Chapter 92 After the Game Disappeared 3
Yunxin, who was silently observing: How is this trend any different from the forced public evolution of the game half a year ago?
On second thought, history is bound to repeat itself; humanity is a species that constantly repeats the same mistakes.
I'll make the same mistakes again next time, and I'll fall into the same traps again. I know it will be tough to finish my homework on the last day of the holiday, but I still play until the second to last day. Everyone says that staying up late is bad for your health, but I still can't help but play on my phone until the early hours of the morning. I want to lose weight, but I can't control my eating or exercise. I've written promises and pledges in my pledge book, but I've never kept them...
Humans are always like this: they say one thing, think another, and do yet another.
Yunxin wondered how long the government could hold out this time, given that it couldn't withstand the pressure last time.
The next day.
The swimming pool is not yet open for business, but the staff are already in place and starting preparations for opening.
Huang Xinfang walked over mysteriously with several bottles in her hand. Without saying a word, she started spraying Yun Xin and Song Qiao.
"Wow!" Song Qiao was caught off guard and startled. But then, she felt a chill, like being in an air conditioner. She looked at Huang Xinfang in surprise, "What's this?"
"A friend recommended this amazing product to me—a cooling spray! Just a light spray and it freezes in ten seconds!" Huang Xinfang said proudly. "With it, I don't have to worry about running out of electricity or not being able to turn on the air conditioner!"
Yun Xin could withstand both high and low temperatures and wasn't frightened. Hearing this, she curiously looked at it, "What is this? I've never heard of it before?"
It looks like an ordinary can; pressing the button sprays out white mist. I don't know how it works, but after spraying, you definitely feel a cooling sensation.
“The newly developed product isn’t well-known yet, and it hasn’t spread widely,” Huang Xinfang explained. “I didn’t know about it before; a friend told me about it, and after I tried it and found it useful, I was successfully recommended it.”
"Besides spraying it on people, there are other uses. Wait for me a moment!"
As she spoke, Huang Xinfang disappeared in a flash.
A moment later, she returned with several bottles of room temperature drinks.
Put the beverage bottle on the ground, pick up the spray bottle, and spray it wildly.
Immediately afterwards, a layer of frost formed on the outside of the drink, as if it had been chilled in a refrigerator.
Song Qiao picked up the beverage bottle, opened it, and tried taking a sip. She found that it was indeed as refreshing as drinking an iced beverage.
Huang Xinfang chuckled, sprayed the other two bottles of room temperature drinks, and then handed one of them to Yun Xin.
"I brought several bottles with me. If you're hot, just let me know and I'll spray some on for you. But this stuff is really useful; it runs out quickly, and it'll be gone in no time."
As she spoke, she threw the empty spray bottle into the trash can.
Song Qiao was very tempted. "Where did you buy it? Are there any precautions for using it? Is it safe? If it works well, I'll stock up on some too."
"Look at the bottle, the precautions are all written on it," Huang Xinfang said as she handed over a bottle of cooling spray.
Song Qiao took it and examined it closely.
The bottle reads, "1. When spraying a person, the nozzle should be at least 30cm away from the person to prevent frostbite."
"2. Do not spray towards fire sources, as it contains alcohol and will fuel combustion."
"3. The canned cooling spray has an instant cooling effect and has a slight odor."
4. Store in a cool, dark place, and do not expose to direct sunlight.
The notes are quite detailed.
"Give me the website address, I'll place the order now." Song Qiao immediately took action.
"Add me as a friend, and I'll send you the link." Huang Xinfang readily took out her phone and shared the store link.
While the two were busy adding each other as friends, Yunxin retrieved her bag. She unwrapped layer after layer of packaging and took out an ice pack the size of a brick. "I was worried you'd be hot, so I brought you ice. I was planning to add ice to room temperature drinks to cool you down."
The ice pack is made of 4x6 small squares, which together are about the length of an A4 sheet of paper. You just need to cut a few small ice cubes when you need it, making it very convenient to use.
Huang Hsin-fang: !!!
Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at Yun Xin. "What time do you have electricity at your house? Why is the ice in the bag still frozen? It hasn't melted yet?!"
Yunxin: ?
She patted her backpack. "After the ice froze, I prepared insulation material to protect it. I wrapped it in layers and put it in my bag, so it didn't melt."
Huang Xinfang looked completely bewildered.
Song Qiao, however, realized something. "I remember learning in elementary school lab that whether it's a high-temperature or low-temperature object, if it's tightly wrapped in insulating material and placed in a sealed box, it can keep the ice from melting for a long time."
Huang Xinfang, "..."
If you keep saying that, I'll start to doubt whether I ever went to school!
Yunxin tore off six ice cubes and took them out to use, then put the rest back in her bag as is. "If a customer suffers heatstroke and collapses, I can wrap the ice cubes in a towel to cool them down."
Song Qiao smiled wryly, "It's true... you don't know how useless you are until you encounter some trouble."
Huang Xinfang has friends who can discover new products and are willing to share them; Yun Xin remembers to use the knowledge she has learned and can carry ice cubes to work. Compared to her, I am really weak.
"I made some mung bean soup when I had some free time. Would you like some?" Song Qiao asked.
Too much delicious food can also be a problem.
After a difficult decision, Huang Xinfang said, "I'll drink the iced beverage first, and then I'll drink the mung bean soup later."
As she spoke, Yunxin wrapped two ice cubes in a towel to make a simple cooling device, and then gave one to each person, saying, "Use it to apply to your face."
"Yay!" Huang Xinfang happily accepted it, her heart leaping with joy. My colleagues are so nice, I love it here! What resignation? Resign from what position? From now on, the swimming pool is my second home!
The time-limited electricity policy continues.
Eight days, nine days, ten days... until the fifteenth day, the power supply still hadn't returned to normal.
Driven to the brink of madness by the heatwave, the public erupted in anger: "System malfunctions and the need for repairs are understandable. But it's been half a month! Do you know how I've survived these past two weeks?"
"I want to crawl up the internet cable and bite people. I'm not kidding. This is how all of us new generation of good citizens go crazy."
"I've been thinking about what kind of malfunction would cause all the cities in the entire federal government to restrict power. I've always trusted the government and firmly resisted conspiracy theories. But this silence, this lack of denial and explanation, is really getting to me... My confidence is clearly wavering."
"Be bold! No matter what trouble you encounter, tell us everything! If you can publish information about the Evolution Game, what else can't you talk about openly?"
"So many people have already died from the heat... People are dying every day. Before it's my turn, I need to know what's going on. I hope the government will let me die knowing why."
"Those of us here are all victors who have triumphed over the game of evolution; we are not afraid of disaster."
"I suggest another referendum. I've been resentful about the last vote, and I want to prove that a referendum can also yield good results."
Words that seem to express understanding can actually be a form of pressure.
Not explaining the true situation clearly is tantamount to distrusting the people.
The logical relationship is that simple and straightforward.
Under intense public pressure, the government ultimately succumbed to the pressure and issued a public statement.
"Humanity is currently facing a severe challenge. For certain reasons, specific details cannot be disclosed. Please trust the government, which will do its utmost to handle this."
"If you believe, please select 'I believe the government will handle it well' in the referendum."
"If you don't believe it, please choose 'I don't believe the government, I want to know the truth' in the national referendum."
"The referendum will close in three days, and whether or not the results will be made public will depend on the outcome of the vote."
“Every citizen has the right to vote; failure to vote by the deadline is considered an abstention.”
Learning from the previous experience, those with aspirations spread the word and loudly proclaimed, "If you don't know what to vote for, just choose 'abstain'! Think back to six months ago! Think back to the game of evolution!"
However, it only had the opposite effect: "If we can survive an evolution game, what else can't we face?"
"Those of us here are all victors who have triumphed over the game of evolution; we are not afraid of disaster."
"I'm so frustrated right now, I just want to know why the government won't let me run the air conditioner 24 hours a day!"
Some were cautious, having been tormented by six months of living in fear, and initially wanted to unconditionally "trust the government." However, after being swayed by those around them, they began to change their minds—the others were right, their request was simply for normal electricity use, a rather ordinary and trivial matter, yet the government stubbornly refused, which was truly strange.
Considering all the various rumors circulating online, what if there's some truth mixed in with them...?
In the end, I changed my vote at the last minute and chose "to know the truth of the matter".
There's another group of people who refuse to listen to, pay attention to, or believe anything others say. If the government says "specific details cannot be disclosed," then there must be a reason! They unconditionally support and unconditionally "trust" the government!
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
In this round of voting, the "no trust" option accounted for 55%, the abstention rate was 12%, and the "trust" option accounted for 33%, with the "no trust" option winning by a clear margin.
Despite the struggle, history repeated itself.
Left with no other choice, the government's official Weibo account had to reveal the truth: "Energy resources are depleted; oil and coal have been almost completely extracted, making it impossible to supply electricity normally. We have already sent people to build solar power plants in various cities to convert solar energy into electricity, maintain basic power supply, and ensure the normal operation of cities."
As soon as the announcement came out, the entire Internet was in an uproar.
No one expected that the real reason was energy depletion! This... this...
Before the vote: Government, say whatever you want, I can handle it! After the announcement: You better shut the hell up!
"I overestimated my ability to cope. Right now, all I feel is despair. In this sweltering heat, the electricity will never be back to normal. How are ordinary people supposed to survive? I really don't know the answer to this question."
Before voting: I was itching to vote; after voting: curiosity killed the cat (me).
"Without oil or coal, are there no other ways to generate electricity? What about wind power? Hydropower? Can diesel fuel generate electricity? Think of other solutions!!"
"Those who talk about wind power, go outside and feel for yourself. Is there any wind outside? In the middle of summer, if there's no wind, where does the wind power come from?"
"Those who talk about hydropower, go take a walk around the power plant near your home. The water level has dropped so much, some rivers have even dried up and exposed their riverbeds. How can you generate electricity if there's no water?!"
"Using diesel to generate electricity is even more ridiculous. Diesel is refined from petroleum! If petroleum resources are depleted, where will the diesel come from?"
"On a side note, gasoline is also refined from petroleum... No wonder gasoline prices have been soaring lately, it turns out there's a shortage."
"After processing and refining, petroleum can be divided into four categories of products: fuels, lubricating oils, asphalt, and solvents. Among them, fuels include kerosene, gasoline, diesel, and gasoline fuels, which are widely used in automobiles, ships, airplanes, rockets, trains, boilers, etc., which is why petroleum is called the 'blood of industry.' I know everyone is anxious, but let's not rush into a discussion and calm down. The suggestion that diesel will take its place when petroleum runs out is really absurd. Trying nuclear fission or exploring new energy sources would be more promising."
"Now I understand why the government has been keeping it a secret. Whether it's finding new energy sources, exploring solar power generation, or researching nuclear fission, it will take several years. Ordinary people simply can't wait that long! In other words, once the truth is revealed, ordinary people will know that they are about to face a slow death, and most people, including myself, will be eliminated. Only a very small number of people with superhuman physical attributes or those who have awakened heat resistance will have a chance to survive."
"It turns out that nature really is selecting, and humanity really is evolving. Those who are slow or evolve in the wrong direction will all be eliminated."
(End of this chapter)
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