After speaking, Tang Li ignored everyone else and directly asked Zhang Yan, "Uncle Zhang, wasn't it you who were in the wrong first by prying open my door and barging in without my consent?"
"Even though I felt uncomfortable, I didn't make a fuss about it."
"But now you are coveting my family's supplies, what does this mean?"
"What's the difference between your actions and breaking and entering to rob?"
Tang Li knew that Zhang Yan was concerned about his reputation and was already feeling awkward. She figured that by saying this, she could make him leave.
However, the other few people clearly knew Zhang Yan's character.
Upon hearing Tang Li's words, one of them immediately preempted, "Little girl, what kind of talk is that? What do you mean by breaking and entering to rob?"
"We were visiting everyone to pay our new year's respects on the first day of the lunar new year. When we got to your place, we couldn't wake you. We thought something had happened to you, so we even contacted the community and official personnel for you. Did we do something wrong?"
"Exactly. We just want you to lend us some surplus supplies for everyone. Aren't we discussing this with you? Why are you pinning such a heavy accusation on us?"
Tang Li recognized these people.
In her previous life, they were Zhang Yan's loyal lackeys, who often benefited by using Zhang Yan's name.
Because they were good at flattering and fawning over him, Zhang Yan favored them, which caused discontent among many people and sowed the seeds for the eventual disintegration of their "Mutual Aid Association."
Hearing these words, Tang Li had no desire to engage in a pointless argument with them.
She merely sneered, "Regardless of anything else, you pried open my door without my consent and now want to take my family's supplies. Based on this alone, I can call the police and have you charged with breaking and entering to rob during the curfew!"
Just then, there was a commotion in the hallway, and a group of people came up.
"Excuse me, did something happen to someone in this unit?"
Several uniformed official personnel, carrying a stretcher, came upstairs and asked, panting.
Upon seeing them, Zhang Yan quickly went up to explain, "I'm sorry, comrades. We made a mistake. Nothing happened to anyone. The owner of this unit was just not home. We apologize for making you run here for nothing."
An official personnel waved his hand and said, "It's okay that we ran here for nothing, as long as the person is alright."
With that, they were about to leave.
"Comrades, please wait a moment. Can you spare a few minutes?"
Tang Li quickly called out to stop them.
The official personnel took a few breaths and nodded. It was a good opportunity to rest.
Tang Li asked, "I'd like to ask, if someone pries open another person's door without their consent and tries to take their supplies, and is discovered, even demanding that the person hand over some supplies, what crime is that?"
One of the official personnel replied without hesitation, "That is clearly an attempted burglary that escalated to breaking and entering to rob."
Hearing this, Tang Li turned her gaze to the people who had just argued with her, called her selfish, and demanded she share her supplies.
But before he could speak, one of them started shouting, "Miss Tang, we are all from the same community, and we see each other every day. Do you have to be so ruthless?"
"We just mistakenly thought something happened to you. According to our usual practice, we were collecting useful items for the association so everyone could share them. It wasn't just for ourselves."
Tang Li retorted, "I haven't joined your association, so what does your association's practice have to do with me? Even if something had happened to me, why should my family's belongings be collected by your association?"
The official personnel also understood and said to them, "What this young lady said is correct. If people from your 'Self-Rescue United Association' die, it's somewhat understandable that your association would collect their family's supplies, as a portion of your family's belongings are shared to some extent."
"But for those who have not joined the 'Self-Rescue United Association,' you have no right to collect their family's belongings. You should have contacted us immediately, and we would have handled it."
"If everyone acted like you, breaking into homes and collecting supplies when someone had an accident, how would we know if you went in to collect supplies after someone had an accident, or if you broke locks and committed murder and robbery to collect other people's supplies?"
Upon hearing the official personnel's words, those who had been so self-righteous moments before were instantly silenced.
"Gentlemen, please come with us."
The official personnel said to the group led by Zhang Yan.
Although they were not police officers, during the curfew, they were specifically responsible for handling matters related to the deceased. Such incidents fell within their jurisdiction.
Since they still wanted to argue, but Zhang Yan had already left with a dark expression, the others had no choice but to follow.
However, before leaving, someone resentfully said to Tang Li, "Our leader stood up in times of crisis, stabilized society, provided support for the weak, and concentrated limited resources to ensure as many people as possible survived. You are also a beneficiary!"
"You have no gratitude and have repaid kindness with enmity. Reporting us for such a trivial matter makes you a complete ungrateful wretch!"