Chapter 60 The Mad Neighbor

Thoroughly sweeping every corner of the twenty-plus-story office building yielded so much supplies that two rubber boats couldn't even hold them all.

When Bai Xiao went downstairs, she saw Shi Jun and the other two gathered inside a medical equipment company.

Seeing her come down, Zhao Fangzhe waved excitedly, "Cheng Ru found three boxes of water purification tablets in this company's storage room."

"These are really good stuff. It's raining every day outside now, so we don't lack water. With these tablets, we won't have to haul so much water back." Shi Jun was also very pleased. He had just been worrying about how to transport so many boxes of bottled water back.

"Each box has 24 bottles, with 100 tablets per bottle. One tablet can purify one liter of water. Even if we split them among us, each person would have enough for at least a year or two." Zhao Fangzhe calculated excitedly.

Bai Xiao had considered stockpiling water purification tablets before, but using them required filtering out impurities from the water first. For water from the wild, it was impossible to determine if it was chemically contaminated or contained parasites—things that purification tablets alone couldn't eliminate.

After careful consideration, she had decided to stockpile drinking water directly. But now, having these tablets was good too—she wouldn't need to waste space storing tap water for bathing anymore. In the future, she could just collect water from any river or reservoir using her current water tanks and purify it.

For the others, however, concerns about contamination were a luxury they couldn't afford. Having anything at all was good enough; who were they to be picky?

With the purification tablets, they rearranged the supplies to take back, finally deciding to load one boat with drinking water and the tablets, and the other boat with food.

They hid the supplies they couldn't take in a safe place, thinking they could come back for them later if they got the chance.

They had arrived close to noon, spent the entire afternoon sweeping the building, and were nearing dusk by the time they started back. By the time they returned to the residential area, it was growing dark. They deliberately waited outside until it was completely dark before returning to the building.

They couldn't move all the supplies up in one trip. Bai Xiao stayed behind to guard them while the other three made the first trip up. Then Shi Jun called his wife out, leaving Cheng Ru to watch upstairs while the other three came down for a second trip.

By the time they came down for the last trip, Bai Xiao had already moved the remaining supplies inside the building and deflated and folded the rubber boats.

Except for Bai Xiao and Cheng Ru, the others had gone up and down four or five times in a row, lying on the ground exhausted and gasping for breath.

After resting for a while, they got up again, intending to divide the supplies.

The boats were provided by Bai Xiao, but she had mostly spent her time looking for her own things. Shi Jun and Zhao Fangzhe had contributed the most effort along the way, while Cheng Ru had contributed the least, but she had found the crucial water purification tablets.

Each person had made unique contributions in certain aspects, so in the end, they still decided to split everything equally.

This arrangement benefited Zhao Fangzhe and Cheng Ru somewhat more. He wanted to give up some of his share, but both Bai Xiao and Shi Jun refused. Cheng Ru even subtly tugged at his clothes.

"Damn you all! How dare you steal building manager Xu's boats to go out on your own and hoard so much good stuff?!"

A shrill woman's voice erupted along with the sound of a door opening. The group looked toward the source and saw five or six people emerging from unit 1203?

Xiang Mei had heard the sounds of doors opening and closing next door in Shi Jun's unit 1204 earlier. She had thought it was just a routine outing, but then she heard the sounds of moving and placing things outside. After the noises stopped, she listened carefully and realized the people outside were dividing supplies again. How could she tolerate this? She kicked her door open, stepped out, and stared greedily at the pile of supplies on the floor, her eyes wide with jealousy.

"You have some nerve, stealing building manager Xu's things." The people behind Xiang Mei chimed in, following her lead.

This group included Yue Jianping, Xiang Mei's son, and what looked like a married couple—a man and a woman, a boy of about seven or eight, and an elderly person.

Apart from Xiang Mei's son, Bai Xiao had no recollection of any of these people. When had so many people moved into their unit?

Now wasn't the time to ask. As they spoke, the group had already surrounded them. The unfamiliar woman had sneaked downstairs, seemingly to report the situation. With Xiang Mei's side having more people and blocking the way, Shi Jun and the others couldn't stop her even if they tried.

"Which eye of yours saw us steal Xu Zhen's boat?" Because Yue Jianping had gone out to look for supplies and still hadn't returned, likely having met an unfortunate fate, Zhao Fangzhe had initially felt sorry for Xiang Mei and her son, left as orphans and widows. Last time, she had caused a big scene, and he hadn't wanted to argue, but now she was escalating, outright slandering them, which was truly unbearable.

"Everyone in the building knows building manager Xu and his people brought back four boats. Besides them, who else has boats?!" Xiang Mei shrieked hysterically.

While they were arguing, Xu Zhen and his group had been called upstairs. Upon hearing the news, their first instinct was to check if their boats were still there, but remembering that some had been lent out and others were still out, they couldn't take stock.

But whether the boats on the 12th floor were theirs or not, they had to be. Otherwise, having just established their footing in the building, ensuring their family's food and drink by lending out boats—such a good arrangement—he absolutely wouldn't allow anyone to ruin it.

Thinking this, a cold glint flashed in his eyes as he signaled his people to grab knives and clubs and charge forward.

The argument upstairs had already escalated, though it was mostly Xiang Mei ranting one-sidedly. After realizing she was somewhat extreme and unhinged, Bai Xiao and the others no longer wanted to engage.

They wanted to go back to their rooms first, but the supplies were still piled to the side. The people who had come out with Xiang Mei threw themselves onto the pile, rolling around and refusing to let them take anything.

*Whoosh!*

A thin arrow shot past Xiang Mei, who was lying on the supplies and refusing to move. The arrow, fired unexpectedly, pierced through her clothes and embedded itself in the box beneath her.

"Since you love this pile of stuff so much, should I grant you the wish of staying with it forever?"

Dealing with unreasonable troublemakers, talking nicely was useless.

Xu Zhen and the others arrived just in time to witness this scene, feeling it was a perfect opportunity handed to them on a silver platter.

Seeing a group of people armed with weapons swarming out from the stairwell, Bai Xiao subtly handed the Compound Bow she had taken from her bag to Zhao Fangzhe beside her, signaling him to act as the situation required.

Seeing Xu Zhen and his group arrive, Xiang Mei didn't stay lying on the ground. She got up and retreated behind Xu Zhen's group with her family.

Seeing this, Shi Jun and the others gathered around Bai Xiao. The two groups now faced off—one blocking the stairwell entrance, the other surrounding the supplies, separated by a distance of three or four meters.

Intimidated by the Compound Bow, Xu Zhen's group didn't dare step out of the stairwell. Xu Zhen glanced at the things on the floor and noticed that although their rubber boats were deflated, the color looked similar to the ones he had found. He couldn't help but wonder: Had the boats he lent out been stolen by this group?

Whether they were or not, his side had the advantage in numbers. Tonight, they had to seize these supplies no matter what.

"Bai Xiao, how dare you hurt someone again? You're utterly lawless!"

Xu Zhen pointed a machete at the group, then gestured toward the supplies on the floor. "Not only have you repeatedly hurt people, but now you've stolen the building's rubber boats to go out and hoard supplies privately. You all are practically rebelling!"

"Bullshit! Xu Zhen, open your damn eyes and look closely—are these two rubber boats even yours?!"