Back in the Silver City VIP room, the old lady gave a harsh "humph," cursing under her breath:
"You're incompetent! I've risked my reputation and gone to great lengths to help you, and you still can't get anything done! No wonder you're so old and have accomplished nothing!"
"What are you looking at? Your mom's oxygen circulator at home is out of oxygen, you better get in line and buy me some!"
Upon hearing this, the man's already gloomy face darkened even further: "Mom, we've already told you to move in with us. Look at you, living alone, you have to spend extra crystals to buy oxygen cylinders. Why bother!"
He had queued up once yesterday, standing for a full five hours, and only managed to buy one bottle, enough for one family to use for three days. He didn't want to go through that ordeal again!
"You'd better move upstairs and live with us as soon as possible!"
Although he doesn't have a workplace, his wife works at a supermarket and receives a daily food allowance. Although they still have to mine the crystals themselves, the only problem they have to do is queue up to buy oxygen cylinders. All things considered, they live a pretty good life.
But undeniably, he still felt his mother was a burden, and his expression turned sour.
How could she not know what kind of person her own son was?
The old lady snorted coldly, took out two crystals from her pocket and handed them to him, urging him, "If you don't want your old mother to die right now, then go and get in line!"
The man took the two crystals and laughed angrily. A family needs ten crystals for three days' worth of oxygen cylinders, and the old hag only gave him two? Weren't these the two she snatched from him the day before yesterday?
He was really unlucky to be tricked by that woman on the 17th floor today. Fortunately, he found more than a dozen crystals. Now he can only grit his teeth and go to the community's oxygen cylinder distribution point to queue up with a dark face.
Residents from several nearby communities line up here to buy oxygen cylinders, so there are an unusually large number of people.
Unfortunately, he's destined to have the worst luck today!
With the queue already halfway through, the street's loudspeaker began broadcasting: "Please find the nearest street office and exchange all your crystals and oxygen stones for crystal vouchers. From now on, use crystal vouchers to purchase all supplies!"
The man was dumbfounded. He had endured the scorching sun and waited in line for almost two hours, hungry and exhausted, only to be told that he had waited for nothing?!
Now he has to queue up first to exchange the crystals he has for vouchers, and then queue up again to buy oxygen cylinders.
Isn't this like taking off your pants to fart—completely unnecessary?!
He was so angry he wanted to curse!
Many people share his sentiments, especially those who are about to get their turn to buy oxygen cylinders. They are unwilling to leave the queue, exchange for a voucher, and then queue up again.
The scene instantly descended into chaos, with some feeling it was unfair, and many more trying to take advantage of the situation!
The man was about to slack off when someone suddenly patted him hard on the shoulder and called out, "Ge Youcai!"
When Ge Youcai turned around, he was immediately frightened and stood up straight. He recognized the person who called him; it was the city guard he had met the day before yesterday, who seemed to be a squad leader!
Seeing that he was sensible, Cao Jin nodded with satisfaction, waved to him, and led him to a secluded place.
"Hey, sir, what are your orders?"
In just a short while, Ge Youcai had already weighed the pros and cons and silently analyzed the situation in his mind. Such an important person must have asked him for help, so he must take this opportunity to make good contact with his superior!
As long as he has the support of the city guards, he won't have to worry about not being able to kill that little wench on the 17th floor.
snort!
What do you mean her lover is also a member of the city guard?
He absolutely refused to believe it!
Would the city guards send their women and children out of the city to mine?
Haha, stop kidding!
Even if her lover really is a soldier guarding the city, he's definitely just a lowly soldier who can't protect his family. How can he compare to the squad leader in front of him?
With that thought in mind, he smiled even more obsequiously and servilely at Cao Jin.
Cao Jin was quite pleased with his sensible demeanor. He offered him a cigarette and said, "I have something to ask you. Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you later so you can skip the queue and go directly to exchange for a voucher to buy an oxygen cylinder."
Ge Youcai's eyes lit up instantly. "See that? See that! This is the benefit of aligning yourself with the city guards!"
With just one sentence, a person can skip the queue!
So he became even more obsequious and said, "Sir, just ask me anything, and I will answer everything I know!"
Of course, you absolutely cannot accept a cigarette from your superior.
He reached into his pocket, intending to pull out a cigarette as a gesture of goodwill, only to discover with great annoyance that he had already smoked his last cigarette outside the city!
It's all that bitch on the 17th floor's fault! If it weren't for her, would he have been in such a bad mood that he smoked a whole pack of cigarettes?!
Cao Jin didn't care, and only asked, "Do you know that woman with the twins?"
Ge Youcai knew immediately that he was asking about the woman on the 17th floor. He was unsure of his superior's intentions and hesitated for a moment before nodding: "I wouldn't say we know each other, we just live in the same building and we always run into each other when we come and go."
That's an exaggeration. He's lived here for so many days and only met her twice, both times when he went out of town to mine.
"She lives alone with two children? Doesn't she have any other relatives?"
Ge Youcai knew this; his mother had already figured it out: "No."
He concealed the fact that she had a lover in the city guard, after all, he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, so who knew if it was true or not.
"Okay." Cao Jin nodded and instructed him, "Think of a way to lure her out of the building."
The houses in this community were built for the apocalypse. Once locked from the inside, no one outside can break in unless they use heavy weapons to demolish them, which would cause too much noise and unnecessary trouble.
He tried several times to have his men dress up as various people and knock on the door, but the woman was extremely wary and refused to open the door even once.
After several days of fruitless searching, he received news that Cheng Zhen seemed to be close to finding this place as well. Fearing that things might get complicated if he waited too long, he decided to find someone to lure the snake out of its hole.
Upon hearing this, Cao Jin immediately came up with an idea and confidently patted his chest, guaranteeing, "Leave it to me, I can get her out of the house right away!"
Ge Youcai wanted to show off, so he ran towards Building 1. As he passed by the crowd fighting over whether or not to queue to exchange coupons, he smugly snorted and said, "Who can be as lucky as me and not have to queue?"
On the 18th floor, the old lady saw him return empty-handed and was about to scold him when his face darkened. But when he explained his purpose, her eyes lit up: "You mean, the city guards wanted to lure her out?"
"Yes, I already promised the officer. You still have to handle this. We all need to exchange crystals for vouchers, right? Just say you have too many crystals to carry and ask her to help you out. That should get her out the door."
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