Chapter 15: The Rational Neighbor

Chapter 15: The Rational Neighbor

After a brief silence in the group chat, everyone began individually tagging Resident 501.

Resident 901 to Resident 501: Auntie, a few days ago you said your grandson hadn’t eaten any vegetables or fruit for several days and even had blisters in his mouth. I gave you the only orange left in my house, yet you’ve hoarded two refrigerators full of supplies. That just doesn’t sit right. I’m not asking for much—just return what I gave you.

Resident 801 to Resident 501: Auntie, the day before yesterday you took two apples and a pack of instant noodles from me. Could you please return them?

Resident 402: Two refrigerators worth? Why not share a bit? That could feed our building for ten days or more. After the lockdown ends, we can all go buy more. Don’t worry, once we’re able to get out, we’ll make sure your fridge is restocked.

Building Leader 401 to Resident 501: Sister, why don’t you open up one of your refrigerators so everyone can help out in the meantime? After this disaster is over, I’ll nominate you for a generous resident award—and there’s even a bonus.

Resident 501: I don’t have that much. I think Resident 701 heard wrong. I don’t have anything to eat. It’s just that their family has food but doesn’t want to share, so they’re spreading rumors.

Gu Pan, thinking about this, spoke up in the group: Actually, whether someone has food or not is all hearsay. How about this: to be fair, we start with the first floor and have each household open their doors for inspection. That way, no one is hiding anything, and we can pool our resources to distribute evenly. This will ensure fairness for everyone.

Once these words appeared, the group chat buzzed with activity again.

Resident 702, Chen Shaonan, understood Gu Pan’s intention without needing explanation and immediately showed support.

Resident 601, Dr. Feng, naturally stood with Gu Pan: I agree with Resident 701’s suggestion.

Resident 901: This is a good idea. When do we start? I’ll open my door and wait.

Resident 501: No way. Who doesn’t want privacy in their own home? You’re not police—what if something goes missing during a search?

Resident 402: Exactly. Having a bunch of people come in and rummage through would just cause chaos.

Resident 301: Isn’t this about truly sharing resources? My husband even has germophobia. I don’t mind, as long as I get some food.

Suddenly, the chat became chaotic. Those without supplies wanted to share and naturally supported Gu Pan’s plan, but those hoarding goods were reluctant to cooperate.

Resident 801: Let’s just mind our own homes. This isn’t the era of communal meals. If it’s not evenly divided, it’ll just lead to fights.

Building Leader 401: True, I didn’t think this through. We’re not police—we can’t just search homes, that would be illegal. But I still advocate mutual help. If someone really has no food, we should coordinate and assist each other. We’re neighbors; we should support one another, not demand absolute fairness.

Gu Pan smiled at the leader’s self-assumed air of authority and looked at Lu Ruisheng: “Now everyone who has food and who doesn’t is obvious to those paying attention.”

Lu Ruisheng smiled: “Indeed. To keep up appearances, I even moved the cement and sand out.”

Gu Pan nodded: “Let’s do it together. We’ll have the iron gates installed in a few days—after that, the items will still be ours.”

The two moved the materials to the doorway. Chen Shaonan heard the noise and opened his door: “Xiao Lu, Xiao Gu, if you’re free, come sit for a while.”

Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng agreed and put down their items before entering. Since they lived on the same floor, if they had food this time and didn’t have to go out, they might survive. It was best to form an alliance with the neighbors across, so there’d be no worry about betrayal.

Inside, Chen Lang brought them hot water and called for his uncles and aunts. The boy was talkative; the first time they met, his parents told him to call everyone uncle and aunt, but he said they were too young—it felt more like calling them brothers and sisters.

However, the recent days’ harsh environment had dulled his usual liveliness.

Chen Shaonan sat opposite them: “If this were five years ago, we might have given away food without consulting you. But six years ago, we used an inheritance from overseas to support several impoverished students. A year later, they complained about unequal aid and made a fuss at school. Both of us were dismissed from public school teaching jobs and had to move to private schools. That’s why we hate being do-gooders.”

Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng understood why their stance was so firm—it made sense.

Duan Shumei added: “But we don’t let that make us distrust everyone or abandon family. We still teach our children to be grateful and kind but not to be doormats. Before helping others, think of the consequences.”

Hearing the term “do-gooders,” Gu Pan nodded in understanding: “You have strong character and values. Others might not have your breadth of mind.”

Chen Shaonan said: “It took us two years to get over it. After the disaster, we came here, away from home, and it took time to come to terms with everything and face reality. We also argued about it before, but luckily, our family supported each other and let it go. I’m telling you this because I feel we’re like-minded and thorough in our thinking. Before, we worried you’d think differently.”

Lu Ruisheng couldn’t reveal his true background, so he said: “I’m an orphan, so I’ve been through more than most and tend to be more rational.”

Chen Shaonan was surprised: “I’m sorry.”

Lu Ruisheng smiled: “It’s nothing, just life experiences.”

Duan Shumei said to Gu Pan: “Really, thank you, Xiao Lu. Without you, we might have run out of food. A growing boy needs to eat. If we hadn’t stocked up on rice, flour, oil, and vegetables, we’d be starving.”

Gu Pan smiled: “Teacher Duan, no need to thank me. You were the one who first reminded us to stock up.”

Duan Shumei: “That’s because last time our Chen Lang forgot to take out the keys, and your Xiao Lu helped get them down for me.”

Lu Ruisheng: “Neighbors should help each other.”

As they chatted, the atmosphere grew warmer. Chen Shaonan was a physics teacher, and Duan Shumei taught chemistry—science truly ran in the family.

Today’s conversation pleased Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng. Chen Shaonan and Duan Shumei were ideal neighbors—not nosy about private matters, honest when they could be, and silent when they couldn’t. Most importantly, they weren’t do-gooder saints. In the apocalypse, saints get killed first; if neighbors were like that, one would have to avoid them. But this family was clearly not like that.

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

At home, the two guessed their previous selves likely died searching for food. With no relatives here, going out for supplies was probably the cause.

By night, the resident group chat quieted down. Presumably, food exchanges and trades happened privately.

That evening, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng watched through the entrance camera as someone came upstairs, looked at the cement and sand they’d placed by the door, then quietly left.

Though everyone knew it wasn’t food, they still wanted to see for themselves before giving up hope.

(End of Chapter)