Chapter 18 Relief Supplies
"I want to eat the sweet and sour pork ribs that the eldest brother makes."
"Seconded"
"Seconded"
Bai Tang's eyes lit up when she heard them say they were having sweet and sour pork ribs for dinner.
Bai Tang loves meat, and Gu Yanxu's sweet and sour pork ribs are among her top three.
Linzhou chimed in from the side, "Won't the smell be too strong?"
Gu Yanxu said, "It's okay, we still have stock here. We can make more when we live here ourselves someday."
Gu Yanxu and Bai Tang went to the kitchen, and after a while they brought out a large bowl of sweet and sour pork ribs.
Bai Tang instructed them, "Make sure to close all the doors and windows. Come to the restaurant to eat, and close the restaurant door too. The sweet and sour pork ribs smell amazing."
They were eating when they heard a rumbling sound outside, like an airplane.
Military aircraft were spotted circling over the residential area, repeatedly broadcasting warnings through loudspeakers.
Attention all residents! Attention all residents!
The quantity of supplies distributed this time is limited. Each person should bring their ID card to the rooftop of each building to collect the supplies.
One person, one certificate, one set of supplies; fraudulent claims, multiple claims, and claims on behalf of others are strictly prohibited.
For everyone's safety, residents who haven't been called yet, please wait patiently. The authorities haven't given up on you.
Please line up in an orderly fashion to receive the supplies.
Bai Tang and the others went to the window and saw the helicopter land on the roof of Building No. 1.
Seeing this, Gu Yanxu said, "It will probably take a while before they reach our building."
Should we pack up everything on the 21st and 22nd floors?
We'll stay on the 20th floor for now, and we'll move everything out of the upstairs, leaving them nothing.
Because the official supplies are distributed on the rooftops of each building, it's impossible for us to watch people all the time to see if they're trying to pry open the doors upstairs.
"Just give them the empty house."
"Brother Xu is right."
Bai Tang said, "Then let's remove the iron door to the stairwell after we finish cleaning up the things upstairs. Anyway, we have a special door installed on this floor."
Lin Feng chimed in, "Alright, after you guys finish tidying upstairs, I'll go and remove the door."
After saying that, Bai Tang and Gu Yanxu went upstairs to pack their things, leaving them not a single piece of paper and taking everything away.
While Bai Tang and the others were still packing their things, a group of people downstairs panicked.
"Manager Yang, the supplies are being distributed on the rooftop. How are we supposed to get up there?"
"Exactly! Those guys upstairs are so ruthless, what if they try to take all the supplies for themselves?"
"Their gate is electrified, which is even scarier. What should we do about this?"
Manager Yang was once again forced into a difficult situation.
He was pushed forward by the crowd to go upstairs to discuss matters.
Bai Tang and Gu Yanxu quickly emptied the two floors upstairs, leaving nothing behind. They even removed all the doors and glass, leaving the apartment like a bare shell except for the floor tiles.
Before Manager Yang even reached the stairwell, he saw Bai Tang leading a group of people as if they were about to open the door, which startled him.
Manager Yang was about to speak.
Bai Tang said to him, "Manager Yang, we are not unreasonable people. We also heard that the supplies were being distributed on the roof, so we couldn't very well stop you from going up."
We're just about to tear this door down; it'll be better for everyone that way.
However, as before, we still installed a separate electrified door at the fire exit on the 20th floor.
We also hope that Manager Yang can make it clear to the people downstairs that we will not be responsible if they get electrocuted.
"Okay, I'll definitely tell them."
Manager Yang was surprised that they were so easy to talk to, and hurriedly went downstairs to tell the waiting people:
As mentioned upstairs, they'll dismantle the main gate so we can go up and collect supplies. However, they've also installed a separate electrified door at the 20th-floor entrance, so keep your hands to yourselves.
Don't come looking for me if something happens; it won't do you any good.
"Oh my god, I didn't expect they would let us upstairs."
Some people retorted, "Pah, what are you pretending to be, a pushover?"
There were many different opinions, but Bai Tang didn't care what they said. She just wanted to see the officials come to her rescue and didn't want to cause trouble or get dragged in for a talk.
Those people are overthinking it; Bai Tang and his group are not good people.
Although things are very chaotic outside right now, and the authorities may not have time to manage them, it's always good to be safe just in case.
Bai Tang and Lin Feng quickly removed the door.
Then I went back inside to prepare to take my ID card to the rooftop to collect the supplies.
People downstairs tentatively went upstairs and found that the door had indeed been removed.
Then they all rushed to the rooftop.
"Hurry up, let's go to the rooftop and get the supplies."
"Finally, there's hope! Waaaaah!"
"Finally, we can get food! We're saved!"
They ran towards the roof as they talked.
Bai Tang and the others had almost finished running up before they went out.
The rooftop was already crowded with people, all waiting for the helicopter to arrive at Building 5 as soon as possible.
After waiting for about half an hour, the helicopter finally arrived with supplies.
Several people came down from upstairs, presumably to distribute supplies. There were also armed soldiers nearby, preventing citizens from looting the supplies.
A middle-aged woman got off the plane.
Following that came boxes of packed supplies.
However, helicopters don't have much space, so they can't carry much supplies at once. But if the supplies are distributed equally among everyone and everyone eats sparingly, it's enough to last until the next week when supplies are distributed again.
People in the building tried to grab the supplies as soon as they saw them, but Manager Yang kept shouting, "Everyone, please line up in an orderly manner and don't push."
As a result, no one listened to her at this point; everyone was desperately crowding into the supply crates.
At this moment, several soldiers standing nearby used a megaphone to make a statement:
Please line up and bring your ID cards to collect the supplies, otherwise don't blame us for being ruthless.
After saying that, he took the gun and fired a shot into the air. Everyone was stunned, having never seen anything like it before.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. If they don't deter these people today, not only will the supplies be lost, but they might even be detained.
Those who caused trouble were afraid that they would be the next ones to be beaten, so they had no choice but to reluctantly join the queue.
"Okay, everyone line up, we'll start distributing the supplies now," the middle-aged woman called out.
Bai Tang and her group stood quietly at the back of the line.
Some people tried to cause trouble while receiving supplies, but they were immediately dealt with by the soldiers nearby.
Those who tried to collect supplies repeatedly were also taken away.
Finally, Bai Tang and the others received their supplies, but all that was left were a few bottles of water and some scattered biscuits.
Bai Tang didn't mind that it was too little, and let Bai Jiyang take it and leave.
The supplies were received without incident this time.
Some people asked when they would come again, but the people distributing the supplies didn't dare to make any guarantees.
They said, "About a week later, these packages will contain four bottles of water, a few sausages, and a dozen bags of compressed biscuits. If you eat them sparingly, they should last until the next distribution of supplies."
Some families, seeing that the main entrances on the 21st and 22nd floors were gone, simply moved into the empty rooms with their belongings.
Although there are no doors or windows, it's still much better than squeezing into the stairwell with other people. At most, someone can stay overnight to keep watch.
With the relief supplies in hand, the people in the building decided to borrow the young man's inflatable boat again and search for supplies in a slightly more distant area, as the supplies in the nearby areas had already been exhausted.