Chapter 14: Begging for Food

After the power went out, the whole neighborhood was plunged into darkness, but the noise of people talking filled the air.

The low battery on everyone’s phones and the loss of signal pushed the fear that had been building in people’s hearts these past few days to its peak.

Everyone, as if by agreement, opened their doors and started talking all at once.

“Neighbors, I feel like the sky is falling!”

“We couldn’t get through on the emergency lines before, and now even the internet’s down!”

“Do you guys still have any food left?”

“This rain isn’t going to keep coming down forever, right?”

Everyone was talking at once, the hallway a chaotic mess.

Finally, someone shouted:

“Hurry up and store some water! If the water gets cut off too, we’ll only have rainwater to drink!”

At that, everyone scattered like startled birds, rushing back to their apartments to fill every container they could find.

By now, the floodwater had already reached the floor of the sixth story.

The residents of the fifth and sixth floors, now homeless, were the most anxious.

They could only huddle together in the hallway, regretting not having left with the downstairs neighbors when they had the chance.

They couldn’t help but resent their neighbors for being so unkind.

Meanwhile, Qian Ying’er from 802 had already moved into 801.

She and her brother, Bai Wenbin, groped around in the dark, gathering all their remaining food. They found they only had a bowl of rice and two packs of instant noodles left.

“Wenbin, at this rate we won’t last more than a few days,” Ying’er said.

Bai Wenbin replied, “Should we ask An Nan for help? She’s always loved cooking, so she must have a lot of food stored up at home.”

Qian Ying’er bit her lip. “But after the way she treated you before…”

“Even if she has something against me, we’ve known each other for years. She wouldn’t just stand by and watch us die, right?”

Ying’er thought for a moment. “You’re right. Besides, if the water keeps rising, it’ll reach our floor soon. Why don’t we just move in with her? The 14th floor is much safer.”

After discussing it, they immediately headed upstairs.

When they got there, they found that An Nan had locked the stainless steel security door on the 14th floor—they couldn’t even get close to apartment 1402.

So they had to knock on the hallway door instead.

They knocked for ages, but no one answered.

Suddenly, Ying’er remembered something. “Wait, didn’t she install an armored door behind this one?”

An extra door? Bai Wenbin frowned.

“Then maybe she can’t hear us. Let’s knock harder.”

So the two of them put all their strength into banging on the door.

“Nannan, open up! It’s Ying’er!”

“Nannan, open the door! I know you’re home!”

They knocked until their hands were numb and their voices hoarse before An Nan finally showed up.

In fact, An Nan had heard them from the start—she’d just been busy reading the generator manual.

A power outage brought all sorts of inconveniences, and being stuck in the dark for too long could make anyone depressed.

So, for the sake of her own happiness (and her pet’s), she was determined never to let her home go dark.

She finished setting up the generator, then went to the kitchen to hook up the gas tank for cooking.

Once everything was in order, she picked up a kitchen knife and, unhurriedly, went to open the door.

When Bai Wenbin and Qian Ying’er saw the door finally open, they were overjoyed.

But then they looked up and saw An Nan holding a kitchen knife.

“Nannan, are you…cooking?”

They were delighted. As expected, a foodie like her must have plenty of food stored up.

While they were barely surviving on thin porridge, she was still able to chop vegetables and meat.

“Nannan, we’ve run out of food. We were hoping to borrow some from you,” Bai Wenbin said.

“Or maybe we could stay with you for a while? I can take care of all the housework.”

An Nan looked at the earnest Bai Wenbin and the pitiful Qian Ying’er and let out a cold laugh.

Last time, when you broke my hand and cut my flesh, you didn’t have faces like this.

“You want to move in?”

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Qian Ying’er nodded frantically.

“Sure!” An Nan looked them up and down. “But you’ll have to pay some rent.”

Bai Wenbin was stunned. Why is she so materialistic?

We’ve known each other for years—she wants to charge us just to help in an emergency? With her family’s conditions, why is she acting like a gold digger?

But he didn’t let any of that show on his face. He said sincerely, “We don’t have any cash on us. Name your price—once the network is back, I’ll transfer it to you right away.”

“That won’t do. What if you just refuse to pay?” An Nan shook her head.

“By then, you’ll have eaten and stayed here, and if you refuse to pay, there’s nothing I can do.”

Truthfully, that was exactly what Qian Ying’er had been thinking.

Feeling a bit embarrassed at being called out, she forced a smile.

“How could we do that? We’ve been classmates for years—don’t you trust me?”

Seeing An Nan unmoved, she added, “Nannan, if you don’t help me, I’ll starve to death. Can you really just stand by and watch?”

An Nan looked at her. “Fine, I’ll let you stay.”

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

“But I don’t have much food left either. If you insist on staying, you’ll have to pay in food.”

Qian Ying’er said, “Nannan, we don’t have any food left. If we did, why would we come to you for help?”

“Oh, but you do.”

An Nan suddenly said something shocking:

“Each of you let me chop off a hand, and I’ll let you in.”

The two of them stared at her in disbelief.

She gave them a sinister smile.

“Don’t you know? My favorite food is braised pig’s trotters. Your hands are so pale and tender—blanch them and add some seasoning, I bet they’d taste delicious…”

As she finished speaking, she suddenly swung the knife at Bai Wenbin.

Bai Wenbin was so startled by her words that before he could react, his arm was already cut.

He instinctively clutched his wound.

Looking at An Nan’s blood-splattered face, he suddenly felt like she was a vengeful ghost from hell come to collect a debt.

He was chilled to the bone.

An Nan didn’t care what he was thinking—she raised the knife and swung it at Qian Ying’er.

Ying’er screamed and, driven by survival instinct, turned and ran, not even caring about her injured cousin.

Seeing this, Bai Wenbin also turned and fled downstairs as fast as he could.

An Nan didn’t chase after them. Watching their panicked retreat, she gave a playful smile.

She had no intention of killing them—just wanted to scare them a bit and let them get hurt.

In the apocalypse, living with nothing is the most painful fate.

Killing them outright would be a mercy.

She’d let them suffer through the hardships of the apocalypse, and only then send them to meet the King of Hell. That would be true revenge for what they’d done to her in her past life.

Thinking of their miserable faces, An Nan cheerfully went back inside.

Meanwhile, Bai Wenbin and Qian Ying’er scrambled back to their apartment in a panic.

They’d thought they could freeload off An Nan’s food and apartment, but they hadn’t even gotten close to her door before being forced to retreat—almost getting hacked to death in the process!

Qian Ying’er was so angry she let out a shrill screech like a marmot.

“That bitch must be crazy! She actually tried to chop us up!”

Bai Wenbin, scared out of his wits and clutching his wound, said, “Quick, get me some gauze to stop the bleeding!”

After they fumbled through bandaging his arm, the siblings slumped on the sofa in despair.

After a while, Qian Ying’er suddenly sat up, her face twisted with rage.

“That ungrateful bitch! We have to teach her a lesson!”"