Although no one in the neighborhood chat responded to the call from the fifteenth floor, two grown men went there privately that night.
Zhang Qiang pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to the dark-skinned, burly middle-aged man opposite him.
He asked eagerly, "Brother Kai, was what you said in the chat true?"
Tian Jiakai took out a lighter, lit the cigarette, and took a drag in bliss.
"Of course it was," he said impatiently.
As he spoke, he looked Zhang Qiang and Zhang Shuai up and down. The brothers had come to find him on the fifteenth floor of their own accord. He said gravely, "If you two are sure you want to work with me, go back and get ready. I'll take you out on a job tonight. Once you get your share, you'll see."
Zhang Qiang and Zhang Shuai hurriedly nodded to show their resolve. "We're in."
"My wife and me, plus you two-that makes four, which is enough. Don't invite anyone else. The more people there are, the harder it'll be to split the supplies."
Tian Jiakai took another deep drag, then continued through the clouds of smoke:
"Those ungrateful bastards won't work with me? They'll have plenty of time to regret it. Even if they come begging later, I won't take them along."
Zhang Qiang and Zhang Shuai couldn't have asked for more. The fewer people competing with them for supplies, the better.
They went home, took out two axes and two kitchen knives, tucked them into their waistbands, and each brought a large woven sack.
Carrying flashlights, they met Tian Jiakai and his wife on the first floor, and the four set off.
Tian Jiakai's wife, Yuan Jiaojiao, was also broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a fleshy, menacing face. She looked like someone not to be trifled with.
None of the four used any kind of transport. Tian Jiakai led them through a series of turns into an old alley, where there was a run-down residential complex.
The buildings in this complex were only six stories tall, with no elevators, and the residents were all elderly, frail, sick, or disabled.
Once Tian Jiakai and his wife led Zhang Qiang and Zhang Shuai inside, the brothers exchanged a look and understood everything.
It seemed the old woman who had died on the third floor had given Tian Jiakai the idea after all.
How had the two of them not thought of it?
Luckily, it wasn't too late to find out now. It looked like they had made the right choice by coming along with Tian Jiakai this time!
Everything went smoothly.
In half a night, the four gathered a considerable haul, enough to feed them for a while.
They divided the supplies in a secluded spot, then each carried their spoils home.
The fifteenth and seventh floors reaped a rich harvest, and Li Weiwei in 1103 benefited too.
Her parents were both in poor health, and during that last scramble for supplies when the supermarket opened, her family had barely managed to get anything.
She had been in a bad mood that day and had wanted to take a walk on basement level one to clear her head, only to run into Zhang Qiang and Zhang Shuai stealing fuel.
She had thought she was probably done for, but Zhang Shuai had taken a fancy to her beauty. As long as she promised to keep quiet and agreed to date him and sleep with him, they would let her go and even help support her family for her sake.
Although Zhang Shuai was a petty thief, he was fairly good-looking. With no other choice, she had given in to him to stay alive.
After Zhang Shuai had her and discovered she was still a virgin, he was delighted and became very loving and attentive toward her.
She didn't know where Zhang Qiang and Zhang Shuai had gotten so many supplies, but Zhang Shuai gave her a ten-jin bag of rice and two pieces of cured pork.
She felt this relationship was well worth it. Since she had received tangible benefits, she naturally did whatever Zhang Shuai wanted. Even when he frequently made strange requests in bed, she was willing to satisfy him.
Jiang Ci had run into the girl from 1103 twice when she went out at night.
She didn't know whether she was imagining it, but she felt that the girl, who had been rather timid at first, seemed increasingly proud and confident lately.
Still, Jiang Ci thought becoming more confident was a good thing, so she paid it no mind.
Instead, she was somewhat interested in Zhou Junming, the guitar player on the ninth floor, and Zhao Yunqiu, the sultry widow on the thirteenth.
After all, with no entertainment, a life of eating and sleeping all day was simply too boring.
She certainly didn't mind enjoying a little gossip.
Why was she interested in those two? Because the previous night, when she opened her door to go for a stroll, she had actually seen Zhou Junming and Zhao Yunqiu at the stairwell on her floor, the eleventh, kissing passionately and unwilling to part.
Zhou Junming's mother had played matchmaker herself, too. Jiang Ci wondered how she would react if she found out her precious son had gotten involved with a widow.
At the end of October, the government adjusted the water and electricity supply hours again, cutting them from four hours a day to two.
Those two hours ran from noon to two in the afternoon.
The weather kept getting hotter, yet the hours of water and electricity kept getting shorter. It was easy to imagine how miserable everyone's lives were now.
Before long, the water and power would probably be cut off completely.
Jiang Ci took a week's worth of supplies back to Fragrant Orchid Cottage.
She didn't drive the BMW Mini in her garage. Instead, she went out at night with her skateboard, skated somewhere deserted, then took an off-road vehicle out of her space and drove there.
Different people loitered outside Fragrant Orchid Cottage every day, casing the place. They clearly intended to do something to it.
One villa, which housed only a family with no bodyguards or housekeeper, had indeed been broken into and burgled at night.
Fortunately, so far there had only been burglaries, with no murders yet.
Jiang Ci felt Dad Si and Mom Wen were no longer safe either. After all, only three people lived in their villa, and those people casing the area every day surely knew that.
Although Si Beichen was a soldier, two fists were no match for four hands.
Jiang Ci drove a lap around Fragrant Orchid Cottage and discovered more than one group casing the surrounding area. If those thugs went mad and tried to do something to Dad Si and Mom Wen, Si Beichen definitely couldn't stop them alone.
The other families' bodyguards certainly wouldn't come out to help them either.
Jiang Ci told Dad Si, Mom Wen, and Si Beichen what she thought. To her surprise, Si Beichen had already considered these issues, and the three had discussed them long ago.
Si Beichen had originally planned to take Dad Si and Mom Wen to live in an apartment downtown.
Now that Jiang Ci had invited them, and Dad Si and Mom Wen were also worried about her living alone, they talked it over and decided to go live at her place.
Jiang Ci had specially renovated her apartment, installing bulletproof windows and a super security door. It was absolutely safe.
It was just a small two-bedroom apartment with a living room, though. If Jiang Ci took one bedroom and Dad Si and Mom Wen took the other, Si Beichen would have to sleep on the living room couch.
Si Beichen didn't mind. He could sleep anywhere. Where hadn't he slept while out on missions?
With no objections, Jiang Ci began helping them pack.
There wasn't much to pack. Jiang Ci had moved the food away long ago and came to deliver supplies once a week.
From now on, she wouldn't have to keep going back and forth delivering supplies.
It was mainly clothes and daily necessities for the three of them.
Dad Si and Mom Wen had never been to Jiang Ci's current home. Going to live with their daughter for the first time left them both a little nervous and excited.
Si Beichen drove his Land Rover Defender with Dad Si and Mom Wen aboard. Jiang Ci told him to leave first and wait for her at the entrance to the complex.
She would bring up the rear.
Only after watching Si Beichen drive away did Jiang Ci return and sweep through the house at Fragrant Orchid Cottage once more, putting everything useful into her space to take away.
Once she had cleared everything out, she shut off the mains, locked the door, and drove away.