Chapter 21: The Smiling Face

Jiang Yan actually didn’t have much left to buy, but taking the money out was still better than letting it sit in the bank as a mere number.

Besides, the jewelry her mother had stored in the vault under Jiang Yan’s name would also need to be retrieved tomorrow.

After replying to all the delivery arrangement messages, it was still early before bedtime. She planned to enter her space first to take a look around.

Just as she was about to use her thoughts to enter the space, there was a loud “bang bang bang” on the door.

Yes, a bang.

And a very vigorous one at that.

Jiang Yan frowned and picked up her pad to check the surveillance.

Her surveillance system was top-of-the-line, not only providing high-definition video but also audio capture.

Outside the door stood a tall, broad middle-aged man with a rough-looking face, and a slightly thin, round-faced middle-aged woman with her hair tied up in a bun.

The woman held a small, hand-sized carved white porcelain plate. On it was a slice of yellow peach cream cake with a small transparent plastic fork.

The heat had melted the cream on top of the cake, and the yellow peach pieces had all sagged and stuck to the sides.

Both of them had red faces, with tiny beads of sweat on their foreheads—they were clearly feeling hot.

Most local people in Anming were used to mild winters and cool summers in greenhouses and had no resistance to this sudden heat wave.

Air conditioning was rare in homes; usually only west-facing rooms or hotels would have it.

The discomfort for ordinary people under such heat was easy to imagine.

Jiang Yan glanced at the screen: the man’s steps were unsteady, and his eyes showed obvious signs of drunkenness.

No one comes to the Hall of the Three Treasures without reason.

What kind of matter would make a couple visit at this hour?

If it were for a child’s birthday cake, it was already nearly ten o’clock—wasn’t that a bit too late?

Moreover, the apocalypse hadn’t even officially started yet, and the clichéd “neighbor knocks on the door” scene from novels was now happening to her.

Though she might be overthinking, Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow and decided to pretend she hadn’t heard anything.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

With the sound growing louder, the woman shouted at the top of her voice, “Little girl, I know you’re in there, could you please open the door?”

“Yes, little girl, we’re your neighbors from 3203, could you please open the door?” The man politely echoed.

As soon as he spoke, the woman glared at him fiercely and scolded in a low voice:
“Zhou Guangfu, why are you acting like a pervert? Are you really supposed to call her ‘little girl’?!”

The man’s face jiggled slightly, and he laughed, “Wife, I’m just following your lead.”

The woman ignored him, pulled her gaze back, and resumed pounding the door with her small fists, raising her voice, “Little girl, please open the door! We have urgent business with you!”

Good grief, it seemed endless.

Well, the apocalypse hasn’t started yet. She might as well see what this couple was up to.

With that thought, Jiang Yan got up, grabbed a medical mask from the entrance, put it on, and opened the door with a “creak.”

Jiang Yan had installed two doors in total.

The inner one was a solid bulletproof steel plate.

The outer door had a metal mesh in the top third, about the width of a finger, allowing a clear view outside.

This metal mesh could actually be electrified, but Jiang Yan hadn’t activated it—yet.

Her entrance was specially modified, perfectly blocking the view into her home.

As soon as the door opened, the outside heat rushed in, making Jiang Yan feel like half her head had been plunged into a sauna.

Meanwhile, the cool air from inside whooshed out through the mesh.

The couple outside immediately felt a blast of coolness on their faces.

They exchanged meaningful glances and instinctively stepped forward.

But when they saw Jiang Yan’s cold, icy stare, they froze.

The woman tried to look into Jiang Yan’s living room but saw nothing and finally withdrew her gaze, smiling awkwardly at Jiang Yan:

“Hello, little girl. I’m Zhang Chunmei from next door, 3203. This is my husband, Zhou Guangfu. Could you open the outer door too? It’s our child’s birthday today, and we’ve set aside a piece of cake for you. We wanted to share the joy with you.”

She added quickly, “We apologize for bothering you. Actually, we tagged you in the owners’ group chat earlier, but seeing no reply, we came directly to knock on your door.”

They say you don’t hit someone with a smiling face; Zhang Chunmei believed Jiang Yan was that kind of person.

Owners’ group?
During the time Jiang Yan went abroad to stockpile, she had deleted and exited almost all groups and removed countless casual friends.

She had completely cut off connections with her previous life and everyone irrelevant around her.

The only group she kept was the Shallow Water Bay owners’ group.

After Du Zitong helped her with the purchase, a man in the owners’ committee named Zhang Qiming added her as a friend and invited her into the group.

Jiang Yan had been silent in the group but had no intention of leaving.

After all, to fight wisely, one must know the situation.

Even though she had prepared to hide in her space and home when the apocalypse arrived, she couldn’t completely isolate herself from the world.

By staying in the group for now, she could keep track of the situation and the official response when disasters occurred.

As for someone tagging her in the group, she had no intention of checking.

After listening to Zhang Chunmei, Jiang Yan showed little expression and said calmly:

“Thank you both for the gesture. I won’t be eating the cake; leave it for the child. If there’s nothing else, I’ll close the door. Also, I don’t like to be disturbed, so please don’t knock on my door again. Thank you.”

She turned and walked away without waiting for a reply.

Zhang Chunmei’s face fell for a moment but quickly forced a smile: “Little girl, wait a moment. I have an unusual request.”

Whoa!
As expected, this cake offering was like a weasel paying New Year’s respects to a chicken.

Ah, no.
She wasn’t the chicken.

Jiang Yan stopped, turned around, and shot her a sharp look. “What?”

Zhang Chunmei was taken aback by her calm gaze, instantly switching her tone from “you” to the polite “您.”

“Well, little girl, today Anming suddenly heated up, it’s almost forty-two degrees in our home. My two children and two elderly family members have never experienced this. The elderly even have heart conditions and can’t tolerate it. My husband bought an air conditioner online, but it won’t be installed until tomorrow.

I was wondering, since you recently installed two air conditioners, would it be possible for our elderly and children to stay in your living room for the night?

Don’t worry, the children are well-behaved, and the elderly are clean—they won’t make a mess. If necessary, we can pay you, like a hotel fee plus electricity.”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Jiang Yan ignored her but suddenly covered her mouth and started coughing violently.

Zhang Chunmei and Zhou Guangfu glanced at her pale blue medical mask and froze, instinctively stepping back a good distance.