◎Happy 39th Day: Lockdown◎

There was an unexpected power outage, and Qin Shiwu went to work again in violation of regulations. Jiang Muyun and his colleagues didn't see Qin Shiwu for more than a week.

When Qin Shiwu came back to sleep, Jiang Muyun almost didn't dare to recognize him.

Qin Shiwu no longer has the gentle and refined appearance he once had.

He was quite clean, except for his stubble.

His face was sallow, his eye sockets were dark, his cheeks were slightly sunken, and he seemed to have an unsteady gait when he walked. He looked at least eight years older.

Jiang Muyun had just finished charging his phone when he saw Qin Shiwu coming back like a wandering soul. He pushed open the small broken door with lifeless eyes, and then fell onto the bed with a bang.

The bed was laid on the floor, and no matter how many layers of cushions you had, it couldn't compare to a Simmons mattress.

Qin Shiwen was sitting at the door. She had just greeted her brother when she saw him crawl into the mosquito net and fall down. She didn't have time to stop him.

Jiang Muyun stood at her door and felt the same pain: "It hurts so much."

Qin Shiwu's hoarse voice came from inside the mosquito net: "Don't worry about me, I'll take a nap."

Qin Shiwen gently covered him with a blanket and left the room. He and Jiang Muyun moved their small stools and sat at the door, flipping through the novels Jiang Muyun had bought from the local stalls.

Originally, they could draw the curtains, put on headphones and watch movies in the resettlement site, but now they dare not do that.

In theory, the temperature inside the rescue point should be kept constant.

But the previous incident made everyone feel that the atmosphere in the rescue center had really cooled down.

Jiang Muyun and his team suffered relatively little loss, except that the resettlement site was in a mess and a lot of water was spilled.

With the points from catching thieves a few times to make up for the losses, these problems are not a big deal.

But others, especially those whose resettlement sites were located among the crowds, were not so lucky.

Not to mention those who were injured when the chaos came, most of the things in the house were also ruined in the chaos.

Some were stolen during the chaos, some were stepped on and broken, and some were kicked somewhere and could not be found.

The area in front of Jiang Muyun and the others, when the lights just came on, was littered with scattered rice grains and flour, and a lot of food was ruined by the trampling.

Now the rice that fell on the ground has been collected, but the noodles are completely unusable, not to mention the water that was spilled in the chaos.

Although the official cleanup had returned the dirt found to the original owner and even made a small amount of point subsidies, which barely made up for some of the losses, it was only a drop in the bucket compared to people's actual losses.

There are many people who casually grab a handful of rice or put a bottle of water in their pockets. Not only is it difficult to capture them on surveillance cameras, it is also difficult to convict people of such thefts.

If even this kind of behavior were to be criminalized one by one, most of the relief centers would be cleared out.

An unexpected power outage lasting only a few minutes caused devastating losses, leaving many families facing water and food shortages.

When it comes to life and death, there are always people who want to take risks.

Especially when your own home has been destroyed while other people’s homes are still fine.

But before these people could take any action, they were scared back by the authorities.

All those who intended to take advantage of the power outage to commit evil were immediately caught by the authorities, cleared out of the rescue points overnight, and sent to special prisons to serve their sentences.

But only a few are caught on the spot.

So in the next two days, the authorities launched a thorough investigation.

It is true that there was a power outage at the rescue point that day, but the surveillance cameras installed at the rescue point have their own batteries.

Perhaps due to the surveillance angle, the authorities are unable to find all the people who have done evil, but just this group of people is enough to deter other people with bad intentions.

The intermediate process is omitted. All those who are found out will be sent to a special prison to serve their sentences along with the video files that record their criminal evidence.

Two days later, a rumor spread in the rescue center that the temperature outside was too low and some of the people who had been sent out earlier had frozen to death on the way and were unable to reach the special prison.

The originally restless atmosphere immediately calmed down.

First, some of the stolen supplies were returned, and those who couldn't were given some points, which was barely enough to appease them. Second, they were shocked by the decisive measures taken by the authorities.

If there were still people who said things like "It's good to be caught, and I get free food and accommodation" before, then after this news came out, these people became completely silent.

It seems real that food and accommodation are provided, but I don’t know if I’m lucky enough to have them.

At this time, the points redemption point became lively.

People generally have enough staple food, and if they want to improve their lives without spending money, they can also take up temporary work. Even if the supplies on hand are not used immediately, they can be saved as insurance for the future.

After experiencing the temperature drop in the past few months, in everyone's mind, supplies are more precious than money or points.

But now the turmoil has put many families who have lost their supplies and have no savings into a difficult situation. Temporary jobs have to be snatched up, and there is no guarantee of work every day.

In such a situation, many people thought of redeeming points. They would exchange some of their unused supplies for points to alleviate their immediate needs.

No one knows when the temperature will rise again, so people dare not touch daily necessities such as fuel and paper towels.

Thanks to the temperature inside the relief center, warm clothes and quilts became everyone's first choice for redeeming points.

If that's still not enough, you can also give away some cleaning supplies.

Exchange all kinds of shower gel and shampoo for points.

I can't even afford to take a bath, so what's the use of them? A bar of soap is enough, which can be used to wash clothes and take a bath.

But this can only solve the problem temporarily.

People have been trapped underground for a long time without seeing the sun, and their only resettlement site is a small, cramped area.

The supply of water and food is becoming less and less, and the pressure of survival is increasing.

There are obviously extra things at home that can be exchanged for points, but they cannot be brought over because the relief center restricts residents from entering and leaving freely.

As time went by, negative emotions accumulated and conflicts within the relief center broke out more frequently.

Not to mention that Qin Shiwu was so tired that he could not breathe, Jiang Muyun occasionally met Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan on the road, and they also looked much more haggard.

Now the security patrols have become a mere formality.

Every day they are either dealing with accidents or on their way to deal with accidents.

Often, when we set out on patrol, we would form a team of ten, but after two hours, only half of them would be left—the others would be carrying stretchers to take the injured to the medical center, or they might have been taken there themselves.

Now the people who are taking action are becoming more and more violent, and their mental state seems abnormal. The security team is often accidentally injured when trying to pull people away.

When they first moved in, Qin Shiwu threatened that no one should get hurt by him.

As a result, Li Anxuan and Zhao Jiahao often go to the medical department, but they have never fallen into Qin Shiwu's hands.

Qin Shiwu no longer deals with minor injuries. The medical department is extremely short of staff, and Qin Shiwu is forced to be the surgeon at the operating table. This shows how bad the situation is.

If Jiang Muyun, Qin Shiwen and the other two wanted to go out, one would go out and two would stay at home, and someone had to sit outside.

Before, everyone was cautious and petty thefts would not be committed during the day.

Now that a group of people who have committed crimes have been cleared out, the number of people committing crimes on impulse has increased.

No matter what time it is, there have been many cases where you suddenly lose your temper while walking on the street and kick down other people's barriers.

Some people think they are unlucky, while others just have a bad temper. At this time, unless one of the two parties gives in, the matter cannot be resolved.

If you stay at the door, you can stop someone from going crazy in time. If you stay in the resettlement area, you won't be able to react in time if something unexpected happens.

Jiang Muyun even deliberately got herself a few dirty masks to wear, and she never changed her clothes when she went out; she always wore the same black jacket. Qin Shiwen was dressed similarly.

Even Chu Buwen, who initially loved to act young, had given up on managing his image these days. Whenever he left the resettlement site, he would inevitably look dusty and grimy.

Dabai and Xiaobai's animal instincts are also quite extraordinary.

The two little guys' biggest activity these days is moving back and forth between the two nests.

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen didn't even need to teach them, they just stayed in their nest and didn't come out.

Even though he was so careful, Xiaobai was still targeted.

Xiaobai and Dabai caught thieves twice. Although their presence was not strong, they could not withstand the crowds of people around them.

It was nothing in the past.

After all, now domestic pets all eat special pet food. Considering the size of these two, it is normal for the family to buy food once and feed them for several months.

When everyone saw these two, they all thought that they were lucky enough not to have frozen to death, rather than that Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen had plenty of food at home and could afford to keep pets.

But now many people are starting to lack water and food, and those who are not short of food have not eaten fresh vegetables and meat for a long time.

There was some uneaten fresh food at home. Although I couldn’t bring the food to the relief center, I could go home and get some if I wanted to eat it.

Now the rescue center has restricted access, so even if you have a lot of money at home, you can't move it to the rescue center.

It’s okay for Dabai, as few Chinese people have the habit of eating cats.

But Xiaobai is different.

In the eyes of those who are greedy for meat, it is a walking dish.

Jiang Muyun's body has now returned to its previous state, but his brain is still the same brain that has experienced the end of the world.

When she deliberately maintained a light sleep, the unusual movements at night would instantly touch her nerves.

When Jiang Muyun came out of the tent with a crowbar, the knife outside had just cut a hole in the door.

Although Jiang Muyun's movements were very light, her action of unlocking the door was still noticed by people outside.

The man was also very decisive. When he saw that he was discovered, he immediately gave up his action, put away the knife and turned around and ran away.

Then he was knocked unconscious by Chu Buwen's knife, and fell to the ground with a bang, waking up many people around him.

The man was completely focused on Jiang Muyun's door and the movements behind it, and did not notice that another door next to it was opened.

It can be said that this thief has bad luck today.

Tonight, Xiaobai happened to follow Dabai back to the nest, and they discovered this person when he first came. The movement of the two little guys woke Chu Buwen up, which led to the scene of Chu Buwen coming out.

Jiang Muyun tied the man up tightly and found that he was still holding half a coarse steamed bun in his hand.

Jiang Muyun broke off a piece and sniffed it, scratching his hair irritably: "Maybe he wants to use medicine on the dog."

She half-bent down, grabbed the knot around the man's chest, and dragged him out. "Keep an eye on him for me. I'll go find the security team."

Jiang Muyun has experienced this kind of day without sunlight many times, but that doesn't mean she has become completely accustomed to this kind of life and doesn't have any negative emotions at all.

Just look at Chu Buwen and you will know. The force he just used was so strong that Jiang Muyun didn't believe that he didn't have any emotion in it.

The person lying on the ground was not thin, but unfortunately, Jiang Muyun was particularly irritable at this moment.

Jiang Muyun dragged the man all the way to the security team. He exerted a lot of effort and felt much better. He even stuffed a piece of candy into his mouth when he came back.

Even Jiang Muyun has reached the point where he needs to vent, and the mood of others will only get worse.

Not to mention Qin Shiwu. Since the power outage, Qin Shiwu often came back only once every few days, and when he came back he didn't talk, usually falling asleep immediately.

Only when Qin Shiwu was woken up by a phone call asking him to go to work could Jiang Muyun hear the conversation between the two siblings next door.

Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan have confirmed their re-enlistment and are now under Captain Luo's command.

One time, Jiang Muyun went to charge his phone and encountered two people on the road who started fighting with knives and injured many people around them.

Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan, who came to deal with the matter, knocked both of them to the ground with expressionless faces, and their movements of taking out handcuffs and detaining them were extremely skillful.

The one with the most stable emotional state among the few people was Qin Shiwen.

Qin Shiwen is now also patiently in arrears, but it only stops at the point where he can't sit quietly for a few hours to finish reading a novel or watching a movie.

She has nothing to do now, so she does some indoor training on her own.

During this period of time, everyone looked a little haggard, only Qin Shiwen was full of energy, with well-proportioned muscles, strong and beautiful, and he could occasionally provide some psychological counseling to her brother.

According to Qin Shiwen, before she retired, she had to control her muscle training. The coaching staff carefully arranged where she needed to gain muscle to increase strength and when she needed to lose weight.

Unlike now, she can practice however she wants and wherever she wants, and of course she is in a good mood.

This is the case for the few people who have enough food and clothing, and the others are even more depressed.

It has been two months since everyone moved into the relief center.

The rescue center has been closed for almost a month.

Everyone spent a whole month without seeing the sun.

They had nowhere to go and could only huddle in a small space where they had to be careful even to turn around.

Without the internet, electricity has to be used sparingly, water and fuel are reduced bit by bit, and even the use of a piece of paper has to be calculated carefully.

They worry every moment whether someone will break into their home in the next second and steal their remaining supplies, or whether the other party does not want the supplies at all and just wants to vent their emotions on the flesh and blood of strangers.

After getting used to the noise inside the rescue center, no one dared to sleep peacefully.

I am afraid of seeing strangers as soon as I open my eyes, afraid that the life-saving supplies at home will disappear as soon as I open my eyes, and even more afraid that if I don’t open my eyes in time, I will never have the chance to open my eyes again.

Some people began to wander around the rescue center aimlessly frequently, and the cafeteria, which was originally deserted, was now crowded with people.

Some people could not stand such a life and rushed out when they saw the soldiers transporting supplies.

The man was sent back less than half a minute after he left the house.

To be precise, the body was sent back.

The moment the man left, the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors triggered a myocardial infarction. In just a few seconds, by the time the soldiers brought his body back, it had been frozen stiff, like a lifelike ice sculpture.

The authorities made this incident an example, and no one left the rescue center without permission since then, but the atmosphere inside the rescue center also dropped to freezing point.

One day, a middle-aged man living in District 8 came home from work and found that the only bottle of purified water in his house was missing.

His emotions completely collapsed, and he grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed out of the house, chopping anyone he saw.

When everyone is emotionally stable, they will avoid such a lunatic.

But now the rescue point is like a powder keg, which can explode at any time.

The man who was injured by him became violent and a group of people rushed forward and beat him to death.

When the security team arrived, the man lying on the ground had half of his head flattened.

Just as the security team was clearing the man's resettlement site, no one noticed that a thin child took advantage of the crowd's cover and crawled into a pile of things belonging to the man.

Based on what he had just seen, the child dug out a bottle of water from between two layers of mattresses based on his memory.

Maybe it’s the water that the man didn’t find.

This incident was not an isolated case. He was not the only madman who suddenly committed crimes. Jiang Muyun had heard of three such incidents.

And regardless of whether the incident of the man's water being stolen was a misunderstanding, it does not change the fact that more and more people dare to commit crimes in broad daylight.

Gradually, people were afraid to leave their resettlement sites unless they had no other choice.

Even though everyone has less and less stuff in their hands, the number of people at the work registration office never increases.

There have been many times when I came home from work to find that my house had been robbed.

It may not be that the house has been emptied, maybe just a few pieces of coal or a few pieces of clothes are missing, but in this time when all kinds of supplies are extremely scarce, it is enough to make people collapse.

Sometimes, even if the authorities catch the person, the food has already been eaten or consumed.

People who can do such things are all penniless and have given up hope, and they can't afford any compensation even if asked to.

In order to appease the owner, the authorities could only issue points to compensate for the loss, and then send the criminal to serve his sentence and use labor to repay the debt owed to the authorities.

There are also the majority of owners who are even less fortunate. They cannot even find the thief, or even if they find him, they cannot convict him.

They spotted the blind spot in the surveillance camera. The owner found the Public Security Department, and the Public Security Department checked the surveillance camera but couldn't catch the person.

The trial procedures are now simplified, but the evidence requirements are higher. It is impossible to convict someone just by looking at their clothes and body shape, or based solely on the owner's identification.

Unless you catch someone on the scene, if you want to get your things back or convict him, you can only look at the evidence.

Either the surveillance camera captured the man's face, and during the time period when the item was stolen, this suspect was the only one who entered the owner's place of residence.

Or after identifying several suspects, the stolen items are found in the possession of one of the suspects.

The owner also has to prove that the item was originally his or hers.

Not long after the power outage, these terms became official documents and were posted in every corner of the rescue point, which directly resulted in Jiang Muyun and others having to smear dust on their faces and never dared to go out wearing masks again.

Because now anyone who covers their face when going out will be assumed to have bad intentions and be afraid of being caught by surveillance cameras.

It attracts more attention than a fat sheep with a fair complexion.

Fortunately, Jiang Muyun had stocked up on a lot of cheap packaged wet wipes.

Take out a packet and give it to each person. If your face gets dirty during the day, wipe it before going to bed. It saves water and is comfortable.

These clauses appear because there are a group of "professional thieves" in the rescue center.

If there is no evidence, fabricate it. Catching more people is the way to get rich quickly.

Before these clauses appeared, a group of "professional thieves" had already been proven to have slandered others.

As punishment, they were directly expelled from the rescue center and transferred to a special prison.

Such clauses curbed the trend of "professional thieves", but also caused a lot of trouble for the Public Security Department.

For example, the surveillance camera did not capture the suspect's face, and the lost property had long been destroyed. Without any concrete evidence, the owner can only suffer the consequences.

Who would be willing to do this?

If they are reluctant, of course there will be some commotion.

If someone makes a fuss during normal times, there may be a director or person in charge who will come out to appease them and talk to them in a gentle voice.

But what time is it now?

If it weren't for the situation inside the rescue point after the power outage, according to the previous regulations, if you threw a few pieces of coal or a bowl, the Public Security Bureau wouldn't even check the surveillance.

There are endless important things to do every day, and a person wishes he could be torn into eight pieces. How can he have the time to talk gently and give kind advice to the troublemakers?

We checked the surveillance and found the person, but there is no evidence. Do we have to listen to whoever is pitiful?

If you make trouble again, you will be treated as obstructing public service and will be fined or expelled.

Such a tough attitude scared away a group of people, but some people failed to see the reality and felt that they were just asking for justice but had not taken any action, so the authorities would not do anything to them.

So one ticket after another was sent to these people.

If you can't pay the fine, you have to work to pay off the debt.

However, the place where this kind of labor is used to pay off debts is not included in the relief points.

After all, there are limited ordinary positions in the relief centers, and the authorities have to reserve them for the people.

But you can tell what the situation is outside the rescue center by looking at the previous rumors.

I heard that the first group of people who were sent to the prison after the power outage froze to death on the road and have not heard of them since.

Who knows what kind of treatment those who use labor to pay off debts will get.

What if I also freeze to death outside silently?

In fact, the transportation cost of sending people to work outside the relief center is higher than the value of their labor.

But the authorities don't care.

The purpose of setting up this system is not because they are short of money.

What they want is deterrence, to scare criminals and troublemakers and do everything they can to increase the cost of their crimes.

So after the first group of troublemakers who refused to pay the fines were sent away, the rest of the people became more well-behaved.

Those who receive a ticket should pay the fine honestly, and those who really have no money will be given guidance by the authorities.

Go to the work registration office to register, and half of your wages for each subsequent work will be deducted as a fine, at a ratio of 1:10 between points and Chinese currency, until you pay it off.

If you don't go to work for three days, you will be taken out for labor reform.

There aren't many people at the job registration office right now. As long as you go early, it's impossible not to get a job for three consecutive days.

In this way, the rest of the people were also appeased.

After these things happened, naturally, everyone was afraid to go out easily.

Everyone fears that one day they will return home and their house will be robbed, with the thief still elusive. They also fear that they will run into a madman on the street and suffer an unexpected disaster.

There is still some money at home, so we can survive without working.

It is not worth it to sacrifice all your belongings, or even your life, for a few points from work.

Those who rush to grab jobs every day are the ones who have nothing worth worrying about at home and will starve to death if they don’t earn points.

Coincidentally, the people who would take the risk to commit crimes at this time are also such people.

The upper limit and lower limit of human morality are both difficult to imagine under normal circumstances.

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen had both seen it, so Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen had already started discussing whether to open another door on the partition between their two houses to lead directly to her side.

If a riot occurs in the rescue point, a few people can at least gather in the corner immediately.

Now when Qin Shiwu goes to work, Qin Shiwen will send him there, but when Qin Shiwu gets off work, he has to come back alone.

Qin Shiwu's working hours are not fixed, and it is unknown whether he sleeps in the medical department or goes home that day. The mobile phone in the rescue center can only dial a special line, so Qin Shiwen has no way to pick him up.

Jiang Muyun and his friends encountered fights on the road several times when they went out, and many passers-by were affected for no reason.

Qin Shiwu's physical strength is acceptable, but if they really start fighting, Qin Shiwen can knock her brother down in minutes.

For safety reasons, it would be best for someone like him who has never fought to carry some self-defense equipment with him when he goes out.

Jiang Muyun got him a bottle of pepper spray and tied the side-jump knife he got from the thief last time to a rope and gave it to Qin Shiwu to carry with him.

When I’m at work, I put the things in my pocket. When I get off work, I tie the rope on the knife handle to my wrist and hide the blade in my sleeve.

This way, if something happens, you can use the pepper spray to deal with it, and if that doesn't work, just take out the knife.

With the rope tied to it, the knife is not easy to slip out of your hand or be snatched away by the enemy. As long as you have a sharp weapon in your hand, you still have room for resistance.

But even with such thorough preparations, Qin Shiwu was accidentally injured during a medical dispute.

Fortunately, his injury was not serious, just a cut. He will be fine after resting for two days.

Now Jiang Muyun is really grateful for his good luck.

No matter what happens in the rescue point, the corner is always safer.

Just as the situation was becoming increasingly tense and Jiang Muyun and others were already planning to take turns keeping watch, the authorities announced that the outside temperature had risen and free entry and exit to the rescue point had resumed.