Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 178 Searching

She stopped and asked Lu Hu, who was leading the way, "Brother Lu, can we search these rooms later? See if there are any usable little things that we might have missed?" She deliberately emphasized "little things" and "missed" to indicate that she was not expecting to find anything valuable, but just didn't want to leave empty-handed.

Lu Hu was walking briskly in the direction he remembered when he heard her. He glanced back at her, then swept his hand over the messy rooms. He waved it off indifferently and said gruffly, "Search anywhere! Don't get your hopes up too high. The valuable and easy-to-get items have probably already been looted. What's left are just unwanted junk." He pointed to the depths of the corridor. "I remember the tow truck is in the material room in the northeast corner. The door number should still be there. Let's be efficient and focus on getting the tow truck sorted out first. Once we have the truck, you can search for whatever you want later. The truck can carry it anyway."

The suggestion was reasonable, so the four quickened their pace, walked through the messy corridor, and headed straight for the northeast corner.

Sure enough, in a room with a blue sign with white lettering that read "Material Storage" and the door completely open, they saw seven or eight manual hydraulic pallet trucks neatly stacked against the wall, and four or five small flatbed carts with handrails next to them!

They were covered in a thick layer of dust, and the metal parts had rust, but the overall structure looked intact and there was no obvious damage.

"Great! It really is!" Wang Xiao was the first to cheer and rush in. Ignoring the dust, he excitedly patted the metal handle of a trailer, making a dull thud and kicking up a cloud of dust. "We're rich! We can haul so much!"

The four men immediately got to work, focusing on checking whether the wheels could still turn flexibly. Soon, each of them found a tow truck that suited their needs.

Lu Hu didn't seem very interested in thoroughly searching these dilapidated offices; he was more concerned about the unpicked fruit in the sea buckthorn forest outside. "Then I won't search these rooms with you," Lu Hu said decisively, pulling his trailer, which looked to have the largest wheels, towards the door. "I'll just drive back to the picking garden. While you're searching, I'll pick some more and fill the trailer. Let's split up."

Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao exchanged a glance and quickly made a face at each other. Xie Yingtang then said, "Okay, Brother Lu, you go first. We'll accompany Xiaoyan to search around here a bit and see if there are any useful little odds and ends. This place is spacious, and any noise would be scary."

Wang Xiao quickly nodded in agreement, his face still flushed with excitement at finding the tow truck. "Right, right! Let's search the safest spot together! We might actually find something! Brother Lu, be careful while you're picking fruit!"

Xu Xiaoyan understood that Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao insisted on staying, partly because they wanted to search for supplies together, but more importantly because they were worried about her safety as a girl alone in this unfamiliar and potentially unpredictable abandoned factory.

"Alright! It's settled then!" Lu Hu said decisively, without any formalities. "We'll meet at 6 PM sharp at the wire mesh entrance we came in from. See you there! Be careful and keep track of the time; we have to start heading back before dark!"

"good!"

"no problem!"

Having agreed on a time, Lu Hu didn't delay any longer. Pulling the empty trailer, he hurried downstairs along the same route. The metal wheels made a rumbling sound on the concrete floor, and he quickly disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

The second floor of the factory returned to silence, with only Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Yingtang, and Wang Xiao remaining, along with the dust and decay filling the corridor.

"Let's get started!" Wang Xiao rubbed his hands together, and the three of them pulled their empty trailers one by one, starting to check the offices with their doors wide open. They agreed to keep a certain distance between them so that they could hear each other's movements, which would improve efficiency and allow them to respond to each other at any time.

Xu Xiaoyan pushed open a half-closed door marked "Administrative Assistant". The space inside was small, with only a desk, a filing cabinet and a chair.

The table was empty, and all the drawers were pulled open, containing only some useless scraps of paper and remnants of stationery. She was feeling somewhat disappointed when her gaze swept over a small cabinet with doors in the corner. The doors were closed but unlocked. She walked over and opened them—dust rushed out.

However, amidst the dust, a few things caught her eye: a white health-preserving kettle that looked almost brand new, with the instruction sticker still attached to its body; two shiny stainless steel thermos flasks; and an ordinary electric kettle, also made of stainless steel, which, although showing some limescale marks, looked perfectly fine.

After checking that there was no damage, she temporarily set them aside. She then put these items, along with half a box of unopened napkins that she later found in a cabinet in the common area, into a cardboard box and secured them with packing rope.

From the next room came Wang Xiao's barely suppressed, excited shouts: "Hey! Lao Xie, come quick! This little saucepan! It even has a steamer! It's a bit rusty, but a quick wash will definitely fix it! And this, a folding recliner! The steel pipes are a bit cold, but the canvas isn't badly damaged! We've really hit the jackpot this time! Hehe, if we bought these things at the base with points, even secondhand ones, it would cost a fortune! This time it's practically free, not bad at all!" His voice echoed in the empty corridor, filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

Hearing this, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but raise her voice to remind everyone, "Keep an eye out for napkins and toilet paper! I just found half a box of unopened tissues in the communal lockers! There might also be small packets in many desk drawers, remember to take them all, don't waste them! These things are hard to find these days!"

"Got it, Xiaoyan!" Wang Xiao's voice came from another room a little further away, filled with obvious laughter and even greater joy. "Haha, I found a lot too! And a few packs of wet wipes! They might be expired, but they'll still be useful for wiping things!"

Xu Xiaoyan crept into what appeared to be the tea room, where the place was in complete disarray: the water dispenser was overturned on the floor, the bottled water was long gone, the floor was covered with broken porcelain shards and dried stains, and most of the cabinet doors were damaged or open, leaving them empty.

But she didn't give up. She squatted down and checked the bottom cabinet next to the door. The door was a bit tight, so she pulled hard and "creak" the door opened. Inside, there was a jumble of odds and ends: a few rusty can openers, a few straws, a box of damp, clumped sugar cubes... And at the very back, a white, slightly bulky appliance sat quietly in the corner, covered with a layer of dust.

Xu Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat. She reached out and took it out. It was a household soy milk maker! It was almost new. The plastic casing was a little yellowed, but there was no damage. The power cord was also neatly wrapped around the base.