The most stunned of all was Nima Sang. She had just sneered moments ago that even if everyone had bugs on them, Su Mali still generously invited them to eat, unlike the "picky" and "stingy" Jing Shu. In the very next breath, in front of everyone, Su Mali's words and rules slapped that take right across her face, hard and public.
But since it was Su Mali footing the bill, the meal would surely be precious and rare. However awkward and humiliating the decontamination process was, no one was going to be the one to say they were not eating. Hunger and the promise of real food outweighed pride.
Zhang Lingling, mortified and shivering, asked, "Then what do we do? We can't wash all the red nematodes off just by standing in the rain. They are in our clothes, our hair…"
Su Mali lectured gently, as if speaking to children, "Having bugs on your body is a very unhygienic habit. I hate bugs most of all, so you must all soak clean in my saltwater pool before you come out. It is for everyone's health. Alright, let us go. Oh, Jing Shu," she added brightly, "don't forget to bring your things for the trade."
And just like that, the grim matter of Zhou Dafu's corpse in the pit was put aside, forgotten in the face of immediate spectacle and sustenance. Eating came first.
Right then, the low rumble of a combustion engine cut through the electric hum. A modified, fuel-burning Hummer rolled into the community, its tires splashing through puddles. A tall man in an impeccably sealed, tailored raincoat climbed out from the passenger side and told the driver, "Go park it in the designated spot." He turned, his gaze sweeping over the damp, bedraggled crowd before settling on Su Mali. "Hi, dear Miss Mali, I am here. Oh, and these are…?"
"Ah Yu, you are here." Su Mali's smile warmed. "These are my high school classmates." She gestured vaguely toward the group. Then, to the others, she said, "This is my friend, Ah Yu. Let us go in, everything should be ready."
"Let us," the man named Ah Yu said, his tone neutral. He neither mocked them nor looked openly disgusted. His attitude was more like ignoring ants on the sidewalk, they were simply beneath his notice, not worthy of an emotional reaction.
Jing Shu took the opportunity to slip back into her own villa. She grabbed the two potted medicinal herb plants she had prepared for trade and quickly changed into a clean, dry set of casual clothes under her raincoat. Then she sauntered back to join the tail end of the crowd now following Su Mali. She was genuinely curious to see the inside of her place. In her previous life, for various reasons involving drama and danger, she had never gone, and she had not felt she had missed anything worthwhile.
No one spoke as they followed Su Mali down the neatly paved path. A moment ago they had been giddy at the simple idea of a free meal. Seen now from the outside, they looked like a line of beggars mooching from a wealthy landlord, while the landlord's own social circle kept reminding them, with every pristine garment and whispered comment, how poor, dirty, and unrefined they were.
Even so, they were better off than the growing crowd of curious onlookers clustering at the villa community's main gate. The government had just settled another big wave of residents into Banana Community's garages and apartments, but only this villa section blazed with light and spilled canned music into the wet air. The fanfare drew envious onlookers from all around, faces pressed against fences.
Even in the apocalypse, Su Mali's front gate was extravagant, imposing and grand. Two neat rows of staff in matching uniforms stood at attention under a temporary canopy, each holding a tray with a fluffy, clean white bath towel. The onlookers gaped anew at the display of wasted resources.
In front of the main door, workers had clearly labored through the night to dig and line a three-meter-long channel pool, now filled with steaming, salted water. Compared with the simple, functional basin at Jing Shu's door, this one was clearly a luxury installation, top-tier in both size and presentation.
Su Mali and Ah Yu stepped into the pool first and walked slowly through the channel, the hot water swirling around their boots. Their sealed raincoats shed all clinging red nematodes, which floated to the surface. Attendants hurried forward with towels, offering them to wipe hands and faces, and only then did Su Mali gracefully slip off her raincoat, revealing a delicate pink princess dress and perfect, glossy princess curls beneath. She looked adorably perfect, a vision from a pre-apocalypse magazine.
The man, Ah Yu, had finely cut features. In a dark blue tailored suit visible under his open raincoat, he looked every inch the gentleman from a bygone era.
"Everyone," Su Mali announced cheerfully, "make sure you soak in the pool and rinse all the red nematodes clean before you come up. Take your time! It is for hygiene!"
The group of classmates, feeling every eye upon them, climbed awkwardly into the pool one by one. Since Su Mali had said so, they scrubbed at their clothes and exposed skin as carefully as they could under the circumstances. From time to time, more guests arrived, some in quiet energy cars, others in roaring, mud-splattered luxury SUVs, most in high-end sealed raincoats. They took one look at the pool full of earnest, scrubbing commoners and whispered among themselves. For people used to being the bottom of the social ladder, now literally covered in layers of bugs, the public washing was beyond embarrassing.
"Did she invite these people too? They look so rough."
"Yeah. I heard they are old classmates. They do look pitiful."
"Still so naive, that Su Mali. This is supposed to be an auction and elite trade meet. She invites all sorts. What can they possibly bring to the table?"
"Fine, just keep your distance from them later. It is not that I look down on them, but if a bug jumps from them onto me, I will throw up."
"Shh. If Su Mali hears you, she will lecture you about compassion for half an hour. You know how she is, sentimental."
Even Jing Shu, observing from the side, shook her head slightly at the snide whispers. Some truly classy rich folks said nothing, maintained polite masks, but most people, rich or poor, did not genuinely enjoy befriending those with a huge power and resource gap. There was no common language, and daily habits clashed painfully.
As for the classmates still trying to discreetly clean private parts under the hot, salted water, the shame burned like fire on their cheeks. It was like being an unwanted guest and having the host demand you wash your stinky feet at the door while a whole crowd of other, cleaner guests watched, some openly pinching their noses.
At last, they were deemed clean enough. They climbed out in a hurry, took the proffered dry towels, and scrubbed their hair and faces. After each person announced a name to a staff member with a clipboard, they were led inside through the grand front door.
Once past the lavish foyer, they shed their damp outer raincoats onto waiting racks. Jing Shu, now in clean casual clothes and hugging her two pots of flowers, followed the group. The interior of the whole villa blazed with light from chandeliers and sconces. It did not feel like the apocalypse at all. For eyes accustomed to darkness and emergency bulbs, the brightness was almost blinding.
The open-plan ground floor was huge, as if several villa units had been knocked together into one giant U-shaped banquet hall. Two long rows of elegantly set tables stretched in parallel, already laid with individual starter plates and labeled place cards. Every third seat seemed to have a server in a black-and-white uniform standing attentively behind it.
Down the center of the space lay a long display table arrayed with various goods for trade, tools, packaged foods, bottles of liquor, rolls of fabric. At the far front, a massive electronic screen listed the items slated for the trading auction later.
Like an empress holding court, Su Mali sat at the head of the central table with a wireless microphone. "Please, everyone, find your seat where your name card is. Do not switch seats; it is all carefully arranged. The Su Mali housewarming and charity auction is about to begin." The young lady was visibly thrilled, her eyes sparkling.
"So fancy…" Shi Lei murmured, overwhelmed.
"Wow, so much food. And individually plated too. I thought it would be one big communal table where we all used our chopsticks on the same dishes. If it were like that, I would fill a few bowls first and maybe take some home for later," Wang Chao whispered, his stomach growling.
"How tacky," Nima muttered, though she was staring just as hungrily. "How sanitary is that? You think these rich people want to share plates and saliva with you?"
They gawked like country cousins visiting a grand estate for the first time, completely overwhelmed. It was hard to believe this was the same apocalypse that had them sleeping in flooded garages. How did this place not lack food, power, everything? For the first time, many saw Su Mali not just as a generous, slightly silly rich girl, but with a new, chilling clarity about the depth of her resources and the world she inhabited.
Everyone found their assigned spots. The classmates, predictably, were placed at the very back tables, far from the head. Jing Shu, however, found her place card at the left front table, the first seat by the head table, right next to where Su Mali would preside. She figured the prime placement was a lingering favor because the honeysuckle she traded had allegedly saved her friend's life. Or maybe there was another reason?
She had barely settled into the plush chair when Su Mali, who had been chatting with Ah Yu, covered her mouth, giggling, and leaned toward Jing Shu. Beaming, she said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Raised him well, you did. Now we get to watch him eat shit on the livestream. It is going to be glorious."
…
"You see it, right?" Zhang Lingling whispered bitterly to the classmate next to her, her eyes fixed on Jing Shu's privileged seat. "Su Mali treats Jing Shu completely differently."
Another classmate nodded, voice low with resentment. "Yeah. And Su Mali looks down on the rest of us just like all her other rich friends do. We are just part of the charity show."