Chapter 27: The Starving Neighbors

Sun Peng from 1302 organized a meeting with the residents of the building to discuss ways to survive.

Everyone showed up except for An Nan from the 14th floor and the mother and son from 15th. The hungry crowd gathered together, each looking more gaunt and sallow than the last.

“If we don’t eat something today, we’re really going to starve to death.”

“There’s nothing left. All the office buildings above the water have already been picked clean.”

“We’ve even eaten all the belts in my house.”

Sun Peng watched the discussion in silence at first. When the crowd finally quieted down, he spoke in a low voice, “Have you noticed that the people on the 14th and 15th floors have barely gone out to look for food?”

The room instantly fell silent.

That’s right!

An Nan from the 14th floor had only come out once. Her skin was smooth, her complexion rosy, even her hair was shiny—she looked like she was living quite comfortably.

As for the mother and son on the 15th floor, they hadn’t left their apartment even once.

“They must have a huge stockpile of food at home! Enough that they don’t even need to go out!”

“That’s just too much. We’re all starving, and they still have plenty of food at home?”

“We should go ask them to share their supplies. We’re all neighbors—how can they be so selfish and keep it all to themselves?”

“But that woman on the 14th floor is a psycho killer…”

At the mention of An Nan, the crowd fell silent for a moment.

Everyone couldn’t help but recall the bloody stairwell and the Liu brothers, dead with their eyes wide open.

The psychological trauma was too much.

“Maybe we should check out the 15th floor first…”

Pick the softest target, of course.

“You’re right, let’s go to the 15th floor. They haven’t come out in so long—maybe they have enough supplies for all of us to last a while.”

The crowd, as if seeing a glimmer of hope, surged toward the top floor with renewed energy.

Even though their stomachs had been empty for days and their voices were weak, now they were suddenly full of adrenaline.

“Go to the 15th floor and get food!”

“No more starving!”

An Nan could hear their shouting in the hallway from inside her room.

She frowned slightly. Looks like these people have really gone mad with hunger.

But since they weren’t coming for her, she couldn’t be bothered to get involved. If anyone dared to break into her place, she’d make sure they regretted it.

In her previous life, this group had also gone to the 15th floor to demand food, but An Nan hadn’t taken part. She’d taken Bai Wenbin and his sister out to look for supplies instead.

First, because she still had a conscience back then and didn’t want to gang up on her old neighbors.

Second, she figured there were too many wolves and too little meat. How could one household’s supplies feed so many people? It was better to try their luck outside.

By the time she, Bai Wenbin, and Qian Yinger returned with a few bags of noodles, the hallway had already quieted down.

She never found out exactly what happened, but the mother and son from the 15th floor didn’t leave their apartment until the very end of the heatwave, and they left in good health.

Clearly, the neighbors had failed.

While An Nan was lost in her memories, the crowd had already reached the 15th floor.

As expected, the stainless steel door at the stairwell was locked. A few strong young men at the front forced it open with crowbars after a few tries.

Sun Peng was the first to walk up to the door of 1501. He put on a polite face and knocked:

“Hello, we’re your neighbors from downstairs.”

There was no response from inside.

He knocked again. “Is Zhao Ping’an home? I’m the building rep for our unit. I’d like to talk to you.”

A gentle male voice came from inside, “Sorry, it’s not convenient to open the door. If you have something to say, just say it.”

Sun Peng glanced back at the crowd behind him.

Everyone’s hair was like straw, their cheeks sunken, eyes burning with desperate hope.

He cleared his throat. “Here’s the thing. None of us have any food left. We were hoping you could lend us some.”

Zhao Ping’an replied from inside, “Sorry, I can’t help you. We don’t have much left ourselves.”

As a doomsday prepper, Zhao Ping’an knew the rules of survival: bleeding hearts don’t live long.

So he never intended to share his food.

Hearing this, someone in the crowd shouted, “Liar! You and your mom haven’t left the apartment once—you must have tons of food!”

“Yeah! Why are you hiding it? Share it with everyone!”

“You two are so cruel! You just want to watch us all starve to death!”

The crowd grew more agitated, some people rushing to the front and pounding on the door.

Seeing this, a glint flashed in Sun Peng’s eyes. He quietly slipped to the back, letting the most worked-up people take the lead.

Suddenly, a powerful voice boomed from inside the apartment:

“Get the hell out of here! Begging at my door—who do you think I am, your ancestor? You want me to feed you? How about I fry up some shit for you to eat?”

“Ahem, Mother, please mind your language.”

“Mind my ass! You coward, the dogs are at our door and you still won’t fight back!”

The people outside grew even more agitated at the shouting. The ones in front kept pounding on the door and tried to pry the lock.

Suddenly, they felt a strong electric current surge from their hands through their bodies.

“The door’s electrified!”

The ones in front started convulsing from the shock.

Those behind, panicking, tried to pull them away—only to get shocked themselves, jumping around like they were breakdancing.

Bai Wenbin quickly used a wooden mop handle to push them apart, finally stopping the current.

Several people who’d been shocked passed out.

The rest of the crowd didn’t dare go forward.

Just then, two middle-aged men stepped up. “Our hammer handles are insulated! Let’s just smash the lock!”

They immediately started banging away at the door.

Inside: “Oh, you think you can mess with Hu Cuilan and get away with it?”

“Son! Hand me the thing!”

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the door.

“What’s that?” One of the men smashing the door noticed the hole.

Before he could finish, a sharp arrow shot out and pierced his arm.

“Ah!”

He screamed, dropping the hammer on his own foot.

“AAAH!”

His cries grew even more miserable as he collapsed to the floor, clutching his foot, an arrow still stuck in his arm.

The crowd was stunned. Before they could react, more arrows whistled out, hitting those at the front.

Some were shot in the shoulder, some in the thigh, and the unluckiest was pierced straight through the chest.

“Run! They have a crossbow!”

Getting hit by a crossbow bolt was dangerous enough in normal times—now, with no hospitals or medicine, it was a death sentence.

The crowd quickly scattered, running downstairs in panic.

Sun Peng, hiding at the back, was the first to react. He slipped into the blind spot beside the door, his gaze dark as he stared at 1501.

“Don’t panic! Stand on either side of the door—the crossbow can’t reach you!”"