Rebirth in a New Life, Jiang Ning Knew the Nature of People All Too Well

“I don’t want to give it either, but staying deadlocked like this isn’t a solution. Only if they go out and find supplies will it be safer for us.”

When people are truly starving, they completely lose their reason. At the brink of life and death, there’s nothing they won’t do.

Only then did Zheng Weili agree.

Jiang Ning came downstairs and said to He Zhi’an, “We don’t need to search for supplies together, but we can lend you the inflatable boat for a day. Also, I suggest not rushing to find food. The priority should be to find a boat.”

He Zhi’an hadn’t really expected the residents of the 18th floor to agree to go out with them—it was just a tactic: ask for something impossible first, then fall back to a lesser demand.

What he was really after was borrowing the inflatable boat. “Alright. Really, thank you.”

“But we’re only lending it this once. What if you lose or damage it?”

“Well… we’re neighbors…”

“Don’t give me that fake neighbor talk. What kind of neighbor bullies their own like you people?” Jiang Ning said bluntly. “This boat is our lifeline. Lending it is a favor, not lending it is our right. Don’t think you can force us just because you’ve got numbers.

If you piss me off, killing one is no loss. Killing two is a profit. Anyone who’s not afraid to die, come at me!”

Survival is a human instinct. Sure, they had the numbers—but who’s dumb enough to throw their life away? Everyone knew that someone on the 18th floor had killed before. No one dared say a word.

He Zhi’an looked around and fumed. Moments ago, everyone downstairs was spouting off, but now they were all acting like turtles hiding in their shells.

But at this point, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and push forward. His wife and kids were still hungry at home.

He was the one taking charge of this operation, which meant he’d get a larger share of whatever supplies they found. And in the future, having authority would make everything easier to manage.

“If we break it, we’ll pay you back with a new one.”

“Words mean nothing. I want it in writing.”

“You—” He Zhi’an was infuriated but eventually bit the bullet. “Fine.”

It’s just a crappy inflatable boat. Once they borrow it, so what if they don’t return it? When the flood recedes, even if it gets reported to the police, they could just compensate her then.

Once the deal was settled, Zheng Weili wrote up an agreement, and both sides signed and sealed it.

After receiving the boat, He Zhi’an grinned like a Buddha statue, spouting a bunch of polite pleasantries before signaling everyone to disperse.

“Building Chief He,” Jiang Ning called out, “you borrowed the inflatable boat, so if anything happens, I’m only coming after you.”

“Of course.”

Jiang Ning smiled at him. “You live in 1303, with a wife and two kids. Your elderly mother has a bad leg, doesn’t she?”

He Zhi’an turned pale with shock.

His scalp tingling, he quickly said, “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of the boat.”

So many scheming faces… and how much can one inflatable boat really bring back? The moment distribution turns unfair, chaos will erupt. Let them tear each other apart.

Back on the 18th floor, Zheng Weili returned 2,000 yuan to Jiang Ning. “We meant to pay, but the supermarket was too chaotic. We grabbed what we could and ran—didn’t even get the chance to pay.”

Jiang Ning took the money. “Things are chaotic now, but I believe the government will regain control soon. You can still spend it later.”

Though they hadn’t spent the money, since the idea came from Jiang Ning, Zheng Weili insisted on splitting the retrieved supplies evenly.

“The money wasn’t even spent. I can’t take your stuff,” Jiang Ning refused outright. “Besides, you risked your lives to get those supplies.”

“You can’t see it like that. Without you, we wouldn’t have gotten the supplies, and even if we did, we couldn’t have gotten them home.”

Since neither side would budge, Jiang Ning had no choice but to accept. In the end, she only took two packs of noodles, some solid alcohol, and dried vegetables—absolutely refusing to take anything more.

After she left, Lu Yu spoke with his girlfriend. “That girl in 1801 looks cold, but she’s actually pretty righteous. We’ve got eyes on us now—we need to stick together. Honestly, without her help today, we’d have lost all our stuff.”

Zheng Weili agreed. “How about we send her something? Make it official. That way, we can help each other out in the future.”

Lu Yu packed up five pounds of rice and went to knock on 1801’s door.

Jiang Ning stood on the balcony, watching the inflatable boat paddle away from the building. Six men sat inside, all gripping sticks as weapons.

People in the other units were jealous—some even considered rushing in to steal it, but hesitated when they saw the sharp weapons in their hands.

1801 came to knock on her door. “Do you know where we can get gas?”

Jiang Ning not only knew—she’d been there before. “I have a rough idea. But the area is low-lying. They evacuated it before the typhoon hit. It might be underwater now, even if the tanks are still there.”

The residential compound used piped gas, so hardly anyone had liquefied gas tanks. Portable gas and solid alcohol didn’t last long.

Put simply—even if you found rice, oil, and flour, you’d still have no way to cook them.

Jiang Ning had some in her space, but using them openly would blow her cover. “There are a few snack stalls at the entrance of the compound. I saw gas tanks there. Maybe we can figure out how to retrieve them?”

Lu Yu immediately chimed in. “Food isn’t our biggest issue right now. Let’s give it a shot. But we’ve gotta hurry—once others catch on, there’ll be nothing left.”

Huo Yishen had no objections, and the group quickly reached a consensus.

When Zheng Weili left the house, Huo Yishen frowned. “If everyone’s out, what if someone breaks in?”

A valid concern. The front may be lit, but a fire in the backyard is worse.

They re-strategized—each household would send one person. Zheng Weili would stay behind to guard the homes and watch over Doudou. Huo Yishen would provide the inflatable boat and gasoline.

Doudou was a little scared of Zheng Weili but bravely nodded. “Brother, Sister, come back soon, okay?”

Huo Yishen gently patted her head. “We will.”

So while most were out scrambling for food, the 18th floor set out on an off-peak mission to find liquefied gas tanks.

Lu Yu thought, if they found extras, they could even trade for food later.

The inflatable boat’s motor roared to life, instantly drawing attention. Some greedy types made a move, but the boat sped off so fast it left them in the dust—nothing but a blur of wake behind.

Several snack shops had been submerged by the floodwaters, but with familiar landmarks near the compound’s gate, they weren’t hard to find.

Jiang Ning took out a portable diving mask and waterproof headlamp, but they ran into a problem.

Lu Yu, being frail and sickly, couldn’t go underwater—he wouldn’t have the strength to force a door open anyway.

The water was more than ten meters deep, and breaking into a door underwater was exhausting. Jiang Ning’s lung capacity wasn’t enough either.

Huo Yishen picked up the diving mask. “I’ll go.”

After he put on the gear, Jiang Ning tied a rope around him. “The current is strong. If there’s trouble, just tug the rope.”

Once he dove in, Jiang Ning and Lu Yu stayed alert, clutching sharp sticks and watching their surroundings, ready to fight off any surprise attackers.

The floodwater was murky and foul. Lu Yu looked into the distance in surprise. “A’Ning, what’s that?”