Ch23-Meng Ci, What Are You Doing Here
"Why won't you give me food? You think just because you have guns you're something special?"
"I'll say it again, at 7:35:41, you already received food."
"Each person can only receive food once. Please leave."
"You say I got it, so that means I got it? Clearly, it's just because I'm an old woman, with no one to rely on, that you're deliberately refusing to give me anything to eat."
Meng Ci and Shen Que had just arrived at the second-floor stairwell when they heard another dispute break out at the food distribution point.
Although the two of them had come down a bit late, many people who had already received food were still standing around watching and hadn't left.
The two of them walked to the end of the line and started queuing up, watching the scene unfold as entertainment.
"Your information has already been registered with us," the soldier in charge of handing out food was still patiently explaining.
"It shows that at 7:35:41, you received food."
"If I say I didn't, then I didn't! Someone must've used my ID to claim it in my place."
The soldier pulled up the record on his tablet of the old woman receiving food. Not only did it show a photo of the clothes she was wearing today, but it also had a picture of her ID card, and even her face was clearly visible.
The evidence was irrefutable, but the old woman still wouldn't give up.
"This is definitely fake! It can't be me!"
And the residents lined up behind the old woman didn't urge her to move either. Clearly, they were thinking that if she managed to make a fuss and get more food from the soldiers, they might also be able to take advantage and get extra.
Seeing that reasoning was useless, the soldier stopped wasting his breath. If she wanted to drag it out, then let it drag.
"If you say someone else claimed it in your name, then go find them."
"If you can't, then leave immediately."
"If you interfere with others getting their food, we're not responsible for it."
Still, no one spoke up to chase her off. The three soldiers on the lift stopped speaking as well, and the soldier below, who was handing out the supplies, also halted his actions.
"Attention to all residents who haven't yet received food, attention to all residents who haven't yet received food."
"Food distribution will end in thirty minutes. Food distribution will end in thirty minutes."
"After that time, any residents who haven't received food, please come back tomorrow."A drone flew in from a distance, delivering a message along the way.
Upon hearing this, the residents immediately became agitated and began to criticize the old woman, saying she was wasting everyone's time.
A woman who was lined up behind her even roughly pulled her aside and then handed her own ID card to the soldier.
The old woman was dragged away, and no matter how loudly she protested, no one paid her any attention.
When it was Meng Ci's turn to receive food, he saw the soldier take his ID card, not only registering the ID number but also taking a photo of him personally, only then allowing him to receive the food.
The food consisted of nothing more than two handfuls of rice, which even looked like it had been soaked in water, along with two potatoes, a quarter of a cabbage, and two green peppers.
Meng Ci looked at the food in his hand and fell into deep thought -why was this so different from how it had been described in the books?
After Shen Que had received his food, the two of them headed upstairs.
"It's you!"
"Meng Ci, what are you doing here!"
Just as they reached the stairwell on the second floor, four people came down from upstairs.
"Why wouldn't I be here?" Meng Ci saw who it was and directly rolled his eyes.
The newcomers were exactly Li Shanyang and his group.
When Zhang Lu saw the food in Meng Ci's hands, she started thinking that since he wasn't dead, then how could the Meng family's fortune fall into her hands after the storm ended?
No, she had to come up with a way to make sure he died an unnatural death.
"Xiao Ci, you're here too? Why didn't you come find us?"
"If everyone lives together, we can look out for each other."
"Look out for each other?"
Meng Ci glanced at Liu Jie, who was being supported by Li Xiaoya, and said mockingly, "Look out for each other and end up like him?"
Zhang Lu gave an awkward laugh, "Brother Jie is sick."
Li Shanyang came down two steps at once and raised his hand, about to slap Meng Ci.
Meng Ci could have dodged it, but unexpectedly, Li Shanyang's hand was blocked directly by Shen Que.
"Let go!" said Li Shanyang.
"He's my son. What's a stranger like you doing meddling in our family's business?"
Shen Que pushed Li Shanyang backward with a cold expression.
Li Shanyang had been starving for days and had no strength. With that push, he fell backward to the ground and almost bumped into someone.
That person stepped aside in disgust-probably hot-tempered as well-and directly kicked him once before cursing and walking away.
Zhang Lu quickly went over to help Li Shanyang up, immediately turning to accuse Meng Ci.
"Xiao Ci, what are you doing?"
"He's your father. How can you let someone else hit him?"
Li Xiaoya supported Liu Jie as they walked down from the stairs and also began to criticize Meng Ci.
"Brother, Dad's health hasn't been good to begin with. How could you treat him like this?"
Meng Ci just stood where he was, listening to their accusations without any expression on his face.
"Are you done?" Meng Ci raised an eyebrow.
"If you're done, then I'm leaving." With that, Meng Ci headed upstairs.
But how could Li Shanyang let it go? After getting up, he still tried to cause trouble for Meng Ci.
Shen Que immediately stepped in front of Li Shanyang.
"I'll say it again. I'm disciplining my son. I don't need a stranger like you meddling," Li Shanyang didn't dare lay hands on Shen Que this time and could only keep a tough front with his words.
"Are parents people who raise their hands at their kids so easily?"
Shen Que looked Li Shanyang up and down with contempt. "No wonder he doesn't acknowledge you."
Thinking of what Meng Ci had said earlier about a half-sister with the same father, and then looking at Li Xiaoya, who was about the same age as Meng Ci, it was easy to tell what kind of scumbag Li Shanyang was.
Cheating during his marriage, and still being this arrogant now -he really deserved a beating.
"You..."
While the argument on this side had yet to be resolved, trouble broke out at the food distribution point on the other side.
"I haven't gotten my food yet! Why are you leaving!"
"Come back! You better come back!"
"Wuwuwu, my food!"
The thirty minutes were up. As the sound of the whistle rang out, the soldiers stopped distributing food and began packing up their supplies to retreat.
There were still more than a dozen people who hadn't received food, and they all rushed to the windows, shouting for the soldiers to come back.
However, it was completely useless. As the engines roared to life, all the boats departed in a neat and orderly formation.
One of the residents, relying on his decent swimming skills, jumped into the water and swam madly in the direction the soldiers were leaving.
But how could a human compete with the speed of a boat? In the end, the man was swept away by the current due to exhaustion.
Li Shanyang and his group heard the commotion and no longer paid attention to Meng Ci. They all rushed to the window, but could only see the backs of the departing boats amid the crowd.
The group began cursing and even started blaming each other.
"I told you to come earlier, you should've come earlier! You couldn't get up because you were sleeping-this is all your fault!" Zhang Lu broke down, pounding her fists against Li Shanyang.
They had finally had a chance at getting food, and now they had missed it just like that. How could anyone not be angry?
Even though Li Shanyang was hungry, he was still stronger than Zhang Lu.
And as the typical chauvinist he was, there was no way he would let Zhang Lu hit him, so he hit her back directly.
During the scuffle, Li Shanyang shoved her straight into the wall, causing Zhang Lu's head to slam into it.
"My fault? If I didn't get up, couldn't you have come by yourself? A woman like you who can't even cook, what use are you!"
"And you."
Li Shanyang didn't think for a second that he was in the wrong. Instead, he started blaming the others. This time, he turned his fury toward Li Xiaoya.
"I told you not to bother with him! Don't bother with a cripple like him-why did you bring him along!"
"How much time did we waste on the way over here because of him?"
"Women are nothing but trouble!"