18: Chapter 18 Deceiving People into Opening the Door

There was still no response from inside the house.

Wang Mang gritted his teeth and kicked the door hard a few more times.

But the result was the same; the door was as solid as a wall of copper and iron, impenetrable.

"Damn it! Don't let me catch you coming out!"

Wang Mang cursed and helped Old Madam Lin into the room.

His wife followed behind, carefully closing the door that had already been deformed.

The room was a mess, as if it had been swept by a tornado.

"Mom, is there anything to drink at home? I haven't had any water for several days."

Wang Mang rummaged through the refrigerator, found nothing, and could only lick his dry, cracked lips.

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Lin immediately pulled a long face, glared with her triangular eyes, and her mean streak flared up again:

"I'm asking you, where the hell have you been these past few days? Your phone wouldn't go through, I couldn't see hide nor hair of you, I thought you had died outside! I raised you for nothing!"

Wang Mang was already agitated, and hearing this, his brows furrowed even tighter.

He angrily slammed the bag of bread onto the table, making a dull "thud."

"Mom! Can you stop adding to the chaos?! You know what a mess it is outside!"

"Bai Jie and I were trapped in a garage with nothing to eat or drink. We barely managed to escape and come back, and the moment you see me, you start nagging. Isn't it annoying?!"

"Oh my, you're unhappy because I said a couple of things to you?!"

Old Madam Lin raised her voice an octave instantly and shrieked acidly:

"I worked so hard to raise you, and now that your wings are stiff, you dare to talk back to me?!"

"Who knows if you two were hiding in some Shelter, living it up, and completely forgot about this old woman!"

"Mom, stop talking nonsense! There's nowhere to go outside now; the streets are full of humanoid monsters. This time it's really over; I'm afraid the apocalypse has truly arrived!"

"The apocalypse?!"

Old Madam Lin was startled, her face turning pale. "Then what should we do?!"

"I don't know either!"

Wang Mang scratched his hair in frustration. "I can't contact anyone right now. I can't get through to the neighborhood committee, there's no news from the government, and the whole residential complex is in chaos!"

As if remembering something, he scratched his head in regret.

"That kid Song Yang probably knew the apocalypse was coming, that's why he reinforced his house. If I had known, I should have hoarded more food and drink..."

"Back then, who in the complex didn't say he was crazy? Who could have imagined there would actually be such a day."

Old Madam Lin stuffed a piece of dry bread into her mouth and muttered:

"What's the use of saying all this?! Our food was all snatched away by that damned Fatty Wang! There's no water either! Are we three just going to wait here to die?!"

Mentioning food, Wang Mang's stomach growled uncontrollably, and he licked his even more cracked lips.

During the few days they were trapped in the garage, he and Bai Jie had barely eaten anything, relying entirely on half a bag of bread left in the car.

"He stole our stuff, we can't just let it go. I'm going to go 'talk it over' with him and see if I can get some food back."

Wang Mang took a kitchen knife from the kitchen, tucked it into his waistband, and walked out of the room alone.

Not long after, footsteps were heard at the stairwell. The door creaked open, and Wang Mang stumbled back, leaning directly against the doorframe.

Wang Mang's mouth was split, oozing blood. His eye socket was heavily bruised and swollen shut, and his nose seemed to have been broken and crooked.

There were several clear shoe prints on his face and neck, and even his dusty jacket had been torn even more.

"Son, what happened to you?!"

Old Madam Lin rushed over. Seeing her son in such a miserable state, tears of heartache flowed again. "Did Fatty Wang do this?! That goddamn bastard!"

Wang Mang wheezed heavily and raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

He had intended to rely on his former authority as a neighborhood committee official, combined with his physical strength, to get the food back or at least demand an explanation.

Who knew that as soon as they saw him show up, a few of them didn't say a word, blocked him at the door, and surrounded him for a beating.

If he hadn't run fast, he would probably have suffered more than just these injuries.

"Damn it, that son of a bitch Fatty Wang, he hits really hard!"

Wang Mang spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his eyes fierce. "I'll settle this score with him sooner or later!"

Old Madam Lin looked at the injuries on her son's face, then glanced at the few pieces of dry bread on the table, her face wrinkling up.

"That's not the problem right now. We don't even have a drop of water! Those few pieces of bread aren't enough to fill anyone's teeth! Once we finish eating, we'll all starve to death here!"

"Starve to death?"

Wang Mang's eyes sharpened, as if stung by these words. "Who said we are going to starve to death?!"

He struggled to stand straight, walked over to the sofa, and rummaged for his phone, which was low on battery.

"In this building, there are always those who think they're smart and greedy for small advantages. Usually, when the neighborhood committee distributes rice, flour, and oil, they run faster than anyone. Now, it's time to make them bleed."

Wang Mang thought for a moment and edited a message:

"@Everyone, emergency notice! The community just contacted me, and the government-distributed relief supplies have arrived! Each household is limited to one portion, which I will distribute personally. Residents, please come to collect your supplies in an orderly manner."

He checked it once, confirmed there were no flaws, and Wang Mang clicked send.

As soon as the message was sent, the group chat exploded, and the dormant avatars lit up one by one.

"Is this real? Director Wang?"

"Great! Finally, there's food!"

Watching the messages popping up continuously, Wang Mang threw his phone to the side, a sinister smile of a successful plan appearing on his face:

"Just wait, as long as I trick them into opening the door, I can break in and snatch the food."

"That's more like it!"

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Lin's previously wrinkled face finally relaxed.

"Those old things are usually so stingy; they must have saved up a lot of good stuff! If we don't fleece them hard this time, it would be unfair to us!"

Before long, Wang Mang arrived in front of a household on the third floor that had messaged him wanting supplies.

"Knock, knock, knock."

He raised his hand and knocked on the door, while shouting at the top of his lungs:

"Auntie Zhang, I'm Wang Mang from the community. The relief supplies have arrived, please open the door to collect them!"

There was silence in the room for a few seconds, followed by a rustling sound, as if someone was cautiously approaching the door.

"Who is it?"

An old voice came from behind the door panel.

"I'm Wang Mang from the community. I sent a notice earlier. The government relief supplies have arrived, and I'm here specifically to deliver them to you. I just sent a message in the group!"

Wang Mang patiently repeated it again, slowing his tone as much as possible, sounding like a good, helpful cadre serving the people.

"Relief supplies?"

The old person's voice sounded a bit excited, but still carried a trace of suspicion. "Really? But how come I haven't heard of it."

"Oh my, Auntie, what time do you think it is? Notifications are bound to be delayed! Just tell me if you want it or not; I have many more households to deliver to!"

Wang Mang deliberately feigned impatience. "If you don't want it, I'll deliver it to someone else!"

His tactic worked effectively; the old person in the room panicked and hurriedly said:

"Yes, yes, yes! I want it! I'm opening the door right now, opening it right now!"

Creak—

The door slowly opened, and an old woman with a stooped back and white hair appeared in front of Wang Mang.

"Thank you to the government, thank you to the government for still thinking of us old folks."

The old woman muttered while tremblingly trying to take the "supplies" from Wang Mang's hands.

However, before she could finish her sentence, the situation before her eyes changed abruptly.

The kind smile Wang Mang had feigned instantly vanished, replaced by ferocity and malice.

He suddenly raised his foot and kicked the door hard, kicking it completely open, and rushed into the room.