1. Doomsday Weather
That winter, global warming exacerbated the El Niño phenomenon. South America experienced torrential rains, triggering widespread flooding and displacing countless people. Southeast Asia and Australia, meanwhile, suffered prolonged droughts, resulting in massive crop failures.
The world's largest existing iceberg, A23a, is rapidly disintegrating and is expected to disappear completely within the next few months. Meanwhile, an asteroid named Apophis has been discovered by scientists and is hurtling towards Earth.
The daily broadcasts of bad news have long since numbed people.
Fang Kaixuan was used to it and didn't find anything unusual about it. In her teenage years, there was no need to keep the air conditioning on all day in the summer. A fan, half a watermelon, and a bamboo mat were enough to keep cool. But now, even in northern cities, the air conditioning has to be turned up high from May onwards.
This vicious cycle only intensifies the heat. Fortunately, humans are clever enough that large buildings are connected by air-conditioned corridors, completely eliminating the need for sun exposure. Every day after lunch, Fang Kaixuan and his colleagues would stroll back and forth along this corridor between the office building and the shopping center, as a form of exercise. They would repeat this dozens of times, almost like the stereotypical behavior of animals.
Indeed, how is this any different from mice running around in a constant temperature and humidity laboratory?
It is truly unworthy of being called the most intelligent of all creatures.
Few people go out for walks anymore, especially in summer. This is Fang Kaixuan's biggest regret. She still remembers the silky feel of the evening breeze on her skin, even in the height of summer in the north.
None of them exist now.
In this megacity of tens of millions, the steel and concrete streets are almost deserted in the sweltering summer heat, with only millions of cars passing by. Under the pale sunlight, it is eerily calm, like the opening scene of an apocalyptic movie.
Winter presents another extreme. Temperatures often drop to minus twenty degrees Celsius, which is not considered an extreme low temperature, but just ten years ago, minus ten degrees Celsius was already a low temperature that required a warning.
An extreme environmental group called "The Last Generation" has become increasingly aggressive in recent years, with members sticking themselves to highways to block traffic or splashing tomato soup on Van Gogh paintings. These bizarre acts are solely aimed at attracting media attention and conveying anxieties about an impending doom.
Meanwhile, billionaires and tech upstarts have begun secretly building doomsday bunkers, fantasizing that after the catastrophe, they can still live a life of luxury and indulgence in their bunkers.
The Mayan prophecy of the end of the world expired in 2012, yet humanity continues to relentlessly create another doomsday for itself.
In any case, good weather has become a source of nostalgia.
*
Even so, people still go to work and attend meetings as usual. Humans simply follow a fixed routine day after day, as if they could live forever. They don't care that the floodwaters outside are raging.
"How foolish we are," Fang Kaixuan thought.
Just like how she is currently at a ski resort but has no chance to appreciate the scenery, as she is waiting anxiously for her boss to start a meeting.
Deep in the Alps, a light rain fell in early February instead of snow. This suggests that the Earth is truly doomed.
This small town in the Swiss Alps was originally quite ordinary, with only one main road running through it. In the depths of winter, snow fell incessantly, and it was common for the snow to pile up to a person's height. It was desolate, quiet, and undisturbed.
Ever since it was discovered as a venue for economic forums and environmental summits, countless dignitaries and tycoons have flocked there every winter. The tranquility has been shattered, and the locals deeply resent it, often staging demonstrations and protests. But they cannot stop these most powerful and influential people on Earth, each with a private jet, from increasing carbon emissions to chatting and laughing on stage about how to protect the planet.
Protecting the environment is certainly the right thing to do, but it has become a fig leaf for their hypocrisy.
Not only those high-ranking officials, but even Fang Kaixuan himself had donated to an NGO that saves endangered animals for many years. Unexpectedly, that organization was later exposed for misappropriating donations, with large sums of money flowing into the hands of unknown individuals and being converted into their overseas properties or gold and jade.
From then on, she never trusted those who used sweet words and flattery again.
At this time of year, the per capita wealth in this area reaches its highest point on Earth. Unfortunately, wealth is often inversely proportional to appearance. Fang Kaixuan sat idly waiting in the coffee shop, surrounded by mostly middle-aged and elderly men with plain faces.
These days, naturally handsome men are becoming increasingly rare. Those with slightly flat heads and decent-looking faces often become self-important, smug, and boastful. This kind of behavior, no matter how handsome, makes one feel envious.
Halfway through her coffee, Fang Kaixuan caught a glimpse of a man sitting by the window, who was exactly the opposite of the type of man she had been criticizing.
He had a handsome yet solemn face. Fang Kaixuan guessed that he probably had some ethnic ancestry. His hair was slightly curly, his eye sockets were slightly sunken, and there was a light blue tinge under his eyes, as if he hadn't been sleeping well.
But this slight haggardness only adds to the endearing aspect of his charm.
He was a truly handsome man, yet he sat alone, gazing blankly out the window, as if the scenery outside was quite captivating. Fang Kaixuan followed his gaze; the temperature had begun to drop in the afternoon, and the drizzle had turned into dense snowflakes, pelting against the windowpane under the dark blue sky.
Seeing his concentration, Fang Kaixuan boldly examined him, unconsciously flattening the paper straw into a thin strip and then folding it into a star shape. In middle school, she had folded thousands of paper cranes and stars for others, and she still had muscle memory for it.
The person worthy of a thousand paper cranes and a thousand stars has vanished from my life. All that remains here are limp paper straws.
Of all the terrible environmental measures, she hates paper straws the most.
Fang Kaixuan wondered which bastard invented the paper straw. He thought that person should be sentenced to life imprisonment, to grow potatoes in Siberia, or to fish on the ice in Lake Baikal, where Su Wu once herded sheep.
Oh no, being exiled to Siberia these days is probably a good job. After all, the climate there is cool, offering a temporary escape from the summer heat.
...
Bored out of her mind, she just let her thoughts wander. Inside the venue, a group of hypocrites with combined net worths of tens or hundreds of billions of US dollars were talking animatedly. Boss Fang Kaixuan was also making a big fuss at the moment, and he even believed his own eloquent words, as if he were genuinely worried about the future of the earth.
Of course, he didn't actually believe in those things. He was just doing it for the money.
Fang Kaixuan completely understood, but he was getting a little impatient. Fortunately, there was finally a cute face to admire.
Being stared at like that would probably make anyone notice, or at least make their ears itch. Fang Kaixuan noticed his expression was starting to look a little awkward and pursed her lips. She immediately turned back, lowered her head to drink her cold coffee, and pretended to be nonchalant.
Yu Guangzhong actually got up and walked towards Fang Kaixuan, asking in a natural and generous manner, "Hello, may I buy you a cup of coffee?"
All the romantic thoughts in his mind paused, and Fang Kaixuan suddenly backed down, raising his coffee cup to him, "Sorry, I've already used up my caffeine intake for today."
He suddenly became shy, "I'm sorry, I was being presumptuous."
Fang Kaixuan was actually reluctant to say goodbye. "It's really unfortunate today. If I have another drink, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep. How about another day?"
"How about another day?" As Fang Kaixuan asked this question, the English phrase "rain check" inexplicably popped into his mind. This phrase originally came from baseball games, where if a game was suspended due to rain, spectators could receive a rain check, which could be used to enter the stadium when the game was rescheduled.
I like this saying, probably because Fang Kaixuan is particularly nostalgic for rainy days of the past. Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning all have a nostalgic and romantic feel to her. On rainy days, staying at home is the natural thing to do, like a caveman hiding in a mountain cave.
Modern life has almost completely isolated us from these things. People live in a bubble with constant temperature and humidity, fantasizing that it can last forever.
Upon hearing "How about another day?", he paused for a very brief moment, then asked, "Okay, which day would be convenient for you?"
Fang Kaixuan desperately wanted to say "immediately, right now," but she was there to work and had no choice. "Tomorrow afternoon at four o'clock?"
"Okay. See you there then."
They had agreed to meet there, but Fang Kaixuan didn't want to leave yet, so she asked him curiously:
"You're here for work too?"
"Yes, my name is Gu Qiye, and I work for an NGO called ADA. What about you?"
"I'm coming with the boss."
"Is he a meteorologist?"
He asked seriously, which made Fang Kaixuan chuckle. "No, no, no, he has only invested in a few new energy vehicle companies, yet he claims to have made a huge contribution to achieving carbon neutrality for mankind."
Just then, the phone rang at an inopportune moment. The boss summoned her, and Fang Kaixuan had to leave. After a brief exchange, she felt a pang of reluctance. They got up, and he helped her open the door. The two were suddenly thrust into the cold wind, which whipped up snowflakes that stung their faces. Only then did she realize that her cheeks were warm, and she couldn't help but press her hands to her face to cool them down, seemingly just because she was cold.
It is precisely the best disguise to conceal one's true feelings.
He inadvertently noticed that the ring on Fang Kaixuan's right ring finger, slightly lighter than his skin tone, seemed to be a mark left from wearing his wedding ring for a long time.
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Hahaha, I got the first comment on this post!!!
Teacher Jiu, hug me~
Congratulations to Teacher Yang for ranking second! He's back at his stall again, but he's not going to stay in the mountains!
Congratulations on the release of your new work! Keep it up!
Here it comes! Mwah!
Welcome to visit, haha~
I love it! The corners of her mouth just started to turn up, and then...it's not enough to satisfy me!
Haha, I'll come back first thing tomorrow morning~ I'm planning to update daily except for weekends lately.
Is it a slightly strange taste? It didn't seem like that at first.
The later settings might be a little tricky, haha, I hope I can handle it~
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