Chapter 3

The group chat went wild instantly.

Unit 502 wrote in.

[@Unit 202 Have you completely lost your mind? Are you trying to scam money out of other tenants now?]

Unit 902 chimed in.

[Since there are security cameras, check the footage. If that's not available, call property management. Why are you acting crazy in the group chat? @Unit 202]

Right after that, Shirley spammed several sixty-second voice messages.

I didn't even need to play them to know they were probably packed with profanity and screeching.

Suddenly, Unit 101's tenant, the guy who lived downstairs, suddenly joined the conversation.

[Who else could it be? Your neighbor is Unit 201. It's definitely that old lady! We all use the elevator. Who takes the stairs for no reason? @Unit 201, get in here already. Don't make the rest of us take the blame.]

Unit 101 belonged to a nearly forty-year-old single man who used to constantly report me to property management for making too much noise and disturbing his rest.

Even when I wasn't home, he'd still file complaints. It was like his life's purpose.

After I pulled a knife on him one time and threatened to chop him up, he never complained again.

Later, I heard it was because he had a crush on one of the new male employees in the property management office.

Once he started accusing me, everyone else in the group piled on and began tagging me too.

I slowly typed out a response.

[Meat covered in maggots, rotting fish and shrimp, and moldy grains? Sorry, I thought it was all garbage.]

Shirley replied instantly.

[Old hag, what kind of nonsense are you spewing? Those were premium proteins and organic ingredients! If you're that ignorant, then you should just keep your mouth shut! You ruined our family's food supply for an entire month. Pay me one thousand immediately or I'm not letting this go!]

She really had gone insane over money.

I replied.

[I see you really are broke enough to start treating trash like treasure, and now you're using the homeowners' group chat like it's a wishing well.]

After sending that, I tossed my phone aside and ignored her furious meltdown in the chat.

Once I finished the last spoonful of oatmeal, I suddenly found the whole thing amusing.

Since she was demanding a thousand dollars in compensation, then I ought to be generous as the older person.

I'd give her an even bigger gift.

I headed to the biggest wet market nearby.

While buying rubber gloves, I also made sure to pick up several thick black garbage bags.

After putting the gloves on, I carefully began selecting items beside the dumpsters.

There was rotten meat crawling with maggots, cracked rotten eggs that could only be scooped out from the bottom of trash bins, and slimy blackened vegetable leaves that left sticky residue all over my hands.

Before long, several heavy, foul-smelling plastic bags were filled to the brim.

Carrying my generous gift, I happily headed home.

The moment I stepped out of the elevator, something felt off. I detected a hint of feces mixed with the rotten stench.

When I reached my door, I was even more stunned.

Someone had splashed feces and urine all over my door. Yellow liquid dripped slowly down the surface.

The four garbage bins were gone, and now the smell of human waste mixed with rotting food turned into something beyond disgusting.

Shirley was absolutely vile.

Just as I pulled out my phone to make a call, the door to Unit 202 suddenly opened.

Shirley stepped out with a plastic basin in her hand. She looked surprised for a split second when she saw me. She then immediately smirked with satisfaction.

I noticed the basin no longer contained urine and feces. It was full of bloody water from something unidentifiable.

Judging from the way she held it, she was about to dump it at my door too.

"Back already, Mrs. Fisher? Your doorway had too much bad energy, so I used my son's poop and pee to cleanse it for you. No need to thank me.

"Oh, and you still owe me one thousand. Give it to me now."

At this point, she wasn't even hiding the fact she was extorting money anymore.

I smiled and spoke into the phone that had just connected.

"Officer, please tell me if this is fair. I'm just an old woman living alone. My neighbor is dumping human waste at my door and trying to extort money from me. She's taking advantage of me because I'm old and alone, isn't she?"