By the time three o'clock rolled around that afternoon, the four of them met up and headed together to the sixth floor.
At this point, the floodwater had already reached halfway up the first floor. If it rained through the night again, the second floor would likely be underwater by morning.
After nearly two straight weeks of rain, the temperature finally dropped sharply today. Just yesterday, the outdoor temperature was still hovering around seventy degrees, but today it had plummeted to forty. With such a drastic change, anyone not careful could easily catch a cold.
Before leaving, Lan Jin had closed the main bedroom door behind her, making it look like she had locked the child and the dog inside. In reality, both Qiao Qiao and Nana had been tucked safely away in her space.
When they arrived at the sixth floor, many residents were already packed into Su Han's apartment. Small groups had formed naturally, with people chatting quietly among themselves, keeping to their own circles and not disturbing others.
As Lan Jin and the others came down, the single woman from the twelfth floor and the middle-aged woman from unit 701 were already waiting in the stairwell. The moment the middle-aged woman saw Lan Jin, she rolled her eyes dramatically.
Lan Jin didn't bother to react. She didn't think she'd done anything wrong. It was her home. She had every right to decide who could come in and who couldn't. If she didn't want someone there, they weren't getting through the door.
So to Lan Jin, that eye roll meant absolutely nothing.
The more indifferent Lan Jin acted, the more irritated the middle-aged woman seemed to get. She looked ready to cause trouble, but the four of them had timed their arrival well. The moment Su Han saw them enter, he started taking a headcount before the woman could say a word.
Lan Jin followed along, quietly counting the people in the crowd too.
Truthfully, there were still quite a few people left in the building. While the meeting was officially said to be held in Su Han's apartment, in reality, there wasn't nearly enough space. The room, the hallway, even the emergency stairwell were all packed wall to wall.
When Su Han reached their side, Lan Jin heard him muttering something about there being forty-eight people so far. Accounting for those who hadn't shown up, the building probably still housed around sixty to seventy people.
Once the count was done, Su Han seemed to have a clear idea of who had come and who hadn't. Seeing that the scheduled time had arrived, he began speaking.
"Alright, it's time. I assume those who planned to come are all here. As the floor representative for Building 12, I want to talk today about the issue everyone's most concerned about: food.
We've all been stuck at home for half a month. Whatever supplies we bought from the supermarket back then are likely running low. If we run out of food, then what..."
Before Su Han could finish, a young man interrupted, his face full of impatience.
"Can you skip the speeches? We've been waiting here forever. No one came to hear you go on and on. Just tell us the solution already."
"Alright then," Su Han said, swallowing his annoyance. "Here's what I've come up with. Since we're all trapped in the same building, we might as well act like a family. Once each household finishes off their own food, what happens next? So I was thinking, why don't we pool all our food together and cook in bulk? Like the old days, everyone gets a share. That way we might stretch what we have into more meals."
The moment those words left his mouth, several younger residents turned and walked upstairs without a second glance. Share their food with others? Not a chance. You'd have to be out of your mind.
Even Lan Jin found the suggestion hard to stomach. She didn't speak up, though. Since she'd already come down, she figured it wouldn't hurt to learn more about what Su Han was really planning.
But while Lan Jin could keep her temper, Huang Jinghe clearly couldn't. He leaned over and whispered, "Sister Lan, I'm heading upstairs."
Lan Jin gave him a small nod. "Go ahead."
As soon as she spoke, Huang Jinghe turned and walked off without looking back.
Su Han tried to stop the others from leaving, but it was no use. Just because he told people to stay didn't mean they would. Soon, all the younger residents were gone. Left with no choice, Su Han let out a sigh.
"Young people these days... at least let me finish what I have to say. Even if you don't agree, we could've talked it over. Working together is always better than wandering around like headless chickens."
But none of the young people were there to hear him anymore, and those words came far too late.
Lan Jin could tell, though, that Su Han wasn't really talking to the young people at all. Just look at who was still there: mostly middle-aged and elderly residents.
Even after being embarrassed like that, Su Han didn't seem fazed. Instead, he began addressing the remaining crowd, talking like the younger generation simply didn't understand how things worked.
He continued, "It's not just food we need to consider. If someone has other supplies, we could designate a common area where everyone can access and share them. For example, if someone has batteries, they don't need to contribute food. After all, there's no power now, and being able to eat a warm meal is important."
As he spoke, Su Han's eyes drifted toward Lan Jin.
After all, everyone had seen her carry a heavy battery all the way up from the first floor to the thirty-third. Anyone with a conscience could recognize that kind of effort.
Of course, Lan Jin wasn't the only one in the building with a battery. When Su Han noticed she wasn't reacting, he shifted his gaze toward others. Most people remained silent, but a few responded, which was enough to serve his purpose.
The rest of his speech followed the same theme: everyone should contribute whatever they had, share everything, and make it through as a group. That way, things wouldn't feel so hard.
Naturally, not everyone agreed with Su Han's vision. As soon as he finished speaking, those who disagreed left without hesitation. The ones who stayed were those who supported the idea.
Lan Jin had listened to the whole thing from start to finish, and one thing was clear: Su Han loved sounding generous with other people's things. But when it came to his own contributions, there was nothing on offer. Yet somehow, he still wanted to lead.
Frankly, Lan Jin wasn't impressed.
So once he finally stopped talking, she turned and walked away.
Seeing her leave, Ling Jiang and Lao Gao naturally followed.
Back upstairs, Ling Jiang chuckled. "So? What do you think?"
Lan Jin raised an eyebrow. "All talk, no action. Just a smooth talker pretending to lead. I thought maybe we had someone competent in this building. Guess I was wrong."
Then she added, "Well, now that the meeting's done and the destination's confirmed, when are we heading out for supplies?"
Ling Jiang grinned, trying not to laugh. "Tomorrow. Let's leave early. There aren't many people going out right now, so we should take the chance to bring back as much as we can. Once more people start looking, supplies will only get harder to find."