Ding Yuqin was wearing a set of light pink sportswear today, which tightly wrapped her graceful figure.
Her hair was pulled up, albeit somewhat messily, and it was clear she hadn't taken much care in grooming it. Her face was very pale, extremely haggard. Beneath those captivating large eyes, there were two faint dark circles.
Wang Tao couldn't help but feel that Ding Yuqin seemed to have lost a lot of weight, perhaps due to the loose clothing.
Above her head, there was also an HP bar, but it was green.
[63/100]
"Borrowing food?"
Wang Tao furrowed his brows; he suddenly remembered the message from Zhao Yuan asking him to look after Ding Yuqin.
Had it been before, Wang Tao might have hesitated. But now that he had some extra food, he felt a bit more confident in his ability to help others.
Seeing Wang Tao frown, Ding Yuqin's heart instantly tightened.
After days of hunger, she knew all too well the importance of food. If Wang Tao refused her, she would really starve to death, especially since she didn't dare to venture out looking for food.
"Wang Tao, I... I don't eat much, just a little bit of food will do! When Brother Zhao comes back, we will definitely repay you! Please..."
Ding Yuqin's hands were clasped together, her face showing a mix of embarrassment and eagerness to please. Then, as if she remembered something, she quickly dug into her pockets.
"Right, I have money, I can give you money!"
Looking at the few hundred yuan Ding Yuqin took out, Wang Tao shook his head.
"No need for money, we are neighbors after all; it's only right to help each other. Sister-in-law, wait here for a moment, I'll go get you some food."
Watching Wang Tao go to fetch something, Ding Yuqin breathed a sigh of relief.
She thought to herself that Wang Tao was quite decent, and she might have been a bit too quick to judge him by his appearance before.
However, as soon as Wang Tao left, a rich fragrance wafted out, and Ding Yuqin's gaze involuntarily followed his figure, from which she couldn't tear her eyes away.
"Gurgle~"
Ding Yuqin's throat moved as she swallowed hard.
What did she see? Was it a large pot of stew? And a big bowl of rice!
So much food, enough for four or five people to eat!
Was Wang Tao's meal really that good? Then he must be serving her a bowl, right?
Ding Yuqin's mind wandered with various thoughts.
She subconsciously pushed at the door, but the chain behind the security door stopped her.
Hearing the noise, Wang Tao looked back at her. Ding Yuqin immediately regained her composure and hastily withdrew her hand, somewhat embarrassed.
Yet, she felt slightly indignant.
"To chain the door after opening it, I'm not the type of person to be so thick-skinned as to insist on entering..."
Ding Yuqin's eyes couldn't leave the pot of stew until Wang Tao came over with a pack of bread.
"Sister-in-law, there isn't much food left in my house either. This bag of bread is for emergencies."
Watching the 250g of toast bread being passed through the crack of the door, Ding Yuqin quickly took it. While excited to have food, she wasn't as thrilled as she had imagined she would be.
"Thank you, very much! I'll go back now. Wang Tao, you... be careful too, those zombies are too dangerous!"
Ding Yuqin held the bread tightly, expressing her sincere thanks.
"Mhm. I will." Wang Tao nodded.
After seeing Ding Yuqin off and closing the door, he then locked it.
In this apocalypse, everyone's food supply was precious. He had given Ding Yuqin a bag of bread in consideration of his neighbor, Brother Zhao. That should be enough to ensure she wouldn't starve to death.
```
As for providing her with a better life, that was out of the question. Wang Tao's appetite was huge; the food was only enough for him. After all, he wasn't just sitting around at home waiting for rescue. He needed to train and go out to kill zombies!
A pot of stewed vegetables and a basin of rice—Wang Tao ate half of it by himself.
"Not bad, about seventy percent full, after all, I still need to train, can't eat too much."
He quickly tidied up the table—the remaining food would be eaten tomorrow.
It was seven in the evening, and there was a long time until bedtime, so he planned to train for a while longer. Otherwise, with no phone or computer to play with, the long night would be tough to endure.
He rested until eight o'clock, and feeling that was enough, Wang Tao began doing push-ups.
Yesterday, he did a thousand in two hours; today, he'd see if he had improved.
"1, 2, 3…" Wang Tao didn't intentionally speed up, just followed the previous pace "999, 1000!"
Wang Tao got up and checked the time on his phone.
"Indeed, there's improvement, these thousand push-ups were completed a few minutes faster than before…"
Wang Tao was very satisfied as he squeezed his fist.
The progress was small, but as long as there was visible improvement, there was a source of motivation.
After taking a quick bath, Wang Tao picked up the four walkie-talkies and the radio.
The walkie-talkies came with boxes, one of which had a manual. After studying it briefly, Wang Tao powered on the walkie-talkie and tuned into some channels.
"Szzz…"
It was still just crackling sounds, no useful information emerged.
Wang Tao then turned on the radio and adjusted the dial to search for frequencies.
"Szzz… The Government will… Szzz…"
"Huh? There's a voice!"
Wang Tao quickly turned the dial back, then turned off the lights in the house, and went below the balcony window, opening both the curtains and the window.
After hearing that zombies were particularly sensitive to light, he had covered all the windows in the house with thick cloth and avoided turning on lights that were too bright at night. Even though he was on the fifth floor, at times like these, one couldn't be too careful.
"Szzz… The Government will organize rescue as soon as possible… Szzz… Please wait patiently for the public… Szzz… Aid drops will commence on the morning of April 18th… Szzz… throughout the city… Repeat… The Government will…"
"Aid drop!"
Wang Tao's eyes lit up at the keyword.
The Government had mentioned future aid drops in the group chat but hadn't specified a time. Now he knew, today was April 8th, which meant the drops would start in ten days!
Wang Tao was quite looking forward to this aid drop. If the Government had the capability to perform aid drops, that meant they still had armed forces, which meant the possibility of self-defense, or even a counter-attack.
Of course, he was also interested in the aid drop itself. The emergency supplies prepared by the officials would certainly be ample!
"Ten days' time, time to prepare well!"
Wang Tao decided that if there was a chance, such as the aid drop being very close, or even if it landed in the courtyard of his complex, he would try to get one.
If it was too far, then forget it. Unless he grew stronger in these ten days, gaining some ability to defend himself…
The next day.
Wang Tao got up just past six.
Since the loss of the internet, his daily routine had become more and more regular.
He warmed up briefly and ate yesterday's leftovers. Then, as before, Wang Tao armed himself from head to toe.
Today, he planned to check out apartment 301 on the third floor, because the two tenants who shared it had, Wang Tao had noticed before, left the keys in the crack of the electricity meter box.
Under normal circumstances, even if someone knew where the key was, they wouldn't enter.
But now, the world was no longer normal.
```