Alice wasn't lacking in meat to eat. She looked towards the corner where eggs were piled up. Each person was limited to one pound, and the 'price' was either one gram of gold or a hoe.
The boss shouted from outside, "Buy early! Today, we accept gold and various knives, tools, and farming equipment. Tomorrow, we might not accept them anymore."
This statement caused panic among everyone, and those who were still observing quickly rushed to buy things.
Alice bought two bottles of milk, one pound of eggs, two sausage links, two packs of instant noodles, and one pack of compressed biscuits. She wanted to buy more, but everything was restricted. She walked out to settle the bill.
The woman collecting money looked up at her, expressionless, and asked, "Gold or barter."
Alice replied, "Gold."
The woman said, "Ten grams of gold in total." Alice reached into her pocket and, under the guise of cover, took out a gold bracelet from her space. The woman weighed it, "0.2 grams more."
After that, the woman took out a small apple from behind the counter, "No change in this store."
Alice: "..."
Carrying her things, she walked out, and outside the door, a crowd had gathered to watch the commotion.
At that moment, two bodyguards were pushing a man out, cursing fiercely, "Dare to steal in our store? Don't want to live anymore?"
"Brothers, I was wrong. I promise I won't do it again."
The two bodyguards didn't listen to explanations, restraining the man and subjecting him to a beating. The bodyguards were skilled, and the man could only endure the punches and kicks, begging for mercy.
After a few minutes, the bodyguards finally let go of the man. He couldn't stand up, his face swollen like a pig's head, nose bleeding, and body convulsing.
The two bodyguards addressed the onlookers again, "This is the consequence if you steal from our store."
The onlookers couldn't help but shiver and silently moved away from the store. The scare tactic seemed to have worked.
Alice opened the car door, intending to place her items in the passenger seat, but suddenly noticed signs of someone tampering with the solar photovoltaic panel tied to the roof of her car.
She closed the car door, checked the panel, and found nothing missing. She had secured it tightly, and the rope wasn't easy to cut with a knife. It seemed those people had no choice but to give up.
Alice straightened the disheveled photovoltaic panel and tied it neatly. Just as she was about to open the car door and leave, an elderly woman with white hair, accompanied by a small child, approached. The old woman looked at her with cloudy eyes, "Miss, could you spare some food for my grandson? He hasn't had a decent meal for several days. Your kindness will be rewarded, and you will surely have a safe and smooth journey
"No, I only have this much food, and if I give it to you, I'll have none left," Alice coldly refused, showing no trace of compassion in her eyes.
She glanced at the people around her and noticed several men staring at her with intrigue. They might be a group, and if she showed any sign of weakness or sympathy, they might pounce on her.
Alice finished her statement without any hesitation, opened the car door decisively, and sat inside. She saw the child trying to approach and stop the car. She stepped on the gas pedal, speeding away.
In the rearview mirror, she saw the child covered in dust. The seemingly pitiful old woman just now revealed a fierce expression, her mouth seemingly cursing something.
Alice had already guessed that they were putting on an act. In this impending chaos, anyone could unleash their 'acting talent.' Since she couldn't distinguish between good and bad, ignoring and staying away were the best choices.
Upon reaching the apartment building, Alice called Arnold and asked him to come down and help with moving the photovoltaic panel. Alice sat in the car with the air conditioning on, deciding to wait there and even opened a bottle of milk to quench her thirst.
Two minutes later, Arnold walked out of the apartment building. He looked at the things in the car, and a hint of joy appeared on his handsome face. "Where did you find the photovoltaic panel?"
Arnold was not very trusting of the neighborhood's electrical circuits, constantly worrying about potential power outages. With the photovoltaic panel, they wouldn't have to worry about this issue. As long as there was sunlight, they would have a continuous source of electricity.
"Bought it outside," Alice vaguely replied. "Many shops have opened in the East City, but they only accept gold, knives, and farming tools."
"I can understand accepting gold, but why do they need knives and tools?" Arnold also looked puzzled.
Alice chuckled, "Those who dare to open shops at this time are somewhat influential. They lack weapons, so they have to use food as an exchange."
"After obtaining weapons, they might threaten vulnerable groups, loot things, and the people selling weapons to them may end up harming themselves in the end," Arnold commented.
But who would think that far ahead now? It was already challenging enough to fill one's stomach.
Alice moved the photovoltaic panel from the back seat, and Arnold went to deal with the one on the car roof. Many people stood at a distance, watching with envy.
Atticus and Blanche also came down to help. Each family member carried a few photovoltaic panels, and they finished the task in one go.
After dinner, the family began installing the photovoltaic panels. Alice spent ten minutes watching relevant videos online and then started working. Nobody in the Allen family family lacked intelligence; Arnold quickly caught on, and Blanche and Atticus assisted them.
An hour later, all the photovoltaic panels were installed, awaiting the arrival of sunlight the next day. After a day of intense sun exposure on the rooftop, the temperature was quite high, and the entire family was drenched in sweat.
Alice opened the water heater, preparing to take a refreshing bath and relax. After the shower, she took out a cup of mango sago soup from her space, opened a comedy movie, and leisurely watched.
The next day, Alice woke up early. Checking the temperature, before nine o'clock, the outside temperature had already reached thirty-eight degrees. Fortunately, the morning breeze wasn't as scorching, so she opened the windows to let the air circulate. They couldn't stay inside the air-conditioned house all the time; their bodies needed to adapt to the high temperatures quickly.
At noon, the sun outside scorched the ground, making it too hot for anyone to venture out. It was unusually quiet. Perhaps inspired by Alice, many people were installing solar battery panels on their balconies, and even solar power banks were brought out. From a distance, the entire building looked spectacular with solar energy devices.
Alice didn't stay idle; she took out the water tanks from the house and reconnected them to the water source. The stored water, saved during the heavy rain that only caused a power outage but not water supply interruption, hadn't been used. It was later used to flush the toilets.
"In this weather, who knows if it will rain again in the future," Atticus sighed, "It would be great if we could offset it with the heavy rain we had before."
"That heavy rain already emptied the rainfall for the next few years," Arnold half-jokingly remarked as he walked over to help Alice. They continued filling up water tanks until eight extra-large water tanks and thirty buckets were full.