"With five days of rations, we won't starve if we eat one or two meals a day. We could stretch it to last ten days. Would it be better to ration it and hope for rescue within ten days, or exercise more, consume more, and potentially deplete our rations in four days?"
Upon hearing his wife relay Li Ming's advice, Peng Zhi disdains the idea. He glances at his still-signal-less phone, frustrated. He walks to the window and sneakily stretches his hand outside the window with the phone in it.
Having no luck finding a signal, he pulls his phone back in with a look of disappointment.
"If he wants to exercise, let him. We don't need to worry about it."
"Besides, he's got stuff, and we've got nothing. Why should we listen to him?"
Having turned from the window, Peng Zhi casually speaks and then looks towards Li Ming's room with a sudden change in his facial expression.
"He bought so much food the other day. It would take him two months to eat all of it if he were alone. Honey, why don't you go and ask him if we could borrow some?"
Peng Zhi's eye twitches with a hint of a smile. "He's so eager to risk his life outside. What's the use of hoarding food? It would be better if he could lend us some, allowing us to eat for a couple more days. Who knows, we might get past this crisis in that time."
"When the rescuers come, we'll have all the food we want. We can always repay him then."
Peng Zhi starts to feel more comfortable with the idea, and he can't help but glance at his wife ahead.
"He just finished his workout and should be free now. You can go and see if there is anything you can help him with, and when you're done, ask him to lend us some food. He is single and shy, so he definitely won't refuse."
"Ah, but is that right?"
Upon hearing her husband's words, Zhang Yuan hesitantly expresses her concerns.
"What's wrong with borrowing something from a neighbor? After we get rescued, we can return it to him."
Impatiently waving his hand, Peng Zhi urges her to go while Li Ming isn't resting yet.
"The importance of food hasn't been profoundly felt yet, so we still can borrow. But can we still borrow once the importance of food is felt?"
Peng Zhi insists, pushing his wife to leave and act swiftly.
Zhang Yuan pauses for a moment then finally gets up and leaves.
............
"Phew, that was a tough workout."
In the kitchen, Li Ming is preparing food. He takes out the milk powder he purchased impulsively before.
He read online during a work break that consuming it could enhance immunity, help with body training, and quickly replenish energy. It seemed like a fantastic product, so he bought a share. One can cost 32, but two are available for 56. Naturally, he bought two and they were left untouched.
Luckily not much time has passed, and the milk powder is still edible.
Just now, not only were his muscles sore from working out, but his stomach also felt a bit hungry. He plans to make himself a glass of milk, then stretch his muscles a bit.
Although stretching would be painful, he had resolved to do it thoroughly, or he might have trouble even walking the next day...
He finishes cleaning a bowl and is just about to open the can of milk powder to mix a drink when he hears light footfall. He turns around to see Zhang Yuan entering the kitchen.
"Oh, Li Ming, you're making milk powder."
Seeing Li Ming making milk powder, Zhang Yuan walks over a bit embarrassed. She helps him pour the hot water, adding a bit of sugar from her own supplies: "Milk powder on its own doesn't have much taste. It's better with some sugar."
"Ah, alright, thanks."
Li Ming is somewhat taken aback by Zhang Yuan's move. The kitchen space is small, and with Zhang Yuan's faint fragrance and her moving in and out of his space, he would've been embarrassed if not for the soreness from his workout. Hearing her suggestion, he awkwardly thanks her, using his confusion to cover up his embarrassment.
"It's nothing, drink it."
Zhang Yuan dissolves the milk powder in the bowl with a chopstick, tests the temperature, smiles, and hands the bowl to him.
"Um, thanks, thank you."
Startled, Li Ming hurriedly responds and takes the bowl, gulping down the sweet and creamy milk.
With one large bowl of thick, sweet milk, the hunger in his stomach is immediately alleviated. Li Ming feels much better instantly. He puts the bowl down, preparing to thank her, but Zhang Yuan swiftly takes the bowl and cutlery from him to wash.
After she washes everything quickly, she even takes a piece of tissue paper and hands it to Li Ming to wipe his mouth.
"Aren't you afraid that the intense workout you did just now might make it hard for you to get up tomorrow because of muscle soreness?"
Receiving the tissue, Li Ming wipes his mouth. Zhang Yuan, feeling extremely awkward, changes the topic from borrowing food to Li Ming's workout.
"It's fine, I'm just about to stretch."
Li Ming is a bit confused by Zhang Yuan's sudden enthusiasm. But as he slowly realises what she might be up to, he decides not to talk much. After saying what he intended to do, he heads to the living room for his post-workout stretching. Each stretching exercise was followed by a deep breath, due to the soreness it caused to his muscles. Even so, he grits his teeth and sustains each stretch for a prolongated amount of time before moving on to the next.
Zhang Yuan follows Li Ming into the living room. Watching him stretch, she suddenly blurts out: "How about I help you massage your legs and arms? It might make your workout tomorrow easier."
"Massages can be very effective in relieving muscle strain."
Seeing Li Ming's slightly startled reaction, Zhang Yuan quickly explains further. Her fair skin appears even whiter under the light.
"Oh, really?"
It's been a while since Li Ming has had a serious workout, and he is uncertain about the effectiveness of post-workout stretching. In fact, not adhering to his workout schedule for even a day could cost him a lot of valuable time. Upon hearing what Zhang Yuan says, he seems to be tempted.
"Would that be alright?"
He's somewhat tempted, but Li Ming glances at Peng Zhi's house and hesitates.
"No problem, there's a sofa here. You can lie down on it and I'll give you a massage."
Seeing that Li Ming agrees, Zhang Yuan speaks up right away. She then swiftly dusts off the sofa and signals for Li Ming to lie down on it.
Giving it a second thought, Li Ming looks back at Peng Zhi's house. Seeing no sign of any activity, he figures it must be alright. Besides, he's in the living room, not inside his house, so there shouldn't be a problem. Therefore, he reluctantly lies down on the sofa.
"I'll relax your muscles so that you won't feel any pain tomorrow."
Zhang Yuan quickly assures him with a smile, then she begins to massage his leg and body muscles while standing by the sofa.
"Hiss~"
Li Ming lets out a small gasp. The massage is unexpectedly hit-the-spot, a mix of pain and pleasure, and the strength Zhang Yuan exerts is surprisingly accurate.
"I used to do chiropractic recovery work. I learned this then."
Seeing Li Ming's surprised reaction, Zhang Yuan smiles slightly, then intensifies the massage. Li Ming immediately feels the potential benefits to relieve his muscle pain and endures it.
After the massage, Li Ming gives his thanks with a smile, borrows some water from the water dispenser to drink, and goes home to sleep.
Zhang Yuan also gives her goodbye with a smile, and returns home. Once the door closes, she sees her husband standing inside looking outside and is taken aback.
"Did he agree to lend us food?"
Seeing his wife coming back, Peng Zhi can't wait to ask.
"I forgot to ask…"
Zhang Yuan is taken by surprise.