Anger boiled over in the room. Wang Min and the others raged: it had been Fang Yuqing who'd lured them into attacking Zhang Yi's door, and now half of them were either dead or crippled — and she wanted to abandon them and live in comfort? Impossible.
Zhou Peng, mid-"surgery" and trembling with pain, glared at her. "Qing, how could you do this to me? You said you hated Zhang Yi! Did you not promise to be mine?"
Fang Yuqing clutched her reddened cheek and answered with cold resolve: "What's wrong with chasing my own happiness? Staying with you was only ever temporary — we'll all die once supplies run out. Zhang Yi's place has food, warmth, and safety. What's wrong with wanting that?" She looked at the pale, shivering Zhou Peng as if he should understand. "Zhou Peng, you're a good man, but love is about making her happy, right? What you can give me can't compare to Zhang Yi!"
Zhou Peng went ashen, unable to form a reply. Zhou Ke'er's face hardened; she warned them, "Don't move! You'll bleed out if I nick an artery." Wang Min rushed to hold Zhou Peng down. "Cousin, stop getting worked up — save your life first!" She turned to Fang Yuqing, furious: "We'll let you go only if Zhang Yi gives us medicine!" Lin Caining planted herself in the doorway, chin high. "If you go, take me with you."
Fang Yuqing glared, then — desperate — begged Zhang Yi helplessly through the phone: "Brother Zhang Yi, you heard them. They won't let me go. Can you give them some medicine?"
From the kitchen, Zhang Yi watched the farce unfold with an amused smile. "Medicine is precious. How can I trust them? They might kidnap you to ransom and annoy me forever." His voice was casual, deliberate.
Zhou Peng shouted like a wounded animal: "Qing, don't believe him! He's teasing you!" But Fang Yuqing — clinging to the last straw — didn't listen. She lunged at Lin Caining. "Bitch, get out of my way!"
Chaos exploded. The two women pulled hair and bit, rolling on the floor like animals. Wang Min, losing patience with the spectacle while a cousin's surgery continued, jumped in and helped pin Fang Yuqing down. "Let me go! Let me go!" Fang Yuqing howled. Wang Min slapped her repeatedly until she went limp. "You want to leave? Dream on," Wang Min sneered, snatching Fang Yuqing's phone to call Zhang Yi.
"Hey, Zhang Yi. Fang Yuqing's with us. If you want her back safe, trade us medicine for her," Wang Min barked into the line.
Zhang Yi shrugged and replied with theatrical fear: "There are so many of you — I'm terrified. So Qing, I really want to be with you, but they're stopping me. Don't blame me."
The effect was instantaneous. Fang Yuqing screamed, eyes full of furious, helpless hatred for Wang Min and the others. Zhang Yi deliberately hung up with a cruel smile — the worst torment was dangling hope and jerking it away. He had no intention of letting the white-lotus into his house; he just enjoyed watching them writhe.
Fang Yuqing sobbed and wailed; her hatred was aimed at Zhou Peng and Wang Min now, not at Zhang Yi. She had convinced herself that if they'd let her go, she'd be warm and fed in Zhang Yi's living room.
Wang Min looked down on her, lecturing Lin Caining: "Keep an eye on her. If you want to stay in this group, don't let her run away. We suffer together — why should she get happiness alone?" Lin Caining nodded, eyes cold.
In the living room, Zhou Ke'er carried out a brutal, pragmatic operation: she ripped the rusty tetanus bolts out swiftly, without anesthesia or disinfectant. Alcohol would freeze in the cold; there was nothing sterile to hand. She taped and bandaged as best she could. "This is only temporary," she warned. "Without antibiotics, infection is likely. Be prepared."
Faces around her went pale. Nobody had medicine. Nobody could stop what came next.