Chapter 11: The Truth Behind the Deal

After a month of training and help from the spiritual spring water, her body had noticeably transformed.

She now had visible abs and beautifully defined muscle lines on her limbs.

The chickens and ducks in the backyard reliably laid 10 to 15 eggs for her every day.

Aside from eating two eggs a day for basic nutrition, she also taught herself to make tea eggs, salted duck eggs, and braised eggs to diversify her meals.

In the front yard, the flowers she had been eagerly waiting for had already grown stalks up to her knees and looked like they were about to bloom.

Ever since the two major events that night, the family of four next door had stopped leaving their yard.

Even the young man who used to walk his dog now only did so within their own yard.

The little girl hadn’t come out again to deliver soup or food to her either.

Still, every morning when Mu Jiu woke up, she often saw the little girl watering the plants in their sunroom across the way.

Mu Jiu figured they had probably realized just how troublesome and difficult this disaster really was—which is why they stopped going outside.

After all, the aftermath of the eight-person family who died from carbon monoxide poisoning was quietly handled by the butler department.

No one knew the exact details.

But any of that family’s belongings—cash, jewelry, food, or other supplies—most likely fell into the butler department’s hands.

If this disaster never ended, it meant they were silently taking the inheritance of the dead.

And when it happens once, it will happen again.

What’s most concerning is this: the disaster won’t end.

The butler department had 108 members, with a 70:30 male-to-female ratio. The daily food consumption by so many was enormous.

If their supplies ran out and they got the idea to scavenge from others—it would be a terrifying situation.

As Mu Jiu suspected, the butler department’s food crisis exploded half a month after they started delivering firewood to each villa.

Typically, they’d deliver firewood early each morning to every house.

But on the sixteenth day, even by afternoon—when Mu Jiu woke from her nap—there was no sign of firewood delivery.

Mu Jiu didn’t depend on the firewood, but the rest of the resort residents did.

Some couldn’t wait any longer and directly tagged the head butler, Chen Xiao, in the group chat to ask what was going on.

Since firewood was limited each day and many villas had large households that needed more to heat multiple rooms, they were desperate—like broke people waiting for payday.

But after the message was sent, it wasn’t until 8 PM that the butler department finally responded with bad news.

Chief butler Chen Xiao made a public announcement:

From now on, all villa residents must submit food daily based on the number of people staying there, as a special management fee.

The amount of firewood each house received would depend on how much grain they submitted—more grain, more firewood; less grain, less firewood.

The collected food would be used to support the daily lives of the butler department staff, ensure everyone’s safety, and provide services.

Anyone who didn’t comply would have all services revoked, including security protection.

Everyone immediately understood the threat in those words. After all, it had been the butler department who responded to that fire emergency.

And chopping firewood wasn’t exactly a simple task anymore.

It was already -60°C outside. Frozen tree trunks were far harder than usual, and frostbitten hands were more fragile than ever…

Not to mention, none of the residents had the proper tools. Without chainsaws, what were they supposed to use—kitchen knives?

For those who still had extra food, they were willing to give up some to buy this service.

After all, the food quota wasn’t too high—half a pound per person per day—which was manageable for now.

Some people still clung to hope that the disaster would eventually end—as long as they endured.

Seeing that a few residents supported the idea, the butler department immediately declared that starting at 8 AM tomorrow, they would begin collecting food from each villa and then deliver firewood.

No food, no firewood—strictly a trade.

Someone immediately questioned: what about tonight? What are we supposed to do without firewood?

There was no response from the butler department. In fact, they were doing this on purpose.

They already had the firewood prepared—they just wanted everyone to experience a night without it, so they’d willingly pay up the next day.

Then someone in the group remembered: the owner’s wife (the “boss lady”) lived in the resort.

This was her family’s property. Couldn’t she do something about her employees?

This was straight-up exploitation!

Someone who had a slightly closer relationship with the boss lady tagged her in the group and pleaded for help.

Others quickly followed, echoing their complaints and asking her to intervene.

Perhaps to save face, the boss lady finally appeared.

[Boss Lady]:

“Apologies, everyone. It’s indeed a special time, and the butler department is facing a severe food shortage. Without external supply, it’s difficult for them to continue service.
But we’ll try to give everyone a satisfactory answer as soon as possible—please don’t worry!
I’m doing my best to contact external aid and resources to resolve this issue.

@Chen Xiao, deliver firewood to each house tonight.
With temperatures this low, how are people supposed to survive without fire?
If anything goes wrong, will you take responsibility?”

With her pressure, others in the chat suddenly gained confidence and joined in criticizing the butler department.

Only Mu Jiu lay on her five-meter-wide bed, holding her phone and watching the drama unfold.

If a single word from the boss lady could solve things, the apocalypse wouldn’t have fallen apart to begin with—there’d be no need for bases or military units.

Sure enough, the butler department soon replied:

[Chen Xiao]:

“Boss lady, we’ve already done what we initially agreed to: cutting firewood and distributing it for free.
But that was under the condition that you could get in touch with the boss and secure supplies for us.

It’s been more than two weeks—we’ve kept delivering firewood daily, but we haven’t heard a single word from the boss.

We’ve stopped hoping.

Let’s be honest—self-reliance is the only way forward.

We provide service and protection—charging for it is only fair.

We’re human too, not air-breathers. We need to eat. Your empty promises won’t feed us.

And let me make this clear: even your villa, boss lady, will need to submit food according to the number of people staying.

No food, no firewood.”

That reply left everyone in the group stunned—the butler had just snapped at the owner’s wife!

From an employee’s perspective, Mu Jiu honestly sided with Chen Xiao.

Given the current situation, expecting external aid was indeed unrealistic.

But then again… if the butlers were out of food, what would happen to the other 49 households?

[Boss Lady]:

“Chen Xiao, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying you’re quitting?
You embarrass me like this, I’ll fire you on the spot!”

Clearly losing face, the boss lady went straight to threats.

But what came next—from Chen Xiao—was explosive…