She would protect her son with her life. They, mother and son, would survive the apocalypse safely. She would accompany her son as he grew up healthy and happy!
Holding her son's small hand as they walked out of the school, Chen Momo said, "Xiao Bao, how about Mommy takes you to eat KFC?"
Xiao Bao loved KFC's spicy chicken wings the most, but to save money, Chen Momo rarely took him there. Now, she decided to treat her son to his favorite meal. After all, once the apocalypse arrived, it would be a very, very long time before he could eat it again.
Hearing this, Xiao Bao danced with joy. "Yay! Mommy is taking me to eat KFC!"
Chen Momo held his hand as they walked toward a nearby KFC, asking, "What does Xiao Bao want to eat?"
Counting on his fingers, Xiao Bao said in his sweet, childish voice, "I want spicy chicken wings, ice cream..."
Chen Momo led Xiao Bao into the restaurant and ordered his meal. Then, she pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her shoulder bag, beginning to list the supplies they would need to stockpile for the apocalypse. She had to learn from the lessons of her past life and prepare everything in advance!
First on the list was cold-weather gear. Even though it was only July, Chen Momo could still faintly recall the bone-chilling cold of the apocalypse. Thick winter coats, padded pants, thermal socks, snow boots, cotton quilts, electric blankets, space heaters, electric kettles... all of these were absolutely essential for both her and Xiao Bao. Down jackets, scarves, and hats also had to go on the list. The extreme cold would quickly lead to water and power outages, meaning she needed to stock up on solar-powered batteries, flashlights, and spare batteries. She would also need to buy a few coal stoves, along with a corresponding supply of coal briquettes.
When it came to food and drink, water was the number one priority. Chen Momo decided to buy water barrels wholesale. Once they arrived, she would begin storing water. Staple foods like rice, flour, grains, and cooking oil went without saying—the more they had, the better. On top of that, Xiao Bao was still growing and needed protein, so a large stockpile of milk was also necessary. Vegetables and fruits needed to be stockpiled in large quantities as well.
As she brainstormed, Chen Momo quickly jotted down the supplies on her paper. She added convenient instant foods, such as frozen dumplings, sweet rice balls, and instant noodles.
Everyday medicines were indispensable too. Cold remedies like fast-acting cold capsules, Banlangen granules, and Lianhua Qingwen capsules; antipyretics and painkillers like ibuprofen and paracetamol; digestion aids like hawthorn pills and Jianwei Xiaoshi tablets; and treatments for swelling and bleeding like Hongyao aerosol, safflower oil, and Yunnan Baiyao spray... Chen Momo wrote down the name of every medicine she could think of. Besides that, she had to buy medical equipment: thermometers, surgical masks, tourniquets, sterile gauze, bandages, oxygen bags, cotton swabs, and blood pressure monitors...
As she scribbled furiously, a soft, sweet voice suddenly rang out beside her ear. "Mommy, you eat some too."
Chen Momo looked up, only to see her son holding a spicy chicken wing, clumsily lifting it to her mouth. A touch of tenderness flashed in her eyes. "Thank you, Xiao Bao."
After finishing their meal, the mother and son returned home hand in hand.
Chen Momo went to the garage and drove out the Wuling Hongguang 730. She always used this van for her regular trips to the flea market to buy second-hand household items; it was an "old friend" of hers. Only four seats remained inside the vehicle; the rest had been removed to free up cargo space. Chen Momo loaded three suitcases into the van. She turned back to look at the place she had lived for years, feeling absolutely no lingering attachment.
The apartment she rented was Room 1608 on the sixteenth floor of Building 5 in Dongfang Garden. She chose a high floor for two reasons: first, the rent was cheaper; second, when the apocalyptic blizzard hit, the lower floors would be the first to be swallowed by the snow. In her past life, she had lived on the fifth floor, a height that simply couldn't withstand the rapidly accumulating snowdrifts. This time, Chen Momo learned her lesson and opted straight for the sixteenth floor.
The apartment had two bedrooms and a living room, facing south. She took the master bedroom, while the second bedroom was for Xiao Bao. The new home was only a little over fifty square meters, much smaller than her previous place, but Chen Momo knew very well that only a small space could be heated effectively. A space too large would lose heat too quickly, which would be an absolute disaster in the frozen wasteland of the apocalypse.
After settling in, Chen Momo asked, "Xiao Bao, do you like our new home?"
"I like it!" Xiao Bao nodded vigorously. "As long as I can be with Mommy, I'll like living in any kind of house!"
Chen Momo was both touched and delighted. Xiao Bao was so sweet-talkative at such a young age; he could win people's hearts wherever he went. She couldn't help but reach out and gently cup his adorable little face. "You really are a clever little imp."
Pushing the window open, Chen Momo looked at Guan Shan Kou University across the street. The security guard at the university gate was dozing off. College couples were walking hand in hand, chatting and laughing in pairs, completely unaware that disaster was quietly approaching.
August was the hottest season in Han City. The room was sweltering, so Chen Momo turned on the air conditioning to bring the temperature down a bit. Han City had always been known domestically as one of the country's "furnaces." Going by past experience, the scorching heat would last until mid-October, but that wouldn't happen this year.
Over the following week, Chen Momo took her son to Shanghai to visit Disneyland. After returning from Disney, she swiftly finalized her divorce registration and property division with Yang Shunsheng.
As it turned out, for some unknown reason, Yang Shunsheng and Huang Yuqing had schemed together and surprisingly requested to avoid a divorce lawsuit, agreeing that the man would leave the marriage with nothing. This played right into Chen Momo's hands. Thus, she sped through the divorce procedures with Yang Shunsheng. At the same time, she listed the house that their family of three had once lived in on the real estate market and sold it through an agency.
After wrapping all of this up, Chen Momo checked her account balance. It sat at a little over two million yuan. She had never held such a massive sum of money before.
In the apocalypse, cash would be as worthless as wastepaper. The most urgent task was to spend this two million yuan as fast as possible over the next twenty days. She absolutely could not let a single cent carry over into the apocalypse, or it would be a total waste!
Clutching her prepared inventory list, Chen Momo activated her frantic shopping spree mode. Over the past few days, she had thought of quite a few forgotten items. Whenever something came to mind, she jotted it down. Anything that could be bought online, she purchased there first. After all, online prices were cheaper, and it saved time—she could buy what she needed with just a few taps of her fingers.
Meanwhile, the fifty empty water barrels Chen Momo had ordered arrived. She had originally planned to order five hundred of them, but to avoid drawing suspicion, she decided to buy them in batches from ten different stores, fifty from each, to hit her total of five hundred.
After hauling the empty barrels into the apartment, Chen Momo ran a hose from the tap and began filling them with water day and night. As soon as one barrel was full, she swapped it for the next.
Chen Xiaobao would often hang out in the living room by himself, either playing with his toys or listening to online classes. Strangely enough, when Chen Xiaobao watched her actions, it was as if he already understood. He never once asked why.