She bolted out. There was no one guarding the door outside. Leaning against it, her heart hammered in her chest, feeling as if it were ready to burst. Her hand still unconsciously clutched a key, now wet and sweaty.
The cold wind stirred the dust and powder on the ground. After running less than a hundred meters, Yan Xixi was already covered in grime. The landlord's surrounding wall had collapsed, and the smashed furniture was a pitiful sight. A large truck from a moving company was parked outside the gate, surrounded by a motley crowd. Some were merely curious onlookers, while others offered unsolicited advice.
The old man's furious voice thundered, "Who called the moving company? I haven't even said a word! Are you all trying to mutiny? I'll beat anyone who dares to move my things without my permission!"
The old woman, who had a scar on her face from where she'd been scratched when dragged from her bed that night, was clearly frightened. "Let it go," she pleaded. "We shouldn't be holdouts anymore..."
"PTOOEY!" The old man nearly spat in her face. "Me, living in my own house, and you call *me* a 'holdout'? That's too damn funny! I sell my own things if I want to sell them, isn't that right? Don't I have the right to decide about my own property? Do you think I *want* to live in this dump? Look at it! Our house is over three hundred square meters, and that company only wants to compensate us with 500,000 yuan! Commercial properties across the street are already going for 10,000 yuan per square meter! If this place really gets demolished, where is my family supposed to live? What about our three children?"
The old woman didn't dare to answer. Instead, some of the onlookers started chiming in, "Old Zhang, you should stop fighting them. You can't win..."
"Yeah, they'll sue you eventually..."
"PTOOEY!" Old Zhang hawked and spat a glob of phlegm heavily onto the ground. "Let me give you an example. Say I want to marry a real estate developer's wife, and I offer 50 yuan for a night. The developer thinks the price is too low and demands 100 yuan a night, or refuses the deal. If the developer insists on refusing, I'll sue in court to *force* them! If that still doesn't work, I'll just take what I want by force anyway, and toss them 50 yuan when I'm done! Then I'll invite the whole country to judge: Is that right? Is *that* fair? Is asking for 100 yuan a night such an outrageous price then?"
The onlookers all roared with laughter. Even Yan Xixi, standing quietly under the large Magnolia Tree, couldn't help but chuckle.
Indeed, his words were crude, but the reasoning wasn't wrong; that was the gist of it. But what could anyone do? It was nothing more than venting, just lip service.
Just as she thought, Old Zhang's eldest son was the first to break, his face etched with worry. "Dad, we should just give up. There's no water, no electricity. Look around us! We're the only family left, like we're on a deserted island. Garbage trucks come every day to dump trash here. It's somewhat bearable now because it's winter, all ice and snow. But once spring arrives, it will stink to high heaven! You might be able to endure it, Dad, but we can't! And what about the children? They've been living in this environment for so long, they've had enough. What if they get contaminated and catch some infectious disease? They're still so young! How can they possibly endure these trash heaps?"
The old man didn't exclaim "PTOOEY!" this time. His brow furrowed deeply as he took a long drag from his cheap cigarette, his tone no longer as harsh. "No. If you want to leave, then you all can leave. I've held out for this long. If I give up now, wouldn't all my previous suffering have been for nothing? Besides, not only have they not increased the compensation, they've actually reduced it by tens of thousands… No! I'm going to the newspapers, to the media! You all should go and post on the Tianya Community forum, give it a try…"