I glanced at the villa that Zhou Qingya had just entered not far away. I had thought there would be many people guarding the villa, but after Zhou Qingya and the others went in, the people with guns outside left, seemingly returning to their own residences.

Come to think of it, this is my own home, and the whole neighborhood is full of my people, so why would I have to worry about any attacks?

There is indeed no need to have someone always at the door.

However, this has made things much more convenient for me.

With my head down, I went straight to the back of the villa, glanced at the back door, and ignored everyone else around me as I walked towards it.

Please don't lock it! Please don't lock it! Please don't lock it! Please don't lock it!

Click.

I opened the back door; it wasn't locked!

I pulled the back door shut and cautiously poked my head inside. I found it was a storage area for miscellaneous items, and no one was there.

I closed the back door and went inside. A moment later, I saw someone coming down the stairs, which startled me. Why was they hiding? Then I saw that the person coming down the stairs was a woman, but it wasn't Zhou Qingya.

The woman went straight to the front living room. I didn't rush upstairs; instead, I waited for her to return.

Since that woman didn't leave, it means she'll definitely go back upstairs, so I don't mind waiting.

A few minutes later, the woman reappeared, this time carrying a plate with seven cups of tea on it, which she then presented to the table.

As I watched her go upstairs, I followed her cautiously.

After arriving on the second floor, she did not stop, but went straight up to the third floor.

Are Zhou Qingya and the others on the third floor?

Puzzled, I followed them upstairs. Once on the third floor, I heard a discussion coming from one of the rooms. Although the discussion wasn't loud, I hid in the room opposite and could hear it clearly.

"It's too late to say anything now. You all saw it just now. The person is already dead. What else can we do?" It was a man's voice.

"What can we do? So, according to you, we should just give up on her?" one of the men said.

The man continued, "The people are already dead, what else can we do! Our main priority now is to minimize our losses. We don't have many guns and ammunition to begin with, and if we keep wasting them like this, we'll be killed by those bastards sooner or later."

"We can't just sit here and wait to die, can we? If we really don't fight back, we'll probably be done for this soon. Now that little girl is dead, we can't give up even more! Otherwise, her death would have been in vain!"

I was stunned for a moment when I heard that.

The little girl is dead!

Is the little girl they're talking about Zhong Linyun?

I was a little confused, but I kept listening. I couldn't quite believe the little girl was dead.

"It's because she's dead that we're in this predicament, you understand!"

Before long, the people inside started arguing. I don't know the specifics, but from what they were saying, I could tell that they seemed to have split into two factions: one advocating conservatism and the other advocating confrontation. Each had its own reasons and its own objectives.

"Enough! What's all the noise about? Quiet down!" Zhou Qingya's voice came from behind.

Hearing her voice, I smiled and finally spoke.

Moreover, after she spoke, everyone in the room fell silent, which suggested that she was indeed the leader here.

Zhou Qingya said, "We can talk about the little girl later. First, tell me how many weapons and firearms we have left?"

Someone said, "Not many. If you fully equip one person, you can equip about fifteen people, and that's it. If you spread them out, you can have about twenty people, but you know, if you spread them out, the situation will be very..."

"I understand. Have you acquired any other weapons recently?"

Someone said, "I heard from Mao that they encountered a raider squad around noon earlier, and they had already tied them up and seized a lot of weapons and ammunition."

"Raiders!" Zhou Qingya's voice was filled with anger. "They dare to come here again?"

"I don't know about that, but there are only three of them this time, and they're currently locked up in Mao's house. We'll have to ask Mao about the specifics later."

"Okay, you handle this. After you've finished questioning them, kill those three people," Zhou Qingya said.

"become."

When I heard Zhou Qingya's decision, I broke out in a cold sweat. I didn't expect her to be so decisive.

It seems it's time to show up, otherwise who knows what will happen next.

I walked out of the room across the street, not caring about anything, and drove straight to the door of their room. Then I leaned against the door frame and knocked.

Immediately, all eight people in the room looked at me.

Some of them reacted quickly. When they saw me, a look of surprise flashed in their eyes. After realizing that I was a stranger, they immediately pulled out a pistol, pointed it at me, and demanded, "Who are you!"

I glanced at the man with the gun, but remained calm. Instead, I looked at Zhou Qingya, who was sitting in the head seat, and said, "Old friend, it's been a long time."

Zhou Qingya seemed surprised to see me there, staring wide-eyed in disbelief.

Everyone else in the room looked at Zhou Qingya.

Zhou Qingya slowly stood up from the chair, then looked at me, blinked, her lips trembling slightly, and asked, "You, are you really?"

I was puzzled by what she said. Did she think I was hallucinating?

I stepped forward to speak, but they stopped me.

I said helplessly, "Do you think I'm real or fake?"

Zhou Qingya was incredulous. She covered her mouth with both hands, looked at me excitedly, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

Seeing Zhou Qingya's behavior, the man with the gun asked in confusion, "Who is he?"

The others were also puzzled, not knowing who I was.

Zhou Qingya stared at me for a long time, then, with tears streaming down her face, she pushed through the crowd and went straight to me. She hugged me tightly, crying as she said, "It's true, it's true! It's true! That's wonderful, it's true!"

I was taken aback when she hugged me; I hadn't expected her to react so strongly. But seeing her reaction, I felt relieved; at least she hadn't forgotten what happened before.

…………

…………

Recorder Diary 19:

"Today is December 21st, the third day since we submitted our resignation letters. We still haven't heard anything. However, I got some news from Lin Zijie today. Apparently, the research institute is planning to recruit five new researchers. I think since they've already started recruiting, they might have already accepted our resignation letters. I guess we'll hear back about our resignation letters tomorrow. Sigh, let's just wait and see. It should be over in another day."

(End of this chapter)