Powerless Rage

The two of them went to Room 602 and searched through it, gathering every usable container to fill with water. Without waiting for them to fill up, Wang Tao took Ding Yuqin downstairs to search other rooms. He also reminded the Balding Uncle along the way.

The Balding Uncle was a smart man too. He was already collecting water, but he still thanked Wang Tao for the reminder.

After working all morning, they finally filled every water-holding container they could find in the vacant apartments. Wang Tao was about to take Ding Yuqin back to cook.

"Ah! I just remembered, I haven't stored any water at my place yet..."

Ding Yuqin suddenly smacked her forehead, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"...Then let's go to your place first. Cooking can wait."

Wang Tao had actually forgotten too.

"Thank you!"

After leaving Apartment 201, they had just reached the fourth floor when Wang Tao suddenly heard some noise coming from Room 401.

Wang Tao said nothing. Ding Yuqin instinctively hid behind him, nervously clutching the corner of his shirt.

She didn't know there was a survivor inside. She thought it was a zombie.

Wang Tao made a shushing gesture, then walked to the door of Room 401 and pressed his ear against it.

He vaguely heard a man inside cursing under his breath, seemingly complaining about the power outage and how he couldn't play games anymore. But as he cursed, he began to cry.

Wang Tao was speechless. Was electricity really the important thing right now? The important thing was how to survive from now on! Ding Yuqin had clearly heard the voice as well, but unlike Wang Tao's confusion, she could somewhat understand why the man had become so obsessed with games.

It wasn't because games were so fun. It was because he was already desperate. He didn't want to face this hopeless world. He was escaping reality.

If Wang Tao hadn't been here, maybe I would have become like that too...

Ding Yuqin felt a little fortunate.

"Let's go."

Wang Tao shook his head. It was someone else's business, and he had no desire to meddle.

When they reached the fifth floor, Ding Yuqin invited Wang Tao into her apartment.

"It's a little messy inside..."

Ding Yuqin was slightly embarrassed.

This was Wang Tao's first time visiting her home.

Ding Yuqin's apartment had the same layout as Room 602 upstairs: three bedrooms and two living rooms. However, her home was decorated more warmly and felt more lived-in.

The mess she mentioned was the pile of film props stacked in the living room.

"These are things Brother Zhao uses for work. He won't let me organize them... The house is a little messy, so please don't mind it."

"It's about the same as mine."

Wang Tao smiled and shook his head. If Ding Yuqin hadn't helped tidy his place, his home would have been even messier.

"Let's collect water first."

"Mm."

After working for a while, they got all the usable containers ready and turned on every faucet. Ding Yuqin said to Wang Tao, "Wang Tao, I can keep watch. It'll take a while to fill the bathtub, so you should sit down and rest for a bit..."

"Okay."

Wang Tao answered, but he didn't sit down. Instead, he looked around her home.

Her living room was large and well-lit.

A huge framed photo hung on the wall behind the sofa.

In the photo, a woman in a white wedding dress lovingly linked her arm through the arm of the man beside her, her face glowing with a brilliant smile. The man in formal attire gazed at her affectionately, his eyes gentle as water... Beneath the bright sunlight, the two of them seemed to be shining.

The people in the photo were Ding Yuqin and her husband, Zhao Yuan.

Beside the sofa stood a freestanding clothes rack, with a pure white strapless wedding dress hanging from it.

It was the same style as the wedding dress Ding Yuqin wore in the photo, or perhaps it was the very same dress. It was perfectly normal for wealthy people to buy a wedding dress they liked.

Wang Tao looked at the photo, then at the wedding dress.

He had heard that flat-chested women couldn't pull off this sort of dress. He always felt that certain parts of Ding Yuqin in the photo looked Photoshopped. Unfortunately, he had no way to prove it.

"Wang Tao, I'll get you a glass of water!"

Ding Yuqin came out of the bathroom. Since she had invited Wang Tao into her home, she felt it was a little inappropriate not even to offer him a drink.

Although it was already the apocalypse, it had only been a short time, and she still retained the politeness she had before.

When Ding Yuqin came over carrying a glass of water, Wang Tao suddenly asked:

"Brother Zhao contacted you before, right? How is he?"

"He... he's probably in grave danger!"

At the mention of her husband, Ding Yuqin's face immediately showed a trace of grief.

"He went to Film City early that morning for work. After the virus outbreak, he kept messaging me, telling me to hold on and wait for rescue. Then, the day before the internet was cut off, I stopped hearing from him. No matter how many messages I sent, he never replied... Sob..."

Overcome with sorrow, Ding Yuqin covered her face and cried.

"Brother Zhao is a good man. Maybe he's safe right now. Perhaps he isn't replying because his phone ran out of battery. Sister-in-law, don't worry too much..."

Wang Tao tried to comfort her.

"Sigh, that's impossible. He told me at the time that he'd borrowed a Power Bank. If you don't believe me, look..."

As she wiped away her tears, Ding Yuqin picked up her phone from the table.

Although there was no internet now, the chat app could still display locally stored conversation records.

But after she pulled up the chat history, her face suddenly turned red, and she put her phone away again.

"Ahem, the records were deleted... Um, I'll go see whether the water is full."

Ding Yuqin wiped her tears and quickly left in her pink-and-white sneakers.

She was clearly lying, but Wang Tao assumed there were private conversations between her and Zhao Yuan that she didn't want an outsider to see, so he didn't pay it any mind.

But in truth, Zhao Yuan had said some things about Wang Tao in his chats with Ding Yuqin, and they weren't flattering. Ding Yuqin didn't dare let Wang Tao see them. If she upset him and he stopped looking after her, she would have no choice but to wait for death...

When the apocalypse came, Zhao Yuan couldn't return home, so he could only comfort Ding Yuqin while thinking of solutions. Then, from other survivors, Zhao Yuan learned that Wang Tao was at home.

In terms of physical fitness alone, men naturally had an advantage over women. In a chaotic environment, having a man around was certainly more convenient. Especially Wang Tao, who was already big and strong and looked like someone not to be messed with.

Zhao Yuan and Ding Yuqin were Wang Tao's neighbors. Their relationship with him wasn't particularly close, but at least it wasn't bad.

So Zhao Yuan sent Wang Tao messages, hoping Wang Tao would look after Ding Yuqin. Once the chaos was over, he promised he would properly thank Wang Tao.

Yet Wang Tao never replied to a single message.

Around the time the apocalypse broke out, a claim became popular in certain small circles—people with better physical fitness were less likely to be infected by the virus, while those in poorer health were more susceptible.

Wang Tao later saw that baseless claim online too, but he didn't agree with it. Instead, he felt it was an excuse fabricated by certain people who wanted to abandon the elderly, the weak, women, and children.

Whether Wang Tao believed it or not didn't matter. What mattered was that other people believed it. Zhao Yuan, for instance, believed it.

So Zhao Yuan suspected that Wang Tao was deliberately ignoring his messages. Wang Tao didn't want to help his wife.

Of course, suspicion was just suspicion. Zhao Yuan continued messaging Wang Tao, and his messages remained polite.

But in his chats with Ding Yuqin, Zhao Yuan constantly cursed Wang Tao, insulted him in every way, and said he would make Wang Tao pay someday.

This was actually a display of powerless rage.

Zhao Yuan loved his wife very much. He didn't want her to get hurt.

But unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.