The main functions of a keypad phone were making calls and sending texts. Some advanced newer models could even play music.
The internet mainly consisted of web portals, forums, and a few shared resources.
Starting Saturday night, online forums became an important source of information for residents. The property owner forums, which were usually inactive with hardly any posts, suddenly became very lively.
But these were mostly used by young people—many middle-aged individuals couldn’t quite figure them out.
The man surnamed Huang was indeed one of the main organizers of the zombie cleanup at Jixiang Jiayuan. However, his communication with others on the forum was handled by his teenage son. He was a traditional middle-aged man who wasn’t familiar with the internet.
He hadn’t delved deeply into some information.
For example, the fact that there were both original zombies and those infected and mutated from others.
Or that, so far, injury almost certainly led to infection.
Discussions about infection had already occurred on the Youth Apartment property owner forum during the day on Sunday. Plus, the residents of Youth Apartment had personally witnessed how the interim committee handled injured people. There was no need to discuss this information again on the forum.
Too many posts had pushed the infection-related threads down—unless someone dug deep, they wouldn’t find them.
Old Huang’s son, Little Huang, missed this information as a result.
Missing information can sometimes determine one’s fate.
At that moment, Old Huang frowned at the young people from Youth Apartment, whose attitudes had shifted dramatically, and asked in confusion, “What’s going on?”
But neither Jiang Cheng nor Song Jingshuo answered him. Their gazes skipped past him to look behind him.
Jiang Cheng asked, “Is there anyone else in your complex who can take charge?”
A man in his thirties jogged over: “What’s wrong?”
Things had been fine just moments ago—why had the atmosphere suddenly turned tense?
Jiang Cheng asked him, “Can you organize the people in your complex?”
“Uh, yeah, I think so,” the man replied with the evasiveness typical of middle-aged people, not making any absolute promises. “Is there some kind of situation?”
Having learned from past mistakes, Song Jingshuo couldn’t afford to be careless. He asked directly, “Are you injured?”
The man said, “No, I’m fine. Who’s injured?”
He turned to look at Old Huang, but before he knew it, Song Jingshuo, Li Jiangbing, and a few others had closed in. They unceremoniously grabbed him, checking his neck and arms, and even rolled up his pants to examine his calves.
There were child or even baby zombies in this complex—due to their height, any injuries on people would likely be on their legs.
After quickly confirming that the man was indeed uninjured, Jiang Cheng tilted her chin: “Brother, let’s talk privately.”
The man frowned and followed her and Song Jingshuo a few steps away.
Old Huang tried to follow, but Li Jiangbing’s bear-like hand stopped him: “Brother, hold on. Let them finish.”
Old Huang already sensed something was wrong. He demanded, “What can’t I hear? I’m the main organizer for today’s events. I work for a municipal government agency—I have extensive organizational experience.”
No wonder he had a bit of a leadership air about him.
Li Jiangbing just laughed it off: “Sure, sure, in a bit.”
Li Jiangbing had tattoos. Normally, Old Huang wouldn’t even speak to someone like him.
But Li Jiangbing was tall and sturdy, holding both an axe and a kitchen knife. Not only that, he had a group of young men gathered around him. They formed a human wall, blocking Old Huang and separating him from the young man and woman who were clearly in charge.
He shouldn’t have underestimated that young woman earlier.
Old Huang had already realized that the young woman might even have more sway than the tall young man who had shaken his hand. Many of these young people were taking cues from her.
Especially that tattooed fitness guy, who hovered by her side like a bodyguard and secretary.
Before long, the second man finished talking with Jiang Cheng and Song Jingshuo, and the three returned together.
The man had exchanged introductions with Jiang Cheng and the others. His name was Zhou Wang, in his thirties—another middle-aged person.
His expression was grim.
Old Huang remained calm: “So, Old Zhou, is it? What did they say?”
They didn’t know each other well either—just barely enough to match faces to forum usernames after connecting on the property owner forum.
Zhou Wang licked his lips to ease the tension and said, “Youth Apartment’s suggestion to us is that we first check for any injured people…”
Jiang Cheng, Song Jingshuo, and the others didn’t interfere—they just watched from the side.
Anyone able to step up and organize things in a time like this had to have some capability. They had just pulled Zhou Wang aside to brief him, and now he understood the situation and knew how Youth Apartment had handled things.
He could take it from there.
Jixiang Jiayuan needed its own leader—they couldn’t rely on Youth Apartment for everything.
Zhou Wang indeed had some ability and decisiveness. But when the injured realized they would have to be locked up for isolation, conflict was unavoidable.
Chaos broke out in the complex, and Zhou Wang struggled to maintain control.
Although they had briefly fought side by side, they were still just unfamiliar neighbors. Many of them were robust men in their thirties and forties, rich in life experience, and they weren’t about to obediently follow orders just because someone said something.
Another reason was that the proportion of injured people in Jixiang Jiayuan was actually higher than those who were uninjured.
Many people had initially overlooked the child zombies and baby zombies. There were fewer of them, but while fighting adult zombies, people would suddenly get scratched or bitten on the legs without warning.
Now everyone understood the gravity of the situation. Those who were uninjured naturally wanted to restrain the injured, but they were outnumbered and couldn’t control the situation.
Fortunately, the people from Youth Apartment had already quietly surrounded them.
Those who refused to be locked up for isolation found that they couldn’t escape at all.
Zhou Wang cast a pleading look toward Jiang Cheng and Song Jingshuo.
Jiang Cheng raised her hand and made a gesture—pressing both palms inward.
The people from Youth Apartment had developed a sense of tacit understanding through a full day of fighting and cooperating yesterday. Without Jiang Cheng saying a word, everyone understood just by seeing her gesture.
The encirclement began to tighten.
They were all young people armed with sharp weapons. They might have felt some sympathy, but no one would be soft-hearted. Because what Jixiang Jiayuan was about to experience, they had already been through.
Human resilience can be forged.
Before Saturday, they had all been vibrant, optimistic, and promising young people.
Now, they could swiftly and decisively cleave open a zombie’s skull.
Some of them could even grit their teeth and swing their weapons at those who were already infected but hadn’t yet turned.
Sometimes it takes years for young people to grow up and mature; other times, it might take just one weekend.
The noisy injured residents of Jixiang Jiayuan fell silent and began to step back.
The tightening encirclement was overwhelmingly oppressive.
But there was always someone who didn’t believe in consequences. One man suddenly bolted outward, aiming specifically for a girl.
He assumed, based on stereotypes, that a girl would be the weak point in the encirclement.
He wasn’t lucky. That girl was Su Yu, who lived in the same building as Jiang Cheng.
No need for the boys beside her to intervene. With a loud clang, Su Yu swung her frying pan right into the man’s face and knocked him back!
The hit was solid, landing square on his face. The young men nearby couldn’t help but wince, then gave Su Yu a thumbs-up.
The man lost two teeth, his face covered in blood, and collapsed to the ground unable to get up.
The Youth Apartment group had come well-prepared. Someone pulled a roll of tape from their backpack and quickly bound the man’s hands.
They also planned to tape his mouth shut—mainly to prevent him from panicking and biting anyone, which would cause further infection.
Zhou Wang ran over in a sweat and reached out to stop them: “Go easy! Go easy!”
Two people dragged the man back to the open space in the middle.
The injured residents of Jixiang Jiayuan had grim expressions.
“Brother Zhou,” Jiang Cheng called out. “How about we take over? We have more experience with this.”
“Hold on, Xiao Jiang!” Zhou Wang kept sweating profusely. “Your situation is different from ours. You need to think this through.”
“I know your complex—it’s all single young people.”
“Ours is full of families with children and elderly.”
Zhou Wang knew that if so many people were locked up, four or five times as many family members would immediately come to cause trouble.
Once again, the Youth Apartment residents realized how unique and fortunate their own situation was.
They also felt the indecisiveness and hesitation of middle-aged people, which was frustrating.
Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate at all. Every decision she made was quick and resolute.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice rose from among the injured: “Home isolation.”
Everyone turned to look.
The person making the suggestion was none other than Old Huang. Gritting his teeth, he laid out his plan: “Everyone goes home, locks themselves in a separate room, and is watched over by their own family members. We also need to form a temporary management team—someone in charge of coordination, someone in charge of patrols, keeping records, maintaining communication channels. If anyone turns, the patrol team will come to deal with it.”
He was clear-headed, quick-thinking, and clearly someone with organizational and managerial experience. Probably a mid-level leader—it was obvious he had ability.
If he hadn’t been injured, someone with his skills would likely be the one in charge of Jixiang Jiayuan, not Zhou Wang.
He stared directly at Jiang Cheng.
By now, he had fully understood: all these young men—so many of them—were taking orders from this young woman.
So she was the true decision-maker of Youth Apartment.
< Previous chapter | TOC | Next Chapter >
Leave a Reply