Chapter 39: Restoring Vitality

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Restoring Vitality

It turned out that Wang Jian Country had informed Kong Ming’s wife, Ma Rong, of his death. Upon hearing the news, she immediately burst into wailing tears.

Ma Rong had a two-year-old child. She had been waiting at home, full of joy, expecting her husband to return with supplies. Instead of her husband, she only received news of his death.

Wang Jian Country sighed, his eyes turning red. It was truly pitiful for this mother and child to be left utterly alone, having lost their husband and father.

"Ma Rong, please accept my condolences. You still have a child to think about. If you ruin your health from crying, who will take care of the kid? The good news is that we can all go out and gather supplies now. At worst, I’ll organize everyone and ask each person to chip in a little to support the two of you. Once the rescue team arrives, everything will be fine."

Ma Rong looked up with bloodshot eyes. "Thank you, Brother Wang. When will the rescue team come?"

"This..."

Wang Jian Country was left stumped by the question. In reality, he wanted the rescue team to arrive sooner than anyone else. However, at present, their arrival seemed indefinitely delayed.

"Ma Rong, don’t worry for now. The rescue team will definitely come," Wang Jian Country consoled her.

Ma Rong nodded, her eyes still red.

Wang Jian Country and Wang Liping went door-to-door to take a census. Only twenty-three households were currently alive. Among them were three families consisting only of widowed mothers and their children. Without any men in the house, having lost their husbands to the natural disaster, the women and children all wore expressions of sheer panic and helplessness.

Wang Liping had originally planned to include Chen Momo and Xiao Bao in this vulnerable category, but Chen Momo flatly refused.

"Sister Wang, my husband isn’t dead; he’s just with his mistress. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and Xiao Bao. I don’t need anyone’s charity." Chen Momo’s attitude was incredibly firm.

She never showed a hint of the self-pity seen in the other women without husbands. Instead, she appeared even more optimistic and confident. She firmly believed that an unhappy marriage was far worse than a happy single life. Furthermore, her attitude toward life would directly shape her son’s outlook. Therefore, Chen Momo was determined to live positively and cheerfully to be a good role model for him.

Sure enough, influenced by Chen Momo, Xiao Bao didn’t feel sorry for himself at all. Unlike the other children who had lost their fathers, he wasn’t timid; he was proactive, bright, and cheerful.

In contrast, the three single mothers always looked mournful and pitiful. This caused their children to lack confidence entirely. They appeared timid and fearful, displaying completely different personalities compared to the optimistic and outgoing Xiao Bao.

The reason Chen Momo refused to let Wang Liping categorize them together was to prevent Xiao Bao from ever learning to use his single-parent status to garner sympathy. It was far better to live earning the envy of others than to live relying on their pity!

Wang Liping sighed and said emotionally, "Momo, I really envy you. You’ve managed to make it this far as a woman raising a child on her own. At first, Wang Jian Country and I were worried about you two. Now, not only are we not worried, but we’re actually envious of you."

If any other woman had faced this snow disaster, she would have panicked and lost her wits long ago. Yet every time Wang Liping came knocking to update the census, Chen Momo was impeccably dressed and completely composed. Even in the midst of an extreme disaster, trapped at home by the blizzard, the mother and son looked nothing like the disheveled members of other households. Instead, they groomed themselves carefully every day—the son looking handsome, the mother beautiful. One could say this pair, who truly knew how to live, was the envy of everyone.

The three families of vulnerable mothers and children had been officially tallied.

Wang Jian Country looked at the finalized census list and frowned. "The mother and son in 1608 weren’t included?"

That particular family had left a profound impression on him. The son was bright and adorable, and as for the woman, she had braved the heavy snow to trek across the wasteland alongside a group of men to gather supplies, not losing out to them in the slightest. Wang Jian Country genuinely admired the pair from the bottom of his heart.

Wang Liping shook her head. "No. The resident of 1608 refused to be included. She said their family had enough supplies and told us to prioritize distributing aid to the other three families."

Wang Jian Country nodded, his appreciation for Chen Momo growing even deeper.

Once the residents were able to leave the building to scavenge, the general panic began to subside. When humanity was no longer consumed by fear, the civilized side of human nature naturally began to show. A few kind-hearted families actually donated a portion of their supplies, distributing them among the three single-mother households.

Xu Xiaoka also donated some. Naturally, Chen Momo didn’t stop her. The girl had a kind heart, and according to Chen Momo’s experiences from her past life, the survivor base was going to be built very soon. If Xu Xiaoka wanted to donate, Chen Momo would just let her be.

As for Chen Momo, she continued to guard the supplies in her spatial dimension tightly, neither donating to others nor accepting anyone’s charity. The reason she was so ruthless was because her past life had taught her a brutal lesson.

In her previous life, she had also used her meager supplies to show goodwill to others. But when it was their turn to need help, not a single person had extended a helping hand. With their supplies exhausted, the mother and son had been forced to travel on foot, which ultimately led to her son dying of hunger and cold.

That scene remained etched in her memory to this day, and she had regretted her actions countless times. She often wondered if her son could have lived a little longer if she hadn’t had such a bleeding heart—if she hadn’t donated half of her remaining supplies right at the beginning of the apocalypse.

This had taught Chen Momo a monumental lesson, causing her to sever any lingering savior complex in this life.

Xu Xiaoka fully understood Chen Momo’s approach, knowing that as a mother, her top priority was definitely to ensure abundant supplies for herself and her son. Moreover, the vast majority of families hadn’t participated in the donations either, prioritizing the security of their own stockpiles instead.

Day fifty of the apocalypse.

Chen Momo took her radio out of her spatial dimension and began repeatedly tuning the frequency to catch a signal. Based on her past life’s experience, the snow would stop two months into the apocalypse, and the construction of the survivor base would commence shortly after. Right now, they were only ten days away from the snow stopping. If everything went as expected, she should be able to intercept signals regarding the base’s construction. In her past life, many updates regarding the construction of the base had been broadcast over the radio.

Chen Momo placed the radio on the balcony and tuned it across numerous channels in succession. However, all she got was a flurry of STATIC, without a single piece of actual information. Still, she didn’t give up. Whenever she had free time, she would take the radio out to the balcony and attempt to catch a signal.

As for scavenging, Wang Jian Country organized a group to head out to the opposite office building to gather supplies once a day.

Seeing the residents of Building Five jump out of windows to gather supplies across the way, the other buildings in Dongfang Garden followed suit. As a result, the various buildings allied together, organizing two waves of people each day—one in the morning and one in the afternoon—to head over and scavenge. Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka took turns participating in the daily runs.

With a steady supply of resources, the once desolate Dongfang Garden finally began to slowly regain signs of life. At night, when Chen Momo looked across the way, the opposite building was no longer a grid of pitch-black squares. One after another, the soft glow of flashlights and candles began to shine from the windows of various households.