Naturally, as this place is close to the sea, the only way for its inhabitants to survive is by living off the sea.
Before the apocalypse, when trade was still active, people here could perhaps go out and exchange some seafood for fresh vegetables.
But now, Xu An didn't believe they could procure any dehydrated vegetables themselves.
Those supplies were most likely "leftover" materials from when Qin Chuan's troops were stationed here previously.
However, recalling Qin Chuan's hesitant demeanor during the day.
Although suspicious, Xu An suppressed her curiosity and walked forward, knocking on the door.
Little did Xu An know that her knock indirectly saved a woman's life.
"Knock, knock, knock—" accompanied the knocking.
The man inside was startled for a moment, then impatiently roared at the door.
"Who the hell is it? Can't you see I'm busy with important matters?"
There were never any outsiders in fishing villages, let alone during the apocalypse. Apart from a group who arrived a month ago, the man didn't expect any other outsiders here.
He thought the noise of him beating his wife was too loud, disturbing others, and they came to mediate.
So, he continued to curse at the door with annoyance.
Xu An, hearing the curses, paid no mind and continued knocking.
The man, hearing the incessant knocking, let go of the woman's neck, which he had been choking, gave her a hard kick, and then spat on her. Muttering curses, he walked towards the door, wanting to see who dared to interrupt his good mood.
"Damn it, who is knocking and disturbing your grandpa's mood? I'll kill you!"
As he spoke, he pulled open the door.
What met his eyes was Xu An's cool and ethereal face.
Against the backdrop of ice and snow, she appeared like a spectral figure fallen into the mortal world, indistinct.
The man's gaze made Xu An extremely uncomfortable, feeling like a dirty bug coveting her. But since Xu An needed his help, she didn't react.
The curses that were about to come out of the man's mouth were swallowed back.
"You... who are you?"
Xu An frowned, suppressing the urge to turn and leave, and said coldly to the man.
"We passed by here during the day, but our car got stuck in the snow. We can't leave now and wanted to stay in the car for the night. But the weather is too cold, so we wanted to borrow two quilts. Would that be convenient? We can exchange something for them, we won't take them for free."
As soon as Xu An finished speaking, the roving gaze on her body seemed to freeze.
That disgusting gaze slowly shifted to Xu An's face. The man's half-face, hidden in the candlelight, revealed a lewd smile.
"You want to sleep in the car? You, you and your man?"
"Why not come over and sleep in our house? It's warm and cozy. In this weather, sleeping in the car will freeze you to death."
Hearing this, Xu An instinctively took half a step back. Although she didn't know why the man immediately assumed her companion was a man, Xu An didn't refute it.
Explaining such an insignificant matter would be futile. Besides, letting him know she had a male companion with her might not be a bad thing.
In fact, Xu An didn't know that the man had a preconceived notion.
He believed that in the apocalypse, a woman could not survive on her own, especially a beautiful woman like Xu An.
Therefore, this man could righteously assume that Xu An had survived until now by relying on a man.
Seeing the man still leaning on the doorframe and not answering.
Xu An's expression was filled with impatience: "Are you trading or not? If not, I'll ask someone else."
Hearing Xu An's tone, the man snorted disdainfully through his nose.
"What's the hurry? I'll have my wife find the quilts for you. What do you have to trade with me?"
Xu An took off her backpack, put everything back into her space, leaving only a few pieces of compressed biscuits, instant noodles, and two packs of freeze-dried vegetables.
The man looked at Xu An as she opened her bag. His eyes, which were initially shining, turned to calculations filled with greed.
Xu An observed the man's gaze the entire time.
She saw the greed in his eyes.
But both of them knew in their hearts that the value of two quilts was nowhere near the supplies Xu An held.
After waiting for a long time, until Xu An was getting impatient, the man slowly spoke.
"That's all? Nothing else?"
Xu An frowned even deeper, "This should be more than enough. Moreover, I don't plan to give it all to you."
The man's tone suddenly rose, "It's winter now, and warm supplies like quilts are not something that can be given away easily. You think you can exchange so little for our family's quilts, and you're still not satisfied?"
As he spoke, he kicked the woman lying on the ground, "You dead woman, hurry up and find the quilts! What are you lying there for, pretending to be dead."
After saying that, he went inside and kicked the woman twice more.
Xu An looked at the woman before her.
During the day, she had a hunched posture, silently chopping wood. Even during the tense exchange with Zhou Haimai, her eyes were numb and vacant.
Xu An then recalled the day before, when the childish curses of a child could be heard from the house.
This woman, whether as a wife or a mother, had no status in this family.
She was like a dog summoned and dismissed at will.
Looking at everything before her, Xu An couldn't help but recall Qin Chuan's indescribable expression when they passed by here during the day.
Her intuition told Xu An that there must be a hidden reason, so she didn't feel too much sympathy for the woman.
She was never a saint.
Just as you can never wake someone who is pretending to sleep,
Xu An didn't want to save someone who was willingly drowning in their own despair.
It was the apocalypse, yet this woman clearly suffered from long-term domestic violence and dared not speak out against it.
Even if Xu An could see the slightest bit of resistance in this woman,
Even if she dared not resist due to fear of the man's strong physique and the power difference between men and women,
Even a single glance from her would have made Xu An willing to help this poor woman.
But there was none.
This woman had no will to resist at all.
After being beaten and scolded by the man, the woman acted as if it was nothing unusual, shakily got up from the ground, and still remembered to tidy her hair.
Submissively listening to the man's words, she went into the inner room to find the quilts.