Chapter 20: No, I’m Just Passing By
The two went up to the fifth floor along the stairs without encountering anyone, but the quiet environment made them inexplicably nervous.
Gu Qingyue was very familiar with the surroundings and led Lu Weiyi smoothly to the lighting store. It had partially collapsed, and most of the lights were flashy and impractical. They circled around before finding a few solar-powered portable lamps and several external solar streetlights in the corner ruins. Lu Weiyi thought there must be solar charging panels here as well. He decided to come back up by himself later after Gu Qingyue left.
Each of them carried two portable lamps and returned along the same stairs. The pitch-black ground floor was instantly illuminated. A corner of the supermarket that Gu Qingyue mentioned was also revealed. A row of roller shutter doors were locked tightly, silently refusing entry.
“This…” Gu Qingyue stopped and looked at Lu Weiyi beside him.
Lu Weiyi was stunned for a moment but didn’t stop. He was used to his metal-ability teammate in the team opening doors and had never learned how to pick locks.
However, it wouldn’t be too difficult for him. Wasn’t there an old saying, “One force can overcome ten skills”?
Then.
Gu Qingyue saw the handsome and youthful boy in his eyes walk up to the security door and slightly bend over. With a few “bang bang bang” kicks, the roller shutter door… caved in.
With a few “screech screech” sounds, the broken roller shutter door automatically went up. The piercing sound echoed in the empty corridor, like an invisible mockery.
Gu Qingyue touched his nose, picked up a portable lamp on the side, and followed Lu Weiyi into the supermarket.
Lu Weiyi turned around and reluctantly secured the broken roller shutter door before taking the time to look around the supermarket.
Some of the things in the supermarket had already been moved, mostly instant food. The shelves were empty, with a few scattered packages lying in the corners. The other things showed no signs of being touched.
Gu Qingyue glanced around and explained, “It should have been requisitioned by the government’s rescue teams a few days ago when they were dealing with the disaster.”
Lu Weiyi hadn’t gone out at all in his previous life and hadn’t heard of this. “All supermarkets were requisitioned?”
“Not necessarily, just all the big supermarkets in Wutong City. But there might be some leftovers that haven’t been moved yet. Not long after, many rescue workers fell ill. Everyone privately said it was an infectious disease, so the rescue efforts couldn’t be organized,” Gu Qingyue had applied for a relatively difficult dispatched rescue mission at the time, avoiding the great chaos of the zombie invasion. He had contact with many rescue workers and knew a bit about this. “If you’re looking for these instant foods, you can go to some small convenience stores. You can take some cDean and chocolate; they’re high in calories and can be used in emergencies.”
He put some in his bag and grabbed a large handful, stuffing it into the small bag Lu Weiyi was carrying on his back. “You need to get a bigger backpack. This small one can’t even fit five or six packs of instant noodles.”
Lu Weiyi’s only two backpacks had been taken to the prison earlier. Since he had space, there was no need for him to carry a bag. The one he was carrying now was only for easy access to his tablet. However, this person was kind, so he nodded in agreement, letting him stuff things in.
After filling the small bag, Gu Qingyue walked towards the grain and oil section and picked up two twenty-jin bags of rice. “You can take some rice and the like. If you find a gas cylinder later, you can cook rice.”
Gas cylinder!
Lu Weiyi silently added another note to his mental list. He took out his tablet and looked at the map of Wutong City. The downloaded map could only show the locations of places but couldn’t provide information about what those places were or what those factories produced.
“Is that a downloaded map? Could you send me a copy? I have a solar phone charger, I can give you one.”
“Sure,” this thing was really uncommon, and Lu Weiyi agreed very readily. Seeing Gu Qingyue turn on Bluetooth for transmission, he took out a Snickers bar and put it in his mouth, asking, “Do you know where they sell gas cylinders?”
“You’ve come to the right person for that,” Gu Qingyue smiled, zooming in on the map. “Where we live is the wealthy area of Wutong City. The living facilities here are complete, so there won’t be those things. If you go east, to where the poorer people live, there are more old houses there. Most of them are migrant workers, and most of them cook with gas cylinders. This place here specializes in delivering gas cylinders, and their service is especially fast…”
As Gu Qingyue spoke, a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes. After a moment, seeming to realize that talking about this was useless, he smiled and continued, “However, it usually takes more than an hour to get there from where we live. Even if you’re very skilled, you still need to be careful going alone.”
Lu Weiyi nodded and asked him a few more questions about places that sold things or what the nearby factories produced before putting away his tablet.
“I’ll accompany you to the luggage area to get a new bag,” Gu Qingyue checked that his map was okay and looked at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi remembered that the urgency with which he had gone out to find someone this morning didn’t seem fake, so he said, “No need, you go look for your person first. I’ll eat something and pick out what I need, then leave later.”
Gu Qingyue hesitated, looked at Lu Weiyi again, and said cautiously, “It’s so chaotic outside, it’s not safe for a kid like you to be here alone. Why don’t you come with me? I have a younger brother who’s about your age, named Gu Qingji. I’m going to find him now. He’s won national martial arts awards and is very skilled. It would be safer if we were together.”
Lu Weiyi shook his head. He still had to wait for Zhuang Mingxu. “My family will come looking for me soon. I need to go back to the residential area to wait for him.”
Thinking about the kid’s skills, Gu Qingyue felt it was better to worry about himself. “Alright then, I’m going to the Ruijing Hotel, room 1203. I should be there for the next few days. Come find me if you need help.”
“Okay, okay,” Lu Weiyi nodded, pulled open the roller shutter door to see him off, and reminded him, “If you’re fighting zombies, it’s best to smash their heads. Other attacks aren’t very effective.”
Gu Qingyue also saw the “weapon” in his hand and smiled apologetically. “Thank you, I’ll be careful. I hope we can all survive.”
