The two of them didn't even pretend to hesitate. With just a few words, they shifted the blame and immediately began planning how to pull it off.
Since they wanted to exchange supplies, the first step was to get those supplies into their home. Ren Xing said, "I know a few apartments upstairs where no one's home. Tonight, we could..."
Before Ren Xing could even finish, Meng Ying quickly cut in. "Okay."
In some ways, the two of them really were a perfect match.
...
They held back until nightfall. When the time came, they crept upstairs to one of the target apartments. After fiddling around a bit, they popped the lock.
Just as Ren Xing said, no one was living there. The two of them walked around like they owned the place. Large items were inconvenient to carry, but they didn't leave behind a single small item. They took everything back home.
Once they finished there, they struck again while the momentum lasted, heading to another apartment. Again, they left the big stuff but cleaned out every small item. They even found the homeowner's secret stash of cash under the bedframe.
Sure, RMB wasn't worth much now, but they weren't about to leave empty-handed. They also cleaned out the leftover food from both apartments.
They worked for hours, only returning home when the sky began to lighten. The next day, when it came time to trade for contribution points, they really did manage to exchange a good amount.
Neither of them even considered how strange it was that their apartment—already emptied out once—suddenly had so many things again. Thankfully, the staff didn't ask questions either. With so much on their plate, anything that didn't happen directly in front of them wasn't considered a real issue.
The staff turned a blind eye and processed everything. Because of how much they brought in, both Ren Xing and Meng Ying ended up with a solid amount of contribution points, split between their residence IDs.
Meng Ying was smart about that. She had long since lost any illusions about Ren Xing. She realized he had zero sense of responsibility. If all the contribution points were in his hands, there was no guarantee he wouldn't just starve her over a disagreement.
Ren Xing was clearly annoyed when she made the request, taking it as a sign that she didn't trust him. But after thinking about how well they worked together, he decided to let it slide for now. He'd deal with it later if needed.
Maybe it was because everything had gone so smoothly that night, but the two of them got a taste for it. After eating a full meal, they couldn't seem to stop. Their minds grew restless, and they started to become increasingly "active" throughout the building.
As for the skin medicine, once it went up on the app, they each bought one bottle. But the ulcerated rash had already spread across most of their bodies. One limited-purchase bottle per person wasn't nearly enough. Even with medicine, healing wasn't going to be easy.
Still, it helped. Even if just a little, it was better than nothing. Their symptoms eased slightly, and that was enough for them to live relatively comfortably, at least for now.
As for what might come next... there was no telling. At least until someone caught them stealing, the two of them were doing just fine.
...
More than half a month passed in a blur. It was already June. People had been living with the poisonous fog for nearly two months now. No one knew how long it would last, or if it would ever lift. But everyone knew one thing: they couldn't just stop working forever. If the poisonous fog didn't go away and people had no income, how would they survive? They'd starve in their homes.
That was something even the authorities wouldn't allow. After solving the basic survival issues in May, they began considering how to resume work.
Still, even if people went back to work, it couldn't be like before. There was no need for that many employees anymore. So the first thing the bosses decided on was downsizing.
Small companies weren't a problem. With only ten to a few dozen employees, the bosses could decide on layoffs themselves. Most had things settled within a day or two.
But large companies? They had hundreds, even thousands of employees. No way they could finalize layoffs in a day or two. So they handled it layer by layer: bosses picked which executives to keep, then those executives cut half their teams, and so on. Most companies cut half their staff without the boss ever needing to speak to anyone directly.
The layoff lists had already been prepared in May. By June, people were being notified one by one. Within a week—no, less than a week—most people had already received word they were being let go.
Now, not only were people trapped at home, but many had lost their jobs. Worse, this kind of emergency layoff came with no compensation. In fact, a lot of employers hadn't even paid last month's wages. Sure, RMB wasn't worth much anymore, but unpaid was unpaid. That left a bitter taste no one could ignore.
With no income and no access to food, how could those people not get desperate?
For a brief while, the building had quieted down, mostly due to the recent incident where someone died. But within just a few days—barely even a full week—it started getting "lively" again.
And once things got lively, the first targets were always those who lived alone. Which made Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe the perfect victims.
On the night of June 1st, someone knocked on Lan Jin's door asking for food. Lan Jin didn't even blink. With zero expression, she replied flatly, "No."
Then she slammed the door shut. The loud bang echoed in the hallway. The woman outside immediately started cursing her out.
"I just wanted to borrow some grain, and you're slamming the door like that? You stingy bit—"
Before she could finish, Lan Jin dumped a bucket of hot water on her.
Even though it was already June, the air was still damp and chilly because of the poisonous fog. Lan Jin herself was still wearing her thick winter coat. So while the hot water didn't do much to the woman's body, her exposed face...
Well, it definitely turned red.
Lan Jin didn't care in the slightest.
"Go on. Say one more word. Next time, it won't be hot water. I'll throw acid right in your face."
The woman was stunned by Lan Jin's cold, threatening tone. She immediately cursed a few more times and ran downstairs.
Lan Jin's hallway quieted down, but over at Huang Jinghe's door, a man in his forties was still violently shaking his security door. It looked like he was trying to rip it right off the wall.
The sight made Lan Jin furious.
Standing in the stairwell, she yelled across the building at the man, "Borrow what? If you're not dead yet, it means you've still got food at home. You're just hoarding it and want someone else's instead. Shameless. Xiao Huang, water."
Huang Jinghe had been standing by his door, already prepared. He had told himself he'd hold back, but only to a point. If they pushed too far, he wasn't going to tolerate it.
And then Lan Jin showed up. One command was all it took.
There was no holding back now. He dumped a full bucket of hot water right at the man.