Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Technology Failure

At dusk, the sun had just set, and the air was still filled with a stuffy heat that made people feel restless.

The person in charge brought back some bad news - the fixed water points in several surrounding villages and towns have basically dried up, and they will have to walk for more than an hour to the main stream on the outskirts of the city to get water.

Fortunately, this river, which almost runs across the county, is the largest tributary of the largest tributary of the largest tributary of the X River. As long as the X River keeps flowing, this river will not dry up.

However, the fact that the flow will not be interrupted does not mean that the water flow will not decrease.

In fact, the water flow of this river has been visibly reduced by more than half, while the water demand of more than 100,000 people in the county and its surrounding villages and towns has not only not decreased, but has tended to increase as the temperature rises.

He Junxia felt heavy-hearted as he watched the crowds of people on both sides of the river scrambling for water.

This city is like an acrobat walking on a tightrope. Once the barely maintained balance is broken, it will fall into the abyss in an instant.

"Line up! Line up!"

"Don't push me, I'm talking to you, what are you doing!"

The staff responsible for maintaining order shouted until their voices were hoarse but still failed to ease the chaotic scene. There were even stampedes in several places. Many people were trapped in the river and struggled desperately, making the scene even more chaotic.

"Bang!"

A startling gunshot shocked everyone. The staff who rushed over immediately evacuated the crowd in the stampede area, and the few people who were trapped underneath finally got some breathing space.

Fortunately, the gunshots were heard just in time and nothing serious happened. One person even scooped up a bucket of water before leaving.

Armed personnel began patrolling the riverbank.

These people are fundamentally different from the staff who previously shouted to maintain order. Once they see someone pushing, cutting in line and disrupting order, they will immediately pull that person out.

They neither let people queue up again nor let them leave, but just let them stand there and watch others draw water.

If anyone resisted, they would be suppressed by force and handcuffed, and their names and the community they belonged to would be recorded. Those who had money would be fined, and those who didn't would have two days' worth of free rice porridge provided by the community deducted from them.

After all these operations, even the most arrogant person became a little lamb, no longer daring to speak nonsense or make any moves.

When the others saw the "chicken" being killed to scare the monkeys, they became even more obedient, fearing that they would also be targeted and punished.

The chaotic scene was gradually brought under control. He Junxia glanced at the old-fashioned pistol on the patrolman's waist and quickly looked away.

I almost forgot, there are guns.

Although I don’t know why old-fashioned firearms are not affected by special magnetic fields, as long as these people are there, even if there is chaos in the future, it will not be too serious.

…

Time flies and it is August.

The temperature in August is more extreme, weirder, and even unprecedented than in July. From sunset to sunrise, the temperature is so cold that people shiver. After the sun rises, the temperature rises so fast that people sweat profusely.

It is extremely cold in the morning and evening, and extremely hot in the middle, which has led to the strange phenomenon that people wear cotton jackets in the morning and evening, and short-sleeved shirts and shorts at noon and afternoon. Many people also develop symptoms of colds or heat stroke due to insufficient warmth and cooling.

Humans can't handle the stress, and crops in the fields can't handle it any more. Faced with such extreme weather, 99.9% of crops in the county and surrounding towns and villages lost their vitality, becoming nothing more than dead grass that can never be harvested again.

The members of the farming team could not find any useful remedies and could only watch as their months of hard work were destroyed.

But worse was yet to come.

Due to the widespread death of crops and almost total loss of harvest, the farm has encountered serious financial problems and has only paid out 1/4 of the wages. It has also stated that all employees, except for members of the two large groups of the breeding farm and the security department, will be given leave until the extreme weather disappears.

Simply put, most of the farm employees lost their only source of income.

what to do?

Zhang Xialan returned home worriedly with a quarter of her salary. Seeing her two sons sleeping on the sofa, she sighed and walked over to clean up the used dishes on the table.

Seeing this, the people following her couldn't help but accuse her: "Why don't you wait for us to come back and eat together?"

He Youqian opened his eyes dazedly: "I'm hungry."

He Youquan walked into the kitchen and opened the cabinet where the leftovers were stored. He immediately rushed out angrily: "What do you two mean? You even fried and ate all the fresh meat without leaving any for me and Mom."

"Don't you know how expensive meat is these days?!"

The third brother, He Youshi, said impatiently, "Just eat it. It's not like you don't have money to buy it. If you want to eat it, just buy it yourself."

He Youquan took a step forward and grabbed He Youshi by the collar: "Where's the money? Give me some money."

"You do nothing all day long and rely entirely on me and mom for support. How dare you say such things?"

He Youshi, who was grabbed by the collar, was also angry.

He reached out to pry He Youquan's hand away, but his pampered body was no match for someone who had been doing farm work for over a year. Not only did his plan fail, but He Youquan's grip tightened even more.

He Youshi blushed and said, "Who asked you to raise me? Who needs you to raise me? Did I eat your food?

The vegetables are grown by mom, the meat is bought by mom, aren't you also supported by mom?

Who do you think you are? How dare you say that to me? "

He Youquan was enraged again: "You son of a bitch, I bought the meat and my mom and I grew the vegetables. I feed and drink you. I'd rather raise a dog than you. At least a dog will wag its tail when it sees its owner."

"What about him?" He Youshi pointed at He Youqian with a red face and ears: "Why don't you scold him but scold me instead?"

He Youqian rolled his eyes: "If you want to fight, then fight, don't drag me down."

Stunned Zhang Xialan finally reacted and quickly stepped forward to persuade her two sons: "Stop arguing, you have the right, let go, you are the older brother, don't bother with your younger brother."

He Youquan said angrily: "I am the elder brother and I won't argue with him, but what about the eldest brother? What do you say, eldest brother?"

Zhang Xialan paused and tried to persuade him, "We are all family. Why should we be so calculating? Let go! Your brother is suffocating."

He Youquan, who was blinded by anger, did not pay any attention to He Youshi's situation and could not hear what his mother said at all.

Seeing her youngest son's face gradually turning blue, Zhang Xialan became anxious and subconsciously raised the porcelain bowl in her hand and smashed it over.

"Bang!"

He Youquan let go of his hand in pain. Finally getting a chance to breathe, He Youshi quickly hid behind Zhang Xialan and complained aggrievedly: "Mom, look at him, he wants to kill me, look at my neck."

He Youquan stared blankly at his hands and quickly explained to Zhang Xialan: "No, I didn't, I didn't want to kill him."

However, Zhang Xialan accused him with a voice of extreme disappointment and disgust: "How can you be so selfish and cruel? Your brother just ate some meat, and you want to kill him!"

"If I eat something from you in the future, will you kill me too?"

With someone to back him up, He Youqian immediately agreed: "That's right, you're my brother after all."

He Youqian also said: "Stop arguing, it's not like our family can't afford that little bit of meat, why are you fussing about it?"

"I'm petty, you say I'm petty?" He Youquan angrily laughed, "If I were petty, I'd let you two losers stay at home and eat and drink for free for half a year. Get out of here!"

Zhang Xialan couldn't bear to listen any longer.

She said angrily: "They are my sons. I am happy to raise them. What's it to you to point fingers at them?"

"If anyone wants to leave, it's you who should leave!"

He Youquan's expression froze on his face, and his heart sank. In sharp contrast was He Youqian's indifference and He Youshi's smugness.

He Youquan felt as if his soul had left his body and was looking at his mother, the person closest to him in the world, from a unique third-person perspective.

"Okay, I'm leaving."

He Youquan returned to his room, packed his things, and left home without looking back.

Zhang Xialan watched her second son walk away. She was stunned for a moment and wanted to catch up, but was stopped by He Youshi: "Mom, don't worry, second brother will definitely come back. Where else can he go in this situation?"

"Let him calm down outside first."

Zhang Xialan thought it made sense and didn't chase after him, but she didn't know that her second son disappeared without a trace after he left.

…

As the days passed, the main river in the county town remained unobstructed, and people's daily lives were not greatly affected.

But being able to drink well does not mean being able to eat well.

Since dozens of farms around the county town have suffered harvest failures, food prices have been rising, and more and more people have needed to receive free relief meals.

There are even some communities where entire populations depend on relief meals to survive.

However, under such circumstances, the rice porridge used as relief meals became thinner and less and less. Drinking a bowl of porridge not only did not fill one up, but also made one hungrier.

The poor living conditions have made people who have enjoyed modern life feel miserable. Coupled with the impact of extreme weather, people's inner emotions are becoming increasingly depressed.

Either explode in silence or perish in silence.

The incidence of serious crimes such as robbery, theft, murder, and rape increased rapidly in a short period of time. Due to technical reasons, it was difficult for the relevant departments to catch the suspects in a short period of time. For a time, everyone was in danger.

The situation in Hejia Village is much better than that in the county town. The patrol team of the Security Department will patrol the village with dogs. Once they find a stranger sneaking into the living area, they will immediately expel the person.

If a stranger does not enter the living area of ​​the residents of Hejia Village and just wants to find something to eat in the mountains, the security department will generally ignore him.

This situation continued until one afternoon, when Old Mrs. Chen, who lived in the security department, secretly found Captain Wu of the security department and said that her grandson had been kidnapped.