Chapter 21: The Smiling Faces

Jiang Yan didn’t really have anything left that she needed to buy, but taking her money out was still better than letting it sit in the bank as a string of numbers.

Besides, the jewelry her mother had stored in the vault under her name would need to be collected tomorrow as well.

After replying to all the delivery arrangements via text, she saw that it was still early and not yet time for bed. She decided to enter her space for a look.

Just as she was about to focus her mind and enter, there was a loud “thud thud thud” at her door.

Yes—thud.

And someone was pounding with real effort.

Jiang Yan frowned and picked up her pad to check the security camera.

She’d installed the best brand—crystal clear video and even audio recording.

Outside stood a burly, middle-aged man with a fleshy face, and a slightly thin, round-faced middle-aged woman with her hair in a bun.

The woman was holding a small, intricately patterned white porcelain plate, on which sat a slice of yellow peach cream cake and a tiny clear plastic fork.

The weather was so hot that the cream on the cake had melted, and the peach pieces on top had slid off and were stuck messily to the side.

Both of their faces were flushed, with beads of sweat on their foreheads—clearly from the heat.

Most locals in Anming were used to the mild, climate-controlled conditions of winter-warm, summer-cool greenhouses. They had no resistance to sudden heatwaves like today.

Very few people had air conditioning at home.

Usually only west-facing apartments or hotels would bother to install it.

So it was easy to imagine how uncomfortable ordinary people were feeling.

Jiang Yan glanced at the screen. The man’s steps were unsteady, and he looked a little drunk.

No one comes knocking at your door for no reason.

What could make a married couple show up at her door this late at night?

If it was to bring cake for a child’s birthday, wasn’t it a bit too late—it was almost ten o’clock.

Besides, the apocalypse hadn’t even officially started yet, and she was already experiencing one of those cliché “neighbor knocking” scenes straight out of a novel.

Maybe she was overthinking it, but Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow and simply pretended not to hear.

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

The knocking grew louder, and the woman called out, raising her voice, “Little sister, I know you’re in there. Could you please open the door?”

“Yes, little sister, we’re your neighbors from 3203. Could you please open up?” the man chimed in politely.

As soon as he finished, the woman shot him a glare and scolded in a low voice:

“Zhou Guangfu, why are you acting like some old pervert? Is ‘little sister’ really something you should be calling her?”

The man’s jowls quivered as he forced a smile. “Wife, I was just following your lead.”

The woman ignored him, turned back to the door, and pounded harder, raising her voice, “Little sister, please open up! We have something urgent!”

Good grief, they just wouldn’t give up.

Fine. The apocalypse hadn’t started yet, so she might as well see what these two were up to.

With that, Jiang Yan got up, grabbed a medical mask from the entryway, put it on, and opened the inner door with a creak.

She had two doors installed.

The inner one was a solid slab of bulletproof steel.

The outer door had a metal mesh covering the top third—thick as a pinky finger—so she could clearly see whoever was outside.

The mesh could be electrified, though Jiang Yan hadn’t turned it on yet.

Her entryway had also been specially remodeled, with a barrier right behind the door that blocked the view into her apartment.

As soon as she opened the door, a wave of hot air blasted in, making Jiang Yan feel like she’d stuck her head into a sauna.

At the same time, the cool air from inside rushed out through the mesh.

The couple outside immediately felt the refreshing breeze and exchanged a meaningful glance, unconsciously stepping closer.

But when they saw Jiang Yan’s cold gaze, they froze.

The woman tried to peer past her into the living room, but when she couldn’t see anything, she turned her attention back to Jiang Yan and forced a smile.

“Hello, little sister. I’m Zhang Chunmei from next door, 3203, and this is my husband Zhou Guangfu. Could you open the outer door too? It’s our child’s birthday today, and we saved you a piece of cake. We wanted to share some good luck with you.”

She added, “Sorry to bother you like this. We actually @-mentioned you in the owners’ group earlier, but since you didn’t reply, we thought we’d come over in person.”

They say you shouldn’t hit a smiling face, and Zhang Chunmei was sure Jiang Yan would feel the same.

Owners’ group?

When Jiang Yan had gone abroad to stock up on supplies, she’d deleted and left almost every group and cut off contact with all her fair-weather friends.

She’d completely severed ties with her old self and anyone unimportant from her previous life.

The only group she’d kept was the Qianshui Bay owners’ group.

After Du Zitong helped her with the house purchase, a man named Zhang Qiming from the owners’ committee had added her and invited her to the group.

Jiang Yan had always been a lurker, never speaking up, but she’d never considered leaving.

After all, know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll never lose a battle.

She was prepared to hole up in her space or her apartment when the apocalypse came, but she couldn’t completely isolate herself.

Staying in the group for now would let her keep tabs on what was happening around her and how the authorities were responding when disaster struck.

As for being @-mentioned in the group—like she’d ever see it.

After listening to Zhang Chunmei, Jiang Yan’s expression didn’t change. She said coolly,

“Thank you both, I appreciate the thought, but I’ll pass on the cake. Please save it for your child. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be closing the door now. Also, I don’t like being disturbed, so please don’t knock on my door again. Thank you.”

With that, Jiang Yan turned and walked away without waiting for a response.

Zhang Chunmei’s face froze for a moment, but she quickly forced a smile and said, “Little sister, please wait a moment. I have a small favor to ask…”

Aha! So that’s what the cake was for. Like a weasel paying respects to a chicken.

Wait, no—she wasn’t anyone’s chicken.

Jiang Yan stopped and turned, her eyes sharp as she glanced at Zhang Chunmei. “What is it?”

Zhang Chunmei was startled by her calm, unruffled gaze, and her tone changed immediately, switching from “you” to the more respectful “您.”

“It’s like this, little sister. The temperature in Anming suddenly shot up today, and it’s over forty-two degrees in our apartment. We have two kids and two elderly parents at home, and they’ve never experienced anything like this. The elders have heart conditions and aren’t handling it well. My husband bought an air conditioner online, but it won’t be installed until tomorrow at the earliest.

I remembered you just had two air conditioners installed, so I wanted to ask if you could let the elders and children stay in your living room for the night.

Don’t worry, the kids are well-behaved and the elders are very tidy—they won’t make a mess. If you’re worried, we can pay you like a hotel, plus cover the electricity.”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Jiang Yan ignored her and suddenly started coughing violently, covering her mouth.

Zhang Chunmei and Zhou Guangfu glanced at her pale blue medical mask, froze, and instinctively took a big step back.

***

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