Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

When she was taking out the water ticket, she had to hold the bottle between her elbows, which was quite awkward, but thankfully nothing went wrong.

When she finally walked out of the water room with her water bottle in her arms, the sunlight outside shone down on her, making her squint.

The instant her eyes adjusted to the light, a strange intuition instantly alerted her—someone was watching her!

She paused, glancing to both sides out of the corner of her eye. Two men were squatting in the corner, smoking. One, wearing a gray jacket, was fiddling with his lighter, while the other's gaze was fixed on the bottle of water in her arms.

Under the shade of a tree not far away, a woman carrying an empty bag was also looking this way. Her gaze wasn't exactly fierce, but it made Xu Xiaoyan's heart skip a beat.

She didn't go any further, but turned around and went back to the water room door with the water bottle in her arms.

There were still a few people lined up under the porch. Xu Xiaoyan stood by the wall, put the bottle at her feet, and pretended to be waiting for someone or taking a break. She decided to wait until there were more people before leaving together. It would be safer with more people.

She stood under the porch for about fifteen minutes, pretending to bend down and tidy her shoelaces, and then pretending to examine the instructions for use on the bottle, but her eyes never left the small open space in front of the water room.

Gradually, she began to understand the trick.

The first person to come out was a middle-aged man, carrying a rough earthenware jar with a lid in his arms. The jar was dusty and looked like it had been used for many years.

He took long strides, walking straight towards the residential area after leaving the gate, without even glancing to the left or right.

Xu Xiaoyan noticed that the two men smoking in the corner only raised their eyelids slightly before lowering their heads and going back to their own business, showing no intention of moving at all.

Next to emerge were two young women, who looked a few years younger than Xu Xiaoyan, each carrying a plastic bucket, which appeared to be fairly clean.

The two women walked out chatting and laughing, but Xu Xiaoyan's heart suddenly jumped. She saw the woman carrying an empty bag under the shade of the tree wink to the side, and the two men who had been squatting by the wall slowly stood up, brushed the dust off their trousers, and followed them from a distance.

Xu Xiaoyan unconsciously clenched the water bottle in her arms, her knuckles turning white.

She waited for several more groups of people, and her suspicions were repeatedly confirmed: those who were tailing her were clearly targeting her.

They didn't move when dealing with men traveling alone or in groups; but if a woman came out, especially a young woman who looked easy to bully, they would follow without hesitation, like hyenas eyeing their lone prey.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong! These were the only four words in Xu Xiaoyan's mind. She felt both angry and ridiculous. In this world, even those who do bad things pick on the weak.

As she was pondering what to do, two more people came out of the water room. They were both in their thirties or forties, one tall and one short. The taller one was carrying a bucket of water, and the shorter one was carrying two tin kettles. The two walked and talked in hushed tones. They seemed to be familiar neighbors who had come together.

Xu Xiaoyan's eyes lit up, and almost instinctively she hugged the bottle tightly, already taking a step forward.

She followed them at a distance of three or four steps, neither too close to be annoying nor too far to lose the advantage of their momentum.

They hadn't gone far when the taller one noticed her first. He paused, turned his head, and glanced at her.

The shorter one also turned around, their eyes filled with doubt and wariness. In this place, being followed closely by strangers was never a good thing.

Seeing this, Xu Xiaoyan put on a smile that was as friendly as possible, with a hint of embarrassment, and said, "I'm sorry, brothers."

She paused for a moment, then realized that telling the truth to strangers was more believable than making up lies, so she said directly, "I saw a pervert following me, and I didn't dare to go back to my apartment complex, so I had to go back with you guys."

After she finished speaking, she added a smile, a smile that contained seven parts sincerity and three parts embarrassment.

The two men exchanged a glance, and the wariness in their eyes slowly faded. The taller one remained silent, only nodding slightly, while the shorter one gave her another look, with a mixture of understanding and indifference, as if he were used to it.

The two didn't say anything more, turned around and continued walking forward, but subtly slowed their pace so that she could keep up.

Xu Xiaoyan quickly followed after him, carrying the bottle, finally feeling relieved.

She had only been walking with the two men for a few minutes when, after turning past a row of low bungalows, a noisy, wailing, cursing sound came from a suddenly open space ahead.

She looked up and saw three women standing at the intersection ahead, cursing loudly.

She recognized two of them; they were the same two girls who had come out of the washroom earlier and were followed by two men.

Both of them had red eyes, nothing in their hands, and their sleeves were filthy, as if they had fallen on the ground.

Standing opposite them was a middle-aged woman, around forty years old, wearing a faded floral blouse, her hair disheveled, half her face flushed red, shouting and cursing, spittle flying everywhere.

A plastic bucket was rolling at her feet, its lid open, and most of the water inside had spilled out, leaving a large dark wet patch on the ground.

Xu Xiaoyan quickly glanced at the scene and guessed what was going on. The two girls were already being watched, and they probably didn't get very far before they were attacked.

As for the middle-aged woman, she didn't know her. Judging from the situation, she had just been intercepted and was so angry that she was willing to fight to the death, so the water in the bucket was wasted.

The two men walking ahead stopped briefly to look at the scene. The taller one frowned, and the shorter one pursed his lips. They exchanged a glance, their meaning clear: they couldn't interfere, and they shouldn't interfere.

They paused briefly, then continued walking towards the residential area, their pace even faster than before, as if afraid of getting caught up in the chaos.

Xu Xiaoyan naturally followed. She knew perfectly well that she should avoid such matters if possible. She herself only dared to walk because of other people's influence, so how could she have the ability to meddle in other people's business?

But before he had taken ten steps, the cursing behind him suddenly changed its tone.

"Please! Please!" Xu Xiaoyan heard footsteps, followed by the dull thud of knees hitting the concrete.

She couldn't help but look up and saw that the middle-aged woman had somehow rushed in front of the two men, kneeling upright on the ground with her hands raised high, bowing as if burning incense.

When she knelt down, her floral blouse was covered in dust, and a few strands of her hair fell down, sticking to her sweaty face, making her look both disheveled and pitiful.

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