Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 427: Chapter 417: So Disgusting

”Don’t bother struggling. The homeowner from the last aid collection is my neighbor. I just knocked on their door to ask. On the night of the collection, they waited at home with their door open the whole time, but in the end, they received nothing and no one came. Not only that, but they were also kicked out of the group chat. I just checked, and all five families from that last collection have been kicked.”

As soon as these words appeared, even the last few people clinging to hope felt their hearts sink into ashes.

’What’s the point of struggling anymore?’

It was obvious they had just kept everything from the last collection for themselves.

They probably saw that no one in the group was responding to the calls for supplies anymore, so they gave up on trying to squeeze anything more out of them.

Now, all they could do was wait to die.

This was the one and only thought on most people’s minds.

It had been half a month, and the fog still hadn’t receded. The internet had been in an uproar for a while now. Talk of the end of the world constantly appeared on their screens. Messages pleading for help were everywhere, and it seemed the entire world was filled with people on the brink of death.

Everyone said the fog would never go away, that this was the end of the world, that humanity was doomed.

But for some reason, the people in this group had developed a rebellious streak. The more terrified they became, the more they joked around and made light of things in the chat.

Even though they had next to nothing left at home, they still contributed a little to help others, as if hoping someone would do the same for them if they were in trouble one day.

Besides, there were all those staple foods. The property management center was piled high with food, enough to last them a very long time.

That food was like the last glimmer of hope in their hearts. As long as it was there, they always felt that death was still a distant threat.

But today, that last glimmer of light was extinguished.

With their reason stripped away, what was left?

Rage, hysteria, and—more than anything else—fear.

These emotions were amplified infinitely online, channeled through their keyboards and unleashed.

Everyone in the group was cursing—cursing Housekeeper Zhang who had been deceiving them, cursing the man who came to take their food, and cursing the unjust heavens for trying to kill them.

Tang Mo watched these people descend into madness, her eyes scanning the lines of profanity that flew across the screen, and sighed to herself.

’What’s the most thorough way to destroy a person?’

’It isn’t to throw them into darkness.’

’It’s to give them a sliver of light, only to snatch it away again.’

Tang Mo left her room and sat down on the sofa with Xu Jinsan and his wife.

Xu Jinsan and Mrs. Xu were in relatively stable spirits. Although they had participated in two collection drives and been tricked out of some food, they had managed to help the people they’d truly wanted to save. Plus, their remaining supplies were still enough to support their family of three for half a year, so they weren’t at the point of despair. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Tang Mo had expected a kind man like Xu Jinsan to be utterly disappointed after being deceived.

But clearly, she had underestimated him. She watched as Xu Jinsan scrolled past the torrent of curses and insults, all the way to the top of the chat, to the list Wen Qianli had posted.

”Thank goodness. The fever medicine and formula were delivered. Those two little ones should be okay.”

In fact, a part of Xu Jinsan was even grateful. If that group hadn’t organized this, those two babies might have actually died.

He probably would have agreed without hesitation even if they had told him upfront there was a fee for delivery and that the story about the property management center’s supplies was a lie.

He hadn’t done any of it expecting something in return.

Tang Mo didn’t know what Xu Jinsan was thinking, but if she had, she would have likely just sighed and thought one thing.

’Kindness is the epitaph of the kind.’

Was that a compliment? Not necessarily. Tang Mo had always felt the saying was incomplete.

’Sometimes, kindness isn’t just the epitaph of the kind—it’s the epitaph of their family and friends, too...’

Mrs. Xu was also doing alright. The chat log sent a chill down her spine, and she got up to count their family’s remaining supplies over and over again.

Only after counting them several times did she finally feel at ease, letting out a sigh of relief as she sat back down on the sofa.

Seeing that the Xu couple were both holding up well, Tang Mo had nothing to worry about. She continued scrolling through the group chat, watching the drama unfold as if it were a play.

If you could detach yourself and just watch it all unfold like some gossip column or piece of social news, the events in this group were far more interesting than any TV show she had on hand.

And the group didn’t disappoint. Soon, there was a new development.

Housekeeper Zhang had actually spoken up.

[Housekeeper Zhang]: So-called high-end complex, full of rich people, and you can’t scrape anything together after just a few days? You all deserve to starve to death, hahaha!

For whatever reason, Housekeeper Zhang hadn’t left the group. Despite being exposed and cursed out for so long, he wasn’t angry. Instead, he smugly began to mock them.

Tang Mo knew that even in times of peace, some criminals returned to the scene of the crime to satisfy their sick sense of pleasure.

’How disgusting.’

”You’re not from the property management center?” some people asked, still confused about the situation.

[Zhang Laohu]: Of course not. Me and my buddies are from the security team next door. We used to come over here and see you all acting so high and mighty. What, you think being rich is so great? Now look at you, all crying from hunger. And look at the things you’re saying. You call yourselves educated and well-mannered? You’re killing me, this is hilarious.

Clearly, their profanity couldn’t hurt a man who had scraped by at the bottom of society for so many years. On the contrary, he found it fascinating to see these supposedly refined people rip off their hypocritical masks.

Housekeeper Zhang had changed his name to Zhang Laohu and was no longer hiding his identity.

He was the head of security for the neighboring complex. That night, he and a few of his men had been on the night shift in the security booth when they became trapped.

Unlike a home, the security booth had absolutely no food inside.

They would starve if they stayed put, and they might die if they made a run for it. Fueled by that ruthless desperation, Zhang Laohu led his men and charged into the property management center of the high-end complex next door.

This property management center also oversaw his own complex, and he’d dealt with its staff before. Zhang Laohu knew they had a stockpile of grain set aside for employee rewards.

In Zhang Laohu’s eyes, the residents of this high-end complex were pretentious and always looked down on people like him. So, even though there was enough food in the property management center for him and his men, he still orchestrated this whole farce.

He’d found their contact information in a cabinet in the property management center. The half-true, half-false collection drive was partly a genuine attempt to hoard more supplies for the long run, and partly, of course, a way to humiliate them.

He just hadn’t expected that they couldn’t even keep the drive going for a week. Rich people really were stingier than anyone.

[Zhang Laohu]: I have no idea how you people made your money. You don’t have a single brain cell. The property management staff all go home at night. How could there possibly be anyone from the office still in the complex? Only us security guards, working our asses off for you on night duty for crap pay, only to be looked down on by you! A bunch of dumbasses.