Since Lin Man was old enough to understand things, he has often lived under the shadow of death. The thing that left the deepest impression on him was the tide of corpses when he was five years old.
The situation was extremely critical at the time, and Mother Lin was also sent to resist the zombies. She hid in the house alone, listening to the screams, cries for help, and roars of zombies in the distance, as well as the crying of the neighbors' children and elderly people nearby. She vaguely knew that it was very likely that everyone would die this time.
Fortunately, the next day, after sunrise, the tide of corpses receded, but nearly half the base's inhabitants had perished. Due to a shortage of manpower, she was assigned to rebuild the base, so she saw a lot of bodies and blood. She also watched the collective cremation of the bodies, and the wailing of Grandma Wu next door would echo in her mind every night.
From then on, she knew that she and her mother were lucky to survive, but they could die at any time.
She has had this awareness for many years.
So even though there are fewer and fewer people and more and more people are leaving, and they are about to die, she is worried, but she will not panic and despair like others. In her heart, as long as she is with her mother, she is not afraid of anything.
"Silly girl, what are you talking about dying together? Mom is old and you are only seventeen..." Mother Lin said with a warm and sad heart.
Lin Man said, "But without my mother, I wouldn't have come into this world. Living to the age of seventeen is already a blessing."
When the apocalypse came, she was still in her mother's belly, three months old. Her father happened to be out of town, and the apocalypse came suddenly. They lived in the city center, a severely affected area. Her mother couldn't contact her father, and couldn't wait any longer, so she could only flee with her neighbors.
If her mother had made up her mind to abort her, she would only be weak for a while and could actually live a better life. Whether she was single or found another partner, she would have been more relaxed. But she chose to give birth to her.
During the months of fleeing with a big belly, facing the dangers of childbirth and the difficulties of carrying a small baby, Mother Lin's life was much harder than that of ordinary people. But her mother never despised her and never thought of abandoning her. Lin Man knew very well that her life was given by her mother.
Mother Lin felt both sad and sweet in her heart and wanted to cry. Having such a well-behaved daughter made all the hardships she had gone through in the past worth it.
She really wanted to give everything so that her daughter could live well in this cruel world.
As they were talking, the wild vegetable soup in the pot was boiling. Lin Man sprinkled half of the earthworm powder into the pot and stirred it twice. The unique earthy smell of the earthworm powder wafted out, but both of them were used to it.
The wild vegetable soup was divided into two bowls, and the mother and daughter ate it slowly until they were full. They chewed each wild vegetable in their mouths until it was soft before swallowing it, because they understood the preciousness of food best. After eating these wild vegetables, they might never have the chance to eat such food again.
After dinner, Lin Man helped his mother make clothes. She made a short-sleeved pullover. She had to be very careful when wearing it because the fabric was very old and made of many pieces together. It would be easily torn if she applied too much force.
After making the clothes, Mother Lin altered two pieces of underwear for Lin Man. Mother Lin instructed her, and Lin Man did it himself. They were called underwear, but in fact they were just small vests. Because of poor nutrition since childhood, although he was over sixteen years old, Lin Man had not developed much. He grew quite tall, 1.65 meters, and looked taller and thinner like a bamboo pole.
After finishing, there were only two palms' worth of thread left, so Lin Man simply used it to mend his backpack.
This backpack is older than she is and has been patched countless times over the years, but Lin Man cherishes it very much because it is the only thing her mother brought out from home.
"Mom, what is our home like?" Lin Man suddenly asked.
Mother Lin looked at her lovingly, and a hint of nostalgia welled up in her eyes when she heard this: "Our house, our house is in the city center, on the 17th floor, so high up. Standing on the balcony, you can take in the river view. The living room is very large, with thick carpets. Your dad said that when the time comes, he will let you crawl and run all over the floor, and he won't be afraid of you falling..."
Lin Man listened silently. Although she had heard these words many times, she still couldn't help but feel longing. In her entire life, the tallest building she had ever seen was the six-story hotel in town. A seventeen-story building, how tall would it be?
She suddenly asked again: "Mom, what kind of person is my dad?"
Mother Lin paused, her lips curled up into a smile. "He is a very good person, very responsible, tall, very handsome, and his smile is the most beautiful. Your eyes and eyebrows are especially like his."
Lin Man couldn't help but touch his eyes and eyebrows: "Tell me, where is he now? Is he thinking about us?"
Mother Lin stroked her dry, yellow hair and said, "Yes, your father was so excited for your birth. When he first found out you were coming, he was so happy that he bought a bunch of clothes and toys the next day and even hurriedly converted a room in the house into a baby room."
Unfortunately, before he could complete his transformation, he was called back by the elders of the Lin family in Beijing. Then came the apocalyptic changes, until now, seventeen years later.
Lin Man leaned his head gently on his mother Lin, wishing he could see her father before he died.
That night, Lin Man had a dream. She dreamed of a tall building. The light in the room on the 17th floor was on. A little baby was crawling around on the furry floor, babbling. Young mother Lin had prepared a table full of delicious food. Suddenly, the door opened and a tall, young man came in. Without caring about anything else, he smiled at the little baby and said, "Xiao Man, come and hold your daddy. I've brought you some delicious food!"
The little baby suddenly turned into Lin Man. She jumped up from the ground and jumped onto the man: "Dad! What delicious food did you bring me?"
The dream scene shifted again. Lin Man was sitting at the table, eating all sorts of delicious food. In his left hand was a chicken drumstick, and in his left hand was a large white steamed bun. In front of him was a bowl of white, fragrant rice, three boiled eggs, some candied tomatoes, a bowl of vegetable and tofu soup, and a bowl of vegetable and scallion noodles...
The table was filled with all the delicious food she could think of and knew about, and she ate and ate, and then she woke up.
Hungry, weak, powerless...
The more beautiful the dream is, the more cruel the reality is.
It was still dark, and Lin Man continued to lie down to avoid unnecessary physical exertion. Then, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
What is she holding in her hand?
She squeezed her hands together, then sat up suddenly, staring at the thing in her hands in the moonlight that seemed almost non-existent coming in through the window.
Her voice trembled as she called out to Mother Lin who was sleeping beside her: "Mom, Mom, Mom!"
Mother Lin woke up in a daze, tried to get up, and then fell back weakly. She was too hungry. It was a very normal reaction to feel anxious and short of breath because of hunger. She was used to it. But she had no strength in her body. It seemed as if her whole body was not her own.
But her daughter's cry was full of panic. She still managed to sit up and groped for her daughter in the darkness: "Xiaoman, what's wrong?"
Lin Man lowered his voice, his voice trembling, and it was hard to tell whether it was fear or surprise: "Mom, look, what's in my hand?"
Due to years of lack of nutrition and vitamins, Mother Lin's night vision is extremely poor. She can still see the outline of Lin Man in the moonlight, but for Mother Lin, everything is dark at night and she can't see anything. She groped in Lin Man's hand and said, "What is it? Don't scare Mom, ah..."
Mother Lin felt something. In Lin Man's left hand was a piece of meat-like thing, still wet and sticky. In his right hand was something soft and warm. Mother Lin couldn't see what was going on. Many chaotic images suddenly appeared in her mind, and she was frightened: "Xiao Man, what is that? Throw it away!"
Lin Man thought her mother couldn't see at night, and seeing that she was frightened, she immediately calmed herself down and whispered in her ear: "Don't worry, don't worry, it should be food. I'll go light a fire and we can take a closer look."
She didn't dare put the thing in her hand into Mother Lin's hand. She groped her way out of bed and smelled the things in her hand. One smelled of meat and the other smelled of steamed buns. They were exactly the same smell and touch as in her dream. Her heart was pounding as if it was about to jump out.
She carefully placed the things on the table, and then, relying on her familiarity with the house, she took a few steps to the stove. There was firewood next to the stove, and in the drawer of the cabinet next to the firewood was the only lighter left in the house, which was almost empty. Usually, people used flint to light a fire, and lighters were something that would be gone once they were used up.
But she had no time to care about anything else now. She fumbled and kneaded a few pieces of hay, lit them with a lighter, carefully stuffed them into the stove, and started the fire quickly. Her hands and her whole body were shaking during the whole process.
By the light of the fire, she finally saw what was in her greasy and sticky left hand. It was thick chicken soup and a small piece of stewed yellow chicken skin.
She was so nervous that her heart was beating fast. She lifted the stove and put it on a stool. The flames illuminated the things on the table. Lin Man and Lin's mother could see them clearly. It was a chicken leg and a big white steamed bun.
Mother Lin breathed a sigh of relief, then was shocked: "Xiaoman, where did this come from?"
Lin Man stood there for a while, then turned around and stuffed all the gaps in the wooden window with rags. After making sure that no one could see inside from the outside, she returned to the bed and carefully examined the chicken legs and steamed buns with Lin's mother.
"Mom, look, is this true?"
"It's real, it's absolutely true." Mother Lin tore open the steamed bun, and asked Lin Man to bring the bowl and chopsticks, and peeled the chicken leg into strips. It was absolutely real, and it should have just come out of the pot and was still hot.
The chicken legs are from old hens, and the steamed buns are made of white flour. You can even smell the sweetness. Mother Lin hasn't seen such good things in many years.
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