Chapter 29 - 29

Chapter 29 Stop them with violence, cripple them first.The people living in the stairwell knew what the three brothers were up there for, but no one stopped them. Some of them even had a glimmer of hope that the brothers would succeed.Could it be that they could do it too? That's just how people are; once someone takes the lead, their minds start to wander.Zhao Yong, who lives on the 5th floor, watched as the water level continued to rise. He could also hear the noise outside his door, but there was nothing he could do.People's hearts have changed. Even if he takes the lead now, he will only be despised by outsiders.The door on the 11th floor is closed.The three brothers had to change their target. This time they were smarter and didn't violently visit other people's homes. Instead, they waited several hours before taking the children upstairs.He had his wife knock on the door on the 12th floor, and then had the child make a crying sound, thus successfully tricking the family into opening the door.They kicked the family of four out, broke the man's leg, and the woman wanted to go to school to reason with them. Since there were three men, she could only hold the child and shrink behind her husband.After they managed to snatch the house, they realized how easy it had been. Why hadn't they thought of that before?Besides rice and flour, there was nothing else to eat in the house. The family was poor, and there was nothing of value in the house.After rummaging through drawers and cabinets for ages, all they found were two gold chains.The three brothers reunited and decided to pull off a big heist: find a few more like-minded people and search house to house for gold, silver, jewelry, and food.No matter the era, gold will always be valuable; the rest of the luxuries are worth less than waste paper when it comes to survival.The next day, they went downstairs and actually found a few like-minded people, includingTeacher Li from the 5th floor. His injury hadn't healed, but he knew a lot.He could tell you roughly who lived in that building and what their economic situation was like, because he was a teacher at a top elementary school. Parents with children were eager to curry favor with him; they had all spoken to him to some extent and knew what their families did for a living.With such a person present, the rest follows naturally.They vandalized seven or eight houses, stealing them and many valuables.A lecherous man wanted to commit a crime against a woman, but Teacher Li stopped him. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered!If you push these honest people too far, they'll be in big trouble.And so they lived a life of luxury, while the heavy rain outside continued unabated. Those who were evicted from their homes slept in the stairwells, filled with resentment but unable to speak out. Some who resisted were either beaten, losing arms or legs.Some families have children, and they use the children as a threat: "You adults can hide, but can the children hide?"This trick was very effective, and it was Teacher Li who came up with it.Of course, there were also those who were hesitant to act rashly. In just one week, their group grew to 20 people, each armed with sticks, and they became the dark force in the building.Teacher Li felt the time was right, and he planned to go up to the 18th floor to take revenge. You see, the reason he was in such a miserable state was because of that silver-haired boy on the 18th floor, and his arm was still hurting terribly.The reason they dared to go up there was because they had gotten their hands on some tough stuff. Someone had hidden a gun in their house, which they found, along with more than 20 rounds of ammunition. These were valuable items, even though none of them knew how to use them.However, it could still scare people. After gaining confidence, Teacher Li suggested going up to the 18th floor after a meal.The three Song brothers naturally agreed. After all, only the 18th and 19th floors remained unlooted, and the more supplies they had, the greater their chances of survival.The rain will soon flood the 5th floor, and Zhao Yong's family will have to come out whether they want to or not.Zhao Yong was standing at the window watching the water level. The rain was pouring down and the sky was covered with dark clouds, stretching as far as the eye could see.In two or three hours at most, the water level will reach the windowsill, and then the water will enter the house.Actually, water had seeped into the wall these past two days, but they wiped it off.The whole room felt damp, even the blankets were damp.Sun Lihua is packing things, and fortunately, her child is quite sensible and can help out.Life goes on, and we can come back once the floodwaters recede. It's just a pity about the interior decoration of the house.It cost over 200,000 yuan to renovate it, intending it for my son's wedding, but a natural disaster wiped it all out.Thinking of this, tears involuntarily streamed down my face.Zhao Yong heard his wife sobbing and knew she was crying again, but what could he do?He was under a lot of pressure during this period.Especially when a group of thieves came to rob people outside, and someone ran over for help, he didn't open the door because it wouldn't do him any good to go out; this wasn't the time for heroism.He had to think about his wife and children, but now that the water level had risen, he had no choice but to go to the stairwell as well.Sometimes it's just like that; you don't know the pain until it happens to you."Dad, Mom, what if we get robbed when we go out later?" Zhao Lei voiced his concerns.Zhao Yong sighed and turned around, "There's nothing we can do about being robbed. Fortunately, they didn't take anyone's life. Whatever they want, we'll just hand it over."As for whether we'll survive, we can only take it one step at a time. But we can't go along with them. You absolutely cannot do anything illegal. We men must stand up for ourselves and not take advantage of a natural disaster to bully others.Zhao Lei: "Dad, I know without you saying it. Given the current situation, we're lucky if we can even protect ourselves."Zhao Yong thought that made sense; he couldn't control others, as long as he could protect his child and wife.Teacher Li had already followed them to the stairwell door on the 18th floor. Seeing that the door was locked with a large iron chain, she turned around and gestured.Immediately, a short man ran to the door, took out professional tools for committing crimes, and yes, this man was a thief.When a natural disaster struck, he used this skill to knock on a door. By sheer coincidence, the family didn't return, so he stayed in their house.If it weren't for the torrential rain, he wouldn't have come out; the world is in chaos anyway.It won't make a difference if he's the only one left, and besides, there are other people to help cover for us!A dozen seconds later, with a click, the chain was opened and the body was thrown to the ground.Su Xiaoyu has exceptionally sharp ears; upon hearing the sound of chains, she immediately realized someone was coming up.My first thought was to send Lin Xiuxiu upstairs to find someone, but she was blocking the doorway with a baseball bat in her hand. She'd been living too comfortably; it was time to stretch her muscles.When they pushed the door open, they saw the silver-haired boy standing in the doorway with a baseball bat, less than two meters away from them.Those eyes were enough to kill, and they were so frightened that they almost took a step back. It was only after someone behind them gave them a push that they took another step forward.