Chapter 123

Auntie Qian’s place was closer, so Song Jingshuo followed the two aunties there.

The moment he arrived, he knew what the problem was.

He stared in surprise. “Do we really need a pot this big?”

The aunties finally understood. “You didn’t repot them?”

The tomato seedlings they had brought back from the Mai Duo Duo Supermarket were still in their starter pots. Each pot was no bigger than a wineglass, small enough to fit in one hand.

Naturally, there was barely any soil in them.

The two aunties immediately realized that Song Jingshuo hadn’t even grasped the basics.

“You must have thought it was our superpowers that made the plants grow,” they said, setting him straight. “That’s not how it works.”

“Our superpowers are more like catalysts. They accelerate a plant’s growth and development, compressing a process that would normally take several months into a few minutes or a dozen minutes.”

“But the complete growth process still depends on sunlight, air, water, and nutrients from the soil.”

“If you don’t provide those things, no matter how much you accelerate it, the plant still won’t grow. Think about it: if a child doesn’t eat properly, won’t they end up underdeveloped?”

“I’m guessing you didn’t even water them after you got home.”

Song Jingshuo rubbed his forehead.

He really hadn’t watered them. He had honestly thought that the superpowers alone would be enough.

The two aunties burst out laughing.

They proceeded to teach him a great deal about soil and fertilizer.

Auntie Qian even tried to keep him for dinner, but Song Jingshuo politely declined.

Before he left, Auntie Qian insisted on giving him a lamp. “Take this. It’s a grow light. The supermarket doesn’t sell them—you have to go to a gardening shop at the flower and bird market to find one.”

Of course, that was no longer possible now.

Song Jingshuo thanked Auntie Qian and accepted it.

After leaving Auntie Qian’s place, Song Jingshuo spotted Jiang Cheng at the west gate of Jixiang Jiayuan.

Jiang Cheng was talking to Zhou Wang.

It seemed they had already dealt with the body. When everyone had superpowers they could use conveniently, many things became much simpler.

“Jiang Cheng!” Song Jingshuo called as he walked over.

Jiang Cheng said, “I was discussing with Brother Zhou whether it would be feasible to have the aunties here run a communal kitchen at our place.”

Song Jingshuo hesitated.

Jiang Cheng said, “It’s fine. Go ahead.”

So Zhou Wang wasn’t an issue.

Song Jingshuo got straight to the point. “What are we offering the aunties as payment?”

Until the government stepped in and restored everything to normal, money was meaningless.

Besides, everyone currently had sufficient supplies. They had plenty of food and daily necessities. The rice they had brought back from the Mai Duo Duo Supermarket yesterday would last them half a year.

So what could they use to pay the people doing the cooking?

“That’s what we’re discussing,” Jiang Cheng said. “The truth is... the only thing we can offer right now is to give them the same status as the owners of Youth Apartment.”

It sounded rather vague.

People who came to work for Youth Apartment wouldn’t receive any tangible compensation. Instead, they would be treated as owners of the complex.

They would receive Youth Apartment’s protection.

They would also be entitled to share in anything obtained through Youth Apartment’s collective actions.

Song Jingshuo thought it sounded ridiculous—like getting something for nothing. Would anyone really agree to that?

Zhou Wang, however, was instantly tempted.

He genuinely wanted to leave Jixiang Jiayuan and join Youth Apartment. If he did, Jiang Cheng would handle all the miscellaneous affairs. Every danger and arduous task would be shared by the group.

For each individual, the burden would be light.

Together, however, they would wield tremendous strength.

What Youth Apartment took for granted was exactly what Zhou Wang longed for.

Zhou Wang agreed. “I’ll discuss it with everyone.”

Jiang Cheng said, “Thank you, Brother Zhou.”

She really didn’t want to waste time dealing with the cooking arrangements.

That wasn’t to say she didn’t want good food. Of course she did. But she also wanted to eat efficiently.

Take Li Jiangbing, for example. He had smartly joined forces with the property-management staff over meals. How easy was that?

But Jiang Cheng now wanted to free Aunt Pan from cooking as well.

Zhou Wang felt a little admiration for Jiang Cheng.

She was a young woman, yet she was as deep and seasoned as many middle-aged veterans of society.

A conflict like the one with Cao Jiacai had clearly shaken her authority, but she could still discuss logistical support with him without the slightest change in expression.

Wait a moment...

Could it be that she hadn’t realized what had happened?

Zhou Wang hesitated, but eventually spoke up. “Little Jiang.”

Jiang Cheng and Song Jingshuo had just turned to leave. They both looked back when he called out to them.

Zhou Wang warned her, “If you find a troublemaker in the team, you need to deal with them as soon as possible. The longer a troublemaker stays, the more difficult-to-repair cracks they’ll create in the group.”

Jiang Cheng nodded calmly. “Understood.”

Zhou Wang believed she had taken his words to heart, but could she actually do it?

He hoped she could. He wanted Youth Apartment’s leader to remain unchanged. Or, if a change was unavoidable, replacing her with Little Li, Xiao Song, Little Wu, or one of the others would not be unacceptable.

Even Little Zhao would do.

But that security guard absolutely would not. That would be the worst possible outcome.

A middle-aged man who had been around the block knew all too well how disastrous it could be when someone from the bottom rose to power.

“What happened?” Song Jingshuo asked.

While checking the buildings, he, Li Jiangbing, and Jiang Cheng had been in different towers. By the time he came downstairs, they had already begun discussing how to dispose of the body.

Jiang Cheng told him about the conflict between Cao Jiacai and Zhao Yi.

Song Jingshuo had already suspected it was Cao Jiacai. Sure enough, it was him. He furrowed his brows and remained silent until they had passed through the east gate of the complex.

They walked a little farther. When they reached the place where they were supposed to part ways, Song Jingshuo said solemnly, “Jiang Cheng, we can’t act against Cao Jiacai lightly.”

“I know,” Jiang Cheng replied.

Then she added, “But if the time comes when we have no choice but to act against Cao Jiacai, I hope you can cross that line.”

That line?

Which line?

What line?

Song Jingshuo stared into Jiang Cheng’s eyes, his lips pressed tightly together.

Compared with the other residential compounds, Youth Apartment had experienced no criminal incidents during the first zombie outbreak.

The worst thing that had happened there was when someone had been bitten and infected, then resisted isolation and was beaten to death during the ensuing conflict.

Youth Apartment had never killed anyone who was completely healthy and uninfected.

But Cao Jiacai’s superpower was too formidable.

He had poor character, an obvious resentment toward the wealthy, and all the telltale signs of a petty man intoxicated by sudden power.

Song Jingshuo couldn’t think of any way to prevent him from seeking revenge after being punished or expelled.

He might even report them to the police and have Jiang Cheng arrested for murder because she had expelled Liu Hongwang.

His resentment toward Jiang Cheng had clearly been building for a long time.

And he was deeply vengeful.

It was one thing to leave a man like that alone. But if they decided to act against him, then they had to...

Song Jingshuo agreed. “All right.”

He had thought agreeing to this would be difficult. Yet the moment the word left his mouth, he suddenly felt light all over.

By agreeing to Jiang Cheng, he had truly let go of all the rules of the old law-based society and embraced the new order.

As the two of them prepared to part, Song Jingshuo instinctively raised his wrist.

But it was bare. He was no longer wearing the watch that had cost more than ten thousand yuan.

After the invention of the mobile phone, watches had lost their practical purpose and been relegated to the status of accessories.

Back when zombies were running rampant, he had stubbornly insisted on wearing a designer watch that projected an air of taste and sophistication... Song Jingshuo could no longer relate to his former self.

He pulled out his phone and checked the time.

This afternoon, a lot of people had kept checking the time, all asking the same question: “Still no announcement?”

Song Jingshuo asked, “Still no announcement?”

Jiang Cheng said, “If there were one, someone would have opened a window and started shouting by now. Do you really think the soldiers could keep it bottled up?”

Song Jingshuo said, “...True.”

But it was already this late. The sun was slanting westward.

People’s hearts were sinking along with it, lower and lower.

Zhang Lesi and several other girls had gathered at Su Yu’s place to cook.

They had moved in gradually over the course of the day.

Moving wasn’t difficult. All the apartments had roughly the same layout and size, and they were fully furnished.

They only needed to drag over suitcases containing the clothes they wore that season, along with their sheets, pillows, cups, towels, and other essentials. After replacing the previous owner’s belongings, they could move right in.

There were plenty of empty apartments, so everyone took their time choosing, trying to find places that were clean, tidy, and easy on the eyes.

“Cao Jiacai?” Su Yu had only just learned about it too, just like Song Jingshuo.

Su Yu was quite popular now as well.

Especially when it came to sweeping buildings—those tight, enclosed spaces where there was little room to dodge. Everyone liked teaming up with Su Yu.

In the hallways, they had Su Yu walk in front.

Her protective shield had already become instinctive. If she encountered a sudden zombie attack while not actively using it, the shield would automatically activate to protect her life, without requiring Su Yu to consciously control its output.

When breaking down doors, Su Yu would use the shield to cover everyone.

She never used it for very long at a time, taking a short break before activating it again. With this repeated use, the protective shield was growing rapidly stronger.

Su Yu had now figured out most of the shield’s properties.

People could pass freely through it from the inside and leave.

But from the outside, the shield was incredibly tough. Neither humans nor zombies could get through.

Even supernatural abilities couldn’t penetrate it.

It was seriously badass.

The only problem was that it was still a little weak and couldn’t last very long. But given enough time, it was easy to imagine Su Yu becoming one of the strongest ability users around.

“And then what?” Su Yu asked.

Zhang Lesi shrugged. “That’s it. There is no ‘then.’”

Su Yu fell silent and lowered her head to chop vegetables. Zhang Lesi took a bowl and beat some eggs.

Neither of them spoke.

Among the girls, apart from Aunt Pan and Jiang Cheng, only the two of them had supernatural abilities.

Su Yu suddenly stopped chopping.

“We have to stand with Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng is our only choice.” Su Yu raised her eyes, her tone firm. “Jiang Cheng is the only one who’s truly good for us. No one else could do better than her. Someone like Cao Jiacai is absolutely unacceptable.”

She said, “Don’t forget Nie Kuizhang.”

Nie Kuizhang wasn’t any stronger than Li Jiangbing. Any two of the other building heads could have subdued him.

That was why Nie Kuizhang didn’t dare commit any real offense. All he did was make lewd jokes or sneak a touch and take advantage of someone.

When He Tian left, she had cursed him out viciously.

The other five building heads could decide how to punish him through a meeting.

At the time, everyone had been furious.

He Tian had been so enraged that even after turning into a zombie, she had still wanted to beat Nie Kuizhang to death.

Looking back now, after everything that had happened, they realized that there had actually been an order they could rely on back then.

The presence of the other building heads and Jiang Cheng had kept Nie Kuizhang in check, so he only dared commit petty offenses and didn’t dare do anything truly evil.

Cao Jiacai was completely different.

Su Yu and Zhang Lesi both understood clearly that no one in the Youth Apartment Complex could hold Cao Jiacai in check anymore.

In fact, no one could use force to punish him.

The more they thought about it, the more terrified they became.

“I know.” Zhang Lesi’s voice was equally resolute. “We have to stand with Jiang Cheng.”

“That man kept staring at us yesterday and today.”

“But I watched him for a while, and the person he stared at most was actually Jiang Cheng.”

Because Zhang Lesi had been paying close attention, she had noticed that whenever Cao Jiacai stared at Jiang Cheng, he would swallow.

It had disgusted Zhang Lesi.

A filthy, unkempt, foul-smelling middle-aged security guard, openly staring at a young female resident and swallowing.

He was completely shameless.

Because he was powerful now.

Zhang Lesi asked, “Su Yu, what if even Jiang Cheng can’t do anything about him?”