Rebirth: I Will Win Easily in the Apocalypse-Chapter 14 - 8: Hoarding Ships_2

"Yes, that's what we were thinking as well," Song Zhao said to Uncle Zhang, nodding slightly.

He and Gu Yanzhi had the same thought. Even if they hadn't mentioned it, Song Zhao would have brought it up.

In the post-apocalyptic world, a boat was an invaluable resource. People would fight over food, let alone a boat. There were other families in the building with boats, and so their presence would be much less noticeable.

According to Gu Yanzhi's idea, it would be best if every family in the community could have a boat.

After finalizing their plans, those set on going out returned upstairs to change into swimsuits, and a father from the 11th floor took his window removal tools back to the second floor.

There was a bit of a gap between the second-floor windows and the water's surface. They would have to get into the water before getting onto the boat. Fortunately, everyone knew how to swim, so they all went back to change into swimsuits, to avoid the discomfort of soaked clothes clinging to their bodies.

He had made his fortune in renovations and used to do the work himself when he was younger. Although he was now prosperous and no longer did manual labor, he still had a full set of tools at home, so removing a window was child's play.

After removing the window, Song Zhao was the first to jump down with the boat. Then Gu Yanzhi tossed packages of tightly wrapped clothes out the window to Song Zhao.

One by one, the others jumped down afterward, found their clothes on the boat, and wrapped themselves up tightly.

In late October, the city of C was already a bit chilly, and the relentless rain made it even colder than usual.

Gu Yanzhi was the last to go down. As soon as she boarded the boat, Song Zhao hurriedly draped the clothes over her. Then, everyone huddled together with umbrellas, completely sheltering the boat to prevent water from getting inside.

The group made a bee-line for a nearby shopping mall. The water was already as high as a single-story building. The kinds of shops found on the road were likely already submerged. Only the shopping mall seemed to be still in business now.

As they paddled through the district, they saw a few other boats scattered across the water's surface. As they passed several buildings, people looked out their windows, enviously watching them able to go out because they had a boat.

Some shouted from above, asking if they could be taken along, but they were declined by the group. However, they explained that their boat couldn't fit any more people and that they could lend the boat after purchasing another one and returning.

Once they left the neighborhood and reached the main road, the number of boats visibly increased. There were not just people like them out shopping but also rescue boats of various teams struggling through the rain to find disaster victims.

To avoid boredom on the way, they gave brief self-introductions.

There was no need to mention Uncle Zhang. The family of three from the 11th-floor had a son named Zhuang Nanyang, 17 years old, a senior in high school. The young couple from the 16th floor were Gao Zhi, 25, and his wife, Liu Sisi, also 25. Their son had just turned one year old.

They chatted and laughed, quickly arriving at the mall, which was indeed open, although they were entering through the windows on the second floor. Following the security guard's instructions, they tied up the boat outside and climbed in through the window.

Inside the mall, only a few stores were open—one being a sports goods shop and the other a supermarket. The security guard mentioned that these stores were ordered by the government to remain open, especially the supermarket. All large-scale grocers and supermarkets that had not been submerged were required to operate. As it turned out, the mall's supermarket was located on the top floor and had not been flooded.

Upon entering, they headed straight for the sports goods store. As they had arrived early, there weren't many people inside, and the stock was still plentiful.

Gu Yanzhi scanned the options at the entrance, where boats of various prices were available.

However, those who lived in the Jinxiu Thunderbolt were quite wealthy, so without looking at the prices, Gu Yanzhi simply asked the owner to bring out the most expensive and best models. They chose two inflatable boats per household, priced at 10,000 each, accommodating 6-7 people, and including both manual and automatic air pumps as well as batteries. Then, each household also purchased a motorboat that ran on gasoline, which came with a free barrel of fuel. After loading their purchases, they hurried to the supermarket.

Once at the supermarket, they split up. Now that everyone had a boat, they could shop for their needs independently and return on their own without wasting time waiting for each other.

After splitting up, Gu Yanzhi took a small shopping cart and slowly made her way into the supermarket, casually strolling and tossing whatever she wanted into the cart.

The supermarket was crowded, which surprised Gu Yanzhi, who had not expected many people to venture out in the heavy rain and flood. Nonetheless, it seemed everyone still had a sense of crisis.

Despite the crowd, the supermarket was quiet, with only the continuous sound of the rolling shopping cart wheels. Everyone was focused on shopping and hardly interacted with one another.

As Gu Yanzhi walked and grabbed items, she noticed that not many people were in the snack area. Most were concentrated around staples such as rice, flour, cooking oil, fruits, and vegetables. Each cart was full of these essential foods, and only those who had the luxury of time after securing the essentials would browse the snack section.

The checkout line was incredibly long, probably due to the inconvenient travel conditions that resulted in fewer staff. The usually dozen or so open tills were reduced to just five. Gu Yanzhi also noticed that two of the cashiers were dressed in security uniforms, likely drafted temporarily.

The pair waited in line for about half an hour before it was their turn. They watched as the young couple in front of them bought a pile of snacks and a bag of rice weighing ten pounds. The cashier kindly advised them to buy more due to the uncertainty of how long the rain might last. Gu Yanzhi just smiled and declined the suggestion.

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The cashier was merely offering a friendly reminder and, seeing that it was not taken to heart, did not press further.

Once they paid for their goods, they returned to the window on the second floor. Many people had gathered by their boats, inflating them—a display of good manners as they occupied only the sides of the roadway, leaving a clear path to the window.

Song Zhao was the first to get into the water, and after some time, he managed to locate their boat. When they'd arrived, there were only a few scattered boats, but now one side was completely full.

After tossing down the shopping bags for Song Zhao to load onto the boat, Gu Yanzhi jumped down and boarded.