Chapter 9

Lin Chen shielded Xia Nuan behind him, walking slowly inside with the hunting rifle raised. The movement in the supermarket stopped,

only the sound of things occasionally falling from the shelves. He pressed the switch on the wall, the light turned on,

the pale white light illuminating every corner.

A teenager stood in the middle of the aisle, about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing an ill-fitting cotton-padded jacket,

holding half a bag of biscuits in his hand, his mouth still stuffed with something; seeing Lin Chen raising the gun,

he shrank back in fear, biscuit crumbs falling all over the floor.

"Don't shoot! I'm just looking for something to eat!" The teenager's voice trembled,

the biscuit bag in his hand falling to the floor. Lin Chen frowned, lowering the hunting rifle: "Who let you in?"

"The door wasn't locked... I saw no one inside..." The teenager kept his head down,

not daring to look at him. Xia Nuan walked out from behind Lin Chen, saying softly: "He seems to be a survivor too."

Lin Chen didn't speak, sizing up the teenager; he was quite clean, not looking like he had been wandering for a long time,

possibly a nearby resident. "Where is your home? Why are you alone?"

The teenager bit his lip, and after a while said: "My parents were taken by zombies,

I ran out alone, haven't eaten for several days."

Xia Nuan looked at Lin Chen, her eyes filled with a bit of sympathy. Lin Chen didn't answer,

walking to the shelf where the teenager had just rummaged, the biscuits on it missing several packs,

and several bottles of water opened. "This place is mine now, don't come in casually in the future."

The teenager buried his head even lower: "Sorry... I was really hungry."

Lin Chen took two packs of biscuits and a bottle of water from the shelf, throwing them to the teenager:

"Take these and get out quickly, don't come back." The teenager paused, picked up the things,

looked at Lin Chen, then at Xia Nuan, didn't speak, turned, and ran out,

the rolling door clanging as he hit it.

Xia Nuan looked at the door, whispering: "He's alone, will he be in danger?"

"In the apocalypse, everyone is in danger." Lin Chen said, "We just need to take care of ourselves."

He walked to the phone and dialed the number of the department store he had noted down before,

this company was responsible for delivery before the apocalypse, and he didn't expect to be able to contact them now.

"Hello, the goods I ordered, when can they be delivered?" Lin Chen asked.

A noisy sound came from the other end of the phone, and a man's voice said:

"They can arrive this afternoon, send me the address."

Lin Chen reported the supermarket's address, hung up the phone, and began organizing the shelves.

Xia Nuan followed to help, putting the scattered things back in place, and the two didn't mention that teenager again.

In the afternoon, the department store truck arrived, and two workers came,

beginning to move things into the supermarket. Biscuits and pastries were moved in first: whole-wheat biscuits,

chocolate cookies, oatmeal biscuits, cheese biscuits, soda biscuits, digestive biscuits,

cookie biscuits, wafer biscuits, egg rolls, bread, cakes, fried dough twists, fried dough twists,

pineapple cakes, mung bean cakes, walnut cakes, piled into a full shelf.

Next was water: pure water included C'estbon, Wahaha pure water, Ice Dew, Chun Yue;

mineral water included Nongfu Spring white bottle, Ganten, Evergrande Spring, 5100 Tibet Glacier mineral water,

Kunlun Mountain mineral water; mineralized water included Master Kong mineralized water, Ganten.

The workers moved them trip by trip, Xia Nuan kept accounts on the side, and Lin Chen directed them to place the water in the warehouse at the very back,

which was cooler and less likely to spoil.

Then came drinks: carbonated drinks included Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Mirinda,

7-Up, Pepsi, Future Cola; fruit juice drinks included Nongfu Spring NFC orange juice,

Huiyuan juice, Minute Maid orange juice, Qoo, Wei-Chuan Daily C, Tropicana,

Fruit Colorful; tea drinks included Master Kong iced black tea, Uni-President iced black tea, Master Kong green tea,

Uni-President green tea, Wong Lo Kat herbal tea, Jia Duo Bao herbal tea, Oriental Leaf, Suntory Oolong tea,

Ito En green tea; functional drinks only had Red Bull, not many in quantity, the workers said others were out of stock.

There were too many things, and the truck ran back and forth three times, still not finished moving by nightfall.

The workers said they would deliver the rest tomorrow, so Lin Chen paid part of the money and let them leave first.

"We'll talk about the rest tomorrow, let's fix this place up first." Lin Chen said.

He and Xia Nuan began to build the supermarket, first reinforcing the rolling door, adding a steel pipe inside,

to prevent it from being smashed open by zombies. Then they cleared out the warehouse, using wooden boards to partition a small room,

intending to use it as a place to rest.

They also nailed wooden boards to the windows, leaving only a small gap for ventilation, and added iron railings outside,

which could both observe the outside and block zombies. Xia Nuan found a piece of cloth, spread it on the floor as a mattress,

and found several quilts, so they could rest for the time being.

Busy until the second half of the night, both were exhausted, lying on the cloth-covered floor, listening to the wind outside.

"Not finished yet, tomorrow we have to arrange the shelves more neatly, and build a stove, for convenience in cooking."

Lin Chen said, his voice a bit sleepy.

Xia Nuan gave a hum, leaning toward him: "That teenager, will he come again?"

"Don't know," Lin Chen said, "Even if he comes, we can't keep him, we have few people now,

having one more person means one more risk." Xia Nuan didn't speak, and after a while, rhythmic breathing came,

she had fallen asleep.

Lin Chen looked at the ceiling, thinking about tomorrow's matters, and the goods not yet moved,

as well as that man in the white coat whose whereabouts were unknown. He touched the gun in his bosom, gripping it tighter,

the wind outside was still blowing, and he didn't know if it would snow again tomorrow.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he suddenly heard a knocking sound outside, very light,

like someone knocking with their fingers on the rolling door.

Lin Chen woke up immediately, pushed Xia Nuan, signaling her not to make a sound. The knocking sounded again,

still very light, followed by a familiar voice, it was that teenager:

"Uncle, Auntie, can you let me in? There are zombies outside..."