Chapter Ten: Needle Tip vs. Ma Kong

  "Sister, I... my milk is gone, and I haven't weaned Huanhuan yet... it's too sudden..." Wu Qiong said softly with a red face, while Huanhuan held a small piece of bread in her hand, eating intently.

  Luo Xiaonian hadn't gotten married yet and didn't quite understand this, so she was at a loss for what to do. Liu Jinchun spoke up beside her, "This is just shock combined with excessive grief, it's normal for your milk to dry up after going back home. Why don't you just wean Huanhuan off breast milk? At one and a half years old, she can already eat adult food. If you're worried that the child won't get enough nutrients, adding some formula powder is no problem."

  Wu Qiong rubbed her eyes, "I also know that Huanhuan can just eat, it's just that I feel that weaning him at this time is a bit unfair to the child, his father just passed away..."

  Hanhan stuffed the last piece of bread into her mouth and raised her small hand, shouting unclearly, "More! More!"

  Everyone laughed, "Look, this kid is no longer satisfied with thin porridge. Don't blame yourself, mom, don't impose adult emotions on the child. Hanhan is very sensible and knows that it's a special time now, so he changed his diet himself."

  I heated a box of pure milk and poured it into a cup for Hanhan, comforting Wu Qiong by saying, "Milk is also very nutritious, let's give Hanhan a slightly different taste."

  Nie Xiong suddenly said in a deep voice, "The merchants do not know the sorrow of losing their country. The world outside is in great chaos, and you can still discuss food and drink so lightly, alas!"

  His words stuck in our throats, and the originally delicious breakfast suddenly lost its flavor. Although he seemed to be mocking us, no one retorted. We put on a brave face, made beautiful coffee and paired it with bread, trying to create a relaxed atmosphere, but actually we were just trying to escape the despair and panic in our hearts.

  "Has the government abandoned us?" Wen Yan asked Pan Feng with a sad tone. Pan Feng looked at us again, and for a moment, his melancholic emotions spread like seawater. Things might be more serious than we thought. If it's really like in the movies where zombies break out on a large scale, it's uncertain whether the government will still exist or not, let alone who abandoned whom.

  "Don't lose heart, everyone!" Sun Zhe cleared his throat. "Even if the whole city is full of zombies, what can we do? We're stuck in this mall, but isn't it better than being stuck at home? Who has as much food as this place? The restaurant upstairs has so many big refrigerators, aren't they all filled with food? And next to us is this Hualian supermarket, with rice, flour, oil... what are you worried about? Even if we're the last fourteen survivors on earth, we can still hold out for a year or two!"

  "There's no shortage of clothes either." Pan Feng added a sentence, winking at Wen Yan, who finally managed to force out a smile.

  Wei Quangan was about to speak, but Sun Zhe interrupted him, "Director Wei, I know what you want to say. You think that everything in this mall is public property and we can't just move things around as we please. Of course, if this disaster is temporary, we'll pay for everything we've taken. But Director Wei, old Wei! If this disaster is permanent, then this mall becomes our granary. Do you agree?"

  Wei Quan coughed a few times, "Sun Zhe, I'm not disagreeing with your idea. If the entire Bin City is left with just us dozen or so people, and the government can't recover for the time being, then our survival will definitely be more important than anything else. However, even so, I still want to say that order must be followed. The resources in the mall are abundant, but they can't be used randomly. At least there should be an organizer leading everyone to consume resources in a planned way. If we waste and squander everything, in the end, it will still be us who suffer!"

  Apart from Hanhan, everyone else understood Wei Quan's meaning. If Sun Zhe nodded at this time, we wouldn't have anyone opposing letting Wei Quan be our leader. After all, his status is there, the order outside doesn't count, and he's also a small boss in the business world. We're just customers, so it's clear who's the host and who's the guest.

  Ke Sun Zhe didn't continue as Wei Quan had expected, but instead changed the subject and said, "In times of disaster, unity is most important. Our country has always been striving for true democracy. Now that we're facing difficulties, if we want to overcome them, we must rely on everyone's collective strength! Director Wei's words are correct, no matter how many resources we have, they must be consumed in a planned way. I suggest from now on, everything should be discussed and resolved together, whether by voting or show of hands, every person has the right to speak, including Hanhan! Hanhan, which brand of milk powder do you want? Uncle Sun will help you go to the supermarket to get it."

  At this time, I finally felt the smoothness of state-owned enterprise talents. This speech was seamless and watertight, agreeing with part of Wei Quan's words while pulling everyone's intentions together, making it impossible for anyone to refute. Who doesn't want to be in control of their own life? Even children will constantly strive for what they want to eat, toys they want to play with, let alone us adults?

  Compared with Wei Quan who came up with the idea of dominating us with his identity as a shopping mall security director, we more agree with Sun Zhe's suggestion that everyone has the right to speak.

  Wei Quan's face was a bit dark, but he couldn't afford to turn against us just because we were unwilling to promote him. After all, whether it was the end of the world or not was just speculation. Moreover, even if it really was the end of the world, he didn't want to fall out with us either. We might be the only small group of people he would need to get along with in the future.

  The belly is full, Wei Quan suggested going to various restaurants to check the amount of food and make a good record. Yesterday we didn't do this because we had great hope for government rescue, who would have the mood to count the food in these restaurants in the mall? But now, we must prepare for long-term combat.

  There is a lot of raw food in the restaurant, all of which are stored in the refrigerator. It's not easy to count them clearly, so we just made a rough record. Actually, we think Wei Quan was overthinking it - who among these ten or so people would deliberately waste food? In order to improve efficiency, everyone dispersed and took charge of recording one restaurant each.

  After I and Luo Xiaonian remembered the number of steaks in the refrigerator at Niu Ba store, we felt a bit tired, so we sat down on the window seat to rest. From this position, you can have a good view of the street scene.

  The number of zombies is increasing, they are running wildly between cars, the parking lot downstairs is full of cars, unfortunately, none of them can be driven out from such a street, including our Accord, which is right in front of us, with six zombies wandering around it.

  "Sister, is there still a chance for us to drive the car back home?" Luo Xiaonian said with concern.

  I forced a smile, "Unless this disaster passes in the short term, if it's really the end of the world, then forget about those 200,000. Even if you've been open for three years, that's enough to cover your costs."

  I whispered to Luo Xiaonian beside me, "See, no one is around. Men have started fighting for power and status. Wei Quan wants to be the leader of everyone, but Sun Zhe won't let him."

  Luo Xiaonian nodded, "The security chief's words are neither too big nor too small, and he finally has the opportunity to be number one. Will Wei Quanneng cut off his head? But it can't be said that he is malicious, I don't oppose what he said about seeking order in life, which is better than chaos."

  "Are you supporting him as a leader now?" I looked at Luo Xiaonian with some surprise.

  "It's not exactly support, but nor is it strong opposition. As long as he doesn't become a dictator, then so be it if he wants to take the position."

  "If Sun Zhe and he compete for leadership, who will you support?"

  "Sun Zhe is also a leader, but I don't know much about these two men, so I won't jump to conclusions about who will support whom. We'll just have to wait and see. But one mountain can't hold two tigers, if neither of them backs down, our group won't be able to live in peace." Luo Xiaonian sighed, a hint of worry between her eyebrows.

  "I think it's quite good," I leaned back in my chair and let out a breath. "Remember the two brands we're agents for? If they didn't mutually exclude each other, could we have become the sweet pastry that they fought over? Could we have gotten so many discounted goods?"

  Luo Xiaonian snorted, "Good! It's best if neither of them can overpower the other and they restrain each other. That way, no one will dominate this market."

  "That's what I meant, so both of us support and oppose each other, got it?" Seeing my sister being so tacitly understanding, I felt relieved.

  A figure flashed into the Niuba store, and we two looked at each other in surprise. It was indeed "speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives", Sun Zhe had come.

  "Sisters, taking a break?" Sun Zhe smiled and walked over, sitting down beside us.

  "Sonny, you're also taking a break. This mall is too big and there are so many restaurants. It's hard to remember them all in a short while. The end of the world is far away, we have plenty of time." I smiled warmly.

  "After chatting with Luo's sister for a while, Sun Zhe finally got to the point. "You two are astute people, can't you see Wei Quan's ambition? He wants to control all of us, and we have to listen to him for everything, which is unbearable! We've just achieved true freedom, but now he wants to be in charge as the security director, that's too suffocating! I'm resisting with all my might, but it's not enough for me to fight alone. You two must work together with me to fight for our own freedom."

  I exchanged a smile with Luo Liangchen, and what I just said has come true. Sun Zhe is obviously pulling people to take sides, and he's also very confident.

  "Brother Sun, we're the survivors of the back kitchen, so we're naturally on the same page!" Luo Xiaonian said solemnly. "We understand what you mean by democracy - everyone is a leader, everyone has a say, right? The people's will is most important! So, of course, we support you."

  This girl learns and applies quickly.

  "Ah, I knew the Luo family's girls are sensible! Take me, Sun Ge, for example. If I'm controlled by a big leader in the future, it'll be like not even being allowed to fart without permission! Haha, crude but that's what I mean! I've always wanted to break free from this miserable life, but living in reality means holding back, and if you hold back too much, you'll get internal injuries! Now that we've run into the apocalypse, suddenly I feel liberated. But before I can even take two steps forward, Wei Quan rushes up, wanting to take control. If we let him succeed, it's like putting shackles on ourselves and tightening the screws! So we must be tough to the end and not let him get his way!"