The sense of smell precedes the sense of hearing.
The moment the door opened, the tempting aroma of food filled the air. Upon hearing Xu Lai's words, Old Master Xiao's wrinkled eyes lit up instantly.
After listening to what the Xu girl said, he quickly reached out his hands and happily accepted the food she offered.
"Haha, Xu family girl, thank you to your mother on behalf of Grandpa Xiao!"
Xiao Shan carried a large bag of food delivered by the Xu family in one hand. After seeing the Xu family girl enter her house, he quickly closed his own door with his other hand.
"Xiao Rui, Xiao Ya, come over here for a snack!"
Xiao Shan raised his voice and called out to his son and daughter-in-law, who were busy preparing food in the kitchen. Then, he couldn't wait to go to the liquor cabinet, grab a bottle of baijiu, and head straight to the dining table.
After a leisurely day, the two families had breakfast the next day and, after discussing it, decided to go out again while the rain wasn't too heavy.
This time, it was still Song Qiu'e and the two old men who were looking after the house.
Unexpectedly, when the other five people took turns carrying the rubber boat down to the third floor, they heard the sound of fighting coming from the corridor on the third floor.
Just from the sounds coming from outside the fire door, Xu Lai and the others guessed that this fight was obviously one person being beaten by a group of people.
"You son of a bitch, I told you to be a good guy, I told you to cut off our livelihood! This time I'll make you bleed, or I'm not Wang Cai! Brothers, beat him up!"
Xu Haiguo and Xiao Rui, who were carrying the kayak ahead, both changed their expressions when they heard the sound coming from outside the fire door.
Fortunately, the fire door was about two-thirds closed at that time.
Xu Haiguo and Xiao Rui exchanged a glance and then signaled to Xu Lai and the others who were carrying the rubber boat to gently lower it down.
Because of her tragic past life, Xu Lai is extremely cautious about the outside world in this life, especially after the outbreak of the torrential rain disaster.
Like this time when she went out, she was carrying a crossbody sports bag.
Inside were a dagger, pepper spray, and a retractable stun gun.
Seeing the danger outside the fire door, she quietly walked to her father's side and silently shielded him with her body.
Seeing his daughter's actions, Xu's father was naturally unwilling to let her stand in front of him in case of danger.
In his eyes, as a parent, protecting his children is his responsibility, so he reached out to pull his daughter behind him.
Xu Lai didn't want to attract the attention of the people outside the fire door, so she shook her head at her father.
Through the crack in the fire door, Xu Lai looked over and saw three thugs beating a young man on the ground.
Xu Lai glanced at the person leading the group and found him somewhat familiar.
She recalled carefully, and realized that the man was Wang Cai, Xiong Zhong's subordinate, who was about to be elected as the building manager in her previous life.
In my previous life, around these past few days, someone in their building took advantage of the light rain and still decent cell phone signal to suddenly volunteer to be the building manager in the community group chat.
He first listed the benefits of having a building manager.
That means each building has a manager who can lead the residents in comprehensive management of the building's security, purchasing and replenishing supplies, and communication with the outside world.
During the earlier COVID-19 pandemic, each building had a building manager. As the building manager, they were responsible for taking the residents' temperatures, distributing supplies, and handling various daily chores.
It can be said that this work is entirely a labor-intensive task.
So when someone volunteered to be the building manager, all the owners in the group expressed their approval.
The building manager that Xu Lai and his team nominated for the first building was named Xiong Zhong.
As a result, after Xiong Zhong took office, he and his gang of thugs began to ruthlessly exploit the residents of the building.
For example, they might go out to buy supplies for residents in the building who don't have access to water transportation, and then sell the goods back to these residents at several times or even dozens of times the purchase price.
It's okay if you can't afford it; you can exchange it for something valuable from your home.
This group even started pimping.
You have no money, but you have children at home; you can use your body to exchange for them.
Then he would take these young girls, even underage boys and girls, out to serve people with greater power outside.
In any case, under the management of these criminal gangs, their residential building gradually developed into a small society in dire straits.
At this time, the collapse of social order was just beginning to take shape, and Wang Cai and his group were not yet bold enough to commit murder and arson.
They simply gave the young man lying on the ground a severe beating, then verbally threatened him before crossing the corridor and disappearing to the other side.
"hiss!"
The young man lying on the ground struggled to get up after the others left.
However, he couldn't use his right arm and was in pain all over his body.
Upon seeing this, Xu Haiguo, who was standing behind the fire door, quickly went forward and helped him up.
"Young man, are you alright?"
Xu Lai and the others followed.
When Xu Lai saw the young man with blood on his lips, she couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "How could it be you?"
Isn't that Yu Cheng, the baby-faced property management staff member in their community!
It was because of his help that the greedy uncle's family was able to move to room 502 downstairs to rent.
Yu Cheng, who was wincing in pain after being helped up by Xu Haiguo, clearly recognized Xu Lai.
"Sigh, stop talking!"
Yu Cheng was afraid that the three thugs who had beaten him would come back, so when he saw the rubber boat behind Xu Lai and the others, he asked them if they would be willing to take him home.
"My home is on the eighth floor of building number six in this complex!"
Xu Lai had a good impression of this sunny, cheerful, and quick-witted property management guy, so she nodded in agreement without thinking.
Xu Haiguo and Xu Chao always listened to Xu Lai.
Xiao Rui and Li Qingya figured they were going to leave the complex anyway, and since they would have to go through the sixth floor anyway, it was just a convenient thing to do, so they agreed.
So Xu Haiguo helped Yu Cheng, and Xu Lai and the others carried the rubber boat out of the apartment building.
In less than fifteen minutes, the group delivered Yu Cheng to his home.
Li Qingya and Xu Chao stayed downstairs to watch the rubber boat, while Xu Lai and her daughter, along with Xiao Rui and his wife Yu Cheng, arrived at his home.
The living room of this property management guy's apartment isn't very big; it's probably a small apartment, but it's kept very clean and tidy.
Yu Cheng was in pain all over his body, but he forced himself to sit on the sofa.
Xiao Rui, a surgeon, glanced at the property management staff member's limp arm and reached out to touch it.
Do you have drinking water at home?
Xiao Rui suddenly spoke up and asked.
"Drinking water, oh, yes, it's in the kitchen..."
Before Xu Lai and the others, including Yu Cheng, could even utter the word "over there," they heard a "click" sound.
Yu Cheng also felt a sudden, sharp pain in his arm.
Xiao Rui, still unhurried, suggested, "Try moving your right arm?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com