Chapter 83
Niu Niu's body was quite clean, but Mu Nan still used water to wash her, mainly her feet. It was estimated that Wu Zheng and the others took good care of Niu Niu. Mu Nan checked carefully and found that Niu Niu had no fleas or insects. After washing her body a little, he sprayed her with insect repellent spray before bringing her into the room. The floor heating was on in the room. It had been on for two days and the temperature had risen, but the air conditioner was not turned off. Even with the air conditioner turned off, the room was still a little cold, and she needed to wear a thick sweater, but wearing too many clothes would be too restrictive and uncomfortable, so the air conditioner was also turned on, and the whole room was warm, and she only needed to wear a fleece home coat.
As soon as Niu Niu came into the room, she lay down obediently on the carpet next to the sofa. Mu Nan put a bowl of water for her and let her drink it when she was thirsty. He also took out some dried meat he had made, but no matter whether he fed it to Niu Niu's mouth or put it in the bowl, Niu Niu would not eat it.
Mu Nan teased her for a while, but when he saw that Niu Niu was not as lively as when she was with her owner, she just lay there lazily and didn't play with him. His interest in playing with the dog was gone immediately, so he ignored Niu Niu and went outside with the kettle to water his plantation. However, as soon as he moved, Niu Niu got up and followed him. Mu Nan said with a sigh, "You ignored me when I was playing with you, but you followed me when I wasn't playing with you. What do you want to do?"
Niu Niu looked at him innocently, and when she saw that he was not going to leave, she sat down. When Mu Nan moved, Niu Niu stood up. Mu Nan had never raised a dog, but he thought Niu Niu's behavior was quite interesting, so he teased her by moving and stopping. In the end, I don't know if she got tired of being teased, or if Niu Niu was smart enough to know that he would not leave, so she simply lay down at the door, and looked wherever Mu Nan was, but she didn't follow him.
Mu Nan watered each pot carefully. The seedlings that had already emerged were tender green, which made people feel comfortable. As long as the heating in the house continued, his pots of tomatoes and peppers would surely grow.
After returning to work, Qin Huai did not leave with the programmers he had agreed to go with before. He didn't know whether they would go or not, so he left first. Even though he was wearing goggles, various cold-proof hats and masks tightly, when he arrived at the office building, there was icicles on his mask and hat.
This was the first time for him to feel this level of cold, as he grew up in the south and even stayed in warmer areas abroad. There was no floor heating in the office building, and although the air conditioner was on, it did not raise the temperature much. As soon as he entered the room, he could feel a gust of warm air, but after sitting for a while, he still felt cold. Fortunately, he had a lot of clothes on, including a set of polar cold-proof clothing over his down jacket, so after taking off the cold-proof clothing, he was just right wearing the down jacket indoors.
Previously, there were more than ten people recruited from the public, but later only seven passed the basic assessment. The other six lived in the apartment building. Because they lived close to each other, they made an appointment to go to work together. Today, they all came separately, but only three came, and the other three did not come for some unknown reason.
When they saw Qin Huai, they said, "We thought you weren't coming either. We looked around at the intersection, but we didn't see you."
Qin Huai just poured a cup of hot water and sat back in his seat, smiling and saying, "I didn't know if you guys were coming, so I left first. Where are the three of them?"
The man who was talking to Qin Huai was called Zhou Chuanghong, a northerner. He had just graduated in the year of the smog. He was probably quite capable, as he hadn’t gotten his diploma yet, but he had already started an internship at a company in the last half of the semester. As a result, one disaster after another forced him to stay here and couldn’t go home. He didn’t know what the situation was like at home, but he really couldn’t go back, so he had to follow the government’s reconstruction and try to survive first. Probably because he had just left the campus, he was quite enthusiastic. He was the one who took the initiative to ask Qin Huai about his residence and invited him to go together.
Hearing Qin Huai's question, Zhou Chuanghong shrugged: "I can't come if I can't buy clothes." He looked at the clothes Qin Huai put aside and couldn't help but feel envious: "This was also bought by the supply and marketing cooperative? How many points do you get for this?"
Nowadays, many people call exchange points supply and marketing cooperatives, a term that ran through people's daily lives in the 1980s and 1990s. However, as people's lives became better and better, this term gradually faded out of people's lives. Perhaps the current exchange model is a bit similar to the supply and marketing cooperatives of the past, so it has been called out again.
Qin Huai said: "No, I found it when I was rummaging through the ruins." The exchange point didn't seem to sell this kind of polar cold-proof clothing. It was obviously inappropriate to say that it was exchanged. It would be better to say that it was dug out. Anyway, no one would know what was dug out.
There was even more envy in Zhou Chuanghong's eyes. You know, he also found a lot of thick clothes at the beginning, but he felt too hot at that time and was busy looking for food and even furniture. No one expected that the temperature would drop so quickly. Now he regrets it so much.
The other two people who came with Zhou Chuanghong, one named Shu Bin and the other named Zhang Qi, stood in front of the air conditioner for a long time before they felt less stiff. When they heard Qin Huai say that the clothes were found, they couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any extra ones? I can buy them from you with my points."
Winter supplies are hard to find at the exchange point now. Even some obviously old items are not rejected by anyone. It is not easy to find something to wear now. Compared with freezing to death, wearing someone else's old clothes is nothing. Some people can stay at home and even wrap themselves with curtains that used to block the sun. The heating in the house has been turned up in the past two days. It doesn't matter if you don't have any cold-proof clothes to stay indoors, but it's impossible for everyone to stay indoors. Someone has to go out to earn food. The three people who went with them before couldn't find any cold-proof clothes and shoes, so they couldn't go out. Otherwise, who would be willing to give up such a good job opportunity?
Qin Huai sighed, "If I had known this would happen, I would have taken more of the things I found. I don't know how much I can get from selling them now. Unfortunately, I felt too hot and heavy at the time, so I thought of taking one or two sets as backup. It did come in handy, but unfortunately, I only had enough for myself."
The others also sighed. Who knew the temperature would drop suddenly? They also found some thermal underwear for winter, but thought at the time that they might not need them in this lifetime. In addition, there was limited space on the bicycle and they had to carry more things, such as curtain cloth, so they threw those clothes away. So they believed Qin Huai's words, but they were still a little envious. After all, he had some foresight and knew to take one or two pieces home as a backup, unlike them, who used all the points they had accumulated with great difficulty to exchange for clothes.
But they were lucky. As soon as the temperature dropped, they realized something was wrong and ran to the exchange point in the cold wind even though it hadn't snowed yet. They immediately exchanged all their points for clothes, pants and shoes. At least they caught the opportunity to get clothes that could go out and earn more points. If they were trapped in the house, they really didn't know what to do.
A few of them talked for a while, and after their bodies warmed up and their fingers were less stiff, they started to work. Before, as there were so many people, everyone had different tasks assigned to them. Now that there were three fewer people, the unfinished tasks would naturally be shared among them. Even though the workload increased, no one said anything. Having something to do is a good thing, and the only thing to be afraid of is having nothing to do.
A heating resettlement house was to be built outside, but because there was a shortage of manpower, more points were given and the working hours were longer. Every day Qin Huai came back, but his neighbors had not yet returned. After the weather turned colder and the sun was not so scorching, the working hours were also changed. Qin Huai had to go out at eight o'clock every day, and Jian Chu and the others had to go out even earlier because they were rushing to finish the work, so they had to go out at seven o'clock. Every day before Wu Zheng and the others went out, they would send Niu Niu to Qin Huai's house. Qin Huai would take the dog upstairs, wash himself, and it would be time to go to work. At that time, Mu Nan was still asleep in bed, so he would wait for Wu Zheng and the others to come back at around nine o'clock in the evening before picking up Niu Niu. They would occasionally chat when picking up the dog, which was also a way of exchanging information.
After a few days like this, Niu Niu probably realized that her stay at Mu Nan's house was only temporary and she would return to her own home every night, so she was no longer as unhappy as she was at the beginning and became a little more lively. At least after a few days of getting along, Niu Niu would no longer refuse the food that Mu Nan fed her.
When the first snow began to fall, the blizzards almost never stopped. People could still withstand the heat, as long as they were not in a furnace and could hide from the sun, they could always endure it. But the low temperature was more deadly, especially when there was no excess heat at all and people were still wearing summer clothes and could not find anything to keep out the cold. Many people fell asleep in the illusion of hypothermia.
A vehicle is even used directly to transport corpses. Most of the people living here now are healthy. They finally found a relatively clean place to rebuild, so they naturally cannot let the corpses pile up. Every day, the corpse transport vehicle goes back and forth, transporting a truckload of corpses to a specially designated place for cremation. Other vehicles continue to rescue survivors in the city. The sick are sent to school, and those who are not sick or have no symptoms yet are sent to resettlement houses first. Their temperature is taken every day, and those with fever are taken away directly. Those who stay behind are gradually provided with clothes. Of course, it is not provided for free, and records will be kept. The points owed now will have to be repaid with labor in the future.
It is a blessing for many people that there is still a government leading the disaster relief work. At least the environment is not so bad that no one cares about life and death. But some people still want to make trouble. They want the government to provide free food, drink and shelter every day and treat people like ancestors. When faced with people who still can't figure it out at this time, the authorities will directly throw them out of the heating resettlement site. They deserve to freeze to death.
It's not that their enthusiasm has been worn out by natural disasters, but that they are now racing against time to carry out rescue operations. They wish that everyone would mobilize to build resettlement sites to rescue more people. They don't have the time to cause trouble with you. At the same time, this act of killing the chicken to scare the monkey is also telling everyone that times have changed. It is impossible to hold on to the ideas of serving the people. In the face of natural disasters, if you don't work hard to survive, who can you expect to help you?
According to Qin Huai, the management policy is now semi-militarized. You can choose the lifestyle you want, and that is your freedom, but if you want to rely on the government, you can only follow the arrangements and not cause trouble.
Mu Nan thought this was a good idea. In order to save people and rebuild, the soldiers were already too tired. The physical exhaustion and mental pressure were something no one had ever experienced. The people only had to work hard to stay alive, but they had to work hard to keep others alive. If there were still people who were disobedient or making trouble, who would have the energy to care? It would be better to be straightforward. Either they be obedient and stay, or they leave if they are not.
But these have little to do with Mu Nan. No matter whether the environment is good or bad, he will definitely be the obedient one.
When it was windy and snowy outside, his life with Qin Huai temporarily returned to normal.
Qin Huai learns and absorbs knowledge very quickly. He made his fortune from nothing with the software he developed. If it weren't for this disaster, his software would have provided him with a steady stream of wealth for the next decade or so. Even if the disaster happened, it was the initial investment that gave him the funds to prepare sufficient supplies. So capable people, no matter when, can't say that they live better than others, but at least when an opportunity comes, they will try their best to grab it.
While others were still doing the repair work assigned above, Chin Huai had already developed a communication software that was adapted to current information equipment, and had opened up a number of new modules directly based on the current environment, including instant messaging, material exchange, rescue and assistance, disaster response and evacuation, and even an entertainment area, uploading limited network resources, movies, games, etc. Although the number was small, it could be increased slowly in the future. For the sake of convenience and simplicity, each project's app was independent, to facilitate later updates and operations.
But it was obvious that he could not accomplish all of these by himself, so Qin Huai submitted a plan and even came up with a basic framework model, and only required others to slowly expand and fill in the gaps.
The person in charge of their area is Captain Xia, because communication is very important for obtaining information from the outside world, as well as transmitting information, and maintaining close contact with other provinces and the central government to transmit orders. Nowadays, they can only rely on long-distance communication, so repairing communications is a top priority. Therefore, the officer in charge of the information department is of a high level. Captain Xia is even Shi Yuanfei's superior. Now, Qin Huai is directly facing Captain Xia because of the maintenance and reconstruction of the communication template.
Captain Xia looked at the plan submitted by Qin Huai and asked directly, "How long will it take to complete the repairs and reconstruction you requested?"
Qin Huai: "One month. These things are not difficult. We can just slightly modify the existing software model. There is no need for original research and development. It does not take too long. The only thing that takes time is the establishment of the information station and the connection of the ports."
Captain Xia nodded and said, "The engineering department will speed up the repairs. The civilian communications will be in your charge for the time being. If you need any help later, feel free to ask."
Qin Huai nodded, took the approved proposal and directly reallocated the work. They couldn't touch military communications, and it wasn't their job, so they could only find work in the field they were good at. At least they had to build a local area network in this area, if for nothing else, so that he could contact Mu Nan at any time. It was better than being out all day and disconnected from Mu Nan, especially if he had to work overtime unexpectedly, but he couldn't tell Mu Nan, and Mu Nan, who was waiting passively at home, would definitely be anxious and scared.
It was obvious that Qin Huai was reused, and his abilities were obvious to all. Even though they could not get in touch with the military communications, sometimes the information engineers would ask Qin Huai about some of the problems they encountered. Even if Qin Huai could not solve those problems directly, he could give some feasible ideas based on his experience. He was never secretive towards Zhou Chuanghong and the others, and even after being promoted to team leader, he did not become difficult to get along with. In addition, he was handsome, and although he was not very humorous, at least his words and actions were frank and generous, which made people instinctively like him. Besides, there were not many people on their side, and it was good enough for them to be alive after experiencing such a disaster. How could they have the energy to engage in intrigue? Therefore, everyone got along very well.
With more things to be responsible for, work is naturally busier. It's no longer like before where we can't walk outside during the day. However, if we go home late, the roads are still a little unsafe. Not to mention the robbers, even some roaming animals are lethal. So no matter how much work there is, we try our best to get everyone back home before dark. However, the increasingly low temperature and the increasingly strong snow and wind have put the previously planned bus to work on hold, and they can only ride their bicycles to and from get off work carefully.
Every day, whether going or coming back, Qin Huai's body would always be covered with ice. Mu Nan felt distressed when seeing this and wiped his hands and face with a hot towel. The words "otherwise, don't go to work" came to his lips several times but he held them back.
Qin Huai knew what he wanted to say and tapped his nose twice with his cold fingers: "You have a mouth big enough to hang an oil bottle. You are so grown up."
Mu Nan threw the towel on him, turned around and walked upstairs. Qin Huai followed him: "It will take about half a month to get online. By then, you can be at home and I can contact you at work."
Mu Nan said: "I won't contact you."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "It's good now. How many people can eat based on their own interests? Not only can I eat, but I can also support you. How great! As for the weather, you put so many hot packs on me. Although it looks like ice and snow outside, the inside of my clothes is warm and not cold at all."
Mu Nan tilted her head slightly to look at him: "Do you really like doing this? I already have experience in growing vegetables. I'll put a few more pots on the second floor. There are already quite a few upstairs and downstairs. The climate in the future will be either cold or hot. Even if we build indoor fields, food will definitely be the scarcest. It will be no problem to feed ourselves with the vegetables we grow. We don't have to suffer the heat or cold outside by growing vegetables at home." What's more, didn't they go to such great lengths to prepare those supplies before, just to allow them to live comfortably in the future?
Qin Huai rubbed his hair: "I really like it."
Mu Nan snorted: "I've never seen you like these before. You always criticize me when I'm playing games."
Qin Huai: "How can it be the same? How old were you then? The high school entrance exam is also very important. If you can't get into high school, you can only go to a technical secondary school. A technical secondary school is a small society. Do you think I can let you go to a technical secondary school without worrying about it? I have to keep a close eye on you."
Mu Nan muttered: "You are always right."
Having said that, Mu Nan would not really force Qin Huai not to go to work. Although he knew that Qin Huai would agree as long as he insisted, everyone is different. Although they do not have much pressure to survive, Qin Huai may not be willing to stay at home like him. Maybe the sense of achievement in his career would make him happier. So Mu Nan could only prepare a lot of meals every day for Qin Huai to eat well and replenish more calories to resist the cold.
The smell of the hot pot was too strong. Even though it was windy and snowy outside, Mu Nan couldn't guarantee that the people next door wouldn't smell it, so he had to change to another pot. Such a cold day was very suitable for eating mutton hotpot, and you could also put some of your favorite dishes in the mutton hotpot. Mu Nan also cut some alpaca meat that he didn't finish last time. When compared, although they are both sheep, the taste of alpaca meat is indeed a little better.
"It's really expensive for a reason. Alpaca meat is much more tender than mutton."
Qin Huai: "It's expensive in China because of the transportation cost. Alpacas are daily meat in foreign countries, but I'm afraid they won't be available in the future. It's so cold, many people and animals have frozen to death. Whether it's severe cold or scorching heat, it's not suitable for reproduction. I just don't know if animals can adapt to the current environment. If they can't adapt, I'm afraid more will become extinct."
Mu Nan warned, "Anyway, you have to be careful on your way to and from get off work. I'm afraid the weather will be too cold. Those animals that don't hibernate will have no food to eat and will specifically target humans."
After eating and drinking, because the temperature in the house was high, probably because the government knew that some people now had no supplies for the winter at home, so the temperature of the floor heating was very high. Mu Nan's family had turned off the air conditioner, but it was still a bit hot at the moment, so after eating and resting for a while, Mu Nan started to eat popsicles. Qin Huai was sorting out clothes. The clothes he wore in the summer were now wet. He washed a lot every day, so he hung them in the house and dried them after a while.
Mu Nan lay on the sofa and sighed: "When I was in school, it was very cold in the winter. I lived in the dormitory in high school. There was a guy from the Northeast in our class who complained with a Northeastern accent that the South was too cold. He couldn't even warm up his bed at night. It was not like his hometown, where he ate ice cream and watched the snow in the middle of winter."
Qin Huai asked as he folded the clothes: "Are your high school classmates easy to get along with?"
Mu Nan swung her feet and said, "It's OK. There aren't any people who are hard to get along with. Girls have more cliques, while boys are quite aggressive. Every day they just play ball, copy homework, and complain about evening self-study. They haven't woken up from playing so much. Naturally, there's nothing hard to get along with."
Qin Huai: "No such thing as school bullying?"
Mu Nan took a bite of the popsicle and said, "It seems not. I was too busy doing homework or copying assignments. How could I have time to bully others? Is it because the courses are not difficult enough or the homework is not enough? Anyway, I have never bullied others, and no one has bullied me."
Mu Nan turned to look at Qin Huai after he finished speaking: "What about you? Many people abroad look down on Asians and will bully those with yellow skin."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "I'll just beat up the people I look down on and then walk away. There aren't many people who really have a sense of superiority without a brain. Most people get along very peacefully."
The two chatted for a while, and suddenly there was a lot of noise outside. The cold wind was howling, but suddenly the wind seemed to get stronger. Mu Nan opened the curtains and looked out. Although it was pitch black, he could still see heavy snow falling outside. He didn't know how thick the snow would be by tomorrow.
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