Without even looking up, Si Beichen fiddled with the radio and asked casually, "What did they say about me?"
"They said you were a gangster, haha."
Si Jianhua joined in, asking curiously, "Someone said Si Beichen was in a gang?"
Jiang Ci nodded firmly. "Yep."
Si Beichen looked up helplessly and glanced at Si Jianhua and Jiang Ci, who were doubled over with laughter.
"They really have no eye for people. How do I look like a gangster? I'm a soldier who defends our country."
"Who knows? Anyway, those people think everyone on our eleventh floor is bad."
"Isn't that a good thing? We're all bad people, so they'd better not come messing with us."
Wen Qianyue actually thought being seen as bad was a good thing. Some people bullied the weak and feared the strong. If you were bad, no one dared bully you.
Si Jianhua nodded in agreement. "Your mom's right."
Seeing her mother knitting a sweater, Jiang Ci couldn't help saying incredulously, "Mom, we're practically dying of heat, and you're knitting a sweater?"
Wen Qianyue rolled her eyes at Jiang Ci. "What do you know, kid? Don't you know things reverse when they reach an extreme? Just you watch. It's extreme heat now, but extreme cold might come next. I'm preparing for a rainy day!"
Realization dawned on Jiang Ci. Looking at her mother admiringly, she couldn't help giving her a thumbs-up.
Old ginger really was spicier. Her mother was something else-she'd actually guessed right.
But when the extreme cold really came, the sweater her mother was knitting wouldn't keep out the cold either.
Oh well, it was good for her mother to have something to do, so she wouldn't develop problems from sitting around with nothing to occupy her.
As Si Jianhua watched the TV drama Jiang Ci had put on for him, he asked, "Are those people planning to make a move?"
The mayor was as sharp as ever.
Jiang Ci didn't hide it. "They're planning to rob the Tian family on the fifteenth floor in the second half of the night."
Si Beichen's expression turned cold. "As long as they don't mess with us, stay out of it."
Si Jianhua sighed softly. "The world really is falling into chaos. We can't concern ourselves with that much anymore. As long as our family is safe and well, that's enough."
Jiang Ci asked tentatively, "What if they come after us?"
"Then of course we can't let them off lightly! Being merciful to your enemies is being cruel to yourself."
Wen Qianyue stopped knitting. Afraid Jiang Ci would be too softhearted and get bullied, she hurriedly gave her daughter a stern lesson.
"Times have changed. Social order has fallen apart. Don't say your mother never taught you: if anyone dares mess with our family or bully us, beat them within an inch of their lives! Did you earn that ninth-degree black belt in taekwondo for nothing?"
Jiang Ci hastily put on a look of having taken the lesson to heart.
Si Jianhua and Si Beichen, however, looked at Jiang Ci in surprise. "Who would've guessed? My daughter has a ninth-degree black belt in taekwondo?"
Although the young woman was 170 centimeters tall, she had a small frame and was slim and fair, with delicate, beautiful features. She was usually so well-behaved and gentle that there really was no telling she knew how to fight.
Wen Qianyue was unimpressed. "Don't let her looks fool you. This brat is vicious in a fight!"
Si Beichen raised an eyebrow and gave Jiang Ci a thorough once-over, as though he had only just met her.
Jiang Ci could only sit there awkwardly and chuckle.
She really is my mom. Why is she exposing me like this? Don't I have a reputation to maintain?
Si Jianhua burst into delighted laughter. "It's good that my daughter can fight! We won't have to worry about her being bullied. The stronger she is, the better! Listen to your mom, sweetheart. She's right. If anyone dares bully you, beat them within an inch of their lives. Don't hold back."
Jiang Ci pouted. "Got it."
She'd thought her mother and Dad Si would teach her to be kind and to show mercy when she could, but instead, each encouraged her more than the other to beat people within an inch of their lives.
All right, then. All she could say was that they really were her family.
Then she wouldn't hold back from now on.
Honestly, when she got fierce, she even scared herself. Rawr!
Sure enough, in the second half of the night, Jiang Ci heard faint sounds outside the door.
Si Beichen even stood by the door and listened for a while.
The faint noises soon disappeared, and it fell quiet outside the door again.
Early the next morning.
Jiang Ci heard a chorus of wailing outside.
It turned out to be Tian Jiakai's wife, Yuan Jiaojiao, sitting in the stairwell and crying.
She cursed as she cried.
"You sons of bitches! You robbers! Not only did you steal our food, you even injured my husband!"
"May you all die horrible deaths! You scum!"
Si Beichen covered Jiang Ci's ears and pulled her into the living room from where she had been pressed against the door, eavesdropping on the drama.
He even took out his phone, played a song, plugged in earphones, and put the earbuds into Jiang Ci's ears.
Jiang Ci was forced to listen to music, bringing her enjoyment of the drama to an end...
After roughly three songs, Yuan Jiaojiao had screamed her throat raw and was drenched in sweat. The heat had left her dizzy, and only then did she have to go home to rest and rehydrate.
That evening, the broadcast sounded again, announcing that government water trucks had arrived to deliver water and telling every resident in the community to bring a bucket and their ID downstairs to collect water.
Si Jianhua and Wen Qianyue stayed home while Jiang Ci and Si Beichen took four IDs and carried four buckets downstairs to collect water.
The buckets were the ones Jiang Ci used to store large quantities of water. She had taken them out of her space and put them in a kitchen cabinet.
Although Wen Qianyue and Si Beichen were a little puzzled about where the buckets had come from, neither asked anything.
After all, Wen Qianyue cooked in the kitchen every day and had never seen those buckets.
But none of that mattered. She thought it was normal for Jiang Ci to have secrets of her own. After all, she had grown up and was an adult now.
To a mother, as long as her child was healthy, happy, well-fed, and warmly dressed, nothing else mattered.
For Si Beichen, it was a professional habit: wherever he went, he habitually observed every place and every person.
He didn't remember there being any buckets in the kitchen cabinet. These buckets seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
But he didn't ask, investigate, or get curious.
After all, Jiang Ci was his younger sister and certainly wouldn't harm him. Besides, having a few extra things appear out of thin air was good for their family. Not only would he refrain from asking, he would also protect Jiang Ci. No one outside their own family could be allowed to discover it.
In fact, Jiang Ci had deliberately made no particular effort to hide anything, partly to see how her family reacted and partly to make it easier for her to bring out more things in the future.
She didn't want to explain too much, nor did she want to admit anything herself.
It would be fine to let the fact that she had a space remain their family's unspoken secret.
She certainly wouldn't let anyone else know.
As long as Dad Si, Mom Wen, and Si Beichen didn't say anything, no one would know her secret.
As long as everyone kept that unspoken understanding, she would naturally bring out more good things so the whole family could live well in the apocalypse.
If anyone harbored ill intentions, first of all, she wouldn't admit anything herself, and second, whoever harbored ill intentions toward her would be the first one she killed.
She wouldn't give anyone a chance to hurt her.