Unfortunately, Wang Chao only made it halfway across the concrete floor before the handcuffs yanked him short, the metal biting into his wrists with a sharp, mechanical jerk. The one howling was the bespectacled Shi Lei. What a voice; if he didn't sing for a living, it would be a waste of talent. Quiet as a shadow on normal days, when he wailed it was terrifying, the sound vibrating against the corrugated metal walls of the storage unit.
Jing Shu covered her ears again, her palms pressing tight against the sides of her head to dull the noise. That cry dragged every eye in the warehouse their way, the gazes of the desperate landing on them like a physical weight.
The moment people sensed a possible savior, if not for the fact that they're chained in groups of ten to iron posts along the wall, the crowd would have surged over in a desperate wave of limbs. Shouts tumbled out from the shadows, voices cracked and begging to be released.
"Comrade, could we move somewhere quieter? It's too noisy here to hear anything," she said, raising her voice over the rising din.
"I will ask Squad Leader Li," Xia Liu replied, his boots crunching on the grit as he turned toward the entrance.
When Xia Liu left, hope finally flickered in the classmates' eyes as they stared at her, their pupils dilated in the dim light. Liang Xin blurted, her hands trembling as they gripped her heavy shackles, "Jing Shu, you came to save us, right? You can get us out, right? We're really being wronged!"
Nima whispered to Zhang Lingling, who had stayed silent, her voice a low hiss. "What is Su Mali thinking, sending her? Does she even have the ability to save us?"
"Didn't you hear? She is only here to check the situation. Su Mali will come to rescue us," Zhang Lingling muttered, her shoulders hunching. Joy drained from her face, leaving her features pale under the soot.
She and Jing Shu had bad blood from the past. Being seen by her in this state was mortifying. She edged back into the darkness, scraping grime from her face with a ragged sleeve. She bit her lip until it turned white; she really didn't want her to see her like this, reduced to a common prisoner.
Before long, Xia Liu returned with keys, the heavy iron ring clinking at his belt. "Squad Leader says we can move to the office next door." He dragged the skewer string of detainees outside one by one, the shackles rattling loudly against the floor, prompting an uproar around them as others demanded to know why some people are being taken out while they're left in the filth.
"Really? We can leave?" Shi Lei wept with relief, tears tracking dark lines through the soot on his cheeks. "My newborn son's waiting at home."
"Shut it," Jing Shu said, her eyes narrowing at him. "Keep your voice down. You're only changing rooms to talk."
That one sentence sparked more anger from the warehouse, the shouts rising into a fever pitch of indignation. They tumbled out in a mess and shifted into a lit office area where the harsh fluorescent lights flickered overhead. The group stood in a line, filthy beyond belief, their clothes tattered and damp. The last reunion had been rough, but nothing like this. The stench wrapped around them so thick that even after Jing Shu took several steps back, it still clung to her; the smell of rot and unwashed bodies filling the narrow room.
"While the officer is here, why do you not say how you were wronged?" Jing Shu asked, her gaze steady. If there hadn't been special circumstances, she wouldn't have bothered with them. There's no deep friendship to speak of, and she wasn't magnanimous enough to save people who had insulted her previously.
She looked over the familiar faces. Zhang Lingling fussed with the grime on her clothes, her fingers picking at a stubborn stain on her lapel. Nima kept her head down, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, unwilling to speak because of their past grudge. Only Wang Chao and Shi Lei were worked up.
Shi Lei said, his breath hitching as he spoke, "Last month the red nematodes went extinct. Zhang Lingling posted in the group saying she would make up for the loss we took last year because of the so-called 'water collector.' She said there was a money-making project, swore she would eat shit if it didn't pay, and promised we wouldn't have to put in a single coin."
Jing Shu glanced at Zhang Lingling. "So it's her again, always lurking behind a scheme." "And then?"
Wang Chao added, his shackles clinking as he gestured with his bound hands, "Then a few of us from high school took stock from her. One virtual coin for six patties. We sold them at five patties per virtual coin. A neat twenty percent profit. We even took the patties first and only settled later. We did the math and it's guaranteed profit, so we sold together."
Shi Lei sniffled and sobbed, his chest heaving. "Yes, we're just patty sellers. We knew nothing. Zhang Lingling said they are leftovers from the cafeteria, sold cheap. We didn't think too much about it. Who knew the zombie disease everyone is talking about came from those bug patties. We went to restock this morning and got arrested. If I had known, I would never have sold them. My son was just born. I only wanted to earn more so he could have something nutritious."
Twenty-four and already a father, in the apocalypse no less. Time is flying. No, wait. She is twenty-four this year, but counting her past life she is thirty-five. It's horrifying.
"That's all?"
"That's all," Wang Chao said, baffled by her calm. "Is that not unjust enough?"
Xia Liu's mouth twisted in a sneer. "The patties stank. You weren't afraid people would die eating them?"
Nima rolled her eyes, her posture defensive despite her situation. "People are starving. What is death compared to hunger? We even ate them ourselves sometimes."
Jing Shu nodded once. "In this whole affair, your role was only to sell the patties, yes?" She had thought the so-called money-making scheme was something else. So this is it.
Shi Lei pointed at Zhang Lingling, his finger trembling with accusatory force. "She handled procurement. The rest of us sold."
"What was your procurement price per virtual coin?" Jing Shu asked. Head down, Zhang Lingling muttered, her voice barely audible, "Not much. I barely made anything. We're classmates. I only took a handling fee."
Xia Liu couldn't help it. He pulled up the Big Data records on his phone, the blue light of the screen illuminating his features, and tapped the list. "Zhang Lingling, middleman. Eight patties per virtual coin. Second-tier wholesalers got seven patties per virtual coin. You charged your classmates six. After costs, you cleared three thousand virtual coins this month. The other four made five hundred each."
Zhang Lingling gaped and pointed at Xia Liu, her mouth working but no sound coming out at first. "How is it so clear? You didn't even ask us anything."
Xia Liu snorted. "With chat logs and virtual coin flows, reverse inference on Big Data is easy. No interrogation required. Understand?"
"You!" Shi Lei jabbed a finger at Zhang Lingling's nose, his eyes wide with fury. "I knew you had a snake's heart last year. Your vicious vow came true again. Should never have trusted you. Make money if you want, but do not pretend it's all for compensating classmates. I despise you."
Liang Xin shook his head, his expression one of deep weariness. "Zhang Lingling, I am very disappointed in you."
Nima shook off Zhang Lingling's hand, her movement sharp and final. "We're close, and you still showed no mercy. Hah."
"Jing Shu, make sure you expose what she did in the class group. People like this don't deserve to stay in there." Grinding her teeth, Zhang Lingling said resentfully, her eyes burning with unshed tears, "I know I was wrong. I am sorry, everyone. But shouldn't we first figure out how to get out of this? Confiscation is happening anyway. Whether I made more or less, it will all be gone."
"I don't want to talk to you," Shi Lei snapped, turning his back on her. He turned to plead with Jing Shu, his voice cracking. "Jing Shu, what do we do? The government is reclaiming the related virtual coins. I don't want a single coin back. I just want to go home."
"I understand how you feel, but the higher-ups haven't decided yet. Your lives aren't in immediate danger. Wait for Su Mali and hear what she says. She asked me to come and assess first and to make sure no one gets killed by mistake."
Nima rolled her eyes, her lips curling in a sneer. "So in the end you're here to save us, but look at you, interrogating us like a cop. Who do you think you are? After all that, we still have to wait for Su Mali."
"Exactly. I thought you had great ability. Turns out this is all?" Zhang Lingling chimed in, inching closer to Nima as she sought comfort in their shared bitterness. She needed an ally in the same pit.
===
Wow… we've reached Chapter 300 already! ＼(＾▽＾)／
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