The next morning, it was Xu Shu who came upstairs to wake me up for breakfast.
The moment my consciousness returned—before I had even opened my eyes—I could already tell something was wrong.
My throat hurt, my nose was blocked, and when I sat up, I felt dizzy and unsteady.
No need to guess—I must've stayed on the rooftop too long last night and caught a cold.
When Xu Shu saw me, she froze for a second, then asked in surprise, "Why is your face swollen?"
I waved my hand at her, cleared my throat, and said hoarsely, "Just a cold… it's like this sometimes. I'm fine…"
"In this kind of heat? How did you catch a cold?" Xu Shu pulled open the curtains, then came over to check my forehead.
"Wow, you're really burning up. Wait here—I'll go downstairs and find some medicine for you."
With that, she hurried downstairs.
After sitting there for a moment, I got up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, changed clothes, and staggered my way downstairs.
By the time I finally made it to the first floor, Chen Pu, who was sitting on the sofa, spotted me first. "Sister Chen Yang… have you gained weight recently?"
Xu Shu smacked him on the head. "That's swelling."
Then she looked around the room, puzzled. "There's actually no medicine at home! Where did all the medicine go?"
Uncle Gazi poked his head out from the kitchen. "Whenever someone got sick before, that foreigner would bring medicine over. We never really had any ourselves. What's wrong? Who's sick?"
"Chen Yang. Seems like she has a fever."
"A fever? Caught a chill?"
I waved my hand and slumped onto the sofa. "It's fine. I've got a strong immune system—I'll be better by noon."
Just as I finished speaking, Han Xue came shouting down from the second floor, "Not one of the three kids has clothes that fit! What, are we supposed to tear down the curtains and make them clothes?"
"What's wrong?" Xu Shu looked toward Han Xue, who was dragging the kids downstairs, along with Lili carrying the baby.
Hearing that, Lili shook her head helplessly. "It's getting a bit cooler. Xue and I wanted to find some long-sleeved clothes to wrap them in, but everything is from last year—they don't fit at all."
"And that's not all—we're short on a lot of things." After listing a bunch of missing items, Han Xue made a decision.
"How long has it been since we last went out? That mall still has stuff we can take, right? Let's go today and get everything we need."
Xu Shu smiled helplessly. "You crazy girl—you're just bored and want to go out, aren't you?"
"What are you all talking about so lively?" Taozi came downstairs yawning.
Seeing his messy hair, I couldn't help but secretly smile.
"Hey, little Taozi—what do you think? Let's go to the mall today and bring back some clothes and supplies, okay?" Han Xue seemed to change Taozi's nickname every week.
"Don't call me that." Taozi rolled her eyes at Han Xue, then poured herself a glass of water and took a couple of sips before replying, "But we really should go get some things. I don't know what's going on, but for the past two or three months, aside from food, no daily necessities have been delivered, right?"
Hearing that, I raised my head slightly. "Seems like the planes transporting supplies lost contact, so things are running short. Not just us—the neighboring households are in the same situation."
"Ah… then will there be nothing left to take on the streets either?" Han Xue asked worriedly.
"Probably not. After all, the people in those residential areas rely on those supplies to live," Xu Shu said as she went into the kitchen to help Uncle Gazi bring out the prepared breakfast.
"Why don't we just go and see? Autumn's here anyway—let's treat it like an outing," Taozi said, clearly just as eager as Han Xue to go out for a walk.
Uncle Gazi brought out a pot of lean meat porridge and added, "It's cool in the morning, but by noon the autumn heat will kick in—it'll be hot enough to peel a layer off you."
"Not afraid of that. Getting some sun will help with photosynthesis," Han Xue said as she walked over and sat at the table.
"You young folks can go out then. These old bones of mine will stay home and watch the kids."
"I'm not going either. It's way too hot—I'd rather stay home and sleep," Chen Pu waved his hand.
Xu Shu shook her head as well. "I had insomnia until dawn last night. I need to go back and catch up on sleep."
Lili, holding the baby, said hesitantly, "I'd like to go… but there's no one to take care of the baby. If she doesn't see me at noon when it's time to sleep, she'll cry like crazy."
"Just bring her along. Borrow a stroller from the neighbor and we'll push her out with us," Taozi quickly suggested.
After Lili agreed, they finally remembered me slumped on the sofa. "Chen Yang, no need to ask—you're definitely coming with us, right?"
I weakly lifted my head and looked at them. "I won't go… my head feels heavy."
"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Only then did Han Xue and Lili notice something was off.
"Yeah, not feeling well."
"Oh wow, oh wow!" Hearing that, Taozi rushed over in an exaggerated tone.
"Quick, quick, let me interview the fallen giant. Ms. Chen Yang, what kind of method did you use to bring down that steel-like body of yours—stronger than Ultraman?"
I shot Taozi an annoyed glare, then got up, drank some water, and forced myself to eat a bit of breakfast with everyone, though I couldn't really taste anything.
I had planned to slump back onto the sofa afterward, but Taozi and Han Xue grabbed me and dragged me up anyway.
Their excuse was that going out for a walk and breathing different air would naturally clear out the virus.
When we were about to leave, Xiao Hu and Tingyun also wanted to come along, but one look from Han Xue shut them up completely—they didn't dare say another word.
We set off smoothly.
Lili drove the car Bruno had left with us, taking the three of us plus the baby toward the mall.
Along the way, I leaned against the seat, feeling my head grow heavier and heavier.
I'm just like this—if I don't get sick, I can go all year without any problems no matter what I do.
But once I do get sick, I'm guaranteed to suffer through it before slowly recovering.
This cold had come on fiercely.
It didn't look like I'd get through it without taking medicine.
Han Xue and Taozi chatted excitedly the whole way about all sorts of random topics.
Sometimes even just spotting a somewhat handsome guy sitting in a passing car would get them talking for ages.
Honestly, it's impressive how the two of them—different in gender but similar in orientation—get along so well.
We parked the car some distance from the street and got out to walk the rest of the way.
Xuanxuan was crying loudly.
With no other choice, Lili took her out of the stroller and held her.
Han Xue and Taozi were walking ahead, chatting animatedly, completely oblivious to what was happening behind them.
I pushed the stroller, wishing I could climb in and lie down myself.
"People really are strange these days. It's so hot, and he's still wearing a suit—doesn't he feel hot?"
"What?" I followed Lili's gaze and looked ahead.
Sure enough, a middle-aged man in a full suit was walking into the mall.
Rubbing my arms, I replied, "Maybe he's got a fever or a cold too. People get more sensitive to the wind as they get older."
It was still early, so there weren't many people around—just a sparse crowd here and there.
After we carried the stroller into the mall, Xuanxuan finally stopped crying.
Once she was placed back in it, she fell asleep obediently.
The first floor of the mall was filled with various snack vendors, with small snack shops scattered around every corner.
These were all free to take.
Han Xue and Taozi sampled their way through everything as we walked.
Watching them, I almost wondered if their breakfast had somehow gone into their clothes instead of their stomachs.
The clothing section was on the second and third floors, while the fourth floor was a large supermarket.
The old man's snack shop we'd mentioned before was tucked away in a corner on the first floor.
After bringing it up with Lili and the others, we decided to browse upstairs first before going down to find him—after all, we felt a bit embarrassed about asking him for things.
The second and third floors were even quieter, with only a handful of people wandering around besides us—fewer than ten in total.
The huge mall felt especially empty.
After making a round and picking out two sets of clothes each for Xiao Hu and Tingyun, we turned and headed up to the third floor.
Directly across from the elevator was a public restroom, and facing it was a large mirror.
Through the reflection, you could vaguely see the entrances to both the men's and women's restrooms.
Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but for a split second, it looked like a man and a woman went into the men's restroom together—the woman being held tightly in his arms.
"Chen Yang, I heard from the lady next door that the fifth and sixth floors are all home goods—piled high with quilts and blankets like mountains. I wonder if that's true," Han Xue said, clearly getting more and more excited as we wandered.
I glanced up at her on the escalator. "We'll just go take a look later and find out."
Unlike before, the mall no longer cared about neat and attractive displays.
Now it was more like stockpiling—every shop crammed full of goods.
It made sense, considering so many people relied on the supplies here to get by.
Practicality mattered most; quantity had to come first.
There were even fewer people on the third floor.
Aside from three shop attendants on duty and a dozing security guard, there was no one else around.
After finding slightly thicker clothes for everyone, I also picked out a pair of rubber-soled boots similar to hiking shoes.
Only then did I finally feel a bit relieved.
Since it was early and there weren't many people, the staff on duty actually chatted with us for quite a while.
Taozi and Han Xue could strike up a conversation with anyone.
Seeing them chatting enthusiastically, Lili and I simply found a small sofa in one of the shops and sat down, waiting patiently.
Listening to their conversation, I learned that the middle-aged woman selling shoes had quite a striking name—Jiang Honghua.
Han Xue and Taozi suppressed their laughter and politely addressed her as "Sister Hua."
Sitting there, a line of poetry suddenly came to mind: "At sunrise, the river flowers glow redder than fire."
Honestly, it suited Sister Hua's personality quite well.
Just as I was about to slump onto the sofa and take a proper nap, a couple—a man and a woman—walked into the shop.
When we heard the flat-haired man call the woman beside him "Xiao Rong," all of us instinctively looked up at them.
Before anyone could say anything, a sudden, agonizing scream from a woman rang out from downstairs.
The sound was incredibly sharp, echoing through the empty mall, making it all the more piercing and desolate.
We all froze for a moment, then instantly jumped to our feet.
I signaled for Lili to stay put with the baby, told Taozi and Han Xue to remain in the shop, and grabbed a mop leaning against the wall before rushing toward the elevator.
If I wasn't mistaken, that scream had come from the restroom on the second floor!
— The end of the Chapter–