pan's turn. With six people in total, they bought six shares, three shares of biscuits and instant noodles, and three shares of rice and flour, with each share containing five bottles of random drinks or mineral water packed in.

Everything was packed in plastic bags; the biscuits were not compressed biscuits, but regular ones from different brands, with five packets of biscuits and ten packets of assorted flavored instant noodles, along with five sausage sticks and five marinated eggs in each bag.

The bag with rice and flour contained three pounds of rice, two pounds of flour, and a piece of meat, all frozen due to the low temperature, with no worry about them thawing.

Both kinds were priced the same, at one hundred yuan per bag. Although pricier than usual, everyone understood; the goods were prepackaged by workers, and the supermarket had suffered huge losses too, all the tinned food, fruits, and vegetables had gone bad. Considering the circumstances, this price was fair.

Of course, being the same price, those who didn't like to cook could exchange with those who did.