Chapter 10: A Death in the Neighborhood

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Meng Ran opened the surveillance footage connected to her phone and saw Grandma Liu’s face.

Grandma Liu was stamping her feet to keep warm, patting the security door and shouting hoarsely, “Meng Ran! Meng Ran!”

At this moment, Meng Ran could only pretend not to hear her.

“Do you still have any food at home?” Grandma Liu called out, her voice growing weaker. Finally, she revealed her intention, but Meng Ran still ignored her.

Seeing no response, Grandma Liu’s expression darkened. Standing outside the door, she muttered something under her breath, which Meng Ran could hear clearly through her phone.

“Playing dead at home, always so close and warm, but when it counts, you don’t make a sound!”

Meng Ran let these complaints wash over her without a second thought.

It was unbearably cold outside. Grandma Liu shivered and moved on to the next household. Soon, the sound of knocking came from the neighbor’s door.

She was going door-to-door on this floor, hoping to buy some food to take back.

But with the chat group in such chaos, it was unlikely anyone would be kind enough to trade precious food.

Money was useless now; only food could keep them alive.

After no reply from property management, the residents grew anxious. The area was unusually lively today. Despite the cold, many ventured out and asked in the group if anyone was willing to sell some food.

In less than a week, the changes were stark.

Meng Ran stayed in the living room. They avoided gathering in the hallways for long because it was so cold outside.

“It’s so noisy,” Nian Nian, wrapped in a blanket, craned her neck to look toward the door.

Meng Ran listened and guessed they must have had an argument, probably a negotiation gone sour.

From the window, she could see the thick snow piled on the opposite floor. Squinting, she caught a flicker of light across the way and quickly drew the curtain.

Outside, silence returned, but the group chat remained lively. They were trapped inside the community.

With temperatures dropping to minus sixty or seventy degrees, the wind felt like knives scraping across the face. They could endure it briefly inside the hallways, but leaving the community was out of the question.

Now, no one was willing to step outside, not just in their community but anywhere.

34-503: “If it really doesn’t work, shall we find a way to go out together and search for supplies?”

503’s suggestion received little support and was quickly buried by other messages.

Yet he did not give up and kept speaking in the group.

34-503: “Even calling the police hasn’t brought anyone. We have to find a way ourselves; otherwise, it’s no different from waiting to die.”

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When he repeated the idea, some began to retort.

45-312: “It’s easy for you to say, but how can we go out in this cold? This weather will freeze us to death.”

They were currently relying on air conditioners and electric blankets to keep warm.

Being in the south, temperatures had never dropped this low before. Many were struggling to adapt.

503 sighed, holding his phone. Property management had abandoned them. If worse came to worst, he would take a risk and go out himself. It was better than doing nothing.

Meng Ran watched 503 fall silent, guessing he was thinking of other plans.

The messages refreshed, and Meng Ran froze.

13-406: “@PropertyManagement, my father passed away last night. What should we do? We can’t keep him here with us forever, can we?”

These words instantly caught many people’s attention.

This was truly a difficult situation. Thankfully, the cold weather meant the body could be preserved longer.

Meng Ran pressed her fingers to her forehead. At a time like this, confronted with such a problem, even she didn’t know how to handle it.

Property management wouldn’t respond, and 406’s household was overwhelmed.

Although they were family, having to stay with a corpse was frightening and unsettling.

The crowd, who had been worried about food, suddenly shifted their focus.

Residents of building 13, especially those on the same floor as 406, voiced complaints.

13-413: “No, we feel uncomfortable too. Can they move him soon?”

13-417: “My goodness, forget about holding a funeral. The crematorium can’t even come to collect the body. The longer this cold lasts, the more it will start to smell. What are we supposed to do?”

Their worry was palpable, even more urgent than that of 406’s family.

406 had no choice. They crowded into the living room, with one locked room inside.

“This is awful,” a man turned to his mother. “Mom, what should we do about Dad’s body?”

Song Yujuan wiped her face, sweat pouring down.

“How should I know? It’s freezing outside, with so much snow. The roads are blocked. We just have to wait for the weather to improve.”

The situation had happened suddenly; they had moved their father’s body into an unused room.

“It’ll start to stink,” Sun Jia whispered from behind.

They had the air conditioner on in the living room and bedroom, except for the locked room.

Zhao Weijie clenched his fists and cursed at Sun Jia: “Do you think I don’t know? Now property management is playing dead. Those people just look down on us, and there’s nothing else we can do.”

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Other than leaving the body in the room, all they could do was pray for clear skies and for the snowstorm to end soon.

No matter what the people of building 13 said, they didn’t speak up in the group.

Meng Ran closed her phone. She had been thinking about what to eat tonight when a new notification popped up.

It was an announcement for a snow-clearing event, calling for residents aged 23 to 45 to come out at 9 a.m. tomorrow to shovel snow.

This time, the message was from property management, wanting to rally the community to clear the heavy snow from the ground floor.

They ignored all other messages but reminded everyone to come out for the snow clearing.

Naturally, the residents were reluctant, pushing back with complaints and insults until property management said:

Property Management: “Those who participate in snow clearing will receive food.”

At the mention of food, opposition lessened, but many still hoped to get food without effort. Property management stressed only those who shoveled snow would receive supplies.

Meng Ran pondered the message. Where was property management getting these supplies?

Clearing the snow was likely a preparation for going out to search for resources. The situation was dire; they had to prepare for the long haul.

To be honest, their response was quite swift.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

Seeing Meng Ran furrow her brow, Nian Nian came closer.

“Tomorrow, property management is organizing snow clearing.”

“Are you going?”

Nian Nian looked frightened.

Meng Ran shook her head. “I’m not going.”

She wasn’t short of supplies and didn’t want to join the crowd. Besides, if she took supplies, she would become a target.

Just like last time with Fang Weiwen. Knowing only Meng Ran and Nian Nian were at home, he tried to pick on them.

Having something in hand only made one a marked target.

Nian Nian breathed a sigh of relief. If Meng Ran went out, the snow would be too deep for her to keep up. She would only hold them back.

But leaving her alone at home made her scared.

Nian Nian had sensed the tense atmosphere these days, which made her uneasy.