Chapter 154
With the addition of several people to the yard, the place suddenly felt much more lively. They had greeted the girls next door in the group before, so when the Cai family was in the yard at night, Sun Sisi and the others popped their heads out of the building to take a look. Seeing that the family had their entire family, including an old lady in her seventies or eighties and a three-year-old child, they immediately felt relieved.
Although those people with their families are not necessarily good people, the possibility of them being bad people is always smaller. However, since those big boys let them in, there should be no problem.
Many boys in their twenties are still childish and naive, but these ones in their yard, maybe because they had an incomplete childhood, are particularly mature and capable of taking on responsibilities, making people feel quite safe. Therefore, when they saw the new Cai family, they just took a quick look and recognized their faces and then paid no attention to them.
However, when Cai Wentao was playing cards with Song Jia and the others, he was eager to ask them to invite the girl next door. Looking at Cai Wentao like this, Song Jia immediately thought of his former college roommates, who also wanted to get close to pretty girls when they saw them, and some would even say a few dirty words to flirt with them. According to them, this is the period when male hormones surge, and it is an instinctive behavior for them at this age of seeking a mate.
It was at this time that Song Jia felt the contrast particularly strongly, because when he was with Mu Nan and Jian Chu, none of them paid attention to girls!
Cai Wentao saw Song Jia sigh suddenly and asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"
Song Jia looked at Cai Wentao and said sincerely: "Thank you for letting me feel the happiness of a straight man again."
Cai Wentao: “???”
In the end, only Sun Sisi and Tu Juan were willing to come and play with them. Yang Jing was obsessed with his career and had no interest in men. Sun Sisi was willing to come just because she wanted to see if Cai Wentao was handsome. Then she found that the appearance level of their courtyard might be based on that of ordinary men. Then she looked at Cai Wentao, who had regular features, and felt that he was just not ugly.
Sun Sisi couldn't help but complain to Tu Juan in a low voice: "If I continue to live in this yard, I think I won't be able to find a man in the future."
Any man you pick out of their compound would be pretty good in appearance and ability to survive in dangerous environments. They have high standards, so how can she just find a man to marry?
Tu Juan touched Sun Sisi's head and said, "Don't think about men. What's the point of thinking about men? It's just annoying. I'll get you two little toys in the future. Wouldn't it be better for you to be happy?"
Sun Sisi understood it immediately and was shocked: "Is this something I can listen to without spending any money?"
Tu Juan raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Don't want it?"
After hesitating for a second between shame and excitement, Sun Sisi blushed and said, "Yes!"
They were whispering to each other, and Cai Wentao was whispering to Song Jia: "What's the personality of that round-faced girl like? She's quite cute when she smiles."
Song Jia glanced at him: "I think you can stop thinking about it."
Cai Wentao understood immediately: "Yours? In that case, forget it. I just think she is more cute. The other one is cool and I don't think I can handle her."
Song Jia said: "Don't get me wrong, I just think that Sun Sisi is obsessed with looks, so maybe... her vision is higher?"
Cai Wentao immediately became unhappy after hearing this. Thinking back, he was also a class idol.
Song Jia said slowly: "Being surrounded by handsome guys like Mu Nan, Qin Huai, Jian Chu, and Yu Zibai, what do you think?"
Cai Wentao felt that he was being personally attacked, but he had no substantial evidence.
Mu Nan is not a sociable person. He doesn’t like all the excitement to be concentrated on himself, but he likes to watch others having fun. This is probably related to the living environment he grew up in.
As far as he can remember, he has lived in a high-rise building, but it was a lively environment because all the neighbors were familiar old neighbors who had moved in. Most of them were old acquaintances of his parents, and some were even three generations up. It did not have the coldness of high-rise buildings later on.
He still remembers that when he was a child, because his family bought a home theater with good sound equipment and a large TV screen, the aunts who were on good terms with his mother would gather at his house to watch DVDs. The long Korean dramas would have hundreds of episodes at a time, and he would stay at Qin Huai's house, watching the Little Dragon Club at six o'clock every day.
And every time there was a football game, a group of uncles with loud voices would gather at his house to drink and watch the game. When the game was exciting, the cheers almost shook the house down, but he liked his father watching the game very much, because every time he watched the game, his father would buy a few pounds of shrimps and let him eat the shrimps and watch cartoons in the house on the Qinhuai side.
A small stool, cartoons on TV, Qin Huai doing his homework on the coffee table behind him, and the bustling coming and going of people in his house represented his childhood.
He grew up in a bustling environment, and his dislike of socializing was a long-term lifestyle he had become accustomed to after Qin Huai left. These two things were not contradictory at all and were reflected in him.
So there was more of the lively Cai family in the yard. Although he would not take the initiative to get involved in the liveliness, he was actually quite happy to be in it. Sometimes when he was locked in the room watching a movie, he could hear Aunt Yin calling Xiaozhu, yelling at her son, and ordering her daughter around, and he would feel a sense of peace and tranquility with the flavor of life.
Although the environment outside this courtyard is suffering from extremely severe changes.
Qin Huai came over, put his arm around Mu Nan, who was lying on the bay window holding a huge doll and watching the excitement downstairs, and said with a smile: "Do you want to go downstairs and play?"
Xiaozhu, Song Jia and Cai Wentao are playing with water guns downstairs. They were bought from a toy store in the business district. At that time, they thought they could sell these things at a stall when they have nothing to do. A few cents would still be money, but they forgot about it later. Fortunately, these things are not afraid of being soaked in water, so they can still be played with them now.
Mu Nan shook his head: "No, just go upstairs and watch. Song Jia is happy that so many people play with him every day."
Qin Huai smiled, and Mu Nan turned to look at him: "How is Qing He doing?"
Qin Huai said: "The fire is still burning."
Mu Nan was shocked: "It's still burning. What day is it today? Is it the fifth or sixth day? Can a fire burn for so long?"
Qin Huai: "It was mainly because of the strong mountain winds. The fire spread from the residential area to the city center. There is still a part of the ruins in the city center that has not been cleared. The fire also spread along the mountains behind to another residential area. However, because we received the news in advance, we have already started to dig and block it. But the area where the Cai family lives will probably have to be completely flattened and rebuilt."
"Have those people been transferred out?"
Qin Huai shook his head. "There is no statistics yet. It was very chaotic at the time. Some people followed the crowd and ran to the main road. The rescue teams transferred all the people they met on the road. But some people ran to the city, trying to get to other residential areas. The city was very chaotic. Some places were piled up and the roads were blocked. Large vehicles like military trucks couldn't get through at all. The specific casualties will probably be known only after the fire is put out."
Mu Nan sighed, "I sent a message to Qin Bing, but he may have gone to participate in the rescue and didn't reply to me. This wildfire rescue must be very dangerous. He said before that he hopes to train well when he returns to the base and not make any big moves. But it hasn't been long since he sent out a large force again."
While the two were talking upstairs, Sun Sisi and Cai Wenwen also joined the water gun battle team downstairs, and thus the confrontation between men and women began. Xiao Zhu said that he was a little man and wanted to protect his aunt, and then his uncle shouted "little traitor" and chased him around the yard.
Although they were playing with water guns, it was not a waste of water for them. They would draw some water to clean the yard every few days. Many people were sick outside, so a clean and tidy environment was a must. Now the water supply is not so scarce that people would die of thirst, at least it is not so extremely bad here. If conditions permit, they would naturally clean the place where they live.
So the water that was originally used to clean the yard was used by them to wash the yard while they were playing.
After watching them play several rounds, each of them was panting and exhausted, and under the watchful eyes of Aunt Yin, they took the mop and mopped the entire courtyard, which was later re-paved with cement, bit by bit, leaving no corner untouched. Only then did Mu Nan come down from the bay window, lie comfortably on the sofa, adjust the projection and start watching the movie.
So what’s the fun of water guns? It’s three minutes of fun and two hours of work.
The fire in Qinghe had a huge impact. Firstly, groundwater had to be pumped to put out the fire. Secondly, the number of people fleeing caused Kangyun's population to surge, and the consumption of materials also increased.
Many people have fled here and have nothing. They have to rely on the government for food and drink. They only have a little water every day and the multi-grain cakes that Mu Nan and his friends had received in the cave before. That’s all.
Now all the people who were resettled from Qinghe are in the quarantine point in the eastern suburbs. If you know anyone here who is willing to take them in, you just need to register and leave the address and phone number of the person who takes them in and you can leave. The Cai family had already completed the registration last time, but now Qin Huai drove the Cai family to the eastern suburbs again, mainly to ask people like them from Qinghe who did not live in the quarantine point how to receive assistance.
This person left the resettlement site. He couldn't drive here every day to get relief just for a sip of water and a whole-grain cake. The gasoline consumption alone would be more than the value of these few things.
It is estimated that many people have left the resettlement site, and many of them have friends in Kangyun, so the authorities have specially formulated policies for this group of Qinghe people.
As long as you have a note from the person in charge of the resettlement site, you can go to the material center and buy a week's worth of food at one time.
There were eight people in the Cai family, and Guo Hui was also registered with the Cai family at the time, so Uncle Cai could use the note to buy enough food for eight people for a week. As for other free subsidies, there were none. The current conditions were like this, and the government would only provide assistance to those who would starve to death without subsidies.
Uncle Cai was satisfied with this, at least he could buy food. Now even the local people in Kangyun are limited in the amount of food they can buy. The price of anything imported is doubled at the market. They are not a well-off family and cannot afford such a large expense for a long time. Therefore, it is better to buy it at normal prices on the official platform than to double the expenditure.
The weekly ration for eight people is not small. Uncle Cai bought rice, noodles, and some millet flour. Different items have different prices and the amount that can be purchased is also different. For example, if a person buys rice in a week, he can only buy five kilograms of rice. If he buys millet, corn, etc., he can buy six or seven kilograms. However, these things cannot be used as staple food for a long time, so it is more appropriate to buy them together. When cooking rice, mix some millet and corn in it to reduce the consumption of rice.
In addition, there is some allowance for oil and salt, but the amount is not large. The oil may even be only one pound, and it has to be measured in drops. But there is no vegetable now. I have heard that the potatoes on the farm will be harvested in a while, but now I haven’t even seen a potato peel. I can only pour a little oil or soy sauce and salt into the rice to supplement the needs of the human body.
Qin Huai helped Uncle Cai carry the things they bought into the car. On the way back, Uncle Cai asked Qin Huai to take a walk around some construction sites. They didn't have that much money to waste here for a month or so, and if Qinghe suffered heavy losses and the residential area was burned down, it would not make a difference whether to go back or stay in Kangyun. So Uncle Cai has already applied for a house to rent, but it will probably take several months to get the approval for resettlement. In the days to come, he will have to eat and drink, so finding a job is a must.
After Qin Huai took him to familiarize himself with the surrounding environment, Uncle Cai sighed: "I didn't expect that I would still have to do hard labor when I get old."
Qin Huai said: "You can ask the community if they need anyone. Aunt Yin has done this before. If she has experience, she should be able to take the job more easily."
Uncle Cai just smiled and said he would give it a try, but he didn't think he would have this opportunity. He had been able to be a market manager in Qinghe before, and that was a job his old leader had helped him find. This position wasn't very important, but at least it was more comfortable than moving bricks as a worker. Without acquaintances or excellent conditions himself, he couldn't even think about it.
It is even more difficult to join the neighborhood committee, and it is even more impossible for those who are outsiders seeking refuge.
But you still have to give it a try, just in case you get lucky.
Seeing that there was a construction site with a job recruitment notice posted, Uncle Cai asked Qin Huai to stop the car. He planned to go and take a look, take a picture of the job recruitment notice, and learn about the salary and benefits. For people like them who don't have any special skills, if they want to find a job that can temporarily earn them an income, they can only do hard labor.
There were a lot of steel bars and other things piled up at the entrance of the construction site, so vehicles could not drive past, so they could only stop far away and walk in. Qin Huai followed Uncle Cai and walked in, and pointed out some parking spots for vehicles. There happened to be a bus that stopped at the small square in District 2, so if you want to work here, transportation is convenient.
When Uncle Cai went over to take a picture of the job recruitment information, a familiar voice sounded nearby. Qin Huai turned around and saw Shu Bin, who seemed to be surprised to see him here.
Shu Bin was also a programmer. He was one of the first to join the Information Department. His ability was not very outstanding, but perhaps because of his personality, he was very steady in his work. When Qin Huai resigned, Shu Bin was still working in the Information Department. Because he was very steady in his work, there was a sign that he would be promoted to team leader.
But now Shu Bin was dressed like a worker, with a towel that smelled strongly of sweat stuffed inside his neck. His clothes were so dirty that the original color could not be seen, and there were black sweat marks all over his body. He looked nothing like a programmer.
Seeing him like this, Qin Huai didn't show much expression, but he was still a little confused: "Why are you here?"
Shu Bin smiled, seeming a little embarrassed, but still said honestly: "I'm working here now. Um...something unexpected happened. How about you, Brother Qin? Why are you here?"
Qin Huai said: "I have a friend named Qing He who is planning to find a short-term job for him."
Everyone in Kangyun should know Qinghe's current situation, so when Qin Huai said this, Shu Bin understood instantly. He was really surprised to see Qin Huai here. After Qin Huai resigned, he thought he would never see him again in this life.
Although the two have worked together for quite some time, Shu Bin is not as extrovert as Zhou Chuanghong. Until now, Zhou Chuanghong still occasionally sends him messages and asks him for help when he encounters some problems. He didn't talk much to Shu Bin at work, so naturally there was nothing much to say when they met now.
As for how he is living, there is no need to ask. A programmer, who can sit in an office and type on a computer, is now doing hard work on a construction site. You can imagine what his life is like.
So after Qin Huai saw Uncle Cai finish taking pictures of the recruitment information and asked a worker who was not sure whether he had just started work or was taking a break, Qin Huai said goodbye to Shu Bin.
Unexpectedly, Shu Bin asked inexplicably and abruptly: "Brother Qin, are you and your lover okay now?"
Qin Huai frowned slightly, a little confused, but still said: "It's fine, what's wrong?"
Shu Bin smiled and shook his head: "It's okay, I just feel that I'm really lucky to meet the right person."
After Shu Bin finished speaking, he waved to Qin Huai and said goodbye. He didn't know why he asked this question. He just asked out of curiosity, as if he wanted to prove something, or it seemed like he just asked casually. After getting the answer and giving his blessing, he turned and left.
Qin Huai sent a message to Zhou Chuanghong, saying that he saw Shu Bin at the construction site and asked what was going on.
Along the way, Qin Huai's phone kept receiving messages. Zhou Chuanghong was telling him the whole story, but he was driving and couldn't read it. After he parked the car back in the garage, he took out his phone and read it all.
As soon as Qin Huai entered the room, Mu Nan, who was lying on the sofa reading a novel, raised his head and looked at him: "How is it? Can the residents of Qinghe receive supplies for free?"
Qin Huai said, "No, but we can buy a week's worth of food per person. I just took Uncle Cai to buy some. On the way back, I took a look at the recruitment information on the construction site. They seem to be planning to find a job to earn some money first, and then slowly plan the rest."
Mu Nan said "oh" and saw Qin Huai holding his phone and seemed to be replying to someone's message, so he asked, "Who is it? Is Wang Xiaoli looking for you?"
Qin Huai smiled, put his phone on the coffee table, sat on the sofa, took two sips of Mu Nan's half-finished drink and said, "I met an old colleague today. He is now working on the construction site, so I asked him about his situation."
Mu Nan looked at Qin Huai in confusion: "Former colleague? Was it a long time ago, or before that?"
Qin Huai smiled and said, "I worked in the Information Department before, not before the end of the world."
Mu Nan said, "Oh." Qin Huai hadn't opened a company here before, so it was unlikely that he would meet his colleagues before the end of the world. So he asked curiously, "Then the programmers working in the Information Department should be here. Why are they at the construction site? Do we need to set up a program to formulate a construction plan for construction at the construction site now?"
Qin Huai said with a smile: "What are you thinking about? That person injured his hand and can't continue working."
He didn't pay attention today, but only after Zhou Chuanghong told him about it did he realize that Shu Bin had injured his hand. The ring finger and little finger on his right hand were broken, and his tendons were also injured. He really couldn't operate the computer.
Zhou Chuanghong was not very clear about the specific situation, but they lived in the dormitory of the Information Department and knew something about each other's private lives.
Shu Bin has a boyfriend, and they have been together before the apocalypse. After the apocalypse, his boyfriend has been staying at home. With Shu Bin's salary, it is not a problem to support his boyfriend, but his boyfriend has a family to support, and the whole family depends on Shu Bin to make money. In addition, rice is getting more and more expensive, prices are soaring, but wages are not increasing. The money is not enough due to high consumption, so life is naturally bumpy.
Later, Shu Bin decided to find an opportunity to have a good talk with his boyfriend. If they really wanted to live together, both parties had to make efforts together. His ability was limited, and if he continued like this, he would be exhausted and collapse.
So Shu Bin took a day off, and after that, he could no longer come to work.
Zhou Chuanghong and several colleagues in the office who had a good relationship with Shu Bin went to visit the injured Shu Bin. They found out that on the day he took a day off, he did not say hello to his boyfriend before going home. As a result, he ran into a large-scale cheating scene at home. His boyfriend's whole family knew about it, but he was the only one who knew nothing. The other party shamelessly said that he had been living in the company dormitory for a long time, and because there was no one around him, he was lonely and cheated.
Two men, one of them cheated on her, and in that situation, living in the house he rented with his own money, sleeping with his boyfriend who was supported by his own money, and the whole family was cheating on him, how could he tolerate this? Of course not, so he fought, stabbed the other party, and was also hurt in return.
This kind of family dispute is complicated and difficult to deal with. If Shu Bin's cheating boyfriend wants to be held accountable, he must first return all the family expenses after the ID card is changed to Shu Bin, otherwise the higher authorities will not file a case at all, after all, no one is dead. Because the records are easy to check, his boyfriend doesn't even have a job, and there is no work information on their ID cards. In this case, the only way to make a judgment is to make the conditions of both parties equal.
Mu Nan missed the point: "Is this the way cases like this are judged now?"
Qin Huai guessed, "There is no court, no lawyers, and no prison. If it was intentional injury or murder, it would definitely not be sentenced like this. But now this is an injury case based on a family dispute. This matter can only be mediated in this way. Otherwise, if you sentence Shu Bin to be responsible, he injured his hand and ruined his career. He also suffered from the cheating. If you sentence the man to be responsible, Shu Bin was the first to start. He injured people first. Both parties are at fault. Both of them are injured, and it is impossible to arrest them all and make them work to atone for their sins. This is a way to make both sides quiet down."
Mu Nan felt that this matter was handled very sloppily: "The man's career was ruined, and he went from being a programmer to a bricklayer on a construction site. How could he be willing to accept this? Would he become angry again one day and kill someone to vent his anger?"
He was betrayed, cuckolded, and his career was ruined. Wow, if it were him, he would really hate someone so much that he would want to kill someone.
Qin Huai said: "The law enforcement department is still in the process of reconstruction, and some laws and regulations can no longer be used under the current circumstances. They must be changed to a certain extent. We are probably in a chaotic period right now. We should mediate it this way. At this time, there must be a lot of disputes over assets and marriage relationships. Water sources, food, extreme heat and severe cold are all headaches for the higher-ups. For disputes caused by such emotions, it is good enough to be handled in this way. At least the person who started it first is not held responsible. Otherwise, Shu Bin might really stab the other person to death and then commit suicide to put an end to it."
Mu Nan sighed, "Why do good people always meet scumbags? At this time, there is someone willing to support you, but you are still not satisfied. What's the situation of that scumbag? Is his injury serious? If it's just a minor injury, then you, as a colleague, are really at a great loss."
Qin Huai said: "It's quite serious. It hurts the vital organs."
Mu Nan: “…”
No wonder people were not afraid that Qin Huai’s colleague would not be able to vent his hatred and would retaliate again. With just this one move, no matter how great the hatred was, it was all vented.
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