Chapter 175
For people who have jobs, this benefit will be distributed directly from their workplace, while those who are unemployed will go to the community to collect it. This is also to prevent everyone from rushing to get things, which will cause work pressure on the community committee and cause trouble.
There were only three people working in Qin Huai's courtyard, and the others were unemployed vagrants. Those who had jobs would receive the allowances from their units, so there was no need for them to wait for those who were working to take a break to go and collect them together, so as to avoid having to accompany those who were working and wasting their rest time. Two days after receiving the notice, everyone in the courtyard went out together.
Jian Chu saw that Mu Nan was wearing a dirty mask, his clothes and pants were torn, and his exposed arms looked like they were smeared with dust on the ground. He immediately reacted, then walked to the side and rubbed his hands on the ground, adding some dirt to himself.
The three girls were wearing long sleeves and long pants. They had cut their hair short themselves and were wearing hats. Despite this, you could still tell from their figures that they were girls. But it didn't matter. The area here was relatively safe. If they were in the back districts or outer cities, it would be really dangerous for girls.
Among all the people, only Song Jia was the cleanest. He couldn't wear out a piece of clothing like Mu Nan did, so he had the least clothes. Jian Chu at least still had a pile of clothes that he had grabbed on the day of the earthquake when others hadn't reacted yet. His clothes were all bought with his own money later, and he didn't find many in the abandoned business district here at that time.
"The police station is right next to the neighborhood committee. There's no need to disguise it like this, right?"
Jian Chu looked at Song Jia: "Everyone is dirty, but you are clean and smell like soap. What if you are targeted? I am not afraid of thieves stealing, I am afraid of thieves thinking about it."
Mu Nan was holding a simple homemade fan and fanning himself to drive away mosquitoes. It was not that they did not wear the mosquito-proof net clothes, but if a group of people wore them, it would be too eye-catching. Recently, even here, there had been several cases of burglary. Although the situation had improved a lot in recent days due to the establishment of the Self-Defense Forces, there was no need to cause a lot of trouble for a matter of a few minutes.
A neighborhood committee does not correspond to just one district. Their neighborhood committee is responsible for districts two, three, and four. District five was originally going to be included, but when the land was finally allocated, District five was divided into the back district six.
After the sixth district, there is a distinction between odd and even numbers. The odd numbers are on the other side, far away, while the even numbers are on this side. It continues to expand towards the outer city and the urban area.
There were a lot of people in the two days before the notice to collect supplies was issued. Photos were posted in the community group. The line was so long that it circled the small square. There were fewer people today, but the line still stretched to the center of the small square.
The crowd was not very dense. Mu Nan often saw some netizens complaining on the forum that it was so hot but they couldn't take a shower. Those who were better off had a towel and could wipe the sweat off their bodies with some water every day. Those who were not so well off could only be blown dry in an air-conditioned room. It was okay not to wash the sweat stains once or twice, but if they didn't wash them for a week or two, the smell would be terrible.
If the conditions were worse, without even air conditioning, Mu Nan couldn't imagine how they would have survived those days.
But many people are still living in conditions without air conditioning.
In addition to the people in line, with Mu Nan's eyesight, he could clearly see some scantily clad men and women under some street lights in the distance. The men were dressed very effeminately, and the women were dressed very coolly. They must have washed and combed their hair specially, and under the light, their bodies seemed to be covered with a layer of white and fluorescent light, looking very tempting.
Many people queuing here had their eyes glued to him, some were so greedy that they wanted to strip people's clothes off with their eyes.
Whenever someone came out of the neighborhood committee with the things they received and passed by that group of people, those people would look at them with hooks in their eyes.
But not everyone deserves their treatment. It probably depends on the person's appearance. Those who are ragged, dirty and smelly will be given a cold eye by them.
It was the first time that Mu Nan saw such a blatant profession, and there were both men and women, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances, but Qin Huai quickly covered his eyes: "Don't look around, be careful of getting stye."
Among them, Song Jia, who was still having his first kiss, blushed the most. Jian Chu pushed him with her arm: "Why are you blushing? The Internet resources were so developed back then. Don't tell me you haven't seen anything restricted?"
Song Jia glared at Jian Chu, but didn't dare to look over there: "Is there no one in charge of this?"
Sun Sisi laughed and said, "How can we manage it? You think it was like before? As long as the matter was not exposed, the higher-ups would just turn a blind eye. At least we didn't do anything too blatant here. Do you know what the outer city is like?"
Song Jia was curious: "What is it like?"
Tu Juan, who was standing by, said in a cold tone, "It looks like the price is clearly marked."
Song Jia sighed, and Jian Chu looked at them curiously: "How did you know?"
They are also online all day long. Although they mostly read forums, the food section and the film and television section where they are working hard to develop their careers, if there is any news in this regard, it is impossible that they are completely unaware of it.
Sun Sisi said: "If you have been harassed before, of course you will know."
It was fine before when she was hiding at home and had little contact with the outside world, and she had never experienced such a thing. Later, when Yang Jing started a clothing business and came into contact with more people, some people began to harass them through private messages, and said that they would introduce them to high-quality customers, who were absolutely top-notch, and that they would not take business casually.
In fact, this kind of thing is quite common. It was rampant before the end of the world, and it is even more impossible to avoid it now. Even a pound of rice and a steamed bun can make you happy. Some people may have no choice but to do so, while others just take what they need.
While they were talking, the line had almost reached them. The process was quite fast. They just swiped their ID cards and took their things. When they got close to the neighborhood committee, the people standing under the street lights immediately looked over at them with fiery eyes, and even called out "little brother" in their direction in a sticky voice.
But it was obvious that more people's eyes were on Qin Huai, especially the boys. When they saw Qin Huai hugging Mu Nan, who was half a head shorter than him, their eyes were fiery and they shouted at them without any concealment.
"Little brother, please look at me. I am so delicate and soft that I can be easily pushed down."
"Want something exciting? A few flights will do."
In addition to the boys shouting, some girls' voices seemed to be laughing with hooks:
"Dear little brother, do you want to play with your sister?"
"Since you are so cute, I can play with you for free."
Mu Nan looked up at Qin Huai, and Qin Huai also lowered his eyes slightly and looked at him: "What's wrong?"
When their eyes met, Mu Nan smiled softly and whispered, "Little brother, please look at me. I am so delicate and soft that I can be easily pushed down~"
Qin Huai's arms around Mu Nan suddenly tightened and he whispered in his ear, "How soft is it? Let me try it when I get home."
Mu Nan, who was not afraid of using his favor to commit crimes, reached out and poked Qin Huai's abdominal muscles: "It must be softer than my brother's abdominal muscles."
Qin Huai grabbed his hand and warned him, "Are you tired of living?"
Mu Nan immediately cried out, and then stepped out of Qin Huai's arms: "It's our turn, come and get it, Jian Chu, wait for the landlord."
Looking at the guy who would take revenge on him if he got the chance and run away after lighting a fire, Qin Huai followed slowly behind him. He has always been the most patient when it comes to eating sugar cakes.
One hundred grams of dried potatoes came in a small bag the size of a palm. Jian Chu looked at them and said, "I've never made dried potatoes before. How do I make them? Do I just fry them after soaking them in water to soften them?"
Song Jia, a kitchen novice, was even more confused: "I'll wait for my brother to come back, I can't cook anyway. If it tastes good, we can buy some potatoes and dry them ourselves. It seems that they are easy to preserve."
As they walked out of the neighborhood committee one by one, the people under the street lights were eager to step forward. It was rare to meet such high-quality people. However, before they could get close, the tall man walking in front seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. Without even turning his head, he stretched out his hand behind him.
Soon, a thin young man shook hands with them naturally and quickly. By the time they reacted, the two had already walked away.
Mu Nan handed the dried potatoes in his hand to Qin Huai: "I thought there would be some for 100 grams, but it's so little, there are probably ten pieces. But 100 grams per person, there are so many people in the entire residential area, I think the higher-ups must have felt bad this time."
After Sun Sisi and the others had received their gifts, everyone headed home. However, a gust of wind suddenly blew at this time. Apart from the houses, there were no other shelters around. Without green plants, everything was dusty. There were many construction sites nearby, so a slight gust of wind would cover their faces with dust.
The wind came suddenly and I couldn't block it in time, so the sand blew into my eyes.
Qin Huai stopped Mu Nan from rubbing his hands: "Close your eyes for a while, don't open them in a hurry. If there is sand in your eyes, go back and wash them."
Song Jia next to him spat several times. He was talking to Sun Sisi when the wind came over, and the wind blew into his mouth, eyes, and even his nose. He felt like he had inhaled a lot of tiny sand and dust, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.
Fortunately, the wind was gusty, and soon a strong wind passed. Several people walked home quickly. Jian Chu also said: "It's been windy these two days. Is it going to rain?"
Sun Sisi spat out the sand in her mouth repeatedly: "Let's hope it doesn't rain too hard, just a drizzle for a few days to soak the ground thoroughly."
Mu Nan also opened his eyes again. Although he still felt a little strange, it was not unbearable: "If it rains, will it be cooler after the rain and it will be winter?"
Jian Chu sighed, "I hope winter will come, but I don't want winter to come. I'm afraid that when winter comes, there will be another snowstorm and power outage. Last time, I specifically looked for a power bank online, but unfortunately there was none for sale. If there is a power outage, we will have to live in dismay again."
He walked very fast on the way back and arrived home in a short while. Although he was wearing dirty clothes when he went out, he was actually clean. When he came back, his clothes and he was dirty. He was already sweating all over, and the wind carrying sand and dust blew in. Mu Nan touched his neck and found his hand full of black residue, and he could even feel small stones in his hair.
Originally, he wanted to play Landlord with Song Jia and the others, but since he was so dirty, he had no choice but to go home and take a shower. After taking a shower, Mu Nan didn't want to go out again. Not to mention going out, he left the air-conditioned room and walked up and down the stairs in his own house for a few steps before he was sweating all over. He could only stay in the room.
Although you can play cards online now, you have to buy happy beans to play online, and it can only be purchased one-way. The online beans cannot be exchanged for money, so it is boring to play online. It is better for them to play cards privately and win some soybeans, which can also be fried and eaten.
Since I'm not going out, I'll go to Qinhuai and slowly settle the accounts. By the time I settle the accounts, the sun will be rising and the night will fall.
Although the amount of dried potatoes distributed by the government is small, it is still an extra income, which helps many families who are unable to make ends meet to alleviate their food problem for at least one or two days. Just one hundred grams of dried potatoes can even be eaten as food for three days in a small and frugal family.
Along with another good news, the mining of deep wells has made gratifying progress. The government’s official website announced that preparations for water storage have now begun, so that the public does not have to worry about future water problems. Although there will be some restrictions, the amount for drinking will be sufficient.
The atmosphere in the entire residential area was visibly tense. They were not afraid of anything else. They would just eat less food. If the water really dried up as the people from the north said, they would want to save their urine to drink. The mere thought of it made them feel suffocated.
To say that everything has been smooth sailing recently is not entirely true, because in addition to some people who have fled here due to the drought in the north, there are also many convoys from coastal cities. Some of them passed by and stopped to look for resources and supplies, while some of them were heading for the capital without even stopping.
But those who were well-informed still managed to find out some things from them.
Due to deep sea pollution, nearly 10% of the fish in a certain sea area are infected with prions. This 10% is already quite serious. This virus is not a virus in the traditional sense, and it cannot even be considered a virus. It was an unsolvable existence in the past, let alone now.
However, if people in coastal areas do not live by the sea, what can they eat?
The earthquake triggered one tsunami after another, flooding many cities. Until now, some coastal cities have remained forever on the seabed after the earthquake. I don’t know if it was because of the flooding of the cities that countless people were buried in the water and their bodies were eaten by fish, which led to the large-scale outbreak of prions.
This outbreak of deaths is too serious. Although it is not contagious between people, people known and unknown around us are dying one after another. Few people with strong hearts can continue to live safely in such an environment.
Moreover, the virus has spread throughout the entire sea area. They don’t even know whether marine life will become extinct in the future because of it. Apart from what they catch in the sea, they have nothing else to eat. If they want to survive, they can only flee inland.
In addition, according to those people, what is even more terrifying is that the sea water is constantly swallowing up the land.
Places that were habitable to humans two years ago have now become part of the ocean.
Some people say that this is because the polar glaciers are constantly melting, but because the distance is too far, they don’t know what the situation is over there. No one knows whether the government has contacted the survivors on the other side of the glacier. Whether the sea water will swallow the entire inland in the future and whether they will have to migrate the entire country is also unknown. But at least for now, if this trend continues, the inland will sooner or later become an ocean.
Some marketing accounts that have been operating online lately have been posting soft articles predicting the future. Some say that building underwater cities that can be isolated from seawater will be the only way out for mankind in the future, or that only a very small number of people will survive, and then their genes will evolve to have the ability to survive on the seabed.
Mu Nan looked at various soft articles on the Internet and still felt that perhaps his initial guess was the most reliable: "I think our country must have a large ship, a super-large ship, parked deep underground somewhere secret. When the time comes, some of the surviving humans will be transferred on board. Maybe they will survive on the ship for decades until the outside world is completely calm, and then the entire ship will slowly float up from the bottom of the sea."
Qin Huai: "This fantasy theme is good. You can draw it into your comics."
Mu Nan looked at him and sighed: "If it is really as I guessed, then we definitely can't get on the boat."
Qin Huai: "Are you worried that you won't be able to buy a boat ticket?"
Mu Nan shook his head: "Because we can't contribute to the reproduction of mankind, we are not qualified to board the ship."
Qin Huai was amused by his remarks: "Don't worry, if there really is a boat, I can take you on it."
"Wow, brother, you are too confident. If someone doesn't know you, they would think you have the same background as Long Aotian."
Qin Huai pinched his face lightly and said, "Your brother, I don't have Long Aotian's family background, but I have intelligence and skills that are at least higher than some people. Humans need not only reproduction, but also technological progress. If I can't do the former, then I will work hard to achieve the latter."
He is not an academic researcher, and what he had learned before was just to convert knowledge into monetary benefits, but he believes in his brain. It's just corresponding. If it really develops like that, he probably won't have much time to leisurely accompany Mu Nan like he does now. But this is just Mu Nan's fantasy. The underground ship and the like sound fantasy enough.
After accompanying Mu Nan to think for a while, Qin Huai threw a rag to Mu Nan: "Get up and clean up."
Mu Nan turned over and said, "The hard-working brother is not hard-working today. He is going to start enslaving your dear brother."
Qin Huai leaned over and pinched his ear with one hand: "I'll give you a choice, accompany me to do the spring cleaning, or you will be responsible for cleaning the room."
Mu Nan, who didn't want to do the cleaning, sighed and got up: "Didn't we do the cleaning the last two days? Why are we doing it again today? I'm so tired. I didn't sleep well last night."
Mu Nan was holding a rag and was about to do something at the bay window, but as soon as he got there, he exclaimed in disgust: "Why is it so dirty?"
Qin Huai: "It's been windy these past two days. Even though the doors and windows are closed, some dust is still blown in. The windows on the top floor are open, so there's even more dust. I'll go clean upstairs, and you clean the room. Don't be lazy. Do you hear me? I'll check it later."
Mu Nan hummed in response: "No, no, I will do it cleanly!"
Qin Huai saw him carefully fill a basin with water and start to wipe the bay window furniture, then he went upstairs with the cleaning tools.
It's okay to just clean other places as long as they are not too dirty. But the same cannot be said for the room. He originally felt that Mu Nan's cardiopulmonary function was worse than that of ordinary people. There was too much inhalable dust, which made it easier for him to get sick. So he planned to let Mu Nan do it first, and then he would clean the outside a little bit, and then do the room a second time, and it would be much cleaner.
While Mu Nan was doing it, he chatted with them in the group and took a picture of the dirty scene of wiping the dust off the entire bay window: "I just cleaned it the day before yesterday, and it's so dirty today."
Soon Song Jia sent a photo of a dress: "Don't doubt it, this dress is white. I hung it out to dry in the yard before going to bed yesterday. I just went down to collect it and it was covered in dust when I shook it."
Jian Chu: "Get used to it slowly, this will be our normal life in the future."
There is no way to plant trees. The weather is exposed to the sun every day and soil erosion occurs. It may be okay for one or two years, but if it continues like this over the years, the world will sooner or later turn into a desert.
Seeing Song Jia still complaining about having to wash clothes again, although there was a well in their yard and they were not short of water, there was no need to waste it so much. Mu Nan suddenly felt that it was fortunate that his brother had foresight and had not hung the clothes outside to dry since the wind started. He basically put them in the bathroom and turned on the dryer to dry them.
It took three buckets of water to clean up the upstairs and downstairs. Qin Huai replaced the shelters outside the balconies on the second and third floors. Previously, it just reached the ground and could completely block the sunlight. Now he has replaced it with a longer shelter to block the gaps in the doors and windows as much as possible. Although dust may still be unavoidable, it is much better than before.
After finishing the whole house, Mu Nan put the mung bean soup that had been cooled by the air conditioner into the freezer: "Go take a shower quickly, and you will have icy cold mung bean soup to drink after the shower."
There is space for mung bean soup, but the waiting process will make the food taste sweeter.
However, anything that Mu Nan prepared would be too sweet. Qin Huai, who was not very fond of sweets, looked at Mu Nan and asked, "How much sugar did you put in it?"
Mu Nan took a sip and squinted his eyes in satisfaction: "How delicious! I think my drink is much better than yours!"
Seeing that Mu Nan was about to drink his bowl of mung bean soup, Qin Huai slapped his hand away: "One bowl is enough, two bowls of sugar is too much."
Watching Qin Huai finish the drink in one gulp, Mu Nan said regretfully: "If you don't like to drink, why force yourself? I'll help you."
Qin Huai washed the bowl and was about to go into the bathroom to wash the clothes they had taken off when he saw a notification on his phone.
Mu Nan's phone also received a message at the same time. It was a gale warning, or an orange-level warning. However, Mu Nan had never had a good idea of the wind level. "Level 11 gale, is it a very strong wind?"
Qin Huai frowned slightly: "Drink your mung bean soup, I'll go upstairs to check the doors and windows again."
With such a strong wind, the shelter placed outside may have to be brought in first. Fortunately, they have a heat-insulating sunshade in the house, so there is no need to worry about being exposed to the sun without the shelter outside.
He also reminded the people in the yard in the group to store more water today, and then carried a few buckets downstairs. The wind was at level 11, almost reaching the typhoon level. Generally, such strong winds would not last too long, but combined with some dust raised by the recent gusts of wind, Qin Huai suddenly had a bad feeling.
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