Chapter 22 Signal Receiver

As soon as he got home, Jiang Rong didn't even bother to turn on the air conditioner; he immediately started searching for the drawer full of signal receivers. Luckily, he had a habit of organizing things, and soon he retrieved the large bag of signal receivers from the tool shed.

These receivers look somewhat like radios, but they have several more knobs than ordinary radios. The largest receiver is as big as a shoebox, heavy and ugly, while the smallest is bigger than the palm of your hand and feels as heavy as a brick when you hold it.

Chu Qiang had taught him how to use them before, but it had been so long that he couldn't remember. Since the receivers hadn't been used for a long time, they couldn't be turned on, so Jiang Rong had to plug them in.

Just as he was engrossed in fiddling with the receiver, he suddenly felt a warm breeze blowing on him. Turning his head, he saw Jiang Xiaoheng holding a small fan and fanning him. Large beads of sweat appeared on his son's smooth forehead, indicating that he had been fanning himself there for a long time.

Seeing Jiang Rong turn her head, Jiang Xiaoheng blinked his big, dark eyes and asked, "Dad, are you done with your work?"

Jiang Rong chuckled, took the small fan, and fanned his son. "Are you hot? Dad will turn on the air conditioner right away."

Strangely enough, after taking a stroll outside today, he didn't feel particularly hot. Even now, in the stuffy study, he hasn't broken a sweat. This is probably a benefit of absorbing the crystal core; his heat tolerance has clearly improved. It's just tough on Xiao Heng; he's not afraid of the heat, but the child is suffering terribly from it.

There were too many knobs on the receiver, and Jiang Rong couldn't figure it out even after studying it until late at night, so she had no choice but to go to sleep with her son.

He had a strange dream.

In his dream, his perspective was strange. He had become a branch of the jujube tree in front of the door, covered with glossy leaves, the base of which was topped with tiny jujube blossoms. He stretched his body toward the moonlight, feeling the joy of the successfully pollinated jujube blossoms growing.

He transformed back into a leaf on a kudzu vine, huddled among his companions. The mountain breeze, carrying warmth, swept over the leaf, causing it to sway up and down.

His footsteps led eastward, and soon he arrived at Uncle Li's orchard, following the same mountain path he had taken earlier that day. He paused on each of the fruit trees he had helped earlier, and whenever he landed on a tree, he could always clearly distinguish which fruit was the best-grown. He walked and stopped, finally landing on the citrus tree in front of Uncle Li's shack.

From his vantage point, he could see the dim light from Uncle Li's shack and Uncle Li and his wife busily working. Aunt Li was carefully wiping the stains off the solar panels, her head bowed and her eyes red-rimmed. Uncle Li sat silently to the side, smoking a cigarette, puffs of smoke escaping from his mouth, making him cough a few times.

Uncle Li and Aunt Li were chatting away inside the house when Jiang Rong, dozing off, landed on an orange that had turned slightly yellow from the sun. Just as he was about to take a short nap, he felt like he was being watched. His whole body stiffened; if he had a physical form, the hairs on his vest would definitely stand on end.

Turning his head, he saw a pair of shimmering green eyes staring at him. At that moment, Jiang Rong's hair stood on end: What on earth was this creepy thing?!

Upon closer inspection, his heart, which had just been pounding, settled back down. The person staring at him was none other than Tiger, the mutant dog from Uncle Li's household. Tiger tilted its head in confusion, its gaze following Jiang Rong's every slight movement.

This is strange. He was clearly dreaming, so why did Tiger give him such a strong sense of oppression? And the dream was too real. He could even feel the heat on Tiger's body and hear its heavy breathing.

Jiang Rong's movements may have been too much, which displeased Hu Zi. Hu Zi suddenly stood up and placed its two front paws on the orange tree. It looked in Jiang Rong's direction, making a low threatening growl, and the chain around its neck jingled.

The smell of tiger cubs wafted towards Jiang Rong, who quickly stepped back to avoid it. "Sit down."

Tiger was obedient; it sat down quietly and wagged its large tail slightly. But then Uncle Li's voice came from inside the door, "Who's outside?"

Uncle Li put down his cigarette and walked to the door. He picked up the wood-chopping knife behind the door and raised his voice: "Who is it?"

After the shack door opened, Uncle Li stood under the eaves and looked around. For a moment, Jiang Rong felt Uncle Li's gaze pass right through her.

Aunt Li asked, "Is anyone home?"

Uncle Li scratched his head suspiciously, "I think I just heard someone talking, but I might have misheard."

After watching Uncle Li and Aunt Li return to their house, Jiang Rong lingered in the orchard for a while longer. The orchard under the moonlight was incredibly tranquil; if it weren't for the impending crisis, it would have been a paradise filled with the fragrance of ripe fruits.

Suddenly, Jiang Rong heard a muffled thud beside him, as if something had fallen to the ground. The sound was far away, yet it felt as if it were right next to his ear. "Oh dear, why are there so many rose vines in the yard?"

With a thought, the scene around Jiang Rong changed again. This time, he was in Chu Qiang's yard, and he stuck the sticker on the security window.

The Chu family mansion was much more lively at night than during the day. After staying in the courtyard for a while, two groups of people had already climbed over the wall into the yard. Some of them were swinging sledgehammers and smashing the windows, some were trying to cut open the bulletproof glass with diamond rings, and others were frantically grinding the hinges on the doors and windows with electric angle grinders.

If Chu Qiang hadn't replaced the doors and windows beforehand, the villagers would probably have taken all the supplies inside the house long ago.

"Damn it, why are the doors and windows of this house so sturdy?"

"This family is in the construction business, so it's normal for their house to be sturdier than others. Let's get started and stop talking nonsense. The father and son who came to this house during the day must be superhumans. If we let them in first, we won't get anything."

"Make way, let me try to unlock it."

Unlocking? That would be outrageous!

In her dream, could Jiang Rong really let these people succeed? With a thought, the wild roses grew rapidly, their thorny vines accurately coiling around those trying to break into Chu Qiang's house. The thorns on the wild rose vines were extremely painful, and the moment they wrapped around someone, the thorns had already made intimate contact with that group of people.

After a series of wailing and howling, the people who had scaled the wall left behind a pile of their tools. As for the intruders themselves, they had already been wrapped up by Wild Rose and thrown outside the courtyard wall.

Those outside the courtyard wall were terrified: "There are mutated plants inside! They suck people's blood and urinate!" "Get out of here, don't come!"

Jiang Rong remained expressionless. These people were really talking nonsense. If wild roses could suck people's blood, how could they have escaped unscathed? After shaking off the wild rose vines, he directed them to climb up the wall until they sealed all the doors and windows of Chu Qiang's house. Only then did he wave goodbye with satisfaction.

It was a magical dream, and Jiang Rong was completely immersed in it. He felt as if he had transformed into every plant in the mountains, stretching his branches freely in the hot wind. He could see the birds' nests in the treetops, hear the sound of the roots absorbing water, and feel the leaves unfolding or falling.

All of this felt mysterious and wonderful to him, and the most wonderful thing was that the dream didn't stop today, allowing him to sleep soundly all night.

The next morning, Jiang Rong slept in, a rare occurrence. When he woke up, he discovered that his depleted superpowers from the previous day had returned. Moreover, he felt exceptionally good today, with even more superpowers than yesterday.

Yesterday, he felt dizzy and lightheaded after walking only one hill around Uncle Li's house. Today, he's sure he can walk more hills and save more trees. However, he doesn't want to do that. One should always be wary of others and keep some cards up his sleeve.

After tinkering with the receiver all day, Jiang Rong once again led her child and dog to Uncle Li's orchard. Today, only Uncle Li greeted them. Jiang Rong asked疑惑地问道, "Uncle, where did Auntie go?"

Uncle Li sighed heavily, "Alas... After the major crisis, some of my daughter-in-law's relatives had nowhere to go, so they stayed at our house. Last night, in the dark, they couldn't see the road and fell. My wife is pregnant, so I can only ask my wife to go back and help take care of them."

Just then, Aunt Li returned on her electric tricycle. She looked melancholy, only breaking into a happy smile when she saw Jiang Rong and his son: "Little Rong and the baby are here? Come on, come sit down. Auntie saved some bayberries for you."

Jiang Rong smiled and said, "No need, Auntie. I haven't finished the bayberries you gave me yesterday. By the way, is your guest feeling better? Do they need any medicine for sprains or bruises?"

After the major crisis, many people died from minor illnesses because they didn't receive timely treatment, and many minor illnesses developed into serious ones. Jiang Rong thought that since she wanted to be neighbors with Uncle Li and Aunt Li in the future, she would help them out if she could.

Aunt Li's face turned sneer, her eyes filled with disdain: "Do they even deserve to use liniment for bruises and sprains? Don't waste the ointment. You'd never guess how they got hurt. Last night, they and some village hooligans climbed over the Chu family's wall and got pricked all over by the mutated roses in the Chu family's yard. If you ask me, they deserved it! Let them learn from this..."

Uncle Li coughed a few times and gave Aunt Li a wink. Aunt Li then remembered the relationship between Jiang Rong and Chu Qiang, and she chuckled awkwardly, "Xiao Rong, sit down, I'll get you some bayberries."

Jiang Rong smiled and waved her hand, "No need." But in her heart, a huge wave of emotions surged. Could it be that what happened last night wasn't a dream?

Over the next two days, Jiang Rong confirmed one thing: the trees to which he had transferred his powers would become his eyes, providing him with feedback on their surroundings. This was far more comprehensive than any surveillance camera, and if used properly, this function would offer him immense convenience.

New progress in the area of ​​supernatural abilities was a good thing, but the continued lack of news about Chu Qiang's family deepened Jiang Rong's anxiety day by day. He had been constantly testing his receivers for the past few days, spending several hours each day on them. Several receivers had broken down, and he had heard tens of thousands of voices from around the world, but not a single one was the one he wanted to hear.

As night fell on the third day, when he slowly turned the knob, a muffled popping sound suddenly came from the receiver, a reaction that only occurs when a signal is received.

Jiang Rong quickly switched to another knob. As the knob made a clicking sound, a distorted voice came from the receiver's old speaker: "...Hongda Gas Station in South City of D. If anyone hears my voice, please help my whole family."

The voice from the loudspeaker was low, hoarse, and slow, but Jiang Rong still recognized it. Sure enough, listening more closely, the voice became clearer: "My name is Chu Qiang. My family and I are trapped at the Hongda Gas Station in the south of D City..."

Jiang Rong suddenly stood up, and in his excitement, he knocked over the notebook on his desk. The notebook, which contained information on different wavelengths, crashed to the ground, but he didn't have time to pick it up.

After rushing into the living room and finding the car keys, Jiang Rong pushed open her son's bedroom door: "Xiao Heng, come out quickly, let's go pick up Uncle Chu's family together!"

Author's Note:

Chu Qiang: In critical moments, I still have to rely on my childhood friend to save my life~