Chapter 34: Jumping Out the Window

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Jumping Out the Window

Hearing this, the others stopped hammering at the door and turned their collective gaze toward Wang Jian Country.

The crowd erupted once more.

"Wang Jian Country, did you trick us on purpose? This door is impossible to break!"

"You told us to smash it, so why aren’t you lifting a finger?"

"If you ask me, we shouldn’t waste our energy. Let’s just go raid Wang Jian Country’s place!"

The seething mob directed their fury back at him. Wang Jian Country instinctively tightened his grip on the dagger at his waist, cold sweat beading on his forehead. As the moisture seeped from his skin and met the freezing air, it crystallized into sharp shards of ice.

"Everyone, calm down," Wang Jian Country rasped. Facing a sea of malicious glares, he forced himself to maintain his composure. "We’re all in the same boat right now. What good would it do me to lie to you?"

The crowd hollered back, "Then give us an explanation!"

"Yeah, explain yourself! Why haven’t we been able to break this door down after smashing it for so long?"

Hiding in the corner, Chen Momo watched the explosive standoff, her heart leaping into her throat. Just as the mob’s anger was about to hit a boiling point, she spoke up loudly. "Stop arguing, everyone! I have an idea!"

She fought to keep her voice steady; it was the only way to hide her nervous trembling.

All eyes instantly darted toward Chen Momo in the corner. Seeing that it was her speaking again, impatience flashed in their eyes.

Chen Momo calmly explained, "The snow is already piled as high as the tenth floor. The first floor is completely sealed off, so there’s no way we’re getting out from here. Why don’t we go up past the tenth floor, smash a window, and climb out from there?"

This was the only viable solution she could come up with. The snow outside the building’s entrance had frozen solid, becoming as hard as stone. The chances of breaking through the main door were practically zero.

Her suggestion was immediately met with fierce opposition.

"Do you even know how high the tenth floor is?"

"Are you trying to kill us, telling us to jump from up there?"

"Even if we don’t die from the fall, we’ll be crippled! What kind of garbage idea is this? If we could just jump from the tenth floor, would we need a woman like you giving us stupid advice?"

Zhang Qiang and Yang Hong from Apartment 1601 gloated as Chen Momo was mocked by the crowd. The couple stood with their arms crossed, clearly enjoying the show and thriving on the chaos.

Chen Momo ignored the angry mob. People naturally possessed a herd mentality. When gathered in a group, they easily lost their ability to think independently and followed blindly—a classic case of mob mentality dumbing them down.

Unhurried, she continued, "The tenth floor is high, but not impossibly so. We can use ropes to lower people out the window. There’s no need to jump, and no one’s life will be in danger."

Wang Jian Country’s eyes lit up. This was actually a viable plan!

"Everyone, calm down and listen to me!" Wang Jian Country immediately chimed in. "The reality is that the snow outside is frozen solid. Even if we break this door, we can’t get out. The only way is from above. If you’re worried, I can go first and act as the guinea pig. You can see for yourselves that it’s possible to get out from the upper floors!"

He was risking it all. Being trapped in the building meant certain death anyway; he might as well lead by example and test the waters himself.

Hearing him volunteer, the crowd finally quieted down. If Wang Jian Country was willing to go first, he would be the only one to die if it went wrong. They had no objections to that!

Zhang Liang spoke up first. "Let’s go through my place! I live on the twelfth floor. The windows are large, so it’ll be easy to get out once we smash them!"

And so, Wang Jian Country led a large, marching group up to Zhang Liang’s apartment on the twelfth floor.

Sure enough, Zhang Liang’s home featured three massive windows. Once the glass was broken, even a heavily built adult could easily slip through. The windows were densely lined with weatherstripping tape—clearly, Zhang Liang had put a lot of effort into keeping his apartment warm. But now, all that effort was meaningless.

Smashing glass was far easier than breaking down a heavy entrance door. A few men swung their iron hammers and made short work of Zhang Liang’s windows.

A few others found a thick hemp rope and lowered it out the window. However, they realized it was slightly too short, dangling two or three meters above the snow-covered ground.

"The rope isn’t long enough. Let’s tie some bedsheets to the end of it!" Wang Jian Country suggested.

Zhang Liang sacrificed two of his bedsheets, knotting them securely to the bottom of the rope. With this addition, it finally reached the surface.

Bolstering his courage, Wang Jian Country instructed the men to tie the rope around his waist. Because of his large frame, it took five or six men holding the other end of the rope to slowly lower him out the window.

With the snow piled ten stories high, the rope only needed to reach the tenth floor. Soon, Wang Jian Country’s feet touched the snowy surface below.

He had assumed the snow would be soft and hollow, expecting to sink right through. Stepping tentatively, he gripped the rope tightly with both hands, too terrified to let go. To his surprise, the continuous blizzards and extreme cold had packed the snow into a solid mass. His foot met the hard, unyielding surface of thick ice.

He was now standing at roughly the height of the ninth floor, supported by the thoroughly frozen snowpack. Escaping through the window wasn’t nearly as dangerous as they had imagined.

Wang Jian Country immediately cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted upward, "The snow below the ninth floor is completely frozen solid! Come on down, everyone!"

Seeing that he was perfectly safe, the others grew emboldened. Eager to take their turn, they lined up to be lowered out the window. Even those who had initially opposed the idea were now fighting to get out. Even if they couldn’t scavenge any supplies, they just wanted to step outside for some fresh air. Being cooped up in the building was driving them insane!

Zhang Qiang and his wife, Yang Hong, had originally just been watching the spectacle, never expecting the window escape plan to actually work. Driven by pure greed, the couple knew that whoever got out first would have first pick of the supplies. Zhang Qiang began clamoring to go out and scavenge.

Even heavily pregnant Yang Hong wanted to brave the window descent to secure some goods.

A few people blocked her path. "Are you two out of your minds for supplies? Just let your husband go down. With a belly that big, there’s no way to safely tie a rope around your waist. If you go out there, you’re a goner!"

Despite Yang Hong’s relentless badgering, the residents manning the rope flat-out refused to lower her. Left with no other choice, Yang Hong could only nag her husband.

"Make sure you bring back a lot of supplies! Grab as much as you can, and don’t let anyone else beat you to it!"