The two of them walked around and found someone selling pork, and there were quite a lot of people buying it.

"Don't go. That's dead pork, killed by the thick fog. Eating it is bad for your health." A mother-in-law stopped them and motioned them to look at the basket in her hand. "I have duck eggs! I made my own salted duck eggs! You can buy my duck eggs. Duck eggs are delicious and nutritious!"

Shao Shengan thought salted duck eggs were good too, so he asked his mother-in-law what she wanted to exchange for them.

"Do you have any cough medicine? My child has a severe cough and the medicine we gave him is not enough. Give me two packs. I'll give you these duck eggs in exchange! I'll even give you the basket!"

As she said that, the mother-in-law pushed the basket into Shao Shengan's arms.

Her eyes were full of anticipation. Shao Shengan decided to buy the duck eggs, but Qiao Qingqing stopped him and said to her mother-in-law, "We don't buy them." She pulled Shao Shengan away.

"Hey! Don't be like this, my dear girl! Your husband said he wanted to buy them, why are you stopping him? These are good duck eggs, very nutritious!"

Shao Shengan felt a little strange, but he said nothing and just followed Qiao Qingqing.

The mother-in-law followed her for about 7 or 8 meters. Qiao Qingqing stopped and turned back to interrupt her: "Are your salted duck eggs really nutritious?"

"I--"

"The city management is over there."

The expression on my mother-in-law's face was full of panic even in the thick fog, so she turned and ran away.

"Is there anything wrong with the duck eggs?" Shao Shengan asked.

"Well, that's a common scam. It's not a salted duck egg, it should be a ping-pong ball. She poured water into it and covered it with mud as a camouflage. Plus, the thick fog made the vision poor. If you don't take it out and look carefully, you won't be able to find the problem."

Shao Shengan understood: "It's my fault. I will be more careful next time. By the way, do you still want to buy pork? Is it edible?"

Qiao Qingqing nodded: "The pigs that died in the thick fog can be eaten, but they must be very expensive now, so I'd better not buy them."

They continued to stroll. The autumn wind was bleak and Qiao Qingqing rubbed her arms.

"There's nothing to buy, why don't we go home?"

"Okay, I can tell mom about knitting when I get home. The temperature will return to normal, and sweaters and scarves will be hot sellers once winter comes."

The couple waited at the intersection back to the new community, and it took an hour to finally gather twenty people and set off together. This trip made them feel very safe, and on the way they met a security team patrolling from the opposite side, which further increased their sense of security.

They went out in the morning and returned home in the afternoon, but they didn't expect that there were guests at home.

"Village leader? Changtian?"

Village Chief Ye stood up with a smile: "Long time no see, did you have a smooth trip?"

Ye Changtian also stood up, smiling but saying nothing.

Shao Shengan hurriedly asked them to sit down, and sat opposite them with Qiao Qingqing, curiously asking them why the two of them came together.

"Ahem! My right leg has been numb lately and I can't walk, so I wanted to ask Doctor Qiao to give me two injections. Changtian happened to be free and insisted on sending me here, ahem." said Village Chief Ye.

Qiao Qingqing let him into the house and called Shao's father to come in to help.

They went in for acupuncture, and Ye Changtian withdrew his gaze and chatted with Shao Shengan.

The hot topic of small talk right now is of course the thick fog. Ye Changtian picked up some non-confidential information and talked to Shao Shengan: "The research institute is working overtime to do research, and the mayor takes extra care of the researchers' families so that they don't have to worry about anything... By the way, Mayor Yu's sister died suddenly while doing a questionnaire survey. It seems that she had a heart disease and died suddenly from overwork. She fell from the upstairs and died on the spot."

Shao Shengan's eyes moved: "Mayor Yu? Is his sister called Yu Manshu?"

Ye Changtian was a little surprised: "You know him?"

"I don't know her, but I've heard of her. I often saw her leading people to eliminate rats at the grassroots level."

Ye Changtian nodded: "It's her. She works very hard and has great abilities. I admire her a lot, but her husband is not very good. Isn't she dead? Her work was handed over to her husband. I think her husband is not a practical person. He is very good at talking and does a good job on the surface, but in fact - I don't know what Yu Jingshen thinks."

"You have some opinion about the mayor?"

He shook his head and told the truth. "I don't have to hide it. I work for Mayor Luo, so I'm naturally Mayor Luo's man. Our faction is in competition with Mayor Yu's side, but I still admire people who are capable. Yu Manshu is really amazing. She leads by example and does things in a comprehensive manner. Mayor Luo has praised her. Yu Jingshen is very ambitious. I don't like him. The bad honey that was distributed at that time was made by his subordinates, and he even protected them! Anyway, I don't have a good impression of him. The fog was so severe, but he still asked people to come down to do a questionnaire survey. Yu Manshu died suddenly during this mission. Several grassroots community officials had worsening coughs and are now on sick leave. What's the point of doing this? Oh, the meaning is to provide materials for reporters. Before the home quarantine was lifted, he visited several households with reporters and cameras, saying that he met the people's wishes for home quarantine and gave them some things. Do you know how long the video was played internally? One episode was broadcast every day, and ten episodes were edited. The music was so touching that it made my scalp numb."

When Qiao Qingqing came out after giving acupuncture to Village Chief Ye, she saw the two of them chatting animatedly and couldn't help laughing: "I'm going to prepare some ointment. Brother Ye Tian, ​​the village chief wants you to come in." Village Chief Ye didn't want Shao's father to help him put on his clothes.

Ye Changtian stopped talking and agreed with a smile.

After seeing the father and son off, Qiao Qingqing asked curiously, "What did you talk about for so long?"

Shao Shengan glanced at Qiao Songzhi, who put down the wool and turned her neck: "My back hurts from sitting so much, I'm going to make dinner."

He said simply in a low voice.

"Yu Manshu is dead?" Qiao Qingqing was stunned.

This was too unexpected. She digested it for a moment and looked towards the kitchen: "Mom was knitting in the living room just now. Didn't she say anything when she heard it?"

"No, he didn't even raise his head."

Qiao Qingqing didn't care about that. What she cared more about was how Ye Changtian told her husband so many of his true feelings.

"Actually, it's nothing confidential. You know him, he's very measured. I think he's just under too much pressure and wants to talk to someone to vent."

"more than."

Shao Shengan smiled helplessly: "Anyway, I pretended not to know. I just wanted to do some odd jobs and take care of the family most of the time. I didn't want to go with him to do business with Mayor Luo."

"Sheng An, don't feel too burdened. If you want to go, just go. Working there is not far from home and you can still be taken care of there." Qiao Qingqing didn't want her husband to suppress himself too much.

"I really don't want to go. What can't I say to you directly?" He stroked Qiao Qingqing's hair. "Okay, I'll go downstairs to get some water."

Shao Shengan picked up the empty bucket, and Shao's father followed him out to take care of each other, fearing that Shao Shengan would go downstairs alone to fetch water last time and hurt his foot and couldn't move. Qiao Qingqing went to the kitchen to help, and asked Shao's mother to play with Shao Shengfei. After Shao's mother went out, she quietly asked her mother how she felt now.

Qiao Songzhi stirred the porridge in the pot, her tone flat: "What can I feel? I don't hate her. I hated Lin Mingyong at that time. I married him when he was penniless and became his good wife. When he was successful in his career, I didn't enjoy a few days of happiness, but he cheated on me. He decided to divorce me for the power of Yu Manshu's family. Obviously, he and I were celebrating your birthday the night before. He said you were the apple of his eye... Yu Manshu, after listening to you about the evil that Lin Mingyong had done in his previous life, I had already guessed that she would die. Otherwise, I would not have watched Lin Mingyong treat her daughter like that. I just didn't expect her to die like this. Qingqing, do you think that fate has been arranged long ago? Because of her family background and because her cousin held an important position in the government, she only needed to say a few words after she became pregnant, and Lin Mingyong divorced me happily, abandoned his wife and daughter and ran into her arms. Now she works hard for her cousin and died suddenly from exhaustion at her post. Is this karma?"

"…Mom, this is her own choice."

"Yes, everyone has to pay the price for their choices, so I really don't hate her, I just think it's fate."

Qiao Qingqing hugged her arms and rested her face on her shoulders.

The mother and daughter didn't speak, but they could both draw warmth from each other.

After a long time, Qiao Songzhi let out a long sigh.

Shao's father and mother didn't know the names of Qiao Qingqing's biological father and stepmother, so they didn't care about what Ye Changtian said and forgot it after hearing it. Shao's mother could see that Qiao Songzhi was not in a good mood, and thought she was unwell. She secretly said to Qiao Qingqing: "Your mother is stubborn. She doesn't tell you if she is uncomfortable because she is afraid that you will worry. Go and see if she is uncomfortable. I see that she looks bad."

"I just asked her. She just felt annoyed by the thick fog outside and was in a bad mood. She is fine."

Mother Shao breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that everything is fine."

After dinner, Qiao Qingqing opened the medical fee sent by Village Chief Ye: a bag of dried longans.

The shell of the dried longan was sun-dried until it was crispy and broke into pieces with a light squeeze. The flesh inside was also tightly attached to the core and smelled very similar. Qiao Qingqing grabbed a handful for each family member and said, "Try and see if it tastes good."

After trying it, everyone said it was delicious, with the longan flesh sticky and sweet, leaving a long-lasting aftertaste.

Qiao Songzhi's mood gradually improved. He saw Shao Shengfei crushing the dried longan into pieces, and then gently wiping his hands and helping him peel the shells.

Shao Shengfei finally ate the longan pulp and his eyes narrowed: "So sweet!"

A bag of dried longan allows the whole family to enjoy simple happiness.

But you can't eat too much of this thing, so Qiao Qingqing put the rest away and planned to take out some for her family after a while.

Later, Ye Changtian came again and brought Liuzi with him. This time he was more direct. He said that he had promoted some villagers and asked Shao Shengan if he wanted to go with him.

"Mayor Luo needs talented people around him."

Shao Shengan also directly refused. Ye Changtian seemed very disappointed. He knew that Shao Shengan and Qiao Qingqing were both from famous schools. Such people must have had very respectable jobs before the natural disaster. Their abilities must be good. Ye Changtian knew what he and his fellow villagers lacked, so he was looking forward to Shao Shengan joining. What if their Qiuye Village was broken up and lived separately? Qiuye Village would exist forever.

But he didn't expect Shao Shengan to refuse again. He could understand that the last time he asked Shao Shengan to deal with the spoiled honey together, Shao Shengan refused because he was afraid of retaliation, but this time there was no risk at all! The mayor was their backer, so why did Shao Shengan refuse?

"Are you so willing to be an ordinary electrician? Sheng An, now there is a lot of work to be done, and talents like you are exactly what the mayor needs. Why do I feel that you are living too cautiously? You are still so young, two years younger than me, why do you live like my dad, without any fighting spirit at all?"

Ye Changtian didn't understand, and Shao Shengan didn't need him to understand. Everyone had different pursuits, and there was no need to force each other to agree.

When seeing them off, Shao Shengan wished them a bright future.

"You--" Ye Changtian wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

Days with thick fog are not easy to live with. Although Qiao Qingqing's family has enough white vinegar, one cannot drink too much of it as it will damage the esophagus and stomach.

Except for the first few days when their family consumed a large amount of white vinegar, in the days that followed, Qiao Qingqing's family only took a little bit of white vinegar every two days on top of the cough medicine distributed by the base. They put the white vinegar in the vegetable soup, and each person drank a bowl.

There are enough masks at home, and sometimes when you go out, you can also wear a fire mask for extra safety.

In short, with their best efforts to protect themselves, the symptoms in their family are very mild. At most, they just cough a few times and there is no abdominal pain for the time being.

Other people who did not take adequate protective measures developed obvious physical symptoms two months after the thick fog appeared, including severe coughing, abdominal pain, stomach pain, or pain in unidentified parts of the body, which was extremely uncomfortable.

The pain drove people mad, order began to waver, and the crime rate continued to rise, so the base had to send in more security teams and increase patrols on the base.

In order to enhance the safety factor, Qiao Qingqing decided to install an iron door at the entrance of the seventh floor corridor. Their family has the best relationship with 702, and they know each other well. Pei Yan is a researcher at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, with a stable income and a simple population (after Pei Yan goes to work, only Chi Yuxiu and her mother-in-law are at home). This family is absolutely reliable. So Qiao Qingqing went to Chi Yuxiu to discuss it. If she agreed, they would install an iron door on the seventh floor and move their family to 701.

Chi Yuxiu agreed with this. She and her mother-in-law were at home recently, and the noise outside was really scary. Although the security team has been patrolling intensively, it is impossible for them to be downstairs of Building 20 in Ping'an Community all the time. If someone really came to rob the house, it would be too late when the security team arrived. Since the thick fog appeared, her husband has been working overtime at the police station and has not returned. Her brother did come to see her, but his duties in the security team are very heavy and he can't always take care of her. It would be great if there was an iron gate!

"Do you have an iron gate?"

Seeing Qiao Qingqing nod, Chi Yuxiu breathed a sigh of relief: "Then my family will pay for half of the iron door. How much materials did you spend to get the iron door?"

"My Sheng'an has some connections, and it doesn't cost a lot of money, so you can just pay whatever you want."

How is this possible?

After the iron gate was installed, Old Mrs. Pei packed two bags of potatoes and asked Chi Yuxiu to deliver them. Their family lacked everything except this kind of food.

Potato Qiao Qingqing did not refuse and returned a bottle of white vinegar.

With the iron gate, Chi Yuxiu and her mother-in-law could finally sleep well that night.

Unexpectedly, three days after the iron door was installed, their building was attacked. Someone hammered the iron door at the entrance of the corridor with something at night.

The people hammering the door were cursing, hysterical, and venting their anger wildly, cursing Qiao Qingqing for not helping.

"The voice sounds so familiar, it seems to be a resident of Ping'an Community. He must have come to see you for medical treatment." Shao Shengan stood at the door, his eyes looking at the gate, holding a kitchen knife in his hand.

Qiao Qingqing thought about it and roughly remembered who it was. She remembered that she had never had any disputes or conflicts with the other party.

"The iron gate is blocking him from coming up, so leave him alone."

It took a long time for the noise outside to stop, but less than ten minutes later, they heard the sound of banging on the door not far away, and it seemed to be in a nearby building.

"Could it be the same person?" Qiao Songzhi asked worriedly.

Qiao Qingqing listened to the noise outside by the window and heard a few familiar curses. It was indeed the same person.

"There seems to be a doctor over there, too, who runs a clinic at home." Qiao Songzhi reacted, "Is he crazy and attacking the doctor?"

"We need to call the security team." Shao Shengan began to change his shoes and put on a mask, and Qiao Qingqing helped him carry the bicycle out.

"be safe."

Shao Shengan nodded, picked up his bicycle and ran downstairs.

His family was worried about him and felt uneasy at home. Twenty minutes later, they saw many yellow lights approaching from outside through the cracks in the window. Shao's father breathed a sigh of relief: "The security team is here."

Ten minutes later, Shao Shengan finally came home sweating profusely. After closing the door, he pulled off his mask and breathed heavily, sweat pouring down. Qiao Qingqing wiped him with a towel, and Shao's mother poured him warm water. It took him a while to recover, and he was still panting as he spoke: "It's okay. When the security team arrived, he had already smashed open the door of Dr. Huang's house on the third floor next door. Dr. Huang's family members fought with him, and blood was seen. But fortunately, the security team came quickly, and there were no casualties. I came back after seeing him being caught."

Shao's mother's heart was pounding when she heard this: "How could this happen? It's so scary for no reason!"

Qiao Qingqing thought for a moment, "I remember he lived in Building 13. He was the one who brought his son to see a doctor. His son had leukemia. I told him I couldn't help him. Could it be that his son——"

"No, so he might have been stimulated."

"Oh, that's tragic, but we can't do this. Why would Guan Qingqing come and smash our door? Fortunately, there is an iron gate blocking it, otherwise it would be very dangerous."

Today’s experience reminded Shao Sheng’an of the deceased Dr. Wei, and he felt a little scared.

If the father took his anger out on all the doctors who had not saved his son because of the loss of his son, then in the days that followed, when residents went downstairs to fetch water they were indiscriminately attacked for no reason, this shows that the residents were now in a very insecure state of mind.

The sweeping natural disasters have brought people a series of isolation, depression, loss and confusion.

Mayor Luo tried his best to ease the mood of the residents. Tan Jianling suggested: "Didn't they say that a lot of film and television data before the natural disaster have been restored? Play them for the residents. Play the old TV programs at a fixed time every night. I believe it will greatly soothe the hearts of the residents."

"But where can we watch it? There's not enough room in the gymnasium."

Tan Jianling said: "It can be just at the entrance of every community."

Mayor Luo frowned: "Thick fog——"

"Mayor, we have cough suppressants now, and the base has fully resumed operations. As long as they take good precautions, there won't be any major problems if they come out to watch the projection program in two hours. Given the increasingly serious psychological problems of the survivors, a little bit of physical threat is already a minor problem. The longer they stay at home, the more problems they are likely to encounter. It's better to guide them than to block them."

After thinking for a while, Mayor Luo nodded and said, "You go and do it. Implement it as soon as possible."

Two days later, when Shao Shengan and his father went downstairs to fetch water, they saw some movement at the gate. The thick fog obscured their vision. There was a yellow light flickering at the gate, and he could barely see the figure walking behind the fog.

"Let's go and take a look?" Shao's father asked.

The two went over to investigate, and when they got closer they discovered that those people were wearing community worker uniforms. After asking around they found out that they were installing a projector and a screen, and would be showing movie and TV shows tonight.

Father Shao was pleasantly surprised: "It's just like the free movies shown in the sun-drying fields during the Spring Festival in the village! Your mother must be very happy, she likes to watch this, she can watch it all night with a bag of melon seeds in her hand!"

They went home and told the good news. An hour later, community officials walked around the community with a loudspeaker, informing residents of the good news and reminding them to protect their mouths and noses while watching the movie, bring stools, and watch in an orderly manner.

Shao's mother was looking forward to it: "Then shall we go and watch it tonight?"

Qiao Songzhi was also a little excited: "Sure, do I need to reserve a seat first?"

"You want it? How about putting two chairs down and writing your names on them?"

Father Shao hurriedly said, "Don't let anyone steal it! Well, isn't it said to start at six o'clock? I'll go down at half past five to grab a seat, and you guys can come down at six."

Shao Shengan agreed with a smile: "Dad and I will go and grab a seat."

Everyone was in a good mood at dinner that day. Humans are social animals, and even though they had plenty of movies at home, it was a completely different experience to watch a movie outdoors with so many people, and they were all looking forward to it.

After dinner, Shao's mother quickly washed the dishes. Shao Shengfei said he wanted to watch a movie and eat some snacks, so Qiao Qingqing went to look for snacks in the space. Almost all the snacks were eaten, and only fried melon seeds were left. When Qiao Qingqing stocked up, she bought five bags according to the wholesale specifications, 50 kilograms per bag, and 4 yuan per kilogram. She ate too much of this stuff and got angry, especially in the past two years when the temperature continued to rise, so she hardly ate it, and now she hasn't even finished half a bag.

She put two plates on the table and said, "It's too foggy outside. It's best not to take off your mask when you go outside to eat. Let's just eat at home."

I don’t feel anything when eating at home, but there is no other way due to special circumstances.

After cracking melon seeds for half an hour, Shao's father took a small stool and went out to reserve a seat. At six o'clock, the whole family went downstairs to watch. Chi Yuxiu and her mother-in-law did not go. She watched Qiao Qingqing and the others go downstairs and locked the iron door.

In the open space at the community gate, everyone took their own seats. You couldn't see who was sitting next to you from one meter away. Qiao Qingqing could only judge from the sounds around her that there were quite a lot of people. At six o'clock, the projection screen showed the picture on time, and the familiar music sounded, and everyone was in an uproar.

"Is it the news broadcast?"

"Really? I remember that voice."

"Weren't we supposed to watch a movie? Why are we watching the news?"

Father Shao said expectantly: "The news broadcast is great. I love watching the news. Look! The host is here!"