Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 437: Chapter 427: Tang Mo Takes Action

Caught between a rock and a hard place—that probably described Tao Jiayun’s state of mind at this very moment.

”If you leave now, you go home to starve. Not just you, but your mother, your wife, your children—they’ll all starve. They’re at home waiting for you to bring back food. Are you really going back empty-handed? Can you face them?”

A clear voice cut through the wavering crowd.

It was, of course, Tang Mo’s voice. Everyone had come this far; how could she not give them a little push?

’That’s right... When I left, my wife and kids were so happy. How can I go back and face them empty-handed?’

’Watching the people you love die right in front of you... that seems even crueler than not living to see another day yourself.’

The scales in everyone’s hearts tipped once more. The backward steps halted, and they gripped their weapons tighter.

”They’re just a little stronger, that’s all! Don’t be afraid! This is it—it’s all or nothing!”

Seizing the moment while everyone’s courage was renewed, Tao Jiayun shouted and then led the charge.

Seeing someone make the first move, the remaining dozens of people didn’t hesitate, grabbing their weapons and rushing forward.

Forty people on one side, four on the other—a perfect ten-to-one ratio.

Tang Mo didn’t join the fray, instead watching from the back.

What she hadn’t expected was that Zhang Laohu’s group of four were all superpower users!

Since none of them had a Spiritual Ability, she hadn’t detected them. But now, seeing their strength, agility, and fighting techniques, they were clearly far beyond the scope of ordinary people.

Even the most skilled ordinary person would struggle against three opponents, let alone ten.

That was ten people. If four of them grabbed your arms and legs, the remaining six could each land a punch, and you’d never recover.

But Zhang Laohu’s group of four were clearly handling it. Not only were they handling it, but as the fight went on, they even discovered a trick.

Whenever someone grabbed onto them, they would just seize that person and hurl them away.

They were thrown with enough force to shatter tables; an ordinary person couldn’t possibly withstand that.

Fortunately, Tang Mo was in the back, using her spiritual power to soften the impact when they hit the ground. Otherwise, they would have been thrown to their deaths.

Still, after being slammed around a few times, they were no longer able to fight.

Soon, the number of people surrounding Zhang Laohu’s group dwindled. They had gained the upper hand and were on the verge of winning.

But Tang Mo was standing right there. How could she possibly stand by and watch that happen?

Seeing that things had progressed far enough, she sent out four strands of spiritual power, immobilizing the four men.

Zhang Laohu and his men felt an invisible force bind them like ropes. They couldn’t even throw a punch, forced to just stand there and let themselves be hit.

The feeling was incredibly frustrating, but they were powerless to resist.

”Everyone, get them! They’re out of energy!”

When it came to the art of the assist, if Tang Mo claimed to be number two, no one would dare claim to be number one.

Seeing that Zhang Laohu and his men truly looked exhausted and unable to fight back, the crowd ignored their aching bodies and threw themselves back into the fray.

Fighting is something you learn by doing. Even the most civilized person could learn a few tricks after trading a few blows.

With Tang Mo helping from the rear, the group easily managed to completely subdue Zhang Laohu and his men.

In the end, the battle was an overwhelming victory.

Of course it was. Their opponents’ limbs had been bound; even a pig could have won that fight.

Once Zhang Laohu and his men were taken down, everyone scrambled to tie them up tightly with the ropes they had prepared.

Then, paying them no more mind, they eagerly went to find the food.

”Over here! Everyone, come quick! There’s so much... so much rice!”

The first person to find the food shouted, and everyone else immediately rushed over at the sound of his voice.

They saw a small room piled high with rice, white flour, oil, and eggs. There was even a stack of vacuum-sealed steaks.

The small room was practically a small warehouse, and the supplies inside were far more plentiful than what Zhang Laohu had shown them in the pictures.

This discovery was a wonderful surprise for the crowd. No one had expected to find so much food. With this much rice and flour, it was definitely enough to last them through the next few months.

Seeing all these supplies, many people couldn’t help but shed tears of joy.

”We won the gamble,” Tao Jiayun murmured, staring at the supplies with a dazed expression, unable to process it for a long moment.

”Let’s divide it up!”

”Yeah! Divide it! Let’s do it now!”

Everyone was impatient. Their families at home were waiting for food to cook.

Tang Mo watched all this from behind Xu Jinsan. ’So, apart from being bad at fighting, these people are actually good at everything else,’ she mused.

The inventory process began quickly. While one group started counting the supplies, another began to tally the number of people and draft a plan for distribution.

The people who had come out this time were mostly the main providers for their families, so their words carried weight. They discussed among themselves and quickly settled on a plan.

The rice and white flour were all in 50-jin bags. There were 100 bags of rice and 100 bags of flour.

These staples were the main prize. After all, one bowl of uncooked rice could make a large pot of cooked rice, enough to feed a family for several days.

The distribution method they agreed upon was to divide it by headcount.

Men would each receive 50 jin of rice, women would get 40 jin, children between six and twelve would get 30 jin, and children under six would get 20 jin.

Once the calculations were done, each family could collect their share.

This wasn’t an issue of sexism; it was based purely on estimated food consumption.

It might not have been perfectly fair, but it was the fairest method they could think of in such a short amount of time.

No one had any objections to this arrangement.

The eggs were divided evenly per person. Regardless of age, everyone ended up with eight eggs.

Distributing the oil was even simpler: one jug per household. Without other ingredients to cook with, the oil wasn’t especially useful, so even a family of eight receiving just one jug didn’t complain.

Finally, the steaks were the scarcest item. There was no other way but to give one to each person who had shown up today.

After all, they were the ones who had come out and put in the effort. This was the fairest way to divide them, and no one could argue.

Within an hour, everything had been distributed. Everyone shouldered their family’s share; for the foreseeable future, this food was their most precious possession. It was their life.

The warehouse was quickly emptied. Well, not completely. After the rice and flour were distributed, there were some leftovers.

There wasn’t much of the remaining rice and flour—only about thirty or forty jin combined. But who should get it?

Everyone looked at Tao Jiayun.

From start to finish, Tao Jiayun had taken the lead, and his words and actions had been very fair. Everyone trusted him.