Apocalypse Star House Hoarding

Chapter 331: (Extra 5)

Inside the room, the thick stainless steel shutters blocked out the torrential downpour, as well as whatever unknown debris was carried in the rain.

Though there were still occasional loud thuds and pings, the sound of things hitting glass and the sound of them hitting steel felt completely different — one made your heart clench, the other gave you reassurance.

By 6 a.m., night had passed. In the south-facing room on the right side of the apartment, Tianbao was still sleeping soundly, wrapped up in a light blanket. The thick blackout curtains were tightly drawn, sealing off the chaotic world outside.

Children were like that — when they were awake, they resisted sleep with all their might, but once they were out, even a brass band couldn’t wake them.

Yu Zhenzhen stood outside the door, took one glance, then gently pulled it half-closed again. Wearing her long-sleeved loungewear, she made her way back to the living room.

The standing lamp in the living room was turned down low, and the TV was on with the volume set softly. A local morning news program was playing. Yu Xi was on the balcony, adjusting one of the stainless steel shutters on the outside of a glass window, trying to peek through the narrow gap to check on the outside world.

In the three or four hours since midnight, she had heard many strange sounds — coming from upstairs, downstairs, and neighboring apartments.

On this floor, apart from her place and Xing Min’s at the end of the hall — both of which had reinforced windows — every other unit had a rough night.

She heard glass shattering and people crying out in panic. With wind and rain that fierce outside, it wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen once a window broke.

Residents were jolted awake from deep sleep, only to have wind and rain burst into their homes, glass shards and freezing water covering the floors. Some had beds placed right next to the windows, meaning they took a direct hit.She heard their screams, the clatter of footsteps, and the dragging of furniture — likely people shoving cabinets up against their windows in a panic.

Yu Xi couldn’t help but feel a wave of fear. If she hadn’t impulsively decided to reinforce their windows and doors after watching Xing Min upgrade his, they might’ve been just as unprepared — caught off guard by the sudden extreme weather.

They had a child in the home. Tianbao’s bed was also near a window. If the glass had shattered, a little rain would be the least of their worries — a cut could be serious. In this kind of weather, even if you had a car, you wouldn’t be able to see the road. Getting to a hospital? Practically impossible.

After watching the scene outside for a while, Yu Xi closed the shutters again.

The pounding had stopped completely, but the rain hadn’t. It was slightly lighter now, but still came down in sheets, like a continuous waterfall.

Just now, thinking about driving in this kind of weather, she felt an uneasy premonition forming in her chest again. Even though it was the middle of the night, most people resting at home, there were always exceptions — people out on long-distance buses, in taxis, or driving themselves. Since the weather forecast hadn’t warned anyone about this sudden shift, most were caught completely unprepared.

Never mind the debris in the rain — the wind and the downpour alone were probably enough to cause countless traffic accidents…

By 7 a.m., the rain outside had finally eased up.

“Eased up” was relative — compared to the intense deluge of the night, it was now just a steady rainfall. But even then, it was still strong enough to drench you in seconds. On the news and across the internet, as if everyone had suddenly snapped back to awareness, a flood of related videos and messages exploded online:

— Woke up and half my roof was gone! What the hell?! Rain pounding like a waterfall, I’ve got cuts on my shoulder, arm, and forehead! Is this even rain? Feels like rocks!

— Not rocks — hail! I was in my car and the roof was getting pounded like crazy. Luckily there was a bridge nearby. If not, with hail that size, the windshield might’ve shattered!

— H City getting hail?! No way! That’s unheard of! H City’s never had hail — maybe some ice pellets in winter mixed with snow at best!

— Help! A bunch of us are stuck on Tanxian Road! Everyone tried to take cover from the hail, but the wind broke a tree clean off — it landed on a car and blocked the whole road! We can’t move! The area’s low, and the water just keeps rising! It’s already over the tires now! Somebody help us!

Along with the post came a shaky video clip. In it, the car owner was soaked from head to toe, looking completely disheveled. He first filmed from inside his car — the windshield had a noticeable crack but hadn’t fully shattered yet.

Then he rolled down the window, shielding his phone from the rain with his hand, and began filming outside. Around seven or eight vehicles were crisscrossed chaotically, their fronts, backs, and sides all misaligned. The muddy floodwater had already submerged half of each car.

Some windows were rolled down, and other drivers and passengers were also filming the scene. Some were desperately trying to call for help — but none of the calls were getting through.

Beneath the post were a flood of comments. Some said they’d try calling for help on their behalf. Others advised self-rescue — after all, it was now daylight, the hail had stopped, and the rain and wind had lessened. They encouraged people to abandon their cars and wade out of the area.

But others disagreed, saying it was far too dangerous. The water was deep, a tree had already fallen nearby, and there was debris everywhere — who knew what lay under the surface? A single cut or scrape could turn serious. It was better to stay inside the car and wait for rescue.

Some, noticing the rising water levels, advised the trapped individuals to climb out through their windows and onto their car roofs. If the rain kept up, they argued, the water would flood into the car, leaving them cold, wet, and trapped in a confined space — a major hazard.

But that advice too was quickly countered. Opponents pointed out that it was still raining, the wind was still strong, and who knew if more hail would follow? If someone was on the roof, there’d be nowhere to hide.

Clearly, everyone had a different opinion. But most, like the trapped drivers themselves, lacked any real experience dealing with disasters. The advice given ranged from well-meaning to outright chaotic.

Still, the majority leaned toward waiting for rescue. With multiple cars trapped and over a dozen people affected, if they kept calling for help and reposted the message while tagging more official accounts, rescue teams would surely arrive soon.

But what the residents of H City — and netizens from other regions — didn’t yet know was that this extreme storm, with its violent winds and hail, hadn’t just struck H City. It had hit five or six surrounding cities as well.

Because there had been no prior warning at all, everyone was caught completely off guard. Several airplanes were lucky — some had just taken off and were able to detect the sudden weather shift early enough to return or make emergency landings nearby.

Passengers and crew members, though shaken, managed to take shelter in airport terminals. Their trips were interrupted, but after witnessing the devastation outside — the pounding rain, hail, and storm — no one dared complain. All were simply thankful to have survived.

But one flight wasn’t so lucky. By the time the storm struck, it had already been airborne for some time. With no suitable airport nearby, the pilot attempted to ascend above the cloud layer — only for the aircraft’s wings to be battered by hail. The fuselage sustained critical damage, and the plane ultimately lost control and was forced into a crash landing in the wild.

In such weather, even landing at a regular airport would be a near-death experience — doing so in the open was almost impossible. The aircraft broke into two upon impact. Casualties were unclear.

Upon receiving the alert, rescue teams from neighboring cities mobilized immediately to search for survivors.

Meanwhile, across these same cities, a series of traffic incidents were unfolding almost simultaneously.

One long-distance bus had its windshield shattered by hail. The driver was seriously injured and lost consciousness. Before the passengers could react, the bus — originally heading for shelter under a nearby overpass — veered off-course, crashed through a guardrail, and plunged off a bridge into a river.

A train, traveling through mountainous terrain, was derailed due to a sudden landslide triggered by the rain. The incident caused a major accident. Local rescue personnel rushed to the scene. But the area was chaotic — heavy rain continued to fall, and further landslides remained a constant threat. Yet inside the derailed train were survivors, injured and waiting for rescue…

All of this was happening because of an abrupt and completely unpredicted weather event. Most of these accidents were only now beginning to receive emergency response. Many had not yet been reported by the media and were only discovered after survivors posted videos online.

There were simply too many disasters, too many emergencies. The entire emergency response system of the region was stretched to its limit, and smaller-scale incidents were being overlooked for the time being.

**

Like the rest of the fortunate citizens who had stayed home, Yu Xi and her sister only knew a limited portion of what was truly going on.

After noticing that the rain outside had eased a little, Yu Xi opened one of the balcony shutters. The raging wind had passed, and the rain had turned into a light, slanted drizzle. She slid open the glass window, then unlocked the frame of the exterior stainless steel shutter.

This was a designated emergency exit left during installation. No matter how secure your window modifications are, no one would truly seal themselves in like animals in a cage. In case something happened at the front door and they couldn’t get out, an escape route through the window was essential.

There was one such exit on the balcony and one in each of the two rooms. One of the stainless steel shutters could be removed together with the frame — but it was normally locked and could only be moved once unlocked.

Yu Xi unlocked and removed the shutter frame. Outside, the city that had been battered all night by wind, rain, and hail came into view.

The trees in the residential complex were completely torn apart, leaves and branches scattered across the ground, mixed in with shards of broken windows and splintered wood from nearby homes.

The compound wall wasn’t far from their building. Beyond it, the street was a total mess. Shops that hadn’t pulled down their roll-up shutters had all their windows and doors smashed. Some fallen trees had crushed storefronts. A few people were still inside those shops but couldn’t get out, blocked by trunks and branches.

The cars parked along the roadside looked even more miserable. None of them were in their original spots — they had all slammed into each other, tangled up with massive broken limbs. One small car had even flipped over completely and crashed into a shop, collapsing half a wall…

Thankfully, most of the vehicles in Yu Xi’s complex were parked underground. There were only a few on the ground level. But low-floor residences had still suffered heavy damage. Since the complex had lush landscaping, most of the trees were short and light, easily uprooted in the wind — many first and second-floor residents weren’t spared.

All morning, residents were busy cleaning up the aftermath. Some used the lull in rain to tidy up quickly and rush injured family members to the hospital.

Some were lucky — no injuries, but their windows were wrecked. They were all anxious to get repairs started, worried the weather could worsen again at any moment.

A few sharp-eyed neighbors noticed the high-security stainless steel shutters installed on Yu Xi and Xing Min’s units and immediately came knocking, asking where they had ordered them. Of course, some didn’t ask directly — such shutters could be custom ordered from most professional window shops. A quick online search of nearby stores would do.

The problem was, now that nearly every household had damaged windows, even basic window repairs were backlogged, let alone time-consuming custom high-security installations.

Yu Xi and Yu Zhenzhen kept watching the news until Tianbao finally woke up naturally and came padding into the living room in her slippers. It was already almost 11 a.m., and they hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet.

Yu Xi took Tianbao to wash up, while Yu Zhenzhen headed to the kitchen. When she opened the fridge to get eggs, she realized there were only two cartons left — 20 eggs in total.

She frowned slightly, then began checking their other food supplies.

Yu Xi’s apartment was small, so the fridge was a single-door model with three sections: the top for fresh food, a zero-degree drawer in the middle, and a freezer at the bottom.

There were a few boxes of fruit, three or four potatoes and carrots, and a good supply of yogurt, cheese, and butter — all stocked up during Yu Xi’s last supermarket run.

In the freezer were pork bones, pork belly, lamb ribs, beef brisket, chicken wings, and mackerel — enough of each for about three or four meals. There were also frozen dumplings, scallion pancakes, sliced beef and lamb rolls, and some cold desserts.

Most of the stock had been purchased by Yu Xi recently — at a glance, it seemed well-supplied.

But vegetables were a bit scarce. Only three or four types of leafy greens and some scallions, ginger, and garlic. Because they didn’t store well, Zhenzhen had advised against buying too many.

The pantry next to the fridge wasn’t well-stocked either — only half a bag of rice left, a similarly half-used bottle of cooking oil, some opened packs of dried shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and black fungus, a pack of dried noodles, one pack of Tianbao’s children’s nutrient noodles, and a bit of mixed grains… all things she used regularly while cooking.

At first glance, it had seemed like plenty. The fridge looked full. But now Zhenzhen was dissatisfied. It was too little.

She worked as a web editor and had seen too many disaster-related stories. When extreme weather struck, all social functions typically halted and people were advised to stay home. She didn’t know whether this disaster was a one-time event or if more would follow — but she knew for sure they had to prepare.

Since their home wasn’t damaged and didn’t need cleaning, she figured — why not take advantage of the lighter rain today and make a supermarket run?

No need to go all the way to a big store. Just a nearby small or mid-size supermarket would do — as long as they could buy what they needed, they wouldn’t be picky about brands for now.

As she thought about it, Yu Zhenzhen walked out of the kitchen to continue checking their household supplies in the storage cabinet. But the moment she opened the door, she was startled — inside, neatly stacked, were large unopened bags of rice, wheat flour, dried seafood, mixed grains, instant noodles, dehydrated vegetables…

There were also two boxes of luncheon meat, two boxes of smoked fish cans, two large tubs of cooking oil, four boxes of shelf-stable milk, and seven or eight boxes in total of Sprite, Coke, milk tea, and coffee. On top of that, three boxes of assorted flavored biscuits, several tins of tea leaves, seven or eight bags of coffee beans, and just as many bags of instant milk tea and soy milk.

Not to mention all the bagged and boxed snacks, plus multiple backups of condiments like soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, sugar, pepper, cumin, curry powder, chicken bouillon, and cornstarch — everything had at least two backups.

All of it filled the storage cabinet from floor to ceiling, packed tight.

Yu Zhenzhen, who hadn’t opened the cabinet in a while: …

And right on cue, Yu Xi came over carrying Tianbao, looking completely unsatisfied. “Still not enough. I’m going to make another trip today and restock a bit more. Sis, stay home with Tianbao and remember to pull down the inner gate after I leave.”

“What else could you possibly need to buy?” Zhenzhen asked in surprise.

“Gotta stock up more milk powder and snacks for our Tianbao!”

Yu Zhenzhen, who had just seen Yu Xi haul two whole boxes of milk powder home not long ago: …Fine. Whatever makes you happy.

**

A chaotic, messy day passed. Though the rain still hadn’t stopped, it seemed almost as if, after the severe weather had devastated H City and surrounding areas, the skies had eased up just to let people catch their breath.

By evening, Yu Xi returned, carrying two more boxes of milk powder, several boxes of marinated duck, spiced duck wings, pepper chicken, and braised pork, a large bag of fresh fish and shrimp, and another bag full of vegetables and fruits.

There were seven or eight types of fruits and veggies — enough for Yu Zhenzhen to cook for a week or two.

Of course, that was only what she brought back visibly. In her space, she’d stashed three to four times more than what was seen: milk powder, braised dishes, vegetables, fruits, freshwater and seafood.

Despite last night’s violent storm, most of H City’s supermarkets were still open today. Some had damaged windows and doors, but staff were urgently working on repairs. Because they were short-staffed, things looked a bit chaotic.

Normally, supermarkets — large or small — had backup stock. Even perishable items like vegetables and seafood were stocked daily.

So today, all major supermarkets were operating normally, though there weren’t many customers. Most people were still busy dealing with the aftermath at home and hadn’t thought yet about stocking up.

Those who did head to the supermarkets now tended to have a sharper sense of crisis. No one was browsing casually — they just pushed their carts along, quickly grabbing what they needed. Their expressions were tense and anxious, and no one cared what others were taking.

Yu Xi didn’t buy excessively either. She hit two supermarkets, filled one cart, and called it a day.

Since the mantis shrimp, yellow clams, and baby cuttlefish she brought back were fresh, Yu Zhenzhen cooked up a big pot of seafood vermicelli hotpot that evening.

The seafood was cleaned first — yellow clams were boiled with yellow wine to purge sand and discarded if they didn’t open; the cuttlefish were sliced; shrimp were deveined and heads removed.

She stir-fried the shrimp heads in hot oil to make shrimp oil, then removed them, added garlic paste for aroma, threw in the seafood for a quick stir-fry, seasoned it with various spices and a bit of yellow wine. Then she added vermicelli and water, brought it to a boil, and finished with chopped scallions and cilantro.

Yu Xi couldn’t resist and took a bite. The seafood was tender and flavorful thanks to proper prep and stir-frying. The vermicelli had soaked up all the broth, smooth and savory with every bite — with a side of rice, she could eat two full bowls.

Feeling pleased, Yu Xi whipped up a quick plate of lettuce in oyster sauce. As Yu Zhenzhen arranged the braised dishes on the table, Tianbao had already grabbed Yu Xi’s hand and was tugging her toward the door, declaring it was time to go invite “pretty gege” next door to dinner.