Chapter 036 Chapter 36
Finally, Ji Yang rinsed the skewer in water, took it off and gave it to Xixi to eat.
Then Xie Muchi brought the second one.
This time, he did not test him again. He handed the skewers to Ji Yang from a distance. Ji Yang took the skewers and his heart seemed to tighten.
The skewers in my mouth were as delicious as expected, with the right amount of saltiness and a slightly spicy taste.
But Ji Yang's mind was filled with the scene just now, and his tongue seemed to have no taste.
She just didn't react.
And because of that moment of eye contact, I was stunned.
Thinking of this, Ji Yang paused while eating the skewers. The next second, he bit down hard and bit the skewer. Hmm... she didn't seem to mind a little intimacy...
Just like she didn't reject Xie Muchi's active approach.
Otherwise, when he said he wanted to send the jade over, Ji Yang would have directly refused.
She inadvertently tilted her head and saw Xie Muchi was turning the rabbit over. A new batch of barbecued meat had been put on the grill next to him. The eggplants were roasted until softened, peeled in the middle, and sprinkled with a layer of mashed garlic at some point.
While she was watching, Xie Muchi had already finished with the rabbit. He cut off a piece of roasted golden meat and placed it on the plate in front of her, which already had a bunch of grilled skewers on it.
"Try it first. It's not quite cooked enough, but it's edible now." Xie Muzhi said calmly.
Compared to the obvious depression just now, he now seems very normal, as if he is not affected at all.
but……
Ji Yang narrowed her eyes slightly, and the corners of her lips, which had been raised since she entered the room, were now lowered. Her eyes were focused on the skewers. She silently picked up a piece of rabbit meat and put it in her mouth. The skin was a little crispy, but the meat inside was still tender.
She was so absent-minded that she didn't remove the crushed peppercorns on top. As she chewed, the crushed peppercorns exploded in her mouth. In an instant, she felt the piece of meat that touched the crushed peppercorns go numb.
But the meat cannot be wasted.
She swallowed the piece of meat bravely and quickly went to find a drink.
Just as she was about to reach out, Xie Muzhi had already handed her the cup, frowning slightly: "Too spicy?"
Ji Yang shook his head, swallowed the cool sparkling water, suppressed the numbing feeling, and explained: "I accidentally ate a piece of Sichuan pepper."
Xie Muchi suddenly looked at the rabbit. The rabbit was marinated first, otherwise it would be difficult for it to absorb the flavor in such a short time. Therefore, he roasted it directly with peppercorns. When the peppercorns were roasted, the spicy taste would also adhere to the meat. When it was almost done, he could just sweep it off and it would not affect the taste.
But maybe I was a little distracted just now and didn't notice that there was one attached.
He turned the rabbit over and over, scraped off all the chopped peppercorns that remained on the surface, and then continued roasting it, keeping an eye on the person beside him.
Seeing that she had returned to normal, was eating happily, and was in the mood to tease Xixi, I felt relieved.
It seems that the barbecue skills have not deteriorated.
Both of them were very happy with the delicious barbecue, and they just ate the barbecue obediently in the second half. Ji Yang had some thoughts in his mind, but he missed the right opportunity and couldn't express them for the time being, so after eating the barbecue, Xie Muchi said goodbye.
Ji Yang went to see him off, but it was Xixi who looked at Xie Muchi who was packing to go out, with a bit of confusion in her eyes, but soon she saw him holding the bag and seemed to understand.
The owner always carries a bag with him when he goes out hunting.
Got it.
The second child wants to go out hunting.
Xixi: “Woof woof woof!”
Xie Muzhi always felt that he saw encouragement in the eyes of this dog? He thought he was seeing things wrong, and then he looked at Ji Yang to clean his eyes. After seeing this, he almost couldn't bear to look away.
Ji Yang was a little annoyed by being stared at and was about to urge him to leave quickly.
Suddenly I remembered: "Oh, wait a minute!"
Xie Muzhi's eyes moved slightly, revealing a bit of anticipation.
Ji Yang hurried to the storage room and took out two bags of medicinal herbs, one by one. She went back again and put the eggs in the basket into a plastic bag. She didn't buy many of these bamboo baskets, so she decided to use a plastic bag.
He placed all of them at Xie Muzhi's feet, and then explained: "I made these eggs earlier, and there are still a lot. It would be a waste if you can't finish them. You can take them back and eat them. These two bags are medicinal materials, which have been prepared. Take a look, how much are they worth?"
She had never sold medicinal herbs, so she really didn't know.
In her opinion, small things can be given to each other as gifts, but that whole sack of jade is definitely not something that can be obtained easily. Only Xie Muchi knows how much he has paid, so even if he didn't mention it, she still has to give it to him.
When Xie Muchi saw these things, he had roughly guessed that the extra bag was purchased with his own personal supplies, so he didn't want it. When Ji Yang took it out, he felt a little disappointed, but he also knew that the two of them had not reached this point.
But when he saw the eggs and heard these words, he felt happy again.
There was even more tenderness in the look he gave Ji Yang.
But when he squatted down to look at the medicinal herbs, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
These medicinal herbs are exactly two of the ones mentioned above that need to be purchased in large quantities.
He has been sending people to purchase these in several surrounding cities. As a large number of people have flocked to the base, the quantity received is also quite large. The survivors who may have been medicinal herb merchants or large medicinal herb growers have moved in with their families, and many things will be dealt with.
But no matter how much I handed in, they always said it was not enough.
The number of medicinal herbs required to treat various epidemics is too large. At least based on the number of people alive today, there is still a lot missing.
Therefore, no matter how hard Xie Muchi tried to hide it, many people would have guessed it. Many people were secretly hoarding medicinal materials. As the moving wave came to an end, the prices of these things were getting higher and higher.
Unexpectedly, what Ji Yang took out was exactly what he needed.
Xie Muchi didn't think much about it, but just sighed in his heart. It seems that there is a huge network of relationships behind Ji Yang. Perhaps future transactions can start from this aspect.
"This one bag is enough." Xie Muzhi picked up both bags: "But now that they are all out, I will take them all away. I will come back to give you another batch of jade next time."
Ji Yang was surprised: "Are medicinal materials so expensive?"
Xie Muchi nodded. He did not intend to let the other party suffer because of their familiarity. He told the truth very frankly: "We are just purchasing these. Some people noticed it and started to buy them secretly, hoping to sell them at a higher price. We can't stop them. The price will naturally go up. The quality of your herbs is very good, so the price is naturally more expensive."
Ji Yang immediately thought of the shortage of special medicines in her previous life. She was extremely grateful that she was found to be infected with only one virus. She used up all the points she had saved at that time to exchange for a medicine.
She planted so many medicinal herbs because she didn't want the situation in her previous life to happen again.
Too many people have died for these drugs.
Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Ji Yang smiled and said, "Then let's trade with medicinal herbs from now on."
Xie Muzhi: "Okay."
This time he really opened the door and left. Xie Muzhi finally asked, "What do you want to eat next time?"
Ji Yang thought subconsciously, and then said: "Seafood?"
She has been eating only food from land these days, so she might consider eating something from the sea.
Xie Muzhi smiled. Agreeing meant there would be a next time. He nodded, "Okay."
——
After everyone left, Ji Yang couldn't wait to throw the three bags of jade into the space.
A total of 250 square meters have been added, and now the entire pond area has reached 7150 square meters. It is still a long way from reaching the maximum level, and it is not known whether new space will appear after the pond reaches the maximum level.
Time flies.
Due to the distance between the base and Jiafu Community, the two did not contact each other for the next few days as they were both very busy.
New Year's Day and her birthday had passed unknowingly when the base was announced. Even though she had a mobile phone and a computer, those things were usually kept in a static space and time had long been confused. Therefore, when she came to her senses and realized that everything had passed, she didn't take it seriously.
It was a bit of a pity, so she took Xixi, one person and one dog, to celebrate the New Year's Eve. They played the New Year's Eve concert that they had downloaded earlier and had fun for half the night.
The next day, she found an electronic thermometer in the space. In addition to recording temperature, it can also record time and humidity. It is powered by a button battery and is very durable.
So she did not miss the Spring Festival.
Two days in advance, she began to think about how to spend the Spring Festival. She would definitely watch the Spring Festival Gala, and the rest would be eating and drinking.
To be honest, she had tasted all the cooked food in the space once. Although they tasted good, they were not fresh and there was no sense of anticipation, so she was unable to decide on a Spring Festival menu for a while.
Until the day before the Spring Festival, Xie Muzhi contacted her: "Ji Yang, there is good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"
Ji Yang tilted her head, thinking about the distance between the base and Jiafu Community. She thought that Xie Muzhi might be chatting with her outside in the cold wind. She couldn't help but smile and said, "Bad news."
In this way, the good news can offset the sadness of the bad news.
But on the other end of the intercom, Xie Muzhi coughed lightly and said, "Good news. The good news is that I got a batch of seafood. They are all high-end goods from before the natural disaster, and they are still alive."
Ji Yang:?
She laughed angrily: "So what's the bad news?"
Xie Muzhi spoke, with a hint of grievance in his voice: "I have just been assigned a mission and have to leave soon. I'll ask Luo Laosan to give you the seafood?"
Ji Yang's heart felt like it was hit, and she felt a little sour. She pursed her lips and said, "I don't know how to cook, so it's useless to me. I can only freeze it."
It’s not like she doesn’t have frozen seafood.
There was no sound from the intercom for a while. After a while, the sound reappeared. Xie Muzhi said, "I know. Wait a minute."
Time seemed to be very tight and there was no time to say goodbye before the intercom started buzzing and then there was silence.
Ji Yang stared at the intercom for several seconds. Wait a minute? What does that mean?
*
Three hours later
Ji Yang knew what Xie Muchi meant by wait a moment.
He prepared the seafood dinner before leaving and asked Luo Laosan to pack it up and send it over!
A small part is placed in an insulated box, and most of the rest is packed in ordinary packaging boxes.
Luo Laosan wrapped the food tightly and did not let Ji Yang come down. He climbed all the way to the 15th floor and handed the food over. He also did not forget to convey Xie Muzhi's instructions: "The food in the insulated box can be eaten directly. These need to be heated. The eldest brother said that you have a fireplace at home. You can just heat them in the fireplace. No need to fry them."
Then he handed over a pack of Spring Festival couplets and door gods, and enthusiastically asked, "How about I put them up for you?"
The sticker on Ji Yang's door last year had almost fallen off a long time ago. She didn't know who tore it off, and she didn't care.
Ji Yang took it in a daze, still a little dazed, but refused Luo Laosan's help: "No, I can post it myself when I have nothing to do."
"That's fine." Luo Lao San chuckled. Even though there was no one around, he was still whispering, "Miss Ji, I told you that I felt something special the first time I saw you. I didn't expect that we would be destined to be together. As soon as the boss came back, he started cooking. He was so busy that we were ordered around. We thought something had happened and we were having our last dinner. But it turned out that he had to go on a mission and didn't have time to cook. He was called away before the last bit was ready, otherwise he would have to deliver it himself."
They are all good guys, still alive and not frozen.
I don't know where the boss got it.
The most important thing is that they always think that the eldest brother is a flower of high mountain. Even if he is in a relationship, he will be the one being pursued. After all, he is a grown man who looks so handsome like a pretty boy.
As a result, he met the even cooler Miss Ji, and became her lapdog.
Miss Ji doesn’t know how to cook seafood, so he has to hurry up and prepare it and have someone send it to Miss Ji before he goes on a mission.
It's heartbreaking to watch.
Luo Laosan only said a few more words then. After all, he had to let people know what he had done. In today's world, it is not easy to meet someone you like, and it is even more difficult to be together with him.
They are all fine. Most of them had wives and children before the natural disaster. The only ones who are alone are the young people who followed Liang Yuan and... the boss.
Ji Yang was actually a little surprised.
Still a little shocked.
Xie Muchi didn't say anything specifically to her, but he did it, and he was able to do it to this extent. When she thought about how they usually got along, Xie Muchi was not a clingy person, but when they were together, he always paid attention to her needs.
At least the two of them get along very happily.
Ji Yang curled his eyes: "Thank you, I understand."
Luo Laosan didn't say much, so he nodded: "Miss Ji, is there anything I can do for you? If not, I'll leave first. If you have anything, just tell me directly, such as if something is broken and needs to be repaired. The boss has already taken care of it, so don't be polite."
"No, no." Ji Yang shook his head: "Everything is fine."
Only then did Luo Laosan leave with peace of mind.
Ji Yang looked at the things piled at his feet, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.
The main reason was that the door was not closed, and the cold wind outside almost froze her.
Ji Yang quickly closed the door and put the things away. He looked at the time and found that it was time for dinner, so he took out the thermos box. As soon as he opened it, he was greeted by a fragrant smell.
The heat dissipated and I took a closer look. There were three dishes and one soup: seafood mushroom soup, fried king crab legs, pepper and salt mantis shrimp, and steamed egg with sea urchin and shrimp.
The portion wasn't much, but with the rice, it was just enough for her to have a meal.
That’s a pretty good calculation.
Xixi was also attracted and stared at it eagerly.
Ji Yang thought for a moment and gave it a crab leg: "Here's a bite for you."
Xixi happily took the crab leg into the nest to eat.
However, the crab legs had softened a bit due to being kept in the thermal box, so Ji Yang did not eat them immediately. Instead, he put them in the fireplace to heat them up first. After making sure that the skin was crispy again, he started to eat them.
The taste is really delicious. No need to freeze and then thaw, just cook with fresh live seafood, the taste will be even better.
Ji Yang was very satisfied with the meal, and he couldn't help but admire the ability of Xie Muchi, the trader. He could get fresh seafood even in minus 50 or 60 degrees Celsius. It was amazing!
——
The next day is New Year’s Eve.
Ji Yang took out the couplet that Xie Muchi had asked Luo Lao San to send, and spent some time pasting it up.
She actually bought some herself, but the dates on them were from last year. Xie Muchi's batch was from this year, which was pretty good.
Now that everything has been posted, all that’s left is cleaning.
She usually stays at home and is too lazy to move, but she has a sweeping robot, the latest model of 2060, which is powerful and can sweep and mop the floor very cleanly. It also cleans her long hair smoothly.
Therefore, the house is generally kept clean.
It is difficult to take into account the tables, chairs, benches, and some corners.
There has to be a sense of ritual. Life is already so scarce, these things cannot be lost anymore. Therefore, Ji Yang is full of energy. The first step is to put all the furniture into the space.
Having space means convenience, so now the entire living room and her room have been cleared.
Next, the sweeping robot.
While the sweeping robot was cleaning, Ji Yang cleaned the furniture in the space. He simply wiped it with a rag dipped in detergent to remove the dust, and then swept it again with a rag with clean water, putting each one back after he was done.
After everything was cleaned, Ji Yang came out of the space, and the sweeping robot went back to charge and rest.
She then put out the furniture one by one.
It’s just a simple cleaning, but the whole house feels brand new!
The next step is to clean dead corners such as balconies and windowsills.
After everything was done, Ji Yang first took out his mobile phone, recorded a video of the whole house, and then took high-definition photos one by one. When he gets old, these will all be memories. Of course, he did not forget to hold Xixi and take some photos as well.
In the photo, her long hair is a little messy due to being busy, her cheeks are rosy, and her face is full when she smiles. It is obvious that she has never suffered.
That’s great.
After throwing his phone into the space, Ji Yang was immediately so tired that he collapsed on the sofa for three hours.
Cleaning up nooks and crannies is more tiring than exercising.
But after all this trouble, it was time for dinner.
Ji Yang took out the official seafood dinner that Xie Muchi had sent over, transferred it from the ordinary take-out boxes to plates, reheated it all, and started eating dinner at 7:30. She had seafood and Xixi had a whole rabbit.
At the same time, a Spring Festival Gala program she randomly selected was playing on TV.
When she comes across a program that embarrasses her, she buries herself in watching it, and when she comes across one she likes, she watches it with gusto.
Before I knew it, it was almost twelve o'clock.
Ji Yang went to the rooftop immediately.
Light up the fireworks that have been prepared.
Brilliant fireworks exploded in the sky, and the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers were also heard in other corners of the city. As for the base, it was too far away and she could not see it from here.
But even these are enough for one person and one dog to enjoy the fun.
At midnight, Ji Yang hugged Xixi and said in a clear and cheerful voice: "Xixi, Happy New Year!"
Xixi was still a little afraid of the fireworks, but when his owner held him, he perked up again and responded by wagging his tail: "Woof woof woof!"
——
After the New Year, everything seems to be the same as usual.
It is still covered with ice and snow, extremely low temperatures, and sparsely populated.
But Ji Yang remembered that the temperature started to rise probably after the New Year.
Therefore, we have been paying attention to changes in temperature.
During this period, she also harvested 500 square meters of rice in the space planting area, harvesting almost 850 kilograms. However, this was the weight with shells, and she had no intention of removing the shells. She would put them aside for later use when needed.
For the time being, the rice she stored after her rebirth is enough for her to eat.
It wasn't until the tenth day that the thermometer showed clearly that the temperature was indeed starting to rise!
Ji Yang placed the thermometer on the window of the storage room. After the New Year, she would record the temperature every day when she went in. Since the freezing rain, the temperature has been stable at minus 65 degrees for a long time, and minus 55 degrees during the day.
But the last few times she went to see him, the temperature dropped to -52 degrees Celsius or -51 degrees Celsius during the day...
The change was not obvious at first. If Ji Yang hadn't been looking at the thermometer, he wouldn't have noticed it.
But after a while, you can feel that the temperature has indeed risen.
In fact, Ji Yang is very opposed to warming. She would even rather be in extreme cold for the next few years. At least the food will not rot faster, and the ocean can still provide a certain amount of food source.
But natural disasters will definitely not happen according to human wishes; they are capricious and powerful.
Therefore, humans can only try their best to adapt to it.
Floods are coming, and after the floods, the extreme heat and extreme cold predicted will appear, plus the blizzard, which has lasted for a year. It is impossible for the authorities not to believe this, so we must prepare in advance.
After another ten days or so, the temperature rose to around minus 20 degrees Celsius. There was no need for heating equipment anymore. The two fireplaces were completely sufficient, or even a little too much.
During this period, Ji Yang went out once.
We found that more and more people were outside. The temperature was not above zero yet and the ice was still there, but the temperature was not high enough to freeze people to death. Therefore, the scope of our search for supplies became wider. The news of the flood was no longer a secret. Everyone knew about it, and they were even more crazy about getting more supplies to exchange for points and turn them into food to store at home.
Otherwise, once a flood occurs, it will be difficult for ordinary people to go out, and they will really starve to death at home.
More and more people are coming to the base. Those who once did not dare to travel long distances due to the temperature are now running out to seek help from the country.
This was what Luo Laosan told her.
Worried that she might need something and Xie Muchi hadn't come back yet, Luo Laosan would come over once every ten days or so to bring some things, and Ji Yang would always bring back some fruits or medicinal herbs.
The base used many methods to convey the news of the impending floods and heavy rains.
For example, broadcasting, helicopters patrolling everywhere and leaving notices, etc.
Therefore, even those who still had food in the village ran away.
This has also resulted in a number of people far exceeding the current capacity of the base, so the base is still expanding outward in an effort to accommodate more survivors, but the real core area is still the one planned at the beginning. If an earthquake or other situation occurs, these survivors will have to run here.
The further out you go, the cheaper the houses are.
This time, Ji Yang brought two more bags of medicinal herbs, which made Luo Laosan's eyes widen. Unfortunately, Miss Ji now gives the herbs directly to the boss, so he can no longer enjoy the generous commission.
However, every time Ji Yang came, he would bring some fruit and ask them to help eat it, so that the temperature would not rise too much and the fruit would go bad.
Luo Laosan always gets the biggest portion and takes it home for his wife and children.
Even now, Xie Muchi still hasn't come back.
Ji Yang didn't stay at the base for long. After delivering the things, he put a large bag of jade in it and was about to leave. Because there were so many people, he didn't dare to drive the motorcycle fast and drove very slowly on the road. Suddenly, he realized someone was looking at him. Ji Yang turned around and glanced twice, and met a pair of familiar eyes.
"Ji Yang!" The other person's eyes lit up as well, and he ran over excitedly. Seeing that the person in front of him was fine, Zhao Xing almost cried: "I thought you were dead. I searched for you in the base for a long time but couldn't find you!"
Ji Yang was a little dazed.
Zhao Xing is her friend. The two families have similar family backgrounds. Zhao Xing's grandparents lived in the same community as her grandparents. However, Zhao Xing's grandparents passed away later and she never went there. But the two of them became friends because of this and often played together.
In addition, there are many other similar friends.
But Zhao Xing was the one with whom he had the best relationship. In his previous life, Ji Yang went to Old Man Ji's place and never saw Zhao Xing again since then. He also hadn't seen her since he came to the base.
I didn't expect to meet again so early in this life.
It can be said that Zhao Xing represents her beautiful youth, so when she suddenly saw him in this gray apocalypse, she was unable to react immediately.
But she quickly came back to her senses: "Well, I'm still alive and well. How are you doing?"
As he said this, he looked at Zhao Xing.
The person in front of me has lost a lot of weight and his skin is not as delicate as before, but overall he is still in good shape.
Zhao Xing also looked at her and saw that she was the same as before the end of the world, except that her expression was a little colder. She seemed much more aloof than before. There was no difference, especially her face which was still so tender and fresh. He was so envious.
She also smiled. "I'm fine. Thanks to your reminder, I bought a lot of things. I didn't starve to death. I was just unlucky and was robbed by many people. Fortunately, my father has a strong sense of crisis and asked around to find out what was going on. He found a way and immediately handed over his assets. The authorities arranged a new residence for him, which greatly improved his safety. After the base was built, my family moved here immediately. We are now in District 2. What about you?"
She glanced at the car, and then thought of Ji Yang's blizzard, which reminded her that something was wrong and that she might have made more preparations: "Wouldn't it be in Area 1?"
Districts one and two are the villa area and high-end residential area, but since it’s the end of the world, no one has given them nice names.
Ji Yang smiled and shook his head: "I live outside, not in the base."
Zhao Xing's eyes widened: "Fuck, aren't you afraid of death?! It's so dangerous outside!"
Ji Yang said mysteriously: "I have some means to save my life."
"Haha, great, you're awesome." Zhao Xing gave her a thumbs up, then pulled her enthusiastically: "It's still early, how about I treat you to milk tea? I heard that when the flood comes again, milk tea shops will be closed. If we don't drink now, we won't have time. Do you want to go?"
Ji Yang was overwhelmed by her enthusiasm. He looked at the time and saw that it was a little after three in the afternoon, so it was still early, so he nodded.
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