I stood there like a statue, stunned for a long moment before I finally snapped out of it—only to be overwhelmed by an intense wave of awkwardness.
I had no idea what to do, so I just stood there silently, not even knowing where to look.
Shen Feng, ever the gentleman with a strong sense of propriety, quietly backed away behind a nearby shelf.
Suo Tian was also momentarily stunned, then just stood there wordlessly as well...
And so, the three of us ended up silently witnessing a live, impromptu reality show.
I don't know how long passed—maybe just a few dozen seconds, or maybe a full minute—until the two of them finally noticed us in the middle of their passionate moans.
The woman let out a sharp scream when she saw us, then quickly grabbed some clothes nearby to cover her essentials.
The man, who had his back to us at first, didn't notice right away.
But the moment he turned around and saw us, his face went through more color changes than a painter's palette.
Suo Tian and I backed off behind a shelf to give them some space to get dressed.
After a bit of rustling, we finally heard the man clear his throat awkwardly—a sign that they were done getting dressed.
We stepped around the shelf to take another look at the two now fully dressed people.
The woman had messy hair and kept her head lowered, clearly embarrassed.
Understandable—being caught in the act like that would fluster just about anyone...
Thinking back on what we had just witnessed... I could feel my ears burning a little.
A live sex scene, huh... damn.
"How did you two end up here?" Suo Tian asked, directing his question to the man, whose expression looked a bit more composed.
The man didn't answer Suo Tian right away.
His flushed face was tinged with caution as he looked the three of us up and down.
"Who are you people? What are you doing here?"
"We're residents from nearby, just came to scavenge for food," I replied.
"Residents nearby? Scavenging for food?" He gave me a look, his beady little eyes darting around shiftily.
Then he asked, "Is it... still like that out there?"
I frowned slightly—this guy really had a face that was hard to like.
Shen Feng spoke up, "If by 'like that' you mean people eating people, then yeah... it's probably even worse than when you first holed up in here."
The man froze for a second, his expression shifting before returning to normal.
His tone lost a bit of that earlier wariness. "Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be that easy to fix… Everyone's gone mad, the whole world's lost it."
He paused, then asked, "You guys ran out of supplies after hiding at home for too long, so you came here to look for food, right?"
"We've actually been here twice already," I said, eyeing him suspiciously.
"There must've been other survivors who came through in between. Don't tell me you didn't notice any of that?"
The man shook his head. "Didn't know a thing. This place is completely soundproof. If you hadn't come in today, Lili and I wouldn't even know what's going on outside."
"How long have you been holed up in here?"
"Can't really remember. About a month, maybe."
....
Yangyang and Mei Jing were still keeping watch outside the door and could run into danger at any moment, so we didn't dare waste any more time.
After a quick round of introductions and getting the man's permission, we brought in a few carts from outside and started loading up cases of water.
Deeper inside, we even found those large jugs of bottled water.
I couldn't stop grinning—talk about hitting the jackpot.
It was like everything we needed had just fallen into our laps.
I loaded jug after jug of water onto the carts while Shen Feng and Suo Tian kept wheeling the full carts out and bringing in empty ones.
This storage room really lived up to its name—stocked to the brim with supplies.
Boxes of sausages, instant noodles, biscuits, beef jerky, and all kinds of other things.
I was hauling so much my arms were turning to jelly.
Wang Jun stood to the side with Lili, not making any move to stop us.
After all, with the amount of stuff piled up like small mountains, they wouldn't be able to finish it all in ten years.
Besides, they didn't really understand the situation outside, so they didn't see the value of all this.
Maybe somewhere in the back of their minds, they still thought they could just walk out with some cash and buy whatever they needed.
I can't even remember how many cartloads we hauled in the end—only that I stopped when my hands were completely numb from the effort.
Suo Tian gave me a small nod.
Looked like we finally had enough.
We packed two more large bags of rice onto the only remaining empty cart.
I clapped the dust off my hands—finally, everything was in order.
Lili and Wang Jun were standing to the side, whispering about something.
I called out to Suo Tian and Shen Feng to start moving everything out.
With that much stuff, there was no way we could haul it all in one trip.
We'd definitely need to go back and forth a few times.
After they pushed out the last two carts, I started thinking about grabbing some meat from the big freezer before leaving.
With such a huge haul today, it was worth having a little feast tonight.
"Um… Miss Chen…" Just as I was mentally planning how to cook that meat, Wang Jun's voice interrupted my thoughts.
He was licking his lips nervously, clearly struggling with his words.
"Just call me Chen Yang. No need to be so formal. Just say what you want."
"Well, we were wondering… I mean, I know it's really presumptuous of us… but, would it be possible for us to go back with you guys?"
"What?" I was taken aback.
Wang Jun must've thought I was about to refuse, because his face flushed red instantly.
He waved his hands hurriedly, panicked. "We know it's asking a lot. I mean, who meets someone for the first time and then asks to move in with them? But… you said it yourselves—how bad things are out there. This place might be safe, but we never see the sun down here. Lili… she's pregnant. I'm scared if we stay like this much longer, it'll drive her—and the baby—over the edge."
Pregnant? My gaze drifted to Lili's belly—and sure enough, it was visibly rounded.
I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed before.
But… doing that while pregnant? Weren't they worried it might hurt the baby?
Maybe my expression gave away my thoughts, because Wang Jun quickly added, "She's three months along."
I couldn't help but feel a little awkward—cleared my throat to ease the tension.
"Having a baby on the way… yeah, it's definitely not good to stay in a place where you can't even see the sun. How about this—I'll talk to the others in a bit and see what they think."
Wang Jun was overjoyed at my response, shaking my hand repeatedly while thanking me over and over.
Under normal circumstances, I'd be polite and warm toward someone so earnest—but after witnessing that live-action performance earlier, I could only feel incredibly awkward.
When Suo Tian and Shen Feng came back looking for me, I told them about it.
Shen Feng, out of concern for the child in Lili's belly, strongly supported the idea of letting them move in.
Suo Tian didn't really care either way.
As for the others—Mei Jing and Shen Xue are both soft-hearted.
Once they found out, they'd definitely agree.
Yangyang would just go along with whatever I decided.
In that case, it was basically unanimous approval.
When I told Wang Jun to start packing so they could come back with us, Lili held her belly with both hands, sniffling, and looked at us with a face full of gratitude.
I walked over and patted her on the shoulder. "From now on, we're like family."
As soon as I said it, it felt a little too sentimental, so I awkwardly added, "Maybe bring back some plums or something—people say pregnant women crave sour stuff."
…
We had taken too many supplies—two carts weren't nearly enough to carry everything in one trip.
And with two extra people now, there was no choice.
I had to stay behind at the mall with Mei Jing while Suo Tian and the others went back for another run.
Since Wang Jun and Lili hadn't faced the situation outside directly before, we decided to send them back home first.
Waiting is a boring and drawn-out ordeal.
Especially in a situation like this.
Ever since I started suspecting that Mei Jing liked Suo Tian, things felt a little awkward whenever it was just the two of us.
At this moment, Mei Jing and I were standing by the shelves in the mall, each on one side.
The surroundings were incredibly quiet, and the only sound was the breathing of the two of us.
We remained silent for a long time.
Mei Jing cleared her throat and spoke, "Chen Yang…"
"Hm? What's up?" I looked at her.
"There's something, and I don't know whether I should tell you."
I froze for a moment.
Could it be about Suo Tian?
Sure enough… her next words confirmed all of my suspicions.
"Just say it. We're like family," I said with a smile, looking at her.
"I… like Suo Tian."
"What?!" I pretended to be completely surprised, acting like I had no idea.
"Are you surprised?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm really surprised."
Mei Jing leaned her head against the shelf, took a deep breath, and said, "In times like these, can we even call it life? When I was alone at home, nearly starving, I realized something very clearly—we're just trying to survive now, nothing else."
"But what does that have to do with you liking Suo Tian?" I asked.
Meijing didn't answer my question and continued, "But he's different. He's always so calm, so composed. Nothing can affect him. I've lived so many years, and this feeling, this schoolgirl-like fluttering in my heart, only came after the world ended."
I didn't respond, waiting for her to continue.
"You must think I'm ridiculous. In times like these, how can I even think about love, about romance… Actually, I think it's absurd too." She turned to look at me, her eyes shimmering with an unusual light.
"But I can't control myself. You know, Chen Yang, I've dreamt countless times of being in bed with him."
I was a little stunned, looking at Mei Jing, her delicate features, completely surprised by what she had just said.
It took me a moment to respond.
I finally said, "I'll definitely keep it a secret. I'll sew my mouth shut when I get back. But, when you cook porridge, remember to add more water, or I'll starve to death."
Mei Jing chuckled softly.
Suo Tian and the others were quick.
Before long, they had returned to the front of the mall.
We moved the remaining items onto the car, grabbed some frozen meat and seafood from the freezer, locked up the warehouse, and then headed home.
Yangyang and the Wang couple stayed at home and didn't come.
Shen Feng and I shared a car, while Mei Jing still rode with Suo Tian.
On the way back, Shen Feng asked me, "Let's put the couple on the third floor. Pregnant women can't handle noise, and there are too many people living together with us."
"Yeah, when we get back, we'll fix up the third floor. The kitchen and bathroom are all set up, so it'll be convenient for them to move in."