Chapter 49 Chapter 49 [VIP]
They also began to plead bitterly. Their emotions were so intense that tears and snot flowed. They were truly suffering and miserable. If they hadn't truly been unable to survive, why would they risk their lives to be the first to leave the city? Why would they abandon their dignity and expose their scars to others?
The situation in the town is complex and dangerous right now, making it difficult for the weak and isolated to survive. There's a drug rehabilitation center in town. During the epidemic, the staff at the center were infected, but during the ice storm, the staff fled due to a lack of supplies. With no one to supervise the addicts, they naturally escaped. These people, tormented by years of drug addiction, have developed mental health issues and a lack of humanity. First, they attacked and killed police officers and seized a supermarket. Then, they carried out multiple robberies, murdered numerous people, and assaulted many women... Their crimes are too numerous to list. While there were resistance and retaliation, the leaders killed anyone who approached them with a wooden cannon. To establish their authority, they even ate a person in public.
Even though the people at that time were on the verge of collapse due to hunger and threats to survival, the inhumane act of cannibalism still scared everyone in the town.
Every household had their doors closed, everyone was in danger, and the entire town almost became a dead city.
Because these drug addicts have no medication or drug comfort, their drug addiction often relapses. When the addiction relapses, they look very scary, like crazy beasts, with extremely strong attack and destructive power.
It is also because they are deeply wary of each other that the people in the town need some breathing space.
Many people who come here have been hiding at home for a long time, their food has been exhausted, and they are about to starve to death, so they risk sneaking out of the town after the snow melts.
Because they ate little and were weak, they walked very slowly. The faster group had already robbed, borrowed or bought a lot of things and ran back.
In just a few months, life has changed dramatically for everyone. Before, young people were afraid of getting fat when eating fatty meat, and the elderly were worried about raising their blood pressure. Now, they dream of having a bite.
My child used to be very picky about food and would not eat anything, but now he can lick the bowl of porridge clean.
At first, these people cried just to arouse the sympathy of the villagers, but later they cried out of genuine feelings.
They once imagined life would be plagued by illness, accidents, poverty, and other hardships. But they never imagined they and their families would one day face the threat of starvation. The feeling of hunger is a novelty for modern people. Young people used to be skeptical when they heard stories from their elders, but when they experienced the pain of hunger, they realized it was truly one of the most unbearable sufferings in the world.
Adults in their twenties, thirties, and even forties and fifties wept heartbreakingly, disregarding their appearance. The more sentimental villagers had already started wiping away their tears, and some enthusiastic people even offered to give them something.
The scene was a little chaotic for a while, and several people took the opportunity to walk into the village, but the village chief and several village cadres were standing at the entrance of the village, and they would have to pass by them to enter.
Suddenly, a person fell to the ground while crying, which attracted everyone's attention. Several village cadres also rushed over.
"Are you hungry?"
"Does anyone have any food? Help me..."
…
The villagers had never encountered any trouble before and were quite simple and kind-hearted.
The figures were in disarray, and at this moment, more people came out of the village one after another. A few outsiders took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the village.
The director of women's affairs gave the fainted woman a bowl of porridge and she slowly woke up.
For various reasons, the village chief didn't let these people into the village. Instead, he arranged for his family to stew a large pot of carrot and vegetable soup and steam several large pots of sweet potatoes and pumpkin for them to eat. This allowed him to learn about the outside world from them.
The sky was dark, and just as everyone was preparing to have dinner, an angry shout pierced through half of the village. Without the threat of the cold, everyone became active and ran out of their homes one by one when they heard the noise.
It turned out that all seven of Xiaochun's chickens had been stolen. In the 40-degree weather below zero, Xiaochun had put in a lot of effort to keep these chickens alive.
She took the trouble to raise these chickens for her pregnant daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law got pregnant after being married to her son for several years. The whole family was very happy and worshipped her daughter-in-law as an ancestor. In order to provide good nutrition for her grandson, Xiaochun's wife started raising more than a dozen chickens and two pigs early on. These chickens were fed millet and vegetables, and were usually raised in the bamboo forest on the back mountain.
Seeing that his daughter-in-law was about to give birth, the damn thief stole everything.
"It's my fault! It's my fault! I shouldn't have let them out today because it's warm."
Mrs. Xiaochun beat her chest and stamped her feet. The first dozen or so chickens had all died of freezing or disease during the winter, leaving only these seven. She had treated these seven as treasures and had finally been able to use them, but in the end, they were all given to other people.
"Who stole it?"
"I don't know! I saw Wei Hong sneaking past this side today with a bag in his hand. Was it him?"
"They're not all from the same village..."
"Who knows? He's always had dirty hands."
The villagers began to discuss the matter, and some calmly began to investigate the scene. The bamboo forest behind Xiaochunsao's mountain was stained with blood and messy feathers, indicating that the thief had killed the chicken with a stone after catching it.
"Didn't you hear the sound?"
"...There was no one at home. My husband Zheng and I ran to the village entrance. My son accompanied his daughter-in-law to his parents-in-law's house... I never thought there would be a thief... This is so conscienceless..." Xiaochun's wife howled and spit out a string of swear words.
Those who were close to Xiaochun's wife rushed over to comfort her. The others showed sympathy, but at the same time, they secretly became wary.
At this time, someone hurried over and told everyone a piece of news from the other side of the village: "A bag of millet that was hung outside Liu Zhicai's house was stolen."
"What?" Everyone suddenly felt insecure.
"Ah! There's no one at home and the door is still open. I have to go home." After hearing this, someone slapped his knees and hurried home in a hurry.
"I have to go home too. I've left my dried vegetables outside to dry out. This is all the food we have left. If it's stolen, our whole family will be doomed."
"Who did this? If they wanted to take so many things away, they would definitely leave traces. Think about it, have you seen anyone leaving with large bags or suitcases today?"
"Today I saw two strangers carrying two bags out. I asked them out of curiosity, and they said they bought them in the village at a high price," one villager slapped his head in anger. He'd been thinking who would be so foolish as to sell grain in this weather, unafraid of starvation. He'd never imagined they were blatant thieves.
Having lived a peaceful life for so long, he had never considered stealing. Another reason was that, as a farmer, he always thought rice was worthless and not worth stealing.
"Hey~ If only I could ask more questions."
Sheshui Village is not big, but not small either. The villagers do not live very densely, and most houses are separated by a certain distance. This distance usually does not affect the lives of neighbors, but it also makes it difficult for others to discover or help in the first time if something really happens.
What happened today served as a wake-up call to the people of Sheshui Village.
The village chief was a veteran with a strong sense of crisis. He gathered the villagers for a meeting that evening, especially after learning about some of the outside world's developments from outsiders and local resident Wang Qiming.
First, Wang Qiming, who had just returned to the village, told everyone about his experience.
He was studying more than a thousand kilometers away, but due to the severe epidemic, the school gave students a holiday early. Compared with many classmates who could not go back or had no way to go back, he was lucky enough to grab a train ticket. Although it was not a direct train to the city, it went to the neighboring city of Wangming.
He was so eager to go home that he didn't mind the distance. Wangming City and Gaolin City were not far apart, with direct intercity and long-distance buses.
Unexpectedly, he was trapped right at his doorstep. As soon as he got off the train and arrived in Wangming, the epidemic in Wangming had broken out in full swing and entered its most serious stage, with almost five out of ten people infected.
The entire city was closed and the transportation system was almost paralyzed. You could hardly see any people on the streets. Wang Qiming himself was wrapped up tightly in Wangming City and didn't even dare to take a few breaths of air.
All of Wang Qiming's initial plans to go home didn't work.
Originally, he could have sought help from his family. Sheshui Village was only a three- or four-hour drive from Wangming. All major roads in Wangming City were blocked, so if someone could have taken a rural road, they could have still picked him up.
But his family didn't have a car. If his father knew he was in Wangming City, he would have to ask for help, but who would risk their own lives to pick him up? Telling his parents would only add to the burden and pain of his family.
Wang Qiming's father, who was in the audience, couldn't help but tear up and choked up several times, "This child, this child...why should he be so sensible?"
Wang Qiming's family wasn't well off. He had a mother with disabled legs who needed constant medication, and a younger sister who was in junior high school. His father worked hard on construction sites to support the family, and his grandparents, both in their seventies, helped out with farming.
Despite their modest circumstances, Wang Qiming's family remained close. Having endured the hardship of not having an education, Wang Qiming's father persevered through the years, persevering through the process of sending his two children to school, even as many other children in the village graduated from junior high school to work in factories. While the living conditions of those around them improved, his family remained stagnant. Amidst the many two-story buildings and villas in Sheshui Village, his family still maintained an old red brick house built over twenty years ago.
Having seen his family struggling to make ends meet, and his tall father's helpless silence in the face of the jokes and malicious laughter from those around him, Wang Qiming vowed to make a name for himself and give his family a good life.
He also knew that the only way out for a family like his was to study.
Wang Qiming was able to get into a good university not because he was smart, but because he studied hard.
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