Chapter 9: Open Up! Supplies from the Company

Xia An began to eat.
She was very hungry.
And very sad.
As she ate, tears streamed down her face once again.
Su Miao was at a complete loss. Interacting with people face-to-face was difficult for her even at the best of times, let alone now, when Xia An was so heartbroken.
She decided it was best to let Xia An eat in peace.
After all, the villa had plenty of rooms—one more person staying wouldn’t make any difference.
Su Miao took out her phone and saw that she’d been tagged numerous times again.
It was the Versailles tourist group.
“Help! Save me! Somebody, please! My house just got swept away by a landslide—it’s going under!”
Someone was calling for help in the group chat.
This must be a tourist living in the landslide zone.
Although only one person was able to send out a distress message, it was likely that many others didn’t even have the chance.
“I just checked—the landslide’s still going. We can’t save you.”
“Unless the torrential rain stops, who would dare go out to rescue anyone?”
“We’re doomed, there’s no hope.”
“This is terrifying. Over twenty villas, gone in the blink of an eye.”
“@CustomerServiceXiaoyan, you must give us an explanation! Why were the villas built in such a dangerous place?”
“@CustomerServiceXiaoyan, our water and power are out. Who’s going to deal with this?”
“Damn it, I thought it was an earthquake, but it’s actually a landslide.”
“@ManagerZhao, are you still there?”
“@CustomerServiceXiaoyan, where are you all? Just playing dead?”
“I checked a moment ago, it looks like the administrative building was hit by the landslide too, no idea what’s happened there.”
“?”
“Could they be dead as well?”
“With something this big happening, and no one’s come forward yet—it’s not looking good.”
“What the hell is this? I came here for a vacation, not to suffer and die.”
“I remember there’s a warehouse over there—don’t tell me it’s gone too?”
“I tried calling @CustomerServiceXiaoyan, but her phone’s off.”
“……”
At first, everyone was concerned for the tourists trapped by the landslide. But in a crisis like this, people cared more about their own predicament than about strangers.
The tourists desperately hoped the company would provide them with answers, or a way to resolve their situation.

But it seemed the staff had vanished without a trace.
Soon, a short video, barely thirty seconds long, appeared in the group chat.
In the video, people in the tourist company’s main office building were shouting desperately in the pouring rain, but the storm was so loud and the distance so great, no one could make out what they were saying.
Still, it was clear they were calling for help.
Through the torrent, the landslide surged forward, carrying villas and boulders, crashing straight into the company building.
The building lasted less than thirty seconds before cracking apart, collapsing with a thunderous roar, and being swallowed by the rushing mud, leaving only a few jagged corners above the surface as a trace that it had ever existed at all.
Perhaps, before long, even those remnants would be gone.
“It’s gone!”
“Really gone!”
“I was there just yesterday, and there were so many people inside.”
“Will there be more landslides? Are we next?”
“I saw online that many places are flooded and lots of people have died. I thought I was lucky.”
“Forget that, we need to check if we still have any supplies. Without food, we’re all going to starve.”
“They’re gone, all gone! I’m the supermarket owner—everything was in the warehouse.”
“What about the restaurant? How much food is left there?”
“What? That’s all that’s left? How are we supposed to make it?”
“……”
No one was complaining about the restaurant food anymore.
Compared to how terrible it tasted, survival was now the real concern—would there be enough to eat, or would they starve?
Reading the group chat, Su Miao was deeply afraid.
She had thought the people here could last at least three months, but now, it seemed impossible to make it three days.
With no hope of rescue, it wouldn’t be long before people started fighting over the remaining food.
Conflict would be inevitable.
With that in mind, Su Miao tried calling Customer Service Xiaoyan, hoping the company was still operating in some capacity, to maintain order.
But after several attempts, she received no answer.
Su Miao’s heart sank.
She’d had a fairly good impression of the customer service lady—she hadn’t expected her to disappear so quickly.
In situations like this, people vanished for two reasons: either they’d been buried by the landslide, or they’d seen the severe weather forecast and escaped early, sending reassuring messages from somewhere safe.
But now, in the apocalypse, was there really any place that could be called safe?
Su Miao didn’t dare pursue the thought any further.
That afternoon, she noticed that some tourists in the group had given up on their villas and, braving the storm, were heading toward the restaurant.
Some were afraid the restaurant staff were lying about how much food was left.

If the supply warehouses were all buried, how could the restaurant possibly still have so much to eat?
They wanted to see for themselves.
Others were leaving because their villas had lost water and electricity, or because they were too hungry to stay put, or because they feared another landslide might bury them.
Under such circumstances, it seemed wiser to head for the restaurant—at least there might be something to eat.
But with more people gathering, trouble was bound to follow.
Fortunately, she had enough food here, so there was no need to join them.
Beef hotpot—delicious.
Clatter…
A pair of chopsticks fell onto the table.
Su Miao glanced up at Xia An.
Xia An’s face was streaked with tears, but now it was also contorted with fear she couldn’t suppress.
?
Puzzled, Su Miao followed Xia An’s gaze.
There, pressed against the window, was the large face of a burly middle-aged man. He wore a green raincoat, and under the harsh light, his appearance was terrifying.
Noticing Su Miao’s eyes on him, the man quickly withdrew from the window.
Ah!
Su Miao shuddered violently and shot out of her seat.
In that moment, a heavy pounding came at the door.
“Hello! Please open up, I’m from the company, here to deliver supplies!”
“Please open the door!”
“……”
Su Miao’s ears rang with a low roar.
She wanted nothing more than to hide away, to block out the knocking.
The few words she’d managed to say to Xia An had already exhausted her quota for the month; opening the door to a stranger was simply impossible.
Her whole body trembled.
She curled up instinctively, preparing to squeeze herself into the corner cabinet, away from the sounds outside.
“Sister Su, don’t open the door. He’s a bad man.”
Xia An turned her head, terror etched across her face.
It was only then that she realized Sister Su was already halfway into the cabinet.
Su Miao met Xia An’s gaze, her mind blank, trembling so hard she couldn’t force herself the rest of the way inside…