Chapter Twenty-Seven: Car Repairs

Before locking the door, Jiang Huan brought a large metal basin, some charcoal, and two small bundles of firewood. When the siblings reached the fifteenth floor, Liu Ling and her husband had already arrived. Seeing Jiang Xi had come down too, both greeted him. Jiang Xi instinctively wanted to avoid them, but for some reason, he stopped and replied, not very fluently, “Hello to you too.”

Jiang Huan took out a key and opened the door. The couple assumed she had gotten the key after their last negotiation and didn’t think much of it. The room inside was barely furnished, and because there were no appliances or furniture, it felt particularly empty.

“I’ll check the other room,” Jiang Huan said, opening the door across the hall. She found it was also simply finished, but this one had tables, chairs, and beds. She handed Liu Ling a key. “Let’s stay here for convenience. These are all the heating supplies we have—you two arrange them as you see fit. Working hours are two hours in the morning, two in the afternoon, and two in the evening. Lunch and breaks don’t count as work time.”

She then took out some frozen pickles, rice, flour, oil, instant noodles, and sauces from her bag, setting them on the table, even adding a large piece of meat. “Eat this for now. If it’s not enough, let me know.”

The couple swallowed hard at the sight of the food—there was even meat. But, in this weather, meat kept better than vegetables.

Liu Ling and Wang Ping began tidying up the room and preparing a ledger for accounts. Seeing Jiang Xi eager to help, Jiang Huan told him to bring down the packages. “My brother will help you open and sort the deliveries, just don’t let him go down alone.”

“Alright, no problem at all.”

Jiang Huan went upstairs and arranged over a hundred packages in the hallway on the twentieth floor for her brother to move at his own pace. She herself set about organizing an empty room as a practice range.

She didn’t know how long she’d been working when her stomach growled. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was past noon. She quickly washed her hands and headed downstairs. Her brother was making instant noodles. With work still unfinished, Jiang Huan chose a spicy pickled noodle flavor for herself, sliced some sausage, a lump of braised beef, and prepared a plate of garlicky water spinach.

After they were full, they took a short nap. With the packages all opened, Jiang Xi was about to pedal the generator again. Jiang Huan simply locked the door and took her brother upstairs—each to their own room, one to pedal the generator, the other to finish the target range.

By four in the afternoon, Jiang Huan had finished setting up and began practicing archery. After a while, she stopped, recalling the issue of her crossbow’s killing power. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she tried to sharpen the arrows, but for some reason—perhaps the angle—her arrows never quite matched the sight after sharpening. She decided to leave it for now.

By the time she was done, dusk had fallen. Jiang Xi came knocking, announcing he’d finally finished charging the battery.

Jiang Huan couldn’t help but smile. “Hard work pays off. Since you charged that battery yourself, keep it in your room for lighting.”

“Okay! Do you have one, sis?” The boy, knowing his sister’s mysterious ways, still asked.

“No need,” Jiang Huan said, opening her palm. With a thought, a small night lamp appeared in her hand.

Jiang Xi nodded, understanding. Then, rubbing his stomach, he said, “No more noodles tonight, sis.”

“Instant noodles get old fast and aren’t good for you. How about some porridge and a bread roll for dinner?”

Jiang Xi gave her a big thumbs-up in agreement.

After dinner, Jiang Huan went downstairs. Liu Ling and Wang Ping had already divided up the apartment’s space and handed her a chart. The opened deliveries, including meat, were wrapped in plastic and set outside the window to freeze, along with chicken feet, wings, and sausages. The outside temperature made for the perfect freezer.

Liu Ling brought over a basket. “Besides the meat, there’s also a frozen durian and two pounds of frozen lychees. Should we take them out to eat now?”

Jiang Huan had fresh fruit but didn’t mind taking these as well. She watched Liu Ling make a note and remove the items from the ledger.

She flipped through the accounts and instructed them on the main tasks. “Besides sorting the supplies I bring back, you’ll need to help me screen who comes upstairs. Only let people in if necessary. Also, accept gold, silver, or valuable antiques for exchange. I’ll check the exchange rates tomorrow and we’ll discuss it then. If I go out and you want to join me, each of you can come out with me a few times a month, taking turns. Pay will be separate. If you have other suggestions or requests, speak up.”

“No, no, this is already very good,” they replied. “Those in property management downstairs are living on edge. We have food, drink, and warmth, and the work is only opening packages and keeping records, all indoors. The pay is already generous.”

“Alright, then let’s finish early today. Thank you for your hard work.”

But the couple shook their heads. “We don’t feel safe leaving the supplies unattended. We’ll camp out here, only leaving for the bathroom or to wash up.”

Jiang Huan didn’t insist otherwise and let them be.

The next morning, Jiang Huan got up, exercised, ate breakfast, and went downstairs. Wu Gang had said yesterday that he’d brought back a lot of car repair materials and wanted to know if she was interested in trading.

When Jiang Huan came down, Wu Gang introduced a man in his forties. “This is Old Fang. He’s been repairing cars for over twenty years. He looked at your car yesterday and picked up what you needed while scavenging.”

In other words, the repair and materials fees were up for negotiation.

“You can sell me the materials at the official rate,” Jiang Huan said. “As for the repair, Master Fang, what do you need for fixing my car?”

The man said nothing, looking to Wu Gang. Clearly, Wu Gang had brought him under his wing.

Wu Gang spoke for him. “Ten pounds of rice, two pounds of oil, and if you have cigarettes, just one pack.”

That wasn’t a high price, and she agreed.

Wu Gang nodded at Old Fang, who immediately set to work on Jiang Huan’s car. She watched closely, occasionally lending a hand herself to guard against sabotage.

Old Fang’s skills were solid. In two hours, he’d replaced everything necessary, and for the parts that didn’t affect function, he camouflaged them with her approval.

When everything was done, Jiang Huan inspected the vehicle and, for an extra pack of cigarettes, asked him to reinforce the roof and install a hitch for a trailer at the back. Now, the two RVs were sturdier than when she’d bought them.

As Jiang Huan drove out, the boys at the gate called out, “Be careful, Sister Jiang! Come back soon!”

She waved out the window, closed it, and pressed the accelerator, heading straight for the city center.

Half an hour later, Jiang Huan was on the top floor of a building near the police station. She didn’t know if any survivors remained in the building, but from the first to the ninth floor, she heard not a sound.

On the ninth floor, Jiang Huan steadied herself and raised a high-powered binoculars toward the police station.

The first time she’d come to the city with her brother to scavenge, a kind man had mentioned that the police station was occupied by a group who, armed with guns, did as they pleased.

Jiang Huan wasn’t arrogant enough to think she could take them out, nor did she see herself as a chosen avenger. She was just here to have a look.

After all, with such an unpredictable force only half an hour’s drive from her home, she couldn’t rest easy without checking.

The police station across the way was a four-story building, nearly every window covered with curtains.

Jiang Huan waited patiently. At last, she saw someone emerge.