Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 72: Chapter 68: Throw Them Both Out

Yang Yi was in a complete panic now, leaning entirely on Zhao Wenjie for support. The smug look she wore while stealing was gone. She opened her mouth... then closed it again.

She wanted to apologize, but then she thought, ’I’m a girl, why should I apologize to a guy?’ So she just stubbornly kept her chin up, not saying a word.

It was just like her usual fights with Zhao Wenjie. As long as she maintained this attitude, even if she was in the wrong, she could count on an apology and a gift from him eventually.

Zhao Youcai quickly returned.

He gave Yang Yi a complicated look, then turned to Yu Dong.

"Dongzi, you should come and see for yourself... There’s a lot."

From the expressions on everyone’s faces, Yu Dong had already figured out most of it.

There were only four people downstairs processing the supplies.

Liu Ye’ye, Shen Xinyi, Qiao Ping, and Yang Yi.

Liu Ye’ye and Shen Xinyi were his own people. They knew how well-stocked he was and had no reason to compete with anyone for these items.

Qiao Ping was an intelligent woman. For one, she wouldn’t be so stupid and blatant. For another, her physical condition made it difficult for her to move things.

’So it could only be that stupid woman, Yang Yi.’

"Let’s all go have a look."

Yu Dong led the way, and the others followed. Yang Yi stood frozen in place, not moving.

Zhao Wenjie pulled at her, but she wouldn’t budge.

"Come on, babe. Just listen to me... Go give Brother Dong a proper apology, shed a few tears, and bring all the stuff back. Brother Dong’s a good guy. He even put up with that old lady screaming in his face. It’s your first offense... he probably won’t be too hard on you."

"Then you go up. Let them move all the stuff. I’m not going. I’m in a bad mood, I’m going for a walk."

"That won’t work! You have to show you’re sorry. A lot of the time, all people want is to see the right attitude. If you have the right attitude, no one will do anything to you."

"Zhao Wenjie! You want me to go up there and be publicly humiliated by them? You can’t even get food, and you can’t protect your own woman. Are you even a man? These past two years with you have been a fucking waste."

Yang Yi, who hadn’t dared to let out a peep moments before, now started screaming curses at Zhao Wenjie, pointing right in his face now that everyone else was upstairs.

Zhao Wenjie was berated into silence.

"Hey, what are you two still dawdling for? Are you waiting for a personal invitation to come up?"

Huang Zhiqiang had come back down and was shouting at the pair.

Yang Yi, who wouldn’t budge for Zhao Wenjie, finally started moving. She dawdled her way upstairs under Huang Zhiqiang’s glare.

Upstairs, Zhao Youcai had already pulled a huge stash of food out of the wardrobe and from under the bed. It was all the good stuff—packaged goods, the kind you could just tear open and eat.

"Dongzi, everything from this room is here."

Rarely, Zhao Youcai didn’t offer his personal opinion, simply presenting the facts.

"No wonder... I was wondering how we could search such a big building and only find this little bit of good food. So it was all here... There’s even more here than the packaged food in the warehouse. You’re really something, aren’t you? Stealing right from the people’s pockets!"

Qiao Ping sneered.

She already disliked Yang Yi, and now she had the perfect reason to open fire.

Shen Xinyi fanned the flames, "And here I thought Yang Yi was clumsy. Looks like her ’third hand’ is pretty nimble!"

Meanwhile, the old lady, Wang Xiuying, who was still waiting for her share of the food, pursed her lips. "It’s all junk food. I don’t see what’s so great about it. Steamed buns are better."

Huang Zhiqiang had now brought Zhao Wenjie and Yang Yi upstairs.

Yu Dong looked at Yang Yi and Zhao Wenjie with disappointment.

"Care to explain yourselves?"

Zhao Wenjie nudged Yang Yi, who pouted and said:

"There’s nothing to explain... If you like it so much, just take it. Anyway, with so many of you men ganging up on a single woman, what can I do?"

Zhou, who had been pretty zen until now, was so shocked by this sudden generalization that he couldn’t help but speak up.

"Young lady, don’t just say whatever you want. You stole the fruits of the team’s labor, which is why the captain is questioning you. This isn’t everyone ganging up on you."

"Then why can’t the captain be a woman? I think we should immediately elect a female captain. Otherwise, this team will be completely controlled by men, and women won’t have the right to speak. Today he can interrogate me, and tomorrow he can interrogate you!"

Whenever Yang Yi was losing an argument online, she would use this trick, and it always worked.

Once everyone started arguing about sexism, they would all forget what the original issue was.

Yu Dong, however, didn’t take the bait.

"Yang Yi has given her response... Wen Jie, what do you have to say?"

"Captain, I admit Yang Yi was wrong, but she’s a girl, you know? She’s too proud and embarrassed to apologize... I’ll apologize to everyone for Yiyi. We’re sorry, she took what she shouldn’t have. I’ll have her write a 3,000-word self-criticism report and promise this will never happen again. How about that?"

Zhao Wenjie thought he had handled the situation perfectly and shot Yu Dong a meaningful look.

The look was easy to read. It said: ’Cut me some slack.’

Yu Dong shook his head.

"Wen Jie, I’m not asking how to handle Yang Yi stealing from the team. I’m asking... why did you help her hide it?"

This wasn’t just about one person.

Actually, before assigning the tasks, Yu Dong had considered that Yang Yi might have sticky fingers, but... he was willing to give her a chance to prove herself, just as he had given Wang Xiuying a chance.

If she hadn’t taken anything, or had only taken a few snacks for herself, he would have let it slide. At worst, it would just mean she wasn’t a team player, but at least she could handle her assigned tasks without dragging the team down.

But Yang Yi had given him the worst possible answer. She didn’t care about anyone else; she only cared about herself.

"I... I was wrong too, Brother Dong! I couldn’t talk her out of it. I was planning to talk to Yiyi again tonight and convince her to return everything to the warehouse tomorrow, but... sigh! I was wrong. I’ll write a self-criticism report too!"

After his sincere apology, Zhao Wenjie looked at Yu Dong, feeling he had given the captain more than enough face. He had allowed Yu Dong to use him to establish authority, so Yu Dong should now return the favor and give him a graceful way out of the situation.

Everyone else looked at Yu Dong, curious to see how he would handle it.

Qiao Ping watched the most intently. She wanted to know if this college student, who was supposed to lead them all to survival, was truly qualified.

’If I were the leader, I’d make a big show of punishing them harshly, then secretly offer them a small kindness later. They would come to both fear and feel indebted to me... and then they’d be mine to command.’

Yu Dong, however, was disappointed. After the past few days, he was starting to see the true colors of these five people.

"Yang Yi stole team supplies despite explicit prohibitions, showing a complete disregard for the team’s rules."

"Furthermore, after being caught, she has shown no remorse, refuses to admit her mistake, and has even tried to muddy the waters and incite internal conflict. This runs completely counter to the unity of our team."

"Both her actions and her mentality are atrocious! After this observation period, I’ve concluded that she is not a good fit for our team."

After hearing this, Shen Xinyi, who was already disgusted with Yang Yi, was the first to raise her hand.

"I agree!"

Qiao Ping quickly raised her hand too. As someone with experience in organizations, she knew to pick a side early and not be a fence-sitter.

Yu Dong glanced at her. "Put it down. You don’t have voting rights yet."

Qiao Ping awkwardly lowered her hand... but if given another chance, she would raise it again.

’Whether I can vote or not isn’t important. Expressing my stance is what matters.’

Then, Yu Dong’s gaze swept over the members of his own squad.

"I agree too." Zhou raised his hand. He didn’t want that kind of toxic rhetoric spreading to the team.

Liu Ye’ye hesitated. She looked like she wanted to raise her hand but just sighed and said nothing. At the end of the day, she wasn’t someone who could bear to see others suffer.

Seeing that she was about to be voted out, Yang Yi panicked. She remembered what Wang Xiuying had done...

She plopped right down on the floor and started kicking and rolling around.

"You men are all ganging up on me! Just because I’m weak and can’t fight you! You should have just left me to die! I don’t want to live anymore!!!"

She cried and screamed on the floor, making an even bigger scene than the old lady had.

Yu Dong sneered. Including himself, three people on the team had already agreed. Whether the other three agreed or not, the decision was set.

"Fine, you got it! Huang, Youcai, throw her out of Building One."

Yang Yi had been expecting Yu Dong to compromise. Now she was completely dumbfounded. ’Getting thrown out means death!’

Seeing his girlfriend being humiliated like this, Zhao Wenjie couldn’t hold back any longer.

"I’m telling you, Yu Dong, that’s enough!"

"I respected your fairness, which is why I accepted you as captain. But you really want to throw Yiyi out... Don’t you think that’s going too far? Does being captain give you the right to decide if someone lives or dies?"

"Let me put it simply: if Yiyi stays, I stay. If she leaves... I’ll leave this team too! You’ll no longer have the help of someone like me, an expert in post-apocalyptic survival."

Yu Dong paused in thought for a moment.

"You’ve got a deal! Zhou, Kai, give them a hand. Throw them both out."

Zhao Wenjie: "???"

The assessment was over.

Yang Yi and Zhao Wenjie were out!

One was selfish and self-serving, the other enabled and covered for her.

If these two had remained on the team, they would have definitely been its ruin!

Just then, Zhao Youcai and Huang Zhiqiang, who hadn’t raised their hands, seemed to have discussed something. They both pulled on Yu Dong’s sleeve.

"Dongzi... a word in private."

"We have something to tell you."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!