"Where’s my uncle?" Xie Ning asked Song Guang’s wife.

"He’s in his room sulking. Locked himself in and won’t say a word."

"And what did Third Granduncle have to say?"

"What could he say, that damn old fool?" The third grandaunt cursed through gritted teeth. "He just sits in the living room, sighing. What else can he do? He was always saying not to think the worst of people. Now we’ve let the wolves into our house, and it’ll be hard to ask them to leave."

"This won’t do. I’ll go help you fight them off." Song You’ai’s anger flared. "The Old Song Family won’t take this lying down."

"Don’t go." The third grandaunt grabbed Song You’ai. "There are a lot of them, and they’re powerful. They even have knives. Even Li Dawei is on their side now, chiming in that we shouldn’t hide things for ourselves. Something about how we’re all living under the same roof, so we should share our fortunes."

Song You’ai was furious. "And to think I was just saying that Dawei kid was finally acting like a man! I guess a dog just can’t be taught not to eat shit!"

Xie Ning, however, had a strange expression. "Why hasn’t Li Dawei left your house yet?"

"He hasn’t. He’s been by Miss Zhong’s side, comforting her." The third grandaunt spat. "That Miss Zhong, acting all frail and delicate, said she was too frightened to eat. So Li Dawei took out some salted bamboo shoots for her to eat with her rice."

The mother and daughter looked at each other.

’Could that be the two hundred grams of side dishes we gave them before?’

’Li Dawei actually saved it until now and couldn’t bear to eat it? In this heat, it must have gone bad...’

"We’ll head back for now. Tomorrow, we’ll see if we can go scavenge for some food nearby."

In the end, neither the mother nor the daughter offered to give the third grandaunt any food.

It felt a bit heartless, but they couldn’t give people the impression that their family had a lot of food and water, as if they could just open their doors and let anyone come take it.

Every family had their own struggles, and the best way to solve their current predicament was to be able to stand on their own two feet.

So, the third grandaunt was right to say she would have her family go out to gather supplies tomorrow. You can’t rely on others for everything; it’s better to rely on yourself.

Xie Ning also planned to make a trip to the nearby seafood market tomorrow.

When she discussed it with her mom, Comrade Song You’ai strongly insisted on going with her, claiming it was to share the burden of scavenging with her daughter.

Xie Ning agreed. The mother and daughter casually had a bowl of mung bean soup and ate two small biscuits before returning to their respective rooms. They squeezed in some time to practice their superpowers before falling into a deep sleep.

It was surprisingly quiet tonight.

On the morning of September 20th, the temperature reached ninety-five degrees. The moment they stepped outside, they were hit by a roaring, rolling heatwave.

Xie Ning took out sunscreen spray, spritzed her mom, then herself. The mother and daughter put on sun-protective clothing and got into the RV.

Even though the RV had been parked in the shade, it was still unbearably hot when they got in.

To save gas, they both decided not to turn on the air conditioning!

But sitting in the RV, they felt like they’d just been fished out of a river, drenched in sweat...

Mrs. Xie Ning glanced at her daughter’s clean and pretty face and teased, "Good thing you don’t wear makeup. Otherwise, it would be a complete mess right now."

Xie Ning rolled her eyes. "The human body needs time to acclimate to high temperatures. We’re keeping the AC off, one, to save gas, and two, to let our bodies slowly adapt."

"We’ll have to live without air conditioning from now on. By the way, Mom, how is your superpower’s temperature control coming along?"

Song You’ai couldn’t help but purse her lips. "I’m not a genius, you know. It’s not something that can be mastered overnight. Just you wait."

"But let me tell you, I feel like my superpower has grown a lot! The water I can produce now is a much stronger stream than when I pee!"

Xie Ning: ...

Suddenly, she didn’t really feel like drinking the water produced by Comrade Song You’ai.

Xie Ning drove the RV, heading with her mother toward the west gate.

Along the way, she saw Zhong Shichong, his sister, and a few others crammed into a car, also heading in the same direction.

Xie Ning then saw a dozen or so electric scooters following behind them. It seemed they were all people going out to find water and food.

Seven people were squeezed into one small car. Zhong Yaying was complaining nonstop to her brother, "Didn’t you say the army was coming yesterday? Why didn’t they come to evacuate us?"

"How should I know?" Zhong Shichong was also furious.

Driving the car was a handsome young man, the popular celebrity Xu Bailiang, whom Li Xiang had recently been trying to get her hands on.

The young man was good-looking, but after ten-odd days without a shower, anyone would look grimy and greasy.

His former celebrity aura seemed to have dimmed considerably.

Li Xiang sat in the front passenger seat, beaming at the object of her affection, her eyes never leaving him for a second.

Zhong Shichong felt so disgusted he wanted to puke.

’If it weren’t for the fact that Li Dawei was a capable person who could protect me, I would never have roped in this pair of foolish siblings.’

Zhong Shichong, his sister, Li Dawei, Mr. Wang, and Chen Man’er were all squeezed together. Being crammed in like that, there was no way the five of them were comfortable.

Chen Man’er, in particular, was on the verge of tears from being squashed. Her pale white dress, unwashed for over ten days, was now greasy and blackened, a complete eyesore.

Mr. Wang wasn’t even interested in her anymore. Who would be interested in someone who hadn’t washed in over ten days and had a sour smell about them?

Chen Man’er was panicking inside. In this team, she was just a freeloader.

If Mr. Wang lost interest in her, he might kick her out of the group and leave her to fend for herself.

’How could a weak, defenseless woman like her survive in such a terrible world?’

"That woman is out too!" Zhong Shichong suddenly pressed his face against the glass, his eyes glinting maliciously as he stared at the RV.

As the RV passed, its window was wide open. With the wind whipping by, he caught sight of Xie Ning, her hair tied up in a bun.

’That damn woman is actually so pretty, even the sweat on her forehead seems to sparkle like crystals.’

Compared to the two greasy, unsightly women next to him, Xie Ning was so refreshing, so clean!

"Who?" Li Xiang turned her head to look, but only saw the back of the RV.

She was shocked. "Whose RV is that?"

’These days, having an RV to drive around in is like having a mobile home. How wonderful would that be!’

Li Dawei gritted his teeth. "Who else could it be? It must be that mother-daughter pair."

"Xie Ning??" Li Xiang cried out in astonishment.

Xie Ning stepped on the gas, letting the hot wind blow across her face. "Mom, it looks like all the survivors from the Song Family Pavilion are out looking for water today."

Song You’ai nodded, then hesitated. "How about... tonight I get some water and send it to your Third Granduncle’s family? I’m mainly worried about the boy, Xiao Long. Your Third Uncle is really something... I told him to think about your third aunt and the kids. People get so stubborn when they’re older; they won’t listen to advice."

"That woman, Li Xiang, has awakened a Visual Ability superpower. We don’t know if she might be secretly spying on us." Xie Ning shook her head. "If she finds out you have a Water Ability but have been hiding it, we’ll become public enemies."

Song You’ai shivered all over. The thought of Li Xiang’s big mouth immediately silenced her.

"Mom, until we’re fully capable of protecting ourselves, don’t go looking for trouble. Be careful not to get burned."

Song You’ai nodded repeatedly, breaking out in a cold sweat from fear.

This RV had good performance. Its chassis had been raised, so running over a few clueless zombies was completely effortless.

Xie Ning drove the RV to the side entrance of the seafood market.