Ye Xin walked over to the window and finally noticed that the rain, which had originally been falling straight down, had begun to slant. Sheets of rain pelted diagonally against the windows, washing the glass completely clean.
Through the curtain of rain, Ye Xin saw the trees outside beginning to sway, faster and faster.
The sky, which had been bright and washed-out just moments ago, suddenly became gloomy. Dark clouds hung low overhead, making it feel as though the air itself had become oppressive.
The typhoon had arrived!
Xuanxuan also walked over to the window. “Mom, is it starting?”
Ye Xin placed her hand on Xuanxuan’s forehead. His fever was gone.
With a solemn expression, she nodded.
The apocalypse had officially begun.
By now, the property management office’s phone was ringing off the hook.
The first floor was flooded.
With rain this heavy, there was nothing the property management staff could do. They could only ask residents to seek help through the residents’ group chat.
The residents on the first floor began posting messages:
Help! My house is flooded! Could some kind-hearted neighbor please take us in for a few days?
No one replied.
The property management staff began encouraging everyone in the group chat:
“During this difficult period, please help one another. If you have enough space at home, please temporarily accommodate neighbors from your building who have been affected. We would be extremely grateful.”
Still, no one responded.
The property manager then made another announcement:
“If any residents are willing to accommodate their neighbors, please bring a photo of yourself with the neighbor to the property management office. We will reward you by waiving one year of property management fees. We ask everyone to help one another and get through this difficult time together.”
Residents on the second floor also began complaining:
“Damn it! Those of you upstairs, stop sending all that water down! My toilet is already starting to overflow!”
They even attached a photo of a toilet overflowing with sewage. Ye Xin felt sick just looking at it.
“Property management, what are we supposed to do now? We can survive without food for two days, but who can hold in their bowel movements? How are we supposed to deal with this?”
In the face of such a natural disaster, what could the property management staff possibly do?
Everyone from the property management office fell silent.
The wind grew stronger and stronger. The sound of rain driven against the windows by the wind became increasingly loud.
The trees along the roadside swayed wildly, their branches thrashing about.
A billboard from somewhere was blown into the air. It tumbled into the floodwater, sending up a splash that was quickly swallowed by the relentless rain. Only the billboard itself remained, bobbing up and down in the water.
The entire world seemed to be controlled and ravaged by an invisible pair of hands.
Ye Xin took out some pig intestines from her space and began cleaning them with Xuanxuan.
While the water and electricity were still running, they needed to finish as many chores as possible. Later, if they wanted to process anything, they would have to go into the space to do it.
Moreover, Ye Xin’s space was rather strange.
The small wooden house, where time was frozen, could not be entered by humans or any living creatures. Only the garden and the forest behind it could be entered by living beings.
Faced with these powerful yet somewhat arbitrary rules governing her space, Ye Xin felt rather speechless.
She had no choice but to use her consciousness to divert tap water from the wooden house into the garden. She also drew electricity from the wooden house to the outside so that it could be used later.
After the pig intestines were cleaned, Ye Xin handed them to her mother and asked her to braise them or turn them into dishes, then store them inside the wooden house.
At that moment, Su Jing came knocking on the door.
“Xinxin, are you home?”
Ye Xin opened the door, and Su Jing sniffed the air.
“It smells so good! Auntie Ye is quite the cook.”
Ye Xin’s mother smiled. “Stay for lunch.”
Su Jing waved her hands.
“Forget about lunch. Just look at the weather outside. The rain keeps getting heavier, and now the typhoon has decided to join in too.”
“Our school has already announced that the start of the new semester will be postponed. Who knows when we’ll be able to go outside again? I came over this time just to see if you still have enough food at home.”
Ye Xin’s mother smiled.
“We bought quite a bit when we came here. We won’t go hungry for the time being.”
Afraid that Ye Xin’s mother was simply being polite, Su Jing grabbed Ye Xin’s hand.
“Thank goodness you reminded me to stock up. I bought quite a lot of things. You have more people in your family, so if you ever run short of food, just let me know.”
Faced with such a good friend, Ye Xin didn’t know whether she should feel touched or unfortunate.
It had been the same in her previous life. If it hadn’t been for Su Jing’s food supplies, she and Xuanxuan would probably have starved to death during the disaster long ago.
And precisely because Su Jing was so kind, even after discovering that something was wrong with Jiang Chao, she had been reluctant to kick him out of her home. That eventually led to a terrible disaster.
“Jingjing, are you and Jiang Chao doing okay?”
After hearing Ye Xin’s words, Su Jing’s expression became somewhat unpleasant.
“It’s okay, I guess. That’s just the kind of temper he has. He went to the seventh floor to play cards last night and didn’t come home all night.”
“Honestly, what do you even see in him?” Ye Xin sighed.
Ye Xin couldn’t tell her what would happen in the future, nor could she stop her from continuing to be with Jiang Chao. How could she prevent the tragedy that had happened in her previous life?
Downstairs, someone began cursing.
A middle-aged woman from the thirteenth floor pointed at an elderly woman and yelled, “You old hag, what are you knocking for? If your house is flooded, then stay in the hallway! Why are you knocking on my door?”
The old woman was so angry that she could barely speak coherently.
“You… you! This isn’t your house! I paid the down payment for this apartment and bought it for my son. It’s only natural that I stay in my own son’s home!”
The woman refused to back down.
“Oh, now you remember that this is your son’s home? What did you say when we needed help taking care of our child?”
She waved her arms furiously as more and more people gathered to watch.
“Back then, you said you had to work and didn’t have time to look after our child. You said everyone should take care of their own household. So why isn’t this our home now? Why has it suddenly become your son’s home again?”
The old man was furious and punched the woman’s husband several times.
“You little brat! We spent so much money getting you a wife and buying you a house. Now that your parents are in trouble, you won’t even let us stay at your place for a few days?”
“Listen to what your wife is saying! What else could we do except take care of our own households? The money for your wife’s bride price and the down payment for your house were all borrowed by us. You two haven’t paid us back, and now you won’t even let us work! How are we supposed to repay those debts?”
The old man’s voice was so loud that even more people gathered around.
Seeing the growing crowd, the woman slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
“Get lost! This is my home. Nobody is taking it from me!”
Someone suddenly sniffed the air several times.
“Smell that? She’s cooking meat in there! Everyone’s almost out of food, yet she’s still got meat to eat!”
“No wonder that woman is so fat. Turns out she has plenty of food stored at home.”
“I think I can smell rice too. Looks like her family really has a lot of food! Why don’t we knock on the door and borrow some? We could buy some from her too!”
The old man and woman had no choice but head downstairs.
A few young men, however, knocked on the door of apartment 1302.
The same overweight woman opened the door and glared at them with a fierce expression.
“What are you knocking for? Are you looking for trouble?”
One of the young men smiled politely.
“Ma’am, how about this? Our family has completely run out of food. If you have plenty, could you lend us some? No—we can buy it from you. Just name your price.”
The woman rolled her eyes.
“Get lost! Get lost! Get lost! Even if my family has food, we’re not selling any! Look at this situation. Who knows when the rain will stop? The supermarkets are probably already flooded. Even when the rain stops, there won’t be anywhere left to buy food.”
Her words reminded the group of young men.
That’s right!
The rain was already this heavy and still hadn’t stopped. Even if it eventually stopped, all the food would have been soaked by floodwater. Where would they go to buy food?
When people are pushed into desperate situations, they begin looking for ways to survive.
The young men didn’t have any malicious intentions, but several middle-aged men exchanged glances.
The sinister look in their eyes sent chills down one’s spine.