Chapter 133
Life in the cave was peaceful yet not quite peaceful. Although they avoided major disasters, they were still plagued by trivial matters and quarrels every day. Either someone took up too much territory and squeezed others out, or someone lost something and argued with the neighbors. The day would not be over without a quarrel or even a fight.
Whenever there was a commotion downstairs, Mu Nan and his family would be thankful that they lived in a relatively isolated place with no one around them. However, due to its good feng shui, it attracted many people's covetousness, including the man who pinched his own daughter to gain sympathy at the beginning and the family who first seized the opportunity.
It is not easy to live in a place with a windy outlet. When the group of people arrived, some people had already settled down in the cave, but no one chose the place with a windy outlet. Or maybe someone chose it at the beginning, but after a while they realized it was not a place to live because of the wind, so they quickly changed places. After that family chose it, the cave was filled with people before they could cool down. It was not easy to change places, so they have been suffering until now.
The reason that family found Qin Huai and hoped to move to another place was that their child was sick from the wind. A 20-year-old boy, he probably felt that he was young and healthy and his parents were old, so he lived closer to the cave entrance and let his parents live farther away. As a result, he caught a cold and had a fever from the wind every day.
The reason for coming to them to change was that they were a group of hot-tempered young people, and they brought a lot of things with them, including long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and protective clothing and raincoats, which could protect them from the wind when sleeping.
Mu Nan was immediately filled with questions when he heard this. Song Jia on the side couldn't help but retort, "Uncle, you are too funny. If you can withstand the wind, you should go to the mountain wind. We didn't force you to choose that place. You put such a big accusation on us, as if we are doing nothing to save our lives."
Mu Nan nodded beside him: "That's right!"
The uncle begged: "Please help me, my son is really seriously ill..."
Yu Zibai said directly: "If you feel it's cold over there, just move outside. We are not the only place in the cave where you can change rooms. Your son is seriously ill, and we have people here who are not in good health and cannot stand the wind. Please don't bother with it anymore. This will cost your son's life."
If he was willing to move outside, he wouldn't have waited until now. I heard that the place outside is very chaotic and there are all kinds of people. His son is already sick, and if he comes into contact with some sick people, wouldn't it be even more dangerous?
Without waiting for him to say anything else, Qin Huai said, "Please leave. It's useless to pester us. It's impossible to change places. If you get tired of pestering us, don't blame us for using violence. It's dark here. If one or two people are killed, they will say they fell down. Everyone is busy outside now. I'm afraid no one will investigate."
Seeing that they were so difficult to talk to, the uncle almost knelt down before them. Jian Chu came over with the hammer in his hand and said with a bad expression: "What nonsense are you talking about? Just beat him up for taking advantage of his age. If anyone asks, just say he came to steal our things."
Jian Chu was about to take action, and Song Jia hurriedly pretended to persuade him: "Forget it, just chase him away. It's not worth it for such a small matter!"
Jian Chu was still struggling to swing the hammer: "Everyone is eyeing us. Let's give them a good beating to scare them away and see who dares to come next. Let me go, or I'll beat this old bastard to death!"
The noise scared away the old man who was about to kneel down and beg them. He was old, and it wasn't like he was completely desperate and had to kneel down to beg for mercy. He was just relying on his age to morally blackmail them. Such people are really despicable.
After all this exertion, Jian Chu was a little out of breath. Sitting on the ground, he sighed, "It's true that my physical strength is not as good as it used to be." In the past, he could do such a small amount of exercise without even taking a breath.
Mu Nan fanned him: "Our place is indeed conspicuous."
But I have to say that living farther away from the crowd is indeed more comfortable. This is not so bad. Only two families have come to cause trouble. For those who live in crowded places, there are almost always one thing or another. But this is also because there are so many of them, a group of grown men, and dogs. If things really get out of hand, letting the dogs bite people is a help.
If it were just him and his brother, they would have found a slightly comfortable corner downstairs and squeezed in with the others. It would be impossible for them to be in such a conspicuous place. If there were not enough people, they would be targets. So sometimes having more people really does have a lot of advantages.
To be honest, they are actually quite lucky. At least there are no unreasonable or cruel people here. For example, there are some so-called power gatherings. This is mainly because the management from above is good. The army is directly in charge. It is not that people are gathered together and then an ordinary leader is assigned to take care of things. If there is any problem, everyone can report it directly to the army. This is also a very important reason that greatly reduces the number of people who take advantage of the chaos to establish power.
Therefore, there are more minor fights in this cave, and there is almost no brutal oppression, so many people are still bound by the words "law and discipline", and have not been forced to cross the moral bottom line by the current difficult environment. Otherwise, they really don't know what kind of life they would be living now.
On the fifth day of living in the cave, it was said that the water outside had gradually receded, but looking down from the mountain, it was still a muddy yellow. No one knew when they could leave here and whether they would have a home to return to. But after living there for so many days, although many people did not have enough to eat every day and had to rely on grain cakes to survive, they had adapted to life in the cave, and Qin Huai and his friends were more careful about food consumption. Seeing Yu Zibai and his friends eager to hide in the cave on the mountain wall where Niuniu and Rabbit slept to cook noodles, Song Jia couldn't help but sigh: "Now fewer and fewer people have the conditions to eat hot food. In a few days, even if we still have rice and noodles, I'm afraid we will have to hide carefully and eat grain cakes."
The longer we live in the cave, the less food everyone has left. In the past two days alone, there have been several thefts. The thieves would target us early and steal the food while we were sleeping. Even if we were alert and slept with our own things, it was still okay if we had only a few things, but it was hard to keep track of those with a lot of things.
There was even one time when they were sleeping at night and found someone circling under their stone platform. If Niuniu hadn't been alert and made a low warning sound to wake them up, who knows if their things would have been stolen.
What's even more outrageous is that some people came directly to negotiate the price with them, asking them how much they were willing to sell the dog for. Such a big dog is simply a walking meat, which must have made many people greedy. However, they were directly and fiercely driven away by Song Jia and others. This was not a trivial matter like someone coming to exchange a stone platform, and those who did not refuse thought they were easy to bully.
Mu Nan stroked the dog's head and sighed, "If you were smaller, I could put it on my body and hide it. It's this big, I can't even hold it."
Qin Huai also said, "Have you trained Niuniu on commands, such as attacking and biting?"
Song Jia nodded: "She has been trained. When we were at home in the winter, we trained her every day. Niuniu can listen to instructions now. If you point your finger and say go and bite, Niuniu will pounce in the direction you point and bite. She will not let go unless you tell her to."
Mu Nan said: "This is good. If you encounter any dangerous situation in the future, protect yourself first."
Yu Zibai brought out their bowls of noodles and said, "It's time to eat noodles. Have noodles at noon and steam rice at night. When the time comes, open a can of luncheon meat, cut it into cubes and mix it with the rice to steam together."
Jian Chu asked, "How much luncheon meat do we have left?"
Yu Zibai said, "There are seven cans left, two cans of corn, one five-jin bag of flour, four two-jin bags of rice, one bag of noodles, and six tubes of noodles in one bag. The grain cakes we brought back have not been touched yet. These are all we have left."
This is the remaining food of all people. It is enough to sustain them for ten days or half a month. If they reduce the food to one meal a day and eat only half full, they can still survive for a while. I just don't know what the situation will be like outside after the water recedes.
Mu Nan sighed silently. He didn't like eating noodles. It was okay to eat them occasionally, but eating them every day really made him feel like vomiting when he saw noodles. But he couldn't not eat them. He could only give the noodles in his bowl to Qin Huai when they were not paying attention. It wasn't that he was bullying others just because Qin Huai indulged him in such a small matter. It was mainly because Qin Huai liked eating noodles and had liked it since he was a child. It just so happened that one of them liked it and the other didn't, so it was a balance.
There wasn't much on the front anyway, and it was gone in two or three bites. Even if he gave all of his own portion to Qin Huai, Qin Huai's appetite might not even make him half full. So after brunch every day, Mu Nan would drag Qin Huai to the bathroom again. In fact, they were strolling outside, specifically looking for a place where no one was around, to take out food from the space to eat.
However, the only time I can stroll outside is usually after the rain has stopped and the sun is out, otherwise I can't go out at all. When I can't go out, I can only secretly stuff food into my mouth during my nap.
They were not hungry, but they could only eat secretly, which made them feel very guilty. They have now reduced their meals to two meals a day, combining breakfast and lunch into one meal, and having a little more for dinner, because it is really hard to fall asleep if they are not full. However, they are all young men in their twenties, and they really can't handle such a small amount of food without much oil. They are so hungry that they have acid reflux and lie listlessly on the mat. They can even hear the sound of their stomachs growling when they sleep at night.
The friends were so hungry, but they could only eat secretly. But if they didn't eat, Qin Huai wouldn't agree. Qin Huai couldn't bear to let them starve, and he was even more reluctant to let Qin Huai starve, especially since he himself had a bad stomach. If he got sick from hunger, Qin Huai would definitely be angry. So despite the guilt, he still had to eat.
Sighing, he followed Qin Huai out. Qin Huai said with a smile, "Hold on a little longer. We can go back after the water recedes. It would be great if the house is still there after we go back. Even if it is not, we can find a place with few people to stay and kill the rabbit for everyone to have a good meal."
Mu Nan said with a bitter face: "Every time my livestock business is aborted halfway, the chickens and ducks before, and now the rabbits."
Qin Huai smiled and consoled him, "If our house was still there, we would keep the little rabbits for a few more days, kill a few to make a pot, and keep the big ones to continue breeding, and try not to let them die young."
They were lucky today, the rain outside had stopped, but the weather was gloomy and there was no sun. Although it was hot, with a temperature of over 50 degrees, there was no direct sunlight, so the temperature was still bearable. The two walked up the mountain road, away from the shed area built outside, and made sure that there was no one in front and behind. They found an inconspicuous place on the mountain wall and climbed up. Then they took out a bag from the space to cover themselves, and Mu Nan directly took out a portion of chicken leg rice and handed it to Qin Huai.
Qin Huai made the pilaf at home before, using mutton and lamb chops, so it tasted great. He had never eaten pilaf before, and he automatically skipped it when ordering takeout, but after Qin Huai made it once, he fell in love with it. Although it would be a bit greasy if you eat too much, it would be just right with Coke. The chicken legs were also braised at home before. He liked the braised chicken legs made by Qin Huai the most. They were slightly spicy, very tasty, and tender and soft. They were delicious with anything, and they were a perfect match with pilaf.
They had a hard time during this period, so Mu Nan tried his best to get some meat and vegetables for Qin Huai to nourish him. He let Qin Huai eat first, and he kept an eye on the surroundings, and immediately put the food away if there was any movement. Fortunately, even after he finished eating, no one came. But it was also true that it was so hot outside. After all, the temperature in the cave was much lower than outside. Even if it was crowded, no one would come out to endure the heat during the day.
After finishing their meal, they sat for a while and ate some fruit, then sprayed their bodies with deodorizing spray. Jian Chu still had to be careful with his nose. They strolled back to enjoy the mountain breeze, and the smell on their bodies dissipated faster. Seeing that there were not many people collecting supplies at this moment, they went over to line up.
There were more people coming to collect the gifts in the morning, but since they didn’t rely on it to make a living, they didn’t collect them. There weren’t many people in the afternoon, so they could collect their gifts and take a nap.
However, when it was their turn and they received today's supplies, a soldier passed by them, glanced in their direction, and seemed to remember something, so he turned around and walked over again: "Did you ask me about Qin Bing last time?"
Mu Nan nodded quickly: "Yes, it's us. Do you have any news about Qin Bing?"
The soldier said, "He is not in the cave, but in the shed below. He is injured and his condition is not very good."
When Mu Nan heard the words "the situation is not very good", he was stunned for a moment. What he feared most was that the friends around him would be gone in an instant.
Qin Huai put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it soothingly, then said to the soldier: "Okay, thank you for letting us know, we will go and take a look."
Qin Huai pulled Mu Nan into the cave. They couldn't just go down to look for someone without anything. They had to at least carry a bag. Yu Zibai and the others were already asleep. When they saw them coming back, they moved inside to give them more space for a nap. But when they reached for their bags, they turned around and half-raised their bodies to look at them: "What's wrong?"
Mu Nan said, "There is news about Qin Bing. He is in the shed below, but he is injured. Let's go and take a look."
Yu Zibai quickly sat up and said, "How about Qin Huai and I go over and take a look. You guys stay in the cave."
Mu Nan shook his head: "It's okay, my brother and I will go downstairs to look for it first. We don't know which tent it is in. You guys go to sleep. If you come back late, you can eat by yourselves and don't wait for us."
Although they had some emergency medicines in their bags, it was still not as convenient as having him with them. If they needed any life-saving supplies, he could take them from the space, so it would be best for him and Qin Huai to go together.
It just so happened that there was no sun outside today and the rain had stopped, so it wasn't too difficult to find the tents one by one along the mountain road. Afraid of wasting time, Qin Huai took his bag and took Mu Nan out.
They searched tent after tent and were almost at the foot of the mountain when they saw the tent where the injured soldiers were accommodated. As soon as they entered, they saw Qin Bing lying on the innermost camp bed. Mu Nan and Qin Huai hurried over, but Qin Bing was lying there with a pale face, the gauze on one of his legs was stained with blood, and his whole body was breathing hot, and he was obviously having a fever.
When someone saw two strangers coming in, they quickly asked, "What are you doing? You can't just come in here."
Qin Huai said: "We are here to look for Qin Bing. We are his friends. We heard that he was injured, so we came to see him."
Most of these soldiers are not local. The current environment is restricted and they do not have the conditions to return to their hometowns to visit their family and friends. So no matter how hard life is or how serious the injury is, they have to bear it by themselves, and only their comrades around them can take care of each other. It is also precious that they still have other friends who care about them at this time.
Knowing that they came to see Qin Bing, the man's expression eased a lot. He just sighed and said, "You can take a look, but he has a fever and is confused. I'm afraid he can't talk to you."
Mu Nan couldn't help but ask, "Will he be okay? Is it just the injury on his leg? Is there any internal injury?"
"The injury on their legs alone is life-threatening. There is a lack of medical care and medicine now. We can only watch them survive on their own."
Although most soldiers have good physical fitness, a reasonable diet and training make them much stronger than ordinary people with various sub-health conditions, no matter how strong they are, they will still bleed and get tired. Moreover, they have been through too much hardship in the past two years. They are exhausted mentally and physically. The food is monotonous and not full, and the lack of nutrition makes it impossible for them to improve their resistance. I am afraid that if they fall down, it will be difficult to get up again.
Qin Huai asked: "What is his current condition? Are you the doctor in charge here?"
Doctor Hu nodded and said, "In order to rescue people, Qin Bing pushed the boat in the water to transfer people to the waiting area. When he was too tired to bear it anymore, he found that he had a wound on his leg that was nearly ten centimeters long and five centimeters deep. The whole wound was soaked in water and turned white and turned outward. It was difficult to sew it. When he was sent here, he had a high fever that would not go away. He had severe inflammation and bacterial infection. There is no medicine now, so we can only keep cooling down physically. He will bear it if he can, but if he can't, there is really nothing we can do."
What Doctor Hu didn't say was that given the current external conditions, living environment and temperature, it would be difficult to get through it relying on one's own physical fitness.
Mu Nan's heart ached when he heard this. That shy little soldier who helped others but was afraid of being rejected and was too embarrassed to run away, followed Brother Xu to organize them to evacuate step by step from the city center. Qin Bing, who knew they lived in District 2 and would always take care of and inform them first if anything happened, accepted the little that he helped and wanted to give them ten times the benefit. How could such a good person just leave it to fate?
Qin Huai said: "We still have some medicine here, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic and oral antibiotics, and some Yunnan Baiyao powder. Can he use it?"
Doctor Hu was stunned and said in surprise: "Of course it can be done, but these are life-saving things, you guys..."
When they came down, they discussed what they could take out. They definitely couldn't take out prescription medicines that some families don't have on hand or are hard to get. In addition, Qin Bing was injured, so he wouldn't be able to use those special medicines. So when they went down the mountain to look for people, the two discussed putting some external injury medicines and some internal anti-inflammatory drugs in the bag.
At this moment, Mu Nan opened the bag directly and took out several boxes of medicine that were obviously opened and used but not finished: "Give it to him first, save his life first."
Since they are willing to do it, there is no time to delay. Doctor Hu first cut the gauze on Qin Bing's leg. This gauze was only to prevent the invasion of infection by bacteria from outside, but there was no medicine on the wound. Now that there was Yunnan Baiyao, it would naturally be used.
Mu Nan took out a roll of gauze and several individually wrapped dressings from her bag. Doctor Hu took them and, with the help of the two, cleaned Qin Bing's wound, applied medicine and bandaged it again. Because Qin Bing's condition was not very good now, the oral medicine was not taken according to the instructions. The weight of the medicine was a bit heavy. It would be best if he could get through it in one go. As long as the fever could be reduced and the patient was awake, his life would naturally be saved.
After a long time of tossing and turning, Mu Nan was already sweating in the tent. Seeing the environment here, he couldn't help but ask Doctor Hu: "Can we move him to the cave? The temperature inside the cave is a little lower."
Doctor Hu shook his head: "He is not suitable for transfer now. It is best not to move him. He has been given medicine today. We will see if it works tonight."
After saying this, Doctor Hu returned the remaining medicine to them. This medicine is very precious nowadays, one pill can save a life. He has already used a large dose, so it would be better to return the rest to them.
Mu Nan didn't take it. "Please leave these medicines with you. It will be more convenient if there are any emergencies at night. You can arrange the rest of the medicines. There are so many soldiers here who need them. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be safe now. There are too many things we can't help with. If you can give us these medicines, it will be a token of our appreciation."
There was no point for them to stay here. The person had been found, the medicine had been used, and there was a doctor on duty. Everything that could be done had been done. The two of them also left some food. Although Qin Bing certainly couldn't eat that kind of biscuits directly, they could be soaked in water and made into a paste, which was better than the whole grain cake paste.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Qin Bing, who had taken the medicine, slept more soundly than before. The two men left the tent and planned to come down to check on him tomorrow, hoping that Qin Bing would be awake tomorrow.
The two of them walked up the mountain hand in hand. They didn't notice it when they were looking for people in tents one by one on the way down the mountain, but now they felt that the way back was so long. Fortunately, there were tents along the entire mountain road, and each tent had a light on. Although it was not very bright, at least there was some light, so it wasn't completely dark.
Mu Nan sighed deeply: "He will be okay?"
Qin Huai hummed: "Yes, we will come down tomorrow, maybe he will wake up."
Mu Nan looked at the sky, it was pitch black without even a single star: "When I was a kid I loved camping the most. I remember there were so many stars in the sky back then that I couldn't even count them all."
Qin Huai said: "Maybe in a few years, we will be able to see a night sky filled with stars."
Mu Nan: "Why do we have to wait a few more years?"
Qin Huai: "Because it takes a little time for light to dispel darkness, and it takes a little time for stars to come back and illuminate the night sky."
Hearing such poetic and philosophical words, Mu Nan couldn't help but laugh: "Writing poetry, it has a bit of the sourness of a literati."
Qin Huai also laughed and tilted his head to look at him: "Don't understand?"
Mu Nan: "Speak human language."
Qin Huai said: "Because the earth needs time to purify. Without human industrial pollution, it will take several years for the earth to be clean and the sky to be clear."
Mu Nan thought to himself, this is what Qin Huai should say. Those sour and hypocritical words make people feel sick. I hope everything will be better when the sun comes out tomorrow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
