Ch 79: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

Clang!

Something inside the apartment was knocked over with a loud crash.

Song Rushuang carefully climbed through the window. The child sucked on his fingers, staring at her with wide, clueless eyes. Not caring whether he understood, she raised a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture.

The child: “……”

The two stared at each other. Song Rushuang landed lightly, almost without a sound.

Afraid the child might start moving again, she closed the window behind her.

Downstairs, the tense crowd finally relaxed, still unaware of what was happening inside and launching into excited discussion.

“Who was that girl? She’s incredible!”

“I think she’s Old Song Jianguo’s daughter.”

“She’s grown up that much already? Back from college for summer break?”

“Yeah, yeah. We should really tell Old Song later. With those moves she could star in a martial arts movie!”

“That was so dangerous just now. If not for Xiao Shuang, someone might’ve died…”

“Does she go to a sports academy?”

“No, I heard her university is really good. When her college entrance exam results came out last year, Old Song couldn’t stop smiling all summer…”

“Brains and brawn. Amazing!”

An elderly man gave an admiring thumbs-up.

Unaware she had become the topic of neighborhood gossip, Song Rushuang walked quietly through the apartment, tracing the source of the noise to a half-closed bedroom door.

From inside came muffled whimpering, followed by a low threatening voice: “Shut up!”

She listened for two seconds, judged there was no third person inside, and decisively pushed the door open.

Judging by the size, it was the master bedroom. A young man in his twenties stood beside the bed, fierce-looking, holding a fruit knife against a woman’s throat.

The woman looked to be in her fifties or sixties, likely the child’s grandmother. Terrified and desperate, her mouth was covered by the man’s hand, tears shimmering in her eyes.

Song Rushuang scanned the situation quickly. The man wore a food delivery uniform shirt. Putting the clues together, she immediately understood.

He was probably a burglar.

Their old residential complex had no access control at the entrance. Disguised as a delivery worker, it was easy to slip in. Many people assumed burglars only broke in at night, but in reality many crimes happened during the daytime when homes were empty.

Security here was outdated, with few cameras. Once someone learned residents’ schedules, theft became easy.

She guessed the thief had been staking the place out for days, likely noticing that the grandmother usually took the child downstairs at this hour. But judging by the child’s constant sniffing earlier, he was probably sick today, disrupting the routine and causing them to run into the thief.

When the confrontation began, noise from downstairs and people knocking at the door must have panicked him. Afraid the woman would call for help, he had restrained her with a knife.

Unknowingly, he had just escalated theft into kidnapping.

Right now, saving the woman came first.

Song Rushuang’s eyes flicked around. Facing the stunned pair, she deliberately acted like a clueless hothead and shouted:

“What are you doing?! The window was open! The kid almost fell downstairs! Didn’t you hear people knocking?!”

Hearing this, the woman panicked and struggled again despite the danger.

The thief nearly lost control of her with one hand. At the same moment, Song Rushuang closed the distance rapidly.

The man tried both to restrain the woman and wave the knife at Song Rushuang, his movements turning chaotic in panic.

As the blade swung, she seized the brief opening when the knife moved away from the woman’s throat, grabbed his wrist, and executed a clean shoulder throw, slamming him onto the floor.

The wooden flooring rang with a heavy crash. Stars exploded in the thief’s vision, leaving him temporarily unable to move.

Only then did Song Rushuang pick up the fruit knife and turn politely to the stunned woman.

“Auntie, pick up the child, go open the door for the guy outside, and call the police. Oh, and could you find me a rope?”

The woman froze for several seconds before scrambling to her feet. “O-okay, no problem.”

Song Rushuang tied the thief up tightly, dusted off her hands, and stood just as knocking sounded at the door again.

The police arrived pretty fast?

She felt slightly surprised.

Seeing the woman still sitting on the sofa in shock with her grandson in her arms, clearly not recovered yet, Song Rushuang went to open the door herself.

But the moment she cracked it open, a powerful force shoved from outside.

The door flew wide as someone rushed in, shouting anxiously:

“Xiao Shuang! Xiao Shuang!”

Song Rushuang focused and saw her father, Comrade Song Jianguo, wearing an old sleeveless undershirt and loose shorts, looking like he had been dragged straight out of bed, charging inside in panic.

Song Rushuang: “……”

She had survived a burglar only to nearly be slammed into the wall by her own father.

Xu Mingyu followed close behind, face full of worry, still carrying a bag of now-cold buns.

Seeing their daughter unharmed, the couple finally relaxed, but still turned her around repeatedly, checking for injuries from every angle.

After confirming she was completely fine, Xu Mingyu collapsed onto the floor, panting. “Oh my god, I’m exhausted.”

Song Jianguo’s legs felt weak too, not from fear but from sprinting over and climbing six flights of stairs without stopping.

“Didn’t feel anything while climbing,” he said, wiping sweat, “but once I stopped, I’m completely worn out. Guess I’m getting old.”

Song Rushuang curled her lip. “I climbed up here and didn’t complain. You two should’ve trained with me.”

Her parents bristled at the reminder, but thinking about how she had saved someone, and recalling how everyone downstairs had praised her bravery, they held their tongues, though lingering fear remained.

And when they thought about it carefully… she wasn’t wrong.

If she had not trained so diligently every day, she definitely would not have had the strength to climb to the sixth floor today. And if something had really happened to that child…

As parents themselves, the couple couldn’t help imagining the situation with a younger Song Rushuang in that child’s place. Goosebumps rose all over their skin.

“By the way,” Song Jianguo said, still incredulous, “that young guy who showed us the way said there was a thief inside too. You were really the one who subdued him?”

“Yep!” Song Rushuang replied.

Seizing the moment, she added, “So how about you two start practicing self-defense with me? Otherwise, if something like this happens again, you run so slowly you won’t even make it in time to save me.”

That struck a nerve. While rushing over earlier, both of them had been thinking exactly the same thing, wishing they could run faster.

What if they had arrived too late and something had happened to their daughter?

They would never have forgiven themselves.

Still shaken by that fear, they found themselves seriously considering her suggestion for the first time.

Neither spoke for a moment. Then Song Rushuang’s gaze froze on the bag of buns in Xu Mingyu’s hand, and her mouth twitched.

“Mom… you brought emergency rations to rescue me?”

Xu Mingyu shot her a look. “Your Grandma Zhang handed me the buns the moment she came in. She probably forgot, and I didn’t think about it either, so I just carried them all the way here.”

Trying to ease the awkwardness, she glanced at the others in the room. “Um… would you like some too?”

The grandmother and the helpful young man: “……”

That really wasn’t necessary.

The police arrived quickly, within about ten minutes. One of them looked oddly familiar.

After thinking for a moment, Song Rushuang realized he was one of the officers present the day she had gone to check surveillance footage.

He clearly remembered her too. After hearing her explanation, he looked impressed.

“So you’re saying you climbed to the sixth floor bare-handed, saved a child about to fall, then discovered a burglar threatening someone with a knife and rescued the hostage while subduing the suspect? Little sister, are you Wonder Woman?”

The young officer, not much older than her, laughed before adding seriously, “Two acts of bravery in one year. That’s amazing. But you still need to prioritize your own safety.”

Song Rushuang nodded quickly.

At that moment, his partner stepped forward, frowning slightly. “Which school did you say you attend?”

“Fangzhou University!” the younger officer answered first. The name clearly stuck with him. “I’ve even met their principal.”

“I knew I’d heard that somewhere,” the partner said, smacking his fist into his palm. “A few days ago at a mall on Anrao Road, some lunatic was waving a knife around and terrifying people. Before he could attack, a young guy shopping with friends subdued him. I remember he was also a Fangzhou University student!”

Song Rushuang chuckled inwardly. Apparently her classmates hadn’t been idle during summer break either.

She wondered which classmate it was and whether she knew him.

The officer looked at her with curiosity. “How does your school train students? One after another, all so brave.”

And not reckless bravery either. Both cases showed strategy and composure. He had seen the surveillance footage of the mall incident. The young man had casually blended into the crowd, drifting into the attacker’s blind spot before striking decisively. Even reviewing the footage afterward, the officers hadn’t noticed his intent beforehand.

As for Song Rushuang, although he hadn’t asked for all the details yet, she had rescued a hostage unharmed in just two or three minutes. That was far beyond ordinary ability.

One case might be coincidence. Two Fangzhou students performing heroic acts within three days was something else entirely.

The younger officer joked, “If you met their principal, you’d understand. That’s just their school culture.”

Compared with Fu Qing subduing Liu Yong, ordinary thieves were child’s play. The memory of Liu Yong’s miserable condition at arrest still left a deep impression on him.

His partner scratched his head and moved on, addressing everyone present.

“You’ve all seen the news. Things haven’t been very stable lately. Even during the day, keep doors and windows locked. Older residential complexes like this have weak security, and neighbors know each other too well, so people relax their guard. On my way up, I saw someone leave their security door open with only a screen door closed. That’s basically inviting thieves in.”

His tone was serious.

Advice from a police officer carried weight. After giving several recent burglary examples, Xu Mingyu and the others nodded repeatedly, visibly tense.

As Song Rushuang listened, an idea formed. She stepped forward.

“I also think our community’s security is too weak. And many residents are elderly. Older people often keep cash at home, which makes them easy targets.”

Everyone nodded.

Taking advantage of the momentum, she continued, “Since so many neighbors witnessed today’s incident, word will spread quickly. Why not organize a safety seminar and teach burglary prevention?”

“Also, our infrastructure needs upgrading. Many elderly residents still use decades-old wooden doors. They should be replaced with security doors, and the locks upgraded. The current ones are basically useless. We also need more surveillance cameras. And today showed us something else. Higher floors should install window grilles. Many grandparents care for children at home, and since our buildings aren’t tall, if I could climb up, criminals probably could too.”

Surveillance cameras wouldn’t help much during the apocalypse, but she mentioned them to avoid suspicion.

Her real priority was reinforced doors and window grilles.

Without window protection, once zombies evolved, upper-floor residents would be in danger.

And the old wooden doors many seniors used could be broken open with a simple fire axe.

Originally, she had planned to privately persuade Grandma Zhang and others to upgrade their doors, but now that a burglary had occurred, she could mobilize the entire community at once.

The officers naturally supported the proposal.

“You can submit the idea to property management,” one said. “Have them contact us and we’ll send someone to hold a lecture.”

Given the recent incident during morning rush hour, the community would likely remain anxious for some time. Acting immediately would be most effective.

“Though installing window grilles can create fire hazards,” the officer added. “Fire safety in old communities is already a headache.”

He had seen fire lanes blocked by parked cars and hallways stacked with cardboard during his arrival.

Song Rushuang nodded readily. “Then residents can decide individually whether to install grilles. We can also encourage smoke detectors. Elderly people often forget cooking on the stove. They’re really necessary.”

“Our kitchen has one,” Song Jianguo added quickly. “Xiao Shuang made us install it. Last month I nearly burned a pot dry, and it saved us.”

He beamed, delighted by the officers praising his daughter.

“She definitely has better safety awareness than we do,” he said modestly, though he was clearly proud.

Seeing her father like this, Song Rushuang felt secretly pleased. For a while, he would probably agree to anything she suggested.

Tomorrow, she decided, they were buying workout clothes and sneakers. And starting training with her.

Maybe she could even ask for some extra allowance.

She had been busy stockpiling supplies lately and her funds were running low.

As for installing window grilles, she suspected many residents would do it voluntarily now.

After all, everyone had witnessed her climbing up via the air-conditioning units.

In their eyes, she was just a teenage girl.

If she could climb up, a professional thief certainly could.

She could already imagine the neighbors’ thoughts and decided there was no need to push the police further.

For younger residents without children, she could suggest nearly invisible safety mesh for pets. Steel-wire mesh might also provide some protection against zombies.

As for those who still refused, there was nothing more she could do.

She had already done everything within her power.

Xu Mingyu mentioned she had a classmate working at the neighborhood committee and volunteered to coordinate the seminar. The plan was settled through their discussion.

Song Rushuang finally relaxed.

Now she could focus on helping Grandma Zhang and the other elderly residents stock up with peace of mind.

₊˚.🎧📓✩