Chapter 21: The Smiling Man

Jiang Yan actually didn't need to buy anything anymore, but it was better than letting the money lie in the bank and turn into numbers.

Additionally, the jewelry stored in the vault under her mother's name was to be retrieved tomorrow.

After replying to all the delivery arrangement texts, it was still early before bedtime, so she planned to enter "Space" first for a check.

Just as she was about to enter "Space" by thought, the door was pounded "bang, bang, bang."

Yes, pounded.

And pounded very forcefully.

Jiang Yan twisted her brows and picked up the pad to check the surveillance.

Her surveillance used the best brand, not only was the image high-definition, but it also had audio reception capability.

Outside stood a middle-aged man with a high-built, heavy-set face, and a middle-aged woman with a slightly thin figure, round face, and hair in a bun.

The woman was also holding a palm-sized, carved white porcelain plate with a piece of yellow peach cream cake and a clear plastic fork on it.

The temperature was too high; the cream on the surface of the cake had melted, and the pieces of yellow peach were all sticky and drooping on the side.

Both of them had very red faces and some fine beads of sweat on their foreheads, probably from the heat.

The local people in Anming, mostly accustomed to the winter-warm, summer-cool greenhouse environment, had no resistance to today's sudden scorching weather.

And very few people had air conditioning installed at home.

Mostly, only west-facing rooms or hotels and hostels would consider installing it.

One could imagine the level of discomfort of ordinary people.

Jiang Yan glanced at the screen, the man's steps were wobbly, and his eyes clearly seemed a bit groggy.

No one visits without a reason.

What kind of situation would bring a couple to knock on a door late at night together?

If it was because of a child's birthday to deliver a cake, but now it was nearly ten o'clock, wasn't it too late?

Also, the apocalypse had not officially started yet, and the cliché neighbor-knocking scenarios seen in novels were playing out before her...

Although it might be her own overthinking, Jiang Yan still raised an eyebrow and pretended not to hear.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With a louder banging sound, the woman raised her voice and said, "Little sister, I know you're inside, please open the door."

"Yes, little sister, we are neighbors from 3203, please open the door for us," the man next to her politely chimed in.

As soon as he finished speaking, the woman next to him glared fiercely at him and reprimanded him in a low voice:

"Zhou Guangfu, why are you talking like a rogue? Is it appropriate for you to call her 'little sister'?"

The flesh on the man's face twitched, and he said with a smile, "Wife, I'm just following your lead..."

The woman ignored him, continued pounding on the door with her fist, and her voice grew a bit louder, "Little sister, please open the door! We have something urgent to speak with you about!"

Well, this was becoming endless.

Fine, the apocalypse hadn't started yet, so she might as well see what this couple was up to.

Thinking this, Jiang Yan stood up, took a medical mask from the entrance, and with a "creak," she opened the inside door.

Jiang Yan had installed two doors.

The inside door was a solid bulletproof steel plate.

While the outside door had a top third portion consisting of finger-thick metal mesh, allowing one to clearly see the people outside.

This metal mesh was actually electrifiable, but Jiang Yan had not activated it yet.

Her entryway was also specially modified, perfectly blocking everything inside the house as soon as the door opened.

As soon as the door opened, the hot air from outside "whooshed" in, making Jiang Yan feel as if she had suddenly stuck half of her head into a sauna.

While the cold air inside "whooshed" out through the holes in the metal mesh.

The couple standing outside instantly felt a wave of coolness on their faces.

The two exchanged a meaningful look, their bodies involuntarily stepping forward.

But seeing Jiang Yan's cold gaze, they paused.

The woman, curious, tried to peer behind to see the inside of the living room but failed to see anything and then turned her gaze back to Jiang Yan with an embarrassed smile, saying:

"Hello, little sister, I am Zhang Chunmei from next door, 3203, this is my husband Zhou Guangfu. Could you also open the outside door for us? It's our child's birthday today, and we have saved a piece of cake especially for you. We would like to invite you to share in our joy."

After saying this, she added, "We apologize for the intrusion. In fact, we had tagged you in the owners' group chat earlier, seeing that you hadn't responded for a while, we decided to come and knock directly."

They say you don't slap a smiling face; Zhang Chunmei believed Jiang Yan would be the same.

Owner's group?

During her time overseas stocking up, Jiang Yan had almost totally deleted and exited various groups and casual friends.

Completely severing the superficial relationships from her previous life.

The only group she kept was Shallow Bay's owners' group.

After Du Ziteng finished helping her with the property purchase, a man named Zhang Qiming in the homeowner committee added her and pulled her into the group.

Although Jiang Yan had been silent and never spoke, she had never thought of leaving the group.

After all, knowing the enemy is the key to victory.

She had prepared to stay in "Space" and in her house after the apocalypse started, but that didn't mean she could cut herself off from the world entirely.

Staying in the group for now, she could grasp some information about the situation around her and the official response and measures if disasters occurred later on.

The idea of checking the group where she was tagged? She doubted she would bother.

After hearing Zhang Chunmei's words, Jiang Yan's expression didn't change much, and she calmly said:

"Thank you both, I appreciate the gesture, but I'll skip the cake. Keep it for the children. If there's nothing else, I'm going to close the door now. Also, I don't like being disturbed, please don't knock on my door again, thank you!"

Jiang Yan finished speaking, didn't wait for a response, and directly turned around to leave.

Seeing this, Zhang Chunmei looked embarrassed for a moment, then quickly put on a smile and said, "Little sister, just wait a moment; I have a small favor to ask..."

Wow!

As expected, this cake was a bribe.

Ah, but no.

She's no chicken.

Jiang Yan paused, turned around, and with a sharp look in her eyes, said, "What?"

Zhang Chunmei was shaken by her calm gaze, and her tone changed instantly, "you" became "you" more respectfully.

"It's like this, little sister, Anming suddenly heated up today, it's almost forty-two degrees inside our house. My two children and two elders have never encountered this situation before; the elders even have heart-related illnesses and are feeling overwhelmed. My husband did buy an air conditioner on some East e-commerce platform, but the installation won't happen until tomorrow.

I was thinking, since you just installed two air conditioners recently, I wanted to ask if our elderly and children could temporarily stay in your living room for the night.

You don't have to worry, the children are well-behaved, and the elderly are very clean. They won't make your house dirty or messy. If it's really not possible, we can pay you some money, which could include the cost of a hotel stay and extra for the electricity."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Jiang Yan ignored her and suddenly started to cough violently while covering her mouth.

Seeing her light blue medical mask, Zhang Chunmei and Zhou Guangfu glanced at each other, baffled, then involuntarily took a big step backward.