Snowstorm: I'm Super Rich in the Apocalypse

After a moment of silence in the group chat, everyone began to single out room 501.

901 Owner @501 Owner: Madam, a few days ago you said your grandson hadn't had vegetables or fruits for days, his mouth broke out in sores, I gave you the last orange we had, and you hoarded two fridges of stuff, how is that fair? I don't ask for much, just return what I gave you.

801 Owner @501 Owner: Aunty, you took two apples and a box of instant noodles from me the day before yesterday, can you return them?

402 Owner: Two fridges that stuffed? Let's share them, save some and it'll be enough to feed our building for ten days to half a month, by then we can all go out to buy more. Don't worry, once we go out, we'll definitely refill your fridge.

401 Building Rep @501 Owner: Sister, how about you take out one fridge for now, to help everyone out of a tight spot? After the disaster is over, I'll nominate you as a kind-hearted owner and there will even be a bonus for you.

501 Owner: I don't have that much, probably 701 heard wrong, I don't have any food. It's them, their family has food, but they don't want to share, and they said that on purpose.

Gu Pan thought about this and said in the group chat: Actually, who has food and who doesn't is all hearsay. Let's do this for fairness: start searching every house from the first floor, to ensure fairness, ensure that no one is hiding something, and then gather and evenly distribute the resources.

As soon as she finished, the group became lively again.

Chen Shaonan, the 702 Owner, didn't need to say anything, he naturally understood Gu Pan's meaning and directly supported her.

601 Owner, Dr. Feng, naturally stood by Gu Pan: I agree with the 701 owner.

901 Owner: This method sounds good, when do we start? I'll be waiting with my door open.

501 Owner: No way, everyone has some privacy in their lives. Who is allowed to search homes? You aren't the police. What if something gets lost?

402 Owner: Exactly, searching homes isn't right, people coming in and rummaging, that would be chaos?

301 Owner: Isn't it just to truly share resources amongst everyone? My husband is a germaphobe, and even I'm not opposing, as long as I can get food.

Suddenly the group was thrown into chaos, those without resources wanted to share and naturally supported Gu Pan's suggestion. However, those who had hoarded supplies weren't keen on sharing.

801 Owner: Let's just take care of our own households, we're not in the era of communal kitchens anymore. If not distributed evenly, it could lead to fights again.

401 Building Rep: Indeed, I didn't consider this thoroughly. We don't have police to conduct searches, it'd be illegal. But I still advocate that everyone should help each other. If you truly run out of food, just coordinate amongst yourselves. We aren't asking for complete fairness, but as neighbors, we should still promote helping each other.

Gu Pan watched the Building Rep speaking with a self-perceived leadership quality and laughed, looking at Lu Ruisheng: "Now, who has food at home and who doesn't, anyone interested can figure it out."

Lu Ruisheng smiled: "Indeed, everything now has quieted down. In making the act complete, I moved out the cement and sand."

Gu Pan nodded: "Let's do it together. Since in a few days we will install the iron doors, at that time, the stuff will still be ours."

The two moved their stuff to the doorway, and when Chen Shaonan heard the noise, he opened the door: "Xiao Lu, Xiao Gu, come in and sit if you're free."

Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng agreed, set down their things, and went over. Since they lived on the same floor, if they had food this round and didn't go out, they might survive. Having the neighbors across as allies meant not worrying about backstabbing.

After entering, Chen Lang served them hot water, and called them uncle and auntie. The child was quite talkative, the first time they met, his parents asked him to call them uncle and auntie, but he said they looked too young, more like elder brother and sister.

However, the recent weather had subdued the child's spirit.

Chen Shaonan sat across from them: "If it was five years ago, we might have openly shared our food with you without discussing, but six years ago, using the inheritance left by an overseas uncle, we sponsored a few poor students. A year later, they complained our sponsorship was not fair, causing trouble at the school, and we were both dismissed from the public school, now teaching at a private school. That's why we despise being excessively good-hearted."

Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng then understood why their decision was so firm; they would have done the same.

Duan Shumei added: "But that doesn't mean we don't trust anyone, or completely disregard family. We're still teaching our child to be grateful and kind, just not overly generous without considering the consequences."

Hearing them talk about being overly generous, Gu Pan still empathized with them: "Your integrity is high, your values upright. Others might not have your extent of vision."

Chen Shaonan added: "It took us two years to come to terms with it, moving here after our incident, and another two years to emotionally settle. We used to be quite petty. Fortunately, our family guided each other through. We're sharing this with you today, feeling that we have similar principles, and think things through thoroughly before acting. Actually, what we were most concerned about initially was that your views might differ from ours."

Lu Ruisheng couldn't reveal his true feelings, so he said: "I'm an orphan, thus I've experienced more from a young age and am somewhat more rational."

Chen Shaonan apologized: "I'm sorry."

Lu Ruisheng smiled: "It's alright, it's all part of life."

Duan Shumei turned to Gu Pan: "Really, we must thank your Xiao Lu. If not, our family would be without food now. My teenager eats a lot, had we not prepared those staples, we really would be starving."

Gu Pan laughed: "Teacher Duan, don't be so formal. It was you who reminded us to stock up on supplies."

Duan Shumei said: "That was because last time our Chen Lang forgot to remove the key, and your Xiao Lu helped retrieve it for me."

Lu Ruisheng said: "That is what neighbors are for."

As they talked, the atmosphere warmed up. They learned that Chen Shaonan was a physics teacher, and Duan Shumei was a chemistry teacher; it was truly science in the family.

Today's conversation made Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng happy to think that Chen Shaonan and Duan Shumei were indeed great choices for neighbors. They didn't pry into personal matters, didn't gossip, spoke truthfully what could be said, and remained silent on what couldn't, with no pretense.

The main thing was that they weren't the Holy Mother type. In an apocalypse, "kill the Holy Mother first" wasn't a joke. If a neighbor was a Holy Mother, if not killed first, one would have to avoid them. But clearly, this family was not.

After chatting for a while, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng said their goodbyes and went home.

Once at home, they guessed that in their previous life, their family probably died while searching for food, having no relatives around, only that could be the reason.

Until bedtime, not many in the owner's group spoke up, apparently, food exchanges or trades were being done privately.

At night, from the camera at their door, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng saw someone go up to the cement and sand they placed at their door, then quietly left.

Though everyone knew it wasn't food, they still wanted to see with their own eyes to fully give up.