Huh, So It Was a Woman

He returned to the residential complex.

Diligently, he put each trash can back where it belonged. There was one on each side of this building, front and back, and the other buildings needed two as well.

Whether the other buildings had any residents was irrelevant.

That didn't matter. The trash cans were public property. Even if no one lived in the other buildings, the cans still needed to be there. It wasn't wasteful; it was simply a rule that had already been established.

Without rules, there could be no order. Without order, there could be no harmonious Sunshine Residential Complex.

After setting the trash cans in place, he left the residential complex to buy some supplies.

Old Man Wang and his wife, Old Man Zhou and his wife, and Sister Li and her daughter had all given him their bank cards to hold. He had to buy them enough supplies to live on.

He walked along the desolate streets.

He arrived at the Vegetable Market.

Standing at the intersection, he was hit by a pungent stench.

Ugh—

He couldn't help feeling like he was going to throw up.

It wasn't that he particularly wanted to vomit. It was just that the smell here was truly overpowering, almost unbearable.

"Ah, what a shame..."

The gloomy Vegetable Market was silent. There was no smell other than that of rotting food—not even the snarls of zombies. Perhaps even the zombies couldn't stand the stench and had left.

"I really want to clean this place up, but I still have so many things to do."

He stood at the entrance, silent for several seconds.

Sure enough, society couldn't function without sanitation workers.

He turned and left.

He didn't linger.

He kept walking and soon arrived at a supermarket.

He stopped and calmly surveyed the place. A zombie was hunched in a dim corner, gnawing on flesh. Backlit, its silhouette looked desolate and horrifying.

"Ahem..."

He gave a soft cough.

The zombie, which had been feasting, froze. Slowly turning its head, it revealed a mouth covered in blood. It clutched some unidentifiable organ in both hands, its gray-white eyes rolling as it swayed to its feet and snarled viciously at him.

It lunged toward him.

Slash!

A flash of swordlight, and the corpse split apart, crashing to the ground. From the zombie's clothes, he could tell that it had probably been a delivery rider when it was alive.

"People spend their whole lives eating. Even after turning into zombies, all they do is eat."

He entered the supermarket.

This was the nearest large supermarket to Sunshine Residential Complex. It had everything, from snacks and toys to clothes, vegetables, meat, and more.

The supermarket was a mess. Dried blood covered the floor. There had probably been a huge disturbance inside during those days. Normally, anyone bitten by a zombie would turn into one themselves. Only those unlucky enough to encounter a horde, have their insides torn out, or be left with a shattered body couldn't turn. They became food for the zombies instead.

Perhaps that was why he had found it so hard to spot any corpses in the streets.

They had all turned into zombies.

He didn't think much of it.

There were shopping carts by the entrance. He pushed one toward the second floor via the escalator. The escalator had stopped, so he shoved the cart up, making a dull rumbling sound. Any ordinary person in this situation would have been extremely careful, afraid of making noise and attracting zombies.

Soon, he reached the second floor.

This was the food section, where all kinds of food could be found.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

He called softly into the quiet second-floor area. There wasn't a sound. Apart from his breathing, he couldn't hear anything at all.

The silence made him feel a little uncomfortable. In the past, the supermarket had been packed with people, bustling with activity, and every customer had worn a smile as they shopped.

But now... it was all gone.

"Huh!"

Several headless corpses lay on the floor.

One!

Two!

Three!

They had no heads, but judging by their chests, they were three men. They had backpacks and weapons beside them.

An axe.

A cleaver.

Blood still trickled from their severed necks. Judging by how things looked, they hadn't been dead long.

"They must have come to buy things and were about to check out and leave when something happened." Lin Fan took one look and spotted the problem. Their backpacks were bulging, so they had clearly finished shopping.

He looked to one side and finally spotted their heads.

"Ah."

Lin Fan sighed, walked over, and picked up their heads, placing them back against their necks. People belonged with their roots. They were all from Huang City, and even in death, they shouldn't be left incomplete. He couldn't bring them back to life, but he could at least put their heads back where they belonged.

"Why is one of these heads a woman's?"

He looked at the head in his hands, then at the corpse beside him, and finally realized what was wrong.

He'd mistaken her for a man.

The woman had a small chest and was wearing a sleeveless shirt, so he hadn't been able to tell.

Once he had finished,

he continued browsing the supermarket.

He came to the freezers, where various frozen dumplings, tangyuan, wontons, and other foods were stored. The power was still on, and the freezers were running as usual, keeping the food fresh for longer.

"Three-delicacy dumplings. Hmm, they taste good. Two bags for Sister Li, and four for the four elderly people."

"Wontons are good too. I can get a few bags."

He picked things out quietly. Whenever he chose a food, he checked its ingredients, production date, and expiration date. That was how he had always shopped.

Even though it was a supermarket, many of them liked to put food that was close to expiring right at the front so they could sell it quickly.

The vegetable section.

All kinds of vegetables were wrapped in plastic film and sold in individual portions. They were certainly more expensive than at the Vegetable Market. Of course, he couldn't judge them on value for money alone. He had to consider how well they kept, their appearance, and their packaging.

Greens, bell peppers, ginger, spinach, carrots, potatoes, and more.

"Feifei is still young and needs good nutrition. I should buy some nutritious vegetables."

"The four elderly people are getting on in years. They shouldn't eat anything too greasy. I need to make sure their meals are balanced."

He was like an experienced caregiver, taking great care when choosing vegetables. Some vegetables weren't wrapped in plastic, and during this time, they had probably started to spoil, so he had to choose carefully.

"Oh, right. I still need to get chicken bouillon, salt, oil..."

There were so many things to buy that he pushed the cart around, muttering to himself as if afraid he might forget something. Shopping took a lot of thought. It was enjoyable, but when you had a lot to buy, it was easy to forget one or two things.

Inside the supermarket, Lin Fan was the only one pushing a cart. He took his time examining the goods on the shelves, choosing carefully without any hurry.

Sometimes, when he came across goods scattered on the floor, he picked them up and put them back on the shelves.

It was something he could do.

Nothing wrong with that.

"The elderly have slower metabolisms, and they lose bone mass faster. I should get high-calcium milk. Oh, I don't know whether any of the four elderly people have high blood pressure or diabetes. Hmm... I'd better get unsweetened, high-calcium milk."

"Feifei is still a child. She'll definitely prefer something flavored. This one should be good."

Suddenly,

a faint sound reached him.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

He looked toward the source of the sound. In the quiet surroundings, a sudden noise was unsettling to anyone.

When he saw what had made the sound,

he couldn't help laughing.

It was a basketball.

But the basketball... why had it suddenly started moving?

He looked around.

The window was open. Had the wind blown in?