Rebirth: I Will Win Easily in the Apocalypse-Chapter 24 - 14: The Onset of Extreme Cold

On the second day of searching for supplies, the residents of Building 10 didn't go out. The supplies they had found the day before were enough to sustain them for a while, and considering their overly conspicuous behavior from the previous day, they needed to keep a low profile for some time.

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With a dreamless night behind her, Gu Yanzhi woke up feeling refreshed. As she stretched lazily by the window, she noticed a crowd gathered downstairs, bustling and chatting about something.

After watching for a while, Gu Yanzhi saw that not only had the crowd not dispersed, but it was growing larger. She was just about to go downstairs to join the commotion when Gu Yanlin and Song Zhao entered the room from outside.

"Sister, you're awake. Have you had breakfast? Brother-in-law steamed some steamed buns."

"Not yet, just got up. Did you guys go downstairs?"

"What happened outside?" Gu Yanzhi yawned and asked while sitting on the sofa.

"Oh, the house next door in another building is about to be flooded, and they wanted to move over here. Uncle Zhang just went down to gather votes, and nobody agreed. That old lady from that household is making a scene downstairs."

After last night's heavy rain, the water level had risen even higher, almost reaching the height of six floors. The Wang household creating the ruckus lived on the seventh floor of Building 13 within the same community, right next to Building 10.

They woke up this morning to find the water nearly flooding their home; they urgently needed a new place to stay.

Their building had the fewest residents in the community and was also the closest to Building 13, so they wanted to move into Building 10, and they started shouting about it early in the morning.

The first to be awakened by the noise were Uncle Zhuang's family on the lower floors, who then sought Uncle Zhang to convene everyone to discuss whether to let this family move in.

Though not explicitly stated, Uncle Zhang had become the de facto leader of Building 10, recognized for his warmth, positivity, and fairness. He was not the kind to be blindly amiable but had his own principles and limits. The residents respected Uncle Zhang and would usually consult him first about any issues.

Still shaken from yesterday's events, everyone was on edge. Before dispersing yesterday, they had even asked Gu Yanzhi's family to lend their security bars and iron gates to be installed in the corridors of the tenth floor, allowing everyone to finally get a good night's sleep.

Under such conditions, nobody wanted unfamiliar strangers invading their lives, and the request of the family wanting to move in was unanimously declined.

Watching the rejected family's reaction, the residents all heaved a sigh of relief.

Old Mrs. Wang had that look of someone not to be trifled with. She was causing a scene downstairs, with her son and daughter-in-law standing by and occasionally uttering a few words of "persuasion."

Like, "You guys brought back so much stuff yesterday, we definitely won't compete with you."

"And with all the supplies you have, you surely won't miss one more family."

"Our family is about to be homeless; you can't possibly just leave us to die, can you?"

As they spoke, their eyes darted around, gleaming with ill intent, brimming with selfishness and calculation. Letting these people into their lives would ensure that future days would be anything but peaceful.

Gu Yanlin was excitedly gesticulating as he relayed the events unfolding below to Gu Yanzhi.

By now, their people had gone upstairs, and nobody was paying attention to the family of three downstairs. Those who were looking to take advantage of the situation sensed that the inhabitants of the building weren't as pushovers as they had assumed, and they soon dispersed.

Seeing no one respond to them, the family of three downstairs cried for a while longer and then left. They needed to find a new place to live soon, or else they might lose everything in their house by the next day.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

The relentless heavy rain continued, and the accumulated water outside reached the height of nearly nine floors.

There was still no news of national rescue efforts, and the number of families cut off from food was increasing. Some, seeing no hope, chose to throw themselves into the water and end their lives, while many others perished from hunger.

The number of bodies floating in the water also increased, and the people went from shock at the sight of one corpse to numb indifference at the sight of several drifting by.

Over the month, the residents of Building 10 remained cautious, trying to stay low-key, only sneaking out in turns to collect some supplies unnoticed.

Even so, the last incident had caused much jealousy and envy and had brought about the last-ditch craziness of some desperate people. In one month, Building 10 faced three robberies and five thefts. However, because everyone was vigilant and united, they managed to fend off the adversaries without significant losses.

Building 10 also welcomed three homeless families, all selected through a communal vote, known for their good reputation and character. Among them was the Xiao Lin family, whom they had gone out to search for supplies with last time. This infuriated the Wang family to no end. For the first few days, they cursed loudly downstairs in the early mornings, but later, weakened by starvation, they finally gave the residents of Building 10 some peace.

In the deep of night, Gu Yanzhi felt a piercing cold seep through her dreams, as if myriad ice needles were penetrating her body, rousing her from deep slumber to full consciousness.

Gu Yanzhi woke up Song Zhao, who was visibly distressed by the sudden cold but had not yet awakened, and they both got out of bed to put on the thick jackets they had prepared in advance. Then they checked the thermometer hanging in the room: it was minus ten degrees Celsius.

It was the end of November, and with the continuous rainfall and absence of sunlight, the nighttime temperature in City C was usually around zero degrees. With a sudden drop of ten degrees, Gu Yanzhi surmised that extreme cold had arrived.

Not knowing exactly when the extreme cold would hit, Gu Yanzhi had placed thermometers around the room and prepared warm clothing right when the apocalypse began; now, they were proving useful.

Opening the door of her room, she found the living room engulfed in darkness. There was no noise from Gu Yanlin's room through the living room.

Gu Yanzhi fiddled with the heating devices scattered around the room, as Song Zhao knocked on Gu Yanlin's door. Receiving no response, he turned the doorknob and entered.

"Woc, what's happening? Sss, why is it so cold?" The flashlight beam startled Gu Yanlin awake, causing him to sit straight up in bed.

The blanket fell off, exposing his skin to the cold air, and Gu Yanlin shivered, his skin breaking out in goosebumps, and he quickly became alert.

Looking up, he saw the figure standing in the doorway backlit by the flashlight and asked, "Brother-in-law, has the extreme cold come?"

"Most likely. Get up, let's get ready, and go inform the others in the building. We don't want anyone to freeze to death," Song Zhao nodded, tossing Gu Yanlin his thick clothes.