After finishing their meal, President Xu and his group joined the line with everyone else to collect towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and underwear.
The women also received sanitary pads and bras.
Everything had been purchased in bulk by the people who stayed behind, who had driven forklifts to stock up after receiving calls from the front lines.
President Xu had never worn this kind of supermarket-brand underwear before, but having something to change into was better than nothing. The pair he had on now had been worn for seven days and were soiled.
After collecting their items, they were led out through the community’s east gate.
“Hey, didn’t they say there were plenty of empty apartments?” they asked.
The people maintaining order on-site were some elderly folks and children. The children looked like middle school students and replied, “Yeah, just follow us.”
They led them across the small path outside the east gate and straight through the west gate of the community across the way: “This is Jixiang Jiayuan. Everyone’s being housed here now.”
President Xu said, “Not the youth apartments? We thought we’d be staying there.”
The child said, “I wish I could stay in the youth apartments too.”
President Xu: “?”
President Xu didn’t know the situation.
These children were students from a private boarding school that had been rescued earlier.
The students had since figured out the lay of the land and understood that this area was controlled by the people from the youth apartments.
Among the middle school student owners in Jixiang Jiayuan, there were two—one boy and one girl—who had superpowers. They had both joined the youth apartment’s combat team. Everyone envied them.
In everyone’s minds, the youth apartments were a desirable place that everyone wanted to join.
But they didn’t seem to let just anyone in. Sure enough, this batch of rescued survivors was all taken in by Jixiang Jiayuan.
The plan was to fill up Jixiang Jiayuan first, then Yujing Xiangyuan.
The locks on the empty apartments had been opened in advance.
The elderly and middle school students assigned rooms to everyone. They generally allocated by bed—however many people a bed could sleep, that many people were assigned to that room.
Among the TV station refugees, some were couples or spouses, so they were assigned to the master bedroom with a double bed. Single people were assigned to the secondary bedrooms.
If unlucky, they might end up in a child’s room decorated in princess or manga style.
When asked about their relationships, President Xu and his group said they were familiar colleagues. The elderly person assigned President Xu and the director to a master bedroom with a double bed.
This apartment had four rooms and was quite spacious. Aside from a study, all three bedrooms had double beds.
So a total of six people from the company were assigned here. The others were assigned to the same floor, and the horticulturist was also staying with them.
During the assignment, they also took notes in a ledger: “Anyone have superpowers?”
When they found out there was one metal-type, one electric-type, and one wood-type, the elderly person was very pleased: “The wood-type one, you’ll have to work tomorrow. Good grief, so many people suddenly waiting to be fed. Xiao Song, Old Lin, Old Qian, and the others have been exhausted. They’ve all been forced to speed-grow potatoes.”
The horticulturist had no objections and nodded.
He was a migrant worker from the countryside who had been fortunate enough not to end up hauling bricks at construction sites, instead finding work at this horticulture company based on his farming experience.
This job was actually something he enjoyed.
But in the past, when he moved around working in these office buildings, these men and women treated him like he was invisible—almost no one ever greeted or spoke to him.
Now it was completely different. Just in these seven days, everyone was fawning over him.
The horticulturist had already figured it out—food and drink were the real hard currency now.
Over at the youth apartments, after all the refugees had been taken away and there were no outsiders left in the community, the east gate was closed and locked. Jiang Cheng then took out the giant zombie.
The combat team members had all seen it with their own eyes, but those who had stayed behind, though they’d heard about it, were still terrified when they actually saw it: “Holy shit.”
Everyone circled around this massive thing, exclaiming “holy shit” one after another.
Song Jingshuo remarked, “Is heaven trying to wipe out humanity?”
“Of course not,” Jiang Cheng said. “It’s precisely because it doesn’t want to wipe us out that it gave humans superpowers.”
Song Jingshuo: “…Fair point.”
The matter of Shen Yuehong was relayed to those who stayed behind by the combat team members, sparking another uproar.
Shen Yuehong’s fans were spread far and wide. She had a strong affinity and was loved by people of all ages and genders.
Several girls from the youth apartments, upon learning the whole story, were so furious they kicked Director Guo repeatedly: “Bastard! Not even human!”
Song Jingshuo: “Next up, we need to go rescue people everywhere.”
Jiang Cheng: “Absolutely.”
This had already been agreed upon in the previous general meeting.
This is humanity’s world. First, you need people to form a society, and enough people to build a complete society.
The moment everyone agreed to establish a government, they took on this responsibility.
Song Jingshuo crossed his arms and watched everyone carrying on. “I’m surprised you’re this kind of person.”
Really.
Selfless. Boundless compassion.
Song Jingshuo never would have imagined Jiang Cheng would go this far. He never thought she was this type of person.
Jiang Cheng: “Which nerve of yours is misfiring?”
Song Jingshuo: “…”
Song Jingshuo turned his head to look at her.
Jiang Cheng was speechless. “I’m already friends with you.”
Surely you have some idea what kind of person you are?
Song Jingshuo: “…”
He couldn’t argue with that.
The two of them had been the first to sense a mutual affinity.
They quickly set aside their rivalry and formed a powerful alliance. Because smart people like them knew that 1+1 > 2.
Li Jiangbing had the social survival instincts to know that sticking with smart people made things easier.
And it just so happened that Jiang Cheng was a woman trying to claim a voice among a large group of men—she needed military support.
So it became 1+1+1.
The iron triangle had come together initially purely out of self-interest.
But as they faced wave after wave of zombies, they gradually got to know each other, built trust, and eventually became true friends who had each other’s backs.
But they also shouldn’t forget what kind of people they really were.
Jiang Cheng’s pupils were dark and deep.
Song Jingshuo was silent for a moment. “Then you…”
“Being in a position means doing its duties,” Jiang Cheng said frankly. “I want to hold this position.”
That was a reason Song Jingshuo could fully understand and accept.
Even if there was no real benefit to being in that position, the sense of control itself was a life achievement.
Song Jingshuo had originally been that kind of person too. But maybe because Jiang Cheng was already there, he now had no desire to vie for the position at all.
In fact, he was quite satisfied with the current state of affairs.
As the confirmation that no government officials had survived sank in, he became increasingly aware that this time would clearly not be like the last—there would be no government support, no steady stream of supplies being shipped in from elsewhere.
Now, local government agencies outside S City were all unreachable too. No one answered those calls.
This time was clearly going to be a long haul.
He hadn’t become a farmer. He had seized control of everyone’s food supply.
Sister Pan was right.
Strip away all the superfluous trappings of society, and what matters most in the end are the people who make things and the people who grow things.
All the superpower gifts, in hindsight, made a certain kind of sense.
Jiang Cheng said, “What are your thoughts on future food supply?”
Song Jingshuo: “Potatoes.”
“We’re dealing with refugees now. We can’t be thinking about delicacies.”
“Potatoes are the greatest blessing during times of famine.”
“And also,” Song Jingshuo said softly, “in a couple of days, I’ll plow under the strawberry field in the name of planting other crops.”
“Fruits will be controlled from now on.”
“As luxury items and rewards.”
“We can adjust based on the situation. Leafy greens are also worth considering.”
Jiang Cheng glanced at him, a hint of a smile curling at the corner of her mouth, and extended her fist toward him.
Song Jingshuo tapped his fist gently against hers.
The best teammates don’t need many words—a single hint is enough.
Or rather, you might just be saying out loud what she had already thought of.
“I discussed it with Zhou Wang the whole way back,” Jiang Cheng said. “Give these people a day to rest and adjust.”
“Then we need to make some changes. The communal potluck system definitely won’t work.”
“Right,” Song Jingshuo nodded. “History has already proven that.”
A society cannot be flat.
People can only be equal in rights, not in treatment.
Because each person’s contributions are bound to be different.
Those with ability can do more, but if they do more, they must get more in return.
For a society to have a stable structure, there must be gradients and tiers.
Jiang Cheng said, “Our own people’s benefits must be guaranteed.”
Song Jingshuo: “No problem.”
The youth apartments had already been forged through the first disaster.
This time, four hundred people had firmly left their workstations, defied their superiors, and returned to the youth apartments—all because of a single group text from Jiang Cheng—and thus survived.
If that wasn’t a form of selection, what was?
Those who didn’t trust Jiang Cheng as much, or who were weak and indecisive, had been filtered out.
These four hundred returning owners had a level of organization, discipline, trust, and obedience to Jiang Cheng that no one else could match.
It was no longer just the iron triangle now.
There was Cui Haiyang, Su Yu, Wu Jiancheng, Zhang Lesi, Zhao Yi, Gao Yuxuan, Sister Pan.
Plus outside support: Guo Jun, Zhou Wang, Xiao Huang.
It was already a solid structure, with everyone having found their own ecological niche.
The four hundred from the youth apartments were their foundation and core.
Below them, priority could be given to the original residents of Jixiang Jiayuan. Since they were few in number and mostly elderly, there was a bit of old connection there.
Among the refugees, those with superpowers and able-bodied laborers would need to earn better treatment or status through their own efforts.
Those who had nothing wouldn’t starve—they’d have potatoes to eat—and they wouldn’t be bitten by zombies, because they’d be protected by the collective.
Under the current circumstances, just being alive was already good enough.
At the end of the day, Jiang Cheng returned to her own place, took a shower, and changed into comfortable clothes.
She turned on the floor lamp beside the lounge chair, picked up the top book from a pile on the floor, and continued reading from where she’d folded the page.
Moli leaped onto her lap, wiggled through the gap beneath the book, and nestled against her chest.
Small animals are like children—the longer you keep them, the closer they become to their caretaker.
Jiang Cheng gently scratched the cat’s head with her fingertip, and Inky let out a contented purr.
Jiang Cheng petted the cat and read her book.
She hadn’t told Song Jingshuo her full thoughts.
Why did she want to hold that position?
Jiang Cheng suspected that the zombie virus had likely followed her into this world.
She had been dropped into this world to undergo a trial.
The first time, she hadn’t even left the tech district.
The second time, the government—which had played a major role in the first disaster—was systematically eliminated.
So this time, what exactly would count as victory?
It was definitely not about one person or a small group scraping by in hiding.
Definitely not.
Jiang Cheng didn’t believe the power that had sent her into this world had such a narrow vision.
Think bigger. Widen your perspective.
The government is gone—then you take that seat, shoulder that responsibility, and become the one others follow.
All of it, for victory.
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