◎Happy Day 41: Original Soup, Original Food◎
Communication signals were gradually being restored, but the temperature was still over 30 degrees Celsius below zero, making it difficult to turn on a cell phone outdoors. Jiang Muyun and the others had to call several times before they finally got through.
Grandma Lu does plan to rent out the house.
However, her house has only been basically decorated, with nothing else done. The house is empty and has no furniture, so it is not easy to rent for the time being.
Later, before she came back to deal with the matter, the temperature dropped and the house was naturally delayed until now.
Everyone is short of money now, so Jiang Muyun called and said that Chu Buwen wanted to rent a house and didn't mind the renovation. Of course, Grandma Lu agreed without hesitation.
Grandma Lu did not return to Nanshi, but directly found a direct rental platform, and both parties signed a one-year contract through the platform.
Grandma Lu reduced his rent a lot, and Chu Buwen also paid a year's rent directly.
When the temperature dropped to around minus 20 degrees Celsius, everyone moved out of the relief center one after another.
Although it will take some time before full resumption of work and production, it is still very easy to buy things and hire workers as long as you are willing to spend money.
With the help of his financial power, Chu Buwen quickly changed the door locks, bought furniture and appliances, and moved into his new home.
On the day when Qin Shiwu was on leave, Jiang Muyun, Qin Shiwen and others officially moved out of the relief center.
A few days after they moved back home, the shelter was closed and Qin Shiwu returned to the hospital.
The power supply isn't fully restored yet. Rationing is happening everywhere, and every household has a quota. Once that quota is reached each month, the power goes out. Natural gas is fully restored, but water is still missing.
Fortunately, everyone has ice stored at home, and every household has a filtering device. When people are used to water shortages, it won’t be a big deal if tap water doesn’t come for a while.
After the rescue center closed, air conditioners became the hottest-selling item.
Due to the continuous drop in temperature before, the air conditioners in many people’s homes were working at overload, and in the end only a few survived.
Including Jiang Muyun's home, two of the three air conditioners were broken.
The problem with her air conditioner was not serious, so she asked a technician to come and fix it and it could be used again.
Some cannot be repaired and you have to buy new ones.
Some businesses seized the opportunity and flooded the Internet with soft articles such as "The secret to not burning anthracite at minus 40 degrees Celsius". Air conditioners claiming to be able to withstand low temperatures were sold out in no time.
When Jiang Muyun accompanied Qin Shiwen to pick out air conditioners, he was puzzled to see everyone rushing to grab low-temperature resistant air conditioners.
The working principle of the air conditioner determines that its resistance to low temperatures has a limit. It would be better to buy some electric heaters at home with this money. What's the point of buying such an expensive air conditioner?
The air conditioner in Qin Shiwen's house also broke down. The one in the bedroom could be repaired, but the one in the living room was completely unusable, so he had to buy a new one.
She bought the same model of air conditioner she had before: "Maybe it's just for peace of mind. Look at the supermarkets now, they are still crowded every day."
Now that the temperature has returned to normal, transportation has gradually resumed, and major supermarkets have also resumed operations. Even food that was out of stock for several months is back on the shelves.
After the previous experience, no one can remain calm after seeing the food.
Even Qin Shiwen and his friends couldn't help but buy hundreds of kilograms of vacuum-packed rice. They also grabbed a lot of other vacuum-packed cooked food and various canned foods.
Jiang Muyun originally planned to spend all his savings at the relief center, but he didn't expect to get a lot of points by catching thieves several times, and now he still has some savings left.
Just as another round of stockpiling has begun, Jiang Muyun simply joins in the buying spree, spending whatever money he has.
However, meat, fruits and vegetables are still scarce in the market.
Forget fruits and vegetables; there's not even a blade of grass to be seen on the street. Thin branches have been blown away by the wind, leaving bare tree trunks lining both sides of the road, and it's unclear whether they'll ever sprout new life.
The previous low temperature had the greatest impact on agriculture.
After buying the air conditioner, Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen went to a nearby market to try their luck and see if they could find something to improve their meals.
The only vegetables that can be bought in the market now are various dried goods.
Jiang Muyun bought a lot of soy products such as bean curd sheets in the past two days, and Qin Shiwen likes black fungus, shiitake mushrooms and pickled mustard greens.
When Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen came here before, they also came across someone selling dried shrimps.
Unfortunately, they only sold that one basket, and it was sold out as soon as it was brought out. They only heard someone shouting "selling dried shrimps", but they didn't even see what the dried shrimps for sale looked like.
The weather is quite warm today. Jiang Muyun estimated that the temperature is only about ten degrees below zero, so he can still use his mobile phone outside.
The two of them were lucky today and came across a shop selling seafood.
The boss said that he came from the neighboring Haishi, and since the temperature had risen, he came here to do some business.
Jiang Muyun didn't know whether the boss came from Haishi, but the cart of dried fish, kelp and scallops he pulled did attract everyone in the market.
In the past, when you could buy whatever you wanted, people would still think that these seafoods smelled fishy when piled together.
Now, for several months, there is no fish to be seen, and this fishy smell has become a fresh and fragrant smell.
The boss’s price is not cheap, everything is packaged, fifty-one packages.
Jiang Muyun took a look at the kelp. After soaking, a bag of it might not even weigh one kilogram.
It's incomparable to the past, but compared to the sky-high prices of food when the temperature dropped, this price is considered reasonable.
After all, things are valuable because they are rare.
We can’t afford to buy too much, but it’s still okay to buy a pack at home to try.
Seeing that people around them had already started to scramble for food, Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen thought about it and decided to buy a few packs.
They didn't buy much, just a pack of each to try for freshness.
Now that the temperature has started to rise, everyone firmly believes that society will return to normal soon, and prices will naturally fall at that time.
I feel uneasy if I don’t buy rice and flour, but I can tolerate the higher prices.
Seafood is purely for satisfying your cravings, so naturally people are reluctant to spend extra money.
The boss knew everyone's mentality, so he quoted a price of fifty-one bags. Otherwise, if he had quoted a price of several hundred per kilogram, it would have been difficult to sell the entire truckload.
Jiang Muyun and his friends still carry bags when they go out every day, and their habit of carrying weapons has not changed.
Everyone's life is gradually getting back on track, but that doesn't mean the impact of the past few months has disappeared.
Not to mention anything else, after the rescue centers were closed, there were fewer residents in each community.
Some of them were migrant workers who had already returned home, while others had not survived the cold weather or had met with misfortune during the turmoil at the relief center and had already passed away.
But there are more people who are currently serving sentences in special prisons.
Some crimes are less serious, such as those that were first-time offenders, and their sentences are only one or two months. Some people have already been released from prison.
The families of those who have not returned yet have also been subtly ostracized by the neighbors.
The people in a relief center are basically from the same community. If not their own community, then the neighboring community. They are acquaintances everywhere they turn.
The people who committed crimes at the shelter were all neighbors. Of course, we couldn't help but be on guard against people who could prey on people we knew.
While everyone is wary of those with criminal records, some people with guilty consciences are also wary of everyone around them.
These people may not dare to commit crimes or steal anything big, but they do a lot of small things like stealing.
Once the moral bottom line is lowered once, it becomes difficult to hold it back again.
In their eyes, what they do is normal, everyone is doing it, so what's the big deal?
At the same time, they judge others by their own standards and know very well that after experiencing the taste of getting something for nothing, no one will miss the next opportunity to steal something.
This is true even if everyone has left the rescue point.
What's more, they have crossed the red line of the law but have not received the punishment they deserve. They are still hiding among the crowd, and no one knows when they will reveal their true nature again.
In this environment, it never hurts to be cautious.
Today, Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen were returning home when they happened to see the property management staff coming to inspect the elevator. A group of people gathered downstairs to watch.
Qin Shiwen said in surprise: "I'm so used to climbing stairs that I almost forgot there was an elevator. When will it be repaired?"
The old lady next to Qin Shiwen said with her hands behind her back, "I heard that the building in front has been repaired, and ours will probably be done soon too."
The uncle in front of them smacked his lips when he heard this: "Even if it's fixed, I wouldn't dare sit on it. What happened before was so scary."
Those who lived on the lower floors naturally nodded in agreement, but those who lived on the tenth floor like Jiang Muyun could only smile bitterly.
Jiang Muyun and his group of young people were fine after they got used to climbing stairs.
For elderly people like Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang, their bodies simply cannot withstand climbing the 14th floor several times. Don’t they have to wait every day for the elevator to be restored?
There were a lot of people gathered downstairs, and some even didn't want to climb the stairs, so they waited downstairs with their things in their hands, waiting for the elevator to be repaired before taking it upstairs.
Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen did not join in the fun, but climbed the stairs obediently.
When the two of them were halfway up the stairs, their cell phones rang at the same time.
Jiang Muyun took out his phone and saw that it was Chu Buwen asking them in the group if they wanted to have dinner together tonight.
[Dabai, eat more: I bought a piece of cured pork ribs here. If you have time, I'll put it in the pot right now.]
Before Jiang Muyun could reply, Zhao Jiahao jumped out.
[ZJH will never sleep: Let's get together! I have canned braised beef here, it tastes amazing, wait for me!]
After Chu Buwen moved in, Jiang Muyun pulled him into the group chat on the 15th floor.
Chu Buwen made full use of his social skills as a material dealer, and he and Zhao Jiahao, who was very outgoing, hit it off immediately.
The two had only met a few times, but they could chat enthusiastically in the group, almost becoming sworn brothers.
Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan's re-enlistment in the army has been decided, but the formalities still need to wait for a few days, so they both took the opportunity to go back to their hometown and just came back yesterday.
Dabin: I'll pack a few servings of fermented rice wine from the cafeteria. They've recently allowed takeout.
Qin Shiwu's regular training period has not yet arrived.
Although he had gone directly to the operating table due to practical reasons and performed very well, firstly, the staff had recovered now, and secondly, it was a profession involving human lives, so it was not easy to make exceptions. Therefore, he was still a resident trainee, going to get off work and coming home as usual every day, but the hospital had promised him a contract position in advance, and it was only a matter of time before he could be hired.
Dabin: Didn't you two say you wanted to grow bean sprouts for me last time? So you happened to be doing it together today?
Jiang Muyun felt guilty and pretended not to see the message.
Xiaobai is not tasty: Sister Wen and I bought some kelp and dried fish and brought them over for a snack.
The mung beans she took out from the space did sprout, but all of Qin Shiwen's beans were rotten.
They had only heard that bean sprouts could be soaked in Taipei in winter, and the beans were kept outdoors, so they thought that bean sprouts were not affected by temperature.
But I never thought that if temperatures of more than 80 degrees below zero did not affect the germination of beans, why there was not a single bean sprout at the rescue center.
The beans in Qin Shiwen's garden had not sprouted yet. She thought it was because she was at work and didn't have time to water them, so she thought of waiting a few more days.
I don’t know if it was because the temperature next to the electric heater was too high, but the beans became moldy after being soaked for several days.
The moldy smell was then evaporated by the electric heater. According to Qin Shiwu, the smell was so strong that he almost fainted when he opened the door.
It was only when Qin Shiwu came back and smelled something that he realized what the two of them were doing.
Then Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen were forced to take a biology class, where they listened to a lot of theoretical knowledge about cell damage under low temperature conditions from Qin Shiwu.
This incident scared Jiang Muyun so much that he broke out in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, Qin Shiwen and the others had to go to work these days and had no time to pay attention to the progress of soaking the bean sprouts.
Otherwise, when Jiang Muyun said that the beans had sprouted, she wouldn't know how to explain it.
You can't say that her mung beans have learned to adapt to the temperature on their own, just like Xiaobai, right?
Because of this incident, Jiang Muyun's original plan to grow some green leafy vegetables such as garlic sprouts at home was temporarily shelved.
Even mung beans can’t be soaked, and most of the seeds of other common vegetables cannot be soaked either.
It’s a good thing if you can’t grow anything. It would be terrible if you really grow something.
Some families live in rural areas and have relied on farming for generations. They can also say that they have cellars at home and can build warm kangs when the temperature drops, which can keep the seeds active at low temperatures.
She lives in an apartment building, so is she trying to say that she carries a bag of seeds with her to keep it warm?
Not only low temperatures, but also abnormally high temperatures after the end of the world will also have an impact on seeds.
Jiang Muyun did not have the conditions to develop the planting industry in his previous life, so naturally he would not pay attention to matters in this regard.
She had a lot of information on planting on her hard drive, but she had never thought about the issue of preserving seeds in extreme temperatures.
It was not until the Green Bean incident occurred that she realized that she had taken many of her previous plans for granted.
Jiang Muyun thought about it and decided that the planting industry still had to continue to develop, and he also had to look at the books and materials about planting on his hard drive.
But if you want to start planting, you have to wait until the temperature is right, see the situation of fresh fruits and vegetables in the market, and then find an excuse to get some seeds.
Instead of just planting whatever she finds at home, she would have no time to cry if something happened.
Jiang Muyun changed the subject, and Chu Buwen took over politely.
Dabai: Come over to my house tonight, let's have a hot pot party and celebrate.
Even if it's just a short period of peace, it's worth celebrating.
They have a lot of water stored at home, which they used sparingly in the past. Now that they have decided to celebrate, they naturally want to take it out and spend it lavishly.
Especially Zhao Jiahao, he made a bold statement that he and Li Anxuan would take care of all the water used for cooking this time.
They have been living off the government for the past few months, and the things stored at home have basically not been touched.
Even the unfinished barbecue from their camping trip was still there.
It just didn't look very good. The meat was frozen white and no longer qualified to be barbecued, so Chu Buwen had to stew it in the pot.
When Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen were carrying their things to Room 1504, Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan had already moved two large blocks of ice over and were now placing them in a basin and warming them with an electric heater.
Chu Buwen turned on the air conditioner here, so Jiang Muyun took off her scarf and coat as soon as she entered the room.
Watching them melting the ice, Jiang Muyun glanced at the weather forecast on his phone: "It's only about ten degrees below zero now. At this rate, it will be above zero in a few days. If you have a lot of ice at home, you should find a basin and put it in as soon as possible."
Speaking of this, Jiang Muyun suddenly remembered: "You two have re-enlisted in the army, are you still living in this house?"
Li Anxuan said, "We've already paid rent for a year, and it's inconvenient to find a car outside, so we won't move for the time being."
In recent days, major auto repair shops are overwhelmed with customers. Vehicles that were damaged due to the sudden drop in temperature are lined up waiting for repair. If you want to find a car to move at this time, it will definitely cost a lot of money.
Zhao Jiahao said with a bit of pride: "We are no longer conscripts. We have the rank of non-commissioned officers and have vacations. It's not too late to move later."
Chu Buwen scooped out water from the basin, filtered it, and used it to soak the kelp. "Mingzhi. When I moved, I rented a car for 5,000 yuan a day. It broke my heart."
As they were talking, there was a knock on the door.
Chu Buwen got up and opened the door. Outside was Qin Shiwu carrying a pile of take-out boxes.
Qin Shiwu walked in and saw them preparing the dishes. He said casually, "I don't know when the water will come."
Li Anxuan was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's difficult."
Li Anxuan scrolled through his phone for a while. "It's been a long time since it rained here. There's been no rain, no snow, no hail."
"Maybe it's not just us."
Li Anxuan placed the mobile phone page in front of several people, which showed the news of water shortage in the north.
They don't feel it here because Nanshi is close to the river. Even if the water supply is cut off for a few months, people just think it's a hassle to get water, but they won't die of thirst.
Even if someone complains about why it doesn't snow, they will only think that it is due to the special climate and there is no actual feeling of drought or water shortage.
Qin Shiwen was thoughtful after hearing this: "Come to think of it, have you been to the river these days?"
Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen rarely go out, and the other three also work in the city. The river is man-made and was emptied long ago when the water was cut off.
Qin Shiwen said: "Isn't there a Xiaonan River on the way to the provincial team?"
Xiaonan River is a tributary of the Yangtze River. It circles around the outskirts of Nanshi city and is considered a relatively well-known river in Nanshi. There is also a Xiaonan River Park on the outskirts of Nanshi.
Qin Shiwen showed them a photo: "I took this a few days ago. Xiaonan River is almost dry."
The Xiaonan River in the picture is already mostly dry, with only a layer of frozen ice remaining on the riverbed.
With this amount of water, it is no longer appropriate to call it a river. It can be renamed Xiaonan Creek.
Several people looked at each other in confusion. Jiang Muyun held the funnel of the filter and said, "Come on, let's filter the water after washing the kelp again."
After filtering the water used to wash the kelp, he continued to soak the kelp. He might have to cook the kelp again later. Jiang Muyun muttered, "The original soup turns into the original food."
Chu Buwen said, "If you use this statement now, it will affect your appetite if you think about it carefully."
Qin Shiwu: "You're kind, do you even need to think about this carefully?"
Although some people were joking, in fact, everyone has done this kind of thing of filtering used water several times and then reusing it.
Even when Zhao Jiahao and his men were in the army, they poured the sewage into the treatment plant themselves, then filtered it out for continued use.
Actually, everyone used tap water in the same way before, but now the process of sewage - filtering - and continued use is laid out, so many people find it unacceptable.
Today we just chatted and laughed, ate and drank, and after a hearty meal, we faced practical problems.
There is no water.
The water levels of rivers and lakes everywhere have dropped to a level that is enough to cause panic, and this matter cannot be concealed from anyone.
I contacted the authorities again but there has been no news about the restoration of water supply.
What the combination of the two means is almost self-evident.
The severe winter has just passed, and a severe drought is imminent.
The temperature just reached freezing point on the day Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan left.
They shared all the drinking water they had at home with several neighbors. Zhao Jiahao even promised, "We're based in Nanshi. We'll find time to sneak out and visit you guys later."
Jiang Muyun: "Okay, if you can spare the time, I'll have to come back to Nanshi to accompany you even if I'm on Mars."
After seeing Zhao Jiahao and the others off, Jiang Muyun immediately got some cement and blocked the toilet at home.
The water supply has been out for so long that the toilets in everyone's homes have become mere decorations.
But when the temperature is low, the things frozen in the pipes will not disappear for no reason.
It’s not congested now, but you’ll enjoy it when the temperature rises.
The two neighbors had been using sand and plastic bags to deal with their physiological problems since the water outage. Jiang Muyun had mentioned this, and they had quickly followed suit, successfully nipping the danger in the bud.
The temperature returned to normal, and the vigorous resumption of work and production began. The city truly came alive at this moment.
At the same time, the problem of water shortage is becoming more and more serious as the temperature rises.
At the beginning, people just couldn’t wash clothes, and they could only wipe their bodies with wet wipes or wet towels to keep themselves clean and tidy.
Later, when the temperature climbed up to 20 degrees without anyone noticing, people with strong body odor could no longer stay fresh by just scrubbing.
Jiang Muyun and his companions experienced the benefits of wet wipes when they were at the relief point. As soon as they discovered the drought, they stocked up several large boxes of wet wipes at home.
At this moment, Qin Shiwen and Qin Shiwu, who had to go to work, were almost relying on wet wipes to survive.
Qin Shiwen has been so worried these days that his hair is almost falling out.
2024 is a major competition year. Although many events have been announced to be postponed, there are still some that have not been postponed.
Asking athletes to stop training at this time is more painful than directly persuading them to retire.
But there is no water!
Drinking water is fine, but where does the water for bathing come from?
After training, a group of athletes had no water to take a shower, so they just wiped themselves and went back to the dormitory. Qin Shiwen was afraid that they would suffocate him in the middle of the night.
Even the provincial team couldn't squeeze out enough water for people to take a bath, so you can imagine the extent of the water shortage in other places.
Under the current circumstances, the water station is naturally overcrowded again.
Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen took the attitude that they were free anyway, so they would run to the water station every day after waking up to stake out the spot, so as to avoid being noticed by people at home and being targeted as fat sheep.
Sometimes, when they got the first chance in line, they would buy a bucket, using the change they had prepared. It looked like these two poor young people could only afford one bucket.
Of course, most of the time, they couldn’t even buy a barrel with their passive attitude.
After a few days, Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen no longer had any room for slacking off.
All water stations in Nanshi City have closed down.
The water levels of rivers and lakes have dropped to the point where ordinary people can no longer get water. Even in Nanshi, which has never lacked water, there is no place to get water.
Some private sellers took advantage of the situation and asked for exorbitant prices.
Anyone who can still sell water and dares to sell water at this time is obviously not a simple person.
For a 30-liter bottle of water, private sellers in the market start at one thousand yuan per barrel, and the transaction must be done at their designated location.
If you're lucky, when you get there, there will be a group of big men staring at you and asking you to pay for water.
If you are unlucky, a group of big men will stare at you and force you to pay several times the price for a bucket of water.
If you are even more unlucky, you will lose the money but the water.
No one would dare to buy this kind of water unless they were forced to do so.
Even if they do buy something, it’s usually a group of about ten friends and family members who go together to buy it.
Those who cannot gather so many people or cannot afford the money can only think of other ways.
Some people thought that water might still be drawn from the well, but where can one find a well in the city now?
So teams of people were spontaneously organized to go to the countryside to buy water.
At first, everyone just ran to the village to buy water.
Seeing that the price offered was generous, the villagers didn't mind selling some water to supplement their family income.
But after a few days, the villagers discovered that the water level in the well had also dropped.
At this time, the villagers also began to panic.
They sell water to make some money to improve their lives, not to risk their lives.
Seeing that the situation was not right, the villagers decisively stopped selling water.
So one morning, a water-buying team spontaneously organized by a community drove out of the city again and went to the village to buy water. They found that roadblocks had been set up on the small road and a sign saying "stop selling water" had been hung.
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