By the time Jing Shu and Wu You'ai arrived, Building No. 1 was already packed to bursting.
Just like the cave assignments, placements were done by community. The entire group from a given community was crammed into the same building. If there were too many, they were stuffed in anyway.
Building No. 1 had a little over two hundred units, yet more than three thousand people were assigned there. Each unit had to hold fifteen to twenty people. It was more crowded than the New Year crush. Kitchen, dining room, living room, bedrooms, every corner was filled.
For rough-finished units, the government even had to organize toilet installations. Otherwise, with that many people in one unit, how much would they produce every day. Luckily there was no water shortage this year. Unluckily, most toilets in the city lay underwater, so soon you would see teams heading downtown to haul back toilet bowls first.
Otherwise the ground would be paved with gold, and a footstep would sink into something soft. That was why Jing Shu wore a raincoat and rain boots all the time.
When they reached Wang Dazhao's unit, the door had already been pried open. Three couples had moved in, with two brats in tow. If a unit held only that many people, they clearly had connections.
They were dividing up what usable everyday goods Wang Dazhao had left behind, bedding and quilts and such, acting as if the place was theirs.
"Sis, I am just saying, you took the quilt already. What is wrong with me taking the mattress?"
"Lao Liu, Lao Zhang, your families each grabbed a bed. The quilt should come to me, right?"
"Xiao Li, you are young, tough it out. Besides, you have a sofa. It is soft. What else do you need?"
No one would budge.
"I paid three hundred labor points to get in here. Be reasonable."
"I gave a bottle of liquor and a bag of rice. Who didn't pay a premium to get in?"
"My uncle arranged this unit. So what if you gave gifts. Be honest, or I will throw you out."
"You try. Our names are going on the title."
While the adults argued, the kids ran around catching red nematodes in basins for fun. Jing Shu and Wu You'ai charged in.
"Who are you. You cannot barge into someone else's home. Do not tell me they assigned spots to you two as well. There is no room left."
"My uncle said it is just our three families," one man said, frowning at the momentum of the newcomers. "What do you want?"
Jing Shu's fist cracked audibly. She tamped down the urge to swing, forced her anger down, and said, "The owner of this unit is not dead. Who let you move in. Do you not know that breaking into another's residence allows the owner to execute on the spot."
"Hey now, watch your mouth, girl. Director Zhang assigned us here. He said the owner has not appeared for over thirty days. Who knows where he wandered off to. He must be dead."
"Exactly. Must have drowned. Being out of contact equals being dead now. The unit naturally belongs to the state."
They all spoke with straight faces.
Jing Shu drew a deep breath. "Then call Director Zhang over to resolve this." You had to cut the rot at the root. Trying to reason with people who had greased palms to steal a home would go nowhere.
"Who do you think you are. What business is it of yours. You say call, and we will… ah, you, you hit me, ahh." At first the man could still scream. After a few punches and kicks, he could not make a sound. Maybe she had done this often. Jing Shu had the rhythm down.
"Help, murder, assault, they are seizing a private home, they should be taken out and shot… ack pfft." A tooth spun off on a brand new trajectory to live its best life.
The room boiled. Building No. 1 had too many people already, and a scream drew spectators like gossip-starved moths. They crowded the doorway to see what happened.
Five minutes later.
"What is going on here, what is going on. Why is everyone gathered." Director Zhang smoothed the few strands on his scalp and frowned at the seven or eight groaning bodies on the floor. "Who started a fight. Call the police and arrest them. Zhang Yi, how are you, who did this to you."
Director Zhang looked toward the two sitting grandly on the sofa. He knew that face all too well. Yesterday he had tried to shake down that villa, she had exposed them on the spot, and her father had knocked two of his teeth out.
Seeing that today she had not brought her father and had people at her back, Director Zhang puffed himself up. "So you came to make trouble here too. I will call the station and have you detained."
"Hello, 110? Banana Community, Building No. 1. Someone has forced entry and assaulted residents. Seven or eight injured, very serious. Yes. Come arrest them. Do not worry, I will keep them here."
After the call, Director Zhang grew more smug. "How is that. We missed you in the act yesterday. Today you deliver yourselves. Too easy to just ship you off. I should first trick your old man out of those nine hundred coins. That is the real prize."
Zhang Yi could only sob. His face had swelled up like a bun. He wanted to say that this woman was a devil, the kind whose punches hurt like sin.
After venting, Jing Shu felt wonderfully clear-headed. "Director Zhang, right. The owner of this unit is not dead and not missing. He is about to return. Please undo whatever arrangements you made and put them out the way you brought them in."
"Comrade, do not malign me.
This Wang Dazhao has had no contact for half a year. He was long ago handled as dead. Do not think I do not know. The previous Consolation and Counseling Specialist was from your circle, right. You thought a filed note would deceive the sky and let you sell under the table. Our country will never allow such scum."
Jing Shu's knuckles clicked again. "Big Data has the owner's identity on record. He crossed the China border a few days ago. You knew he was alive and still placed people here. That is bold."
"Hmph. Even if the owner stood here this minute, it would not matter. As allocators, we must prioritize the people. Missing persons count as dead. Who knows who carried his phone to ping locations on Big Data. Besides, today I already transferred this title to these three. It has nothing to do with your Wang Dazhao anymore."
"You move fast. But you think that will let you take the unit. How naive," Jing Shu said with a cold smile. She had underestimated how ruthless this one could be.