During this time, Xu Lai and his group went out again after sunset, braving the high temperature, because the water levels in the Changyan River, which runs through City C, and the nearby lakes and reservoirs were dropping rapidly.
Especially for outdoor workers, many die from heatstroke every day due to the extreme heat.
The government has issued another notice suspending outdoor workers from their jobs.
Despite the hot weather, as long as there is food, people stay at home, and with government-supplied electricity during the four hottest hours of the day, most people can barely get through it.
But with no source of income and no work points to buy food, ordinary people could only wait to die at home.
The people were plunged into panic once again.
Fortunately, the day after outdoor work was suspended, the government issued a new notice: families in need of food could apply to the government for work points with zero interest, with each household not allowed to borrow more than ten work points per day, and a maximum loan period of half a month.
The moment the notification was sent out, everyone in Xu Lai's neighborhood group chat went wild.
The conversations in the neighborhood group have gone from initial complaints and panic about the impending food shortage to a great sense of relief.
Some people with a good attitude even started joking around in the group.
Even at this time, those in power are still doing practical things for us ordinary people!
As Grandpa Xu scrolled through the messages in the group chat, he couldn't help but sigh to Grandpa Xiao, who was sitting across the table from him.
"Yes, at least we won't have to worry about food for the next two weeks. As for what happens after that, there might be other opportunities!"
Grandpa Xiao picked up a bowl of cool and smooth mung bean soup, took a sip, and sighed contentedly.
To be honest, the two old men haven't visited each other and chatted for a long time.
The two chatted about the current weather and situation, and couldn't help but think about the days before the natural disaster.
They were all living a leisurely retirement life back then. How I miss those days!
To make it easier for residents to obtain loan credits, the regulations stipulate that the person in charge of each community should register the number of credits needed for each household in the group chat.
They then submitted the data to the government, which arranged for staff to deliver the work point cards to the community.
The community leader then distributes these work point cards to each household according to the number registered by everyone.
Due to the extreme heat, the daily distribution of work point cards was scheduled from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
"Let's all three of us apply for a loan of work points in the group chat!"
During the chat, Grandpa Xiao specifically instructed the Xu family to also post information about applying for loan points in the group.
"Yes, at this critical juncture, everyone else is borrowing work points from the government, but we're not. Isn't that just telling everyone that we don't lack work points or food?"
Xu Lai chuckled as she accepted Grandpa Xiao's instructions, then opened the community group chat on her phone, typed a line of text, and clicked send.
"Looking at the messages in the group, Grandpa Lu's family also applied for a loan through the group!"
Although Xu Chao was the youngest, he had spent more than a year and four months in this harsh environment, and he paid close attention to these current events.
Xu Lai listened and scrolled through the community group chat, which was constantly adding new chat records. Sure enough, she saw the message sent by Lu Ping: "Lu Ping from Room 904, Unit 2, Building 1, is applying for 150 work points for half a month."
As soon as he posted the message, someone sarcastically tagged Lu Ping in the comments: "Your family has earned quite a few work points from making ice bricks lately, and now you're joining us in borrowing work points?"
"That's right, your family earned so many work points, and you still want to take them from us? How shameless!"
"That's right!"
Seeing the resentful people in the group waiting to see what would happen, Grandpa Lu calmly picked up his phone and typed a message: "Sigh, although our family did earn some work points this week from these ice bricks, it's not enough to pay off our debts, so we have to borrow work points from the government to survive!"
Grandpa Lu patiently explained, his attitude low-key yet pitiful, and he didn't confront those who were sarcastic towards them in the group chat.
As soon as Grandpa Lu posted the message, those sarcastic people in the group immediately shut up.
The Lu family are indeed clever—they are high-profile in their work but low-profile in their personal lives.
Xu Lai looked at the messages in the group and shook her head with amusement.
Just as Xu Lai was about to exit the community group chat, several new messages popped up in the group.
Xu Lai casually clicked on it and couldn't help but laugh, "Indeed, where there is a Crouching Dragon, there will be a Young Phoenix!"
"Wolong" refers to the people in the family of Master Lu, and "Fengchu" refers to her cousins.
Xu Yongqing from apartment 502 in building 1 of the group chat said: "My family isn't going to join in the fun with you poor bastards!"
Xu Qiong, 502, Building 1: "That's right, how come this Jinxiu Community is full of poor people? They don't even have work points to buy food. I really regret living here. It has lowered the standard of living for my siblings and me!"
These two young phoenixes' words stirred up a hornet's nest.
Those families in the group who were already resentful of seeing Grandpa Lu's family earning work points with ice bricks now turned their anger towards Xu Yongqing and his sister.
"Oh dear, who do we have here? It's just a bunch of prostitutes and ducks in building 1504 who make money with their butts!"
"Exactly! These days, everyone says they laugh at poverty but not prostitution. Now even prostitutes are mocking us honest, law-abiding citizens!"
"That's right, our family is perfectly respectable, unlike some people who sell their bodies and live a life of luxury every day!"
Xu Lai thought that her cousins' messy affairs would only be talked about in private, but she didn't expect them to bring it up in public.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. People who live in such extreme weather for a long time have a hard time surviving, so their resentment is bound to erupt at any moment.
The Lu family are smart people. They are low-key in their actions and lives. Even when others target them, they become even more low-key and cautious.
"That's a smart person!"
After reading the messages in the group chat, Song Qiu'e and the others couldn't help but praise Grandpa Lu's family.
As for Xu Yongqing and Xu Qiong, it's unclear whether they are just too shameless or deliberately trying to show off their "superior" lives in the group.
They post videos of themselves smoking and drinking beverages on social media one minute, and videos of themselves wearing gold jewelry around their necks and on their fingers the next.
Each video also deliberately showed a corner of the box where the work point cards were kept, and even had the caption: "The idyllic days of not needing to borrow work points from the government!"
Both of their Moments were open to non-friends. After Xu Lai "admired" their Moments one by one, she almost laughed until her stomach hurt.
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