Chapter 7 The Lone City (7)

Chapter 7: The Isolated City (Part Seven)

The two drove to the nearby Jiabiada supermarket. On a Monday afternoon, the parking lot was unexpectedly full. Jiang Songnian circled around and parked at the curb.

"Isn't this a no-parking zone? Is that okay?" Lin Yanqing asked.

"It's fine." Jiang Songnian had already gotten out of the car, tossing the keys in his hand with a shameless grin. "It's not my car anyway."

Lin Yanqing was exasperated yet amused by him, but there was no time to argue. He hurried into the supermarket, spotting an abandoned shopping cart on the way and grabbing it so he wouldn't have to find one later.

The supermarket was packed with people, but it was orderly. There was no panic buying; everyone was just stocking up as a precaution.

Near the entrance were the tea, dried goods, and household goods sections. Further in were snacks and seasonings. The frozen and fresh food sections were closer to the checkout counters.

There were still a few packs of dried goods at home, but that didn't matter now. Dried goods were light, stored well, but expanded a lot when soaked. The shelves were already thinning. Lin Yanqing swept up all the black fungus, shiitake mushrooms, and wakame he could find. Moving forward, he grabbed several packs of snow fungus, lotus seeds, and vermicelli. He loaded paper products into Jiang Songnian's cart. The selection was picked over, and while paper goods were consumables used almost as fast as food, Lin Yanqing prioritized flushable options to reduce waste.

In the seasoning aisle, salt was completely gone, canned goods were empty, and only two packs of instant noodles remained. Other seasonings were still available. Jiang Songnian picked up a pack of brown sugar. "Primary strategic resource, and nobody wants it?"

Lin Yanqing wasn't in the mood for jokes. He put the instant noodles in the cart, snatched the sugar from Jiang Songnian's hand, and tossed it in too. Seeing honey on the shelf, he grabbed two jars. As he was about to move on, Jiang Songnian tossed in a few folding knives and several flashlights.

"You only think about buying food," Jiang Songnian teased.

"I may not need to eat, but Lili does," Lin Yanqing replied, then added politely, "Thank you."

They reached the snack section, which had the most complete stock. Lin Yanqing spent the most time here, picking up several packs of gummy candies and a case of flavored milk. It was heavy and impractical. Jiang Songnian said, "Might as well get some powdered milk."

"These are all things Lili likes. They're not nutritious, not healthy, and cause cavities. I usually don't let him have them," Lin Yanqing said wearily.

There was still space in the cart. Lin Yanqing filled it as much as possible. Passing the household goods section, he grabbed a few 2.5L large-capacity water bottles and hung them directly on the cart's hooks.

Seeing Lin Yanqing was down, Jiang Songnian stopped chatting and quietly went to get in line for checkout.

The checkout lines were long, with everyone's carts piled high. It looked like at least an hour's wait.

Lin Yanqing felt like he couldn't stand much longer. His body was changing. Leaning weakly on the cart, he said hoarsely, "If I have an episode later, remember to help me. Don't send me home."

He grabbed Jiang Songnian's arm, pleading, "Get these things to Lili for me. Tell him to take care of himself."

Jiang Songnian gave him a strange look, checked his forehead, then tore open a pack of gummy bears—individually wrapped inside. He took out two pieces, unwrapped them, and stuffed them into Lin Yanqing's mouth, saying helplessly, "Hey, you're just feeling unwell from the shot, plus you haven't eaten all day. You might have low blood sugar."

Lin Yanqing worked the candy in his mouth. "You haven't eaten either."

Jiang Songnian smiled. "I had lunch at your company cafeteria."

Lin Yanqing was utterly speechless. What military doctor! He was clearly just a petty thief!

He licked the candy in his mouth, perking up a little.

"Hey! No cutting!" Lin Yanqing called out to stop someone.

A tough-looking man turned around, glaring at him, eyes bulging, and cursed, "Asshole! Who are you calling a line-cutter?"

Lin Yanqing set his jaw. Picking a fight at a time like this was unwise, but he had already queued for an hour, and so had everyone behind him. If people like this got away with cutting in, all order would collapse.

People behind them started muttering, fingers pointing at the man.

Perhaps emboldened today with Jiang Songnian by his side, Lin Yanqing snapped, his expression grim, "I'm telling you not to cut in line!"

The crowd chimed in agreement. The line-cutter instantly blew his top, raising his fist to strike.

Jiang Songnian stepped forward in a flash, with lightning speed, delivering a swift chop to the back of the man's neck, knocking him out cold. Simultaneously, he shouted loudly, "Security! Someone's having an episode! He's trying to bite people!"

The surrounding crowd was shocked.

Store security rushed over upon hearing the commotion and dragged the unconscious man aside.

Lin Yanqing stared, dumbfounded. "That's... not okay."

"Which part isn't okay?" Jiang Songnian asked lazily, smiling as he rummaged through the items in the man's abandoned cart, selecting some to put into their own.

Lin Yanqing spotted his favorite canned yellow peaches, swallowed, and said, "I brought shopping bags. Let's just check out quickly."

Checkout took several more minutes. By the time Lin Yanqing packed everything into bags and left the supermarket, it was already 6 PM—the height of rush hour. A wave of people flooded into Jiabiada, instantly blocking the aisles completely. Forget checking out; it was hard to even move.

Lin Yanqing began to feel grateful he had skipped work today.

The two pushed their cart out of the supermarket, weaving through the dense sea of cars to reach the roadside. Lin Yanqing's car was now trapped in the middle of other vehicles, completely immobile. It was even difficult to open the car door, let alone get the cart close.

He and Jiang Songnian carried several bags each, squeezing through the gaps between cars. They made two or three trips, moving all the purchased items into the car, then squeezed back into the vehicle themselves. Only after locking the doors did they finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Probably no point calling anyone to move their cars, right?" In this situation, anyone who parked blocking the road was likely in a panic. Phones would ring until the batteries died, and no one would come out to move.

The weather was hot today. The car, baked in the sun all day, was sweltering. But the fuel was running low, so Lin Yanqing had to roll down the windows, relying on the natural breeze, hoping it would cool down quickly.

Jiang Songnian leaned back, rummaged through the bags in the back seat, pulled out a bread roll, and handed it to Lin Yanqing. "Eat something first."

Lin Yanqing tore open the wrapper and took a reluctant bite. Jiang Songnian handed him a carton of milk.

After half the bread roll, his stomach finally felt a bit better. Lin Yanqing suddenly said, "You asked me earlier... what happened later."

Jiang Songnian looked at him quietly.

"Yun Chuan, Lili, and I grew up in the same residential compound. After my dad disappeared, I went to live with my foster parents. But when I was sixteen, they died in a car accident." Speaking of this, Lin Yanqing's anger flared. "My foster father's younger brother came to help with the funeral arrangements. He bought a burial plot, said it cost two hundred thousand. Before even the fifth-week memorial ceremony, he claimed expenses had reached five hundred thousand. He seized my foster parents' inheritance and kicked me out of the house! It was despicable!"

Jiang Songnian feigned surprise. "What did you do then? Live on the streets?"

"I had already gotten into university by then. I lived on campus year-round. I was young, and the school leaders and teachers looked out for me. I had state subsidies and scholarships. I also had a sponsor—a friend of my dad's. That kind uncle sent me living expenses every month." Lin Yanqing smiled bitterly. "Actually, I managed okay. But Lili was pitiful. His uncle, Xia Zhenye, didn't treat him like a nephew at all. Lili was only ten then, skinny as a bean sprout, never had enough to eat, and was always dirty whenever I saw him."

Lin Yanqing opened the floodgates, talking nonstop. "After I became an adult, I wanted to get his guardianship back. Xia Zhenye had swallowed over two million in deposits from my foster parents, claiming Lili had used it all up! Lili lived with them for less than two years! To get Lili back, I went through lawsuits, even hired people to pretend to be loan sharks... In the end, I didn't get the money back, but I got the old house in our hometown. I sold it later though. After graduating, I bought the place we live in now."

With food in his stomach, Lin Yanqing suddenly felt energized, and his temper surged. He pushed up his sleeve, thrusting the bite-marked wound right in front of Jiang Songnian's face, saying furiously, "It's all your fault! Why did you have to mooch a meal! If you had come to save me earlier, I wouldn't have been bitten!"

Jiang Songnian leaned back against the seat, the pale arm thrust aggressively almost to the tip of his nose.

Jiang Songnian grabbed his arm, pulling his hand down, and said seriously, "I'll ask around for you. If there's a specific treatment, I'll make sure you get priority. But whether this thing is contagious or not is still unclear. Don't be so tense."

"If it's not contagious, why are so many people suddenly infected? You say that now because the wound isn't on you. Of course, it's easy for you to say!" Lin Yanqing's tears suddenly streamed down. He choked, struggling to breathe. He knew crying like this was embarrassing, but he couldn't bring this emotion home. He didn't even know how to handle these things or who to entrust Xia Li to.

By the end, tears covered his entire face. He choked until his face turned red, his voice broken. "Wh-what do I do... I... I only have Lili left... If I'm gone... what will happen to Lili..."

Jiang Songnian pulled him into a tight embrace, his heart aching, not knowing what to do. He stroked the back of Lin Yanqing's head, saying softly, "Don't cry. I'll definitely find a way. Wait for me to come back for you."

"Come back for me? Take me where?" Lin Yanqing sniffled, his wet eyes filled with confusion.

"Even if everyone in the world gives up on you, I will never abandon you."

"Why?"

Jiang Songnian couldn't help but laugh. He wiped Lin Yanqing's cheek with his palm, coming away with a handful of tears. "Silly, we know each other. You just forgot."