Chapter 23: Strength in Numbers
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When the three of them arrived at the warehouse, Su Jin’s youngest aunt and parents were not there yet, so Huang Yunxiang led Su Jin and Grandma to look around their temporary warehouses.
Rather than warehouses, the buildings were actually just a few empty, undecorated residential houses. Thankfully, they were two floors tall, so there was plenty of space to keep things.
Lu Hao, Lin Cheng, and Lin Xiuyuan carried the sacks of seeds from the car into the warehouses.
While Lin Xiuyuan was struggling to carry the goods, he asked Su Jin who was nearby, “Su Jin, why did you buy so many seeds? Are we gonna start tilling fields next?”
Su Jin and Li Xiuying exchanged a glance and a smile. The kid guessed right. They were going to have to plant these seeds later.
“Forget all that for now. I bought them, so of course I have something planned for them. Just keep working at it, ‘kay?”
Lin Xiuyuan had no choice but to go back to his grunt work.
Both Su Jin and Li Xiuying liked their new warehouses. They were only about ten minutes away from home by foot, and people seldom came here. It was private and secret enough.
The houses had a simple layout, and they were quite empty since they lay unfurnished. As Lu Hao and the others brought in the goods, Su Jin’s aunt Lin Tianzhen and Mao Zhihang arrived as well. Mao Qiqi was also in their car, having simply tagged along all day.
Mao Qiqi was relieved to jump out of the car and take a deep breath of fresh air. When she saw the large, empty houses in front of her, she was beside herself with excitement.
The newcomers took a spin around the houses and then began to join in the moving operation. Lin Cheng and Mao Zhihang looked at Lu Hao, who had been carrying things from the beginning without breaking a sweat. He was moving most items fastest, too. The older men were slowly starting to feel hurt.
Lin Xiuyuan had long since collapsed in a corner to rest, yet Lu Hao looked completely unfazed.
“Brother-in-law, just how much stamina do you have? Aren’t you tired at all?” Lin Xiuyuan could not help but whine.
“If you want to be like me, just wake up every morning without fail for a jog and maintain a consistent training regime for a decade.” Lu Hao did not want to hurt Lin Xiuyuan’s pride, but he felt as though he could lift Lin Xiuyuan with just a finger. It was impossible for Lin Xiuyuan to catch up to him within ten years.
“Lin Xiuyuan, don’t waste your time being jealous. You have a long road ahead of you.” Su Jin and Lin Xiuyuan had grown up trading barbs and insults, but this time she was honestly only trying to encourage him.
To her surprise, Lin Xiuyuan did not snap back at her. After all, she was speaking the truth. If Su Jin had not had her premonition this time, he might have just kicked the bucket while he was still weak and helpless.
How could he let that happen? He had not lived long enough yet, and he still had the entire family to protect. He was not going to lose to a few sacks of rice! Lost in his childish fantasies of power, Lin Xiuyuan felt his spirit burning up! Hence, he silently walked to the remaining piles of rice and carried them into the house with a huff…
Huang Yunxiang nearly burst out laughing. It seemed Su Jin’s reverse psychology worked.
By then, Su Jin’s parents had arrived at the door as well. Her mother Lin Tianhui happily opened the door of the small truck. She and Su Xiangzhe had not taken their own car out that day, borrowing their neighbor’s truck instead.
Everyone surrounded them to see what Lin Tianhui had bought.
The back of the truck had been stuffed to the brim, with absolutely zero space left between the goods. When she opened the door, two packs of toilet paper immediately fell out…
“Mom, what did you buy?” Su Jin asked as she helped to move the things in.
“Lil Jin, I bought a ton of toilet paper and sanitary napkins. That way, we women won’t have to worry about running out,” Lin Tianhui said in a whisper.
True, Su Jin would admit that she forgot about that. Forget sanitary napkins, she could barely find a few squares of toilet paper in her past life. Back then, those few days a month were straight-up torture to her. If she left the base, she had to use basic strips of cloth in place of sanitary napkins, and the smell would attract a trail of zombies behind her. If she did not go out, she would not be able to complete any missions, and that meant starving for a few days.
Sigh, those were truly painful memories.
“I completely forgot about that, Mom. I’ll buy some online later too.” These things could not be manufactured once the apocalypse struck. Every pack they bought would end up becoming limited edition…
Lin Tianhui bought a lot of shampoos, body foam, laundry detergent and other daily necessities too. Other than that, there were cotton blankets, clothes, pajamas, sleeping bags… and even a mosquito tent?
Su Jin’s mouth twitched when she remembered the palm-sized mosquitoes during the apocalypse. She decided not to tell Mom about that just yet, since it would only put a damper on her mood.
Just then, the trucks Mao Zhihang had asked for arrived too.
When Lin Xiuyuan saw the goods packed in the trucks, he could not find the words to express his anguish. After all, Su Jin had said that these supplies would be their lifeline in the future. He just had to swallow his pain and join the rest of the ‘movers’ once more.
As the supplies piled up in the house, Su Jin truly understood their strength in numbers. In barely half a day, they had already managed to accumulate so many things.
Lu Hao was surprised too. He remembered how Su Jin had worked so hard for so many days by herself only to gather a few resources in the dimension, and she had looked so pleased with herself too. Thankfully, Lu Hao was wise enough not to mention that now.
By the time the family was done moving everything inside, it was already two in the afternoon. Su Jin’s grandfather had long since started asking them to go back home for lunch.
Man, it sure was nice to have Grandpa’s home cooking after a long day of work, Su Jin sighed to herself.
Lin Xiuyuan was half-dead from exhaustion, and he wanted to give Su Jin a snarky comment about how she had not done anything. However, he suddenly remembered that Su Jin was the entire family’s favorite child right now, so he quickly changed his mind. He still wanted to eat Grandpa’s cooking too~
The family happily returned to their home base, eager to have a nice meal. However, they soon found an unwelcome guest in the living room.
“Su Xiangmei, why are you here again?” Lin Xiuyuan was feeling rather frustrated. Was she haunting them or something?
“What are you saying, boy? What’s wrong with me coming to visit Su Jin?” Su Xiangmei ate sunflower seeds from the table as she spoke. When Su Xiangzhe saw the husks all over the living room, he instantly lost his temper.
“Look at you! Are you trying to tick us off?” Su Xiangzhe took the plate of sunflower seeds away without a moment’s pause.
“Aw, why are you so mean to me, Brother? I’m just here to see Su Jin. S-Su Jin? Why do you look so different?” Su Xiangmei forgot all about her argument with Su Xiangzhe when she saw how Lu Hao, who stood next to Su Jin, was looking at her like she was a suspect to be interrogated.
“Aunt Xiangmei, it’s because you haven’t seen me for too long. You missed me so much, but you can barely even recognize me, can you? I hear you said you saw Lu Hao with another woman, huh?” Su Jin raised a brow as she looked at Su Xiangmei.
“T-That’s right. I saw him trying to sell your house with another woman!” Su Xiangmei held her head up high. No matter what, she had to keep up her bravado.
“You sure have a good eye, Aunt Xiangmei! Did you see what the woman looked like?”
“I was too far away at the time, so of course I couldn’t see her clearly.” Su Xiangmei had only spotted them from a distance. She knew that the woman looked very beautiful, but that was the only real impression she got.
“Then let me tell you, that woman with Lu Hao was me. Sorry to disappoint you~”
“How could it be you? Weren’t you on a business trip at the time?”
“I came back early. Is that so hard to believe? I’ll show the date on my plane ticket, if you like. Or I could call the manager from the property agency that day to prove it to you.”
Lu Hao walked over to them too, saying, “You’re still my aunt, so I feel obliged to tell you that there’s a crime called libel, and you can be arrested for that. I’m sure you know what libel means, right?”
His tone was respectful, but his words made Su Xiangmei tremble. She looked around and saw that she was surrounded by people glaring at her angrily, and Lin Xiuyuan was still next to her, clearly enjoying the show. All of a sudden, Su Xiangmei realized that this family was not to be messed around with. They were way too protective of their own!
“I guess my age must be catching up to me. I must have been mistaken. I’m glad you’re fine, Su Jin! This is a happy ending, isn’t it?” Su Xiangmei hurriedly tried to get herself out of this mess, but the others were not going to let her go so easily.
“I’m warning you, Su Xiangmei, don’t keep trying to badmouth my family members. The others aren’t idiots, no one believes you anymore. We don’t want to see you here ever again.” Lin Tianhui finally lost her temper. She was never going to invite the fox into her chicken coop again.
“Y-You guys are ganging up on me! Fine, I’ll go. I’ll go right now! I never wanted to come anyway.” Su Xiangmei left, ranting as she went.
The tension in the living room immediately deflated. Lin Xiuyuan was so tired that he collapsed onto the couch, his eyes rolling back in his head. It felt like he had used the last of his energy just now to enjoy the show, though he had to admit that it was some pretty fine popcorn.
“You were so cool just now, Brother-in-law. Did you see how Su Xiangmei’s voice turned quiet after you scared her like that? Hahahahaha!”
“I wasn’t scaring her.” Lu Hao reminded him that it was no empty threat. Libel was a real thing, and she could definitely get arrested for it.
“Dad, why was she in here?” Huang Yunxiang asked as she swept the floor.
“I bumped her on the way back, and she insisted on coming with me. I couldn’t exactly refuse her.” Lin Yunguo was upset too. His trishaw was too slow, so he could not shake Su Xiangmei when she ran behind him.
“What a coincidence, we bumped into her today when we were looking at the warehouses too. Why does she have so much free time?”
“Aunt Yunxiang, you say you saw her at the warehouses today?” Su Jin asked.
“That’s right, Lil Jin, but all three of us ignored her. We told we were busy and left,” Lin Cheng replied.
Su Jin nodded. It seemed like she had to keep an eye on the warehouses after this, but they should be safe for now.
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