It was past 2 a.m. the next day when I returned from Xiaoshan's house.
Lu's father was still awake, busy working on design drawings on the sofa. Since he started working with Du Heng's company, he realized just how outstanding a real designer could be, so he began to delve into the concept of house design.
"Why are you back so late? Did something happen at the factory?" Lu's father looked up at Lu Yuan and asked.
"No, it's Xiaoshan's dad who got bitten by a rat. I'll go check on him!"
Upon hearing that it was Xiaoshan's father who had been bitten, Lu's father asked anxiously, "Why didn't you tell us sooner? How is he now?"
Seeing his father about to leave after putting down his laptop, Lu Yuan stopped him and said, "Dad, don't worry, everything's alright now, don't worry!"
Hearing Lu Yuan say that, Lu's father was immediately relieved. However, he still called Xiao Shan's father to confirm that everything was alright and chatted for a while before hanging up.
Lu Yuan, who hadn't eaten dinner yet, took out two packs of instant noodles from the refrigerator to cook something. When his father saw this, he clutched his stomach and told Lu Yuan to add another pack.
After cooking the instant noodles, the father and son sat on the sofa, eating them while watching TV and chatting.
"Breaking news of a major incident: This morning, during an inspection of the nation's No. 1 grain depot, several rat holes were discovered. More than ten grain depots have been attacked by rats, and similar incidents have been found in grain depots in other provinces and cities. Damaged grain is being urgently recalled. According to relevant departments, tens of millions of tons of grain have been lost due to these mutated rats. Relevant national departments have launched an investigation into the matter..."
"The state just held an emergency meeting to discuss entering a nationwide food emergency. A new food rationing order has been officially issued. All grain warehouses in all regions will be uniformly planned. From now on, grain sales centers in various regions will be uniformly managed by the local police, with a daily ration limit for each person!"
"To address the issue of food distribution, relevant technology companies have begun deploying various facial recognition devices across different regions to ensure that food supplies are not stolen..."
After seeing the news online, both Lu Yuan and his father stopped eating.
"The grain isn't being sold anymore? They've started delivering it?" Mr. Lu seemed not to have realized what was happening.
Lu Yuan, sitting to the side, added, "Dad, you seem to have misunderstood. It's not that it's being given away, it's that it's unavailable. This means that food has truly become something controlled by the state, and it's estimated that everyone will go hungry in the future!"
"This...this is a huge mess! I wonder if anyone else knows!"
The next day, everyone noticed something: a group of people in police uniforms came to the two supermarkets in Zone 3. They arrived by car, checked the grain inventory with the store owners, registered it, and then drove away and took all the grain away.
This sudden move left everyone who was queuing to buy rice and flour dumbfounded.
"What's going on? Why have they taken all the grain? What are we going to eat? My kids are waiting for rice to be cooked!"
"Oh no! Are they going to take all the food and leave us to our own devices? What are we going to eat then?"
"Didn't any of you see the news? The announcement released in the early hours of the morning said that all the food would be managed centrally and distributed according to the number of people, with each household having a daily limit, and it wouldn't cost any money!"
...
Suddenly, the crowd became noisy. Some people kept saying negative things based on their own guesses, and some people immediately became pessimistic and thought that they would starve to death. Immediately, some people started to cry.
Shortly after, another police car arrived, and several people got out. They took out a huge poster and pasted it on the supermarket wall. Then they took out a machine from the car and placed it on the table. After that, they called the supermarket owner aside and said something to him.
Then the supermarket owner walked out looking dejected.
The crowd immediately surrounded him, bombarding him with questions. The supermarket owner, looking distressed, said, "Sigh! The supermarket is going to be taken over by the police. From now on, they'll be delivering food every morning at nine o'clock. This place will become a sales point, with a daily limit on the amount of food each person can receive. Once it expires, it won't be available anymore! Sigh, my shop! I'll never have any money left! I heard that money won't be of any use anymore! We won't be able to buy food or water!"
Everyone was shocked, and an ominous aura immediately began to spread among them.
However, in order to stabilize people's emotions, the authorities came up with some ways to alleviate the food crisis. In addition to rationing food supplies, other foods were also available as substitutes. Anyone with other food could exchange it for staple foods such as rice and noodles, and other items such as ironware could also be exchanged.
There are also some jobs arranged in supermarkets, and if you are successfully hired, you can receive some extra food compensation.
Unemployed, Lu's mother sensed a new job opportunity and immediately expressed her intention to apply for a position as a manager or cashier at the supermarket. This would not only help supplement the family income but also allow her to receive food supplies as early as possible, since the daily food allowance was limited. If she didn't go early, the food would be gone by the time it was all gone, and she would have to wait until the next day to go hungry.
Everyone in the family raised their hands to support Lu's mother's choice.
Of course, besides this, the option of exchanging goods for food offered everyone a glimmer of hope. The country allowed the exchange of goods for food, provided the goods had value. Exchanging junk was essentially pointless.
That evening, Lu Yuan was lying in bed scrolling through his phone when he saw people in the group chat starting to discuss exchanging goods for food.
Ge Shunshun, No. 6, Bungalow: "I have a car at home, but I don't know if I can trade it in! It's out of gas! Anyway, I can't drive it, so it's just a pile of scrap metal!"
Sun Heng Supermarket No. 2: "Yes, that's possible. I just checked the list of items available for redemption, and it says that you can use a car to redeem it! But you'll need to bring the car's purchase certificate and vehicle registration!"
Ge Shunshun, No. 6 Pingfang: "That should be fine. My car was just bought two years ago and has only driven less than 30,000 kilometers. I don't know what price it can fetch!"
Liu Guixiang, No. 56, Bungalow: "I have a piano at home, Sun Heng, can you help me see if I can exchange it?"
Sun Heng Supermarket No. 2: "Aunt Liu, this must be quite expensive! I didn't know you could play the piano!"
At this moment, someone who had been lurking in the group and hadn't said a word spoke up.
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