Chapter 13
Because of Lao Zhu's strong counterattack, the residents of their building calmed down temporarily, and there was no more talk in the group about excluding those who had been infected. With Lao Zhu's precedent, those who had never been sick were more afraid of those who had been sick, for fear of offending them and being retaliated against.
But their building was quiet, but other places might not be as quiet. People seemed to be gradually divided into two types, normal people and infected people. Even if those infected people recovered temporarily after treatment, experts and medical scientists have repeatedly emphasized that mycelium can only be transmitted through haze containing mycelium, and the transmission between people is extremely low. Wearing a mask can almost isolate the possibility of transmission between people by more than 90%. But even so, normal people would be afraid to contact the infected, and they would even convert this fear into exclusion and hostility.
Mu Nan has seen news online more than once about an entire community or a whole village being hostile to the infected, with eggs thrown at the door, people sealing the door at home, and garbage piled up at people's doorsteps. Even worse, some brutal people gathered together and used force to drive the infected people who stayed at home peacefully out of their living space.
Apart from constantly calling on people to be rational and look at lung cancer correctly and not to act too aggressively, the government has no effective way to improve the current situation unless a special medicine that can completely cure it can be developed. But medicine is not so easy to develop. It was not until the haze dissipated overnight that all the infected people eventually died. This prejudice was buried along with the deaths of those people.
There is human coldness, but there is also human warmth. The people in white clothes really became angels this time. The power of unity and the great love of sacrifice and dedication are happening all the time. It is these forces that make people who were originally in desperate situations and somewhat discouraged feel the warmth of love again.
This is how society works. There is a reality that makes people hate and feel cold, but there is also love and hope that allows people to continue to move forward bravely. Love and hate are intertwined, and that's it.
These things happened in Mu Nan's life, but they were a little far from his life. When the lung disease first broke out, the whole nation was in panic and anxiety. Facing this unknown that would bring death, everyone was instinctively afraid. When it broke out again, it was just the despair of the infected. Some people have started a new life that has nothing to do with them, while others are struggling in the despair of losing the new life they finally got.
Old Zhu died. More than a week later, his wife contacted the community and told them that he was dying and asked them to prepare a car to take him away at any time. Of course, they did not go to the hospital. They knew that the disease had relapsed and he could not be saved. Moreover, the current situation in the hospital was probably like hell on earth, so they did not even think about going to the hospital.
The smog seemed to have dissipated a little on the day when Lao Zhu was dragged away. It was midday, and although the sky was still gloomy and visibility was low, people on lower floors could still see vehicles entering and leaving the community gate. So they took a photo and posted it in the group chat. I don’t know if it was out of a sigh or something else, but along with the photo, they also sighed: “Another one is gone.”
Residents on the same floor as Mr. Zhu said in the group chat that it was Mr. Zhu who was carried away. He passed away quietly, and his wife did not cry. Apart from the footsteps of the staff who came to carry the person, there was no other extra sound in the corridor.
After the person passed away, some old neighbors remembered him again. When Mr. Zhu was young, he was in the food business and would often share some delicious food with his neighbors. Mr. Zhu's wife also had a family craft, and she was an expert at making beef sauce and fermented tofu. Among the older generation of neighbors, almost most of them had eaten Mr. Zhu's beef sauce and fermented tofu. Mu Nan also had them when he was a child. Aunt Zhu knew that he liked to eat beef, so she always gave their family a jar of beef sauce filled with beef.
When he was a child, he used to despise his own mother, asking why she didn’t have Aunt Zhu’s exclusive recipe. His mother poked him on the forehead and said, “It’s good enough that you have something to eat, and you still despise your mother.”
Some people remember the good things about him, and naturally there are also people who hold grudges. The one who holds a grudge is the person who was kicked in the door by Old Zhu who was guarding the door. It is said that the person once complained in a private group, saying that such a person deserved to die and that death was the retribution he deserved.
Mu Nan also joined several other WeChat groups, because as group buying has become a daily routine nowadays, many merchants or businessmen have smelled business opportunities, and thus launched various group purchases, no longer limited to meat and vegetables. Due to the different commodities, the group purchase groups are naturally more scattered. Some groups have a good atmosphere, and in addition to buying things, they occasionally exchange information and chat. Mu Nan learned about this through other people's chats.
The person who was talking was from No. 5 on the ninth floor, and he had nothing to do with Old Zhu who lived on the thirteenth floor. If he hadn't said the most vicious things in the group, Old Zhu wouldn't have chosen his house to make an example of him. Now that everyone is gone, he still wants to be quick-witted. If he was that capable, he wouldn't have stayed at home and dared not come out when Old Zhu kicked the door. This kind of person is the typical one who talks a lot when he has the ability, but is definitely the fastest to cower when something really happens.
Mu Nan complained to Qin Huai with his cell phone in hand: "I really want to go to his doorstep and throw eggs at him. This guy is so disgusting." After all, he had eaten Uncle Zhu's snacks and Aunt Zhu's beef sauce when he was a child. Not to mention the people in the Zhu family, even he, an outsider with only a little bit of friendship, felt angry when he saw this.
Qin Huai said: "Food is so precious, it would be a waste if we smashed it at his door. Such a dishonest person will get his due retribution sooner or later."
After Qin Huai finished speaking, he took out the small notebook that Mu Nan used to record her purchases, pointed to a line of things on it and said, "Why did you buy so much cat litter? If you want to keep a cat, I don't recommend it. If the living conditions in the future are as difficult as in your dreams, it would be irrational to keep a pet." Unless it's a pet you've had since childhood, then naturally you can't give it up no matter what. But if you know that the future will be difficult, wouldn't it be asking for trouble to keep a pet now?
Recently, Qin Huai has been sorting out the things that Mu Nan bought to see what he still lacks, or if there are some things he can stockpile more of. Although he may not be able to exchange all the funds he has integrated into supplies, he will exchange as much as he can. In order to avoid duplication, he made a table of the things Mu Nan already has, and found that there was actually a lot of cat litter among the pile of things.
Mu Nan said: "Cat litter has a big use. Don't underestimate it. Cat litter can not only clean up cat's poop, but also human's poop." As he spoke, he raised his eyebrows and winked at Qin Huai, asking him to understand the role of cat litter.
Although he was not short of water in his previous life, because he had stored up a lot of water in the space when he realized that something was wrong, he did not dare to waste water no matter how much water he had, as he did not know what would happen in the future. So every time he took care of his daily physiological needs, he felt sorry for the water. At that time, he thought, how nice it would be if he could solve that problem without wasting water.
Perhaps his obsession was too strong, so when he bought things after his rebirth, the first thing on his shopping list was not food, but cat litter. When there was a shortage of water, this thing was very useful. After all, they lived in a residential building, not in the mountains or suburbs where they could bury water anywhere.
Qin Huai was simply shocked by Mu Nan's creative thinking. He really didn't expect that cat litter could be used in this way. But after thinking about it carefully, he really could. After thinking about it for a while, he said, "In this case, should we stock up some more? Food is probably under strict control now. If there is no normal distribution channel, it is difficult for individuals to buy too much. But cat litter, you can have as much as you want."
Mu Nan said: "Then buy it. I don't have enough money. If you can afford the things I listed, just buy as much as you can. No matter how much, it's not too much. Who knows how long it will take to restore normal social order." Maybe it will never be restored, so buy more to be prepared.
Qin Huai was inspired by Mu Nan's cat litter and thought for a moment, "Then can anyone eat pet snacks?"
Mu Nan shook his head: "I can eat it, but it doesn't taste good. Oh, and there's milk. How could I forget about milk? Is liquid milk or milk powder easier to buy? Can I still buy it now?"
Qin Huai wrote down the milk separately: "If you can buy it, buy some bottled and powdered milk. Drink it yourself, or exchange it with others for something else later. Think about what else you need."
Mu Nan said, "I've bought everything I could think of. Think about it again. Maybe there are some omissions in what I've thought of."
After Mu Nan finished speaking, he heard the dripping sound of the steamer in the kitchen and quickly got up from the bed. He had been cooking corn these past two days. After the hot corn was cooked, he put it directly into the space, which would be convenient for eating later. As soon as the lid was opened, the sweet smell of corn instantly hit him. Even though he had smelled this smell for two or three days, Mu Nan still sniffed it. The smell of food was so satisfying.
Without waiting for Mu Nan to take the corn out of the pot, Qin Huai, who followed him into the kitchen, pushed him aside, picked up the chopsticks, and picked out the corns from the pot one by one. He then placed the food-grade sealed box that had been prepared earlier on the stove, and after draining the corn water and corn silk from the pot, poured it all out.
They collected the corn water cooked in the past few days, let some of it cool down and put it in the refrigerator, and put some of it directly into Mu Nan's space for storage. They added some white sugar when cooking the corn, so the corn water also had a sweet taste, and it could supplement some sugar when drinking it later.
Smelling the sweet corn, Mu Nan said, "Let's make some more pear stewed with rock sugar, add some lily and Fritillaria cirrhosa, and collect them like this. When the weather gets cold in the future, we can have some whenever we want to drink it. It can keep you warm and moisturize your lungs."
Qin Huai nodded: "Then let's stew it. This will be quick. Stew two pots today and let the stove rest. In the evening, take out the big hanging pot and stew the pork shanks. Simmer on low heat all night and drink the soup tomorrow."
Mu Nan nodded repeatedly after hearing this. He didn't have much cooking skills, so if he were to do it himself, he could probably only follow the instructions on the Internet and put the food in a pressure cooker. It would take an hour or two to cook a pot of soup, but that soup was nothing like the soup that was slow-cooked overnight. Fortunately, Qin Huai was there, and his cooking skills were much better than his.
While the two of them were happily making their soup-making plan, the people next door were in a miserable situation.
A boy who looked about the same age as Mu Nan, with hair that looked like it had been chewed by a dog, tried hard to smell the aroma of corn in the air. He couldn't help swallowing his saliva, which made the boy who looked more mature beside him laugh. He even joked, "Why don't I go next door and ask if they sell corn, so that you don't have to drool all over the floor."
Jian Chu, who was being teased, didn't feel that he was being teased at all. Instead, he looked at him expectantly, hoping that he could put his words into practice.
Looking at the other person's eyes, wet and expectant like a puppy, Yu Zibai couldn't stand it anymore and looked away.
As he moved away, Jian Chu seemed to hear the sound of his hopes being dashed. He liked eating corn, and although he wouldn't die if he couldn't eat it, he had been locked up at home for more than two months since he could not go out. It was okay if he couldn't smell it, but now he could smell it but couldn't eat it. The torture was comparable to that of a person who liked eating shrimps, who could smell the stir-fried prawns next door but couldn't eat them. That was too annoying.
Taking another deep breath of the sweet air, Jian Chu leaned against the balcony door with a melancholy heart, looking at the empty street outside with a sad face: "When will this day end?"
Staying at home is not the most difficult thing. The most difficult thing is the wallet that is unable to make ends meet. The rent, water, electricity, and the ever-increasing prices of vegetables mean that if you can't go out, you can't do a part-time job, and if you can't do a part-time job, you can't earn living expenses. It's almost July, and I haven't received my diploma yet, and I can't find a job. What's killing me is not only the smog outside, but also the wallet that has no money.
Yu Zibai, knowing what he was worried about, lowered his eyes slightly, then smiled at him reassuringly: "Don't worry about the rent, I've paid this year's rent. At least you won't be homeless this year. The current environment is like this, and you are not the only one. If this disaster can be over, the country will definitely have a subsidy policy. It's useless for you to worry about it now. The greatest blessing in this disaster is that you are still alive and well."
Jian Chu snorted, not feeling comforted.
As the phone beeped, Yu Zibai smiled, and his clear features became especially gentle: "Daodao, do you want to eat corn?"
Jian Chu, whose nickname was Daodao, turned to look at Yu Zibai, his face full of expectant question marks.
Yu Zibai smiled and raised his phone: "I added the person next door on WeChat."
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