Cheng Suming opened the door with a mask on and walked to the iron gate at the end of the corridor. A group of people gathered outside the door, calling him, "Doctor Cheng, my family members are vomiting and having diarrhea, fever and blood in their stools. Please take a look at them."
Cheng Suming frowned and said, "I've said before, these symptoms are similar to dysentery and are contagious. It's no use for you to come to me. I don't have any medicine and can't cure you."
"You're a doctor. Even if you don't have medicine, you must have a way to buy it." A middle-aged man named Cai Kangsheng passed a pack of expensive cigarettes, which are hard to buy nowadays, to Cheng Suming through the iron gate railings. "Doctor Cheng, please help me. Give me a phone number or a chat number of someone related, and I'll contact them myself."
Since the other party was so polite, Cheng Suming couldn't refuse. There were so many people crowded at the door. If he didn't give an explanation, these desperate people would not let him go.
"I won't accept the cigarettes. As you know, I used to be a surgeon abroad. I don't know many people working in the medical field in China, and I can't guarantee that those people have medicine now." Cheng Suming said, telling the people at the door a few phone numbers and chat software numbers and asking them to contact them themselves.
"Thank you, Doctor Cheng. Thank you." Cai Kangsheng was very tactful and evacuated the people blocking the door: "Let's go, don't make things difficult for Doctor Cheng. A good cook cannot cook without rice. Doctor Cheng doesn't have medicine. It's useless for you to keep crying and begging. You might as well contact the people that Doctor Cheng mentioned. Maybe they can get some medicine."
After Cheng Suming and the others had left, he returned to the house. Sinan was putting soybeans that had been soaked for two hours into a bamboo basket, covering it with a layer of breathable, shade-proof gauze, and then a layer of black cloth, preparing to eat raw bean sprouts.
Seeing him coming back, she placed the colander on top of a small bucket in a dark corner and asked him, "Have they all left?"
"I told them a few phone numbers to contact the medical purchasers, and they all left." Cheng Suming took off his mask and asked her to get some disinfectant from the space to carefully disinfect the door. He came back and said to her, "Try not to go out during this period. The bacteria brought by snakes, insects, rats and ants are similar to dysentery. They won't kill people if there are medicines, but they are highly contagious. I don't want you to be infected with those germs."
"If there is no medicine to treat dysentery, will the infected person die?"
"If you can't stop diarrhea and blood in your stool for a long time, it will happen."
Si Nan looked solemn. "There are basically no pharmacies selling medicine now. Even if there are medicines, they will definitely be sold at sky-high prices. Ordinary people probably can't afford them. If this continues, how many people will die?"
"Don't worry, the country has definitely stockpiled a large amount of medicine in advance and will treat the people."
Speaking of this, Si Nan remembered something. "According to my dream, the hail should have fallen now. How come it happened more than a month earlier? I combined your dream with the post by the mysterious person. The time of these natural disasters is consistent with my dream. How come it happened earlier? And I didn't dream that there would be so many snakes, insects, rats and ants after the heavy rain, causing bacterial infection. What's going on?"
Cheng Suming looked at her deeply and said meaningfully, "Perhaps, our dreams are just a kind reminder from God, and things will not happen exactly as they appear in our dreams."
Si Nan suddenly realized and began to worry about Sheng Youqing, Gao Moli, his uncle and aunt. He wondered if they had been infected by snakes, insects, rats, ants or bacteria, and he didn't know if they had any medicine to treat them.
She quickly contacted Sheng Youqing, who said that her family was fine, that snakes, insects, ants and rats were killed in time, that there were always some medicines for treating diarrhea at home, and that the whole family was fine.
Sheng Youqing's brother and her father were pouring the soil from several pots of flowers in her house into the sewer pipes in the toilet and kitchen to block them to prevent cockroaches, rats and the like from crawling up.
Gao Moli and her uncle and aunt were out of contact. Sinan could only comfort himself that they must have run out of battery and that they would definitely contact each other again in the near future.
In the following days, the Internet was filled with posts asking for help and medicine. Many people also cried out that they had gone to the hospital for treatment with great effort, but the hospital had no medicine. Moreover, half of the floors of most hospitals were soaked in water, and the remaining high floors were overcrowded. The hospitalization conditions were extremely poor. Some people were vomiting here and defecating there, causing cross infection. In order to prevent infection, many hospitals refused to accept patients.
Under such a severe situation, the country naturally took action at the first time, calling on everyone to stay at home and save themselves, and not to go out. Government departments will continue to deliver medicines to homes. At the same time, military helicopters and military amphibious vehicles were used to send a large number of drugs for treating dysentery to all parts of the country to curb the disease.
Si Nan listened to Cheng Su Ming's words and stayed at home obediently, reading books, watching TV, and browsing his phone. He occasionally took care of the vegetables and watered the plants. He exercised, fought, and practiced archery on a regular basis every day. At mealtime, he would prepare all kinds of delicious food with Cheng Su Ming. Although his life was monotonous, it was never boring.
That day, Cheng Suming stopped Si Nan from cooking and pulled her out: "Yu Yong has moved to Building 15 next door for a while. He's treating us today. Let's go have a meal."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Si Nan broke free from his hand. "I'm in my pajamas. How can I go out like this? Don't you think I'm embarrassing you? If I go to meet your friends, I should at least put on some makeup and dress nicely to save your face."
Cheng Suming looked at her hurriedly lying on her side to change clothes, and his lips curled slightly: "I think you are fine this way."
"What do you know!" Si Nan rolled her eyes at him, closed the door, and started to change clothes and put on makeup.
After about an hour of hard work, she finally finished her makeup.
In order not to lose face and give people a stunning effect, she deliberately put on exquisite makeup, wore a knee-length light pink autumn skirt, a waist-hugging short down jacket of the same color, and only wore a leg-revealing artifact on her legs, paired with a pair of round-toed pearl high heels.
She had a good foundation to begin with, with a small face and regular features. Now with makeup on, she has bright eyes, white teeth, fair skin, and beautiful looks. Her red lips are glowing with a luster, which is very tempting. She looks bright and gentle, which is amazing.
"Does it look good?" Si Nan deliberately turned around Cheng Suming to see his reaction.
"In my eyes, you are equally beautiful with or without makeup." Cheng Suming pushed the frame on his nose, his eyes full of smiles, and gave the standard answer.
"Tsk, boring." Si Nan picked up a delicate light pink leather bag and held it in his hand: "Let's go, Mr. Cheng, it's getting late."
"Mrs. Cheng, you go first. I'll carry the speedboat."
"Pfft...thank you for your hard work."
When the two arrived at Room 204, Floor 21, Building 15, Yu Yong had already prepared the meal.
The moment he opened the door, Yu Yong was stunned by Si Nan, "Hello sister-in-law, I am Yu Yong."
He tilted his head and made a face at Cheng Suming, envying his good fortune.
Cheng Suming smiled and walked into the house in a very good mood.
"Hello Yu Yong, I'm Si Nan." Si Nan, who was following behind him, smiled and shook hands with Yu Yong, and the three of them went into the living room together.
The lights were on in the living room, and the humming sound of a diesel engine came from an unknown room. Si Nan looked around and found that Yu Yong seemed to be the only one living here. The refrigerator in the kitchen was plugged in, and bagged foods such as rice, flour, potatoes, and sweet potatoes could be seen everywhere in the living room. He couldn't help but marvel at Yu Yong's ability. He was able to transfer all the stored supplies to this rented house despite the heavy rain and waterlogging. It was really amazing.
"Come, come, sit down." Yu Yong led the two to the dining table on the left side of the living room and asked them to sit down and start eating.
There were ten dishes on the table, including chicken, duck, fish, meat, fried, stir-fried, stewed, and everything else you could imagine. They were all very tasty and colorful. It was hard to believe that these were meals prepared by a playboy with a bad reputation.
Cheng Suming and Si Nan sat side by side opposite Yu Yong. Si Nan asked, "It's just the two of us. Is there no one else?"
"After the last incident where I was almost kidnapped and killed, I have seen through the so-called friends. Except for Brother Ming, the rest are all fake. I would like to invite you to dinner today." Yu Yong set the table for the two of them, and diligently poured them wine and drinks.
Cheng Suming raised his glass and clinked it with him without any surprise: "When did you learn to cook?"
"Of course it was after the high temperature." Yu Yong took a sip of beer and said with a wry smile: "Before the high temperature, you asked me to stock up more supplies, but I was skeptical and didn't stock up much. Then the temperature didn't drop for two consecutive months, and I realized something was wrong. I dismissed all the nannies and servants at home, and spent a lot of money to buy a batch of supplies to stock up at home. No one cooked for me, so I had to learn to cook by myself if I didn't want to go hungry. Now I have practiced it, both of you try it and see how good my cooking skills are?"
In front of Si Nan was a plate of diced rabbit with red peppers. Probably because there were no fresh peppers, they used dried peppers and dried Sichuan peppercorns as the main ingredients. The bright red plate looked a bit scary.
Si Nan picked up a piece of diced rabbit and chewed it. The rabbit meat was very tender, and it tasted spicy and numbing. After finishing it in one bite, his mouth was watering. The spiciness made Si Nan quickly drink a sip of orange juice. He gave Yu Yong a thumbs up and said, "Your cooking skills are good. It tastes spicy and numbing, and it suits my taste very well."
"If sister-in-law likes it, eat more." Yu Yong was very happy that his cooking skills were recognized. He kept asking Cheng Suming to pick up food for Si Nan, fearing that Si Nan would not have enough to eat.
The guests enjoyed the meal very much. Si Nan wanted to collect and wash the dishes, but Yu Yong stopped her and said, "Sister-in-law, these jobs are for us men. You can't take away my and Su Ming's jobs. I spent a lot of money to buy a DVD player. There are many good movies in it. Sister-in-law, why don't you go and watch some movies and see if there are any you like."
Si Nan knew that Yu Yong had something to say to Cheng Su Ming, but it was not convenient to say it in front of her. She didn't hesitate and turned around to find a science fiction disc. She fiddled with the DVD for a long time and sat on the sofa to watch it.
"Tell me, what's the matter? You wouldn't send your sister-in-law away for no reason." Cheng Suming helped Yu Yong put the plates in the kitchen sink and stood aside watching Yu Yong wash the dishes, with no intention of helping at all.
Yu Yong washed the piles of dishes with a look of despair and said, "My friends got a piece of news that the capital sent a secret force to the Himalayas. If I'm not mistaken, the country is building secret homes there to deal with the next natural disaster. It's not convenient to talk over the phone, so I asked you to come over for dinner to ask what you think."
"It's meaningless even if it's repaired. Ordinary people can't get in. Even if I can get in, I don't want to go."
Cheng Suming leaned against the operating table, his thin chin slightly raised, his eyes behind the glasses revealing a bit of coldness, "Don't tell me about the Cheng family's influence in the capital. I don't want to have anything to do with them, nor do I want to associate with them. I know what will happen in the future. If you want to go to the capital, I advise you to settle down in Xingcheng, where you can still have a chance of survival."
Yu Yong paused while wiping the dishes. "Did you hear something, or do you want to mess things up? You don't want to get involved with the Cheng family, but others may not think so. At the very least, Cheng Qiming and his son will not let you go. And you don't care about your cousin, Cheng Wei?"
"Hearsay is not to be trusted. If you listen to me, maybe you can live longer." Cheng Suming said coldly: "Cheng Jindong and his son can use whatever means they have. I have gotten used to it over the years and have nothing to fear. If they dare to threaten Cheng Wei and Si Nan, I will make them die miserably."
The murderous look in his eyes frightened Yu Yong, "Don't do anything stupid, I want to tell you about the Cheng family..."
After leaving Yu’s house, Si Nan and Cheng Su Ming got on the speedboat and paddled home.
Si Nan saw that he was worried all the way, so he slowed down the speed of the rowing and asked, "What did Yu Yong say to you?"
She didn't want to ask, but if she didn't ask, on the one hand, she felt that she didn't care enough about Cheng Suming, and it was not good for him to bear all the things alone. On the other hand, she was a little gossipy and was very curious.
Cheng Suming stopped paddling, "Yu Yong said that Yang Wentao was imprisoned by the Cheng family, and they threatened Cheng Wei to marry the son of a powerful family in Xingcheng."
"There is such a thing?" Si Nan was surprised: "It's already this time, and the Cheng family is still thinking about marriage, are you kidding me! But how did Yu Yong know about Yang Wentao? Didn't you contact Cheng Wei before?"
"When Cheng Wei and the others arrived at the Cheng family, their cell phones were confiscated. Given the Cheng family's strict security, no information about Cheng Wei and the others will be leaked to the outside world, unless..." Cheng Suming paused, stared at the thick clouds in the sky, and did not continue.
"Unless there is a guest, and this guest uses the excuse of running away to pee to wander around the Cheng family and finds Cheng Wei. You said before that Yu Yong's family is engaged in medical equipment in Xingcheng, and their family has a certain status in Xingcheng. If you ask Yu Yong to help you find out about Cheng Wei, I think the Cheng family will not refuse Yu Yong's visit."
"Yes, you guessed it right." Cheng Suming smiled: "Mrs. Cheng, are you willing to go with me to Longtanhuxue?"
Si Nan smiled: "How can I be absent from such an exciting event? Let's go."
The two of them changed direction and headed towards the Cheng family's old house near the central city.
The journey to the central city was long, and the two walked and stopped many times. The iconic buildings and squares wherever they went disappeared and were submerged in water. Only high-rise buildings floated on the turbid water, reflecting distorted shadows of the buildings.
In the distance, military helicopters kept rumbling over the buildings, startling the flocks of birds perched on the top floors of the tall buildings, which scattered in all directions. Under the gloomy sky, their small speedboats were slowly moving in the endless waters, making people feel a sense of desolation and loneliness as if the end of the world was approaching.
About two hours later, they arrived at the Cheng family's old house near the central city.
This was originally a mansion, covering a vast area with mountains and lakes, and the scenery was quite beautiful. However, due to the war before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the mansion was bombarded with gunfire. After many years of changes, half of the mansion was taken away by the Xingcheng government, and the house was rebuilt, and the mansion became the old house of the Cheng family.
Even so, the Cheng family is still wealthy and powerful, making ordinary people envious.
Si Nan originally thought that Cheng Su Ming would take her around to a remote corner of the Cheng family villa and find a place to sneak in. Unexpectedly, Cheng Su Ming directly rowed the speedboat to the door of the ninth floor living room, which served as the temporary door of the Cheng family, and explained his purpose to the bodyguard guarding the door: "I am Cheng Su Ming, I want to see Cheng Wei."
The bodyguards knew of his presence and reported it to the higher authorities. Soon, Butler Wang came out and led the way to Cheng Suming and the others: "Young Master Ming is here, please come in. This must be Young Master Ming's lover, please follow me."
He led the two of them into the reception banquet hall on the tenth floor, where sat the old lady of the Cheng family, the son of the main branch of the Cheng family, and Cheng Jindong's mother and son. They all looked at the two of them as they walked into the banquet hall with gloomy faces, as if they were ready to accuse them.
Cheng Suming didn't take them seriously. He symbolically called Old Lady Cheng "Grandma". He didn't greet anyone else. He took Si Nan to find a seat and sat down. He got straight to the point and said, "Weiwei is ignorant and made mistakes. As her cousin, I also have some responsibility. But I didn't come here today to ask for forgiveness. I came to tell you elders that Yang Wentao is a gangster and has some connections in both the white and black sides. He has been locked up by the Cheng family for almost a month and has been enduring the torture of your Cheng family without any intention of resisting. It was purely for Cheng Wei. He didn't want her to do irrational things because she was threatened and hurt. But if you touch Cheng Wei and force her to do something she doesn't want to do, Yang Wentao will probably find someone to turn the Cheng family upside down and smash it! He won't let any of you Cheng family members go! Don't doubt it, he has the ability to do it."
"What the hell are you talking about, you bastard!" Cheng Jindong's face was as gloomy as water, and he shouted loudly: "What do you mean by you are a member of the Cheng family? You are not a member of the Cheng family? How can a bastard like him have the ability to touch our Cheng family!"
"When did you, the Cheng family, admit that I am a member of the Cheng family? Don't you think it's funny when you say that?" Cheng Suming's face was full of sarcasm. "Believe it or not, I have finished what I want to say. I want to go see Cheng Wei, and you'd better not stop me."
As he spoke, he stood up and slowly took out a mini submachine gun from his pocket. He pointed the gun at Cheng Qiming, who was sitting in a wheelchair next to Cheng Jindong with flaming eyes. He had a gentle smile on his stern face: "You hire assassins to kill me every year, but you fail every time. Are you disappointed? Don't worry, there are still many days to come, and I have plenty of time to play with you."
When Cheng Qiming saw him, he wanted to rush up to him, bite his flesh, drink his blood, and cut him into pieces to relieve the hatred in his heart.
However, he was filled with hatred. When he saw Cheng Suming's gun and the smile on his face, he felt a chill all over his body, and recalled the fear of being almost pinned to death in the mud by Cheng Suming many years ago.
He was clearly smiling and spoke in a gentle tone, but his handsome face gave people the feeling that he was smiling but had a dagger hidden inside that could take your life at any time, which made people feel frightened for no reason.
The words Cheng Qiming wanted to say were stuck in his throat. He watched Cheng Suming taking Si Nan to find Cheng Wei. Everyone in the banquet hall was silent, watching them leave without any intention of stopping them.
After a while, a member of the Cheng family, a branch of the family, said, "How come he has a gun? Aren't guns and knives strictly controlled in our country? Where did he get the weapon?"
This is also what Si Nan wanted to ask. She has been with Cheng Suming for more than half a year, but she has never noticed that he has a gun!
How many things did this man hide from her!
Perhaps her gaze was too explicit. As the two of them walked on a corridor covered with soft blankets, Cheng Suming handed the gun in his hand to her and said, "I spent a lot of money to smuggle it back from abroad. I only have this one. I haven't told you because I'm afraid you'll be impulsive and scare people with the gun and get reported and turned it in. There's chaos both at home and abroad right now. I'm giving you the gun. You can keep it and it can protect you. If you think I'm hiding other weapons, you can search me and my house to see if I have any other hidden weapons or items."
What he said made sense, but Si Nan knew in her heart that things would not be that simple. She was too lazy to delve into the story and threw the gun back into his hand: "I know you are hiding something from me, and I don't want to force you to tell it. Anyway, we are just getting married by agreement and it's a relationship of mutual benefit. You don't need to explain so much to me, just do what you have to do."
Cheng Suming was stunned for a moment, looking at Si Nan who was walking in front of him angrily, and realized that she was angry. He followed her helplessly: "Why are you angry? I have said everything I need to say."
"I've said everything I should have said, but what about what I shouldn't have said?"
Cheng Suming was speechless. Just as he was about to explain, he suddenly heard Cheng Wei's voice: "Brother, sister-in-law, is that you?"
They both paused at the same time and stopped in front of a locked door.
Si Nan knocked on the door: "Weiwei, it's us, are you in this room?"
"Yes, I'm inside. The door of this room is locked, and the windows are sealed. I can't get out. Brother, sister-in-law, are you here to save me?"
"Of course." Cheng Suming took out a thumb-long thin wire from his pocket, fiddled with the round handle lock twice, and easily opened the door.
Si Nan watched from the side, feeling very complicated. Cheng Suming could easily pry open the lock, so what else could he not do? From now on, it didn't matter whether her door was locked or not.
"Brother, sister-in-law." The moment the door opened, Cheng Wei threw herself into Si Nan's arms and cried loudly: "Why did you come to save me just now? I've been waiting for you for a long time."
"How come you're so thin? I almost can't recognize you. Didn't you eat well?" Si Nan saw that her face was so thin that it was only the size of a palm, and her eyes were so sunken. He tidied up her messy hair with heartache.
"I couldn't eat, and I didn't want to eat. I wanted to see Wentao, but they wouldn't let me see him. They threatened me with the video of him being tortured, so I couldn't eat. They locked me in the room, and I was going crazy..."
Si Nan listened to her patiently, and when she finished, he patted her hands and said, "Everything is over now. Come with us to find Yang Wentao."
Yang Wentao was locked in a storage room. Cheng Suming pried the door open. The moment they saw Yang Wentao, Si Nan and Cheng Wei were stunned.
Yang Wentao's neck, arms, and legs were tightly locked with thick iron chains and fastened to four large pillars. He was only wearing a pair of underwear in the middle of winter. His body was covered with scars from beatings and frostbite. He used to be 1.85 meters tall, but now he was just skin and bones, with his head hanging weakly.
The moment the door opened, Yang Wentao said weakly without even looking up, "Don't waste your energy. No matter how you abuse me, I will never say I will give up on Xiaowei. As long as I don't say it, you can't record my voice, Xiaowei won't believe your words, and won't marry as you ask. You will never be able to break us up."
"Wentao." Cheng Wei was so heartbroken that she couldn't breathe. She rushed over with tears in her eyes and hugged Yang Wentao tightly, crying: "I'm sorry, I hurt you."
Yang Wentao slowly raised his head and saw the girl he had been thinking about day and night appear in front of him. He didn't know whether it was real or just his illusion. He called her gently: "Xiao Wei, don't cry, I'm fine..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he fainted.
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