The two of them didn't rush inside. Only after the dog confirmed they could enter without risking their health did they hold their breath and step through the metal door.
According to Yao Wei, they were both New Humans now, with physical abilities far beyond those of old humans. They could hold their breath for a long time, so there was no problem with holding their breath while they went in to take a look.
Just as they'd expected, the room was filled with row after row of vacuum-packed rice. The upper part of each bag was transparent, revealing pale white grains, each distinct, as though the years had left no trace and the rice were still fresh.
Lu Xi'an counted them. The rice filled the entire wall, stacked five piles across and ten bags high, and none of it had been damaged.
It must have been meant to supply the entire shelter. If there weren't too many people inside, it should have lasted for quite a while.
And now, it all belonged to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei. They could eat it for even longer.
"Too bad your car can't hold much..."
Once he was sure it was safe to breathe, Lu Xi'an said, then went farther in to look around.
Yao Wei followed behind him, pressing her lips together as she stared at the food. Her heart ached.
Why couldn't her car hold more?
Farther in, they found another wall.
The shelter hadn't just stocked rice; it had flour too. But flour couldn't be vacuum-sealed. The bags were simply stacked here, and the stored grain had already spoiled.
Unlike in the north, where the food could be preserved by constant cold winds, this place had also been exposed to the corrupt air. It was inevitable that the flour would spoil, just like the vegetables and meat.
Unwilling to give up, Lu Xi'an had the Mechanical Dog scan it. The dog confirmed that all the flour filling the wall had completely spoiled and was inedible.
Yao Wei looked even more heartbroken.
Lu Xi'an tried to comfort her. "Don't worry about it. We still have to keep moving, and we can't take all this stuff with us anyway, can we?
"Besides, flour's harder to deal with than rice, and it wouldn't be convenient for us to carry."
"Mm."
Yao Wei nodded, then glanced at Lu Xi'an again.
From what he'd said, she could tell that Lu Xi'an knew a lot about handling food.
He seemed to have come from before the world fell apart, and he understood all these things so well.
But that had been so long ago. He looked so young. How could he know so much?
Lu Xi'an noticed Yao Wei looking at him and turned around. She hurriedly looked away, flustered.
Lu Xi'an didn't bother asking. The woman wouldn't tell him anything anyway, so he might as well not ask.
He continued farther in. The next wall ran toward the entrance. There were six rows of boxes stacked against it, along with two rows of vacuum-packed millet.
This place had stocked millet as well as rice.
Lu Xi'an pointed to the millet and smiled at Yao Wei. "Look, more rice. We can eat this."
"Mm."
Yao Wei nodded again, not wanting to talk.
Most of the time, she simply wasn't used to talking. But now, she truly didn't feel like saying anything.
Here was more food they could eat, yet her car still couldn't take it all.
The more edible food they found, the more it hurt. Even more than seeing the spoiled flour.
Lu Xi'an had already gone to check the boxes.
They were clean, with nothing written on them, as though they'd just been made and no one had marked them.
Lu Xi'an carried one down, cut the packing tape with the Utility Knife he kept on him, then opened it. A moment later, he was struck by a pleasant surprise.
The box was packed full of bags!
Inside the bags were vacuum-sealed dehydrated vegetables!
The people who'd taken refuge here had not only prepared fresh vegetables; they'd planned ahead and stocked dehydrated vegetables as well!
He went over to the entrance, took down the outermost box, and opened it. That one was also packed with supplies, but instead of dehydrated vegetables, it was filled with vacuum-sealed sausages.
He quickly called the dog over to scan them. The dog confirmed that the sausages were still safe to eat and would have little effect on the human body.
"We've hit the jackpot!"
Lu Xi'an turned to Yao Wei with a grin.
Yao Wei had come up behind him and was standing there watching.
She'd seen sausages and dehydrated vegetables before. After years of wandering alone, she'd managed to find a little when she was lucky.
But she'd never imagined seeing so much at once.
What a surprise!
Yao Wei pressed her lips together. The more surprised she was, the more her heart ached.
"Ah..."
Lu Xi'an sighed. "Tell me, why does your car have to be so small? If only you had a car that required an A1 license."
Yao Wei didn't understand what Lu Xi'an meant by an A1 license, but she understood the rest of what he'd said. For some reason, she suddenly felt ashamed.
There was so much food, and she couldn't take it all. She could only let it go to waste. What else was there to feel but ashamed?
Still, after surviving in the apocalypse for so long, she wasn't the sort to dwell on pointless emotions. She quickly pulled herself together and said, "Let's clear this place out, then lock it up and mark it on the map."
"That's all we can do."
Lu Xi'an stood up and nodded.
They couldn't take all these supplies with them, so they could only leave them here for now as a storage point. If they ever found themselves at the end of their rope, they could come back. There'd be food and water to keep them alive.
They immediately got to work. First, they lifted the shelves piled with spoiled vegetables and meat and carefully carried them outside, moving them into the kitchen.
Fortunately, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were both incredibly strong now. Otherwise, they might not have been able to move such heavy shelves together, let alone carry them so steadily.
New Humans sure were useful... myself included.
--There were also unopened boxes of cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar at the bottom of the shelves, arranged neatly in a row.
Before moving the shelves, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had moved those supplies out of the way.
Those supplies needed to be stored in the cold room too. They would be part of their stockpile for the future.
As they carried all the shelves out and piled them in the kitchen, Lu Xi'an couldn't help thinking that.
Then Lu Xi'an fetched a broom, a mop, a shovel, and a dustpan from the kitchen. He and Yao Wei cleaned up the mess on the floor too.
The shovel looked brand-new, probably meant for serving food from a large pot. But it was perfect for scraping up the dried stains on the floor.
While they were at it, Lu Xi'an picked up a frying pan, a spatula, and a ladle that had been lying on the kitchen floor and put them in the storeroom.
Yao Wei's car didn't have any of these things. Now that they had all this rice and dehydrated vegetables, along with cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, the utensils would come in handy.
Once they'd finished, the two of them carried all the flour outside too.
The cold-storage room was suddenly much emptier, and the musty smell seemed to have almost disappeared. The air felt fresher, lifting both their spirits.
"Should we check the other rooms first and air this place out, then load things into the car after we're done exploring?"
Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei.
Yao Wei had no objection. She nodded and said, "Okay."
Before you continue