Chapter 16

Nighttime, Song Dai glanced into 2802 through the peephole. The supplies she had queued for were hanging on the doorknob of 2802, but not a single bit of food on the doorknob had decreased so far, indicating that Gu Yi hadn't come out to get it at all.

She sighed softly.

Chu Jinghe took in the worry on Song Dai's face, tapped his slender fingers on the armrest of the sofa, his gaze darkening.

But Song Dai's worry didn't last long before she heard a woman's voice from downstairs screaming as if she were tearing her throat apart: "Cockroaches! Help!"

Then came a deep, terrified male voice: "What the f—, get away, you damn cockroach, Mom! Mom!"

A few seconds later, the entire residential area was alerted by the rising screams.

"Cockroaches?" Song Dai, holding a night light, crawled to the window to look. The moment her nose touched the glass, she saw a flying cockroach with wings clinging to the outside of her window, its vibrating mandibles utterly ferocious.

Song Dai took a step back and yanked the curtain shut. She wasn't scared, just disgusted.

On floors 23, 25, and 26, closest to the water level, countless cockroaches had crawled out from who knows where, densely covering the floors and walls. They exploited the darkness, infiltrating everywhere, squeezing into any crack they could find.

When these homeowners were sleeping in the middle of the night, they groggily felt something crawling on their hands. When they turned on the lights, their entire rooms had transformed into what seemed like writhing cockroach nests. Under pillows, inside blankets, all over their bodies were crowded with cockroaches of all sizes, scaring them so badly they almost met their great-grandmothers.

What a waste of nature's bounty.

Saying this, Song Dai turned to leave. Just then, she heard the lock turning behind her.

"Gu Yi, I know you're still sad about Uncle Gu's matter. I'm not in a position to tell you to get over it. But look around, this is the apocalypse. If you want to die, you can jump now. But if you still want to live, if you have even a shred of hope for the future, then pull yourself together." She took a packet of biscuits from her pocket and placed it by the door: "This is the last time I'll bring you food. If you continue to be in a daze like this, I can't help you anymore."

Gu Yi, who had been shut away for a long time, finally appeared. The first time she saw Gu Yi after her rebirth, he was clad in white, clean and bright. He didn't speak much, just stood quietly in the corridor, as if bathed in bright sunlight, exuding an indescribable vitality.

These massive numbers of cockroaches, seemingly having hidden in damp corners to escape the rain for nearly a month, were all starving. They actually started biting people, causing screams and fleeing. Although cockroaches are omnivorous and do eat people, they wouldn't be this brazen.

Song Dai put on thick clothes, donned rubber gloves for washing dishes, opened the door, and rushed to 2802. She tore off the plastic bag and flung it out the corridor window before the cockroaches inside could react. A few cockroaches were flung against the wall due to inertia, and Song Dai swatted them to death one by one.

The transparent plastic bag was crammed with writhing cockroaches, so many that they almost burst the bag.

Some people's scalps were bleeding from being bitten by cockroaches, and they flailed wildly, shouting.

Jiang Jingshui on the 30th floor held the soft Zhengzheng in her arms, thankful she had listened to Song Dai and blocked the drains. Otherwise, those disgusting bugs would have made her faint.

Apart from the densely infested floors 23-26, close to the water, higher floors weren't spared either, as the bugs found their way in through the water pipes and window cracks.

Watching Ruan Mianmian nestled in her boyfriend's arms, Xie Wei felt an overwhelming sadness.

Because Song Dai had preemptively blocked the window seams and drains, and sprinkled insect repellent powder, not a single bug had managed to enter Song Dai's home even by the next day.

The chaotic night finally passed. Song Dai peeked out through the peephole. There were no cockroaches in the corridor; they had all burrowed into the food bag she hung on the doorknob of 2802 to feast.

On the 29th floor, Ruan Mianmian, terrified by the cockroaches emerging from the sewer, hid behind Chen Jin and cried. Her tearful appearance greatly satisfied Chen Jin's chivalrous heart. He kept ordering Xie Wei to block the sewer and clear the cockroaches.

She knocked on the door of 2802 for the first time.

These cockroaches could originally fly. The panicked shouts of the crowd only stimulated them further. They spread their wings and took to the air, landing on people's heads, faces, and arms, opening their sharp mandibles to bite.

Bang bang bang—

He picked up the biscuits on the ground. As he bent over, his back appeared startlingly thin.

"Thank you, Song Dai. I know you've been bringing me food these days." He looked at her, his eyes filled with infinite sorrow, different from the stunned expression when he first heard the news of Gu Zhigao's death. This was the first time he had shown sadness in front of an outsider.

While one or two cockroaches could still be killed with some courage, facing such a multitude, people could only feel fear. They rushed out of their homes and fled upwards. But the fire escape was also crowded with bugs. The cockroaches on the stairs were crushed by the panicked people running up, bursting with a splattering sound. Someone slipped on the ruptured bodies of the cockroaches, and they instantly climbed into her hair, their screams capable of shaking the building.

Now, his face was haggard, his beard unshaven, and the light in his eyes was as empty as if it had been gouged out.

Song Dai patted his shoulder: "Pull yourself together, Gu Yi."

Gu Yi looked up, and a tear slid from the corner of his eye.

*

Since the rooms on the lower floors were overrun by bugs, the residents had to move to higher floors. Although there were bugs on the higher floors, it wasn't as terrifying as before.

The next day, when the government helicopters arrived to distribute supplies, countless people rushed to the rooftop to explain their building's situation to the soldiers.

The soldier nodded and comforted the panicked crowd: "Don't worry, everyone. Due to the heavy rain, many residential buildings have seen a large infestation of bugs. We're here to distribute special insecticide to everyone."

"Why are you making us kill the bugs? Don't you have pest control experts? Do you know how terrifying those bugs are? You make us do everything, what do we need you for?" a man grumbled indignantly. Song Dai was speechless. It was already difficult enough to find so much special insecticide at this time. Pest control experts? With the communication lines down, they were probably trapped somewhere.

Complaining people like that man were, after all, a minority. The homeowners were overjoyed just to have insecticide.

"Great! That's great!"

"The insecticide is so timely! We're finally saved. These bugs terrified me."

"Yeah, with insecticide, I'm not afraid of those cockroaches anymore. I'll spray them to death when I get back and cremate all their corpses, hahaha!"

Perhaps having had enough of the terror caused by the bugs, the distribution of insecticide this time was not as orderly as the previous food distribution. People scrambled, and the soldiers' pleas were useless.

Jiang Jingshui, holding her child, quietly moved away from the quarreling crowd. She saw Song Dai, Chu Jinghe, and Gu Yi, also hiding in a corner, and smiled faintly.

Song Dai and Gu Yi responded politely. Chu Jinghe, however, couldn't smile. Ever since Gu Yi emerged from his shadow, he had been like a shadow following Song Dai, even collecting supplies together. He was annoying and couldn't be shaken off.

Originally, one bottle of insecticide per person, some selfishly took two. Others couldn't stand it, said a few words, and then they started cursing each other. The verbal altercation eventually escalated into a physical fight.

As the situation escalated, amid the pushing and shoving, a slender, delicate girl suddenly fell to the ground, her fair knee scraped and bleeding profusely.

"Mianmian, are you okay?" Chen Jin helped Ruan Mianmian up.

Ruan Mianmian clutched her stomach, her cherry lips trembling: "I'm fine. Senior Xiao Wei didn't mean it."

Xie Wei glared at her angrily: "What do you mean? Are you saying I pushed you? Have you no shame?"

"I'm sorry, Senior Xiao Wei. I won't say it again," Ruan Mianmian's delicate voice trembled.

Chen Jin looked at the aggressive Xie Wei and immediately protected Ruan Mianmian: "Xie Wei, are you done?"

Xie Wei's eyes widened: "Jing Ge, she's framing me."

"I only saw your aggression and Mianmian's concession. You're truly unreasonable," Chen Jin said, holding Ruan Mianmian as he prepared to leave.

Xie Wei stared at them clinging to each other so intimately. Remembering that she had dealt with so many terrifying bugs alone the night before, while Ruan Mianmian could rely on Chen Jin's embrace, immense grievance welled up inside her. She rushed forward and grabbed Ruan Mianmian.

"Clarify what you mean by me pushing you. How can your heart be so dirty? After being a mistress, you want Jing Ge to dislike me too."

Ruan Mianmian hid fearfully in Chen Jin's embrace, her delicate hands covering her stomach, and looked at Chen Jin with tear-filled eyes: "Jing Ge, my stomach really hurts."

Seeing that Ruan Mianmian's stomach had been injured, Chen Jin slapped Xie Wei across the face: "Are you done being crazy?"

With that, Chen Jin picked up Ruan Mianmian and carried her away.

Song Dai watched the scene unfold.

"How pathetic," Jiang Jingshui sighed, handing Zhengzheng to Song Dai: "Watch the child for me, I'll go persuade that girl."

Song Dai was about to stop Jiang Jingshui, advising her not to take on unnecessary trouble, but Jiang Jingshui had already approached Xie Wei, who was squatting on the ground, weeping bitterly and helplessly.

Jiang Jingshui gently comforted her: "True friends are revealed in times of trouble. Consider this a test from heaven for you. Don't follow this person anymore. You're so beautiful; you'll meet someone better who will cherish you more."

Xie Wei looked up, the slap mark on her face burning red. She looked at Jiang Jingshui's sympathetic gaze and felt as if she'd been severely stung: "You pity me?"

Xie Wei's voice was cold and mocking: "Do you think by saying a few words of comfort now, you're a high and mighty good person? When Jing Ge hit me just now, why didn't you step forward? You were watching with great amusement. No matter how bad things are, I still have a man to rely on. It's better than you, who doesn't even have a man by her side and has to constantly worry about someone stealing him."

Jiang Jingshui was stunned.

Song Dai pulled her away: "Learned something new, haven't you? Let's go. I heard this stuff is contagious."