Chapter 26: Greed

Lin Wanmei would never have guessed that her fourth brother would have such a change of heart this time.

In recent days, more and more households in the residential complex have been running low on food. Fang Zhaoyu, who lives on the first floor, eventually let it slip in the group chat that he had a supply of rice. Many people in the building went to his place to trade items for it. Although the world outside was in a state of utter ruin and chaos, a semblance of order was still being maintained within the building.

Since there were no zombies in their building, the residents were able to help one another. However, it was a different story for the other buildings, most of which had been infiltrated by zombies, leaving the residents too terrified to step outside. It was likely that once they reached the point of having no other options and could no longer endure the hunger, people would pick up weapons and fight for their survival. When that happened, the chaos outside would only escalate further.

On the eighth day of the zombie outbreak, Lin Wanmei discovered something. Apartment 201, next door, was occupied. Over the past few days, 201 had been completely silent. They hadn't spoken in the group chat, and their presence was so faint that Lin Wanmei had almost forgotten she even had neighbors there. She only noticed them now because, while she was half-heartedly doing push-ups in the living room, she heard a sudden, sharp crashing sound from next door. She scrambled up, pressed her ear against the wall to listen closely, but the sound was gone.

Was it really that mysterious?

"Grandma," she whispered, moving over to where Old Mrs. Lin was shaping rice balls, "what kind of people live next door?"

"It's a girl in her twenties, living by herself," Old Mrs. Lin replied, stealing a glance at her. "Why? Isn't she at work and hasn't returned yet?"

"She's back. I heard a noise."

Lin Wanmei began to feel uneasy. There was a difference between a floor occupied only by her own family and one with outsiders present. Anything they did in their home could potentially be heard by the neighbor. But it was the neighbor's home, and she couldn't exactly tell them not to live there. Lost in thought, she couldn't focus on her push-ups anymore. After a moment, she got up, returned to her room, and activated the Sheep Talisman to project her soul. She decided to go take a look next door.

She drifted effortlessly through the wall. As soon as she looked up, she was caught off guard by a bloody face. The distance between them shrank in an instant; Lin Wanmei was startled and, unable to stop her momentum, squeezed her eyes shut.

She only remembered she was in a spiritual state—incapable of physical contact—after she had already passed through the body. Her heart eased slightly, though she remained shaken.

This... this...

She stared in shock at the female zombie, whose seven orifices were bleeding. Just as Old Mrs. Lin had said, the girl was about twenty-six or twenty-seven, with shoulder-length straight hair and a white dress. Lin Wanmei had expected to see a girl struggling to survive on her own in fear; she never imagined the girl had already turned into a zombie. Looking at the overturned chair nearby, she immediately understood the source of the noise she had heard earlier. No wonder there hadn't even been the sound of a toilet flushing for days! So that was why...

However, Lin Wanmei looked carefully and found no signs of any zombie bite marks on the body. And this—bleeding from the seven orifices? That shouldn't be a symptom of turning into a zombie, should it? A bold hypothesis suddenly began to form in her mind.

"What do you think you're doing!"

An angry roar echoed from downstairs. It wasn't perfectly clear, but it was impossible to ignore. Lin Wanmei paused. Was that Fang Zhaoyu's voice? She immediately drifted downward to apartment 101.

She arrived in the living room and saw Fang Zhaoyu’s wife clutching their nine-year-old son in front of the bedroom door, her face full of tension. Several figures were blocking their front door.

"Why are you yelling! If you attract the zombies in here, you'll be the sinner of the whole building!" A man, looking terrified, glanced at the apartment building's main entrance, which was being pounded on again, and shivered. "We just want to buy a bit more rice from you. What you gave us isn't enough for anyone to eat!"

The woman speaking was someone Lin Wanmei recognized—it was that woman from 702 who had wanted to murder her own husband.

"You brought a single bag of salt, and you brought a pack of instant noodles. I gave each of you ten pounds of rice! Is that still not enough?" Fang Zhaoyu’s fair face was flushed with rage; it was rare to see such a mild-mannered man lose his temper like this.

Lin Wanmei understood the situation immediately. In times of food scarcity, being exposed was only a matter of time.

"What is ten pounds of rice supposed to do? I have a family of six! It’ll be gone in a few days!" The man forced a fawning smile. "Brother Fang, your wife has plenty of food stored anyway. Just give us a few dozen more pounds, won't you? We're all neighbors; we should be helping each other in these trying times!"

"There are fifteen households in this building, and twelve have already come to trade for rice. No matter how much my wife saved, how much could there possibly be? How could we support so many people?"

Watching Fang Zhaoyu’s distressed expression, Lin Wanmei sighed inwardly, wondering if he regretted bringing this trouble upon himself. Fang Zhaoyu truly hadn't expected that his neighbors, who usually acted like decent people, could be so greedy and shameless. Getting through hard times required everyone to be of one mind; how could one family provide for over a dozen others? At first, when he began trading supplies, he had been happy, as it allowed him to get things his family lacked. But five or six bags of rice were soon exhausted, and Fang Zhaoyu began to panic. His own family needed to eat too—they couldn't just give everything away to others. The amount of rice that seemed like a lot for a family of three was nothing when faced with the needs of the entire building.

But he had already made the offer. Now that he claimed there was no more rice to share, the others simply believed he was lying and just didn't want to help.

"Little Fang, stop trying to fool us. If you didn't have much food, would you have been bold enough to tell everyone that anyone without food could come to you to trade?" The woman from 702 looked at him with disdain, as if she had seen through his scheme. "You just want to raise the price, don't you? Think what we gave you wasn't enough?"

Fang Zhaoyu’s face darkened, and he spoke more bluntly. "Even if you did give me very little, that's not what I meant. Even if you gave me more, the rice in my home is finished. It’s gone! You should all go back!"

As he spoke, he moved to close the door, and the woman from 702 grew anxious.

"Hey! You surnamed Fang! Don't be so heartless! We came to ask you nicely, and you still refuse? Do you want to watch us starve to death?!"

Spurred on by the woman, the other residents began pointing fingers at Fang Zhaoyu as well. Fang Zhaoyu was utterly disappointed and grabbed a broom to chase them away. "Get out! All of you! There is no rice, that's it!"

The group retreated in fear, and taking advantage of the moment, Fang Zhaoyu slammed the security door shut. The noise excited the zombies outside the unit entrance, and the door began to look like it might give way under their pounding. Terrified, the residents said, "Everyone go home for now, we'll think of something else later!"

They dispersed, but the woman from 702 was still fuming, cursing as she headed home. Lin Wanmei followed her lazily, keeping close behind.