Chapter 23
The sun seemed to have never disappeared. It was hanging high in the sky again after several months. When the first person discovered this unusually bright morning, excited screams and shouts resounded throughout the community. Many people woke up from their sleep, subconsciously thinking that someone in the community had died again. They opened their eyes in confusion and looked at the faint light penetrating from behind the tight curtains. They were startled at first, and then rushed to the window in disbelief. As the curtains were opened, the warm light instantly filled the entire room. At that moment, it was as if they had returned to the human world.
Qin Huai was awakened by the noisy sound outside. He subconsciously looked at his mobile phone and turned on the screen. It was not even five o'clock in the morning. Then he noticed that the light in the house seemed different from usual. He turned his head to look at the balcony. The light coming in through the gaps in the tightly covered curtains told him that this morning was different. Until he, like everyone else, pulled away the darkness that had covered him for months and felt the warmth of the sun again.
Shouting, crying, and even roaring with joy as if reborn, continued to ring out in the community. Even though I always believed in the government, and even though life was gradually getting back on track amid the haze, there was nothing more exciting than facing the sun without any haze, and it made me feel the darkness of the past more deeply.
As soon as the curtains were drawn, dazzling light rushed in, forcing Mu Nan, who had already been woken up in bed, to open his eyes and sit up. He was not used to the strong light after waking up from the darkness, so he squinted his eyes subconsciously. Qin Huai moved his feet to block the strong sunlight for him, and spoke with a heavy tone that was different from the joyful shouts outside: "Nan Nan, the haze has dissipated."
Mu Nan looked up at Qin Huai in the backlight, smiled, and stretched out his hand to him. This time he was no longer alone. Even though he was still afraid, he had more courage to live.
Mu Nan knew that when the haze disappeared, the poisonous fungus threads that took away countless lives also disappeared without any residue. When others were busy rejoicing and feeling the new life, he hurriedly asked Qin Huai for help and together they tore off the plastic tape stuck on the window gap.
Although the windows in the house were newly replaced, he had specially monitored the installation when they were replaced, so the sealing was naturally very good. However, after Qin Huai came back, he was worried and taped all the gaps in the windows in the house. Although he felt that it was inevitable to go out to get things and throw away garbage, there was no way to keep the house airtight for a long time, but in order to make Qin Huai feel at ease, he and Qin Huai still went through an extra step. Now that the sun is out and the haze has dissipated, the tapes are naturally no longer needed.
Seeing the sun appear and the haze disappear, many people realized something. However, even so, except for a very small number of people who suffered a major blow because of the loss of their family members, or who were already mentally unwell, after being closed for so long, they suddenly saw the sun and ran out of the house out of control. Most of them stayed at home and watched, constantly swiping their mobile phones to see whether the haze in their area had dissipated, or whether the haze in other areas had dissipated as well, whether anyone had gone out, and whether the virus outside had also disappeared with the disappearance of the haze.
But now the sun has just come out, the smog has just dissipated, and the government has no ability to predict the future. Without more sampling and research, who would dare to announce that the disaster is over? So today's warning is still to ask everyone to stay at home and not go out rashly. Although the smog has disappeared, the crisis is not necessarily over.
Fortunately, everyone has gotten used to being confined and doesn't care about one or two days. Most people can't afford expensive protective clothing, so it would be best if the poison gas really dissipated so that they can walk out freely. Who would want to wrap themselves in airtight clothing? It's okay if the weather is cold, but it's so hot outside now, who can stand it.
When Qin Huai and Mu Nan were clinging to the window and tearing off the tape, a broadcast sounded in the community, asking everyone to stay at home and not to be careless just because the sun came out and the haze dissipated. Along with the looping broadcast, a heart-wrenching cry suddenly came from downstairs. The morning bustle had already vented for a while when the sun came out, and the community became quiet again, so this sudden cry was set off by the silence and was particularly loud, which scared Mu Nan.
Following the sound, I looked down through the window and saw a girl in white clothes and long hair kneeling on the ground crying in the small green garden downstairs in their community. In the distance, several community staff in protective clothing were trotting over and pulling the girl into the building. I don't know if she was too tired to cry or if the girl didn't want to resist, but several staff members quickly pulled her in. The community became quiet again, but the community group began to discuss it. But more people were talking about whether the girl would be infected by running out without any protection. If not, did it mean that the toxic bacteria had disappeared along with the disappearing haze?
As for the reason why the girl ran out of the house crying, it seemed that not many people cared.
Mu Nan knew this girl, but he didn't know her name, but he had seen someone mention her name in the group before, Nana. Her parents were divorced, and she lived with her mother and grandfather. Two years ago, her mother died of illness, and she has been dependent on her grandfather since then. Nana is only a senior high school student this year, and the heavy rain was just in the April joint entrance examination. The senior high school students were very busy, and the school didn't dare to relax at this critical moment, so the school didn't have a holiday until the smog came.
Later, of course, I couldn't take the college entrance examination this year. At that time, the smog was the heaviest, the death toll was the highest, and the world was in panic. Everything was a race against life, so how could I care about the college entrance examination? I don't know if it was during the rainstorm, Nana went to and from school every day. When it rained heavily, her grandfather went to the station to pick her up, fearing that it would be unsafe for a girl to go to the rainstorm. As a result, Nana was fine, but her grandfather fell ill.
When her grandfather fell ill, lung cancer had already broken out all over the world and the hospitals were overcrowded. Not to mention that her grandfather was still conscious at the time and could even eat and talk normally. Even if her grandfather was seriously ill at the time, he might not have been able to be sent to the hospital.
Later, Nana's grandfather passed away at home. It only took one night for him to go from having difficulty breathing to eternal sleep.
It is said that Nana knocked on the doors of almost all the neighbors on their floor that night, but at that time, no one dared to open the door, and no one had the ability to lend a hand to help her.
Faced with the death of his only relative and nowhere to turn to, Mu Nan didn't even dare to imagine how desperate the girl must have been that night.
He was so impressed with Nana because the next day a funeral home car came and dragged away Nana's grandfather. The girl, who might have just reached adulthood, cried desperately all the way, and no one could stop her. She chased the funeral home car all the way, begging them not to take her grandfather away, even though he was already a breathless, cold corpse.
But no matter how she chased or how she cried and begged, just like that night, she got no response except deep despair.
After that day, Nana was also taken away and taken to an isolated location outside, but was later sent back because even though she was exposed to smog while chasing the funeral home vehicle, she was still in good health and showed no signs of infection.
Perhaps the heart-wrenching cry today was for the despair that still hangs over her and cannot be dispelled. Perhaps in this despair, there is also unspeakable regret and guilt. I wonder how many dead nights this girl has regretted in the empty house, regretting how good it would have been if she had not let her grandfather go out in the rain at that time.
Seeing that Mu Nan was still staring at the empty little garden, Qin Huai covered his eyes with his hands and held his shoulders tightly with one hand: "Stop looking. If you are unhappy, look at me, okay?"
On the day when the girl's grandfather was taken away, Mu Nan also watched from upstairs. Although it was foggy and he could only vaguely see the red taillights of the funeral home's vehicles below, he could still hear the girl's crying and chasing clearly even though they lived on the 17th floor. At that time, Mu Nan sat on the ground, leaning against the closed glass of the balcony, looking downstairs expressionlessly.
Although Mu Nan didn't cry, her calm eyes that couldn't shed tears made him feel more distressed than if she had cried.
He didn't know what Mu Nan was thinking at that time, but he knew that what Mu Nan was thinking about must be something so heavy that even he himself could not bear it. That empty and even desperate look in his eyes was as if he had also experienced such despair.
Mu Nan came back to his senses. He looked up slightly and could see the worry in Qin Huai's eyes, so he smiled at him: "Brother, should we start preparing to go to City B? I have been there once before, when I participated in a competition, but unfortunately there were teachers following us all the time, and we were not allowed to move freely at all. This time, perhaps many places have not resumed work yet, so it seems that we can't go there again."
Qin Huai sighed silently, but smiled and said, "If you want to play, I can take you to some famous tourist attractions. Wouldn't it be more special if you could occupy the entire tourist attraction by yourself?"
Although the end of the world is approaching, they have almost prepared everything they can, and it won't take a day or two. After all, it is still unknown whether those ancient monuments and famous cities that have spanned thousands of years can continue for thousands of years after the global earthquake. It would be good to leave some witnessed images while there is still a chance.
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