Chapter 83 Chapter 083【VIP】
"Can our base communicate with the outside world?"
"It's already been possible!"
"Who said that?"
The chattering started again, and no one mentioned Fu Chun's broadcast and the problem of his accent not being standard.
But it’s good as long as they can understand it. As for those outside the Taoyuan base, hi, I believe they can still understand the general meaning.
Anyway, the people in E Taoyuan base mostly make fun of it, but the people in the outside bases...
Without exception, they were all extremely surprised when they heard the strange broadcast with an exotic accent coming from their base.
Especially when hearing the weather warning broadcast, one can't help but let out a series of exclamations.
"You're kidding! The extreme heat is going to continue for another week. It's been raining for two days straight, so the temperature should drop after the rain stops."
"As I said, the extreme heat will disappear in a week, and we'll be entering extreme cold."
Fire Department No. 1, Base, City A, underground residence No. 5-201.
Zheng Yong walked to the dining table with the fried eggs and frowned when he saw Lin Xia's absent-minded look.
"I need to check the circuit while it's still cool this morning. I heard some unusual noises coming from the switchboard when the power came on yesterday."
Lin Xia nodded, quickly listing the things she needed to accomplish today. "I'm going to the supermarket to stock up on water and food. Mom needs a follow-up checkup, and..."
"I don't know what's going on with my sister."
The brief, relaxed atmosphere at the dinner table vanished immediately. Xiaoyu bit into her fried egg, her eyes flicking back and forth between her parents. "Our school chat group said we might have to continue online classes next week."
"That's good." Lin Xia forced herself to speak in a relaxed tone, "At least I don't have to run around in the sun."
Mother Lin then spoke up: "Actually, I can go to the hospital alone."
"That's impossible," Lin Xia emphasized, worried about her mother's health. "Mom, you're so old, don't try to be so arrogant. Otherwise, Zheng Yong and I will worry too much."
"And me."
Xiaoyu raised her hand to show that she was very filial.
After dinner, Zheng Yong immediately found his toolbox and began checking the electrical circuits in his home, while Lin Xia took her mother and Xiaoyu to the nearest supermarket.
The coolness after the rain brought a lot more people to the streets than usual, and many people, like them, seized this short time to go out shopping.
The A City base is now much quieter, even at night.
Construction on the underground city continued, and hadn't stopped just because the extreme heat was about to end. However, compared to the past, public security was much better.
The supermarket that Lin Xia, her mother, and Xiaoyu went to was not far from the underground city entrance. As soon as they entered, the situation inside the supermarket made Lin Xia's heart tighten.
Long lines formed in front of the bottled water aisles, where purchase limit signs were prominently displayed. The fresh produce section was completely empty, with only a few wilted tomatoes and a few handfuls of yellowed greens lying there forlornly.
"Mineral water is sold out. Only soda water is available. Each person is limited to two bottles." The cashier repeated mechanically, his voice full of fatigue.
Lin Xia asked her mother to take Xiaoyu to queue up, while she quickly shuttled between the shelves and threw various long-lasting foods into the shopping cart.
Canned food, compressed biscuits, instant noodles... When she turned to the daily necessities area, she found that batteries, candles and flashlights were almost sold out.
"I heard there was another power outage in the West District last night. This time it was a transformer explosion," a middle-aged woman who was stockpiling toilet paper whispered to her companion. "Even the fire truck couldn't get in. The road is too narrow."
Lin Xia's hands trembled slightly as she grabbed a few extra packs of sanitary napkins and wipes. When she checked out, the cashier scanned the items and reported a figure that made her eyes widen—it was nearly double the usual price.
"Why is it so expensive?"
"We can't help it. The existing factories in our base only operate at night, and the production speed is not very high. It's only after the apocalypse that most women's menstrual periods have changed from once a month to once every four months. Otherwise, there would not be enough."
Lin Xia: "I still do it once a month."
"That's pitiful of you." The cashier said sincerely. "Do you want more?"
"I want."
Lin Xia gritted her teeth and paid the money, thinking that her expenses for this month would be overspent again.
When she walked out of the supermarket, she saw several elderly people sitting in the shadow at the entrance of the supermarket with a sign in front of them that read "Want to buy second-hand air conditioning fans."
Lin Xia: “???”
"Are there still air-conditioning fans for sale now?" Lin's mother expressed surprise.
Xiaoyu: "Fake."
"It's hard to even buy a new second-hand air conditioning fan these days, let alone an old one." Lin Xia explained, "Don't worry, no one is selling second-hand air conditioning fans now."
On the way home, Lin Xia's phone kept vibrating. It was the homeowners' group chat for their former residential complex, constantly sending messages. The group was already buzzing.
"Who has extra bottled water? Buy it for a high price!"
There are elderly people trapped inside! "
We're running low on diesel, and we're trying to figure out a solution..."
"How come there are still people living in the same neighborhood?" Mother Lin, even a water-based psychic can't produce that much water.
Lin Xia explained, "There's not enough bottled water, so the high price is just an excuse."
Xiaoyu: "Maybe the water-type psychic is trying to drive up prices."
"Who knows?"
As E was speaking, Lin Xia suddenly remembered something and quickly stopped to speak to her mother. "Mom, take Xiaoyu home first. I'll go check on the Wangjiang Community and pick up some things."
"Okay, go quickly and come back soon. Don't let mom, Xiaoyu, and son-in-law worry."
At this time, more than a dozen people had gathered downstairs of Building 12 in Wangjiang Community.
"The elevator automatically shut down due to overheating," explained the property manager, Old Chen, sweating profusely. "We've called for maintenance, but it'll take at least two hours..."
"Two hours? There's an octogenarian in there!" a middle-aged man shouted angrily.
Lin Xia looked up at the towering residential building and suddenly had an idea: "We can go up through the fire escape and carry the old man down."
Several young people looked at each other, and finally responded.
Although Lin Xia was not the original resident of Building 12, she also went upstairs. On the 15th floor, they found the two trapped elderly people.
Professor Tang and his wife both had flushed faces and were breathing rapidly.
"I...my heart is not very good..." Professor Tang said weakly.
Lin Xia immediately pulled out her usual quick-acting heart pills from her bag. Ever since her mother had suffered a heat stroke, Lin Xia had made it a habit to carry all sorts of emergency medicines with her.
After Professor Tang took Xia's quick-acting heart-saving pills, his condition improved a little. Then several young people took turns carrying the two elderly people down the stairs.
"It's best not to go out during the day in the recent period." Lingxia gave a few instructions and returned to her original home.
At this moment, she was soaked all over, as if she had just been pulled out of the water.
Lin Xia didn't rest for long. She took away everything she needed, could use, and could take away.
Back in her basement home in the fire station area, Lin Xia saw Zheng Yong fiddling with a strange device in the living room. Several solar panels were connected to a car battery.
"What is this?" Lin Xia asked curiously.
"Simple solar charging system."
Zheng Yong wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I thought of this when I was fixing the circuit. If the power outage lasted a long time, at least I could power my phone and fan."
Lin Xia suddenly felt a pang of sadness. When did her husband, who couldn't even change a light bulb, learn such a thing?
"I heard from my mom that you went back to Wangjiang Community. How is the situation in Wangjiang Community?" Zheng Yong asked without raising his head, without stopping the work in his hands.
"There was an accident, but it was resolved when I came back..." Lin Xia's words were interrupted by the sudden ringing of the cell phone.
It was a call from the community hospital, informing her that her mother's follow-up examination had been postponed - the hospital's air-conditioning system was malfunctioning and general outpatient clinics were suspended.
"We can't go to the hospital for a follow-up check," Lin Xia lamented, adding, "Luckily, we bought a lot of stuff at the supermarket this time. If we save a little, it'll probably last us a week."
"It's only 45 degrees today," Zheng Yong said. "That kid Fu Chun doesn't lie. The only bad thing about him is that his Mandarin is still so unstandard."
"The extreme hot weather will end in a week, and the extreme cold weather will arrive soon." Lin Xia said with some concern. "I think we should prepare all the supplies for the winter."
Meanwhile, the people in other bases were also discussing this matter. They discussed it for a long time, and many people didn't fall asleep until three or four in the morning.
The people at Taoyuan Base were also discussing this. What was even more outrageous was that they didn't go to bed until daybreak.
Mingzhu was also sleeping, but he slept from about one in the morning until the sun climbed to the top of the sky.
The coolness brought by two days and two nights of rain had long disappeared, and the heat wave began to distort the distant scenery again.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the temperature returned to 45°C, and the high temperature continued thereafter. Zeng Zihan, Liu Ziyi and Zhou Lingling were lying on the dining table doing their homework, and beads of sweat on their foreheads kept dripping onto their homework books.
Zhao Wenwen used a wet towel to wipe the back of the necks of each child, wondering whether she should go out later.
"Teacher Zhao, why do you think the weather has become like this?" Zeng Zihan suddenly looked up and asked, his eyes full of confusion.
Zhao Wenwen was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
Because of decades of human greed and shortsightedness?
Because developed countries refuse to reduce emissions?
These explanations are too heavy for a 5-year-old child, even though they have experienced a cruel doomsday escape and have finally lived a stable life.
"The blue planet is sick." It was not Zhao Wenwen who said this, but Mingzhu, who brought Jin Shaoyao to bring hot springs to the children.
"Just as people sometimes get sick with fever, the blue planet can also get sick."
"Will it be okay?"
Mingzhu looked out the window at the scorching sun and replied, "Don't worry, it will be fine."
At this time, the doorbell rang. It was Professor Fu, who lived in the courtyard next door, who personally brought over a pot of mung bean soup.
"Come, come, try the mung bean soup I made myself."
"Professor Fu's craftsmanship is naturally excellent."
"Yes, yes, the craftsmanship is excellent."
"Children, stop and drink the mung bean soup first, then continue writing." Zhao Wenwen smiled, but did not mean to let the children stop doing their homework. Instead, she asked them to continue writing, which made the originally happy children suddenly feel lost.
"Teacher Zhao, you are so strict."
"There's no other way. Now I'm not only your teacher, but also one of your guardians. I have to take good care of you."
Zhao Wenwen said confidently: "Whether it's calligraphy or daily life, I have to take good care of you."
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