Chapter 160

The destructive power of locusts is gradually decreasing. After the government issued a notice to purchase locusts, more and more people came out of their homes to catch locusts.

Although many people have noticed that the number of locusts is decreasing as some of them leave and the government burns them every day, there are not many people outside, so some people who are eager to go out and catch locusts do not have the courage to do so. After all, the number has decreased, but there are still many.

Until more and more people went out and caught locusts, those who did not dare to go out suddenly felt safe. However, when they all went out, they found that they could catch fewer and fewer locusts. On the first day, they could catch one or two bags of locusts, but on the second day, there were only a few. Some people had fenced off a yard, and there was an aisle between the buildings outside the yard. These people even fought over the ownership of the locusts caught in the aisle.

After staying indoors for four or five days to catch the remaining locusts, the entire residential area became extremely lively, especially their area. There were several families with children. The fathers took the children outside to catch locusts, and the children ran around screaming, making a lot of noise. Even Cai's Xiaozhu was rarely taken outside by the elders of the family for a walk. It was said that he was so excited that he wet the bed.

Mu Nan was upstairs watching Xiao Zhu, accompanied by his mother, squatting in the yard and washing his small blanket. His small back seemed to be bearing too many burdens that were not suitable for his age.

Qin Huai came out of the bathroom and saw Mu Nan lying there with a smile on his face. He also smiled: "What are you looking at?"

Mu Nan pointed downstairs and said, "Xiao Zhu wet the bed, hahahaha."

"She's only three years old, and you're still wetting the bed at five."

This kind of thing cannot be admitted. Mu Nan rolled his eyes at Qin Huai and said, "I'd be foolish to believe you."

Qin Huai was not kidding: "If you don't believe me, take out the photo album. There is a photo with the background of the bed you peed on."

Mu Nan shook his head and denied it: "I don't believe it, there are no photos. They are all gone in the old house and I didn't bring them with me."

Qin Huai poked him on the forehead and said, "You can't just deny it. It's a pity that the camera function of mobile phones at that time was not as comprehensive as it is now. Otherwise, I would have taken a picture of your entire crime scene. I'll look through the photo album later, and look through it once..."

Mu Nan jumped onto Qin Huai's back and grabbed his neck: "What are you doing? Are you going to humiliate me in public every time I flip over, huh?"

Qin Huai suddenly accelerated and Mu Nan, who was hanging on his back, was startled. She quickly hugged him tightly, fearing that she would fall. Qin Huai laughed at his reaction. Mu Nan pinched his back desperately: "You are really not afraid of falling! Let's see if you are scared to death if your head hits the ground!"

Qin Huai threw Mu Nan onto the bed: "Are you stupid? Would I throw you? Are you hungry? I'll make you some afternoon tea. Do you want salty or sweet?"

Since he asked, Mu Nan naturally started to order food without hesitation: "I want to eat fried chicken, the kind with cumin and chili powder and crispy skin."

"Okay, I'll make you fried chicken. Do you want fries?"

"want!"

When he got up from the bed, Qin Huai pinched his waist and said, "I feed you like this every day, but you haven't gained two pounds."

Mu Nan slapped Qin Huai's hand away and pinched the flesh on his waist with a heavy face: "In order not to gain weight from eating and drinking so much, I now increase my running to one hour every day. If I continue to train like this, if I can resume the marathon in the future, I can complete the whole marathon!"

Qin Huai smiled when he heard this: "You want to run a full marathon in just one hour? Others can only run a half marathon in three to five hours."

Mu Nan turned over in bed and muttered, "It's a horse after all." For a nerd who gets out of breath after climbing a few flights of stairs, being able to run a marathon is the ultimate evolution.

Because more and more people are going out to catch locusts, information in some areas is spreading faster and faster. People like Mu Nan who don't go out can also receive a lot of information through the chats of those people in the community group. For example, during the locust attack, a residential area in Argali Province ran out of ammunition and food, and the water source dried up. In addition, it was ravaged by locusts, and finally couldn't bear it anymore and set out to survive in the south.

Yang Jing's parents were from that residential area. As they were locals and her family used to be quite wealthy, although they were not very wealthy, at least the environment was good and they had saved a little bit of money. But later on, life there became unbearable, so Yang Jing's mother traded her jewelry for a seat in the convoy heading south.

Because we didn't know the road conditions, and many places were blocked and not open to traffic, when a convoy said it was heading south, there were many people waiting and watching, for fear of encountering the kind of people who were out to kill and rob. After all, it was a private convoy, not government military personnel.

But Yang Jing's father had good foresight in some aspects, so he simply took a gamble. Although the government would certainly arrange for relocation or find other ways to provide relief if life became unbearable, just thinking about it could predict how difficult the situation would be. It was not impossible that it would become so chaotic that people would be eaten. Therefore, it was better to leave early than to stay.

They were lucky. They were hungry and thirsty all the way, but at least this convoy really wanted to seek help and survive. No murder or robbery occurred. They experienced many twists and turns on the road and even lost their way for a while. They almost died halfway due to lack of food and water. In the end, they saw the traces of a large number of locusts flying and came here.

There are more than 20 vehicles in this convoy, some of which are private cars, and the others are large freight trucks, so there are quite a few people on board, almost nearly 200 people.

However, they can only be considered the first batch. If life in the north is too difficult, I am afraid that many more people will come here in order to survive.

These things are discussed in the community group every day. The north is suffering from drought and there is no food or water. It is human instinct to flee to places where there is a way to survive. But the more people come here, the more their already scarce resources will have to be distributed. Sooner or later, they will run out of ammunition and food like the north.

Someone complained in the group, hoping these people would continue to go south. They were not in the south, and there were other places with abundant fish and rice further down. If that didn't work, they could go to cities by the sea. All the food on land had been killed by the sun, but not all the food in the sea would have been killed by the sun. Maybe because there was less industrial fishing, there was an abundance of seafood.

Anyway, it seems that many people are unwilling to let the government take in these people. They think that the more people there are in the residential area, the more chaotic it will be, and they haven't even rebuilt their own place yet.

However, the government certainly has its own regulations. If the capacity exceeds a certain level, the government will definitely not be able to accept it and can only send people to other provinces and cities. However, whether it is the production of materials or the reconstruction of the region, manpower is needed, so perhaps the higher-ups will try their best to retain people. As long as there are people, the city will slowly return to normal operation and no longer rely solely on treasury inventory for relief.

When Wu Zheng and Xu Ming all started to go to work as usual, Yang Jing's parents came just as Qin Huai had expected, and they even asked people from the neighborhood committee. This time they didn't talk about anything else. The Cai family married their daughter, so they had to give her what she deserved. Apart from anything else, they had nowhere to go now, so at least they could vacate a room for them to stay temporarily.

Besides, the daughter is an adult, so she can support her parents, and the normal support should be paid. Regardless of whether Yang Jing is willing to recognize them or not, the relationship between the direct relatives cannot be severed.

However, what Yang Jing's parents never expected was that the house did not belong to the Cai family at all.

Cai Wentao, who was asked to mediate the situation at the neighborhood committee, was a bit awkward the first time around. This time, he was more relaxed, and shrugged innocently at the neighborhood committee members, saying, "We are all sleeping on the street and relying on friends to take us in. The fire in Qinghe is smaller now, but some places haven't been completely put out. Our living place has been completely burned down. The rental application we submitted is still waiting in line. How can we take in these two people?"

Without waiting for the neighborhood committee to speak, Cai Wentao continued according to what Jian Chu had taught him before: "What's more, Yang Jing and I are just together. We don't even have a Civil Affairs Bureau now, so how can we get married? Yang Jing has been with me for two years, I think, and he has never had a job. He eats and drinks at my expense and relies on me for support. You all know how difficult it is to support someone now. I can't have his parents come and ask for support from their daughter, so I have to support his parents together. There is no mandatory requirement to support the other person's parents after marriage."

The mediator of the neighborhood committee looked at Yang Jing: "What do you say?"

Yang Jing lowered his head, trying to restrain his aura, and pretended to be dependent on Cai Wentao: "I will naturally support her if I have the ability, but now I even rely on others for a place to live. What can I say? Just listen to your judgment. After all, she looks good, and maybe I can sell her for some money to buy them some food and drink."

Mother Yang was immediately furious: "What are you talking about? Can a girl just say such things casually?"

Yang Jing seemed to smile, and looked at them solemnly: "Yes, you shouldn't say it so directly, or say that you know someone who can bring me happiness in the future, and then you marry me to him as a matter of course. You are my parents, and you must be doing this for my own good. I know."

Cai Wentao immediately said in dissatisfaction: "What the hell! Then all my efforts in the past two years have been in vain? I don't care. Although Yang Jing and I are not married, it is true that I have raised her for so long. Yes, we are in a normal relationship. I am willing to support her, but her parents can't just take her away because they don't like me. Unless Yang Jing leaves voluntarily, if you want to take her away, you can. I will calculate the expenses of the past two years. I won't tell you the details, just a rough estimate. You can compensate me for my losses and take her away. If you can't, then let's not talk about anything!"

Father Yang suppressed his anger and said, "What is this, human trafficking? Holding my daughter back and not letting her leave?!"

Cai Wentao counterattacked: "Then what are you? A honey trap? You eat and drink and then leave?"

The mediator quickly stopped the quarrel and said, "Calm down first. Let's talk slowly about what's going on."

Yang Jing suddenly said, "Wentao gave me fabrics before, and I made clothes for others. I kept a little money for myself. It's not much, just 20 yuan. This is the only money left that belongs to me. If you want it, take it. There is no more."

Cai Wentao looked at Yang Jing immediately, "You are so good! You actually dared to save private money behind my back. I asked you to make money by making clothes to supplement the public use! Now Qinghe has burned down, and there is no more homespun cloth. It just so happens that I don't have the conditions to make clothes. In the future, you should behave yourself and I will give you a meal. If you do something behind my back again, don't blame me for being rude! I don't want to support a woman who supports her parents' home behind my back!"

Yang Jing lowered his head, as if he accepted everything Cai Wentao said. However, this made Yang's father and mother very angry. Yang's mother even said, "Calculate how much money my daughter has cost you, and we will compensate you!"

Yang Jing couldn't help but look at Yang's mother. Even Cai Wentao was stunned. Song Jia and the others had analyzed before that Yang Jing's parents definitely had no money, so they definitely couldn't take Yang Jing away. This development was not in line with the script. However, he reacted quickly and showed a look of disdain: "Do you look like you have money? I tell you, either pay it off in one go, or you run away and I'm not going to find you!"

Mother Yang looked at Yang Jing and said, "Since you can make clothes, then we can find fabrics to make clothes and make money, and then give the money back to him!"

Yang Jing was so angry that he laughed. Cai Wentao was relieved and said confidently, "It seems like you guys are really trying to get something for free. If it weren't for me, Yang Jing would have starved to death on the street! Apart from anything else, how are you going to repay me for saving your life? Now you use my woman to make money and pay it back to me, and I'm going to support you. You're so shameless!"

Mother Yang tried to pull Yang Jing away: "You ungrateful bastard, I raised you up and took great pains to train you, and this is how you repay us?!"

Yang Jing spoke in a very calm tone: "You have raised my brother for eighteen years and cultivated him with all your heart and soul. Otherwise, how about I repay you in the way I repay you as your brother?"

Cai Wentao said to the mediator beside him: "Do you know how her brother repaid her?"

The mediator didn't know that clearly, so he naturally shook his head.

Cai Wentao: "I was forced to jump off the building by this couple."

The mediator's eyes suddenly changed. He originally thought that this was an ungrateful girl who didn't care about her parents just because she had food, drink and support. It seemed that there was another story behind this.

It was late at night when Cai Wentao sent a message in the group saying that he was back. Only then did the people waiting at home breathe a sigh of relief.

Aunt Yin was playing mahjong with Sun Sisi, her niece and Jian Chu. The capital was soybeans. There was no other way because soybeans were the only thing they had and every household had them. Mu Nan was also at Song Jia's house, helping Niu Niu take a bath with Xiao Zhu. Song Jia was leisurely eating the fried soybeans that Aunt Yin had made in the morning while looking at the cards in the back. He would not help but comment after a game was over.

At present, Jian Chu is the only one losing on the field. When Jian Chu came on the field, he said that in a card game with three women and one man, the man will definitely lose. Mu Nan was still skeptical about this, but now seeing their small baskets of soybeans, Jian Chu is about to run out of money. Aunt Yin has won the most, and it turns out that the rules of the card table are sometimes quite accurate.

Uncle Cai went to work, Guo Hui and Cai Wenwen were sorting mushrooms in the room. After a few days, the mushroom bags they made finally matured, and they had to control the temperature and water to make the mushrooms grow. But everyone gathered here, mainly to wait for Cai Wentao and his friends to come back, but they were bored waiting, so they each found something to do.

When Cai Wentao and Yang Jing came back, they saw their family members at the card table and their friends washing the dog and chatting. At that moment, they actually felt like they were bringing their girlfriends home. However, it was only a momentary trance, because when Sun Sisi saw them coming back, she hurriedly asked: "What's the situation? Is it resolved this time? Will they come again?"

Yang Jing: "I don't know if they will come again. Anyway, the mediation of the neighborhood committee is that I gave them 20 yuan. If they can afford it, they can pay for it. If they can't, there is nothing they can do. As for taking me away by force, it is impossible. It's good enough that it can be like this."

At the beginning, Yang Jing was worried that her parents would take her away by force. Her father had just turned 50 this year and was still in his prime. Together with her mother, it would be difficult for her to resist on her own. What's more, if her parents took their daughter away, others might help. The best outcome would be that she would be able to pay some alimony and then leave each other alone.

But if this were possible, she would not resist that family to the point of death. She would want to completely break off ties with them. Either she would die, or she would have the heart to watch them die.

Sun Sisi asked, "What if they pester us?"

Cai Wentao: "I am the one who is bothering him. I will just chase him away. As long as Yang Jing is ruthless enough to ignore him, he will be able to get rid of him sooner or later. If he is not ruthless enough, and shows even a little bit of softness, I am afraid it will be difficult to get rid of him."

Everyone looked at Yang Jing after hearing this. Yang Jing glanced at Cai Wentao and said, "Then I'll leave it to you. From the day I left home for college, I considered myself dead, and they were dead too."

This topic was quite heavy. Anyway, the current trouble was solved. As for the future entanglement, that was a matter for the future. Aunt Yin waved at Yang Jing: "Come on, play cards and relax."

Yang Jing smiled and said, "You can play, I don't know how to play cards." Then he looked at Mu Nan and said, "I'll go back to make towels. Your cloth will be ready soon and I'll give it to you in two days."

Mu Nan, who was covered in water while washing the dog, said, "Don't worry, take your time. I still have some at home."

Yang Jing nodded and thanked Cai Wentao again. No matter what, she had to thank Cai Wentao for bothering her with her personal affairs and for taking a day off just for her. She would go back and take a look at the remaining materials and the unfinished cloth that Mu Nan had given her before, and make some clothes to give away. Apart from this, she had no other skills.

Yang Jing went back and Sun Sisi continued to play cards. Tu Juan was still in the room so that Yang Jing would not be left alone. In their hearts, Yang Jing was actually a very strong girl. When the earthquake happened, they were all panicked. It was Yang Jing who remained calm and directed them on what to do, how to take shelter, where to collect supplies, and how to hide the things they found. When they got here, it was also Yang Jing's idea to choose a place to live.

In fact, girls are really capable in most cases. If Yang Jing's parents were not so controlling, with Yang Jing's abilities, she would not have to worry about food and clothing, but at least her parents would not have gone hungry or suffered. It's a pity that such a good daughter was not cherished.

The card game was still going on. Mu Nan and Xiao Zhu wiped Niu Niu's fur half dry. Fortunately, Niu Niu was not a long-haired dog, so she could quickly dry it by wiping it half dry and running in the air-conditioned room.

Xiao Zhu was taken to take a shower by Cai Wenwen who came out of the Mushroom House. Mu Nan waved goodbye to him. Since Yang Jing's follow-up was finished and he couldn't understand the cards, he might as well go home and watch a movie with his brother.

Mu Nan returned home, took a shower, and then lay on the sofa. Qin Huai was updating the game. Mu Nan couldn't understand it. He was dizzy from looking at the pile of characters, so he picked up his notebook and said, "I'm watching a variety show."

Qin Huai didn't even raise his head: "Look."

"Will it bother you? Or should I wear headphones?"

Qin Huai smiled when he heard that, then he turned his head to look at him and said, "You can't disturb me. Look, don't wear headphones. Headphones hurt your hearing. Just listen out loud."

Mu Nan found a comfortable angle and used a bunch of pillows to cushion his head and waist. He also unceremoniously placed his feet on Qin Huai's legs. Qin Huai pinched his feet and took a look at them. As his nails had not grown long yet, he let him go for the time being.

Seeing him touching his feet and then typing on the computer, Mu Nan said in disgust, "You touched the computer without washing your hands."

Qin Huai glanced at him and said, "I don't dislike it, so why do you dislike your own feet?"

"People should pay attention to hygiene."

Qin Huai patted his instep and said, "You are so hygienic, but you put your feet on me."

Mu Nan held his other foot and smelled it: "It smells good, it just came out of the bath."

Seeing that Qin Huai ignored him, Mu Nan became quiet so as not to disturb him from making money. But he was quiet for a while and watched the host of a variety show asking the celebrity guests what they look at first when they see the opposite sex. Some said they look at the eyes, some said they look at the face, and some said they look at the body shape and so on.

Mu Nan kicked Qin Huai and said, "What about you, brother? Where do you look at the opposite sex first?"

Qin Huai: "You can tell by the face."

Mu Nan kicked him again: "You really only like my good looks, and only like my face!"

Qin Huai chuckled and said, "What script did you get today?"

Mu Nan thought for a moment: "An unreasonable script?"

Qin Huai typed the last character, saved the file, closed the computer, and looked at Mu Nan: "How about changing it?"

"Change what?"

Qin Huai also closed Mu Nan's computer: "Change to the script of forcing someone to have sex?"

The two of them made a fuss on the sofa for a while. Mu Nan, who was originally refreshed after taking a shower, sweated a lot with Qin Huai, and then touched his stomach and cried out for hunger.

Mu Nan wanted to eat deep-fried chicken drumsticks, but Qin Huai disagreed, saying that he had eaten too much deep-fried food in the past two days and wanted to eat something light. Mu Nan rolled his eyes and followed Qin Huai to the small kitchen in the living room: "What's the point of having a light midnight snack?"

Qin Huai: "Let me cook you some spicy hot pot."

Mu Nan's eyes lit up for a moment and then quickly went out: "Bone soup spicy hot pot?"

Qin Huai raised his eyebrows: "Do you want to eat? If not, eat some cookies and go to sleep."

Mu Nan hummed and hawed for a long time, and after hesitating for a long time, seeing that Qin Huai had no intention of compromising, he had to nod and agree. It was bone soup, after all, it tasted better than biscuits.

While Qin Huai was cooking for him, Mu Nan checked the time. It was turning, and their rice quota for the week had been opened again, so he quickly took out his phone and went online to buy some.

Now, for staple foods like this, everyone has a fixed quota every week. The amount you can buy will vary depending on the variety you buy. Anyway, he and Qin Huai always use one account to buy all the rice, and use another account to buy flour, seasonings, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

After Mu Nan placed the order in seconds, he discovered the price change: "Brother, the price has increased again. Now rice is four yuan per pound."

Qin Huai waited for the bone soup to boil while checking Mu Nan's phone: "It was 3.5 yuan last week. I'm afraid the price will increase in the future. If the price doesn't continue to rise, then the weekly purchase quota for each person will have to be reduced."

Mu Nan frowned, "I always feel like this will cause problems. Now the bricklayers can barely afford a pound of rice with the money they earn in a day. How can they support their families? Didn't they say that potatoes will be on sale soon? It's a bit strange that food prices are rising at this time."

Qin Huai: "Unless something goes wrong with the potatoes."

Mu Nan: "...No way."