But all that was in the past. No matter what Ling Jiang had done before, the important thing now was that they were allies, and allies would not harm each other.
To be honest, Lan Jin did not really believe Ling Jiang had absolutely no feelings for Lao Shi. That crying fit earlier could never have been because of something as petty as jealousy.
Still, it surprised Lan Jin that Ling Jiang had walked away without throwing a punch.
"I thought you were going to beat him up," Lan Jin said. If that young woman had truly been unaware of the situation, then it was just a misunderstanding. But if she had known, that was another story entirely. Either way, Lao Shi definitely knew about Ling Jiang. That alone made him deserve a beating.
"Lao Shi told me I could hit him if it made me feel better. The moment he said that, I knew he really liked that young woman. So what would be the point of me doing it?" Ling Jiang's voice was flat, as if the whole thing was meaningless to her. She glanced at Lan Jin. "What about you? Back when you ran into something like this, what did you do?"
What was there to do? At the time, she had swallowed it down, then handled it when she could. Once it was dealt with, there was no need to keep thinking about it.
Lan Jin explained, "It was about getting money. I'd been holding it in for a long time. After the divorce, my space appeared. Back then, I was completely focused on stockpiling supplies, afraid something might happen later and I wouldn't know how to take care of my child. So I didn't bother with other things. Then the apocalypse came…"
Yes, the apocalypse came, and everything eventually got resolved. Even though it had been messy at first because there were so many people around, she had taken care of what needed to be taken care of, without leaving any regrets.
Ling Jiang glanced at her and smiled faintly. "I know you were the one who took care of your ex-husband and that mistress."
Lan Jin froze mid-motion while sorting supplies. "How do you know it was me?"
When she had gotten rid of Ren Xing, no one else lived on the 32nd floor. Ling Jiang couldn't have seen it. Same with Meng Ying—Lan Jin had lured her to the parking garage in the middle of the night while testing her access card. Even though lights had flicked on in apartments, there were no streetlamps outside. No way Ling Jiang could have seen anything, especially not inside the garage. So how could she know?
Ling Jiang's smile deepened. "You took care of Meng Ying in the parking garage, didn't you? I was home and heard a noise, knew you were going to try the card, so I didn't think much of it. But Lao Gao happened to see."
At that time, Lan Jin had never even met Lao Gao. Before moving into this complex, he had already killed quite a few people just to survive. To him, this kind of thing was too common to be worth more than a glance. He saw her and then walked away.
Lao Gao had indeed seen Lan Jin kill Meng Ying, but because he had left so quickly, he never saw Lan Jin put Meng Ying's body into her space. If he had, her space would have been exposed long ago, and she wouldn't have felt so safe.
Hearing this, Lan Jin stood still for a long moment. She had been so careful—yet somehow Lao Gao had seen anyway. Since he had seen, there was no point denying it. But there was also no need to explain every step. People like that… there was only one way to handle them.
…
Lan Jin's space was crammed full of all kinds of supplies. She had done some simple sorting before, but it was still far too basic. Any time she needed something, she had to dig around through piles.
Lao Gao, with nothing else to do, decided to help her organize it.
He started with the food, grouping everything she had bought herself with the goods she had taken from supermarkets.
They soon realized just how much random stuff was crammed in there. He moved the ready-to-eat food to the front so they could grab something quickly in an emergency.
The food was not so bad—Lan Jin had at least tried to sort that before. But seasonings and miscellaneous items were a complete mess.
Lao Gao came up with a method. He not only reorganized everything into proper categories, but also got a notebook, divided the space into zones, and recorded each type of item along with its quantity. From now on, whether taking something out or putting it back, they would log it. That way, Lan Jin would always know exactly what she had.
It was such a meticulous job that Lan Jin could hardly believe this bearded man had the patience for it. But if someone wanted to help, she wasn't going to refuse. In the end, even if others coveted her stockpile, they couldn't take anything out unless she allowed it—her space was hers alone to control.
They worked for nearly four hours. When they finally stopped, everyone was starving.
Lan Jin said, "Let's have some late-night food, then sleep. It's late, and we have to travel tomorrow."
They set their work aside.
Lao Gao handed her the notebook. "Here. I remember where I left off. You can check it now, and tomorrow night we'll keep going. Three or four days, and we'll be done. Let's finish it all in one go."
Their late-night meal was noodles made by Grandma Ling, fragrant and steaming in large bowls. Between bites, Lan Jin still asked, "It's fine if you don't record it. I roughly know how much I have."
"Sure, you have a rough idea. But without exact numbers, it's not the same. Sorting also helps us see what we need most," Lao Gao said. He wasn't so focused on the food—they had enough to last a lifetime—but he wanted to know about the other supplies. That knowledge could be useful one day.
Weapons, for example. They had almost everything else, but they were still short on weapons. Even though Lan Jin had bought some before, their killing power could not compare to firearms.
Lao Gao took another bite and said, "We should try to get some weapons."
Ling Jiang had once gotten a gun from the thirty-something people who had come to demand supplies from them. She had handed it over to Lao Gao, but without ammunition, he had modified it. It still worked, but its power was limited.
Now that the world had ended, it was nothing like a novel. Getting weapons with serious firepower was not easy.
"If we can't get guns, then long blades. Short blades are fine. Crossbows too. But if we run into a large-scale danger…" Lao Gao began.
Lan Jin interrupted, "Then we hide in the space. Didn't we do that last time?"