Gao Moli was naturally very happy that her friend agreed to take her in, but the weather was too hot now. She divorced Pan Weizhi and did not get any property. She only took away her daughter, which was equivalent to leaving the house with nothing. She could not even drive the family car. The buses, subways and taxis outside had long stopped running, and there were basically no vehicles in the daytime. She could only wait for the temperature to drop at night to see if there were any cars, otherwise she could only walk to Sinan's house.
After hearing Gao Moli's plan, Si Nan frowned slightly. Gao Moli's husband's family lived within the second ring road south of Xingcheng, which was 40 minutes away from Shenxianyuan by car. If there were no cars at night, how long would it take Gao Moli, a woman with a child, to walk there?
Si Nan doesn't know how to drive, mainly because she has been busy working and doing part-time jobs to make money after graduating from college and has no extra time to learn to drive. Cheng Suming only has one car, and he went out to see his friends, and no one knows whether he took the car away.
After thinking for a while, she called Sheng Youqing and told her about Gao Moli. Finally, she said, "Cheng Suming has been gone for the whole afternoon and didn't answer my calls. I'm worried that something might happen to him. I'm going to go out to look for him later and I don't know when I'll be home. If you have time, please send Gao Moli to my house in the evening. You two can stay at my house for one night and leave tomorrow morning."
Sheng Youqing readily agreed, "Okay, don't worry, I will bring them here safely. In fact, Gao Moli called me a few days ago and wanted to live in my house. But you know, my house has only one living room and two bedrooms. My parents and I live in the two rooms. My brother has to sleep in the living room when he comes back from college. In addition, my father was so obsessed with making money a few months ago that he sold most of the ingredients in the hot pot restaurant at a high price. The remaining ingredients have been eaten by our family for a few months and there is nothing left. They are coming to live with us, so my mother and I have cleaned up the rooms and planned to let my father and brother live in one room, and my mother and I, as well as them and their mother and daughter, squeeze into one room. Somehow, she changed her mind and wanted to live with you. Although your house is big and has many rooms, you and Cheng Suming have only been married for less than half a year. They are going to live there. Will it disturb you?"
"No." Si Nan shook his head: "Cheng Su Ming is not a stingy person. We are all friends. We should help each other when we are in trouble. Otherwise, we are not friends. It's okay for her to stay at my house for a while. If it's longer, I still have to find a house for her to live in. After all, it's inconvenient for my husband and me to live with her. Call me before you come to my house in the evening. I will give the key to my sister-in-law. If I'm still outside, let her open the door for you."
"good."
Over the past few months, Si Nan has been in contact with Gao Moli and Sheng Youqing. Most of the time, they complain about the hot weather, food and water shortages, and nearby robberies and thefts in the three-person chat software group. Occasionally, they gossip about their weird neighbors and ask how they are doing, so the three of them know each other's current situation.
Among the three of them, Gao Moli had the worst life, because she had a difficult mother-in-law, an unreasonable husband, and a sister-in-law who was always sucking the blood of her natal family. The Cao family was in chaos every day, and Gao Moli lived in dire straits.
Sheng Youqing's life is neither good nor bad. Her parents are loving and harmonious, and her younger brother is obedient and sensible. The only flaw is that Sheng Youqing's mother has a heart disease. She had been staying in the hospital for treatment. Later, when she returned home, she was often frightened by the noise of explosions or the noise of nearby neighbors quarreling and fighting over supplies and water. Apart from the frequent use of medicine and money for emergency treatment, her family lives a pretty good life.
Not to mention Si Nan, she was living the best among the three. Apart from the things that cannot be said, the fact that Cheng Suming was a doctor and went out every day to see patients and collect food and water as medical fees was enough to make her life very comfortable. Gao Moli and Sheng Youqing were very envious of her, and when something happened, they would be the first to think of turning to her.
After hanging up the phone, Si Nan knocked on the door of 1503 without stopping, went in and told Cheng Wei the whole story, "Do you know the phone number of your brother's friend Yu Yong? He has been out for the whole afternoon. He didn't answer the phone or reply to the chat app. I'm worried that something happened to him."
"My brother didn't answer your call? He loves you so much, if he didn't answer your call, something must have happened." Cheng Wei was also anxious when she heard it. She hurriedly flipped through the phone's address book for a long time and said in a crying voice: "No, I don't have Yu Yong's phone number."
"Don't worry." Yang Wentao gently held her trembling hand and whispered to comfort her: "Do you know your brother's friend? Do you know where he lives?"
Cheng Wei thought for a moment and said, "Yu Yong was my brother's friend in junior high school. He went to the same school as my brother for junior high and high school. It seems that they first met because of a gang fight. My brother helped Yu Yong, and he often came to play with my brother. I went to his house with my brother to attend one of his birthday parties. He seems to live in... well, let me think, he seems to live in a small villa in the XX area of Linjiang, Fushun Street, about half an hour's drive from here."
Fushun Street is an area closer to the central city of Xingcheng and is also one of the wealthy areas. Sinan used to work part-time there and is quite familiar with the place.
Si Nan handed the key to 1501 to Cheng Wei: "Two of my friends are coming to stay with me and will stay at home for two days. If I don't come back, please help me open the door for them."
Before she went out, she tidied up the house briefly. Except for the vegetables she had recently harvested from the balcony, she threw all the obvious food, meat and vegetables into the space, leaving only some stale rice that she had recently received, instant noodles in bags with mushroom and pepper flavor that few people ate, potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes that were drooping or even sprouting, and other supplies. In addition, she stored the desalinated seawater, tap water, snow mountain water and other supplies distributed by the state in two bathtubs for use in the living room.
It’s not that she was reluctant to give food and drink to her good friend, but in the current environment of material shortages, if she still had a variety of rich food, anyone would think there was something wrong.
Even though she felt that she had exposed herself in front of Gao Moli, Gao Moli would not harm her. But when she remembered Cheng Suming's words, that he had a dream in which she was betrayed and killed by someone close to her, and that her body was dismembered and eaten when she died, she shuddered at the thought, and it was hard not to be on guard.
She agreed to take Gao Moli in because of their years of friendship. People are not plants, they have rich emotions. She remembers those who were willing to reach out to her and give her warmth during those dark years.
Gao Moli was able to lend a helping hand to her when she was isolated and even bullied during her school years, and they became friends, a friendship that has continued until now. She will always remember this friendship.
When Cheng Wei saw that she was leaving, she refused to stay at home and said that she wanted to follow her to find her brother, but was rejected by Si Nan.
Cheng Wei has been spoiled since she was a child. She has never been involved in domestic activities and is weak and easily pushed down. In the past, she was picked up and dropped off by luxury cars whenever she went out. Now she has a boyfriend, and with the protection of the extremely manly Yang Wentao, she has no worries about food and drink. If she wants to go out with him in such hot weather, Si Nan is worried that she will faint just from walking. How could he possibly let her go out?
Seeing that Si Nan insisted on going to find Cheng Su Ming alone, Cheng Wei asked Yang Wentao to go with her to protect her safety.
Si Nan declined again, "Nowadays, home robberies are everywhere. Although you sealed your passage last month and installed an anti-theft iron gate, our community is well-known for the rich. There have been several home robberies in Shenxianyuan recently. You don't know how to defend yourself. If someone gathers together to rob again, you won't be able to handle it alone at home. Don't worry, your brother taught me a lot of self-defense skills. I have been practicing these few months, and I have the ability to protect myself. You and Yang Wentao just wait for my news at home. I will call you if there is anything."
"Well, be careful on your way."
"I will."
Si Nan went downstairs carrying a black backpack containing two bottles of mineral water, four packs of compressed biscuits, two small breads, a high-calorie chocolate, and a first aid kit.
It was around six in the evening. The sun was setting and the sky was full of rosy clouds. The weather was finally not as hot as it was during the day, and the temperature dropped a little bit.
Because of the high temperature and strong sunshine, even though it is winter now, the global day and night difference has remained the same as in summer, with longer days and shorter nights in recent months. There are still three hours before eight o'clock when it really gets dark.
Sinan first went to the underground parking garage in the community and found the parking space belonging to 1501. Sure enough, the Hummer was still there and Cheng Suming did not drive out.
Think about the high temperature of nearly 60 degrees during the day, and the ground temperature under the scorching sun is at least not less than 80 degrees. In such a high temperature, the car will have a flat tire if it drives out. Of course, Cheng Suming will not drive out.
I don't know what happened to Yu Yong that made Cheng Suming walk such a long way out in such hot weather during the day. You should know that Cheng Suming usually only sees patients in Shenxianyuan. If he goes beyond the scope of this community, he will not go out no matter how much money or food others give him.
Si Nan didn't know what she was feeling now. Emotionally, she didn't want anything to happen to Cheng Su Ming. After all, after more than five months of getting along, she found that she had become accustomed to Cheng Su Ming's existence. It was like two couples who originally had no emotional foundation and got married through a blind date for their own interests. After spending some time together in daily life after marriage, they could always discover each other's advantages, disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses, and gradually develop feelings for each other, become a real couple, have one or two children, face future difficulties together, and spend the rest of their lives together.
But in fact, she is an extremely cold and selfish person at heart. No matter how good Cheng Su Ming is to her, she is always wary of Cheng Su Ming, and the source of her wariness is the space that appeared inexplicably.
According to her dreams, the end of the world has come as in the dream time, but since the high temperature began, she has not dreamed about the end of the world for a long time.
She knew in her heart that no matter whether she could dream about the end of the world again or not, the various natural disasters and the end of the world that followed would not change.
Whenever she thought of the scene in which she struggled to survive the natural disaster in her dream, she often couldn't help thinking that she had a space and could live well alone. If Cheng Suming, who knew the secret of her space, died at this time, she would not seem to suffer any loss.
Perhaps all human beings have a dark and selfish side, and at some point in time, many bad thoughts will emerge in their minds.
Thoughts are thoughts alone, but Si Nan still hopes that Cheng Su Ming is still alive. After all, with him around, many things will be beneficial to her.
She walked out of the community with her backpack, intending to walk to the bus stop near the community, check the map on the stop, and head towards Fushun Street.
Without convenient means of transportation such as buses, subways and taxis, even though she had some knowledge of Fushun Street, she was still not familiar with the routes along the way.
She is a bit directionally challenged and can easily get lost without a map or mobile phone navigation.
"Beauty, do you need a ride?" Just as she was standing on the side of the road, taking out her mobile phone, opening the navigation map and preparing to navigate, a middle-aged man with a simple and honest look appeared in front of her.
"Car?" Si Nan looked up at him and found that the man was wearing a shoulder-baring vest with a towel on his shoulders. His skin was tanned and his face looked very kind. He asked curiously, "It's so hot now, many cars dare not drive on the road, for fear of tire explosion, engine problems, and car spontaneous combustion. What car do you have that can be driven?"
"Mine is a human-powered tricycle." The middle-aged man smiled, revealing his white teeth. "I have specially treated the tires of my tricycle. As long as you don't ride it in hot weather during the day, you can still ride it in the morning and evening when the temperature drops a little. Moreover, I am a vehicle mechanic, and I always have tires and various repair tools. As long as you don't mind the trouble and the long ride, I can take you to places close by."
Si Nan calculated the distance from Fushun Chang Street to Shenxianyuan Community. It would take half an hour by car, but it would take her at least an hour to walk there. By the time she reached Fushun Chang Street, she would be either exhausted to death or die of heat. Not to mention that there were basically no people walking on the road outside. As a single woman walking alone with a bag on her back, she would easily be targeted and robbed by criminals hiding in the dark.
After thinking for a while, she asked, "How much does it cost to go to Fushun Street?"
"Fushun Street is quite far from here. According to the current rickshaw prices, it will cost at least this much." The middle-aged man was excited to see that there was business and held up three fingers to Sinan.
"Three thousand yuan?" Si Nan frowned: "This is too expensive."
"Beauty, now a steamed bun is sold at a sky-high price of 400 yuan. It takes me more than an hour and a half to ride a rickshaw to get to where you want to go. This price is really not expensive."
The middle-aged man said with a bitter face, "I was originally a mechanic in a car repair shop. I have worked in the factory for more than ten years. I am a veteran in the factory. The salary and benefits are good in all aspects. I rented a house in an old community nearby and can support my family. But since the hot weather, there have been power outages, water outages and gas outages everywhere. Our factory has no electricity and closed down four months ago. Other factories and units have also closed down one after another. Everyone is unemployed. In the past four months, my family has relied on material subsidies from the national government to make a living. But recently, there are fewer and fewer materials. My mother and children are starving to death. I really have no choice, so I pried open the door of the car repair shop with a group of workers, found some parts from inside, and equipped a tricycle to pick up passengers to make money. The price of our human-powered tricycle is much cheaper than other tricycles. If you don’t believe me, go ask other people."
Sinan then realized that at the time when the middle-aged man was talking to her, several covered human-powered tricycles suddenly appeared on the originally empty street. All of them had dark skin, with a sweat towel hanging on their shoulders, and there were both men and women.
She had gone out several times before, but she never noticed whether there were any tricycles on the street. But when she saw one today, she suddenly felt that it was too difficult for humans to survive in the midst of major disasters, so she nodded and agreed to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man immediately said, "My car hasn't been pushed out yet. Beautiful, please wait here. You must wait for me."
He turned around to push the tricycle, but he was worried that Si Nan would not wait here, or that other tricycles would steal his business. He said to Si Nan hesitantly, "Beauty, I will be there soon, in no more than five minutes. Don't get on someone else's tricycle. I promise I can pedal faster and safer than others. If you wait for me here, I can give you 400 yuan off."
Four hundred yuan is only enough to buy a steamed bun, but it is something ordinary people work hard to earn for their family in the face of disaster.
Si Nan felt sad when he heard this and waved his hand at him: "Go ahead, I won't get in anyone else's car."
The man happily ran towards an old residential area on the side of the road. About five or six minutes later, he rode a canopy light blue tricycle over, slammed the brakes in front of Si Nan, wiped the big drops of sweat on his forehead with the sweat towel on his shoulder, jumped off the tricycle, and wiped the already clean back seat with a clean handkerchief from his waist. He smiled and said to Si Nan, "Sorry for waiting for you, beautiful lady. Please get in the car."
Si Nan thanked him and sat on the back seat. The man made sure she was seated properly, then he exerted force with his legs and quickly moved along the roadside towards the destination.
Perhaps because he was naturally talkative, or perhaps because he was afraid that her customer would be dissatisfied, the middle-aged man kept talking to Sinan while riding his bike all the way.
They mainly talked about how ordinary people at the bottom of society had a hard time since they lost their jobs after the high temperature, and the many inconveniences caused by power, water and gas outages. They also talked about family matters, weather changes and national affairs. Sinan occasionally said a word or two, so the journey was not boring.
Time passed minute by minute. When they were halfway through the journey, Sinan clearly felt the temperature dropping. This was a normal situation that occurred every morning and evening after the high temperature.
Generally, the temperature will not drop by more than ten degrees. Even so, compared with the extremely high temperatures during the day, the mornings and evenings after the temperature drops will make everyone feel much more comfortable, and they will go out to exercise, enjoy the cool air, or do other things.
Many people gradually appeared on the originally empty streets. Some were sitting under the trees and next to the flower beds on the roadside, in groups of three or five, with the elderly and children, holding fans and enjoying the cool breeze.
In order to make a living, some people work around the city at night in the scorching heat, just to earn some money to feed themselves like this tricycle driver.
There are also a small number of street shops open, basically selling things that people rarely buy nowadays, such as adult products, quilts and cotton, lottery tickets, tickets, toys, tableware, etc.
These shops all use weak rechargeable light bulbs in the store. Although the light is dim and there is no air conditioning or fans, it still can't stop people from sweating profusely and wandering around the shops.
The truth is that people stay indoors or in summer resorts during the day and are almost going mouldy and crazy. If there are shops open, even if they don't want to buy something, they are willing to go to those shops to look around and join in the fun.
In the evening, when there are many people, they naturally have to obey traffic rules. Now there are no traffic lights at major intersections, and the Sky Eye is not working properly. During the day, there are almost no vehicles or people going out, and there are no traffic police at the intersections. But in the evening, when people start to stay out at night, for everyone's safety, there are still traffic police at major intersections to direct traffic conditions, and human-powered tricycles stop and go.
When a traffic policeman in the middle of the intersection ahead indicated to stop on the right and walk on the left, the middle-aged man stopped his tricycle, wiped the sweat from his forehead with a sweat towel, looked at the few tricycles running sporadically on the opposite side, turned to Sinan and said: "It's not easy for traffic police nowadays. There are only a few tricycles running on the road, and not many people cross the road. They still have to work at night. It's really admirable."
Si Nan nodded: "It is not easy, but I think it is not easy for everyone. Traffic police at least still eat the government's food and have work to go to, but ordinary people are not so lucky. Now most people are unemployed, with no job, no money, no source of income, and no place to get food and drink. They rely entirely on the government for assistance. It is not easy for everyone to live."
"Yeah." The middle-aged man sighed with emotion: "I don't know when these days will end."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt something was wrong. Why were there so many ants on the roadside? There was a long black string that was at least a hundred meters long, crawling along the sidewalk until it reached an invisible place. It was creepy to look at.
Si Nan also noticed the ants on the roadside and had a bad feeling. It is said that before a major disaster, there will be strange phenomena in the sky and animals will panic. Is the weather going to change?
But it would take at least a month for the high temperature in her dream to end. Was she overthinking it?
Just as I was thinking this, a large group of birds suddenly appeared in the sky and flew towards an unknown direction. The large group of birds was so dense that it covered the sky and the sun. The light that originally filled the sky with red clouds disappeared, and the sky gradually changed color.
What is even more frightening is that in the blink of an eye, thousands of rats crawled onto the ground from the roadside sewers. The empty roads and streets were filled with the terrifying scene of rats of all sizes running around. Many people screamed when they saw this scene, and they avoided it and discussed what was going on.
The middle-aged man muttered, "Ants and birds are everywhere, and even mice are running out. Is there another disaster coming?"
Si Nan's eyelids twitched. After the man finished speaking, she hurriedly said to him, "Master, hurry up, ride your bike to the roadside and find a shop to hide. I don't feel well!"
The middle-aged man glanced at the sky. Thick clouds gathered in the sky within a minute. The sky quickly darkened and a strong wind blew, making the sultry weather much cooler.
He thought Si Nan was afraid of thunderstorms, so he was straightforward. He turned the corner quickly on his tricycle, rode forward fifty meters, and stopped in front of an open porcelain shop. The middle-aged man pushed the tricycle under the awning in front of the shop, and went into the shop with Si Nan.
At this time, the clouds in the sky became thicker and thicker, purple lightning was moving among the clouds, and the sky became darker and darker, to the point where one could hardly see each other face to face.
People walking outside also realized that something was wrong with the weather, and many of them sought shelter nearby.
There were also people who were not afraid of death. Not only did they not hide, but they stood by the road and shouted happily: "Is it finally going to rain? God has finally opened his eyes. If it doesn't rain, we will all die of sun, thirst and hunger!"
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