Chapter 37
Just when everyone thought that fifty degrees was the limit and they were gradually adapting to the heat, the temperature hit a new high. In just three days, the temperature rose from forty-eight or forty-nine degrees to fifty-three or fifty-four degrees, leaving no time for adaptation. In some places, due to the local environment, the temperature even reached fifty-five or fifty-six degrees.
But amidst all the bad situations, there are still some things worth being happy about. That is, under the excessive temperature, the cockroaches that had been a plague some time ago finally stopped running into human residences. It seemed that they could not bear the temperature being too high, so they ran to hide in cool places underground. People finally don't have to worry about piles of cockroaches for the time being.
With the sudden rise in temperature, those slightly older air conditioners in homes completely stopped working. Even if they were shielded from the outside, they could not withstand such high temperatures. Some newly purchased air conditioners might still be able to hold on for a while, but because there were too many incidents of air conditioner explosions, not to mention what I saw on the Internet, even in my own community, I could hear the sound of explosions several times a day.
If you are lucky, the explosion will just happen, with no other losses. If you are unlucky, it will be a fire that requires extreme escape. If the fire happens during the day, it will be really fatal. If you don't escape, you will die. If you escape outside, you will also die. The sun will shine on your skin and cause cracks in two or three minutes. Therefore, many people dare not use air conditioning during the day and can only endure the residual heat of the air conditioner at night.
Even with the residual heat, the indoor temperature can reach over 30 degrees or even 40 degrees, especially for those who live on the roof, which is no different from a sauna room. However, they cannot go out in such a high temperature, and they cannot even ventilate. Once the door is opened, it will be even hotter outside than inside. When it is very hot, water is consumed quickly. There are countless examples of people dying from dehydration due to excessive heat. They would rather eat less food and drink more water.
In just a few short days, the mental outlook of the entire community where Mu Nan and his friends live has undergone a drastic change. Before, there were still people who stayed out at night and sat downstairs chatting while enjoying the fans. The mahjong rooms with air conditioning were even still open for business. Because the times for collecting supplies were staggered, there were quite a few people coming in and out every night. Families would chat while collecting things, and would stop to say a few words to neighbors they knew and exchange information with each other.
But now, everyone looks tired, with chapped lips, dull eyes, and hair tangled and stuck to the scalp. Some girls are okay, but some boys have strong body odor, and you can smell the strong odor of sweat from a distance. And because you have to queue up to receive supplies, this situation cannot be avoided. Even if you fan yourself with a fan, the suffocating smell mixed with the suffocating temperature will really make people suffocate.
Fortunately, the amount of supplies that can be collected is limited. Once you are notified of the date for collection, there will definitely be supplies. So when queuing at the supermarket, everyone tacitly keeps a little distance from each other. Although everyone is similar at this time and no one should dislike anyone, you cannot ignore the smell of another person just because you cannot dislike them. So keeping a distance will make it a little better.
Knowing that the situation outside was not good, Mu Nan did not bring the spray fan when he went out. At this time, it could spray water to cool down, and he might become a fat sheep in the eyes of others. However, he still brought the cooling wipes, otherwise it was so hot, even if there was no sun at night, there was still a risk of heat stroke, so it was always better to be prepared.
Just as they were queuing, a woman in front of them suddenly fell to the ground. The woman should have come alone to collect supplies. After she fell, no one she knew came forward, and even the people in front and behind her immediately backed away. The soldiers who were guarding the order of the supermarket hurried over and carried the fainted person to the side for emergency cooling treatment. Now 120 is basically unreachable. More than ten people can faint from the heat in a community every day. How many people faint from the heat in a district or a city every day? It is luck to be able to get an ambulance. If you can't, you either have to find a way to go to the nearest hospital or you can only wait to die.
The woman who just fainted was obviously suffering from heat stroke. She was sweating, twitching, and having cramps. These were typical reactions to heat stroke. If she could get medical help at this time, she might be able to save her life. If it was too late, she would die from organ failure caused by the high temperature. Since the high temperature, there has been an unknown number of deaths. The death toll has long been higher than that of the previous infection with toxic mycelium. Some people even saw three or four people lying on the ground and dying when they went out at night. Therefore, most people are numb to people who suddenly fall down.
In the end, probably because the call failed to go through, a soldier carried the person onto a military vehicle and sent him directly to the hospital.
The supplies ahead continued to be distributed normally. There were some whispers among the crowd, but they soon quieted down. Xu Ming, who was standing behind Qin Huai and the others, couldn't help but say, "That man can't be saved."
Mu Nan turned to look at him. Xu Ming sighed, "If it was in the past, the medical care was not so tight, and we could still do our best to save this kind of heat stroke patient who has obviously developed a spasm reaction. But now, the hospital can't save him at all. If we send him there, he will just die."
Although he is not a human doctor, some things are common to him. For example, the heatstroke reaction of the woman just now is a manifestation of overheating of internal organs. She must have been feeling dizzy and uncomfortable for at least one or two days. But some people always think that if they endure it, or take a rest and drink more water, maybe they will be fine. But in the end, once the reaction gets worse, it is a signal that the body can no longer bear it. Faced with the current tight medical resources, only one person will die.
Generally speaking, for heatstroke, except for the weak and elderly people who will suddenly feel worse or faint within a short period of time, such as violent reaction within one or two hours, most people actually have precursors, such as palpitations, dizziness, nausea, and even abdominal pain and discomfort. This should be alert. It is best to go to the hospital as soon as possible, or simply stay in the air-conditioned room and don't go out. However, many people think that it is just too hot, so they feel a little dizzy, and they don't take it seriously after a rest to improve the situation, or they think that this degree of discomfort can be tolerated and continue to work and live normally, but they don't know that heatstroke is already present when the symptoms are mild.
After Xu Ming gave them a brief scientific explanation, he emphasized, "So if there are even a few signs, either stay in an air-conditioned room, drink plenty of water, and take some medicine to relieve the heat, or go to the hospital. If you really can't stand it and faint, you can still be saved before, but now it's like having both feet in the coffin. Don't be careless because of a small problem."
Jian Chu sighed deeply, thinking of the girl just now and then thinking about the future, he felt panicky.
Among them, Xu Ming only knew that Jian Chu worked outside. He didn't know what Qin Huai and his brother did for work, but they didn't have to go out. Yu Zibai worked at home, so he asked Jian Chu, "You who work outside, you should be especially careful."
Jian Chu sighed again when he heard this: "What class is there to attend? They were dismissed yesterday and are now staying at home."
Seeing that he was dejected, Mu Nan comforted him, "It's safer to stay at home now. The country is distributing water and supplies, so you won't starve to death."
Jian Chu smiled at him and said, "Fortunately, we are distributing supplies now. Five packs of noodles can last for three days. At least I can have a full meal every day."
To be honest, he was actually quite envious of Mu Nan. This kind of envy was human nature. When they were locked up at home before, he could see that their family was in good conditions and they didn't have to worry about money. Whatever they wanted to eat, as long as it was available, their family could afford it. His brother also seemed capable and protected him. It was so hot now that everyone smelled sour, and although they were also sweating profusely, they had a faint smell of floral water. Faced with such a gap in life, if he said he didn't envy them at all, he would be too careless.
But he was just envious, envious of the closeness of the two brothers who depended on each other at this time, and he himself didn't know whether he would have the chance to make his feelings clear in this life.
Hearing his sigh, Yu Zibai took out a piece of paper to wipe his sweat: "Now you are supported by the state, just stay at home and be at ease. If even the government abandons the people because of the current bad environment, then there is no need to worry, we can all wait for death together."
Jian Chu took the paper, and Yu Zibai asked the people behind him, "Do you want it? Wipe your sweat?"
Xu Ming smiled and said, "I brought it, no need."
Qin Huai also shook his head at him: "We have it." Even paper is very expensive now. They have their own, so there is no need to use other people's.
Jian Chu turned his head indifferently, looking at the road that was empty without a single car due to the high temperature, lack of supplies and lack of oil, and sighed silently. The indiscriminate tenderness, the reluctance to let go, was the most fatal thing.
The line in front was delayed for a while because a man took his father's ID card and wanted to collect it on his behalf, saying that his father was too old to go out in such a hot day. However, there were regulations that private collection was not allowed and that the community would be responsible if there were any problems. So of course the people distributing supplies here could not give them anything. Maybe it was too hot and life was too difficult. The man couldn't hold back his temper, and after a loud yell in impatience, he took action directly.
Of course, the final result is that they are subdued. For soldiers, it is naturally a matter of minutes to subdue an ordinary person who has never been trained. It is probably because of this that the distribution of supplies has been controlled by the army from the beginning, and they have never considered recruiting ordinary people.
Seeing that he was stuck in front, Qin Huai directly tore off a pack of single-piece wet wipes to wipe Mu Nan's sweat. Seeing that he couldn't wipe the back, he directly reached out to wipe the back of his neck and back, and even held his collar to fan him: "Hold on a little longer."
Mu Nan was about to tear off a pack of soap to wipe Qin Huai's face, but was stopped by Qin Huai: "I don't need it." While fanning him, he asked: "Are you dizzy?"
Mu Nan shook his head, but he was too hot to talk. He had lost the energy he had when he first went out. No wonder those people seemed to be drained of their bodies. He had a pretty good life, but he was drained of his energy when he went out. Those who might not have had enough to eat at home were even more exhausted. Although he had experienced it once, it was still hard to endure it again.
Qin Huai pursed his lips, with heartache in his eyes, but he still said nothing. They really didn't need to suffer this hardship just for a few bottles of water and a few packets of noodles, but if they couldn't bear it at the beginning, what would they do later? So as long as Mu Nan could still hold on, he would not stop him from going out to adapt to the environment.
The supplies and the water truck were collected on the same day. Just as they walked into the community, they saw the water truck coming, so Jian Chu pulled Mu Nan to line up, and asked Yu Zibai, Xu Ming and Qin Huai to go upstairs to put the things and then get the bucket, which could save time.
When Qin Huai and the others came down with the buckets, there was already a commotion downstairs. The commotion was happening right next to the waterwheel. Qin Huai's heart tightened, and he quickly ran over there. He saw Mu Nan standing next to Jian Chu, queuing and watching the fun, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "Are you okay?"
Mu Nan shook her head. Seeing that he was breathing unsteadily, she quickly wiped his sweat with a piece of paper: "It's okay. You ran over here in just a few steps? You can't reach us that fast. There's still a long way ahead."
Qin Huai glanced at the people who were still arguing over there. Unexpectedly, the ones who were in conflict were from the Zhang family, so he asked, "What are they arguing about?"
Mu Nan said, "They have a big family of five people, and each person has ten liters of water. When those who wanted to buy water saw them, they came up to them and asked if they wanted to sell water. The one they asked was the boy, and then his grandfather came over immediately, protecting his grandson and pushing away the person who asked if they wanted to sell water. As a result, the two sides started to fight, and during the fight, a bucket of water from the Zhang family was knocked over, and then it became like this."
Seeing that the trouble had nothing to do with them, Qin Huai didn't intend to meddle in other people's business, so he stood in the line and replaced Mu Nan, asking him to stand a little further away. Not everyone can get water. Once a truckload of water is delivered, that's it. So the line was naturally more compact for fear of missing out on their turn. The closer they were, the hotter it would be. Anyway, Mu Nan was standing next to them with a bucket, so those behind him knew that there were family members queuing up.
They are not the only ones like this. The people who come down to fetch water are all families. It is normal for one of them to queue up while the others in the family stand beside him, as long as they are not queue-cutting in a malicious way, or if you are the only one standing in the queue and want everyone you know to stand in front of you to cut in line, the people behind you generally won't mind.
In the end, the farce over there was suppressed by people from the community. Of course, they can't compensate you for the water that was spilled. They can't just give you an extra bucket just because you made a fuss. If you draw an extra bucket of water, someone else will not be able to get water. Although Zhang Jianwen was very dissatisfied, he couldn't be tougher than the community. Now the community exists to maintain order in the community, but it no longer serves the people with a service mentality. If you really make a fuss, you will be the one who suffers in the end.
As for those water collectors who caused disputes, the community also warned them that allowing them to come in is also a voluntary transaction principle. If they cause trouble in the community again, they will have to leave, and no unrelated people will be allowed to enter the community in the future.
Because there were many people fetching water, there were also many people going up and down the elevator, so they had to queue up to go upstairs. When Mu Nan and his friends were waiting in line with buckets to go upstairs, the Zhang family came in cursing and blaming the community for not doing anything, blaming the community for taking bribes from the water collectors, blaming the community for colluding with others and not taking them, the owners, seriously just because they had a little power.
Mu Nan didn't look back at them, but couldn't help rolling his eyes in his heart. They are from the community neighborhood committee, not the property management company. They are paid by the government and don't rely on you to pay property management fees. What's more, there is no property management company in their community. They just pay a garbage fee every month, and the cleaners hired by the community help them remove the garbage, that's all. Why should they take the property owners seriously?
Unexpectedly, while Zhang Jianwen was cursing, he probably saw Jian Chu, who had had a dispute with him before, and recognized that they lived on the same floor. He then pointed out and cursed: "It's already this time, and if we don't unite, aren't we just waiting to be bullied by others! Some people are really too sharp-minded, and they don't know that distant relatives are not as important as close neighbors. Today's young people are really indifferent and selfish. This generation is finished in their hands!"
Jian Chu knew who he was talking about, and was about to explode, but Yu Zibai held his shoulders. He could scold her, it wouldn't hurt him, if they really wanted to argue with this old man, he would just lie on the ground, what could they do?
Mu Nan, on the other hand, saw Jian Chu gritting his teeth and Yu Zibai seemed to be blocking something, and looked at him strangely: "What's wrong?"
Yu Zibai glanced at the old man from the Zhang family who was still cursing behind him, then shrugged his shoulders in helplessness.
Mu Nan was completely confused, and then realized that the Zhang family lived on the same floor as them. So, they must be the ones being referred to as "distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors". So, he couldn't help but look at Qin Huai and asked in a low voice, "What does he mean? Is he blaming us for not helping him just now?"
If that's the case, then this guy is too sick in the brain. They are not familiar with each other, and they have never even met each other since they moved back. What kind of help is this? They are not the passionate young people who are the embodiment of justice. Besides, when it comes to justice, this old man who is cursing may not be on the side of justice.
Even after getting on the elevator, the old man from the Zhang family was still cursing, while the other members of the Zhang family had expressions of forbearance, as if they couldn't stand such cursing. Or, it should be said that they felt embarrassed that you were the only one cursing while everyone else was quietly waiting for the elevator. But it was probably that Zhang Jianwen usually behaved like this at home, and no one could refute him, so the people in their family could only forbearance.
Coincidentally, the elevator they were waiting for just took all the people on their floor. In the enclosed space of the elevator, the old man became even more angry. After getting off the elevator, he deliberately walked a few steps faster and bumped into Jian Chu who was walking in front of him, almost spilling the water in his hand. Water is so important now. Three days of food and drink depend on the water they received. After all, the faucet can't release water now. A few drops of water is no different from a water outage.
Jian Chu had been patient all along, but now he could no longer bear it. He put the water aside and said, "You old man, do you owe me something?"
Zhang Jianwen was immediately furious. This was the first time in his life that someone called him an old man. So he turned around angrily and even tried to grab Jian Chu's clothes: "You little bastard, do you have any manners?"
Jian Chu grabbed his hand, not caring whether he was an old man in his sixties or seventies, as he was so energetic, he must be in better health than these young people. He pushed him hard and kicked the middle-aged woman who should be his daughter-in-law, knocking over the bucket in her hand.
This time several people from the Zhang family were immediately furious. Zhang Jianwen rushed over and wanted to beat them up. Who is Jian Chu? He doesn't look very lethal, and is as skinny as Mu Nan next door. But the environment he grew up in is not simple at all. His mother remarried and his father was a drunk and gambling addict. If he didn't have the ability to protect himself, he would have been beaten to death by his father who liked to fight when drunk.
So Jian Chu started fighting with the Zhang family members alone. How could Grandma Zhang stand this kind of scene? She kept trying to stop the fight, but she couldn't stand the anger of the two men of the Zhang family. The little grandson of the Zhang family also wanted to help, but was held back by his mother: "Little ancestor, don't make trouble!"
Zhang Zicong was, after all, a teenager of about sixteen or seventeen years old. How could he stand by and watch when he saw his grandfather and father being beaten? So he pushed his mother aside and rushed forward. However, a child like him who grew up in a honey jar could never be a match for Jian Chu. He was slapped in the face as soon as he approached.
Jian Chu started to fight, and Yu Zibai certainly couldn't just stand by and watch, but he tried to pull the people apart, but was pushed several times by Zhang Jianwen's son Zhang Yi.
These people started fighting as soon as they got off the elevator. Xu Ming couldn't intervene and could only shout from the side: "Stop fighting! You can't even go to the hospital now because of the injuries. Calm down!" Unfortunately, no matter how loud he shouted, it was in vain.
Qin Huai, on the other hand, opened his own iron gate first with great calmness and pushed Mu Nan, who was stunned by the situation, in. Mu Nan put down the bucket he had brought up and saw the bucket that Jian Chu had placed next to him, which was almost knocked over several times. So he hurried over to pick up the bucket and hid back in his own iron gate. Qin Huai looked at him amusedly, then stood in front of the iron gate. He didn't say he wanted to help, but he didn't go in either.
In the end, Jian Chu kicked Zhang Zicong to the ground. He couldn't hit the old man hard, and if he really got hurt, he would suffer. But he was not polite to the young man.
Zhang Zicong is the beloved child of the Zhang family, and a group of people rushed to help him.
Jian Chu touched the corner of his mouth that was hurt by the beating, looked at the Zhang family members and said viciously: "I don't cause trouble not because I'm afraid of you, but because I don't want to meddle in other people's business. This kid was probably not even born when I was hanging out outside. I'm warning you, old man, if you don't keep your mouth shut and provoke me, I'll have plenty of ways to deal with you. Don't say you're not afraid. If you're not afraid, ask your grandson if he's afraid. One slap in the face is enough to kill a little chicken like this! If you don't believe me, try it!"
Zhang Jianwen was hit several times and now he felt pain all over. He was usually so aggressive because others were afraid of him, but now he met someone who was not afraid of him. He was so angry that he almost had a heart attack. He pointed at Jian Chu and choked for a long time without being able to utter a complete sentence.
Jian Chu sneered: "Fuck you, next time before you curse and swear, think about whether your grandson can withstand two punches from me before you speak. Oh, by the way, you want to call the police, right? Go ahead, there's food in there now, wait for me to come out..."
Jian Chu didn't say the rest, but his eyes moved around Zhang Zicong. To deal with this old guy, beating him is useless. Only by pinching his weak spot will he know fear!
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