Chapter 538: A Piece of Work
Inside the space, the three of them were a whirlwind of activity. They moved all the cabinets, tables, chairs, and shelves to one side, then sorted the piled-up supplies by category and placed them on the shelves.
Evelyn Ford hadn’t realized she had collected so many odds and ends over the years. From small items like shoe brushes, faucets, and window panes to large ones like home appliances, cars, and gasoline generators—she had it all.
"Whoa, there’s even a celebrity poster here. Evelyn Ford, are you a fan?"
Evelyn glanced over. The woman on the poster was stunningly beautiful, a famous A-list actress from before the apocalypse.
"I’m not. I must have packed the poster away by accident when I was collecting supplies. Just put it in a box."
Officer Graham found a safe inside a wardrobe. When he opened it, he was surprised to find an urn.
"What should we do with this urn?"
"Set it aside for now. We can find a place to bury it later so it can rest in peace. It’s fine to keep it in the space, anyway. It doesn’t take up much room."
Quincy looked at Evelyn Ford, speechless. "Wow, you’re something else. You even managed to grab someone’s urn."
"My mistake."
"Actually, you did a good thing. Think about it. You took this urn, and for all these years, it’s been kept clean and undisturbed here in your space."
Evelyn tapped her forehead. "Then let’s just keep it in the space. Put it on a shelf by itself."
Sorting through the supplies was like treasure hunting at an antique market; there were pleasant surprises, and then there were shocks.
Among the piles of furniture and appliances, they found over a thousand kitchen cleavers alone.
"Once things settle down, we could open a department store." Quincy picked up a pair of sunglasses from the floor, put them on, and preened in front of a mirror.
"We can hire you as a security guard then. And you know, those sunglasses really suit your vibe."
"What kind of vibe?" Quincy kept admiring himself in the small mirror.
"The vibe of a doorman."
Evelyn put the pots and pans that needed washing into a cart. After she finished sorting, she would push it over to the river to clean them.
"Evelyn Ford, you’re insulting me in such a roundabout way."
Evelyn couldn’t be bothered with him and took a wad of paper from her pocket to plug her ears.
The three of them worked for hours but had only managed to sort through the tip of the iceberg. At five in the afternoon, Evelyn heard Wendy calling her and quickly exited the space.
"Wendy, what’s wrong?"
Seeing Evelyn come out, Wendy motioned for her to bend down. She then looked around mysteriously and whispered, "Joy Ford, someone came over to visit."
At her words, Evelyn raised an eyebrow, surprised that someone would drop by.
"A man or a woman?"
"A woman, an auntie. She brought two kids with her. The older daughter is about my age, and the younger son is only seven or eight. But their intentions aren’t good. They started looking all over the place as soon as they came in and even tried to ’tour’ the kitchen, but I stopped them. They also asked a bunch of weird questions."
Seeing her annoyed little expression, Evelyn smiled. "Come on, let’s go downstairs and see."
"I’ve seen cars parked outside your house a lot these past two days. Do you work at the base or in Flumen? We’re all neighbors, so we should visit each other more often. I’ve been living here for several years..."
The woman’s voice was a bit shrill, and her eyes darted about as she spoke. The young girl sitting next to her was more reserved, keeping her head down and fiddling with her hands. The other child was overly familiar, grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl and eating it right away, all while stomping around on the sofa.
Taylor Vance’s expression had already turned ugly. If the offender hadn’t been a child, he probably would have thrown him out already.
"You guys are doing pretty well for yourselves, being able to eat bananas at a time like this. Did you get them from the base? Fruit is so hard to come by these days. My kids love fruit too."
"I want more! I want more! They’re all mine!"
After finishing one banana, the woman’s son reached for the fruit bowl on the coffee table again.
"I’ll get it for you. Oh, my little prince, be careful you don’t fall."
"You can’t have them."
Wendy couldn’t believe that in the few minutes she was gone, someone had started eating their fruit. She stormed over, grabbed the four remaining bananas from the bowl, and hid them behind her back.
"It’s just some bananas. It’s not like my son can eat that many. Why are you being so stingy, you little brat?"
Evelyn stood at the bottom of the stairs, quietly watching the shameless woman.
"I am stingy! This is our stuff. You come in empty-handed and expect to eat and drink for free? You’ve got a lot of nerve." In front of her family, Wendy was sweet and lovely, but in front of outsiders, she was a little wolf cub. Seeing her puffing her cheeks out in anger, Evelyn held back a smile and walked over.
The woman was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting such a direct refusal. The residents of Kestrel Villa were all people with some influence, and under normal circumstances, everyone showed each other a bit of courtesy. She had brought her children over today not just to scope out her new neighbors’ background, but also to see what she could get out of them.
"We’re all neighbors. I brought my children over to visit and share some tips about living here. You ungrateful girl, don’t you recognize a kind gesture? What kind of upbringing is that?"
"Your son started rummaging through our things the moment he walked in, and he even tried to go into the kitchen and bedrooms. Is that *your* family’s idea of a good upbringing? If your manners are so great, why are you eating other people’s food? Go on, spit it out if you dare."
Wendy glared at the woman, puffing out her chest. "You came in without even knocking. If I hadn’t found you, were you planning to steal something?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? So young and already so sharp-tongued! How dare you accuse me of stealing. Where do the adults in your family work? Believe it or not, I can make it impossible for you to live here."
"If you weren’t here to steal, then what are you doing in my house?" Wendy retorted.
The woman was so furious she shot to her feet to slap Wendy. "You little bitch! How dare you slander me! My husband works in the Flumen municipal building. With a single word from him, he could have you kicked out of Kestrel Villa."
Just as the woman’s hand came swinging, Evelyn raised her own and caught her by the wrist.
"It’s bad enough you came to my house to freeload, but now you want to cause a scene?"
"Ah... that hurts! Let go of me! Do you have any idea who I am?"
"I don’t care who you are. Take your kids and get out of my house."
Evelyn let go of her hand. The woman stumbled back a few steps from the momentum. Staring at the red mark on her wrist where she’d been grabbed, she plopped right down on the floor, slapped her thighs, and started wailing.
"Help! The new neighbors are hitting me! Help..." Her voice was high and piercing, an ear-splitting shriek that sounded like it could be heard five kilometers away.
The others, who had been grinding medicinal herbs in the guest rooms, all came out when they heard the commotion. If Taylor Vance hadn’t told them not to act rashly, they would have already charged out and thrown the woman out.
"What do you all want? Don’t think you can bully me just because there are more of you! My husband works in the municipal building. He can have you all kicked out with a single word."
The little brat charged forward, trying to headbutt Evelyn in the stomach. Evelyn sidestepped, and he fell flat on the ground and burst into tears.
When the woman saw her son crying, she slapped her dazed daughter across the face.
"Aren’t you going to check if your brother is hurt? You useless thing, all you do is stand there gawking."