Wang Qiang didn't dare eat the food right away. He was terrified Zhang Yi might have poisoned it.
Xu Yi, unaware of what was going on, thought Wang Qiang was being generous. He eagerly took the bread and stuffed it into his mouth.
Wang Qiang and Xiao Lu waited patiently. Only after a long while, when Xu Yi still showed no signs of poisoning, did they finally relax.
"Everyone come over. There's enough for everyone!"
The same scene played out in every other building.
Zhang Yi's reputation as a ruthless man who had single-handedly wiped out half a building and crushed both the Mad Wolf Gang and the Tianhe Gang had made everyone deeply wary of him. But they couldn't refuse free food. So most of the leaders used their subordinates as taste-testers first.
Zhang Yi understood human nature perfectly. On the first day, he had deliberately handed out completely safe food. He knew he had to wear down their defenses little by little, let them tear each other apart first, and then strike when the time came to finish them off.
That night, every powerful figure in the complex ate a full meal, while the ordinary residents waited at home, starving, believing their leaders would eventually distribute the rations fairly. They naively thought everyone would get food and survive. Couples dreamed of having children in the future, survivors prayed to their parents in heaven, and everyone convinced themselves that the hunger and killing were finally over.
By the time the leaders and their men finished the ten portions, the ordinary residents had already gone to sleep hungry, lost in pleasant dreams.
The next morning, Zhang Yi woke around seven.
With a steady indoor temperature of twenty-five to twenty-seven degrees, he no longer slept in late. The warm room made him far less dependent on his bed.
As he brushed his teeth, he heard shouting from outside. A wicked smile crossed his face. He walked to the window, shirtless, to watch.
Fights had already broken out in at least five or six buildings.
"Ge Damin, you promised that if we worked, we'd get food! Where is it?!""I told you, things are different now! We need to discuss a new distribution plan that works for everyone!""Brother Huang, we worked hard like you said, and you still didn't give us anything!""You old fool, and you call that work? That was half-assed. You still want food? Work harder today, and maybe you'll eat!""We can't work if we don't eat!""Then don't blame me! Nobody's feeding slackers in times like these!""Boss Wang, you promised us food yesterday…""Shut up! Anyone who wants food, step forward! No? Then remember this: keeping you alive is already the greatest mercy I can give. Cross me, and I'll kill you!"
Zhang Yi smiled silently.
The purge had begun.
That morning, he and Zhou Ke'er ate a simple breakfast of hot and sour soup, fried dough sticks, and steamed dumplings, the dumplings made by Zhou Ke'er herself.
His spatial storage was full of ready-made delicacies, but Zhang Yi preferred the food she made with her own hands. There was something comforting about the warmth of a woman bustling in the kitchen.
After breakfast, around ten o'clock, he left Zhou Ke'er with lunch rations, locked her in her room, and went out again under the pretense of gathering supplies.
The central square was still busy. Uncle You, Jiang Lei, and Li Chengbin were supervising from the sidelines, exempt from labor by Zhang Yi's order, while residents shoveled snow under the watchful eyes of their building leaders. But their spirits were broken now—numb, anxious, and terrified.
Before leaving, Zhang Yi leaned in and told Uncle You in a low voice, "Be careful. The other buildings don't have enough food, and chaos is coming. Just protect our own people. Don't get involved."
Uncle You nodded. He already understood the plan.
Zhang Yi left the complex and wandered to the city library. The tall, sturdy building hadn't been buried by the snow, and most of the books inside were still dry.
He had never been much of a reader in the information age, preferring to scroll through his phone. But now that the network was down, he turned to books to pass the time and calm the cold bitterness in his heart.
He spent half the day there, and in the end picked up a copy of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood to take with him, leaving the rest for later.
By the time he returned to the complex, it was already dark.
As usual, he called Uncle You and the others to maintain order, then notified the buildings to collect their food.
This time, he saw shadowy faces pressed against every window, all of them staring at him with desperate hope.