Chapter 126
Although death is everywhere, it is always sad when it happens to someone you know. Although Mu Nan has never met Qin Huai's colleague, from Qin Huai's description, it seems that they have a good relationship. After something like this happens, it is a bit too cold-blooded to celebrate with a barbecue just to make money.
Qin Huai rubbed Mu Nan's hair: "If you are hungry, you can eat something."
Mu Nan hugged Qin Huai and lay on his chest: "Forget it, the barbecue won't run away in the space anyway, so we won't eat it today. It's almost dawn, let's go to bed."
Although they do not have to go out to work, they are also worried that their work and rest schedules are different from others, and they will not be able to react to anything that happens. For example, while others are energetic and lively at night, they may not even know someone is trying to pry open their door when they are asleep. Although this should be unlikely, there is always a chance of something happening.
Or if something requires them to go out at night, if they don't adjust their work and rest schedule, then they will be equivalent to staying up late at night. If they really encounter an emergency, they probably won't have much energy to deal with it. So even if they don't have to go out, they still adjust their work and rest schedule to be the same as others, with day and night reversed.
The sun outside is scorching, and the temperature is rising day by day. If calculated according to the time, Chinese New Year should be here in half a month, but now the time is too confusing to tell. Especially for families who are suffering from various diseases and parasites, how can they have the energy to celebrate the Chinese New Year? Even the government's official website does not have any festive signs of the Chinese New Year. I guess they are overwhelmed by the recent insect issues.
For Mu Nan, it doesn't really matter whether or not to celebrate the New Year. Celebrating the New Year is just a way of reunion. Now he is with Qin Huai every day, and they are reunited every day. But other people in their yard think that it has been a tradition for thousands of years. It is a spiritual sustenance and a beautiful prospect for good weather and good harvests in the coming year. So they think that they have survived another year, and they can have a meal together, celebrate the new year, and celebrate that they are still alive and well.
Last year, conditions were really limited, but this year I'm lucky. I bought some meat earlier, and the power in the house has not been cut off so far. Even if the temperature is high, the frozen meat can be eaten for a few months. When the time comes, each family will contribute some meat, and Qinhuai's family will not contribute anymore. They can just contribute some vegetables. Now vegetables are more expensive than meat. The most important thing is that except for Qinhuai's family, you can't buy any vegetables outside.
After a discussion, a few of them asked the girls if they wanted to have a New Year's Eve dinner together. They probably thought that since they lived in the same courtyard, they got along well since they had lived together, so if they could get along better, they could take care of each other if anything happened. So they didn't refuse this time. They even asked a few boys if they needed them to cook. Their cooking skills were not the best, but at least it was edible.
Of course, the result was that it was not necessary. Qin Huai's cooking skills were impeccable. He had been responsible for the family's food supply since he was a child. Mu Nan's parents died early, but he still only knew how to order takeout, and it was all due to Qin Huai's indulgence.
In addition to Qin Huai, Jian Chu can also cook. This is a skill he has honed through independent living. But now his health is not very good, and cooking is a physical job, so it is definitely impossible for him to do it.
I didn't expect Wu Zheng to be good at cooking. Song Jia said that the food he cooked was delicious and he could cook a lot of dishes that were on the menu of a star-rated restaurant. It was a pity that the raw materials were limited, so I could only see how he cooked.
After agreeing to celebrate the New Year together, everyone was looking forward to this meal. It’s not that they were looking forward to eating something delicious, but they just wanted to celebrate the New Year in a lively and lively atmosphere with the smell of fireworks, so that life would feel less hopeless.
Especially since their yard didn't have one this year, according to their custom, after the clock struck new year's Eve, they had to offer sacrifices and burn incense. The more people burned incense, the less lonely the deceased's underworld would be. It was just right for them to have a meal together and have some fun, and then after twelve o'clock they would burn incense and offer sacrifices to Hu Xuan.
All plans are good, but things don't always go according to plan.
A few days before the Chinese New Year, Mu Nan woke up at noon. Qin Huai was still awake, leaning against the head of the bed to check the data of the small games he made after they went online. Seeing Mu Nan sitting up and not moving, he put his hand on Mu Nan's shoulder: "What's wrong? Did I wake you up?"
Mu Nan frowned: "It looks like it's going to rain. It's so stuffy. I can't even breathe."
This is also Mu Nan's old problem. When the weather changes, his prediction is more accurate than the weather forecast, just like those people with rheumatism. As long as the weather changes, the body will react. When he was a child, he had many cardiopulmonary examinations for this, but the results were always normal. He was just a little bit less energetic during the rainy season, but nothing else happened. Gradually, he no longer took Mu Nan's sensitive physique seriously. Anyway, as long as the rain started, he would not feel stuffy.
Qin Huai put down the computer and rubbed Mu Nan's back: "Lean on me and sleep for a while, don't lie down."
Mu Nan piled up his pillows and leaned against the bed, waiting for the rain. He would not be able to sleep until it rained. "The river next to us is almost dry. So much snow accumulated in the winter. The sun is too harsh. I don't know how long this rain will last, and whether it will be cooler."
There is a shallow layer of water in the river channel now, but it should not be the snow water accumulated before, because the water is flowing. However, because it is flowing, although there may be more mosquitoes than other places, it is not so bad. If it is stagnant water, this area will be uninhabitable. The stinky ditches have the most mosquitoes.
Qin Huai gently stroked his chest and said, "I don't know if it will be cooler. With the heat and humidity, there will probably be more mosquitoes."
Mu Nan wanted to lean on Qin Huai and sleep for a while, but he couldn't fall asleep. The more he leaned on Qin Huai, the more uncomfortable he felt. He held his chest like a stranded fish.
Qin Huai frowned deeply. Mu Nan had felt uncomfortable before, but not as bad as this: "Nan Nan, take out the oxygen machine and try breathing some oxygen to see if it will make you feel better?"
Mu Nan shook his head: "Brother, do you think this rain will be serious?" Although Mu Nan didn't know whether his sensitivity to the humid air was related to the size of the rain, this reaction before it was about to rain was really the first time he felt like he was suffocating, and he was almost suffering from altitude sickness.
Qin Huai said, "I'll turn down the air conditioner. You can take out one of the oxygen bags and try it."
Although Mu Nan felt that he didn't need oxygen, it wouldn't be a problem to use it if it could make him feel more comfortable. After inhaling it, the feeling of shortness of breath was indeed much better.
Seeing that Mu Nan felt better, Qin Huai breathed a sigh of relief, then lifted the curtains to check the situation outside. The sun was still very hot and there was not even a cloud in the sky. It didn't look like it was going to rain, but Mu Nan's reaction was so big, this rain might be serious.
Qin Huai told the group that it might rain and asked them to be prepared. He also called Shi Yuanfei to ask about the weather. Although Shi Yuanfei was not in charge of this, he would definitely receive a message if there were any abnormal circumstances, but he did not receive any message.
Qin Huai said: "Although I can't guarantee it 100%, there is a high possibility that a heavy rain is coming."
Shi Yuanfei asked, "Maybe it's just that your brother is not feeling well. Do you want me to arrange for him to have a checkup?"
Qin Huai was also a little worried, and after thinking for a while he said: "If it doesn't rain tomorrow, then please help arrange a check-up." If it doesn't rain, it would be impossible for me to feel chest tightness and shortness of breath for no reason, and to the extent that I need oxygen.
It didn't rain until the evening, but Mu Nan still couldn't lie down to sleep. He had to hold oxygen to relax every once in a while.
Qin Huai's complexion became worse and worse. In this situation, getting sick is fatal, especially for the heart and lungs. There is no medical condition at all. He is really worried that there is something wrong. Looking at Mu Nan who was leaning on the sofa and had not eaten much all day, Qin Huai wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Do you want to eat something?"
Mu Nan closed his eyes and refused: "I don't want to eat." Although he was very hungry, he had no appetite at all. He felt like there was a stuffy feeling in his chest. He wanted to sleep but couldn't, and he felt very irritable.
Qin Huai rubbed his hair and didn't force him. He just sat on the coffee table and kept looking at him. After a long while, Shi Yuanfei sent a message saying that there was indeed a rain cloud coming and there would be a heavy rainfall. He also sighed that his brother's human rain detector was really amazing and it was earlier than the weather forecast they received.
Qin Huai was slightly relieved when he saw the news. So the reason he was upset at the moment was because the rain didn't stop, not for any other reason. His heart, which had been hanging for the whole day, finally settled down a little: "Nannan, do you want to take a shower? Maybe you will feel better."
Mu Nan slumped on the sofa like a dead fish: "In my previous life, I must have been a fish, maybe a fish that got stranded and died in a heavy rain."
Qin Huai tapped him lightly on the forehead: "Don't talk nonsense."
As soon as he finished speaking, it started raining outside. And it was not ordinary rain, but heavy rain, accompanied by a few rumbling thunders. The rain instantly wet the ground. The rain was so heavy that even the sunshades installed on the windows outside to block the sunlight were blown away. You have to know that some sunshades are hung firmly on nails on the wall, but they could be blown away. You can imagine how strong the wind was.
The wind was strong and the rain was heavy, and the rain came suddenly, pouring down almost without any warning, catching many people off guard. Although it was so hot, the rain could cool down the heat a lot, but the wind was too strong, and many things hanging outside or drying on the balcony were blown away. Some cloths were okay, and would not kill people if they hit them, but some people put some bricks and other hard objects on the balcony to press down the sunshade cloth, and these were blown down, and if they hit people, they would bleed instantly.
There was a very loud noise outside, with smashing and rumbling sounds everywhere, and the wind was howling like ghosts. The girl next door was frightened by the noise and started barking.
Mu Nan also got up from the sofa and pulled open the heat-insulating baffle in the house. The sunshades they hung on the windows had long been blown away. Through the window, he could even see a lot of messy things flying in the sky outside: "It's raining so heavily, it's like pouring water."
Qin Huai sent a message in the compound group, asking them to close the doors and windows tightly and ignore the cloth outside. In such a strong wind and rain, no one knew if people would be blown away, but their low buildings could easily be hit by objects carried in the wind. It would not be worth it if they got hit on the head and bloodied just to collect the sunshade cloth.
Qin Huai didn't need to say anything. Song Jia, who was alone at home, didn't dare to come out. He quickly sent a message to his brother. His brother went to work when it just got dark. According to the time, he should have arrived a long time ago, but it was still more reassuring to ask.
Wu Zheng had arrived at the factory a long time ago. Seeing it was raining so heavily outside, he was about to ask about Song Jia's family situation. When he saw the message Song Jia sent, he replied to him and told him not to worry.
When the rainstorm completely extinguished the heat of the entire land, Mu Nan felt that he was alive again. He no longer needed the oxygen machine. He was hungry, so he quickly ran to take a shower and took a small table to eat hot pot.
They ate hotpot during a rainstorm. Xu Ming, who lived next door to them, was not at home as he had gone to work. So there was no need to worry about people smelling the food. The key was that the spicy food was appetizing. He had been feeling uncomfortable all day and now urgently needed the comfort of delicious food.
Qin Huai had no choice but to follow his advice, but he filtered out a layer of oil from the slightly spicy hot pot, just a little bit of hot pot flavor would be enough. After being hungry all day, he couldn't eat anything too spicy.
Fatty beef tripe, yellow throat and loin slices, hot beef oil pot, accompanied by the heavy rain outside, after taking a sip of the drink, Mu Nan burped: "Summer and hot pot are the best match."
Qin Huai chuckled: "You are suitable for hot pot all year round."
Mu Nan sighed and said, "There are no four seasons now, only winter and summer."
Putting the blanched beef into Qin Huai's bowl, he urged him to eat quickly. Listening to the sound of rain outside, Mu Nan was a little worried: "There is a river next to us, will it flood? It rains so hard, can the sewer in our yard withstand it?"
When they were building the wall around the courtyard, they left a special drainage hole. It was originally intended to drain the snow after it melted. Now with such a heavy rainfall, I don't know if the hole can handle the water.
Qin Huai said, "It's okay. Let's go out and have a look when the rain is a little lighter. There shouldn't be any traffic jams."
More than an hour had passed while they were eating hotpot on and off. The rain outside showed no sign of stopping. Qin Huai went to the balcony and looked for a while. There was no water in the yard, so the situation was okay. The temperature outside had dropped a little, but not too much. On the contrary, the moisture from the rain and the excessively high temperature made it still as stuffy as a steamer even though it was raining.
With this humidity, not to mention Mu Nan, even he felt a little breathless after standing outside for a while.
Fortunately, the air conditioner in the house has a good cooling effect. If the temperature is lowered a little, the humid heat will be much better. Qin Huai went to the yard wearing a raincoat to check and found that the drainage hole was unobstructed.
When we were building the rooftop, there were a lot of mosquitoes and some bugs would also come out of the soil in the yard, so we simply filled the entire ground with cement. At that time, we deliberately made an angle that was slightly inclined towards the drainage hole. Now the hole is spraying water out like a faucet, which shows how heavy the rain was.
After making sure that there was no problem with his yard, Qin Huai did not stay for long. It was raining so heavily that the water was not just falling on people, but hitting their bodies. The pain could be felt even through the raincoat. Although he was wearing a raincoat, Qin Huai was still soaked from inside to outside after this trip.
Mu Nan quickly asked Qin Huai to take a hot bath. Although it was very hot outside and the rain was hot on his body, it was rain after all. Who knew whether it was clean or not? There were so many mosquitoes and parasites outside now. It was better to be careful if possible.
He should have slept during the day, but the rain didn't come. The stuffiness before the rain made Mu Nan breathless. He had to toss and turn until now. Now that the rain has come and he has eaten and drunk his fill, he feels sleepy. After making sure there are no hidden dangers of water leakage inside and outside the house, and that the rabbits are not scared off by the occasional thunder, Mu Nan climbed onto the bed exhausted and fell asleep soon.
Qin Huai also stayed with him for a whole day, and when he saw that Mu Nan was finally able to fall asleep, he also took a nap with him. If it weren't for the storm that always blew some things up loudly, the sound of rain would actually be quite hypnotic. But even though it was loud, it didn't affect Mu Nan's sleep much.
When he woke up, it was bright outside, but quite gloomy. He took out his cell phone to check the time. It was a little after eight in the morning. He had gone to bed around one or two o'clock yesterday and had not woken up in the middle. It was still more comfortable to sleep at night.
The other side of the bed was empty, and no one knew when Qin Huai got up. Mu Nan lingered on the bed for a while and called out twice, but no one answered, so he got up, washed his face and brushed his teeth, then went downstairs to look for someone.
Before he even got down to the first floor, he saw Qin Huai at the stairs on the second floor: "Brother, what are you doing standing here?"
Qin Huai turned around and glanced at him: "It's flooded."
Mu Nan hurried downstairs and saw that the first floor was really flooded. The water had half-submerged the kang on the first floor. If you stepped down, the water was almost knee-deep.
The water flooded in, but the rain outside did not stop. It was still an extremely heavy rainstorm. The sound of water was so loud that it made people feel uneasy.
The two went upstairs and looked out from the balcony on the second floor. It was already a vast ocean outside.
Mu Nan felt that something was wrong: "Brother, there is a river next to us, will the water rush up?"
Qin Huai was also thinking about this problem. When he chose to live here, the river channel was one of the factors he considered at the time. Moreover, the entire river channel is located at a low altitude. Even if it is flooded, the river channel can still carry part of the water power. The biggest difference between this artificial river channel and rivers is that the water in rivers is inexhaustible and the water level will rise if it rains heavily, but a dry river channel will only carry the excess water. If it overflows, it will also overflow downstream.
But Qin Huai did not expect it, or rather, although he had thought of this one in ten thousand possibility, he did not expect it to happen so quickly. The river channel that was about to dry up was actually flooded after the heavy rain that night, and the entire downstream area has become a vast ocean. Judging from the current rain intensity, the water level is likely to rise further. What's more, if this is a continuous rainstorm, the city that was rebuilt with great difficulty will probably become an underwater city.
He was worried, but when the worst possibility had not yet happened, there was no need to speak out and let Mu Nan worry, so Qin Huai comforted him: "It's okay, if the water comes up, we can live on the roof. If the water can flood the whole house, we can escape by boat. There are almost no high-rise buildings outside now. As long as there are no rapids and waves, our boat can still ride the wind and waves."
The main thing is that even if you want to leave and take refuge in high-rise buildings, the tallest buildings nearby are just a few apartment buildings that are still standing. But how many people can these apartments accommodate? We have already experienced an earthquake, and if the water is really that high, people will definitely rush upwards in a swarm to survive. By then, the lower buildings will be soaked in water, and the weight of the high-rise buildings will continue to increase. If you can withstand it, you are lucky. If you can't, there will be nowhere to escape.
Another thing is that nowadays, mosquitoes are rampant, parasitic infections are rampant, and flooding is a problem. I can't imagine how many people will get sick in a crowded and almost unhygienic environment. So there is nowhere to run for the time being, so I just stay at home. If it doesn't work, I can use a boat to escape. Unfortunately, there was not enough time at that time, and the procedures were too complicated. Otherwise, it would be safer to borrow a small speedboat.
After hearing what Qin Huai said, Mu Nan was not so anxious anymore, but he still started to take inventory of the things in the space that could help him survive in the water. A boat was definitely necessary. His brother bought a lot of those small search and rescue boats that could be pulled together to form a boat, as well as some motorboats and life jackets. He prepared a lot of them.
"Brother, this ugly green protective suit is sealed from head to toe. If we want to escape, can we wear it? But it's so thick that I feel like I'll die of heat in it. But if we don't wear it, there's no telling what's in the water, mosquitoes, rats, ants, and maybe even dead bodies."
Qin Huai said, "Put it aside first. I hope you won't need it. When you really have to flee, try to wear it. One is for isolation and protection, and the other is that if you spend too much time in the water, you may suffer from hypothermia in the hot weather."
After Mu Nan took inventory of everything, he couldn't help but sigh: "If that really happens, what will Jian Chu and the others do? It would be unreasonable for us to just take out a lifeboat."
Qin Huai pulled him upstairs and said, "We can give them a lifeboat, a portable one that can hold three to four people. If they can stay together, they can escape together. If they can't, they can separate. If they can't, it's a natural disaster, such as a turbulent current that cannot be resisted by human power. There is nothing we can do about this kind of accident, even if we don't want to."
Then he turned around and looked at Mu Nan, saying seriously: "There is another situation, that is, they are out of ammunition and food. At that time, it is time for us to leave on our own initiative. The space cannot be exposed. They are starving to death. I don't think you can secretly eat your fill in such a situation without any psychological burden, so we can only leave."
Mu Nan nodded. Although it was selfish to think so, he could not reveal the secret of the space to anyone other than Qin Huai, even to his friends who had been through thick and thin together. At most, he would leave some food for them before he and Qin Huai secretly left. He just hoped that such a difficult choice would never happen in this lifetime.
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