February 3, 2057, Shanghai Temporary Shelter No. 3, 2:27 PM.
"Attention everyone! Today is Lunar New Year's Eve. Each household will receive dumplings according to the number of people in the household, five dumplings per person. In addition to white flour dumplings, families with children under five years old and elderly people over sixty-five years old can also receive a bag of rice. Everyone will receive one. After you've received your dumplings, hurry home. The roads are slippery due to the snow, so please be careful!"
The staff member holding the megaphone had a big smile on his face, and his eyes were shining.
"Please line up, don't rush, don't cut in line. Our staff is working overtime to make sure everyone gets their hands on the dumplings, okay?"
Cheers suddenly erupted from the crowded queue, and smiles filled every face with happiness.
"good!!"
"Thank you, government!"
"There really is rice! That's wonderful! My child has never even tasted plain white porridge since birth!"
"Thanks for your hard work!!"
"Don't push, don't push! Didn't we say five people per person? If adults and children are counted as heads, then our family is losing out!"
"Oh my goodness, look! White flour dumplings!! This time we're really going to have a good New Year!"
Those who received dumplings at the front of the line stuffed them into their clothes as they walked, afraid someone would snatch them away. Those behind them stared longingly at the distribution window, worried that there wouldn't be any left when it was their turn.
Some people who received rice were stopped before they could walk more than a few steps, and people were yelling that they had to trade something for it.
"No, no, my mother is over sixty years old and is lying in chemotherapy bed waiting for this bowl of rice porridge. Go away, go find someone else to swap with!"
The person carrying the rice was overjoyed, as if they had struck it rich. They carefully protected the grain in their arms and ran along the way. In fact, it was only a fistful of rice, which could be easily squeezed out of their hands. But for them, a bowl of hot rice porridge and a few dumplings were enough to make their family have a good New Year.
It's like no matter how bitter or difficult life gets, as long as you have a bowl of dumplings to eat, life won't be so hard.
...
...
At the No. 3 shelter hospital in Shanghai, Han Duoduo is in good spirits today, and she is having dumplings with her family.
"Oh dear! The Spring Festival Gala is about to start, I need to quickly change the channel—"
"Don't rush, we still have to wait for the news broadcast and weather forecast to finish! Oh! It's starting, it's starting!"
"I heard that only our Shanghai Shelter No. 3 received dumplings and rice this year, and other places didn't get any! Where do you think the flour and rice came from?"
Hey! Eat more and earn more money! Why are you so concerned? Look, the Spring Festival Gala has started!
The ward was filled with a joyful atmosphere as everyone chatted and laughed, planning for the Chinese New Year. Although the earth has stopped turning, the Chinese tradition of celebrating the New Year is ingrained in their very bones.
Even Han Duoduo's father, Han Zi'ang, took a rare day off to come to the hospital to celebrate the New Year with his daughter, son-in-law, and grandson.
"Duoduo, how have you been feeling lately? Still feeling nauseous? Look, my boss gave me an apple the other day. We can all eat it together today since it's Chinese New Year."
Han Ziang was born in 1999, so he can be said to be among the first group of people to experience solar fusion. You can still see some of the seriousness he had when he was young in his eyes. The father and daughter look somewhat alike when they sit together.
The apple in his hand was pitifully small, perhaps because it had been sitting for too long and had lost its moisture; the skin was dry and brittle—because it hadn't seen sunlight for so long, the apple was greenish-yellow.
“Dad, you’re getting old. Don’t worry about me. I feel like I’m useless if you keep doing this to me.”
Han Duoduo smiled, then mysteriously pulled a package from under her pillow and quickly stuffed it into Han Ziang's pocket.
"What's this?"
Han Ziang opened the plastic bag and saw two golden-yellow fried glutinous rice balls inside. Because of the squeezing, the surface of the glutinous rice balls had cracked slightly, revealing the translucent red filling inside.
—Without even smelling it, Han Ziang could already imagine its taste.
Although it's cold, the outer layer has been deep-fried, so it must be crispy and crunchy. The glutinous rice inside is soft and chewy. Take a bite, and the filling will eagerly rush to your tongue...
There were other people in the ward, and Han Zi'ang couldn't help but lower his voice: "Where did these people come from?"
He hadn't seen glutinous rice in so long, let alone glutinous rice balls made from glutinous rice flour. As a native Shanghainese, his most vivid memory was of a bowl of glutinous rice balls with lard and black sesame that he ate during the Chinese New Year.
Sweet and fragrant, piping hot with every bite.
But he never got to eat it again after the disaster.
"Peiqiang traded it for his medal. I even gave him mine so he could exchange it for more—"
Han Duoduo covered her son's ears and whispered something to Han Ziang:
"Don't worry, don't you know who Peiqiang is? He would never do anything illegal. Don't eat cockroach chunks for lunch these next couple of days; I'll have Peiqiang bring you lunch."
Hearing this, Han Zi'ang felt heartbroken and choked up: "You... I'm getting old, so I can eat less. That medal was earned with your life, how can you just sell it like that—sigh!"
He wanted to say something more, but then remembered that his daughter's health needed more nourishment, so he thought for a moment and continued to ask:
"Who did Peiqiang trade with? If that doesn't work, I have a few 'Advanced Individual' medals here, let's trade them together. I heard that with your illness, you need to eat more, and your body will get better if you eat more, do you know that?"
After the solar radiation burst, many people on Earth contracted radiation sickness. Han Duoduo contracted Class II radiation sickness caused by radiation. There is no cure, and she can only prolong her life through chemotherapy in the hospital.
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