Thirty Days to Hoard: Reborn into the Frost

Chapter 50: Chapter 49: Continue Collecting Supplies

As for Xu Xiaoka, she specifically targeted valuable items. Things like LCD TVs and smart soy milk makers—expensive yet practical items—all went into her shopping cart.

After clearing out the second floor, Xu Xiaoka and Chen Momo met up at the entrance and headed down to the first basement level. This floor primarily stocked clothing, slippers, and similar goods.

Even though their villa already had a massive wardrobe filled with clothes, the two women still grabbed quite a bit. In this harsh environment, you could never have too many clothes. The more they could hoard, the better.

While they were gathering supplies, Xu Xiaoka suddenly let out a piercing scream. ”AHH!”

”What’s wrong?” Chen Momo immediately rushed over to the sound.

”Sister Momo, look!” Xu Xiaoka pointed her flashlight at the corner of a shelf.

Huddled in the corner was a mother and her son. They were already dead, their bodies frozen solid into blocks of ice. The mother was wearing very little; she had given almost all of her clothes to the boy beside her.

Despite her sacrifice, her son had still frozen to death.

Chen Momo’s memories instantly flashed back to her previous life.

She vividly remembered that freezing, snowy day. To reach the survivor base, she and her son had trekked on foot through a frozen wasteland. The freezing wind sliced into her body like bone-piercing knives. She had already given her only down jacket to Xiao Bao, leaving the mother and son to struggle desperately through the snow.

Xiao Bao had already caught a severe cold. Every step was sheer agony for him.

”Mommy, I can’t walk anymore,” Xiao Bao finally said, looking up at her with pitiful eyes. His once bright, expressive eyes had lost their shine, and his lips were tinged blue.

Chen Momo wiped her tears and encouraged him. ”Hold on just a little longer, we’re almost there. Mommy will carry you, okay?”

In that vast expanse of white, there was no one in sight. It was just the two of them. There was nowhere to turn for help.

She bent down to pick him up, her hand brushing against his forehead. It was burning hot. Fighting back tears, all she could do was hold him tightly against her chest. She wanted to walk faster, but her legs refused to listen.

Eventually, she felt his small body slowly turning cold in her arms. His breathing gradually faded away.

”Xiao Bao?” Chen Momo called his name over and over again, but the little boy in her arms never responded.

”Sister Momo! Sister Momo?”

Xu Xiaoka had to call out several times before Chen Momo finally snapped out of her painful memories.

Chen Momo quickly turned her head away, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes in the dark. Feigning calmness, she said, ”I just think this mother and son are too pitiful.”

”Yeah,” Xu Xiaoka agreed softly. ”This mother was so brave. She gave the few coats she had to her child. It’s just a shame...”

Seeing the dead pair had dredged up memories seared into Chen Momo’s soul. Unwilling to stay there any longer, she turned to Xu Xiaoka. ”Have you gathered everything?”

Xu Xiaoka showed off her six fully loaded shopping carts. ”Sister Momo, the carts are full of things we can use. Six carts in total.”

Chen Momo nodded. ”Alright. Let’s get ready to leave.”

Moving six shopping carts wasn’t easy. Fortunately, they found a medium-sized delivery flatbed trolley in a corner of the supermarket, which was just large enough to hold all the goods from the six carts.

Together, Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka transferred all their loot onto the flatbed. Then, they carried the heavy cart up the stairs while Xiao Bao helped light the way with a flashlight. The three of them climbed all the way to the ninth floor, hopped out through the broken window, and loaded everything into the RV.

With their scavenging complete, the family prepared to head home.

Chen Momo drove, while Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao sat in the back.

The duo started playing another game that Chen Momo didn’t understand. Hearing Chen Xiaobao laughing TEE-HEE in the back, she couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. It seemed there was a genuine generation gap between her and the two of them; she had no idea what games kids played nowadays!

They had reaped a rich harvest at the supermarket today. Once they hauled everything back to the villa, they naturally filled the refrigerator to the brim.

The large double-door refrigerator was several meters wide, featuring designated zones for various types of food: meat, fruit, vegetables, and instant meals.

The original vegetables and fruits in the fridge were completely frostbitten and inedible, so Chen Momo threw them out and replaced them with fresh produce she had taken from her pocket dimension. The rest of the empty space was filled with the supplies they had brought back from the supermarket today.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Chen Momo also sneaked some snacks out of her dimension to stock the fridge.

Fortunately, Xu Xiaoka was an absentminded girl; even if Chen Momo slipped a few extra items inside, she wouldn’t suspect a thing.

Looking at the jam-packed refrigerator, Chen Momo felt a profound sense of security.

As for the thick quilts, clothes, and other items scavenged from the supermarket, they were neatly stored in the wardrobes and cabinets.

After organizing everything, Chen Momo stood on the second-floor balcony and looked down. Chen Xiaobao and Xu Xiaoka were sitting together downstairs, engrossed in a cartoon.

A wave of warmth flowed through her heart.

Everyone had worked hard today, so Chen Momo rolled up her sleeves and prepared to cook.

Fish with pickled mustard greens, spicy mouth-numbing shrimp, Kung Pao chicken, braised pork ribs, and steamed crab...

The villa’s refrigerator was already stocked with plenty of ingredients, and combined with their fresh haul from the supermarket, cooking was a breeze. Before long, Chen Momo had whipped up a lavish feast. She then pulled out some bananas, mixed them with milk, and blended a large pitcher of banana milkshake.

Pouring the milkshake into three glasses, their dinner beverage was ready!

Sitting around the dining table with a sumptuous feast and sweet banana milkshakes, the three of them happily dug in.

After dinner, Chen Momo took her radio out to the balcony as usual to listen to the secret channel for a while. For some unknown reason, Gu Rongjin didn’t participate in the discussion today. She listened for a long time but never heard his voice.

However, from the ongoing chatter, she gathered that operations had already begun in a few major cities—specifically Beijing City and Shanghai.

With Jinghu City already starting their projects, Han City, being another heavily populated metropolis, naturally wouldn’t be far behind.

Chen Momo took inventory of the supplies in her dimension. She had hoarded quite a lot over the past few days, meaning her stockpiles were actually larger now than they were before the apocalypse.

Once the survivor base was fully constructed, all remaining supplies out in the open would immediately be requisitioned.

Therefore, she decided that before the base was completed, she would continue scavenging various locations to fill her dimension to the absolute brim!