After hearing Song Ya’s words, Lin Nannan immediately ran off to charge devices and, while the Wi-Fi was still working, downloaded all kinds of TV shows to keep themselves entertained once the power went out.
Since electricity was still on, Song Ya used it to cook, with Zheng Yiming helping her. He didn’t talk much, just efficiently handled things on the side.
Because the typhoon was so strong, the water pressure in the tall building was poor, with taps only trickling a little. Fearing a water outage, Song Ya filled several big bottles with leftover mineral water.
Day 13 of the typhoon.
The neighborhood lost power.
It happened a little after 8 p.m. The whole community had been brightly lit just moments ago, and in an instant, everything went dark.
Immediately, the property management group chat exploded. Almost everyone tagged them demanding answers:
“Why’s the power out? It’s only just after 8 p.m.!”
“@Property Xiao Liu, what’s going on? Power out during a typhoon—do you want people to live or not?!”
“Water pressure is already low, barely a trickle, and now the power’s out too. Fix it quickly! We pay all this property fee, not for this service! @Property Xiao Liu”
After a while, property management finally responded:
“Dear residents, apologies. Due to hail from the typhoon, some neighborhood power lines were damaged, causing the outage. Repairs are underway. Please be patient.”
But the explanation was poorly received. Instead, complaints multiplied.
Song Ya’s eyes darkened slightly as she read the messages.
With the power out, the community’s surveillance cameras were also down. How long could people without food hold out? A day? Two? Probably by tomorrow night, there would be a show to watch.
That night, Song Ya went to her room and pulled out her tablet from her space. The boss had previously downloaded plenty of TV variety shows for her. She put on her headphones and leaned against the bed to watch.
Outside, the typhoon continued unabated. Electricity had not returned. Property management kept giving excuses, claiming repair crews were on the way. In weather like this, who would risk their life to fix things?
The hail outside was still huge, each chunk fist-sized. They could dent metal roofing upon impact. Even during the day, the sky was unnervingly dark.
Fortunately, Liu Haowen had previously brought back a bottle of gas, so they wouldn’t go hungry. They used it to cook noodles for lunch, which filled them up.
With the power out, their phones were nearly dead after a night of use. Fortunately, the stationary bikes that Lin Nannan and Liu Haowen had could generate power. They hooked up their phones and pedaled all afternoon, actually fully charging them. Both were fitness enthusiasts, so taking turns pedaling wasn’t tiring at all.
In the afternoon, a loud bang bang bang came from the door—but not theirs, it was the neighbors’.
At the start of the typhoon, Elder Liu had flaunted herself in the group chat, selling supplies. Back then, with power on, no one dared act rashly. But now, with electricity gone, people became brazen.
Elder Liu, annoyed by the knocking, opened the door and yelled:
“What are you knocking for? I already said in the chat, I have nothing left! What do you want?!”
But the visitor was unrelenting:
“We’re all in the same building. Helping each other isn’t abnormal, right? Besides, it’s not like we won’t pay. Give us some food, and after the hail stops, I’ll pay double, even triple!”
Elder Liu was impatient and blunt:
“Go away! I have no food. Knock again and I’ll call the police!”
Then, with a slam, she closed the door.
While sitting in the living room, Song Ya and the others often heard knocking from Elder Liu’s door. Every time, it was neighbors seeking food, all chased away by Elder Liu.
Though Elder Liu repeatedly insisted in the group chat she had no food, those whose supplies were exhausted didn’t believe her. They kept trying their luck, some even offering gold in exchange for food.
Initially, Elder Liu refused, but when Huang Guolin saw the gold, his eyes lit up. Ignoring her warnings, he agreed to the trade and gave some rice to that person.
Word of this spread quickly in the property chat: residents of 6-1502 only accepted gold in exchange for rice.
Though people were reluctant to part with their gold, in this situation, without food, they could starve to death. No one wanted that—they had no choice but to trade gold at 1502.
Though Elder Liu had stored plenty of food, the typhoon was strong. No one dared bring it all out—most were chased away.
The next day.
The four of them had breakfast—tangyuan (rice dumplings) from the fridge. Even though the fridge had no power, the hail made it cold enough outside that the food wouldn’t spoil.
While eating, a crying voice mixed with curses echoed through the hallway for half an hour without stopping.
It was so noisy that Song Ya and Lin Nannan had to open the door and peek outside. Elder Liu was sitting in the hallway, crying and shouting:
“Damn thieves! They broke into my house last night and took all my food! Who the hell did this?!”
Her voice was loud; likely everyone upstairs and downstairs could hear.
Lin Nannan, seeing her predicament, couldn’t help gloating:
“Tsk, serves her right for being so smug before.”
Hearing Lin Nannan’s voice, Elder Liu suddenly turned, springing up from the floor, glaring furiously:
“Was it you?! You sneaked into my room last night and stole my food?!”
She rushed forward, but the security door stopped her.
Song Ya chuckled at Elder Liu’s frenzy and slowly said:
“Elder Liu, don’t falsely accuse anyone. You were so blatant in the property chat, were you afraid no one would notice?”
Elder Liu’s face turned dark, almost gnashing her teeth. She pounded the security door with a bang bang:
“If you’ve got guts, open the door! I’ll beat you to death! If it weren’t for that video you posted, no one would even have targeted my house!”
Lin Nannan, excited for a fight, immediately opened the security door.
But Elder Liu chickened out. Seeing them come out, she bolted back to her room, too scared to appear again.
Lin Nannan laughed:
“Coward. Knew it.”