Chapter 73
Jian Chu was extremely shocked by the fact that Mu Nan and Qin Huai were not brothers. It was so shocking that it even overturned his cognition. How could it be possible that they were not brothers? You have to know that there is actually an unspeakable atmosphere between people. The aura between lovers, relatives, and friends is completely different. Even if they have a very good relationship and spend every day together, the kind of close friends who grew up in the same trousers, can never feel like family members no matter how close they are. Friends are just like brothers, not real. But Qin Huai and Mu Nan feel like a family, without any disobedience.
So even though they did not have the same surname, he never doubted that they were not brothers. These two looked like a family.
Mu Nan looked at Jian Chu with amusement: "Are you so shocked?"
Jian Chu nodded: "Shocked, you are not biological children. I always thought that one of you took your father's surname and the other took your mother's surname."
Mu Nan laughed and said, "He's not my biological child. Don't you know that my brother's house is right across from mine?"
Jian Chu: "I thought your parents bought it for you. You two brothers each have one so that you can live close to each other and take care of each other if anything happens in the future."
Mu Nan shook her head. "My brother is actually my neighbor. My grandmother and my brother's grandmother were very good friends back then, but my grandmother passed away early, so I never met her. They had a good relationship, so when our family was building this house, we specifically chose a house that was close. It is said that we almost chose the house you lived in before because the balcony was close, so we considered opening up the balconies. Later, we thought it would be better to have doors facing each other here, so we could build a security door outside, and we wouldn't have to close our front door when we went to bed at night in the summer. You know that our floor is high and the wind convection is very strong. This is how we spent the summer when we didn't have air conditioning at home."
Jian Chu exclaimed: "Then you two are real childhood sweethearts. I have never met anyone with such a close relationship. And you two have such a good relationship that it is hard to tell that you are not biological children."
Mu Nan smiled and said, "Because we have been together since we were little, eating from the same pot and sleeping in the same bed. When I was little, I even grew up wearing my brother's old clothes. The elderly said that old clothes are more comfortable to wear, so I wear clothes that are too small for my brother. Whether it's my grandma or my parents, they always buy two copies of anything. If there's one for my brother, there must be one for me. Except for the fact that we are not related by blood, there's no difference between us and our biological children."
After Mu Nan finished speaking, he saw Qin Huai coming over with a cushion and said with a smile, "Right, brother."
Qin Huai hummed: "Get up, spread the mat and go to sleep."
Mu Nan got up: "Sleeping again, is there nothing else we can do besides sleeping?"
Qin Huai: "It's so hot, what else do you want to do?"
Mu Nan saw Qin Huai spray the mat with insect repellent and let it dry a little. Just as he was about to lie down again, he was stopped by Qin Huai: "You just sat on the ground and then got on the mat directly. Isn't it dirty?"
Mu Nan let Qin Huai wipe her with the wet towel: "We are fleeing, so we can be less particular."
Qin Huai: "It's only when you're fleeing that you need to be careful. It's not the same thing now. Many diseases are caused by poor hygiene conditions."
Seeing Qin Huai squatting down to wipe the dust off Mu Nan's legs, Jian Chu turned his head to look at Yu Zibai: "It's really not my fault that I didn't realize they were not biological children." This made it look like a family getting along with each other to anyone.
Yu Zibai smiled and said nothing.
When Qin Huai was wiping the mud off Mu Nan's legs, Niuniu, who had been sitting next to its owner, suddenly stood up. The dog was quite big, and was half the height of a man when it stood up. Mu Nan was standing not far from them, and was frightened by the dog's sudden standing up, so he subconsciously took a step back. But Qin Huai was behind him, and this step directly bumped into Qin Huai who was bending over. Mu Nan lost his balance and was afraid of stepping on Qin Huai, so he instinctively tried to fall to the side.
Qin Huai was afraid that he would fall to the ground, which was covered with small stones. If he fell, he would definitely bleed, so he reached out and pulled him towards himself.
The result was that the two of them fell on the mat together. Most of Mu Nan's body fell on Qin Huai, but his elbow hit the ground all of a sudden, and it hurt so much that it felt like a bone was about to break.
When Qin Huai heard Mu Nan's groan, he quickly helped him up and asked, "Where did you fall?" Seeing that he was covering his elbow, he quickly reached out to check.
Mu Nan covered his elbow: "It hurts, it hurts, stop pinching it, it's broken!"
Xu Ming, who was standing by, came over and asked Jian Chu to hold up the light: "Let me see."
Xu Ming pulled Mu Nan's arm and moved it, and pinched his bones. Although Mu Nan cried out in pain, his hands did not hurt his bones. He then said, "It's okay. It should be a muscle injury. Rub it and it will be fine in a while."
Hearing that the bones were fine, Qin Huai breathed a sigh of relief, and his cold expression eased a little: "Let me rub it for you. Is it just your elbow that was hit? Did you fall anywhere else?"
After the initial excruciating pain subsided, Mu Nan finally recovered: "No, TV dramas are really all lies."
Qin Huai rubbed his hands, and seeing that he could still grin, he smiled and said, "What does this have to do with the TV series?"
Mu Nan: "The ones where they bumped into each other and ended up falling gently, and there was also a long slow-motion shot with all kinds of beautiful scenes, it was so fake, they were all fake falls."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "How can two people weighing hundreds of pounds collide with each other and fall so lightly? Twenty pounds of rice can also crush a person firmly." Niu Niu's owner came over at this time. He was the older one. From the conversation between Jian Chu and the others, we learned that the two brothers, the older one was Wu Zheng, thirty years old this year, and the younger one was Song Jia, twenty-four years old this year. They probably saw that their dog scared someone and got into trouble, so they came over to apologize.
Mu Nan said, "It's okay, it's okay. I fell down by myself. It has nothing to do with it." The dog just stood up for a moment and didn't rush up or anything. He was cowardly and fell down, so it's not the dog's fault.
Wu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. It was not easy to keep a dog before, especially to keep such a big dog in the city. To be honest, it was not appropriate to keep a big dog in the city. It was normal for others to be scared when seeing it, so they tried to restrain themselves outside. Sometimes, even if it was not their fault, they had to take the initiative to bear it. It was almost common to be ridiculed and looked down upon. It was not easy at that time. Later, there was smog and scorching heat. There was no water or electricity, and people had no food. They still had to keep a dog, and they were squeezed more and more. If it were not for him and his brother to take good care of it, and their dog was also very smart, I am afraid that it would have become someone else's meal long ago.
Over the past year, they have wanted to let Niu Niu go and let her make a living on her own. As long as she is not around them, they won't be that sad. But for Niu Niu, they are her home. People can't leave home, so how can a dog leave home? She would rather die beside them, so they try their best to keep her alive until now.
Finally, most of the team members were okay, and there weren't so many vicious words. They didn't want to hurt anyone on the first day because of Niu Niu. Fortunately, the other party was easy to talk to, but they understood, and they couldn't just say nothing. After all, the fall was indeed because their dog suddenly stood up and scared people, so Wu Zheng took a bag of biscuits: "I'm really sorry, we will take good care of Niu Niu, this biscuit should not be bad, soda biscuits are not the kind with cream fillings, they can withstand high temperatures better."
Mu Nan quickly waved his hand: "No need, I said it's none of your dog's business."
Wu Zheng put the biscuits on their mat and went back, then patted the dog on the head. The dog seemed to know that it had done something wrong, so it lowered its head and drooped its eyes, whimpering in grievance.
Mu Nan looked at Qin Huai. Food was so precious now that you couldn't even buy a pack of biscuits. It wasn't that serious that he fell. He tripped himself and fell. It would be really unfair to take away other people's food.
Qin Huai rubbed his elbow and said, "Take it. People will feel more uneasy if you don't." It is indeed not easy to bring a dog with you at this time. You have to be careful everywhere.
Mu Nan touched the place where he was hurt from the fall and said, "It's okay now. It doesn't hurt anymore."
Qin Huai: "Go get a bottle of medicated oil from the car. If you don't rub it out, you'll definitely have bruises tomorrow."
Of course they wouldn't keep the medicated oil in the car, and they didn't think it was so comprehensive when they were sorting things out before, so they had to let Mu Nan get it.
Although Mu Nan felt that it was unnecessary, the small bottle of medicinal oil, which was not even as big as a palm, didn't seem to matter much, so he pretended to rummage around in the car, then took out a bottle from the space and handed it to Qin Huai.
Jian Chu looked at him amused: "Have you never had a dog?" Although this cannot be said of all dog owners, most dog owners will not react so strongly to some of the dog's actions, unless they are born afraid of dogs. But Mu Nan was curious about Niu Niu before and even wanted to touch her, so he didn't seem to be afraid of dogs.
Mu Nan shook his head: "No, but I like dogs very much. Unfortunately, my mother didn't let me keep one when I was a child. Now that I've grown up, it's hard to support myself, so how can I have the energy to keep a dog?"
Song Jia was still teaching Niu Niu a lesson. It was just a lecture. As for whether the dog understood or not, only the dog knew. Jian Chu sat on the edge of the mat, and then looked at Niu Niu who was being taught, and said, "What did it want to do just now? Was it going to poop?"
Song Jia shook his head: "It seems like there is some movement over there or something."
Jian Chu immediately became alert: "Movement? Could it be a swarm of rats?" Dogs' hearing is much more developed than humans'. Dogs can hear many sounds that humans can't. So if there is something, dogs can indeed discover it before humans.
Song Jia said: "I don't know."
Wu Zheng said, "It must have smelled something to eat over there. When I took Niuniu to look through the ruins before, it seemed to have developed a habit of looking for things."
When Jian Chu heard about food, he immediately perked up: "The dog's sense of smell is very sensitive. Let it lead the way and we'll go take a look. If there really is food, it would be a waste to bury it under the ruins and let it rot."
Yu Zibai patted Jian Chu's head and said, "What are you doing? Lie down and take a rest."
Jian Chu: "I just slept for a long time. I still have a whole day to sleep. What's the harm in tossing and turning now?"
Song Jia was also a little eager to make a move. He looked at his brother and Wu Zheng said, "Then go ahead. Don't try to dig into some places that are not very solid. Although this hotel only has a few floors, it may collapse again if you are not careful."
Yu Zibai was worried, since Qin Huai and the others were guarding the things here anyway, so he simply took a flashlight and followed them.
Watching them leave stealthily, Mu Nan said: "If I hadn't already wiped it off my body, I would have also wanted to take a look." That feeling of picking up treasures everywhere has nothing to do with how many things are stored in the space, it's just the pure joy of getting them for free.
Qin Huai kept rubbing his elbow until it was warm and the medicinal oil was completely absorbed before stopping: "Okay, sleep for a while."
Mu Nan shook his head: "I can't sleep."
Qin Huai handed him the phone: "Then play games."
Mu Nan originally planned to lie down and play, but Qin Huai pulled her to sit up: "Don't you want your glasses anymore? There will be no optical shop to buy you glasses in the future."
Mu Nan had no choice but to sit up and lean on Qin Huai: "My eyesight is very good. I have been working in front of the computer every day and it has not deteriorated at all. This proves that I have inherited good eyesight."
After playing several rounds of Candy Crush, he finally cleared a level that he had tried several times but failed. Mu Nan then put down his phone and pulled Qin Huai: "Brother, I want to go to the bathroom."
It would be very embarrassing to be seen by others if there was no one watching nearby, so every time they went to the toilet, they went in pairs. As for Xu Ming, they didn't mind going with him, but Xu Ming did mind and insisted on going alone.
Qin Huai took out a moxa stick from the car. He had bought a thick smoke type specifically for it. It produces a lot of smoke and has a pungent smell. When he bought it before, he was planning to fumigate the mosquitoes in his home. Unfortunately, the doors and windows were closed and he couldn't use something with a lot of smoke. Now that he is in the wild, this moxa stick is much more useful than mosquito coils. He can fumigate the toilet before going to the toilet to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
Qin Huai found him a secluded place, fumigated him with moxa sticks, and then fixed them in a place before letting Mu Nan in. Mu Nan squatted there, feeling relieved when he saw Qin Huai not far away. Only when he had suffered could he know how good life is now. However, after a short while, Mu Nan could no longer smile.
After squatting for a long time, Mu Nan walked over with numb feet holding the moxa stick that had not been burned out. If he had dog ears, he would have huddled up at this moment: "Brother."
Qin Huai put out the fire on the moxibustion sticks and asked, "What's wrong?"
Mu Nan: "I seem to have diarrhea."
Qin Huai understood instantly: "Did you eat a lot of ice cubes?"
Mu Nan nodded, and Qin Huai poked his forehead: "Does your stomach hurt?"
Mu Nan shook his head: "It doesn't hurt."
Qin Huai said: "If it doesn't hurt, it's fine. Run a few more times. If you have diarrhea more often, take antidiarrheal medicine."
Mu Nan sighed, life is not easy.
Before Jian Chu and the others came back, Mu Nan ran to poop for the second time, and was then pressed down on the mat by Qin Huai for a while. Qin Huai was afraid that he had not eaten ice, so he shone a light on his body to carefully check if he had been bitten by mosquitoes. Fortunately, he was very careful in protecting himself and was not bitten. Qin Huai could not help but scold him again.
Mu Nan couldn't help but say, "It's very hot."
Qin Huai: "Does diarrhea make you feel better?"
Mu Nan turned over, with his back facing Qin Huai, and collapsed on the mat like a pancake.
After a while, a rustling sound came from the ruins that Mu Nan and the others were leaning against, and then a dog's head popped out, followed by Song Jia and Jian Chu also coming back from behind.
They chose the place to sleep because the hotel lobby was in a mess and they couldn't tell where it used to be. There was just a collapsed building that looked like a marble counter at the back, so they speculated that this might be the front desk where they used to check in. There was no wall behind the marble counter, but some collapsed ruins. When they came here before, they saw that the back of the counter was blocked by a pile of construction debris, so they thought there was something solid behind it. Later, Niu Niu went over there, and Jian Chu and the others dug around a little and found a hole. The hole should have been formed naturally. The buildings overlapped and piled up, just enough to create a hole that was big enough for an ordinary person to pass through. They didn't know what was inside, but after checking, they found that the pile was very solid, so they tried to drill in.
As a result, when they got into the cave, they found a completely different world inside. The space was not small, but it was pitch black and there were collapsed things everywhere. They couldn't tell what was behind it. Fortunately, Niuniu led the way. They went wherever they smelled food, and they actually found some things.
There were a lot of things inside and they couldn't take them all out at once. Plus it was too dark, so they only had one flashlight. So they simply moved out a box of things that looked like canned food and planned to bring Mu Nan's rechargeable light in. Of course they couldn't make it public after finding the food. If there was a lot of food and they couldn't take it all out, they would report it to the soldiers. If there wasn't much, then it would naturally belong to those who found it, so before that, they had to count it carefully.
The place where they were was a corner close to the inside. As long as they kept their noise down and hid themselves a little, they would not be discovered by people outside. When Jian Chu and the others came out covered in dust, pushing a can box, Mu Nan was shocked and asked in a low voice: "There are cans in it? Can they still be eaten? Will they be spoiled by the high temperature?" After all, it had been a while since the earthquake, and no one knew whether the hotel was open before the earthquake. But no bodies were found when they checked before, so it was very likely that the hotel was closed before the earthquake, and the cans must have been there for quite a long time.
Jian Chu said: "Just open a can and try it and you will know."
Mu Nan used a flashlight to carefully examine it: "Canned corn, how about opening one and trying it? But I've never eaten this, and if it's not bad and stinky, I don't know what it tastes like."
Jian Chu said, "You open it. My hands are dirty. Let me try it. I've bought it before, but it wasn't this brand. However, the taste should not be much different." Mu Nan opened the can carefully. Because the sound of opening the can was a bit sensitive, he was afraid that someone would hear it, so he deliberately pressed down to open it. As soon as the can was opened, a sweet smell of corn came out. He knew it was definitely not bad without tasting it. However, Jian Chu still took a spoonful. It was sweet and sticky. His eyes lit up instantly: "It's good! It's sweet, and the sweetness of the corn is still there. Check if this box is all canned corn." If so, he would be so happy. He loved eating corn the most!
Mu Nan flipped through it and nodded: "It seems to be all of them."
Jian Chu couldn't help but eat two more spoonfuls. He hadn't eaten corn for a long time. Happiness came so suddenly that he was so moved that he wanted to cry.
Xu Ming also came over and took Mu Nan's rechargeable flashlight. The light was very bright and could illuminate the entire area when turned on. However, they did not plan to rummage around outside and were ready to take the flashlight inside to check, lest the noise be too loud and others would notice and rush inside, fearing that the place would collapse. "Let's go in together. I'll go take a look too."
Jian Chu nodded repeatedly, but Yu Zibai pressed him down: "You wait outside, we'll go in and take a look, and then we'll take your turn. It's very closed and stuffy in there, so we'll take turns."
At this moment, Jian Chu was so excited about finding food that he didn't feel stuffy inside at all. However, he still waited outside obediently. He just reminded them to be careful, as he didn't know if there were any rats, cockroaches or the like inside. They should not be bitten because of a little food, otherwise it would not be worth it.
Song Jia also switched places with his brother. It was indeed stuffy and hot inside. The closed environment made it feel like even breathing was separated by a layer of membrane. He had to come out and take it easy.
So Wu Zheng, Yu Zibai and Xu Ming went in together, while Qin Huai and Mu Nan stayed outside. They had no intention of going in. Mu Nan was still having diarrhea, and he didn't want to go in and get covered in dust, so he simply stayed outside for them. The dog named Niuniu went in with its owner again. Mu Nan said to Song Jia, "Your dog is really worth raising. It can also help you find food. If it weren't for the dog, who would have known there were so many foods in there."
Song Jia held a piece of cardboard and fanned herself with air, saying, "Niuniu is very smart. My brother and I were saved by Niuniu."
Jian Chu was curious: "How did it save itself?"
Song Jia: "On the day of the earthquake, we were at home. Niu Niu was very restless and kept wanting to go out. She is usually very well behaved and would stay at home all day if we didn't take her out. But on that day, she was very impatient to go out. We thought she had a stomachache and needed to go out to defecate, so we had to take her out. As a result, the earthquake happened just as we walked downstairs. If Niu Niu hadn't run with us, we would have been crushed under the rubble."
Mu Nan said: "No wonder you still have it with you. You probably can't abandon a dog like this no matter how difficult the situation is."
Song Jia sighed: "Niuniu is only five years old this year. I had always hoped that Niuniu could live to at least fifteen years old, but now, I don’t know whether it is better to live longer, or…"
Mu Nan stopped talking. He had never raised a pet, but he could probably understand that kind of feeling. At a time like this, he really didn't know whether it was better to live longer or end this painful world early.
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