As soon as the new owner group formed, residents poured in, panic and outrage spilling across the chat.
"Chen Zhenghao is a monster—he ransacked three apartments, broke in by force.""The young couple in 301 tried to fight back and he just shot them dead.""302 and 401 gave up everything when they saw what happened.""Sigh—without food at home, aren't we just waiting to die?"
Someone, furious, typed: "We have to unite and beat that bully together!"
The chorus rose immediately:"Right—how can five or six thugs stand against all of us?""If we stand together, he's nothing.""But he has a gun!""So what? How many bullets can one gun have?""If we rush him at once he can't stop us!""I'll hit him with a left front kick, then a right spinning kick—he'll go down for sure!""He's lame anyway; without that gun he's nothing. I could take him alone!"
Everyone talked big—full of bravado about martial arts and tactics—but when someone asked, "So when do we act?" the group fell silent. Words are cheap; no one wanted to be the first to take a bullet. The grandstanding was only a way to pressure others into becoming "human shields."
"We can handle him, no problem!""Still, we need a plan.""Right—reckless action gets people killed. Let's be smart."
Zhang Yi curled his lip. These were the same people who boasted about beating Chen Zhenghao but suddenly favored "wisdom" when action was required.
Then Uncle You spoke up. The retired security guard—an honest, passionate ex-soldier respected in the building—typed with urgency:"We can't let Chen Zhenghao keep doing this. If it continues, he'll kill us all.""Even if he doesn't shoot us, if he takes all our food, we'll die anyway.""I'll take the lead. Let's go together and teach these bastards a lesson!"
Praises flooded in. Offers of "weapons"—kitchen knives, crowbars, even a rusty sword—appeared. But when Uncle You said he needed a dozen able-bodied young men, everyone went quiet. Male households, in particular, fell silent.
Female residents—Fang Yuqing among them—grew loud and theatrical:"Right—women are weaker. Men in Building 25, now's the time to show your manhood!""You must succeed! Protect us!""Show your gentlemanly demeanor. We're counting on you!"
Male owners bristled."Absolutely not! You were always the first to call for fairness, but now you want us to be the first to risk our lives? Why?""If we go, everyone goes together. No one gets singled out.""You type tough online—why don't you go fight Chen Zhenghao yourself if you're so capable?""It's not that I won't risk my life, but I protect my own wife and kids first."
The women fired back."Are you even men? Now's the time to step up!""You always put yourselves first. How shameful!""You're such losers! Disgusting! I'll never marry a man like you!"
What should have been a focused plan to confront Chen Zhenghao devolved into a full-blown gender war. Zhang Yi felt numbly familiar—this scene had played out in his previous life: people shouting, posturing, then doing nothing while half the building fell under Chen Zhenghao's rule. In the end, most died without putting up a real fight.
Uncle You begged for calm, but a 22-year-old owner, Liu Tiantian, took command of the keyboard attacks. Her words were sharp:"Uncle You, you were a soldier—why pretend to be humble? You should be the first to charge!""There are so many men here. Trade one man for all the rest—if that's the cost of safety, so be it.""In today's society, women matter more. Men's role is to serve and protect us.""I hope all the loser men remember this. Don't make me say it again!"
The chat spiraled. Passion replaced judgment; slogans replaced plans. Zhang Yi watched the spectacle and thought: talk is easy, courage is rare—and in a crisis like this, people's mouths are louder than their actions. He closed the group and sat back, indifferent. The building argued; his door stayed shut. He had no intention of volunteering as a martyr.