Surviving the apocalypse with a wife and a system! [GL]

Chapter 254: Aunt qian.

Bai Li pushed open the large white door and entered the open space in front of rooms 903 and 904. She gently knocked on the door and whispered inside, "Aunt Qian, it’s me."

Qian Fang looked out through the peephole and, seeing it was Bai Li, quickly opened the door. "Little Lin, what brings you here? Come in quickly and tell me. I saw that everyone in the group is tagging you. They’re all trying to take advantage of you. Don’t agree to anything they say."

The apartment door opened only partly at first, then wider as soon as Qian Fang recognized her. The old woman’s expression was warm but worried, and she spoke fast the moment she saw Bai Li’s face. Clearly she had been paying attention to the group chat too, because she immediately started talking about the people in the building tagging Bai Li and asking for things. Her tone carried annoyance toward those shameless messages, and she looked like she already knew they were all trying to squeeze Bai Li for whatever they could get. Bai Li could hear the concern in her voice right away. Qian Fang sounded exactly like the sort of older neighbor who would call out nonsense if she saw it.

"Don’t worry, Auntie, I’m here to bring you some food. This bag of frozen food, please put it in the fridge quickly, or it will thaw." As Bai Li spoke, she stuffed a large supermarket plastic bag into Aunt Qian’s hand.

Bai Li did not want to waste time arguing. She had already made up her mind, so she simply pushed the bag into Qian Fang’s hands before the old woman could step back. The bag was heavy, full of frozen food that could still be used later if put away quickly. Bai Li knew the old couple would probably try to refuse. People like them always did. They did not want to take food from a younger person when the world was already this bad. But Bai Li was not here to negotiate for an hour. She wanted them to take it and put it in the fridge before it thawed. That was more important than endless refusal.

Aunt Qian quickly stepped back, pushing, "What are you doing? Food is so precious these days. You should keep it for yourself. I still have some rice and flour at home, enough to last a while. You really don’t need this. Besides, we’re all old and frail; we’ll be gone soon enough. You’re so young. Keep this for yourself. You’re so young; your chances of survival are high."

Qian Fang was already trying to push the bag back toward Bai Li by the time she finished speaking, and her words came out in a hurried mix of gratitude and stubborn refusal. She clearly meant what she said. She did not want to take food from Bai Li when Bai Li might need it more. Her voice sounded genuine too, the kind of old person honesty that was hard to fake. She even started talking about her own age, about how she and He Baoping were already old, how they had enough rice and flour, how Bai Li was younger and should keep the better supplies for herself. Bai Li listened and only felt her resolve strengthen. These two really were the kind of people who would rather give than take.

"I’ve kept it all at home. If you’re going to keep it safe, then keep it safe. Remember, if anyone knocks on the door, don’t open it. I’m afraid someone in the building might get desperate and jump over the wall."

Bai Li said, placing the large bag of things on the shoe cabinet by the door, then immediately ran out, closing the door behind her.

She did not let Qian Fang keep pushing the bag back. Bai Li simply set it down on the shoe cabinet near the entrance and talked fast enough that the old woman did not have time to keep arguing. Her warning about not opening the door was serious too. The building had already started to feel unstable. With the water cut off and the group chat getting more and more frantic, people might do crazy things. Bai Li had seen enough desperate behavior to know that someone could try to force an opening or even climb over if panic got bad enough. She did not want the old couple to have to deal with that. So she warned them, left the food where they could reach it, and slipped out again before more discussion could start.

People who value their reputation will always consider others; this was why Bai Li thought of the couple.

That thought stayed with her as she moved away from the door. The old couple had not taken advantage of her, had not tried to guilt her, and had not spoken badly of her when the group chat got ugly. They had simply acted like decent people. Bai Li had no interest in pretending she was some kind of saint. She was not giving them food for some grand noble reason. She just thought of them because they had remembered basic decency when others had forgotten it. That alone was enough for her to treat them better than the shameless people tagging her in the chat.

Aunt Qian stood by the shoe cabinet for a long moment, her fingers still resting lightly on the plastic bag as if she was afraid it might disappear if she let go. The cold from the frozen food seeped faintly through the thin layer of plastic, grounding her in the moment. Her vision blurred, and before she realized it, tears had already gathered in her eyes.

"Old man... Xiao Bai came by just now," she said softly, her voice a little unsteady. "She brought all this over. I kept telling her not to, said we still had things at home, but she wouldn’t listen at all. She just left it here and ran off."

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TO BE CONTINUED.