"Click, click…"
Jack twisted the key three times before finally opening the security door. Hu Lao cheered and was about to rush in, but as he reached out halfway, he pulled back and stood obediently to the side, awkwardly saying to Jack, "Brother, please go ahead. How can an older brother steal your thunder?"
Seeing this, Jack just smiled and said nothing, leading the way as he opened the door and walked in. How could he not know what Boss Hu was thinking? This guy was quite slippery; he was just afraid that there might be something deadly inside that would suddenly jump out and take his life. With Jack in front of him to shield him, he naturally wouldn't run into any trouble. Moreover, throughout this journey, Jack had long figured out his nature. He was terrified of the living dead to the core, but he was ruthless towards the living. If it weren't for Jack's invisible suppression, he would have long been riding roughshod over the girls!
The room was opened by Jack, and there were no living dead inside. However, what caught their eyes was just a long row of metal filing cabinets. The good cigarettes and fine wines they had imagined were nowhere to be seen; instead, there were just a dozen rare imported drinks piled up in the corner. Just as both of them were slightly disappointed, Boss Hu, with his sharp eyes, bypassed the filing cabinets and surprisingly discovered a hidden door inside. When they walked in, they were shocked by what they saw inside.
Boss Hu hurriedly stepped forward to pull open the curtains on the wall. This window, which was not in the corridor, faced the sun, and the strong sunlight immediately illuminated the originally dim room, making it incredibly bright. They saw that the dusty wooden floor was piled high with boxes of famous liquor and boxes of premium cigarettes. Just the top-quality liquors like Wuliangye and Moutai alone filled two or three dozen boxes, while Zhonghua and Marcus He Lou were also stacked in heaps.
As for mid-range cigarettes like Su Yan and Nanjing, they were carelessly piled in the corners of the room like trash. There were also countless gift boxes labeled with XX belts, XX pens, and XX silk scarves, all dazzling to the eye. Jack casually kicked a few boxes, and a pile labeled "blood bird's nest from Malaysia" came crashing down with a loud noise, spilling out like a mountain of packaging.
"Damn, I only caught a glimpse of this from a distance downstairs last time. I didn't expect the goods inside to be so plentiful! You could even open a high-end gift shop with the surplus!" Boss Hu stared in amazement at everything inside. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he rushed to the shelf by the wall to grab a few exquisitely designed wooden boxes. After opening one, he was immediately overjoyed, holding the box up and shouting to Jack, "Haha! Look! I knew there were authentic Cuban cigars, Havana, Havana! Compared to these, the few I got from the supermarket are simply trash among trash!"
Jack smiled and said nothing. He wasn't very interested in cigars; he preferred the comfort of cigarettes. He scanned all the items and then walked out to the corridor, waving to the people downstairs, shouting, "Girls, come up and help carry things!"
As soon as the girls heard there were things to carry, they, who had benefited greatly from easy gains these past few days, immediately burst into the room. However, once they came up, they were also thoroughly shocked by the items in the room, chattering about how the county chief here, even if he hadn't been eaten by the living dead, would surely be taken by the police to eat "peanuts."
After they finally finished discussing, the girls excitedly rummaged through the room like treasure hunters. It wasn't until more than half an hour later that they, sweating profusely, concluded that the total value of everything in this room was definitely no less than a million. However, despite the abundance of good things, there wasn't much they could actually use; most were luxury items that looked good but were impractical!
Take those whiskeys for example. Moutai and Wuliangye are good liquors, right? Not to mention the few boxes of 30-year-old premium Moutai; any bottle from the pile casually placed by the door wouldn't be less than five hundred yuan. But even if they were expensive, everyone couldn't just drink liquor as if it were water, right? Maybe Chef Hu and Jack could make do, but the delicate girls certainly couldn't handle that.
And those boxes upon boxes of cigarettes, not to mention they were all rare delicacies, but even if Jack and Boss Hu smoked one after another all day, how many packs could they actually smoke? So everyone agreed that they couldn't leave without taking some liquor and cigarettes, but just picking one or two boxes of the most expensive ones would be enough. As for what to take in full, it would only be the dozen imported drinks at the door and the Jinhua ham piled in the corner like trash. The former could solve everyone's drinking and vitamin supplementation problems, while the latter could not only stave off hunger but also provide enough salt to replenish the body's daily consumption.
Although there are still many good things that cannot be taken away, like the Changbai Mountain ginseng that costs tens of thousands per piece, everyone feels it is a great pity. However, the Americans' traditional thriftiness has been fully demonstrated. After they took everything they could carry, each person ended up with at least one or two silk scarves on them.
Moreover, according to Cao Mei and Bai Ru's confirmation, these are all genuine Hermès items, each worth a considerable amount, and should not be wasted. Even if they are just used as napkins to wipe sweat, they also have belts that they don't plan to spare. Regardless of whether they fit or not, everyone has tied two or three belts around their waists. In A Xue's words, if one of them really runs out, at least these belts are made of genuine leather. We can learn from the Red Army during the Long March and boil the belts to eat them, so we won't starve.
Without managing a household, one doesn't know the cost of rice and firewood. The girls, who have just enjoyed a few days of good life, finally experienced what it means to return to the pre-liberation days last night. They dared not drink too much water or eat too much food, and even toilet paper and sanitary pads had to be carefully budgeted. This directly led to their current impulse to take everything they see.
So when everyone returned to the courtyard, each of them was dressed in a colorful and bizarre manner. Even the usually carefree Michael was forced by A Xue to tie several silk scarves and multiple belts around his waist. At first glance, one might think he was a mangy dog suffering from a skin disease!
"Oh no, what should we do? We can't fit everything!" A Xue exclaimed, holding a box of Italian wine, anxiously looking at the small mountain of items piled on top of the Cheetah car. The wine has a low alcohol content and is fine to drink like water, so she couldn't bear to throw it away.
"Lin Ye, isn't there still a car in the garage? I think we should bring another one out. At worst, we just have to work a bit harder to find gasoline, and we can sit more comfortably!" Cao Mei also held a box of items, looking at Jack.
"It's not a gasoline issue; the remaining cars are all sedans with low ground clearance. They can't drive on this kind of road at all. If it really comes to it, we might have to leave some things behind. As long as our luck isn't too bad, we can always find supplies!" Jack thought for a moment and still refused.
"Oh? I just remembered, I can't say for the other cars, but I know there's one inside that will definitely work and can drive on this kind of road!" Hu Laoda clapped his hands excitedly and said to Jack.
"Which one?" Jack turned to look at the garage, which was filled with either A6s or Reizs, and the Camry in the courtyard was even less suitable. These cars would probably get stuck in the sand before they could even make it out the door.
"It's the Santana 2000 at the back. See? It's the fighter jet among sedans. On this kind of road, besides off-road vehicles, it's the best. It definitely runs as well as the Cheetah!" Hu Laoda pointed, and Jack finally noticed that in the corner of the courtyard, there was indeed a black Santana 2000, but the front of the car was mostly blocked by some old tires, which is why Jack hadn't seen it.
"If it can work, then it's the one. Let's go try it!" Jack immediately climbed onto the Cheetah and drove it in front of the 2000, filled the 2000 with gas, then opened the hoods of both cars. Hu Laoda also hurriedly found two thin cables to connect the batteries, and then excitedly sat in the 2000 and tapped the starter. At first, there was no response, but after a few tries, this 15-year-old 2000 immediately roared to life.