Natural Disaster Hoarding to Survive Daily

            ◎ Happy 18th Day: Dairy Products ◎

The weather was nice this weekend, with the temperature dropping to thirty degrees, finally resembling autumn.

For others, it was a weekend for office workers to take a break and for friends to go out and relax.

For Jiang Muyun, who has been lazing around for several days, this is like a hermit student on vacation, but her parents are dragging her out for a trip.

In just a few days, Jiang Muyun had already forgotten about her energetic self, who used to run to factories every day.

When she compared the two, Jiang Muyun felt that those days of lazing around at home as a couch potato were even happier.

Qin Shiwu's car was temporarily converted into a delivery truck, so the remaining three people and a dog followed Qin Shiwen's car.

Both cars were filled to the brim as they drove towards the wetland park on the outskirts of South City. Along the way, they could see many families going out to play.

When they arrived at the camping site, they found that several tents had already been set up on the ground.

They arrived early enough and successfully found a flat, grassy area. Zhao Jiahao even inspected the moisture content of the grass properly.

Jiang Muyun tied Little White to the car, and Qin Shiwu lifted Zhao Jiahao and said, "Stop looking and start moving things."

Li Anxuan dragged the tent out of the car and slammed it on the ground, shouting loudly, "Hold on, let's set up the tent and canopy first, then we can start unloading."

The group of novice campers thought it made sense and quickly put down what they were holding and started setting up the tent.

It took them a while to gather around and watch the instructional videos on their phones, flipping through them several times. It took them over half an hour to assemble the ultra-lightweight tent Jiang Muyun had bought.

After finally setting up everything that needed to be assembled and finishing the moving, the scene looked quite spectacular. Many people around were amazed by their moving and transportation styles.

But the exhausted few people felt dizzy with hunger, staring at the insulated box with eyes that seemed to emit green light.

"Let's make a fire!" Jiang Muyun waved her hand and opened a box of charcoal.

Then they struggled with the highly flammable barbecue charcoal for nearly an hour. The sawdust and wood chips were almost burned out, but the fire still didn't successfully ignite.

The young people who had boasted about how easy it was to light a fire and said, ‘Isn't it just starting a fire? Anyone can do it without looking for tutorials’, lost their stubbornness.

Zhao Jiahao contemplated the various causes of fires he had witnessed in the past, and they were quite diverse and peculiar.

Now, when they were trying to start a fire with flammable materials, they couldn't even manage to light it.

Intern firefighter Zhao Jiahao muttered, "This shouldn't happen. We have met all the conditions, so why isn't it igniting?"

The four people, covered in soot and hungry, now had a look of despair as they searched for tutorials on their phones while Little White anxiously ran around them.

There was no such thing as instant noodles or biscuits.

They had to get the fire going today! It was a matter of dignity!

Jiang Muyun wasn't surprised at all by this result.

Come on, after stuffing the barbecue grill with charcoal, if it was easy to ignite, that would be strange!

They were holding tinder, not a flamethrower!

But she couldn't say that.

Because she had initially relied on her "adorable newbie" appearance, claiming that "charcoal needs to be fully spread in the barbecue grill," she managed to convince a group of other adorable newbies to buy over a dozen boxes of smokeless charcoal.

The middle-aged uncle next door, who brought his child out to play, finally couldn't stand it anymore.

Under the guidance of the uncle, they arranged the charcoal piece by piece to form a hollow frame, then ignited the alcohol block that the uncle kindly gave them and waited for two minutes. The charcoal caught fire.

Li Anxuan almost burst into tears of joy.

He had never been so happy to see fire burn.

The uncle looked affectionately at the silly kids and reminded them before leaving, "Just grill like this. When it's down to half, add more charcoal, piece by piece. Don't pile it all up."

The five tall young people obediently nodded, almost saluting the uncle.

The chaotic camping activities continued until the evening, and they didn't even use up one box of charcoal.

Things like instant noodles remain untouched.

Things that were hard to come by were easier to cherish. They spent the whole day competing for the barbecue. They even skewered fish balls on bamboo skewers before eating them.

The things grilled over this pile of charcoal were more delicious than anything made in any restaurant.

After eating and having fun to their heart's content, they drove back home amidst laughter and joy. When they entered the garage and parked the car, they began to worry about the pile of cardboard boxes.

Jiang Muyun said sincerely, "I didn't spend money on these things; they belong to all of you. Feel free to take them; no need to be polite."

During the previous bulk shopping, the other four people mentioned that Jiang Muyun provided the tent, canopy, tables, chairs, and benches, so they would take care of the food and water.

The barbecue grill and portable stove were easy to divide; they could just take one each.

As for the remaining grilled meat, hot pot balls, and snacks, as well as the untouched instant noodles and biscuits, they could distribute them among themselves. Everyone can choose a few and have a share.

Even if they didn't cook at home, they could store them in the refrigerator without worrying about them disappearing. What if they felt like cooking someday?

The only trouble were the several unclaimed boxes of smokeless charcoal.

They were quite expensive, and they couldn't bear to throw them away. Taking them home, however, felt like a constant reminder of what a big failure they were.

Jiang Muyun took the tent bag out of the car and innocently asked, "Aren't we going upstairs?"

Li Anxuan fell silent for a moment and suggested, "Let's each carry two boxes. Jiang Muyun can have the extra ones as a tent rental fee."

Zhao Jiahao supported his good brother, saying, "No problem, that's settled."

If they were embarrassed, they would be embarrassed together. When they bought the charcoal, everyone agreed, and no one thought the quantity was an issue.

Qin Shiwu glanced at his watch and pondered, "It's already 8 o'clock..."

Qin Shiwen truly lived up to being Qin Shiwu's sibling. She immediately understood, saying, "Those on the 955 work schedule have already arrived home, while those on the 996 schedule haven't finished work yet. The ones having dinner together in the evening haven't dispersed yet, and those eating at home have likely finished their meal early. Aunt Wang and the others should be taking a stroll outside to aid digestion."

Jiang Muyun also showed her understanding of the two, "We'll take the elevator directly from B1, we definitely won't bump into Aunt Wang and the others."

Being surrounded and questioned by a group of neighbors was a nightmare for young people in the modern era.

Its level of horror was no less than encountering the soul-searching of elders during the Lunar New Year: "What's your rank in the final exams?", "How much is your salary?", "Do you have a partner?", "When are you planning to have children?"

Among everyone present, except for Jiang Muyun, no one is unafraid of being intercepted by Aunt Wang.

Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan also had worried looks on their faces.

Just after moving in, the only time they were pulled into a conversation by the neighborhood aunties was with Jiang Muyun in front of them.

But when they were still in school, they experienced the nightmare of being questioned about their grades by neighbors countless times.

In the same world with the same group of neighbors, in neighborhoods where there were many acquaintances, they could never escape this encounter.

If they were questioned again about why they brought back a bunch of charcoal, they truly didn't know how to explain it.

They couldn't possibly bring up their own foolish actions again, could they? The best solution was to play dumb.

Even Zhao Jiahao, who was sociable by nature, would feel anxious in such awkward conversations.

What happened to the cold neighborhood relationships in big cities that they had expected?

A group of young people yearning for a detached metropolitan life nervously entered the elevator, with even Little White, the dog, affected by the atmosphere, walking stealthily like a cat.

There weren't many people returning home at this hour. The elevator stopped on the first floor for a while, and a few unfamiliar neighbors got on. Then they smoothly arrived at the fifteenth floor.

It wasn't until they stepped out of the elevator and stood in the hallway on the fifteenth floor that they breathed a sigh of relief and went home with their belongings.

Jiang Muyun, who achieved her goal, was feeling doubly great at the moment. Plus, they had gone out for an activity, and that lazy feeling of not wanting to go anywhere had dissipated.

Tomorrow, it was time to get some real work done!

Jiang Muyun bathed Little White, who was covered in dirt from playing all day, and inexplicably felt uplifted.

The next day, Jiang Muyun, who was in an excited mood to do some work, left Little White alone at home.

Just before Jiang Muyun went out, Little White persistently tugged at her pant leg, trying to use its cuteness to soften the heart of her bad sister.

But the bad sister was cold and heartless. She grabbed Little White by the back of its neck and dragged it away.

Then, before Little White could pounce, she successfully closed the door.

Today, Jiang Muyun planned to wholesale some protein, and it was highly likely that pets would not be welcomed, so she had to leave Little White at home to guard the door and review the required course for keeping a pet in advance.

There are quite a few dairy processing factories around South City, and all the major, well-known brands are present.

Jiang Muyun chose her most frequently consumed brand and bought plenty of fresh milk, yogurt, and powdered milk. She didn't forget the cheese that she had been longing for.

The prices of domestic cheese brands compared to imported ones were really affordable. When Jiang Muyun saw the prices, she started calculating all the ways she could enjoy the cheese in her mind.

Since the processing factories were owned by the major brands themselves, Jiang Muyun couldn't buy unpackaged products directly from the source as she had hoped. They were all automated production lines, providing a one-stop service from processing to packaging, and the products were already packaged when they left the factory.

But Jiang Muyun was content that she could buy them at the current prices.

Jiang Muyun planned to keep half of the fresh milk and yogurt at room temperature and refrigerate the other half.

For all the products, she chose the best-selling varieties of each brand. Only for powdered milk and cheese did Jiang Muyun opt for the larger packages.

The reason was simple: they were cheaper.

After buying the dairy products, Jiang Muyun's budget for hoarding was almost depleted.

When she hadn't completed her entire shopping list, she bought everything within the budget, and every saving was a pleasant surprise.

Back then, everything seemed quite cheap, and the amount of goods she could buy with the predetermined amount was always more than expected.

Now that the major purchases were done and she had entered the free shopping phase, Jiang Muyun felt like everything was good but also expensive, and she couldn't afford anything.

After ordering the dairy products, Jiang Muyun painfully ignored all the signs advertising wholesale cold drinks on the street and headed straight for the suburban breeding farm.

She hadn't bought eggs yet, so she had to restrain herself for now.

***

Author's note:

The method of igniting the charcoal was made up based on a video I watched of someone igniting charcoal for camping. I have never successfully done it myself. Every time, I could only gather a bunch of dry twigs and hay and throw the charcoal into the fire pit. How long it takes for the charcoal to ignite is basically a matter of luck. Tears.JPG