The whispers had already curdled into a full-blown accusation by the time the crowd gathered. Word had spread like a virus through the building's damp corridors: someone had reported Jing Shu for hoarding food.
Outside the villa, the air bit with a relentless, dry chill. Xiao Liu stepped forward, her movements hurried and eager as she pressed a personal teacup into Jing Shu's hands. "It's cold outside, hurry and drink some hot water," she added attentively, her breath hitching in the frost.
The cup was warm, though the contents were nothing more than plain water — tea leaves had long since become a memory of a more comfortable world.
Standing nearby, Li Chenglong watched the exchange with a calculating look, as if he had just witnessed a masterclass in etiquette. He gave Xiao Liu a subtle thumbs up. "Look at that professionalism," he thought, his chest swelling with a strange sort of pride. No wonder Jing Shu wouldn't take his water earlier; he clearly hadn't mastered the art of the humble servant yet.
Jing Shu gave a small natural nod and accepted the cup. The warmth seeped into her palms as she turned her gaze toward the two opposing factions squared off at her doorstep.
On one side, the building's armed squad stood in a rigid line. More than a dozen men, their faces grim and fingers hovering near their holstered weapons, blocked the entrance to the villa like a living wall.
Opposite them stood Lan Shao, flanked by a cluster of university classmates who seemed caught between genuine indignation and the thrill of the drama. Beyond them, an even larger crowd had swelled, a sea of hollow cheeks and hungry eyes peering through the gloom.
"I heard someone hid food," a voice hissed from the back of the pack. "Once they confiscate it, everyone gets a share."
"How much would splitting it evenly even get us?" another countered, the words sharp with desperation. "Later, when they go inside to search, we will sneak in during the chaos and grab something ourselves."
Jin Baba let out a sharp snort of derision. Despite his bravado, his fingers subconsciously drifted to his pocket, brushing against the small, firm shape of a yogurt curd. The thought of Jing Shu's private stash being hauled away made his stomach knot; if the authorities took it, he wouldn't be getting any more of those precious treats.
Li Chenglong mirrored the gesture, his own hand hovering over his pocket before he found his stride. He stepped forward, his voice booming with the authority of the team's second in command — and Li Yuetian's own nephew. "What is all the yelling about? What happened?"
"Captain Li, we received reports from these people saying this villa is hiding food," Zhang Shan replied, his voice projecting over the murmurs.
Jin Baba marched over to Lan Shao, his face darkening with irritation. "What is wrong with you guys? Got nothing better to do? Who reported it?" He glared at the group, his eyes searching for the blind idiot trying to steal his future yogurt curds. He knew he had to perform today — if he made a good enough show of defending her, Jing Shu might look at him with a little more favor.
The crowd went quiet. The only sound was the whistling wind whipping through the gaps in the architecture.
Suddenly, Jiang Changke leaped forward, his finger stabbing toward Lan Shao. His voice was thick with mockery. "It was Lan Shao who reported it. He insisted on reporting her, I couldn't stop him at all. Seriously, we are all classmates, what benefit do you get from reporting someone? You are just the type who can't stand seeing others doing well."
Lan Shao's face underwent a rapid, sickly transformation, flushing a bruised purple before draining to a mottled red. This wasn't the heroic moment he had envisioned.
Under the weight of Jin Baba's heavy glare, he found his voice failing him. "T, that's not what happened..."
"Then what did happen?" Jin Baba demanded, planting his hands on his hips. He had originally thought Lan Shao was a tactful guy who knew how to play the game, but now he saw the man for what he was: a threat to his snacks.
The report system was supposed to be anonymous. If the accusation proved true, there were rewards, but this was just a blatant attempt to screw someone over. Lan Shao shifted his weight, his eyes darting toward the female classmates nearby, searching for an exit strategy. He realized too late that sending a more expendable person — like that brainless woman Tang Yuan — as cannon fodder would have been a much smarter move.
Desperate to shed the reputation of a traitor, Lan Shao forced a strained laugh. "I was just joking around. Everyone took it too seriously..." He kept blinking, throwing frantic signals to the girls standing behind him.
Jiang Changke's lip curled in a sneer that clearly said: "Yeah right, who are you fooling?"
However, Lan Shao still held sway over some of the students. Tang Yuan, sensing his distress, stepped up to bridge the gap. "Exactly, we just wanted to see what else Jing Shu had to eat."
"Pure curiosity," another girl chimed in, nodding quickly.
Jin Baba crossed his arms, his chest puffing out as he nodded in satisfaction. He shot Li Chenglong a meaningful look. "See? It was just a joke, misunderstanding. Everyone disperse."
Li Chenglong's expression smoothed out into one of smug relief. "Alright, Zhang Shan, dismiss everyone. It was a misunderstanding."
Zhang Shan began to signal his men to stand down, but the tension snapped again as two figures stepped out from the shadows of the crowd.
"No! We can't just let this go," one of them shouted, his face twisted with stubborn greed. "Earlier, this guy said he had evidence. Jing Shu never goes to the cafeteria to eat, so she definitely has private food stored away."
"Yeah, search first!" the other added, fueling the spark of rebellion.
Lan Shao's face turned a dark, suffocating shade of purple-black. When the hell had he ever said any of that? He shook his head frantically, his eyes wide with panic. Even if he didn't care about Jing Shu, the last thing he wanted was to be on Jin Baba's bad side.
Jing Shu watched the scene unfold, her brow furrowing. The timing of these new voices felt too orchestrated, too clean. Her eyes scanned the crowd until they landed on a man standing near the edge of the light, the brim of his hat pulled low to hide his features.
It was Da Ji — the man who had hidden food in the toilet tunnel.
As soon as their eyes met, Da Ji's posture stiffened. He turned abruptly and vanished back into the darkness of the corridor.
Jing Shu hadn't even found the energy to be angry yet, but Li Chenglong had already reached his breaking point. To him, an insult to Jing Shu was a direct strike against his own interests. He snatched the loudspeaker from Zhang Shan's hand, the feedback screeching through the hall.
"Quiet! Search my ass!" he roared into the mic. "You are all just trying to steal good stuff during the chaos. Don't want dinner tonight anymore, huh? I would like to see exactly who the hell is claiming Jing Shu is hiding food and demanding to search the villa. Come on, all of you, step forward!"
Jing Shu rubbed her forehead, the sudden volume making her temples throb. Why was he more worked up than she was?
Predictably, the aggression only fed the crowd's resentment.
"Oh wow, so now officials are protecting each other?" someone yelled.
"Definitely something fishy going on," another voice added, the murmur growing into a roar of dissent.
Tang Yuan lowered her head, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles turned white. More than anyone, she wanted to see Jing Shu brought low. She had noticed the way Jing Shu had actually looked healthier lately — even a bit fuller in the face. In the apocalypse, that kind of "fat" was the ultimate mark of privilege, a visual insult to everyone else's starvation.
Jing Shu almost wanted to invite them in. "Search then," she thought. Go ahead and search. If they found so much as a single stray crumb, she would happily surrender. But she also remembered the nests of snakes and swarms of bugs currently inhabiting the villa's darker corners. If they went in and didn't come out, that wouldn't be her problem.
Just as the shouting reached a fever pitch, a series of sharp, rhythmic cracks shattered the noise. Gunshots.
The crowd scrambled, diving for cover as another squad of armed men marched into the hall.
"Captain Li is here!" someone cried out, the name acting like a physical weight that pressed the air out of the room.
Li Yuetian strode through the parting crowd, his presence cold and absolute. He didn't say a word until he reached the elevated platform, his sharp gaze sweeping over the faces of the dissenters until they looked at the floor. He took the loudspeaker with a steady hand.
"Of course it can be searched," he said, his voice calm yet carrying a lethal edge. "Why can't it be searched? Whoever wanted to report and search the villa earlier, step forward first. You, you, and you too. Stand over here."
He pointed a gloved finger at several people in the front. Lan Shao shook his head so hard it looked like it might fly off his neck. "I wasn't reporting anything," he squeaked.
Li Yuetian ignored him, his eyes like flint. "Reporting ordinary people doesn't require this much trouble. But the person you are accusing isn't ordinary."
He paused, letting the silence stretch until it became uncomfortable.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell all of you something. The red nematode patties currently feeding all 2,000 people in this building are entirely supplied by Jing Shu alone."
A collective gasp rippled through the hall, followed by a silence so profound it felt heavy.
"Whether you will even have your next meal, whether everyone in this building can continue eating in the coming days, all depends on her," Li Yuetian continued, his voice rising in a controlled fury.
"She might very well be the reason all of you survive the next stretch of time. Hoarding food? One person supplied this building with so much food, saved so many lives, and has been paying out of her own pocket every single day to feed all of you. And now you are still trying to report her?"
He leaned forward, the loudspeaker amplifying the raw contempt in his tone. "Won't your consciences hurt?!"
The rebuke rang off the concrete walls, sharp enough to sting the ears of both the hungry and the envious. No one moved. No one spoke.