Chapter 35: Arriving at the Office Building

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Arriving at the Office Building

Helpless, Yang Hong could only repeatedly urge her husband, "Remember, you must bring back as many supplies as possible! The more you grab, the better. Don’t let others take everything!"

"Got it. Stop nagging," Zhang Qiang replied impatiently.

The two of them lowered Zhang Qiang down with a rope.

By now, most of the men had already jumped out the window. The remaining women and children stood to the side, too afraid to make the jump. There were also four or five timid men who hadn’t dared to jump. They felt the situation outside was too uncertain and planned to wait for the first group to return before deciding whether to go out.

Zhang Liang and the other man holding the rope, Chen Bing, asked, "Is anyone else going out? If not, the two of us are heading down. If you change your minds later, no one will be here to help you!"

"Me!" Chen Momo immediately said. "Please lower me down too!"

Although being in the first group was riskier, it also offered the best chance of gathering good supplies. Other families sent their men out, but she had no men in her household. She had to do it herself!

Seeing that Chen Momo actually intended to jump out the window herself, a flash of surprise crossed Zhang Liang and Chen Bing’s eyes. However, based on how she had stepped forward twice to offer ideas just moments ago, Zhang Liang knew this woman was not to be underestimated. She was no ordinary woman.

He asked again, "Are you sure?"

Chen Momo nodded firmly. "I’m sure. Please send me down, thank you."

Next, she tied the other end of the rope around her waist. After double-checking to ensure it was secure, she climbed onto the windowsill. Zhang Liang and Chen Bing carefully lowered her out of the window, gripping the rope tightly as they let it down bit by bit.

"If anything happens, just yell!" Zhang Liang shouted through the window.

"I’m fine," Chen Momo replied. "Keep lowering the rope!"

With that, the two men continued feeding the rope down inch by inch until Chen Momo was fully lowered.

At the height of the tenth floor, Chen Momo touched the snow. She stepped down a little further, right around the ninth floor, and her feet hit solid ice.

The group that had already jumped out was astonished to see that Chen Momo was the only woman brave enough to follow them. Zhang Qiang, in particular, kept eyeing her up and down with a shifty, lecherous gaze. He was incredibly curious about her; she was far more interesting than his wife, Yang Hong!

After Chen Momo reached the bottom, Zhang Liang and Chen Bing tied the rope to the iron grate beside the window. Once they confirmed it was firmly secured, they tied the other end around their own waists and jumped out one after the other.

Squeezed among the women still inside the building, Yang Hong felt deeply envious of those who had gone down. She looked down at her belly and silently complained that she had gotten pregnant at the wrong time. Otherwise, she and Zhang Qiang would have surely scavenged a ton of supplies together!

Standing amongst the crowd, Chen Momo readied herself as the group prepared to head toward the opposite side of the residential complex.

The destination was only a mere two hundred meters away, but crossing this short distance felt as grueling as the Long March. To start with, the snow was simply too deep. Although the bottom layer had frozen solid, the top layer remained soft and loose. The moment someone stepped on it, their body would quickly sink. As a result, the soft snow reached just past Chen Momo’s waist.

Zhang Liang, Chen Bing, and Wang Jian Country led the way, blazing a trail. They swept away the top layer of snow with their hands before stomping down the rest with their boots. Even with gloves on, the process of digging through the snow quickly robbed Wang Jian Country and the others of all sensation in their hands. Every step was agonizingly difficult; every step was painstakingly slow.

By comparison, the people trailing behind had it much easier. They merely had to step into the footprints left by the trailblazers. Knowing she was at a disadvantage in both size and strength, Chen Momo didn’t fight to rush to the front. Instead, she walked carefully, following the footprints left by Wang Jian Country and the others.

While she was keeping her head down and trudging forward step by step, a sleazy voice suddenly rang out from behind her. "Hey beautiful, need a hand?"

Chen Momo looked up to see Zhang Qiang giving her a greasy, lecherous grin, flashing a mouthful of teeth stained yellow by cigarette smoke. She frowned and completely ignored him, continuing on her way.

Realizing he had made a fool of himself, Zhang Qiang cursed under his breath and went back to minding his own business.

The two-hundred-meter trek took an entire hour.

By the time they reached the gates of the residential complex, Chen Momo’s legs were so numb from the cold that they were merely moving back and forth mechanically. Across the street was a large supermarket flanked by a few restaurants, with a row of office buildings situated behind them.

The group had originally intended to smash their way into the supermarket to gather supplies, but both the supermarket and the restaurants had been completely swallowed by the heavy snow. Scavenging from them was now impossible.

"Let’s head straight to the office building in the back!" Wang Jian Country proposed. "Forget about anything below the ninth floor; it’s all sealed off by the ice and snow!"

His proposal was met with unanimous agreement. It was their only option now!

And so, the group began another grueling, step-by-step trek toward the office building. It was a distance of three hundred meters from their current location, which took them yet another hour of heavy trudging.

After enduring untold hardships, Chen Momo and the group finally reached the office building—or more accurately, the height of its ninth and tenth floors. Wang Jian Country’s hands were so frozen that he couldn’t even swing a hammer.

It was up to Zhang Liang and Chen Bing in the back. Each hoisted a hammer and, with two loud CRACKs, smashed the large window of an office.

"Everyone, get inside and warm up!" Zhang Liang called out. "Don’t let your legs get frostbite!"

Seeing a place to take shelter from the cold, Zhang Qiang immediately scrambled through the snow, shouting, "Let me in first! Let me in first!"

Everyone was disgusted by people with such zero class, especially Zhang Liang and Chen Bing. Both of them had been Party members since their university days. Although they were now in their thirties, they still possessed a strong sense of justice.

Thus, the two deliberately blocked the window, preventing Zhang Qiang from entering first.

"Ladies first!" Zhang Liang declared. "We’re letting Chen Momo in first!"

Chen Bing quickly went over and extended a hand to Chen Momo, pulling her over to the window.

Chen Momo was wearing two thermal shirts and a pair of heat-generating pants, with a row of heat patches stuck to her waist and back. Even so, she was practically frozen numb. She tried to lift her feet for a long time, but she simply couldn’t muster the strength to step through the shattered window.

Seeing this, Zhang Qiang started shouting from behind, "You’re taking forever! Can you hurry the hell up?"