Zhou Ke'er stretched out her hand to Wang Min — she wasn't going to work for free. Wang Min understood the unspoken rule and handed over a pack of biscuits. It wasn't much, but rationed it would last Zhou Ke'er two days. Satisfied, the makeshift medic left. After she went, the room's atmosphere turned unbearably heavy.
The three men lay on the sofa, wrapped in blankets, immobilized by the constant, gnawing pain of their wounds. Zhou Peng stared at Fang Yuqing on the floor with sorrow in his eyes; everyone else looked at her with open hostility.
Sun Zhichao took a long, ragged breath. "We can't just wait to die. We have to get medicine from Zhang Yi — otherwise infection will finish us."
Wang Min and Lin Caining's faces darkened at the truth in his words. They all knew it: without antibiotics in this frozen wasteland, even a survivable wound would rot into a death sentence.
"But we can't break into Zhang Yi's place," Wang Min sighed. Their failed assault had cost them dearly; what options remained?
Sun Zhichao ground his teeth, driven by pain and desperation. "I have a plan." Heads turned. "Zhang Yi's videos show a fireplace and plenty of food. Only a few of us know that for sure. If we can't take him on ourselves, we leak the footage to the whole building. Hundreds against one — with Chen Zhenghao involved, he won't hesitate to help himself. Then we take what we need: medicine and food."
Ge Jialiang brightened at the idea; others quickly nodded. The plan spread like wildfire. Fang Yuqing suddenly spat, "You're shameless! I'm going to Zhang Yi — what if you ruin everything?" Wang Min slapped her hard, hair flying, dragged her into the bedroom, and barked at Zhou Peng, "You take care of her!"
Zhou Peng's injured arm trembled as he hesitated. "Cousin, that's wrong — I like her. I can't—" Fang Yuqing, grasping at her dignity, begged. Wang Min snarled, "This vixen got us into this mess. If you want her, consider it payment." Zhou Peng pushed back weakly: "Don't talk about her like that. I won't force her."
He remembered how, when he was new in the city and looked down upon, Fang Yuqing had smiled at him, let him carry things, invited him to eat. That tiny kindness had bloomed into devotion; he blamed Zhang Yi for turning her heart. Fang Yuqing relaxed a little, though she still despised him.
Everyone else ignored the squabble and focused on the leak. Wang Min posted Zhang Yi's videos and photos into the homeowners' group with a furious caption: "Look at someone living in luxury while we freeze — how is this fair?" The post detonated the chat.
Neighbors watched, horrified and enraged: "They're wearing pajamas inside at -70°C! How are they still warm? Are those lights recent?" Starving and freezing, people were frantic at the sight of Zhang Yi's comfort.
In an instant, the fragile social order cracked. The footage made a simple truth glaringly clear: someone had prepared while everyone else suffered. Panic, resentment, and a raw animal instinct to survive spread through the building like contagion.