Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 559 Public Grievances

In the courtyard, the openings of plastic bags were open, and the smell was already faintly wafting up through the window.

When I went downstairs and into the yard, the stench became even stronger.

She frowned, held her breath, and used an entrenching tool to bury the dirty package along with all the scattered debris into the ground.

After doing all this, Xu Xiaoyan returned to the house, locked the door, checked all the window latches on the first floor again, and then went up the stairs to the second floor.

When I lay back in bed, I was extremely exhausted.

But she couldn't fall asleep no matter how much she tossed and turned. Every time she closed her eyes, the image of that dirty thing smashing and splashing in the yard would appear in her mind.

She opened her eyes, reached for her phone on the bedside table, unlocked the screen, and planned to browse some forums to distract herself.

As soon as I entered the local section, a screen full of new posts came rushing at me, with red "hot" and "hot" labels even more densely packed than during the day.

She randomly clicked on the top post, which read, "You son of a bitch! Someone threw things into my yard again tonight!"

The post was made just an hour ago, and the main text was an emotional accusation that the person was awakened by a loud noise in the middle of the night.

When I went outside, I found that someone had poured a bucket of foul water in the yard, and there was a series of hurried footprints on the ground outside the wall.

Dozens of replies followed, some offering comfort, some cursing, and others asking, "Which street are you on? Mine too, someone banged on my door twice in one night."

Xu Xiaoyan scrolled down a few pages, becoming increasingly clear-headed as she read. It turned out she wasn't an isolated case.

Almost every few posts on the forum, someone complains about being harassed in a similar way.

Some people had feces thrown at them, some had swill poured into their yards, some had their windows smashed in the middle of the night, and some had even worse experiences, with threatening words sprayed on their doorsteps.

The victims were widespread, including those living on the outskirts of the city, those near the main roads, and those whose houses looked relatively new; almost no one escaped unscathed.

She clicked into a discussion thread about reporting crimes to the police, where someone in the main thread had written in detail about their experience of reporting a crime to the patrol team.

I called in the middle of the night, and the other party answered, registered my information, and said, "We will send someone over to check."

After waiting for three or four hours, it was almost dawn and we still hadn't seen a single person.

When they called again the next day, the other party said that the patrol team was short-handed last night and did not find the suspect at the scene of the crime.

They were also asked to go to the office during the day to fill out a formal written form.

The poster sighed at the end: "By the time they arrive, the criminals will have already fled. Reporting a case is like not reporting it at all; in the end, it will all be left unresolved."

The replies below were filled with voices of sympathy and agreement.

Some people said they also reported the case, and two days later the patrol team called to say "under investigation, no progress yet", and then there was no further news.

Some people said they simply didn't report it because it was too much trouble. They figured it wouldn't do any good anyway, so they might as well find a way to raise the wall and be more alert at night.

Another person left a message filled with grief and indignation: "What are we living like now? Like a beggar sitting in a leaky, dilapidated house!"

Outside, the wind and rain were raging, and inside, everyone was on edge, no one knowing whether they would be the next to be attacked.

Xu Xiaoyan flipped through the posts page by page, her fingers flying across the screen.

Hundreds of families are experiencing similar harassment and threats, and nighttime security in the entire Satellite City has deteriorated to an extreme degree.

Her initial frustration at being "targeted" was greatly relieved after seeing so many posts from people in the same boat.

If she is the only victim, it means she is an exception, a target specifically targeted by someone, and she must be highly vigilant and face the situation alone.

But when everyone is affected, it becomes a collective problem, and it's unlikely that this issue will escalate for long.

After all, when enough resentment and anger accumulate to a certain point, the higher-ups will definitely intervene; otherwise, the social order of this satellite city will completely collapse.

She put her phone on the bedside table, turned off the screen, and went back into bed.

This time, when she closed her eyes, the tension in her heart finally eased.

Those who break down doors and throw garbage at night can commit crimes in her house, and they can commit crimes on the whole street.

When the entire city is thrown into chaos, a sweeping crackdown is not far off.

She turned over, pulled the blanket tighter around herself, and fell into a deep sleep.

Sure enough, three days later, in the early morning, Xu Xiaoyan was watering the vegetable seedlings in the greenhouse in the yard when a piercing electrical sound suddenly came from the utility pole outside the yard wall.

Then came the distinctive "zzzz" sound of the loudspeaker being activated, followed by a loud and clear voice coming from the broadcast.

"Attention all residents of Satellite City No. 5! Attention all residents of Satellite City No. 5!"

In view of the recent frequent nighttime security incidents that seriously threaten the safety of residents' lives and property, the Management Committee of Satellite City No. 5 has made a decision.

Starting today, nighttime security control measures will be implemented, prohibiting all residents from loitering or traveling outdoors from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following day.

The patrol team will strengthen nighttime patrols and implement a system of assigned areas and fixed-time patrols. Anyone found violating the above regulations will be arrested on the spot and dealt with according to law.

Please inform each other and cooperate to maintain nighttime safety and public order in Satellite City No. 5. (Repeating...)

The broadcast repeated the same content three times.

Xu Xiaoyan straightened up, still clutching the watering can in her hand, and listened to the sound coming from the overhead utility pole. The corners of her mouth slowly curved into a smile.

Before she could react, she heard cheers coming from the street not far away.

Some people were clapping, some were shouting "Finally they've taken care of things!", and some were even pushing and yelling, their voices filled with the relief of finally releasing the resentment that had been suppressed for several days.

The patrols have intensified, and arrests are made for anyone leaving the house after 10 p.m. This serves as a direct and deadly warning to those who come out to cause trouble in the middle of the night.

Previously, they could act recklessly under the cover of night, but now there are patrol teams watching them from under every wall, and if they reach out again, they should be prepared to be caught on the spot.

Xu Xiaoyan put the spray bottle aside, patted the water droplets off her hands, leaned against the courtyard wall, and listened to the cheers rising and falling in the distance. The weight in her heart finally lifted completely.