"Yes, yes. When the volcano first erupted, it was pitch dark. Now it is obviously much brighter!"
"Hey, half a year has passed since the volcano erupted. When will this natural disaster end? I can't stand it any longer!"
"Who isn't? I've been unemployed for more than half a year. In addition, the sun hasn't been out for half a year, and my work and rest schedule has been messed up. Now I feel like a zombie!"
"My wife ran away with a rich man last month. That bitch, someone kidnapped her with two boxes of self-heating hot pot. My parents also passed away during the high temperature. Now I am the only one left. I live if I can, and die if I can't. It doesn't matter."
"You want someone to keep your chastity for you when you can't even survive? Not to mention my wife, if there's a man willing to trade me for a self-heating hot pot, I'll go with him! That's a self-heating hot pot! I'll have no regrets if I can eat a bite before I die!"
"Don't say such depressing things! The experts said that it will be morning soon. When the sun comes out, all this will be over. Good days will come soon!"
"Yes, we have endured the high temperature since last year for more than a year. These few days won't make a difference. We can get through it if we grit our teeth! Now is the final darkness before dawn!"
“…”
Xia Shige followed the team forward while listening to the idle chatter of people around him.
After more than a year of natural disasters, the news no longer dares to report the unemployment rate and death rate, and most people are having a hard time.
As the team moved, Xia Shige and his companions moved closer and closer to the stall where supplies were being distributed. Xia Shige glanced at Xia Huiyin and Xia Guocheng who were busy in front of the stall.
Xiao He, a property manager, was maintaining order in front of the stall. He held up a loud speaker and shouted to the queue: "One cotton coat and one pair of snow boots per person. Don't take more than that!"
"If necessary, you can use the weekly supply quota to exchange for quilts, blankets, electric blankets, heaters, small suns, hot water bottles, solid alcohol fuel..."
There are six people in the Xia family. They received six sets of cotton-padded clothes and six pairs of boots. They did not exchange anything else.
Xia Shige observed carefully and found that the most people were exchanging quilts, blankets and alcohol fuel.
It seems that the power outages and power restrictions during high temperature periods have sounded the alarm for everyone. Compared with electric heating equipment, everyone thinks that quilts and alcohol fuels, which do not require electricity, are more reliable.
Just when Xia Shige and his family were preparing to go home with their cotton coats and boots, something unexpected happened!
Xia Huiyin frowned as she looked at the ID in her hand and said to the middle-aged man standing in front of her, "You have already received a set of cotton-padded clothes and boots with this ID. You can't receive them again."
The middle-aged man huddled himself in a cotton-padded jacket, with his mouth and nose wrapped in a scarf. Because he had a "Mediterranean" hairstyle, only his bald head was exposed to the cold air.
Hearing Xia Huiyin's words, he frowned unhappily and shouted, "When did I receive it? Don't slander me!"
Xia Huiyin explained in a good-tempered manner: "Your wife took the ID cards of the whole family and received four sets of down jackets and four pairs of shoes early in the morning. We have records of them here."
The "Mediterranean" middle-aged man originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to cheat an extra set of free supplies. Cold-resistant supplies are very valuable now. In the black market, a cotton coat can be exchanged for five kilograms of rice, and a pair of snow boots can be exchanged for ten compressed biscuits!
Now he heard from Xia Huiyin that all of this was recorded, and he felt embarrassed as if he had been exposed.
Seeing this, the onlookers also stood up and began to point fingers at him:
"What's going on? Why would someone want to defraud the state of its supplies?"
"Supplies are distributed based on the number of people. If you take more, what will happen to the others? How can you be so selfish?"
"Little brother, are you dying?"
"You are a grown man, but you are so greedy!"
“…”
Upon hearing this, "Mediterranean" felt embarrassed and angry, and his face turned red in an instant!
He simply gave up, stepped forward and pushed Xia Huiyin hard, cursing, "Bullshit! I said I didn't receive it, so I didn't receive it! You damn bitch! How dare you frame me! I don't care, no matter what, you have to give me the supplies today!"
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