Outside, the sound of pleading and crying was incessant. The women kowtowing were bleeding from their foreheads, painting a truly pitiful picture.
Zhang Yi sighed, walked over to the window, and said, "Everyone, please stop doing this. It makes me feel bad watching you all suffer!"
As he spoke, he raised the steaming bowl of noodles in his hand.
"When I feel bad, I just want to eat something."
Slurp—
Zhang Yi took a big bite of noodles, making the neighbors watching him swallow hard in envy. Their desire for the food was obvious.
Upon hearing his words, the crowd's cries grew louder, and they kowtowed even more vigorously.
"Zhang Yi, we were wrong! We just want to live!"
"Please, just give us a little food. Let us live like dogs if we have to."
"We'll do anything you ask from now on, just give us a chance!"
Zhang Yi looked down and continued eating his noodles.
When a person is starving, being able to eat noodles like this is a kind of happiness beyond measure!
After finishing half the bowl, he casually placed the rest in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
Just on the other side of the glass, where the neighbors could see but not touch, the noodles lay tantalizingly close. Everyone pressed their faces against the glass, as if that would somehow allow them to eat the noodles.
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance," Zhang Yi said coldly. "Whoever brings me Chen Zhenghao's head right now will get noodles like this every day for a week—enough to eat their fill at every meal!"
Zhang Yi had no intention of pitying these people.
But their constant hammering on the walls and windows was becoming a nuisance.
So, why not let them turn on each other, like dogs fighting over scraps?
That, Zhang Yi thought, would be the most interesting outcome.
As he spoke, he also posted this message in the building's group chat, informing everyone in the entire complex.
The neighbors in front of the glass looked hesitant after hearing his words.
Chen Zhenghao had a gun, and trying to take his head might just cost them their own.
But then again, they knew Chen Zhenghao was tough to deal with. And Zhang Yi? The three or four dozen bodies lying in front and behind his house proved that Zhang Yi was even tougher.
Meanwhile, on the balcony next door, Chen Zhenghao watched the situation unfold. He hadn't heard what Zhang Yi said, but his brows were furrowed as he thought about his next move.
Two more of his men had died this time.
If he wanted to maintain control of the entire building, he needed to replenish his manpower.
As he was deep in thought, Chen Zhenghao suddenly felt a chill down his spine, like needles pricking his back, making his hair stand on end.
He quickly turned around, gun raised, only to find that everyone was looking at him with strange expressions.
"What are you all up to?" Chen Zhenghao growled.
Seeing the gun, the group hesitated and stepped back.
"Get out of my way!" Chen Zhenghao roared.
But their gazes remained odd—eerily so. They no longer looked at him as a person but as prey.
Chen Zhenghao shuddered, quickly retreating with a few of his men.
"Wait, what about Zhang Yi's place?" asked Sun Zhichao.
"Dammit, we can't break in! What else can we do? We'll think of something later!" Chen Zhenghao cursed as he left, grumbling.
Outside Zhang Yi's window, the groups begging for mercy or trying to break in gradually dispersed, unable to endure the bone-chilling wind and snow.
Zhang Yi lay comfortably in his warm house, waiting for the real show to begin.
After all, this battle had cost the building about forty lives.
Nearly everyone had participated in the attack on his home, and their physical strength was mostly depleted.
This meant resources were even scarcer now, and the conflicts between people were about to get a lot uglier.
…
Soon after, Zhang Yi received a flood of private messages.
The neighbors, thoroughly beaten down by the recent battle, had given up. They had almost no strength left to mount another large-scale attack on Zhang Yi's home.
Facing Zhang Yi's impenetrable defenses, they finally lost hope.
Many began to cry and beg Zhang Yi for mercy, or offered exchanges for food.
One such message came from Xu Hao, a spoiled rich kid.
He sent Zhang Yi a video of his girlfriend's entire body, and said, "Zhang Yi, I'll let you have my woman if you give me some food. She's a famous car model in Tianhai City. Just look at those headlights and that spoiler! Her long legs alone could keep you entertained for a year!"
Zhang Yi recognized the model. Xu Hao had bought an apartment here just to keep her around.
She always dressed provocatively, like a seductive fox, exuding temptation.
In the past, she wouldn't even spare a glance at the men around her.
But now, Xu Hao was ready to sell her for a few meals.
And judging by the video, the woman seemed eager to be traded. At least she knew Zhang Yi had plenty of food, and she put a lot of effort into the video.
"What a shameless woman!" Zhang Yi sneered.
He had to admit, the model's body was quite impressive.
She could certainly give an imported sports car a run for its money. Driving her around might be quite enjoyable.
But Zhang Yi had no intention of letting such a despicable woman into his home.
For all he knew, she might stab him in his sleep and take over his house.
A woman willing to sell her body for survival had no moral boundaries.
Zhang Yi sneered as he watched the video five times before closing the chat window in disdain.
There were other messages below.
Few men reached out to him. After all, they had nothing to offer in exchange for food.
Only Uncle You congratulated him on defeating his enemies, clearly pleased.
But the women were more frequent.
Fang Yuqing excitedly messaged, "Zhang Yi, you're amazing! I knew you'd be fine."
"They've been keeping me locked up, but don't worry, I'll find a way to come see you!"
Zhang Yi chuckled, uninterested.
Zhou Ke'er sent a simple message of congratulations, her tone distant, but that was just her personality.
Soon, darkness fell. These days, night came around 5 p.m., and the nights were long and cold.
At night, the temperature dropped by another ten degrees or so.
On TV, the few remaining official stations continued broadcasting.
"Thanks to the government's efforts, the snow disaster has been effectively alleviated."
"Everything is moving in a stable and positive direction."
"According to statistics, only one person in Tianhai City died from the snow disaster yesterday."
Zhang Yi found the news more entertaining than comedy sketches now.
He was genuinely curious about where these TV stations had relocated to and how they were still operating.
As he listened to the absurd news, Zhang Yi scrolled through his chat history, finding the neighbors' curses, pleas, and cries for mercy quite amusing.
Most of the people cursing him had lost family members.
If Zhang Yi was in a good mood, he would even bless them.
"Congrats on the death in your family. You can have roast meat for the funeral and bone-ash rice!" he quipped.
After all, over a dozen people had been burned to death, sparing their families the trouble of cremation.
Zhang Yi's sarcastic taunts made them curse him even more.
Suddenly, he noticed some movement on the balcony.
Curious, Zhang Yi walked over to the window.
Outside, the heavy snowfall provided ample light, and he saw people sneaking over to move the corpses.
More precisely, they were moving the already charred bodies.
These people were wrapped up tightly. When they noticed Zhang Yi watching them, they jumped in fright.
"Zhang Yi, we're not here to mess with you, don't misunderstand!"
"We're just here to move the bodies."
Their voices trembled as they spoke, clearly nervous, avoiding Zhang Yi's gaze.
Zhang Yi smirked.
"Oh? Moving bodies? Are you their family members?"
"And if you're going to bury them, just toss them down below. Are you planning to build a grave in your home?"
The group stammered, unable to answer.
"W-We just figured you didn't need the bodies, so don't worry about us."
They gritted their teeth and quickly dragged the bodies away.
Zhang Yi waved casually at them through the glass.
"Enjoy your meal!" he said mockingly.