Yang Mei's face twisted with despair as she pounded on the door, sobbing and screaming, "Li Zhiqiang, you bastard! You heartless scum! Open the door! I'm your wife! How could you do this to me? Please… open the door! Open it!"
But Li Zhiqiang remained unmoved, gripping the door tightly, refusing to budge.
Lin Dong, watching from across the hallway, couldn't stand it any longer.
"Haha, it's that woman Second Brother Long has his eye on!"
"Holy shit, she actually came outside!"
"Dressed like such a slut—quick, grab her!"
Two men from downstairs rushed up, spotting Yang Mei. Their faces lit up with excitement.
One of them scrambled up the stairs with lewd laughter, hands and feet working frantically.
Yang Mei's face paled in terror as she turned toward the stairwell, shrieking and hammering on the door. "Open up! Open the door, Li Zhiqiang! Hurry, open it! Ah—"
Just then, a scrawny man lunged at her before even fully stepping onto the landing.
Yang Mei screamed and instinctively dodged toward Lin Dong's door.
But the space between the two apartments was tiny—within a couple of steps, she was backed into a corner.
Terrified, she tried to flee toward the rooftop, but after days without food, she barely had the strength to move. The moment she took a step, the scrawny man grabbed her slender calf, clad in black stockings.
With a loud rip, the stockings tore, exposing the pale skin beneath.
The sight sent the balding man behind them into a frenzy.
"Hahaha! Get her, Lao Tan! Grab that slut!"
The skinny Lao Tan scrambled up and lunged again.
Yang Mei stumbled and fell hard on the steps, too hurt to get up.
As Lao Tan closed in with a lecherous grin, she screamed uncontrollably, trembling in fear.
BANG!
At that moment, Lin Dong's security door swung open violently.
The heavy metal door smashed into Lao Tan, sending the frail man flying.
In a flash, Lin Dong dashed out, thrusting forward with his spear—
Thud!
The spearhead welded from a fruit knife plunged straight into Lao Tan's chest.
With a flick of the spear, blood gushed out.
The balding man's excitement froze into horror as he stood rooted in place.
Lin Dong glared at him and raised his spear threateningly.
The man shrieked, turned, and tumbled down the stairs.
Like a rolling meatball, he crashed down with a series of agonized wails—who knew if he'd broken any bones.
Lin Dong didn't pursue him. Instead, he guarded his doorway, wary of Yang Mei slipping inside and locking him out.
But he was overthinking it—Yang Mei was already paralyzed with fear, collapsed on the ground.
Lin Dong grabbed Lao Tan's corpse and dragged it inside.
"Little brother… little brother…"
Yang Mei finally snapped out of it, lifting her head to look at Lin Dong pleadingly.
Frowning, Lin Dong studied her fragile state before finally saying, "Wait here."
He went back inside and returned moments later with two small buns in hand.
He casually handed it over and said, "Take it. You'd better eat it yourself and not give it to Li Zhiqiang. That man can't be trusted." With that, he turned to close the door.
But Yang Mei quickly reached out and grabbed his arm, pleading, "No, little brother, I don't want to go back. Please, Li Zhiqiang is a beast. If you give me this food, he'll definitely snatch it away."
"If you give it to me this time, he'll just force me to come back again. Little brother, please, have mercy. Let me stay with you."
Lin Dong frowned. To be honest, he didn't entirely trust this woman—they weren't that familiar yet.
But he couldn't just stand by and watch his female neighbor be defiled by Liu Erlong and his gang either.
After a moment of thought, Lin Dong stared at Yang Mei. "Think carefully. I don't have much food here, and I don't keep idle people around."
"I know, I know. I can do anything. Please believe me."
Yang Mei hurriedly looked up at Lin Dong, swearing she would be useful.
In the end, Lin Dong's heart softened. Besides, if he was honest, over the past six months, the most terrifying thing hadn't been the food shortages or Liu Erlong and his men.
What truly scared him was loneliness.
Without electricity or entertainment, loneliness was the most horrifying thing.
Having someone to talk to might actually be a good thing.
He comforted himself with this thought and finally nodded. "Get up. Follow me."
Yang Mei's face immediately lit up with joy. She hastily grabbed the railing and staggered to her feet.
But as soon as she stood, her vision darkened, her body went weak, and she nearly collapsed again.
Lin Dong reacted swiftly, catching her in his arms.
The soft, fragrant warmth of her body pressed against him, sending a ripple of excitement through his heart.
It was summer, and he was shirtless, while Yang Mei wore a sleeveless blouse. Their bare arms touched, skin against skin.
The young woman carried a faint, alluring scent that drifted into Lin Dong's nose, teasing his senses.
His gaze flickered involuntarily toward the deep, squeezed cleavage, and his heartbeat quickened.
Lin Dong calmly averted his eyes, suppressing the strange stirrings in his chest. "You alright?"
Yang Mei quickly shook her head, nervous. "Little brother, I—I'm just hungry, a bit hypoglycemic. I'm fine, really. I won't be a burden. I promise, I'm okay."
She was terrified of being seen as useless and abandoned by Lin Dong.
Lin Dong couldn't help but glance at her. This woman had probably been treated as a burden at home for a long time.
Li Zhiqiang must have gaslighted her relentlessly.
He nodded. "Good. It's probably low blood sugar. Come inside and eat something first."
With that, he led Yang Mei into his apartment and closed the security door behind them.
But just then, the door across the hall suddenly opened, and Li Zhiqiang stuck his head out, shouting, "Lin Dong! That's my wife! You're taking my wife—aren't you going to compensate me?"
Lin Dong paused, turning to look at his old neighbor in disbelief.
"Oh, now you remember she's your wife? What were you doing earlier? She was begging and crying for you to open the door, and you ignored her. Now you suddenly care? Why don't you take her back?"
Lin Dong's words instantly shut Li Zhiqiang up.
Taking her back was out of the question—another mouth to feed meant less food for himself. There was nothing left at home anyway.
But letting his wife go to the neighbor's house like this made him even more unwilling.
Unable to hold back his anger, he snapped, "Yang Mei, come back immediately after borrowing the food. I'm warning you, people outside have wolfish ambitions—this is your home right here."
Behind Lin Dong, Yang Mei's shoulders trembled as she wept silently.
She didn't dare argue, nor did she dare beg Lin Dong.
Seeing this, Lin Dong frowned and finally stepped aside, saying to her, "If you haven't made up your mind yet, you can still change it now. Take those two bags of bread and go back."
(End of chapter)