Zhang sat on the sofa, yawning in boredom.
While everyone else was struggling to survive in the freezing cold, he was living like he was in heaven.
His house had the perfect insulation system and an endless supply of fuel, keeping his safe house at a comfortable temperature year-round.
He didn't have to worry about anything. All he needed to do was make sure he had a good time every day.
The TV had nothing interesting on, as usual.
All the live streams had been shut down due to the extreme cold.
Even the beautiful streamers he usually enjoyed couldn't possibly perform in temperatures of minus seventy or even over a hundred degrees. If someone did, Zhang would have to give them a thumbs-up and say, "Now that's a real tough person!"
He sighed and decided to distract himself.
Opening his space, Zhang saw rows of brand new gaming consoles and AAA games.
PS5s, Switches, and XBOXes—he had enough of them to open a game store.
And the game cartridges? Thousands of them, probably more.
Zhang pulled out the latest PS5, connected it to his massive 100-inch Sony TV, and started playing.
The game he picked was this year's hottest AAA action title, Bayonetta 3.
He also had Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice within arm's reach. If he ever got bored, he could always dive into Civilization or Cities: Skylines—those games were perfect for when he felt like playing for hours.
He didn't have to worry about work or dealing with people anymore. This life was even better than it was before the apocalypse!
Since he was home alone, Zhang wore nothing but pajamas, eating snacks and having the time of his life with his game.
But after a while, his phone suddenly rang.
Zhang grabbed it and saw that it was a message from that annoying community committee member, Aunt Lin.
"Zhang," she had tagged him in the group, "the roads outside are completely blocked by snow. You need to bring tools and come help shovel!"
Her message had a commanding tone, like she was ordering him around.
Zhang glanced out the window, where the snow had piled up to about three meters deep, almost covering the entire floor.
Trying to shovel that much snow with manpower? It was a ridiculous idea.
And Zhang knew the snowstorm was going to last at least another three months. Going out to shovel now was pointless—it would just keep falling faster than they could shovel it.
Zhang scoffed and quickly typed back:
"Are you serious? It's so cold outside, you'd freeze into an ice cube if you stayed out there for even a little while. If we're going to shovel, it's better to wait until the snow stops."
Other people in the group chimed in with their support.
"Yeah, it's minus seventy outside. Going out for even a short time would give you frostbite."
"We don't have proper winter gear like they do in the north. How are we supposed to go out?"
But Aunt Lin wasn't going to back down. She immediately sent a few voice messages, clearly getting frustrated.
"What kind of attitude is that? We're not shoveling for me, we're doing it for everyone!"
"You're all young, strong men! How can you just stand by when there's a disaster? You should be helping, not avoiding it!"
Her frustration was clearly aimed at Zhang, who had spoken up against her.
"Zhang, I'm ordering you in the name of the community committee to go shovel the snow!"
"This is an emergency! We must all stick together and follow the organization's orders!"
"Anyone who dares to oppose me is opposing the leadership of the community committee! Once this snow disaster is over, we'll settle things with those who refuse to help!"
Aunt Lin pulled out her so-called "authority" as a committee member.
The residents, who had been quietly reading the messages, were now all tense, afraid to speak up.
The snowstorm had just hit, and while society was still somewhat intact, no one dared to defy authority.
Although these committee members had little real power, they were involved in everyone's daily life, so people were usually careful not to upset them.
Everyone kept quiet, not wanting to be the first to speak out.
But Zhang knew what was really going on. The others were just hoping he would step up and call out Aunt Lin, be the one to take a stand.
He knew exactly what they were thinking, and he couldn't help but sneer at their cowardice.
But he wasn't about to back down either.
Zhang quickly scrolled through the previous messages and saw that Aunt Lin had tagged a few of the younger, easy-to-manage residents, while completely ignoring the ones who had more power or influence.
He decided to call her out.
"You know what, Aunt Lin? You're absolutely right. If it's for everyone's benefit, the committee should lead by example and go shovel first."
"And if we're talking about young and strong people, why did you only tag a few of us? Why not tag everyone in the building?"
"Are you trying to pick on us because we're easier targets? I didn't see you tagging those big shots like Zheng or Xu Hao."
"Why is it that when you come across them, you just stay silent?"
The other residents reading the messages immediately started agreeing with Zhang.
"Zhang is really speaking for us!"
"Exactly! Why doesn't she go after Zheng or Xu Hao? They're not so easy to push around."
Everyone knew exactly who Zhang was talking about. The neighborhood wasn't that big, and people were well aware of who had some power or connections.
For example, Zheng, who lived on the sixth floor in apartment 601, was a well-known local figure, a "big brother" in the underworld. He ran a construction company with hundreds of workers.
And then there was Xu Hao from 802 on the eighth floor, whose father was a well-known developer in Tianhai City, with government connections.
Aunt Lin had never tagged people like Zheng or Xu Hao, clearly because she knew they wouldn't take her orders.
Zhang saw through Aunt Lin's cowardice and called her out, which immediately made her lose face.
She couldn't deal with Zheng or Xu Hao, so she took out her frustration on the easier targets.
Angrily, Aunt Lin sent a few long voice messages.
"Shoveling snow is for the good of everyone. Some people are too petty, only thinking about their own little issues. They have no spirit of self-sacrifice!"
"People like that are a bad influence on our community!"
"If you don't want to help, just stay out of it. Someone else will do it! Everyone else is way more aware of their responsibilities than you!"
"And I'm not playing favorites, okay? There's no need to tag everyone. Just get that straight, and don't make things worse for yourself!"
"Keep spreading these rumors about me, and I'll report you to the police!"
Zhang couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Report me to the police? Does she really think the cops will care about something like this?"
Some of the more timid residents, who had been reading quietly, began to feel a little nervous and grabbed their tools to go shovel.
But Zhang was completely unbothered.
Not only was Aunt Lin's threat completely empty, but the police wouldn't back her up, and Zhang knew it.
As for her thinking that the social machinery still functioned normally, well, that was a whole other joke.
Zhang simply turned back to his game and kept playing.
For him, the snowstorm outside could wait until it stopped