The skinny guy looked at me in surprise. He opened his mouth, then hesitated.
The Fatty and the others were watching me intently too, looking as if they wanted to say something.
I hadn't told them about my decision. Whether it was right or wrong, whether standing my ground and facing things head-on would let us survive longer than running away—I wasn't entirely sure.
The atmosphere among the five of us grew tense again.
"Let's go back to the residents' committee first. We'll talk about this after work," I said.
It wasn't like we could just stand around here doing nothing.
We walked back to the residents' committee in silence. Director Mao asked about the Xu family, and I gave him a rough account of what had happened.
Xiao Yao still seemed to be treating it like a spectacle. She remarked that it was "a dog-eat-dog fight," then went on to offer her detailed commentary.
This time, the skinny guy didn't chime in every now and then.
No one from the Xu family sent us any news, either.
At noon, we ate boxed lunches, then continued working through the afternoon.
People still came by from time to time that day to vote or ask about voting and the demolition and relocation.
Some people brought up the Xu family, too, but none of them knew the details.
By the time we finished work, Xu Gang still hadn't come out of the Xu family home.
I was a little worried about the Xu family.
With the Blue-Faced Ghost around, and Xu Guangzong's death already behind us, the person it had latched onto might make another wish and take someone else's life.
When work ended, I told the others to wait at the residents' committee while I went to check on the Xu