Zhang Yi said calmly, "It's indeed hard to find supplies outside. As soon as I left, I ran around to all the supermarkets and malls nearby."
"But the malls around here have long been looted, with nothing left!"
"Still, I didn't give up. I knew everyone was counting on me, and to make sure everyone could eat, I was determined to find food—even if I had to search all over Tianhai City."
"I had no choice but to wander around the city, and it was only after great difficulty that I managed to grab these few supplies from a mall."
Zhang Yi handed the two bags to Uncle You and went back to open the door for Zhou Ke'er, leading her down with him.
Then he sent a message in the group chat, calling the neighbors to come and get food.
It wasn't long before the neighbors swarmed in.
The stairway was crowded with people on every level, their thin and hungry faces filled with expectation and greed as they stared intently at the bags in front of Zhang Yi.
Some of them were itching to make a move, even considering grabbing the food.
But when they noticed the dark, cold lump of metal in Zhang Yi's right hand, fear quickly took over.
Squinting his eyes, Zhang Yi smiled and said, "I put in a lot of effort to get these supplies for you all!"
He signaled to Zhou Ke'er to open the bags.
Following his orders, Zhou Ke'er unzipped the bags and poured their contents onto the ground.
"Clatter!"
A heap of food appeared before everyone's eyes.
There were vegetables, meat, bread, and biscuits!
Although they looked of questionable quality—things that even dogs might not have eaten in the past—in the eyes of these long-starved neighbors, their excitement was so intense that their eyes almost glowed green.
Uncle You raised his fist and shouted, "Long live Zhang Yi! Long live Zhang Yi!"
The neighbors quickly caught on and, raising their fists, began to shout along.
"Long live Zhang Yi! Long live Zhang Yi!"
"Zhang Yi, you're our hero!"
"Brother, from now on, you're my blood brother! Please accept my respect!"
At this point, even if Zhang Yi asked them to crawl like dogs, they would obediently comply.
The temptation of food was simply too overwhelming.
Among the crowd, Fang Yuqing and Lin Cainin squeezed their way through.
The two of them looked extremely disheveled, their hair greasy and messy, like two madwomen.
Seeing Zhang Yi bring back so much food, Fang Yuqing excitedly waved her hand and shouted, "Brother Zhang Yi, it's me, Qing'er!"
Looking at Zhang Yi, who now seemed like a hero, her heart filled with delight.
She still believed that Zhang Yi loved her, and even though Zhou Ke'er was by his side, he surely still had feelings for her.
So, of course, she thought, Zhang Yi would give her a bigger share of the food.
Next to her, Lin Cainin pleaded, "Yuqing, we're best friends, right? When the food is handed out, can you help me ask Zhang Yi for a bit more?"
Fang Yuqing glanced at Lin Cainin with disgust and shoved her aside.
"Get lost, you lowly woman!"
Their squabble made Zhang Yi frown.
Immediately, someone shouted at them, "Stop causing trouble and listen to Brother Zhang Yi!"
The surrounding people glared at Fang Yuqing and Lin Cainin, who quickly became more obedient.
Fang Yuqing muttered under her breath, "Why are you all acting so fierce? Do you even know the kind of relationship Brother Zhang Yi and I have?"
Zhang Yi, seeing everyone had quieted down, spoke up, "It took me a lot of effort to get these supplies back. Naturally, I intended to share them with all of you."
Suddenly, his tone turned icy. "But these are hard times, and I won't feed idlers! If you eat this food, you must pick up weapons and fight our enemies."
"If anyone dares to eat without contributing, I guarantee they'll vomit more than they ate!"
As they looked at the gun in Zhang Yi's hand and the food on the ground, everyone nodded, submitting to Zhang Yi's carrot-and-stick approach.
"Alright then, let's start distributing the food!"
Just as Zhang Yi was about to call out names, two arms suddenly appeared outside the window on the fourth floor.
Several workers from the Tianhe Gang broke in.
Their eyes lit up with excitement at the sight of so much food on the ground.
"Brother Zhao, there's so much food! We hit the jackpot!" one of the workers exclaimed.
"What's there to say? Take it!" another worker shouted.
The four workers pulled out weapons and charged at Zhang Yi.
These men were ruthless. Even though there were dozens of people in the room, they didn't care.
They could see that most of the people here were just sheep, with only a few capable of putting up a fight.
Zhang Yi's pupils contracted, and he instinctively pulled out his gun to aim at them.
But then, he changed his mind.
He didn't fire. Instead, he stepped back and shouted, "This food is for all of you! Don't let them take it!"
"If you kill one of them, I'll reward you with food for five people!"
As soon as he said that, the neighbors, who had been too scared and only wanted to flee, suddenly stopped in their tracks.
Right, this food was brought here by Zhang Yi for them.
If it was stolen, what would they eat?
Food was life. Without food, wouldn't they die anyway?
And Zhang Yi had just promised—kill one person and you'd get enough food for five people!
The neighbors glanced around. There were dozens of them—what were they afraid of?
A few young men gritted their teeth, pulled out steel pipes and kitchen knives from their belts, and charged forward.
These days, everyone carried weapons when they went out, so it was very convenient.
Zhang Yi retreated to the back, his gun still trained on the front, ready to prevent anyone from seizing the food in the chaos.
The four men from the Tianhe Gang were caught off guard. They had expected these cowards to flee in terror, but for some reason, they suddenly rushed at them like they were on a high!
In the blink of an eye, the crowd descended into chaos.
The fourth floor wasn't very spacious, and with dozens of people crammed together, the sounds of shovels, steel pipes, and knives clashing echoed through the air.
For the sake of food, everyone was fighting like madmen. And with the extreme cold, even those who got injured didn't feel much pain.
"Slash! Slash!"
Soon, people started getting hurt, and blood splattered everywhere.
But until they fell to the ground, they kept swinging their weapons with all their strength.
Uncle You was one of the main fighters. Swinging a steel pipe with fierce momentum, he smashed down while roaring angrily.
Though the men from the Tianhe Gang weren't afraid to die, they couldn't withstand so many people.
Within just a dozen seconds, they were all knocked to the ground.
The crowd, afraid they might not be dead, continued beating them for a while longer.
The air was filled with the sound of people's shouts of rage.
It was an outpouring of emotions.
After all, they had been living in constant fear of death and daily attacks by the Tianhe Gang for a long time.
So now, having decisively eliminated these four gang members, they felt a great sense of relief.
Their fear of the Tianhe Gang had also lessened considerably.
When the fight was over, six bodies lay on the ground.
Aside from the four members of the Tianhe Gang, two neighbors had also died.
Their heads and necks had been struck by shovels, and they bled out on the spot from massive blood loss.
Zhou Ke'er frowned slightly at the sight.
As a professional surgeon, she knew these two people might still be saved.
But it would require a proper surgical environment, lots of medication, and blood transfusions.
However, Zhou Ke'er's expression soon returned to calm.
They could be saved, but it wasn't necessary. Zhang Yi would never waste valuable resources on them.