Chapter 83
"It’s been two days since the power went out in his neighborhood," Suzy explained. "He came to buy a power bank, but they’re all sold out. Luckily I have some in my car—I’ll give him one later."
The atmosphere felt a little strange to her, so she quickly added, "Let’s hurry up and finish shopping. It’s getting late. By the way—did you walk here, or drive?"
The last question was directed at Derek. "I walked," he said. "My neighborhood’s nearby—it’s not far."
Driving wasn’t really necessary. There wasn’t much they could buy anyway, so he had simply come on foot.
"In that case, we can give you a ride back later," Suzy said.
There was still space in the car. Even if it got a little cramped, they could easily fit another person—Derek’s place was on the way anyway.
She winked at Leonard. "That’s okay, right, Uncle?"
Leonard glanced briefly at Thomas before nodding. "Yeah, that’s fine."
The four of them weighed their rice, picked out a few items under purchase limits, and finally grabbed some daily necessities.
Prices had skyrocketed. Food, especially grain, had tripled in cost. Everyday items had increased too, though not quite as drastically.
Those were still officially controlled prices.
In the private markets, the same goods could cost ten times more.
In the end, the four of them barely filled a single small shopping bag. Once everything was placed in the trunk, they prepared to leave.
Nearby, a commotion had broken out—someone had apparently tried to sneak extra supplies past the checkout and had been caught.
The four of them didn’t linger.
They quickly got back into the car.
As fate would have it, they encountered Julia’s pink electric scooter again on the road. They seemed strangely destined to cross paths.
They had run into her on the way here, and now again on the way back. But this time, the scooter wasn’t moving.
In the glow of the headlights, Suzy saw the little pink vehicle lying pitifully on its side.
A black sedan was parked behind it. It looked like a minor traffic accident. No one seemed injured—both people involved were very much alive and loudly arguing.
"Uncle, slow down," Suzy said.
Leonard eased off the gas.
Suzy rolled down the window, and the heated argument outside poured straight into the car.
"You shameless bastard!" Julia shouted, pointing furiously at the sedan’s driver. "You hit my vehicle and you still have that attitude? I’m calling the police! I’m calling them right now!"
Her voice rang loudly through the street. "You’re paying for this! You have to pay! My scooter’s practically ruined! My bones hurt—I think they might be broken! If you don’t pay fifty thousand, you’re not leaving!"
Her voice was full of vigor. Judging by her energy, she seemed perfectly fine physically.
The man she was yelling at—the sedan’s driver—was clearly furious too.
"Bullshit!" he spat. He swatted away the finger she was jabbing near his nose. "Do you have any shame? You know exactly how this happened! If you hadn’t been hogging the middle of the road and blocking my car on purpose, would I have hit you?!"
"I—" Julia tried to respond, but he cut her off.
"And if you hadn’t slammed on the brakes out of nowhere, would I have crashed into you?! This is your fault! And now you’re trying to scam me out of fifty thousand? Who do you think you are?!"
At that moment, the passenger door of the sedan opened. A woman with wavy hair stepped out quickly. "Honey, stop wasting time arguing with idiots. Let’s go!"
She moved swiftly.
While Julia was still yelling at the driver, the woman bent down and grabbed Julia’s shopping bag from the ground.
Inside were the groceries Julia had just bought.
"Hey! What are you doing?! That’s mine!" Julia shrieked, lunging forward.
The woman stepped back lightly and sneered.
"Yours? Someone like you—pulling fake accidents to extort money—deserves to eat this stuff?"
She weighed the bag in her hand and snorted. "Let’s call this compensation for the emotional distress you caused our car. Honey, let’s go!"
The couple worked in perfect sync. They opened the car doors and jumped inside.
"Give that back! Don’t leave! You thieves! Bastards! May you die horrible deaths!"
Julia lunged toward the car, screaming and crying.
The windows rolled up. The black sedan started.
The driver even nudged the car forward slightly, forcing Julia to stumble backward.
All she could do was watch helplessly as the car sped away. She collapsed onto the road, completely lost.
"My food... those were mine..." Her voice cracked as she wailed. "You’ll all die terrible deaths... you’ll all die..."
Suzy quietly rolled the window back up, shutting out the suffocating sound of Julia’s crying.
Silence filled the car. The atmosphere felt heavy.
"People will do anything for a bit of food now," Leonard sighed. "Though honestly... that woman kind of brought it on herself."
He had heard the whole argument. It was hard to feel sorry for her.
If she had simply driven properly along the side of the road, none of this would have happened.
She had been reckless on the way to the supermarket—and still hadn’t learned her lesson on the way back.
Even slamming on the brakes like that. Was she trying to get herself killed? The incident quickly faded from their minds.
Soon, they arrived at Derek’s neighborhood. Most of the buildings were completely dark. Only a few faint lights flickered here and there.
Leonard pulled over by the roadside.
Suzy opened the door and said, "Uncle, I’ll go up with him for a moment. I’ll give him the power bank—and check things out a bit. I’ll be back soon."
Leonard glanced at her, then at Thomas beside him, whose expression remained cool and unreadable.
He nodded. "Alright. Be quick. Stay safe."
Suzy opened the trunk, pulled out a bulging backpack, and grabbed the food they had just bought.
"Let’s go," she said to Derek. "I’ll walk you upstairs."
Derek looked surprised and waved his hands quickly. "Suzy, that’s not necessary. Just give me the power bank and I can go up myself—"
"Stop talking and lead the way," Suzy cut him off.
Derek blinked. A warm feeling passed quietly through his chest. "...Okay."
"Wait," Leonard suddenly said from the driver’s seat.
"I’ll stay here and watch the car. Thomas, you go with them."
He gave Thomas a small shove.
In the end, Thomas joined them.
The three of them took out flashlights and climbed the stairs in the dark, making their way up to the sixth floor.
Derek unlocked the door. The moment it opened, a wave of stifling heat rushed out.
Inside the apartment, it was pitch black—far darker than the hallway.
Derek moved around with practiced ease and lit a candle. Thankfully, after Suzy had reminded him earlier, he had stocked up on quite a few candles.
"Thomas, wait here for a moment," Suzy said.
"Alright."
She gestured for him to stay in the living room. Then she pulled Derek into the nearest room, which turned out to be his supply storage room.
All the supplies Suzy had previously helped him buy were stacked neatly there.
"Do you still have enough food?" Suzy asked while rummaging through her backpack.
She pulled out three fully charged high-capacity power banks—freshly taken from her storage space.
Derek stood very close beside her.
His voice was soft. "...Thanks to you, Suzy."