Chapter 47
Perhaps life and fate are like this. Whenever you see a little hope, there will always be some unexpected things that will break everything. When people finally recover from the epidemic and gradually start a new life, the high temperature comes. When people struggle to adapt to the high temperature, another disaster that almost destroys everything catches all mankind off guard.
Mu Nan remembered the date of the earthquake very clearly, February 8th, which was the beginning of spring. In the past, the cold winter was almost over, but now there was no sign of a drop in temperature. So many people even felt that maybe it would be like this in the future, there would no longer be four distinct seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the sky would always be scorching hot.
That night, the people who provided cooling services came back under the cover of darkness, and people who had been hot all day were enjoying the cool air under the air conditioners. The WeChat group was very lively. This year's Beginning of Spring is three days away from the Spring Festival. Even though the climate is not right, and even though the lack of supplies and high prices have made many people overwhelmed, there are still many people who say that no matter what, they will try to have a good meal on the Spring Festival. Even if they still can't eat meat and vegetables, at least they will be willing to spend some instant noodles. Eating a full meal at the beginning of the year is the biggest expectation for the new year.
Fortunately, when the earthquake occurred, it was dark here and people were awake. They could even escape from the building without fear of the direct sunlight.
Mu Nan remembered that the earthquake was very loud, and their house was shaking as if it would collapse at any time. Although the house was safe and sound in the end with only some cracks on the walls, the shaking process still scared many people. The crowding and trampling in the stairwell, the panicked crying and struggling, the whole process of going down from the 17th floor to the first floor, Mu Nan even felt like he was walking in hell, so that as the date was getting closer and closer, he was still full of lingering fears.
Looking at the day circled on the calendar, Qin Huai put one arm around his shoulders and rubbed his head with the other: "Sometimes imagination can magnify the horror of an event many times."
Mu Nan whispered: "But this is not imagination, it is, I have already seen it."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "Were you scared when you were asked to be your parents' tutor when you were a kid?"
Mu Nan nodded. Of course he was afraid. What he feared most when he was in school was the parents’ call. When he knew he was going to be called, he felt like the sky was falling and he wanted to run away from home to escape.
Qin Huai said, "It's not like you haven't been asked to ask your parents to come before. You know what you will face after that, and you've even experienced the aftermath of that countless times. But when you are asked to ask your parents to come, you are still afraid. But when Uncle Mu really goes to school, meets the teacher, and goes home to educate you, you feel that it's just like that, and there's nothing to be afraid of. It's the same principle. When things really happen, they are actually not as scary as you think now."
Qin Huai turned him around to face him: "Besides, I am here. Even if the sky falls, I will still support you."
Mu Nan counted the days: "There are still seven days left. Let's eat everything we want in these seven days." It's not that they won't have the conditions to eat, but they may not want to eat. The stench of decay and corpses permeates the ruins, and mosquitoes, rats and ants are all around. Every breath of air seems to carry dead germs. Even if they can hide in the house and eat secretly, they may not have the appetite to eat.
Qin Huai naturally wanted to satisfy such a small wish, but he did not let Mu Nan eat and drink to his heart's content. After one bowl of the spicy red hot pot, his stomach would probably not want it anymore.
Because some people went directly to the supermarket to queue up for supplies after coming out of the cooling point, Qin Huai and his friends delayed their departure a little. They would have to stand there in line anyway, so it was better to go out a little later. It was not that they were too lazy to queue, but the sour body odor from lack of water and the intense heat was too much for their lives to bear.
As soon as he went out, he saw Jian Chu leaning against the wall weakly. Xu Ming, who used to be neat and clean, now looked a little sloppy. It's not that he was dirty, but he looked tired, and his beard looked like he hadn't shaved for several days. Yu Zibai was a little better, but he couldn't hide his fatigue either.
Seeing Mu Nan looking at him, Xu Ming touched his chin and smiled: "I've used up the shaving foam. It hurts to shave raw, so I've been waiting a little longer."
He doesn't like to use electric razors, probably because of his professional habits. Although he is just a veterinarian, he is naturally fond of knives, so he likes to use manual razors when shaving and has never bought an electric razor. Now that I have no shaving foam, I know that sometimes even if you don't like something, you can actually prepare one.
Mu Nan looked at Jian Chu again: "What's wrong with you? You look like your body is hollowed out."
Yu Zibai said with both concern and amusement, "He vomited after eating instant noodles. He really vomited."
It started to get hot in September, and it was abnormally hot in October. The fields were dry and cracked, and people could not go out during the day. So many people died of heatstroke, sunburn, and the weak and sick at home that it was frightening. In November, the government started to distribute supplies and water to appease the people. It has been more than three months now. It was okay in the beginning, as we still had some stock at home and would occasionally change the taste to adjust the diet. But the later days became more and more difficult. There were power outages for several hours every day, and it was difficult to keep things in the freezer. We had almost eaten everything we could eat, so we only had instant noodles left, but eating them continuously like this was really boring.
Jian Chu was also helpless. He had lived a hard life and could be said to be not pampered at all. It was just because he had a hard life when he was a child, with one meal hungry and the next full, that when he grew up, his desire for food was much stronger than that of ordinary people. To put it bluntly, he was more greedy. But now he had no choice. However, he did not expect that he would become so sick that he vomited because of eating the same food repeatedly.
Jian Chu sighed. He felt more sorry for the bowl of noodles than the nausea. He vomited out most of the bowl of noodles. If he had known earlier, he would have let Yu Zibai eat more.
The most miserable period in Mu Nan's previous life was after the earthquake. He had seen so many corpses and severed limbs that he couldn't eat anything. He was so hungry that his stomach ached, but he felt nauseous at the sight of food. But he didn't have to worry about food at that time. There was still a lot of food in the space, and the varieties were diverse, not just the same. Although he couldn't understand what it felt like to eat the same thing for several months, he thought it was indeed quite torturous.
But even so, he couldn't be so generous as to give food to his neighbors just because he had become close to them and seemed to have a good relationship with them. The principle of not showing off one's free food must be followed at all times. Seeing Jian Chu's pale face, Mu Nan thought for a moment, took out a mint from his pocket, and handed it to him: "I'll just take this one out, here you go." It's a very common kind of mint, the kind that some takeouts will give two with the meal, or that hot pot restaurants will place on the counter for customers to take at will. This kind of thing is not very conspicuous.
But even the cheapest candy can still be bought now, after all, the online supermarket is still open, but the price is not cheap. Jian Chu shook his head: "Keep it for yourself, I'm fine."
Mu Nan stuffed the candy into Jian Chu's hand: "Eat it quickly, the candy will melt in a while."
Looking at the mint stuffed in his hand, Jian Chu couldn't help but sigh in his heart again that their neighbor was really cute. He used to think that Mu Nan was quite cold and arrogant. He wore headphones that didn't look cheap, and sometimes he would carry an easel. It was obvious that he studied art. He was good-looking, fair-skinned and delicate. Although he lived in such an old community, it seemed that his family conditions were good. At that time, he actually had no feelings for Mu Nan. He had come into contact with many people like this. They were not arrogant, but they were definitely proud. After all, in this society where appearance is everything, if you are good-looking, you will often be praised and sought after. It is normal to be proud.
He didn't expect that after actually getting to know him, he would find out that he was a boy with a soft personality, completely different from what he thought he was.
A mint candy went into his mouth, and the cool sweet taste slowly filled his entire mouth. Jian Chu felt that his chaotic brain became a little clearer.
It was inconvenient to talk in the elevator, so after walking out of the elevator, Xu Ming said, "I heard that the supermarket might start serving dine-in food."
Everyone looked at Xu Ming after hearing this, and Jian Chu asked eagerly, "Really? What are they selling? Boxed lunches? Eating in at this time should be very expensive, right?"
Xu Ming said: "The price may be okay. I heard that it will mainly be some rice and flour buns, and there may be some vegetable soup cooked with dehydrated vegetables, and some canned meat. It is said that after the dine-in service is opened, various regions will start recruiting workers to build indoor fields. Once the indoor fields are confirmed to be effective, they will probably resume work slowly. It's just that some foreign energy cannot be delivered. It depends on how the country will rectify it. If the climate is like this in the future, we will have to get used to this kind of life of hiding during the day and going out at night. I heard that the higher-ups are already considering building solar-powered houses to avoid the sun, and then centrally provide cooling and heating. I don't know when the new houses will be built. By then, there will be no need for layers of cover outside. Any spark can burn down the entire building."
Yu Zibai was a little curious: "Where did this inside information come from?"
Xu Ming smiled and said, "I have a patient whose family member works for the government. His cat had a mild case of heatstroke a few days ago, and no veterinary hospital was open at the time, so he asked me on WeChat how to give first aid at home. After we chatted a little, he told me about some policies that might be issued in the next two days."
Hearing this, Jian Chu said, "It's good if it's true. The noodles and vegetable soup are also very good. They are both very juicy. You can eat a bowl and don't need to drink water for most of the day."
Yu Zibai sighed, "It must be very difficult to keep a cat at this time."
Xu Ming: "It's hard for people who don't have savings, like those in foreign countries who are used to spending whatever they earn. Even if there is food to buy outside, they can't afford it because they have lost their jobs, so they are in chaos. Our country is pretty good."
Mu Nan followed behind Qin Huai without saying anything. He knew that there would be dine-in meals, but not now, but after the earthquake, when people over 70 and children under 12 could get two meals a day. Although the amount was not large, at least they would not starve to death. In addition, the injured could get them for free with a certificate. Those who were in good health and could move would follow the rescue work to earn points for dine-in meals and exchange them for food.
But not everyone is willing to move bricks. Although many stores outside have been emptied and closed, and even if you search, you won’t find much to eat, but you can find a lot in the collapsed residential buildings. Some people would rather dig through the ruins than follow the troops to rescue.
It is also the natural disasters that have worn down people's hearts. If it were in the past, even with such a serious natural disaster, most people would probably still focus on saving people first. But now, they may be afraid of enduring it, or they may feel that the days to come will become more and more difficult. Instead of wasting time saving others, it is better to take the opportunity to dig up more things and accumulate them to survive themselves.
Thinking about the earthquake that would happen in a few days, Mu Nan didn't notice the person who suddenly rushed towards him. However, before that person could touch him, Qin Huai pulled Mu Nan away and kicked the person away.
The man who was kicked away was a dirty middle-aged man, very thin, shirtless, with a hunched back and ribs all over his body. His pants were so black that you couldn't see their original color. His hair was not shaved, but a mess, greasy and smelly. He looked almost like the homeless man who used to lie under the overpass.
After being kicked, the man fell to the ground and screamed, his voice was dry and hoarse: "Someone is being beaten to death, help me, I'm going to be beaten to death..."
Xu Ming and the others who were walking in front and talking quickly gathered around and asked, "What's going on?"
Qin Huai glanced at the person on the ground: "It's just a scam."
After checking Mu Nan and seeing that he was not touched, Qin Huai protected Mu Nan in front of him and said, "Let's go."
The man who was kicked crawled over quickly and tried to grab Qin Huai, but was kicked away by Qin Huai again, and stepped on his hand that he was struggling to grab: "If I don't want to bother with you, don't push it. If you want to make trouble, you should think carefully about whether the person you are trying to make trouble for is someone you can afford to touch."
Qin Huai kicked him very hard, especially on his palm. He seemed to want to crush it to pieces. The scammer knew that he was a fearless person, so he immediately became timid and didn't dare to rush over again. However, he was really in pain after being kicked twice. He wanted to fight to the end. He didn't believe that the man would dare to kill him. If he couldn't kill him, he would have to be responsible for his injuries.
It was clearly planned, but when he met the other party's eyes, he was really a little scared. He originally thought that since these people were young and clean, they probably came from good families. Young people are the most passionate and easily impulsive. He calculated the other party's impulsiveness. There was a food distribution point not far ahead. When he shouted for help, the soldiers would definitely come. As long as he was attacked by this group of people, no matter how serious the injury was, he could blame them. This was the plan, but he was still scared at that moment.
After the group of people left, the man covered his chest which was hurt by the kick and slowly moved back to the abandoned building behind the flower bed which was waiting to be demolished but had not been demolished yet.
An old beggar who had watched the whole process chuckled and said, "Why didn't you go up?"
The scammer didn't say anything, just lied down in a comfortable position, rubbing his aching chest and thinking, he wasn't afraid of injury, it didn't matter if it was serious or minor, but he was afraid of death, if he didn't want to live, who would be willing to risk their life for scamming. But the moment the man spoke and the look he gave him, he felt that if he really made up his mind to continue to deny it, the result would definitely not be what he planned, it would probably be even worse.
Forget it, this was a bad start. I'd better wait for the next opportunity. I can't look for a place that is full of young men, and I can't look for an older one, because the older ones are more likely to touch him than him. It's better to look for one with a woman or one who looks more knowledgeable. Those intellectuals are the easiest to cheat. I have to choose one that is relatively clean and can still be kept clean. Then the conditions at his home must be good, and they will usually be willing to give some food or water to keep things quiet. With this thought in mind, his eyes in the dark began to stare carefully at the people passing by, waiting for the next target.
After walking for a while, Mu Nan finally calmed down his heartbeat. He was frightened when the man rushed out just now. Fortunately, Qin Huai reacted quickly. However, he was puzzled when he looked at his group of people: "Why did he come to us to commit fraud? Isn't it easier to commit fraud with fewer people? Isn't he afraid of being beaten up by a group of people?"
Moreover, the fact that there are five of them and they are all men makes them look difficult to deal with. The most important thing is that they are all very tall. Although they may not be very strong, their physiques are not bad. If they are tried to scam others, they would just be asking for a fight.
Qin Huai said, "Maybe because we are young and clean, if we bump into someone poorer than him, how can we extort money? In the past, people who tried to extort money would cheat before they even touched the money, but now they have to prove that you have injuries on your body, which provokes you to fight with him and injure him. If you don't want to go to jail and suffer, you naturally have to take out something to settle the matter."
Looking at the people distributing supplies in front, Mu Nan said, "Then why don't they come to get the supplies? These things don't cost money."
Jian Chu, who was standing in front of him, turned around and said, "You don't have an ID card, and you don't want to go to the shelter. The shelters nowadays are not mainly for relief. They all arrange jobs for you. If you want to eat, you have to work hard. Some people don't want to do hard labor. Look at them. They used to lie on the ground and people paid them. They are used to being lazy. Who would be willing to do hard labor? Anyway, if you are lucky enough to meet a sucker, whether you extort money or food, you will make money."
Mu Nan looked at Qin Huai and said, "Don't be too harsh next time. What if he really gets into trouble and blackmails us?"
The world is not in chaos now, unlike in the future, when no one would care even if you were beaten to death. Now there are still police, and the alarm phone can still be reached. Although they may come slowly, there are still soldiers in front of us, so there will be someone to take care of it. It is so annoying to be blackmailed at this time.
Qin Huai smiled when he heard this: "I know my limits."
Mu Nan didn't say anything more. His brother has always been a sensible person and would consider things more carefully than him.
It was still three bottles of water and a bag of noodles per person, but this time they were lucky and got noodles with Sichuan pepper flavor, which was always better than seafood or mushroom. Seeing that Jian Chu and the others got braised flavor, Mu Nan asked, "Do you want to change to two bags to change the taste?"
Jian Chu nodded quickly: "Change, change, change!" He had eaten too much braised mushrooms and had only eaten Sichuan peppercorns a few times. Although they were both noodles, the different flavors would at least make it less greasy.
The two walked to the side and exchanged two small bags. Mu Nan looked at Xu Ming: "What about you? Do you want to exchange?"
Xu Ming shook his head: "I really like eating fried peppers, so I won't change it."
Just as they were packing the bread, they heard a commotion in front of them, and someone was shouting in panic that someone was being killed. The shouting was so serious that the soldier distributing the supplies naturally sent someone over to check the situation.
The place where the crowd was gathered was the only way for them to go back. Even if they were not curious, they would subconsciously take a second look because they had to pass by. At this glance, they saw the man lying on the ground. Mu Nan subconsciously grabbed Qin Huai's hand. This man was the one who had just hit them, but he was fine just now. Now he was lying on the ground motionless, and there was a large area of blood that seemed to have been vomited next to him. It was very scary. In the middle of the crowd, there was a fat boy who looked young. He seemed to be scared to the point of sitting on the ground with weak legs. His face was pale, and the ground was dripping with sweat from his body.
The officer with epaulettes came over, and everyone quickly made way for him. After asking, they found out that the man on the ground suddenly rushed out and grabbed a middle-aged woman to ask for water. Of course, the middle-aged woman would not give it to him. The man fell to the ground and held the woman's feet to prevent her from leaving. As a result, the fatter boy rushed over and kicked the man who was holding his mother's legs away. He seemed to be not satisfied after kicking him once, so he chased him two steps and kicked him several times, cursing as he kicked. Because the noise was quite loud, many passers-by stopped to watch.
As a result, when the boy finally got rid of his anger and went back to his mother, the man on the ground seemed to be motionless, but after a few seconds of silence, his body suddenly began to twitch and he vomited blood. Everyone realized that something was wrong. The young boy probably didn't expect that he would kick someone to vomit blood, and he panicked. The middle-aged woman seemed to want to pull her son away, but was stopped by passers-by. The noisy situation attracted the officers.
Mu Nan was scared to death. After all, Qin Huai had kicked this man before. So he quickly pulled Qin Huai home. He didn't want Qin Huai to be caught when the earthquake was so close.
Qin Huai pinched the man's shoulder soothingly: "Don't worry, it's okay." Although he had not undergone long-term professional training, he was confident in the strength of his kicks, and the man was very thin. He might have kicked out instinctively with the first kick, but he was careful to control the strength with the second kick. At most, it would hurt for a few days and it would definitely not be fatal.
Xu Ming and the others pretended not to see anything and walked home. It wasn't like anyone died at the foot of Qinhuai River. It had been a long time since then. However, they couldn't help but sigh in their hearts that human life is too cheap nowadays. Looking at the crowd of people watching the excitement, their mentality of gossiping was obviously much more fearful than facing the death. The awe of life has become numb as they face various deaths day by day.
Even after getting on the elevator, Mu Nan was still in shock. However, since he was outside, he did not say anything. As soon as he entered the house, he could not help but say, "It was so dangerous! It was so close, so close!"
Qin Huai saw that he was sweating profusely, so he quickly fanned him to cool him down: "If I really killed someone, would you be afraid?"
Mu Nan said, "Of course. Don't you see what time it is? If they are arrested now, what if an earthquake comes? What if they are trapped underneath? I don't even know if the police station will collapse."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "Are you just afraid of this?"
Mu Nan finally understood what Qin Huai meant: "What else? If he kills someone, he's not my brother anymore? Besides, this is just excessive self-defense at best."
Qin Huai then smiled with relief and pushed Mu Nan to take a shower.
But after this incident, Mu Nan was very careful the next two times he went out to collect supplies and water, fearing that he would get into trouble and end up in a situation where he had no choice at the most critical moment. Fortunately, everything was fine and nothing happened again until the 8th. Mu Nan woke up early and couldn't fall asleep again. He watched the light outside sinking little by little, and the fear of facing a known future made him more and more panicked.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
