Rebirth: I Will Win Easily in the Apocalypse-Chapter 15 - 9 Middlemen

The return journey proved much more strenuous than the trip there. On the way to the mall, they had the current of the floodwater to aid them, and reached their destination with little effort. Coming back, however, only Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao were rowing against the flow, and the number of boats on the water had increased, leading to several collisions Gu Yanzhi had witnessed.

Thankfully, both Gu Yanzhi's and Song Zhao's rowing experience was abundant, allowing them to return to their apartment building safely and without incident.

With the help of others who had stayed behind, the two managed to climb up to their floor.

"Mr. Song, Miss Gu, why have only the two of you returned? Where are the others?" People bombarded them with questions as soon as they arrived.

"We split up at the mall, but don't worry, everyone managed to get a boat," Song Zhao reassured them, trying to calm their concerns.

"Phew, I'm exhausted," Gu Yanzhi couldn't even bother to change out of her wet clothes before collapsing on the floor, breathing heavily as soon as they entered their apartment.

After rowing the boat and briskly climbing up 17 floors, Gu Yanzhi was on the brink of collapsing from exhaustion. Gu Yanlin and Song Zhao, meanwhile, were much better off, only slightly sweaty.

"The floor's cold, get up," after a short break, Song Zhao helped Gu Yanzhi off the ground and pushed her towards the bedroom, following her in, "Go change out of those wet clothes."

"Sister, brother-in-law, how are things outside?"

It took a while before Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao emerged from their bedroom, freshly bathed and changed, with Song Zhao standing behind Gu Yanzhi, towel-drying her hair.

They briefly updated Gu Yanlin on the current situation outside.

Their conversation was interrupted by a series of loud knocks on the door.

"Huffing and puffing..."

As soon as Gu Yanlin opened the door, he saw Zhang Qian outside, gasping for breath. It took her a moment to catch her breath before she finally greeted them, "Gu Yanlin, Sister Yan Zhi, brother-in-law."

"Qianqian, what's going on?" Gu Yanzhi raised her head and smiled as she heard the voice.

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"Sister Yan Zhi, my dad and the others are back, and now everyone's thinking of going out to help the other residents of the community. Many people in our complex don't have boats, and their food reserves are low. Do you want to join us?"

Song Zhao checked his phone and, indeed, they were added to a new group chat which must include everyone in the complex. Some people were asking to borrow spare boats in the chat, others were inquiring about getting a lift when people went out. The property management was also organizing in the chat, hoping those with boats could volunteer to help.

"Let's not go, but we can lend our boats to others; as long as they're returned afterward," after reading the messages in the chat, they exchanged glances, and Gu Yanzhi unspokenly offered.

They didn't want much contact with the others in the complex, understanding that more interaction meant greater risk for their secrets to be exposed. This distance was just right—they could keep abreast of happenings in the community without becoming too involved.

As Gu Yanzhi spoke, Gu Yanlin also dragged the two newly purchased boats, which hadn't yet been put away, to the door.

"I'll go find my dad and take the boats down. Sister Yan Zhi, don't worry, I'll make sure your boats come back to you undamaged," after saying this, Zhang Qian hurried downstairs to fetch her father.

"Sister Yan Zhi, we're taking the boats now," sometime later, a noise came from the doorway. This time Zhang Qian didn't knock; she just called out and then there was the sound of things being dragged across the floor.

The three of them had been awake all night and early morning, and it was only just past 11 am. After Zhang Qian left, they chatted briefly, simultaneously yawning and deciding to head back to the bedroom to catch up on sleep.

When Gu Yanzhi awoke, it was already evening—well, more accurately, she woke up because she was hungry.

Turning to her side, she saw that Song Zhao was still asleep, deeply at that. The night and morning had worn him out.

Gu Yanzhi indulged herself for a moment, admiring Song Zhao's sleeping face, but eventually, the hunger in her stomach won over. She got out of bed quietly, grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand, and tiptoed out of the room.

Sitting on the living room couch, she checked her phone and found an overwhelming 99+ messages.

Opening the messaging app, the first thing she saw was a message from Zhang Qian.

"Sister Yan Zhi, we've returned the boat. I knocked but no one answered, so I left it outside your door."

[A picture of the boat]