In contrast to the tranquility inside Chen Yu's doomsday bunker, Anping City at the foot of the mountain was bustling with noise and chaos.
Besides police cars that were calming and reassuring the crowd, there were also parents picking up their children from school and citizens rushing out to buy supplies.
However, most people remained huddled in brightly lit buildings, discussing the sudden and bizarre drop in temperature, with various speculations and anxieties filling everyone's minds.
Everyone shared their opinions with their companions, and the sounds of discussion, sighs, and arguments mingled with the cries of babies and toddlers. Of course, there were also some ignorant and fearless young people who called their friends and family to eat hot pot and drink strong liquor at home, cheering and celebrating this rare spectacle. For a time, the whole city was noisy, even more lively than during the Spring Festival.
In a corner of the city, a group of residents, completely covered up, lined up in front of a small supermarket, discussing the unusual events that had occurred that day.
"Tell me, what's going on with this extreme cold disaster? Why did it suddenly get so cold?" A middle-aged woman rubbed her hands together, trying to warm herself up.
"I've heard that this is caused by climate change on Earth. We humans have done too much damage to the environment in recent years," a young man wearing glasses said with a frown.
"Stop talking nonsense. Environmental destruction has been going on for a long time." A chubby man retorted. "If you ask me, it must be the work of aliens. You all saw that dark and lifeless sun that evening, right? That must be aliens using some kind of technology to wrap up the Earth and block the sun's energy radiation to the blue planet, which is why the blue planet suddenly seemed to have fallen into an ice cave."
"You mean the whole planet Earth is like this place?" someone asked in horror.
"That's for sure, otherwise why hasn't anyone come to rescue us after all this time?"
The chubby man looked confident, and the fat covering his body made him more resistant to the cold than others. Among the people queuing outside the small supermarket, he was one of the few who did not shiver. His calm demeanor made people inexplicably trust what he said.
"What should we do? How are we supposed to live like this?" an old woman asked worriedly, her voice filled with endless anxiety and helplessness.
"Don't believe or spread rumors. Don't worry, the government will definitely find a solution!" A young police officer in uniform, who had just gotten out of the patrol car, overheard their conversation and interjected, "The most important thing now is for everyone to stay calm and prepare for the cold. After you've purchased some necessary supplies, go home as soon as possible and try not to linger outside."
His words calmed everyone down a little, but worry was still written all over their faces.
The supermarket door slowly opened, and a blast of warm air rushed out. A middle-aged woman carrying large and small bags walked out of the supermarket, cursing and swearing. A middle-aged man who was at the front of the line outside the supermarket pushed open the door and entered.
"Sister Li, you bought so much stuff! Hehe~" A man still in line greeted the woman with a smile, clearly the two knew each other.
The woman forced a smile, said nothing, and prepared to leave quickly. However, upon seeing the police officers, she rushed up to them: "Officer, you have to take care of this! I usually only spend a couple hundred yuan on these things, but that unscrupulous shopkeeper sold them to me for over 700 yuan!"
Her voice was filled with anger and dissatisfaction as she pointed in the direction of the supermarket, as if the heartless owner was right in front of her.
"What? This Wu Youcai is so ruthless? No wonder he made us go in one by one, he was trying to rip us off!" The crowd in line was immediately agitated.
What puzzled them was that the middle-aged woman wasn't the first person to come out of the supermarket, so why were so many people who came out before her silent about the matter?
Soon, people raised questions about this matter.
Faced with this question, the middle-aged woman hesitated for a long time before finally telling the truth.
It turns out the supermarket owner implemented a tiered pricing system, where the prices of goods increased as you went further down the line. This made those who bought things earlier, including her, feel like they were getting a bargain. After all, compared to those who lined up later, they were doing relatively well. In any case, it was their supermarket; they could buy or not, and if necessary, they wouldn't sell to them. Rather than arguing with the supermarket owner, they might as well take their things and leave, waiting for the prices to rise later so that the prices for those ahead would be relatively cheaper.
"This is human nature! You get wet in the rain, but you want others to get wet too?" a woman wearing glasses shouted angrily.
"Exactly! If you had told me earlier, I would have gone to queue up elsewhere. Why did I have to stand here in the cold wind for so long!"
The crowd condemned the actions of the middle-aged woman and others.
The officer frowned and said seriously, "Please don't panic, everyone. We will definitely investigate. However, in these special times, prices may indeed fluctuate. But we absolutely will not allow anyone to take advantage of this to inflate prices and disrupt market order."
…………
On a dimly lit street in the city, a young man with blond hair rubbed his hands together vigorously while looking around warily.
"Hey Green Hair, are you guys done yet? This awful weather, I can't take it anymore," Yellow Hair urged, looking towards the window behind him.
"Keep your voice down, you bastard!" A scolding voice came from inside the house.
Then a figure wearing a green wig poked his head out, a hint of displeasure in his eyes, "Do you want to attract the cops? Soon, just hold on a little longer."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
