Shameless people deserve to be beaten.

Even though I was mentally prepared, seeing Wu Bainian twice in one day still made me incredibly irritated.

He stepped back a few paces and leaned against the alley wall, looking even more disheveled than in the morning. His hair, which hadn't been washed in ages, was plastered to his forehead in clumps, like a thief caught red-handed. He looked up at me with a panicked expression, seemingly not expecting me to be home.

"Aifeng, no, let me explain. We mean no harm. Please open the door first, okay?"

I crossed my arms and sneered, "Wu Bainian, you really are a fool who doesn't know what's good for him. You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, and you won't turn back until you get a concussion. So explain yourself, what do you want with so many people in my house?"

Wu Bainian, who had looked dejected after hearing the first half of my sentence, seemed surprised that my temper would give him a chance to explain. He immediately put on a sincere expression and said urgently, "It's like this, Aifeng. We were desperate and had no other choice. We went to several places, but people were robbing us of our supplies. The supermarkets and shops in the new city district are almost empty. We are outnumbered and have inferior weapons, so we can't compete with them. We've almost run out of food these past few days, so we thought we'd try our luck in the city center. We were just about to try our luck at Baolong Ace when we ran into you..."

"Oh, so you want to rob us after we took the supplies?"

"No, no, we didn't come to rob you. We came to you for refuge. Please take us in, okay? Look, there are only six of us, including two girls. We have no safe place to live, and we live in constant fear of losing our lives. Aifeng, I know I was wrong. I don't dare to make any unreasonable demands. Please, since we've known each other, help us, okay?"

"No good." There was one more man and one more woman than in the morning, making six people in total. Wasn't it unreasonable for me to ask them to take me in? I refused without hesitation.

Another head took a few steps back, staring at me with a sinister grin: "You're not opening it, huh? Slamming the door will attract zombies and no one will be in a good position. We were supposed to go to Baolong Ace first, but you guys grabbed so many supplies first, so it's only right that everyone gets a share."

This man was the tall, thin guy called Blackie. After hearing his words, I couldn't help but feel a little emotional. No matter the year or month, it's not uncommon to find shameless people who are self-righteous.

"Oh, so it seems you've been following us all along," I said, quite puzzled. "That's strange. We took some, but Baolong Ace left a lot of food. Why didn't you take it?"

No one answered me, so I chuckled and said, "Are you afraid of the dark? Well, there are plenty of zombies down there."

Wu Bainian stammered, "We wanted to go after you left, but suddenly a lot of zombies appeared in the square..."

I scoffed, "Want to go? You only came to my house once before I got back, didn't you? I bet you never intended to go! Ever since we parted ways, you've been planning to let us go on an adventure and then reap the benefits, haven't you?"

The tall, thin man raised an iron bar and slammed it hard against the door, making a loud "bang." He pointed at me and said, "Stop talking nonsense! Don't you have a gun? Shoot! We know exactly how many people are in your family. You're not afraid of attracting zombies, and I'm even less afraid. We might as well die together."

I clicked my tongue in admiration: "With this kind of fearless spirit, you wouldn't be struggling to get food at the supermarket. You're really something, daring to rob living people instead of killing zombies.

Wu Bainian and the others remained silent, hiding near the gate to avoid my gaze.

The tall, thin man wasted no time. He picked up the stick and smashed the door twice more, then pried it open through the crack.

My dad rubbed his eyes and came out of the house: "Who is it? It's the middle of the day, and the wind is strong. Is someone knocking on the door?"

"Yes, don't start yet, I'm going down."

I strolled slowly downstairs and saw Binbin come out as well, standing side by side with my dad, staring wide-eyed at a thin steel bar sticking through the crack in the door.

"What's this for?"

I waved them off to calm them down and walked straight to the door: "Don't try to pry it open, it's open now." With that, I removed the latch, pulled out the bolt, and readily opened the large iron door.

Four men and two women stood at my door, looking like refugees, their expressions indescribably grim. The black man who had pried open the door was clearly taken aback; he glanced into the yard, his throat bobbed, and he gripped the steel bar in his hand even tighter.

"Come in, are we going to lay out a red carpet for you?" I greeted them with a smile.

Blackie's expression was grim, but he didn't move. "What do you want to do? There are no zombies in this area, but there are many to the east. Do you want to try something funny?"

I patted my chest dramatically: "I'm just afraid of zombies coming. That's why I opened the door for you. We can talk things over. It's not good to resort to guns and knives."

Several men, clutching knives and sticks, hesitantly entered my yard. Blackie blocked a young man with an unfamiliar face and said to him without any regard for others, "You stay outside and keep watch. If anything seems wrong, run east and shout loudly to attract the zombies."

My dad was dumbfounded and angrily said, "Whose child are you? How could you be so wicked!"

The window of the bedroom on the left side of the first floor was suddenly pushed open, and my mother, with a dark face, revealed half of her body, looking at the group of people with disgust: "Dafeng, I don't care what you want to do, but the guy surnamed Wu is not allowed to enter my house."

"Aunt……"

"Who's your aunt? Get out!"

I shrugged helplessly and said to Brother Hei, "Look, the elders don't like Wu Bainian. He's interfering with our conversation. Let him leave."

Wu Bainian's eyes were filled with shame and fear. Seeing that I was really putting on a "business" act, Blackie nodded at Wu Bainian. Wu Bainian's lips trembled for a long time, but in the end he didn't say anything and went to switch the young man back.

As soon as the person landed, I immediately closed the door. The black guy stopped me: "What are you doing?"

I had already closed the door when he stopped me, so I let go and chuckled, "It's just a habit. It's not like it's meant to keep out zombies. If you don't want me to close it, I won't." He then winked at Binbin.

My dad stared at it for a long time, completely baffled: "What brings you girls and boys to my house? You're carrying knives and yelling about zombies. Even if you're Dafeng's friends, I still have to say something. Didn't the adults teach you proper etiquette when visiting someone's home? You didn't even greet the elders when you came in. What are you all doing, chattering away like that!"

I just smiled and remained silent, handing the conversation over to Blackie. It's not my place to be in charge here.

Several people's faces froze, and an awkward atmosphere spread. The two girls kept hiding behind the man, holding fruit knives and other weapons, but they didn't dare to raise their faces to face my father's intimidating presence.

My dad said again, "Speak up, what brings you here?"

It's really embarrassing that the robbery turned out this way.

Blackie's face turned pale with anger, his fingers gripping the steel bar so tightly they turned white. He didn't look at my dad, but faced me and said, "No more, just one-third. Give it to us and we'll leave."

My dad: "What do you mean, one-third? What do you want?"

Zhao Zhuobao yawned and stretched as he sauntered out of the house, leaning against the door frame with a dazed look on his face.

I remained silent, and the black man insisted on facing me: "Now there are five of you and six of us. You know what will happen if we fight, right?"

My dad got annoyed at being ignored repeatedly: "Dafeng, is this your friend?"

I shook my head: "No."

What are they doing here?

"robbery."

My bluntness surprised everyone, including the other party. My dad was furious and grabbed a small stool: "What? You little brat, instead of learning good things, you're robbing people! You dare to rob my Qi family's house!"

As soon as the insults were finished, the other side raised their knives and sticks. The three men remained calm, but the two women gripped the knives with both hands, their hands trembling uncontrollably. The black man's face turned fierce: "Want to break off relations? Those men aren't here. Think it over."

I nodded, looking extremely serious: "I've thought it through. We're not going to give away the supplies we worked so hard to get for nothing. Let's have a fight instead. If you win, you can take whatever you want."

Blackie gritted his teeth, "Fine, if you're ruthless, don't blame me for being ruthless too. We're taking the food, and you can forget about staying here! When the zombies come, let's see who's more of a coward!"

He shouted, "Wu Bainian!" and the footsteps outside the door rushed away.

I shook my head and sighed. Wu Bainian is truly beyond saving.

Upon hearing that a fight was about to break out, Xiao Zhao Binbin grabbed a weapon and came over. The three opponents brandished their weapons and shouted "Hey!" as they prepared to fight, causing a chaotic scene.

"Stop! Listen to me!"

I held back my dad, who was about to hit someone with a stool, and took advantage of the chaos to stomp on the young man's foot. I spread my arms to block him on both sides and said to the black man, "Don't be so hasty. We don't have any deep-seated hatred. Let's talk it out. Even if we have to fight, we can discuss it. How about this, to be fair, let's have a one-on-one fight? If you win, you can take all the grain you want. You can have it all, not just a third. If you lose... we'll talk about it then."

The black man looked at me with a very complicated expression, as if he was desperately trying to decipher my meaning, but his brain seemed to be struggling to keep up. But I didn't give him a chance to express his opinion.

“My dad doesn’t like you, so let him teach you a lesson on behalf of your deceased parents.”

Ignoring the black man's furious expression, I pointed at the young man and said, "Binbin and Xiao Zhao, this man is yours to take care of."

Zhao Zhuobao and Binbin, one seemingly mentally impaired and the other nervously approached the young man.

I beckoned to the short, fat man with my finger: "I'll have to beat you up." The short, fat man snorted disdainfully, clearly not taking me seriously.

There were two women left. One was Chen Ruonan, whom I had seen before. The other was a little taller, with a student-style haircut, wearing a tight sweater. Her figure was acceptable, but her appearance was indescribable.

"Mom, Meili, come out." I called out to the window. Blackie was taken aback. Seeing my mother carrying a stick and followed by another person, his face immediately turned even uglier.

They overlooked one thing, how could it not look bad? He thought all the able-bodied men had gone out, leaving only the elderly, women and children at home, but they completely underestimated my parents' fighting power. My mother could tear those two little girls apart like it was nothing, and Liu Meili could only be a cheerleader on the sidelines.

This was probably the most inexplicable robbery in history. As I flipped the short, fat guy to the ground, kneed him in the chest, and started stabbing his fat face until his nose bled profusely, I was thinking about this. It's fine to lack the guts to take supplies, it's fine to be envious, but isn't it incredibly stupid to just barge into someone's house like this? The most ridiculous thing is that when I suggested a one-on-one fight, they didn't object—wasn't this a robbery? Who the hell wants to fight you one-on-one?! So stupid, utterly stupid.

Of course, they weren't entirely brainless. First, they knew to come after the stronger squads had left; second, they knew the more supplies we stockpiled, the more likely we were to alert the zombies and abandon the base. So, threatening us with zombies was a sound strategy. I certainly didn't dare fire, nor did I dare refuse to let them into the house. Unfortunately, they underestimated our firepower.

As the saying goes, even a clay figure has some earthy qualities. Wu Bainian should know that none of our family members are clay figures, but he didn't seem to explain the situation clearly to Brother Hei, so a few minutes later, the duel ended with our team winning a great victory.

Two girls, who had been slapped countless times and had their hair pulled out countless times by my mother, ran crying and screaming towards the front door, only to be dumbfounded when they couldn't open it. The door had already been quietly locked by the sensible Binbin.

Binbin and Xiao Zhao didn't have much trouble dealing with the young man, even though they were both quite frail. But two negatives make a positive, after all. Xiao Zhao was, after all, someone who "wanted to protect the family of the person she loved." With that conviction, the two of them worked together and easily took the man down.

My dad doesn't usually fight, but when he does, he goes all out. I have two vivid memories of him fighting. Once, he beat up a neighbor, an uncle, so badly that the man was hospitalized and had to pay compensation. The other time was when I was a teenager, and he beat me up once. My mom said I was knocked unconscious, but I have no recollection of it. My mom said that meant I had amnesia... In short, he's a kind-hearted person on the outside but a ruthless one on the inside. Just look at that black guy lying on the ground, blood gushing from his head, unconscious.

Even I had it harder than him against the short, fat man. I was slightly weaker, but I had more experience, and in the end, the short, fat man was no match for me.

Someone knocked loudly on the door. Binbin went to open it, and Li Tonggu peeked out from the doorway with his round face. He looked at the scene in the yard and said, "Who do you want me to beat up?"

I said irritably, "You're only just arriving now, and you're already too late to stop people? Did you even manage to block them?"

Wu Bainian was thrown into the yard by Li Tonggu. He was nearly 1.8 meters tall, but Li Tonggu picked him up with ease and casually tossed him at my feet like trash.

"If you don't hit me, I'm leaving. They're waiting for me."

"Let's go, let's go."

We found ropes and tied them tightly from neck to toe, stuffing rags into their mouths, rendering the four men and two women immobile. The unconscious Black man was naturally unaware of anything, but the conscious short, fat man, the young man, and the two women all understood that we had been prepared, ambushing them from both sides. They struggled while glaring at me with resentment, as if I were committing a heinous crime. Only Wu Bainian remained silent and unrestrained, burying his head and letting himself be slaughtered.

"What should we do with them?" Binbin was very excited. He confiscated the weapons from these people and occasionally twirled one in his hand.

My dad said with a headache, "There's no police station now, where are we going to send these hooligans?"

Zhao Zhuobao squatted down in front of the two girls, staring at them intently, which frightened them sobbing and tears streaming down their faces. Zhao Zhuobao tried to wipe away their tears with pity, which only made them struggle more fiercely.

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I kicked Zhao Zhuobao away and said with a stern face, "Kill them all."

Everyone was horrified once again. The prisoners' eyes widened in disbelief, and they let out suppressed screams. My mother quickly waved her hand to stop them: "No, no, they haven't committed a capital crime, how can you kill them!"

My dad also said, "Yes, Dafeng, although the world is in chaos now, we have no right to decide life and death. These hooligans are not learning to be good. If they make mistakes, we should educate them. If they don't listen, we can beat them a few more times to make sure they behave. They are all young people, so we should give them a chance."

"An opportunity?" I sneered, circling the prisoners with malice in my eyes. "If I release them now, they can summon zombies as soon as they step outside. Do we even need our family anymore?"

Binbin jumped up: "Make them write a guarantee."

I rolled my eyes at him: "You've written a lot, haven't you? Is it any use?"

Binbin pouted, and my dad frowned as he pulled me aside, whispering, "Are you bluffing or are you serious? Let me tell you, I absolutely cannot allow murder. How about we give her a scolding and let her go? There's a young lady here, and I don't think she's inherently evil. She just wants some food, doesn't she?"

I glanced at him and said, "You make it sound so easy. It's just some food. Do you know how much effort we put into getting this little bit of food? Do you know that your daughter was chased all over the square by hundreds of zombies? Do you know that these guys in your family were fighting zombies in a pitch-black supermarket? Do you think it will last for a few days? All supplies are consumables. Every pound we use is one pound less. If we run out of food, we'll have to risk our lives again."

My dad's face darkened, and he fell silent. I continued, "In the old days, in a society governed by the rule of law, a serious fight would land you in jail, and being caught carrying a controlled knife would get you fined. Now, who cares? Nobody cares if you kill someone! You say these are just young girls, but these are the same people who brazenly came to our door with knives and sticks to rob us. Aren't they just trying to get something for nothing? Don't they think that the only people left at home are middle-aged or elderly, minors, or women, easy to deal with? We were lucky enough to catch them today, but what about next time? If we let them go and attract zombies, or if they bring even more people to block our door, do you think our family will be alright?"

I didn't deliberately lower my voice; I made sure everyone could hear me. My family members looked at each other silently after hearing what I said, while the prisoners huddled together, their eyes filled with fear instead of resentment. The two girls had swollen eyes from crying. Only Wu Bainian remained, slumped about dejectedly, resigned to his fate.

My dad sighed: "Then what do you suggest we do? I still don't agree..."

“I will not give them the grain, and I will not release them. We could have kept to ourselves, but I won’t stop them if they insist on courting death. I have two options. Mom and Dad, you can decide whichever you agree to. First, bury them alive. It’s bad luck to use knives and draw blood, so burying them alive is easier and will prevent future trouble.”

The female prisoner screamed shrilly, shaking her head desperately, her face filled with despair. The male prisoner's resentment once again replaced his fear, and his gaze towards me was filled with venom.

Both parents said in unison, "No."

Liu Meili, standing next to Binbin, shuddered at the mention of "buried alive" and quickly shrank behind him.

I put on a stern face and said very seriously, "Since you're all so compassionate, then let's go with the second one. Lock them up in the upstairs storage room and let them starve to death. Anyway, a bunch of cowards won't dare to go out and find food. They'll just cause trouble for the survivors if they live. It's easier for them to starve to death."

This time, Zhao Zhuobao was the first to stand up and object: "No, Aifeng! Li Tonggu and I sleep in the storage room. If you lock them in, where are we supposed to sleep?"

"Sleeping in the same room as President Yu."

"He doesn't like sharing a room with other people."

I scoffed: "It's not your place to be in charge."

Zhao Zhuobao looked at me with a mournful expression, then at the prisoners. After a moment of internal struggle, he said, "Then lock the two girls in our room, and the boys... in the upstairs toilet."

"Pah! You wish!" I glared at him fiercely. "You'd bring food to a woman locked in your room, and water to a man locked in the bathroom. How could they possibly starve to death!"

Zhao Zhuobao muttered to himself, "I'll keep a close eye on them." As he spoke, he cast a tender glance at the girl, which made the two of them tremble with fear.

My dad sighed repeatedly: "You little brat, all you ever think about is killing people. Don't you have any other ideas? How about we give you another beating? If we beat you into submission and make you scared, you won't dare to come back."

I said earnestly, "If the hidden dangers are not eradicated, they will spring up again in the spring breeze, Dad."

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Wow, I've collected six of them, and one of them is one I got myself! So awesome! (A series of seemingly random characters)