Chapter 25: Berating the Old Hag
In his previous life, he underestimated the severity of the snow disaster.
Thinking he could earn goodwill from his neighbors, he handed out some of his stored supplies.
But what was the result?
Instead of gratitude, people assumed he had an abundance of supplies at home.
In the end, his door was broken down, and he was killed, his body used for food.
It could be said that his death in his previous life was partly due to this old woman!
A sly smile crept across his face as he lazily sent a voice message.
Aunt Lin, infuriated, started cursing loudly in her house.
"Bah! Who do you think you're fooling? You must have plenty of supplies at home."
"Humph, working at the warehouse for so many years, you can't tell me you didn't stash anything away!"
Her confidence came from Zhang Yi's history of helping neighbors buy discounted items from the Walmart warehouse.
Damaged packaging or near-expiry goods were sold at very low prices.
As an employee, Zhang Yi had priority in buying them, and sometimes the warehouse even distributed them as benefits.
Aunt Lin's face turned blue with anger, and she bit her lip, refusing to give up.
She was convinced that Zhang Yi was a big fish; if she could pry his supplies loose, she and her grandson could live comfortably for at least another week!
Taking a deep breath, Aunt Lin tried to sound firm yet gentle.
"Zhang, don't joke with Auntie. Everyone knows you're the supervisor at the Walmart warehouse. How could you be short of food and drink at home?"
"This is an official directive. You must comply! Your contribution will be remembered by everyone and the government."
"Be a pioneer, and bring your supplies over to Auntie's place."
Zhang Yi picked his teeth with a toothpick, having just finished a meal of roast lamb leg, and replied lazily.
"I'm not lying, I’m really out of food. Even rich landlords don't have surplus grain nowadays!"
"Aunt Lin, why don't you give me a few packs of instant noodles? As a member of the community committee, you should set a benchmark and be a pioneer!"
Seeing Zhang Yi's resistance, Aunt Lin knew being soft wouldn't work.
She hardened her tone, her voice growing stern.
"Talking nicely doesn't work with you, does it?"
"Do you think I'm speaking on my own behalf? I'm representing the government!"
"Refusing to hand over your supplies means opposing the government. I will make sure to deal with you!"
Zhang Yi laughed coldly.
"Representing the government? You're just waving a chicken feather as a token of authority!"
"You're just a community staff, not even a civil servant."
"Usually, you can fool the old folks, but trying to act tough with me? Are you out of your mind?"
"Do whatever you want. I'll be waiting at home!"
Zhang Yi mercilessly exposed Aunt Lin's true nature.
Community staff weren't official government employees, not even in the civil service. Aunt Lin wasn't even a minor leader in the community committee.
On the other hand, even if she were a high-ranking official, Zhang Yi wouldn't care at this moment.
After berating Aunt Lin, Zhang Yi hung up and blocked her number.
He had no time to argue with this shrew.
His actions nearly drove Aunt Lin mad with rage!
Zhang Yi had repeatedly opposed her, humiliating her.
As someone who fancied herself the leader of the community, how could she endure this?
"Zhang Yi, you despicable creature! I wish I could kill you!"
Aunt Lin roared in fury.
But in reality, she was powerless against Zhang Yi.
She thought about kicking Zhang Yi out of the owners' group chat but realized it wouldn't harm him much.
She also considered rallying the others in the group to condemn Zhang Yi, but that would only expose his refusal to hand over supplies.
If others followed his response, she wouldn't be able to deceive them.
No matter how she thought about it, there was nothing she could do to Zhang Yi.
The more she thought about it, the angrier and more frustrated she became.
In the end, she had to swallow her rage.
Her priority now was to deceive others while they were still oblivious, to gather as many supplies as possible!
Over the next two days, Aunt Lin managed to deceive a few households into handing over some supplies through a mix of coaxing and intimidation.
However, not everyone was foolish.
In the apocalypse, people's first concern was their own survival and that of their families.
Some chose to ignore Aunt Lin.
Others, with more aggressive personalities, cursed her out and sent her packing when she came to their doors asking for supplies.
And for the likes of Chen Zhenghao and Xu Hao, Aunt Lin didn't even dare to approach.
Zhang Yi watched all of this through his surveillance cameras, clear as day.
But he continued his life as usual, playing and eating without bothering with others' affairs.
From the onset of the snowstorm, five days had passed.
Most households had only stored enough food for three to five days.
In this community, some people had more supplies because they worked at large warehouses.
However, due to the extreme cold, heating requires fuel and food, leading to faster supply consumption.
These days, the chat group started showing signs of hostility.
Initially, people had waited patiently for the government's rescue.
But now, lacking heating and food, their attitudes were changing.
Especially those who had been deceived by Aunt Lin. They couldn't hold back any longer and began questioning her in the group.
"@25#1 Unit 1502-Lin Chunxia, Aunt Lin, you said the supplies would be redistributed?"
"Our food is all gone. It's been two days. Can you give us some now?"
"Yeah, you promised to redistribute so everyone would have something to eat!"
The residents were clamoring, including those who hadn't handed over any supplies, hoping to take advantage of the situation.
But Aunt Lin remained silent.
She could see the messages but had no intention of giving any supplies back.
She and Zhang Yi were the only ones who truly understood the gravity of the situation.
Outside, chaos reigned. Only those with supplies could survive; the rest could only wait for death.
Clutching her grandson, curled up under five blankets, Aunt Lin seethed, "No way I'm giving back the supplies I worked so hard to trick out of people!"