Chapter 20: If You Hate the Rich, Be Subtle About It

Bian Changxi stared at Wang Yan with a strange look, then glanced at the hostile and disdainful eyes from Cheng Haijun’s team, and finally noticed the others in the warehouse gathering around to watch the commotion. She let out a snort, lowered her head to rub her right eyebrow, and muttered while shaking her head, “What a damn joke!”

After all this crying, the person who stole the jade bracelet has become the victim, while the one who was stolen from is now painted as ungrateful and unreasonable. She really hadn’t realized tears were such a useful weapon. The funniest part was that the onlookers all seemed to think this made perfect sense. Wasn’t this just bullying the newcomer, knowing she had no choice but to travel with their team and would have to rely on them, so they all ganged up to give her a hard time?

If it had been someone else today, they’d probably have had to swallow the injustice, no matter how unfair it was.

This was exactly why she hated group actions. The more people there were, the more pointless and annoying drama popped up. Maybe the pressure of the apocalypse was just too much, so people had to find new ways to entertain and vent themselves. If they were so capable, why not go kill some zombies instead of wasting time on this nonsense? Bian Changxi really couldn’t figure out what was going on in these people’s heads.

Still, the others probably just had a natural wariness and resistance to new team members, but Wang Yan and Zhang Yuwen were clinging to her jade bracelet like their lives depended on it...

Wang Yan’s tear-streaked face suddenly darkened, and she asked in a frail, aggrieved voice, “Changxi, are you insulting us?”

Bian Changxi gave her a long, deep look, then turned away to pick up her spare black jacket from the floor. She put it on, buttoning it up one by one, then slowly rolled up her sleeves and shot Wang Yan a sidelong glance. “I’m insulting myself, for wasting words on an idiot like you.” She turned to smile at Captain Cheng. “Captain Cheng, are you sure you’re not going to rein in your teammates? Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back.”

The crowd started to buzz—was this about to turn into a fight?

Everyone here was a college student. Some were as meek as rabbits, some were a bit wild, but none had ever really gone this far. They’d never seen anyone act like a street thug, picking fights and causing trouble, so everyone was getting a little excited—some whistled, some clapped, and those who knew the backstory quietly filled their friends in on Bian Changxi’s identity and past.

Cheng Haijun’s face turned red and black with anger, but before he could say anything, Wang Yan suddenly lunged at Bian Changxi, trying to snatch the jade bracelet from her. She shrieked, “Who are you calling an idiot? You’re the idiot, damn you! So what if you’re the Bian family’s precious daughter? You’re still a pitiful orphan with no parents! Has anyone from your family come looking for you in the past three days? You’ve been abandoned, so what are you acting all high and mighty for? If you’ve got the guts, hit me!”

A cold light flashed in Bian Changxi’s eyes. She twisted her left wrist free from Wang Yan’s grip, grabbed Wang Yan’s right forearm and yanked her forward, then pressed down on her left shoulder and threw her to the ground, tripping her with a foot behind her heel. Wang Yan let out a piercing scream as she crashed to the floor.

“Oooh—” Wang Yan felt like half her butt was shattered and lay there, not daring to move.

Bian Changxi stepped back and glared at her coldly. “If you hate the rich, a little hint is enough. If you’re too blatant about it, neither of us will look good.”

Wang Yan was a student from out of town—her family supposedly owned a supermarket or something. At best, she was from a moderately well-off family, nothing compared to the Bian family, the richest in Jiangcheng and a major player in South China’s economy. Her usual hobbies were either showing off or making life difficult for rich kids like Bian Changxi. And since Bian Changxi really was neglected and powerless in her own family, she naturally became Wang Yan’s favorite target.

But the one thing Bian Changxi couldn’t tolerate was anyone mentioning her deceased parents.

She glanced at her own hand. Sure enough, after awakening her wood ability, her strength had increased a lot—probably about the same as an average man now.

She shot a look at Zhang Yuwen, who was staring at her in shock. He stumbled back, stepping on someone else’s foot and causing a bit of chaos. Once he regained his balance, he raised a knife at Bian Changxi—it was her own pearwood straight blade. Several people around him also stood up and grabbed their weapons, while the unrelated bystanders backed away a bit.

“My knife, my axe, and you even used my car. You guys really don’t hold back, do you?” Bian Changxi sneered at the weapons in their hands, her resolve to act alone growing even stronger. Too many people really was just a headache.

Cheng Haijun stared in shock as the situation spiraled out of control and hurried to intervene. “What are you all doing? Put the knives down! We’re all on the same side here!”

“I’m not ‘on the same side’ as you,” Bian Changxi said with a curl of her lip. She turned to the crowd. “Just now, who was it that said someone already paid my rescue fee? Can you tell me what happened in detail?”

“That was me! Me!” A short, chubby girl squeezed out of the crowd, but didn’t dare get too close to Bian Changxi. She looked her up and down, then smiled. “Yesterday, someone in our team got scratched by a zombie and developed a high fever, so we went out to look for medicine. On the way, we ran into Captain Cheng’s group and decided to travel together.” The girl stuck out her tongue. “Not long after, we met those five people. They asked us for directions, and then Captain Cheng’s group recognized you. Those soldiers didn’t seem able to take you with them, and then your boyfriend—oh, it was Zhang Yuwen who took out a photo of you two together—so they left you in their care.”

The girl paused and glanced at Wang Yan, who was being helped up. “That woman was really unhappy about it. She said you wouldn’t survive and were just a burden. She said, fine, they’d take care of you, but the soldiers had to leave two guns behind.”

Bian Changxi narrowed her eyes. “And they agreed?”

“You really met some good people. After some discussion between their captain and Captain Cheng, they agreed to leave one handgun, five bullets, and two communication devices—something that connects by satellite, really advanced, and still working.”

When the girl finished, the warehouse fell silent. Cheng Haijun’s group looked ashamed, while Zhang Yuwen and Wang Yan looked even worse.

They were classmates, even boyfriend and girlfriend, yet they’d haggled and set conditions just to take care of her, while a group of complete strangers had paid a hefty price for her sake.

Everyone understood that in this post-apocalyptic world, firearms were everything, and communication devices were priceless now that phones were down.

So, quite a few people were jealous—especially those in the girl’s team, who had witnessed everything.

Someone sighed, “So that’s how it was.”

“And they kept saying they saved her—some people really have no shame.”

“Yeah, they were basically just hired help.”

“But you can’t say that either. If they’d been heartless, they could’ve taken the stuff and just left her behind.”

The chubby girl quickly explained, “They wouldn’t dare. The captain of that soldier team said his name was Gu Xu, and he asked for Captain Cheng’s name. He said if he found out Captain Cheng abandoned Bian, he wouldn’t let him off.”

Cheng Haijun was mortified and hurried to explain, “I didn’t want any of it. We’re all classmates, and you even helped us before. It was Wang Yan who kept pestering them, and the soldiers really seemed in a rush. I didn’t even have time to refuse before they left the stuff and took off.”

He remembered how that captain had coldly said, “That’s all,” and then left in a flash. He’d wanted to dig a hole and hide in it! It was all Wang Yan’s fault—she’d embarrassed him completely! But honestly, he hadn’t expected the man to move so fast—he’d left the stuff and was gone before Cheng could react. He couldn’t chase after him, and shouting would have attracted zombies.

He took out a small bag containing a black handgun, five golden bullets, and two watch-like devices. “I haven’t used any of it. I was planning to return it to them, but now I’ll give it all to you.”

The room fell silent. Bian Changxi could feel countless eyes fixed on her, and the people in Cheng Haijun’s group looked downright hostile, as if daring her to reach for the bag.

She ignored them, staring in surprise at the bag. No way—had she really met good people? This was a gun! In the early days of the apocalypse, a single bullet could mean a life. And yet, someone had...

She felt a strange emotion stir in her heart. She made a mental note to get to know that Gu... Wait! Gu Xu?!"