Chapter 12
Mu Nan didn’t know about the wire cutting until the next day. In order to facilitate the community to collect residents’ information and deliver group-purchased items, the community group was required to change the names to house numbers. In the afternoon, Mu Nan baked a small cake in the oven. While waiting, he checked his phone and saw a person named No. 2 on the 15th floor in the group. He praised him with a tone of praise: "It’s so smart. People with diseases like this should have their electricity cut off and let them live outside consciously to avoid infecting more people. Thumbs up to the person who cut their wires!"
22-09 Mimi’s mom: “This is a bit unethical. She lives peacefully at home and doesn’t run around everywhere. This seems a bit too much.”
15-02: "You live upstairs, so why don't you come and live on the 15th floor? They say they don't go out, but if they really don't go out, what will they eat? They still buy food with us, go downstairs with us to get food, and go out to throw away the garbage every day. The air they pass by is full of viruses. If you are not afraid, why don't you live here?"
08-07 Gou Xintong: "Okay, now that everyone is gone, let's stop talking. Although it is for the benefit of more people, the family is indeed pitiful. The child is sick and the parents don't want to be together. Everyone should be understanding."
Many people below followed suit and said that it is better to mind your own business and just let it go. Everyone acted as if they were very understanding and magnanimous, as if they were not the ones who directed all the bad words at others in the first place.
Seeing Qin Huai coming back with a shovel covered in dirt, Mu Nan told the story of the young couple and finally guessed, "I think it might be No. 2 who cut their wires. He said that and it felt like he was trying to cover up his mistake. If he really cut them, then he's really disgusting."
Qin Huai said: "If the owner of Room 2 on the 15th floor has not changed, you also know their family."
Mu Nan lived in a dormitory during high school and his first year in college. Later, he moved back home for the quiet drawing work and because his college was not far from home, the journey only took half an hour if there was no traffic. However, he had to go to school, leaving home early and returning late, and he would never go out during rest time. So even though he had always lived here, he didn't know the people upstairs and downstairs very well. At most, he was just familiar with them but couldn't remember their names.
Hearing Qin Huai say this, Mu Nan asked curiously: "I know him, who is he?"
Qin Huai said, "Your elementary school classmate, his last name was Deng, I think his name was Deng Chuan. When you were in the third grade, your parents were called in because of him. Don't you remember?"
Mu Nan shook his head. He was one of those students who invited parents to school quite often, so naturally he wouldn’t remember the reason why he invited parents to school once in the third grade.
Qin Huai smiled and said, "That time, you won two yogurt-flavored candies with great difficulty. You ate one and left one for me, so you put it in your desk. But after the physical education class, you found that the candy was gone and someone had taken a sip of the drink in your desk. Someone told you that it was that guy named Deng who stole the drink. You, who have the same short temper as Uncle Mu, couldn't help it and poured the whole bottle of drink into the guy's schoolbag. Then your parents were called in."
As soon as Qin Huai said that, Mu Nan remembered that in elementary school, a kind of candy with various flavors was very popular. It originated from the plot of a magic movie. There were many strange flavors in a box of candy. The most delicious one was yogurt flavor. Whoever ate the yogurt flavor was equivalent to winning the lucky prize. If you gave the yogurt candy to others, it was equivalent to giving this luck to others. So when his yogurt candy was stolen, it meant that the luck he originally wanted to leave for Qin Huai was stolen. No wonder he was so angry at that time. He still remembered that he cried out of grievance that time, but Qin Huai almost emptied his pig stomach, bought a bunch of candies with various flavors, picked out all the yogurt flavors and held them in front of him, which made him happy. The daily life of elementary school students is so boring and childish.
Thinking of this, Mu Nan curled his lips and said, "He stole candy when he was a kid, so it's not impossible for him to steal other people's wires when he grows up."
Qin Huai put a few completely red peppers in the kitchen, and took out a piece of pork brisket from the refrigerator. When Mu Nan was a child, he was picky about food. He would not eat meat that was too fat or too lean. He only liked to eat meat that was lean with some fat. He especially liked stir-fried pork with green peppers, and the meat used was pork neck. Although Mu Nan didn't seem to be as picky as he was when he was a child, Qin Huai still habitually cooked the kind that Mu Nan liked.
Listening to Mu Nan's criticism of his elementary school classmates, Qin Huai said while cooking: "Actually, living outside is also good. Isn't the hotel at the entrance of the community classified as a quarantine hotel? If the situation gets worse, there is no guarantee that someone will lose control of their emotions and do something extreme. At least now they don't have to endure malicious attacks from others."
Mu Nan leaned against the kitchen door and looked at Qin Huai who was cutting meat: "If we were treated like this, what would you do?"
Qin Huai turned his head and smiled at him: "I will release the message that I am not easy to mess with in advance. When I am attacked for the first time in the group, I will fight back. There is a saying that barefoot are not afraid of those wearing shoes. All resistance and rejection are based on the virus. To be honest, they are afraid of me, not me. It is best for no one to mess with me. If you mess with me, you will naturally have to bear the consequences."
Qin Huai finished speaking, and continued: "Sometimes, retreating and tolerating blindly does not bring peace and tranquility. Whether in peacetime or in the chaotic times to come, those who are strong and not easy to mess with will at least not be bullied as soft persimmons."
Seeing that Mu Nan was listening seriously, Qin Huai smiled and said, "But just leave this matter to me."
Mu Nan understood Qin Huai's meaning instantly, so he snorted and returned to the living room. He picked up the black-screen phone and took a picture of himself. He pinched his cheek and pulled it gently. He thought that he would suffer a lot in the future if he didn't look strong and fierce enough. If he had looked more fierce in his previous life, he probably wouldn't have been regarded as a weak person and robbed.
However, the exclusion in the community did not stop after the Li couple left. They were just the beginning. What's more, because the beginning was too smooth, those who had nowhere to vent the accumulated frustration in real life found a good outlet through these things.
Most of the people in old communities like theirs have been living there for more than ten years or even decades. Although some of them are tenants from outside, when there are more people who know each other, it can be said that there are no secrets in the entire community. They can know who was sick before, who got an injection at the health center instead of going to the hospital, and who recovered from the hospital. Although the information may not be as detailed and complete as the community registration information, they can still know roughly.
The second person to be targeted was a middle-aged couple. Their surname was Zhu, but their specific names were not very clear because everyone always called them "Old Zhu, Old Zhu" and their names were gradually forgotten. Old Zhu's family were property owners in the community and had lived here for more than 20 years. When they were young, they opened a store and did business. After raising their two children and starting their own families, they rented out the store. With their pension and rent, they played cards and square danced every day. They lived a comfortable life.
Because Lao Zhu would go to the store regularly every month to collect rent and check on the situation of his own store. He has been doing this for many years, rain or shine. So when it rained heavily, Lao Zhu went out once to collect rent and check the store. As a result, he had some cold symptoms the next day, but the situation was okay at first so he endured it. When he started to have difficulty breathing, he went to the hospital accompanied by his wife. As a result, neither the couple could come back from the hospital.
Zhu's wife had milder symptoms, so she was discharged earlier. Not long after, Zhu was also discharged. But when Zhu was discharged, the sky was already full of smog. During the global outbreak of lung cancer, people were already trapped at home and unable to go out. At that time, some people mentioned Zhu's family in some private groups with good relationships, saying that they were lucky to go to the hospital early. If they were later, they would not be able to get in the hospital gate. When Zhu had difficulty breathing, he could only wait to die.
However, I was lucky at that time. Looking back at the second outbreak now, it really proves the saying that if the God of Hell wants you to die at three o'clock in the morning, he will not let you live until five o'clock. This fate, there is no way to escape it.
When someone announced in the group that Zhu's family had been ill, the experience of the Li couple yesterday was replayed. Someone asked Zhu's family to move to a hotel outside in a tough attitude, saying in a "good for you" tone that the hotel was an isolation point with professional paramedics on duty, and that it would be safer than at home if something really happened.
Some people even played the emotional card, saying that they have been neighbors for decades and asked them to consider everyone.
These voices were mixed with some unpleasant and abusive words, and their attitudes were tough, as if if they didn't leave, everyone would be killed by them.
But Mr. and Mrs. Zhu were not like that young couple. Mr. Zhu took out a small notebook and wrote down the house numbers of those who had spoken viciously and demanded them to leave. He also posted a photo in the group chat: "You can curse as much as you want. We are all going to die. If I get upset by your curses, I will drag you all to die together. And those who cut the wires, if you have the guts, come and cut my wires. If my house loses power, none of you will have a good life!"
"And those who are attacking me through text messages and sending me advice through private messages, I advise you to just be quiet. While I was out there messing around, you were all still at home drinking milk!"
It wasn't enough for Lao Zhu to launch a series of counterattacks. He also recorded a video. In the video, Lao Zhu scanned the phone to the family that had been shouting the most in the group and even maliciously cursing. Not only did he stand at the door of the family, he also kicked the door of the family several times: "If anyone dares to mention my family in the group again, I will report to your door every day. If you want to test whether your door is strong or not, come and make trouble!"
So the evil ones are afraid of the violent ones, and the violent ones are afraid of the desperate ones. After Lao Zhu's series of actions, the entire community became as quiet as a chicken, and no one dared to show up or speak anymore.
Mu Nan sighed as he watched this reversal: "People really have to be a little tougher." But after sighing, he still felt a little sad. He knew this old Zhu. Sometimes when he met him in the elevator, he would call him Uncle Zhu. When his father was still alive, they often played cards together. When he was a child, he also ate a lot of snacks bought by Uncle Zhu. But now that his father is gone and he has grown up, their relationship has gradually become distant, with only a nod of greeting left.
In the previous life, no one thought that this crisis would be followed by a more serious disaster. Everyone thought that the country would recover and the disaster would pass, so they saw the future instead of the present. Mu Nan was the same at that time. Because he was alone, without relatives or friends, he had nothing to worry about except for Qin Huai, who was nowhere to be found at the time, so he didn't care about what happened around him. This time, facing life and death again, what he felt was naturally different.
At this time, Old Zhu was not sad about being resisted and rejected by his old neighbors for decades, nor was he angry about being maliciously attacked. He reacted so strongly just to hope for some peace and quiet. He didn't know if he would be unable to escape death like those who had a second outbreak, but when it really came to this moment, his biggest feeling was not fear, but confusion and reluctance.
I watched my wife sort out the things in the house bit by bit, carefully writing down the passwords corresponding to the passbooks and cards one by one, and recorded a video for my son and daughter, telling them where the valuables in the house are, how much money is in the passbooks and cards, which card is for current and which is for time deposit, and some gold jewelry and real estate certificates, and how to distribute those things. After recording the video, I watched it again carefully, fearing that there was something I had not explained carefully. After checking for omissions, I saved it and would send it to the children when they were really dying.
Looking at his wife wiping tears while watching the video, Lao Zhu wanted to smile, but he couldn't. He just sat beside her and asked as if they were chatting, "Are you scared?"
When asked this, his wife cried even harder. After crying for a long time, she choked up and said, "Are you afraid or not? I just can't bear to leave. Tuantuan has just learned to call me grandma, and I haven't watched them grow up yet. I can't bear to leave them. I really can't bear to leave them."
Old Zhu's eyes were also red. Yes, death is not actually scary. When it really comes to this, there is nothing to be afraid of. The only thing is that he can't bear to leave. He can't bear to leave his children and grandchildren. He just wants to be with them longer and longer.
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