"The treatment for skin conditions caused by the poisonous fog has been successfully developed. The medicine is currently being distributed to various residential districts. It's expected to be listed on the rescue app by next Monday. Like other supplies, it will be available for a limited time, with each resident ID limited to one bottle. Supplies are limited in the first batch, so please only purchase if you truly need it. If you're buying just to stock up, please hold off for now."
There was no need to say anything else. Those who had been suffering insomnia from the poisonous fog were nearly in tears.
"Oh my god, is there finally a cure?"
"Yeah, the higher-ups haven't abandoned us after all. I thought I was just waiting to die."
"Good thing they didn't give up. And luckily, my symptoms weren't too severe. If it had been bad from the start, I wouldn't have lasted this long."
"Exactly. Those of you who are still healthy, don't compete with us for the medicine, okay?"
"Relax, we won't. We don't need it right now, so why waste our contribution points? But this medicine, it's bought with contribution points, right? How much per bottle?"
A staff member answered, "The exact price hasn't been set yet, but it will definitely be affordable for everyone. So take this opportunity to exchange more goods for contribution points. That way, you'll be ready to buy when it goes live."
That made sense, but still…
"Everything in my house, big or small, is useful. If I exchange it all, what will I use at home?"
"Yeah, everyone has a bit of junk lying around, but not that much. If we trade it all, what are we supposed to live with?"
Many people were hesitant, but some stayed level-headed.
"Isn't it more important to get through the present? Whatever happens later, we'll deal with it then. Once the poisonous fog is gone, we can always buy more stuff."
"True. We can't go out anyway, and it's good we can trade household items. As long as we can eat for now, who cares about the rest? We'll have chances to replace things later."
"In that case, I've got a lot of things at home I could trade. But does the community provide a price reference?"
The staff member sent a supply list to the group chat and replied, "We'll price items based on quality and condition, but here's a general range. You can estimate from that. Final value will be confirmed when we inspect the items in person."
Everyone opened the price list and immediately began comparing and calculating with what they had at home. The main goal was simple: survive the month. With the poisonous fog lingering and no additional supplies from above, there was a real chance the community might just let them starve.
The group chat soon went quiet.
As for exchanging goods, neither Huang Jinghe nor Lan Jin needed to participate at the moment. So the next couple of days had little to do with them, and likely wouldn't for a long while.
But for the staff, these few days were exhausting. Even with over a hundred volunteers, it was impossible to finish all the trades within just two days.
The residential area was massive. The buildings were tall, and since they encouraged people to trade larger items, the lifting and moving alone was overwhelming. It wasn't just tiring. It was unfinishable.
Seeing that many people hadn't completed their trades, the staff extended the deadline by another three days. After five full days, quite a few big items had been exchanged, and now most residents had at least some contribution points. It was enough to get them through for a while.
But before anyone could breathe easy, the staff sent another notice in the chat. It reminded everyone of the recent incident involving the S people and the break-in. Even though most residents already knew, they deliberately brought it up again as a warning. The more people they could scare straight, the better. Just one more day of peace was worth it. They never planned to keep those events secret.
As for the S people, that was another matter. The theft alone, given how serious the consequences were, immediately snuffed out any bad intentions that others might have had. For a while, things around the community—and especially in Lan Jin's Building 12—remained quiet.
But only for a while.
Still, during that short period, Lan Jin's life had been relatively peaceful.
As for Ren Xing and Meng Ying... honestly, their situation hadn't been all that bad either.
Back then, the two of them had tried to break into Lan Jin's home for supplies. With no protection against the poisonous fog, they ended up with inflamed, itchy rashes on their skin. Every day, they sat at home blaming and cursing each other.
But even in that state, they still had to eat. So the two of them decided to exchange everything in the apartment except the bed for contribution points. Thanks to that, aside from their skin issues, life was actually going okay.
Both Ren Xing and Meng Ying lived for the moment. Once they had points, they didn't hold back. Three meals a day, no skipping. Sure, boxed meals weren't expensive, but they didn't have many things to trade. The apartment was rented, so the furniture wasn't even good to begin with. In the end, they didn't earn much.
Now, with another round of item exchanges underway and the new skin treatment medicine about to be released, the two of them were both caught in a spiral of panic and frustration.
They couldn't skip meals. But they couldn't skip the medicine either. Yet they had almost nothing left, and barely any contribution points. Even without knowing the exact price of the medicine, they were sure they couldn't afford it.
If there had been no medicine, they might have resigned themselves. But the medicine was right there, and they still couldn't use it. That felt worse than getting their hearts ripped out.
They couldn't just sit and wait to die. Not anymore.
Meng Ying said, "Brother Xing, we can't be the only ones in this building with nothing to trade. How are the others getting supplies?"
Ren Xing had lived there for years. He had a lot of shady friends and still kept in touch thanks to the internet being up.
He replied, "They're breaking into places. Are you saying you want to do that too?"
"I do. Why not? We've got nothing left. We can't even eat, let alone treat our skin. Brother Xing, I don't want to die."
Ren Xing didn't want to die either. He had been hesitating, but hearing Meng Ying say it out loud pushed him over the edge. He clenched his jaw.
"Damn it. If Lan Jin had been here, we wouldn't be in this mess."
He was convinced that if Lan Jin had stayed, the house would still have had food and water. Worst case, she'd have figured something out. It wouldn't have fallen on him.
As it turned out, Meng Ying had been thinking the exact same thing. She even considered going after Ren Siqiao, but Lan Jin wasn't even across the hall anymore.
So the moment Ren Xing blamed Lan Jin, Meng Ying eagerly chimed in.
"Exactly. This is all Lan Jin's fault. If she were here, we wouldn't be like this."