Chapter 8: Chapter 8 The Apocalypse Has Arrived Chapter 8: Chapter 8 The Apocalypse Has Arrived Lu Ruisheng glanced through the peephole; it was the owner from opposite his door, apartnt 702, Chen Shaonan. In this building, there was one apartnt per landing, and across from him lived a couple, both teachers. They had a boy of about fifteen or sixteen.
Since Lu Ruisheng and Gu Pan had previously rented a place and only moved here after getting married, they were not very familiar with the neighbors but could at least recognize them.
In the past couple of days, Gu Pan had ntioned to him that, after the apocalypse began, the neighbors across hadn’t left their house. Soon after the power and internet went out, the family of three left and never returned, leaving no clue if they had an accident while looking for food or had gone sowhere else, which was why they just disappeared.
Lu Ruisheng opened the door and called out, “Teacher Chen.”
Chen Shaonan wasn’t very tall and wore glasses. He said to Lu Ruisheng, “When I finished work and went to the supermarket, many people were already panic buying. I was worried that since you two just got married, you might not have much food stored at ho. I thought I’d remind you, if you don’t have much at ho, you should take the opportunity to go out now and buy so.”
In their previous life, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng had been worried about the construction site and were still outside at this ti. It seed that their neighbors had also co to check on them before, but since no one was at ho, they hadn’t known.
Lu Ruisheng was thankful for Chen Shaonan’s words. Seeing that it wasn’t late, he suggested, “We usually co back ho late, so we’ve stocked up quite a bit of food. However, Teacher Chen, the weather forecast just now said there will be heavy snow tomorrow. If it’s snowing in September, food prices will probably soar soon. Wouldn’t it be better to be prepared in advance and go buy so more food?”
He felt that since the other party had reminded them, they should also return the favor. Besides, going out together to stock up would make it seem more justified when he and Gu Pan had ample food in the future.
Chen Shaonan thought for a mont, “You’re right. The weather is indeed worrying. Having so extra rice at ho does make things feel more secure. I’ll go ho and tell my wife, and then we can go.”
“Alright, I’ll put on my coat,” Lu Ruisheng said before returning to his room.
Gu Pan heard everything and agreed with Lu Ruisheng’s approach. She said, “When you go out later, buy so extra stuff. If the neighbors don’t lack food, we can feel more at ease, too.”
They both understood what she ant. Lu Ruisheng agreed and, after getting dressed and equipped, took the keys and left.
Gu Pan cooked at ho, waiting for Lu Ruisheng to return.
Three hours later, hearing Lu Ruisheng’s voice in the corridor, she opened the door.
Both of them had brought back a lot of stuff. Teacher Chen’s wife, Duan Shui, and their son, Chen Lang, had also co out. After exchanging greetings, they hurried to bring their haul back into their hos, as they had all purchased a considerable amount and needed to properly store it.
Before closing the door, Gu Pan reminded them that the sudden drop in temperature might cause the water pipes to burst and suggested they store so water just in case.
After returning ho, Lu Ruisheng began to organize the supplies while saying, “Many cautious people have gone out to hoard supplies. We went to so small shops in the suburbs to get all this at triple the price.”
“We can relax now,” Gu Pan said. “Let’s wash up and have dinner; I’ve made your favorite braised eggplant and pork rib winter lon soup.”
The two sat at the dining table, sharing what might be their last al before the apocalypse, as tomorrow would mark the start of a new era.
After eating, they went downstairs to store the car in the ‘Space’ and, once ho, they sat on the sofa browsing through various ssages on their phones.
Online forums and video websites were full of extre weather forecasts, comnts, and screenfuls of mixed opinions.
So said it was just a natural phenonon by Mother Nature; it would snow this season, but it would lt in a day with no serious consequences.
Others claid it was the sign of an incoming apocalypse, but most dismissed such talk as fearmongering and ridiculed it as alarmist nonsense.
Of course, many people started discussing stockpiling: one ntioned their grandmother had hoarded a room full of food in case they couldn’t go out for a few days, while another said their family hadn’t hoarded anything at all, arguing that delivery services like so group-purchase apps send everything anyway. Even if prices were a bit higher, they said they weren’t lacking money and delivery fees had only tripled recently.
Gu Pan sighed as she read the comnts, knowing that such a network wouldn’t last much longer.
When they lay down at night, the room was already very cold, but they didn’t turn on the air conditioning, as the air conditioner wouldn’t heat in extrely cold environnts, so they brought out the electric heater instead.
With hot water bottles, electric mattress pads, and electric heaters, there should be no problem.
At night, the two of them huddled together, which made them warr, and Gu Pan told Lu Ruisheng about her past life until they fell asleep in the early hours.
The next morning, the couple woke up at dawn, and even with the electric heater and the electric blanket, they felt very cold.
They ran to the window, where it was too foggy out to see far; the wind was whirling the snow in a dense flurry.
They had replaced their windows with ones that were soundproof, making it relatively quiet, but looking at the scene outside, it was as if they could hear the howling of the fierce wind.
“The apocalypse has co,” Gu Pan’s voice trembled because the painful mories from experiencing it once were too many.
Lu Ruisheng hugged her from behind, “We will get through this life safely, I will always be by your side.”
Gu Pan turned and hugged Lu Ruisheng tightly, “Actually, I am very grateful to God for having you in both my past and present lives.”
Lu Ruisheng kissed the top of Gu Pan’s head, “I feel the sa.”
While they were talking, Lu Ruisheng’s phone rang, it was Guo Gang. Lu Ruisheng answered, “Ruisheng, are you and your wife doing okay?”
“We’re fine,” Lu Ruisheng said, “How about you?”
“All good here too. By the way, I really appreciate those instant noodles and self-heating als you sent over yesterday. I had bought so in advance, and with what you sent, it’s stacked up halfway around the room. It keeps at ease at ho.”
“It just so happened that I caught up in ti. I don’t have many friends, just us comrades in arms, and in Yang City, it’s just the two of us. If I didn’t give it to you, I couldn’t have given it to anyone else.”
“That’s settled then, I know you too well to stand on ceremony with you. Please also thank your sister-in-law for .”
“Sure, and take care of your family. I’ve heard this weather will last a long ti, so manage your resources at ho properly.”
“Understood, don’t worry. We’ll keep in touch over the phone if anything cos up,” Guo Gang said.
“Keep in touch,” Lu Ruisheng hung up the phone and then saw many new notifications popping up on his mobile phone, all about the blizzard.
The national advisory was not to go out until after the blizzard had ceased, as the country was researching and discussing solutions, reassuring everyone that they would restore normalcy as soon as possible.
Gu Pan also looked at these ssages next to Lu Ruisheng: “The network will be down in half a month, and by then the order will be completely in chaos.”
They spoke while putting on their warm undershirts and added thick pajamas on top before leaving the bedroom and sitting on the sofa in the living room.
Since the living room also had the electric heater on overnight, it wasn’t frozen, but that was limited to above zero degrees.
They were in the north with insulated exterior walls, and every household had various thick clothes, electric mattress pads, and heated tatami mats, so it was relatively better. However, their compatriots in the south on the internet were endlessly lanting.
Gu Pan opened her WeChat, and every group chat showed 99 ssages. Previously, she had muted notifications, but now she released them, and the sound of notifications was incessant.
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