novelbin 28: Long spear
28: Long spear
Su Chen was abruptly awakened by the arguing outside the window.
When he opened his eyes, it was just barely dawn, with only a sliver of morning light seeping in through the curtains. He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table—6:40 a.m.
In the past, at this time of day, there would only be the sound of elderly people doing their morning exercises in the neighborhood. Now, however, all that can be heard is angry shouting and shoving.
He walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and peered outside.
Downstairs in the open space, the five members of the temporary team were surrounding three young men. Su Chen recognized the three men; they lived in Building 2, and he had seen them carrying beer upstairs together before he transmigrated. Now they were all pinned to the ground, one of them with a bruised face, struggling desperately.
"Why are you stopping us! What we found is ours!" the young man, who was being held down, shouted defiantly.
The temporary team leader was Zhang Jianguo, who was in his fifties and used to be a security captain. At the moment, he had a red cloth strip tied around his arm.
He crouched down, his voice low but clear: "The convenience store warehouse lock was broken last night. The security cameras are broken, but someone saw you do it! These are the things taken from the warehouse! You think 'what you find is yours'? Then if you rob a bank, is all the money yours? What kind of twisted logic is that!"
The young man being held back protested, immediately yelling back, "That's our team's convenience store! We're just taking our own things, what's it to you!"
"That's right, we'll take our own!" another shouted.
The three youths were held down tightly, their faces scraping against the ground, leaving several bloody marks, their eyes practically spitting fire.
Zhang Jianguo, the leader of the temporary management team, didn't care whether they were angry or not.
There are only two convenience stores in the whole neighborhood! With that little stock, who can possibly get enough to go around?
Fortunately, the owners of these two stores were quite capable, and each set up a warehouse, making a total of four warehouses.
On the first day after the temporary management team was established, Chen Limin, along with the few remaining police officers and veterans in the community, sealed up all these supplies.
The meaning is obvious: seize the rich and redistribute the spoils.
The entire community of over two thousand people wholeheartedly supported this decision!
Oh, Captain Chen, you're such a good person! You're truly exceptional and incredibly wise! Everyone supports you; you're the only one who can be captain. The hopes of Xingfu Community rest on your shoulders!
Some young girls even flirted with him, saying things like, "Captain Chen, you're so amazing! I can't sleep at night, can you come and keep me company?"
Captain Chen refused the young girl's invitation with a righteous expression.
Then, beaming, he waved his hand modestly: "Hey! What's the point of all this formalism? Why are you saluting me? Tired? I'm not tired. Serving the residents is my responsibility! Long live all the residents of Xingfu Community! ... Oh dear, these cigarettes should be distributed per person. What are these two cartons of Zhonghua and three cases of Moutai for in my house...? That's not right! Hey! Boss Zhang, don't go! Come over for lunch? Let's have a couple of drinks..."
Boss Zhang was so angry he almost had a stroke on the spot.
It is said that when he left his own convenience store, his hands and feet were shaking—purely from the cold!
Mr. Zhang went home and stayed in bed for two days, and there wasn't much food left in the house.
The community notice encouraged people to go out and explore, but at 45, he no longer had that drive and courage, and could only stay at home and tough it out.
He was given two loaves of bread in the last two days.
Clutching the bread that originally belonged to his convenience store, he forced a smile and asked, "Manager... there are three people in my family, two loaves of bread aren't enough..."
The young administrator glanced at him sideways and said slowly, "Boss Zhang, you're a 'contributor,' that's why you get these sandwiches. These are special times, resources are scarce, there's nothing we can do about it. Why don't you join the expedition team? That way you'll get more stuff."
Mr. Zhang's face turned pale. He gritted his teeth and shoved a bag of potato chips into his hand—it was a snack his daughter had saved up, and luckily there were still some left!
After accepting the snacks, the young administrator's tone immediately warmed up: "Boss Zhang, Captain Chen invited you to dinner the other day... why did you leave? You're a contributor, you shouldn't get so little..."
Boss Zhang was so angry he wanted to kill someone.
So he started a "Happy Community Environmental Protection Organization", recruited three young people to join, and made a promise: "Take my convenience store and share it as a team resource!"
...Then, this whole thing happened this morning.
Zhang Jianguo sneered, staring at the young men on the ground: "Heh! Whether this is a frame-up or not, let Old Wang, the warehouse guard, recognize your faces and we'll know." He stood up and addressed the growing number of residents, "Rules are rules, and they must be followed. Distributing supplies according to headcount was agreed upon by everyone in a vote. Breaking into the warehouse is stealing everyone's food rations!"
The surrounding residents immediately erupted in uproar:
"Yes! Team Leader Zhang is selfless! We've all seen it!"
"How hateful! These selfish thieves who steal supplies! If you steal our things, what are we residents supposed to eat?" An angry woman picked up her slipper and threw it at them.
The residents became increasingly agitated, and not content with verbal attacks, some even rushed forward and physically assaulted the attackers, shouting as they did so.
"Send them to the exploration team! We can't let them freeload off the neighborhood!"
Zhang Jianguo wasn't swayed by everyone's emotions. He shook his head and said, "According to the rules, you have to return the items. The management team will distribute them as needed."
Then, he glanced to the side and saw Boss Zhang peeking from the corner. He felt a little sympathy for this fellow clansman's plight.
"Boss Zhang, this is just the way things are... there's nothing we can do about it."
Boss Zhang was peeking from the side, his face turning deathly pale with anger.
He just couldn't understand it: Why can't I take my own things?
But faced with this situation, he felt utterly powerless, his face contorted with grief, and he staggered away.
As Su Chen passed by, he also saw Boss Zhang's dejected figure and muttered to himself:
"Captain Chen's distribution strategy did win people's hearts and temporarily stabilize the situation. But the fact that 'contributors' like Boss Zhang have fallen to this state ultimately comes down to unequal distribution."
Su Chen shook his head and didn't think about it anymore.
……
The residents of the community are no longer as panicked as they were when they first traveled through time.
All tasks were arranged in an orderly manner.
Su Chen strolled around the neighborhood and saw many residents uprooting the flowers and plants in the green belt, turning over the soil and sowing seeds.
The central ornamental pond in the community has also been used for aquaculture, and a fishy smell wafts over.
By the pond, several former fishermen, now fish farmers, were busy working and reminiscing:
"Sigh, the pond is too small, and it only houses ornamental fish... I think this fish-raising business is doomed!"
"That's right! But ornamental fish are still meat, and there's only so much of a resource left in our community, so it's the only option we can have."
"Hey? Did you guys check the computer last night? They released a new 'Homestead System'! Wow, it totally blew my mind!"
"I looked! In that card category, I saw so many descriptions, and there are so many kinds of cards! They're all like the Arrow Tower cards from before. I've got my eye on the 'Lake' card. If I could use it in the neighborhood, it would create a big lake, which would make raising fish so much easier!"
"That makes sense! But here's the problem—how do we get the cards?"
"...I heard that you have to kill monsters to get it, and it's a random drop."
"Sigh, let's hope those guys in the defense force work hard... and get a Lake card soon."
As the group was engrossed in their conversation, an old man leaned over and asked, "Homestead System? What's that?"
Everyone fell silent.
Su Chen walked by and overheard their discussion, a thought suddenly occurring to him.
Using the cards in the neighborhood... that's a novel idea. This way, you don't even need expansion cards; there's a place to use them directly.
He suddenly realized that if he continued to expand the community using expansion cards, sooner or later the community would become as big as the Earth.
...Stop, I can't think about it anymore.
Hearing the calls of vendors, Su Chen looked up and realized he had arrived at the bustling trading street.
He touched the Nepalese kukri tucked into his waistband, then stepped inside.
"Take a look! A bag of biscuits, traded for a machete!"
"Solar panels, in exchange for some food!"
"Hello, I have a piece of chewing gum here. Can I exchange it for this 50-pound bag of rice?"
"That's not enough. Go back and get ten more packs of chewing gum so I can..."
"Really? I have some right here, I'll get it now!"
"Snapped!"
The young rice vendor slapped the old man across the face, casually took the chewing gum, and then coldly finished his sentence:
"Only then can I slap you."
……
Su Chen almost burst out laughing.
He quickly noticed a small cluster of stalls specializing in selling weapons, locked his gaze on one of the sellers, and walked over.
"How much for this spear?"
The seller was a woman with a blue-faced, fanged mask on her face. She had long black hair, and her exposed hands and feet had fair skin. She also had a faint fragrance about her.
Su Chen picked up the long spear on her stall and weighed it in his hand.
It is a red-tasseled spear.
The gun barrel is made of steel; it's clearly a solid piece of equipment.
Seeing that Su Chen seemed pleased, the masked woman spoke up: "Weapon for weapon, if you like it, then go for it."
Upon hearing this, Su Chen drew his Nepalese kukri from his waistband: "How about I trade my knife?"
"Let me see."
The masked woman took the military knife, examined it for a few moments, seemed quite satisfied, then made two mock slashes in the air, creating a whooshing sound, and nodded.
"I didn't expect it to be a proper military knife, made of high-carbon steel. The materials used are better than my red-tasseled spear, which was made of ordinary steel."
Su Chen didn't quite understand, but thought the other person was quite professional.
"Shall we change it?"
"We can exchange it. I'll buy as much of this steel as you have."
It seems the military knife the system gave me is indeed a good item.
However, it doesn't quite work its magic in his hands.
Moreover, an inch longer means an inch stronger.
His body has been enhanced, but using a military knife requires close-quarters combat, which is still not safe enough.
As for long-range attacks, he does have a pistol.
Here's a little-known fact: In the United States, even police officers who have received professional training and practice regularly have a shooting accuracy rate of less than 10%!
Therefore, handguns are mostly used for self-defense and as a backup – after all, accuracy is unreliable, and bullets are not unlimited.
After much thought, he decided to switch to a longer weapon.
Both were satisfied with the deal, and it was completed quickly.
The masked woman also gave Su Chen a piece of cloth to wrap his gun and watched him leave.
Watching his retreating figure, she murmured to herself:
"With such abundant qi and blood, such vigorous spirit, and such a well-trained physique... it's really strange that he doesn't have any martial arts skills at all."
……
Su Chen slung the red-tasseled spear, wrapped in cloth, over his back and went to the property management office once again—which was also the temporary cell where Guan Wenfei and the others were.
He wanted to see if Wen Fei and the others were still sober, and also to personally ask who had pushed him from behind that day.
Although Lin Yu had given an explanation, he still had doubts and needed to verify it again.