Seducing and Flirting with Boss O While Stockpiling in the Apocalypse (GL) - Chapter 50

Tao Zhihe chuckled as she stepped forward to glance at the man lying unconscious on the floor. She clicked her tongue a few times and let out a sigh, but it wasn’t out of pity—she was simply annoyed that she had made another trip for nothing.

As she turned to leave, she didn’t forget to order her people to push the body inside before slamming the door shut with a heavy thud.

Lin Fu, carrying a rod, followed closely behind Tao Zhihe with a fawning smile. Their group consisted of about a dozen people, but their scavenging efforts over the past few days had repeatedly failed. Their supplies were nearly exhausted; at this rate, there wouldn’t be enough to go around.

Reboarding the inflatable raft, Tao Zhihe straightened her hat. The wind blew against her face, carrying fine flecks of snow. As she reached up to wipe them away, she felt the scar on her face.

It was on her left cheek, not very long and faded by the passage of time—an accidental cut from her years as a boxing coach.

Looking out over the water, Tao Zhihe felt a sudden loss of direction. Over the past month, they had thoroughly picked over this part of District C. Almost everything edible had been consumed.

In the beginning, doing this kind of “unscrupulous” business wasn’t so bad when they only faced natural disasters and rain, but now they had zombies to deal with. It was becoming a real headache.

In just two short months, so many people had died that few were left. Tao Zhihe thought to herself that if she had been foolish enough to wait for a real rescue team, she would have been dead and buried long ago.

Their outfits were security uniforms taken from a hotel lobby, and their badges were of the same type. These uniforms looked virtually identical to the real thing from a distance; most people couldn’t tell they were fakes.

By posing as a rescue team, Tao Zhihe and her crew had easily seized a vast amount of supplies. Naturally, those fools waiting for a “heaven-sent savior” had become ghosts under their blades.

Yet, she didn’t consider herself a villain. At most, she was just someone starving who was “borrowing” things from others—call it emergency relief.

In this apocalypse, if you didn’t have strength and means, those supplies would likely go to waste on people who wouldn’t survive anyway. They were better off with her; at least she had a chance to see the end of this. With so many dead, who would care about a few more?

She had recently heard that the government had finally established shelters. Tao Zhihe planned to head there. After all, being protected by people with firearms and guaranteed three meals a day was much better than hiding and fleeing with nowhere to go.

However, the shelter in this city was in District A, the furthest point from them. The city was too large, and with no convenient transportation—plus the disasters and zombies—relying on the inflatable rafts beneath them meant it would take at least four or five days, maybe even a week, to arrive.

The rations for a dozen people were definitely not enough. Tao Zhihe planned to scavenge more before making the trek. She pulled a lollipop from her pocket that had been there for days, tore off the wrapper, and popped it in her mouth. As the hard candy clicked against her teeth, she glanced at Lin Fu behind her and gave a commanding look.

Lin Fu understood immediately. Without hesitation, she swung her rod and knocked two weak-looking men, who were sitting unprepared, into the water. She let them cry for help as the rest of the group looked on with indifference, continuing to row forward without a second thought.

Tao Zhihe nodded in satisfaction. Mhm, now the rations are much more sufficient.

She had done this quite a bit lately. If supplies ran low, she simply discarded a couple of useless underlings. She smiled and wiped the rainwater from Lin Fu’s face, then whispered, “We’re heading for the District A shelter now. How about we stop by District B on the way to scavenge? I know you’ve been wanting to go there.”

Lin Fu half-knelt before Tao Zhihe and took her hand, her eyes sparkling as she complied. Her voice was intentionally soft and sweet. “Okay. I’ll listen to everything you say, Sister.”

Once back on the raft, Tao Zhihe rewarded Lin Fu with a piece of bread. Lin Fu said thank you several times before starting to eat. Although a pleasing smile always hung on her face, only she knew it was a facade—a tool used solely to appease the woman in front of her.

Looking at the swaying, partially iced-over water, Lin Fu’s eyes held no warmth. She only hoped to reach the shelter quickly so she could finally live in peace.

Her thoughts drifted back to over a month ago. At that time, she was staying in a small inn in District C, quietly waiting for Luo Sheng and Nan Shuwan’s wedding the next day. She had been too curious; she thought the whole thing was absurd and suspicious.

But instead of a wedding, the torrential rain arrived.

At first, Lin Fu didn’t take it seriously, thinking it was just fickle weather. She planned to stay in the inn until it stopped. Directly across from her was the large restaurant where the wedding was supposed to be held. It was so close that she could see everything just by opening her window.

But the wedding never happened. She didn’t see a single car or a single person from the setup crew. Was it canceled due to the rain? She had specifically asked the front desk the day before, and they had confirmed the event.

At that point, Lin Fu still believed it, but she didn’t expect the rain to be so persistent. She was on the second floor of the inn and had paid for an extra night, thinking it would surely stop the next day.

But then came the second day, the third, the fourth… until the tenth.

The rain only got heavier, with wind, thunder, and lightning. People began to die, and the water level rose higher and higher. The news called it a once-in-a-century storm. That was when Lin Fu realized she was trapped.

Staying at the inn had been a whim; she hadn’t brought much food. All the food after the rain started was provided by the owner to calm the guests, but eventually, the owner stopped giving it out. The water rose to the third floor, and the inn only had four.

Starving and terrified, Lin Fu never imagined this would happen. The rescue teams never came. If she stayed, she was dead. She thought of the ten-story restaurant building across the way. Though she couldn’t swim well, she decided to risk everything for a chance to live.

She found some floating boards and a rope in the inn. Being light, she sat on them and drifted with the current. Luckily it was close; she made it inside the restaurant in minutes. Several others followed her lead.

But after so many days, the restaurant staff had long since fled. Only some guests remained. Food was scarce, and as the water rose, everyone moved up floor by floor. Lin Fu found a key at the front desk and picked a room to stay in.

But hunger eventually became unbearable. After finishing the two cups of instant noodles provided in the room, she thought about stealing from other rooms. That was how she found Li Sitian on the sixth floor, wailing in pain.

He had fallen in the hallway, clutching his leg and howling, while his son, Li Dabao, sat on the floor crying from hunger. They had been trapped for days, their food gone, with no way to escape. Li Sitian was searching the restaurant to see if there was anything left to eat.

Lin Fu felt a surge of surprise. She knelt on the floor, looking at him coldly, but asked politely, “Uncle, why are you here? Didn’t your niece… Luo Sheng, take you back?”

To her surprise, the mention of Luo Sheng set Li Sitian off. He spat heavily and cursed, “That cursed girl! Take me back? That wench tricked me into coming here!! ‘Wedding’ my foot—there was nothing, nothing at all! She left me here to die!!”

Lin Fu’s gaze darkened, and she asked, “Then why don’t you go find her?”

“Find her? With what?” Li Sitian sat up a bit, full of resentment. “I’m a country man, I don’t know my way around this big city. Last time she drove me here for nearly an hour—how am I supposed to remember the route? Besides, I’m a cripple! Where can I run?! This cold has flared up my old leg pain; it’s killing me!!”

Li Sitian cursed and massaged his calf painfully, while Li Dabao hiccuped through his tears beside him.

Lin Fu’s face grew colder as she listened. A wedding is scheduled, then a storm hits on the day, and these two were conveniently brought to a distant hotel the day before? Is there really such a thing as coincidence, or was it deliberate?

A multitude of clues swirled in Lin Fu’s head. She remembered seeing Luo Sheng frantically stockpiling at the supermarket… Stockpiling, rain, disasters… The pieces formed a terrifying reality in her mind. It was almost unbelievable…

Li Sitian saw her shifting expression and was about to shamelessly beg for food when a group of uninvited guests arrived at the hotel.

They scavenged quickly, moving up floor by floor, eventually reaching the sixth floor with plastic bags. That was where Lin Fu first saw Tao Zhihe. Back then, they weren’t disguised as rescuers; they were just raw, violent looters.

“Sister Tao, we only found this much. The others are settled, only…” the short-haired woman pointed at Lin Fu and the others. “Only these three left.”

The muscular woman called Sister Tao didn’t even look at her, merely shook her head and said coldly, “Throw them out.”

The meaning was clear: they were to be tossed into the water to drown. There were seven or eight of them with iron rods and long knives; resistance was impossible.

Li Sitian and Li Dabao were so scared they wet themselves, begging Tao Zhihe for mercy. Lin Fu was also terrified, her heart pounding frantically.

She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live. She had so much left to do; how could she die here?

In moments like these, one had to be calm. Just as Tao Zhihe’s underlings grabbed her arm, Lin Fu found the courage to shout, “Let me join you!”

The words caught Tao Zhihe’s attention. She finally looked at Lin Fu, leaning down to inspect her closely. It was a harmless, sweet, and innocent face, but the eyes were as cold and stubborn as a wolf’s.

Heh, interesting.

She chuckled, drawing a knife and sliding the back of the blade gently along Lin Fu’s cheek, whispering like a lover, “Do you know that to join us, you must first prove yourself? Can you… do it?”

Tao Zhihe tossed the knife to her. Lin Fu understood. Her body shook as she picked up the blade. Li Sitian backed away frantically on his hands, his face full of horror, muttering, “No… no!”

A flash of lightning illuminated Lin Fu’s face, making her look like a vengeful spirit.

But she had only one thought: she had to live. Lin Fu’s gaze turned icy. Amid the screams and pleas for mercy, she drove the knife down without hesitation. Blood splattered her cheek. As the two bodies were tossed out, she took a step from which there was no turning back.

Tao Zhihe clapped appreciatively and handed her a tissue. “Welcome to the group.”

Meanwhile, Luo Sheng was cooking at home. Beside her was Nan Shuwan, who had been sticking to her side for the past few days. Luo Sheng pinched a piece of meat and fed it to her. “How does it taste?”

“Mhm. Perfectly seasoned. Not bad.”

A sudden thumping sound came from outside the kitchen window. She leaned over to take a look.

Oh, just a flock of birds.

She didn’t think much of it and returned to the stove to add some seasoning. She had to hurry; she was supposed to play a few more rounds of Monopoly with Nan Chu and the others after dinner.