Lin Mingyong's companions chased for more than ten steps, but they could not catch up with Qiao Qingqing who was wearing skates, so they had to give up.
"Let's go." Regardless of Lin Mingyong's shouting behind them, Qiao Qingqing said to Shao Shengan.
"Yeah." Shao Sheng'an looked back and felt that he could feel Lin Mingyong's angry eyes from afar.
"Does your hand hurt?" Shao Shengan asked after sliding about a thousand meters.
"It doesn't hurt, but I feel happy."
"I've always wanted to ask you if your father did something wrong in his past life." Shao Sheng'an chose his words carefully. "We didn't invite him to our wedding, but you were just cold to your father. When we were preparing the supplies, you said we didn't need to notify him. Today, I found that you seemed to hate him."
"I'll talk to you when we get home. Let's go home first. The wind is picking up."
Lin Mingyong withdrew his gaze from the spot. He felt his face burning. Whether it was the slap or the gossipy and curious looks of his colleagues, they all made him embarrassed.
"Mr. Lin, how are you?"
"Uncle Lin, I, I don't know, are you okay?"
Lin Mingyong pushed away Du Jie's supporting hand, took a deep breath, put the mask back on, and said in a muffled voice: "It's unfortunate for my family. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you all."
"No, no, it's all your family business. The child is immature and needs to be taught slowly."
Colleagues hurried to smooth things over, and Du Jie anxiously changed the subject: "It's already three o'clock, Uncle Lin, the task that Captain Chen has assigned to you——"
"Oh, yes, yes, there is still a mission. If you sit in this position, you must shoulder the responsibility. I can't let my personal affairs affect the visit mission. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry to everyone, let's go now."
The group of seven or eight people continued on their way, chatting about other topics along the way, leaving this sudden accident behind in the cold wind to dispel the awkward atmosphere.
The journey was smooth. When they got home, Qiao Songzhi just woke up. Shao's mother was busy taking care of Qiao Songzhi, and Shao's father quickly boiled hot water for them to wash. During the week of hospitalization, Shao Shengan only came back once. Shao's father and others knew that Qiao Songzhi's condition had stabilized, so they felt relieved.
"Everything is good in the hospital, except that it's too cold to sleep at night." Qiao Songzhi said with a smile.
"You have suffered a lot. When you were not at home, I was so worried that I couldn't sleep at night." Shao's mother held Qiao Songzhi's hand and said with emotion, "Fortunately, you all came back safely, and our family is reunited again." Her eyes turned red as she spoke.
"Mom, did something happen at home? Did something happen in the neighborhood?" Qiao Qingqing felt something was wrong. Shao's mother was not such a sentimental person.
Shao's mother wiped her tears and said, "So many people died in the community. This world is so cruel. I don't know if they died of starvation or freezing. It makes me so sad."
Shao Shengan frowned: "This didn't happen when I came back three days ago. Did it happen in the past few days?" He remembered the middle-aged woman who cried and begged the soldiers to seek justice for her mother who starved to death when he went to collect supplies last time. Could it be that something similar happened in their Jinyuan community?
"It happened after you returned to the hospital." Father Shao sighed, "The day before you took your mother-in-law to the hospital, didn't the supply ship issue a new announcement? The announcement said that people have to go in person to pick up supplies in the future, and no one can pick them up on their behalf. Supplies were distributed again two days ago, and as expected, no one was allowed to pick them up on their behalf, no matter what the reason was. Xiao Chen and the others downstairs went to pick up supplies without telling Brother Tian and Sister-in-law."
Qiao Songzhi was puzzled: "Why did my mother-in-law say so many people died?"
"Mother-in-law, you don't know, after that day, many bodies were carried out in our community. They weren't just dead, they had been dead for a long time! The community looked normal at ordinary times, but who would have known that so many people had dead bodies hidden in their homes. Now the power room is full of them! I counted them yesterday and dug 17 more pits!"
Qiao Songzhi took a breath.
"She ran into him when she came downstairs to take out the trash and was frightened on the spot." Shao's father sighed.
Shao's mother turned her head away without saying anything. Qiao Songzhi patted her hand, silently comforting her.
After a while, Shao's mother said, "The family next door had twins, a boy and a girl. I remember that the elder sister loved her children very much. Even when the water was so deep, she still went out to row a boat to buy snacks for the children. She died. Her body was stiff, with eyes wide open. She was carried past me by her family. I always felt like she was looking at me—"
"No, no one looked at you!" Shao's father said immediately.
Shao Shengan knew that his mother was frightened, so he comforted her: "Mom, don't think too much, we will live well in our own home, don't be afraid!"
At night, Qiao Qingqing covered Qiao Songzhi with a quilt and watched over her as she slept.
"Go back to sleep. I'm an adult now and I don't need you to watch over me."
"It's okay, Mom, go to sleep. I'll go back to sleep when you fall asleep."
Qiao Songzhi sighed and talked about what happened during the day: "Qingqing, if I was frozen to death in a natural disaster, I also hope that you would not report my death. I hope that you can use my ID card to get supplies, get an extra portion, and eat a little more."
A few words made Qiao Qingqing's throat dry. She forced a smile and said, "No, I only need to eat a little. I want my mother to live."
"Silly child, didn't I tell you what to do? But the higher-ups are strict now, there's nothing we can do."
Qiao Qingqing changed the subject: "It's a good thing to check strictly. Otherwise, some people may harbor malicious intentions and deliberately let their family members die in order to falsely claim the supplies. If we don't check strictly, we will indulge the evil thoughts in some people's hearts, and it will be bad in the long run."
Qiao Songzhi was surprised: "No way, who would be so cruel?!"
"Mom, the human heart is the most unpredictable."
After Qiao Songzhi fell asleep, Qiao Qingqing returned to the room and slept on the bed in her bedroom, feeling the floor heating in the room. The down quilt on her body was like feathers, soft and gentle. Qiao Qingqing felt lazy all over.
"Tell me about your father." Shao Shengan lay down and hugged her. Qiao Qingqing turned over and hugged his waist, whispering about her past life.
"...His calculations made me feel sick, so I killed him."
Shao Shengan couldn't help but tighten his arms and hugged her tighter.
"Are you scared?"
Qiao Qingqing looked up, but she couldn't see anything in the darkness.
Shao Shengan seemed to shake his head, and Qiao Qingqing heard him say, "Do you want to see my expression? I'll light the candle."
"No need." Qiao Qingqing went back to her bed.
Touching Qiao Qingqing's head again and again, Shao Shengan said, "I was indeed shocked just now, but I think you were right to kill her. It was his fault that he wanted to harm you."
Qiao Qingqing laughed muffledly: "I am lowering your bottom line step by step."
"It's not that my bottom line has been lowered, but that I am gradually adapting to the new rules of the apocalyptic natural disaster. Qingqing, you have been teaching me with your own actions that I should be ruthless, merciless, and use force to intimidate others, but in fact you don't like to do this. Qingqing, your heart is still soft, and you are not having an easy time either."
"...You always think too highly of me. I'm not that kind of person." Qiao Qingqing reflected on herself, wondering if she had revealed her vulnerable side too much before, causing her husband to have a wrong perception of her.
In Shao Sheng'an's eyes, she was not a woman who was forced to be cruel by the world, but a woman who still had a soft heart.
Maybe Qiao Qingqing was like this before, but Qiao Qingqing who lives alone ten years after the apocalypse is not like this.
"You are the best in my heart."
Qiao Qingqing fell asleep listening to gentle love words, and even her dreams were about her sweet and carefree school days.
Lin Mingyong was not asleep yet. Qiao Qingqing slapped him hard, leaving a red slap mark on his face. It was really embarrassing at that time! Lin Mingyong was determined to keep calm, put on his mask again, and go to work with his men. Du Jie didn't dare to talk nonsense along the way, trying to reduce his presence.
After work, he still sent Lin Mingyong home attentively. Lin Mingyong's family lived in a high-end residential area nearby. In the past, Lin Mingyong would politely invite him to dinner, but today he didn't say a word. Du Jie didn't dare to say much, and enthusiastically watched him go upstairs and then hurried away.
"What's wrong? Is there a ghost chasing you? Look at you." Zheng Meng asked curiously.
"Don't mention it! It's like seeing a ghost in broad daylight!" Du Jie picked up his shoes angrily and sat down hard. His son, who was playing with toys on the sofa, sniffed and went into the room unhappily, grabbing the toys.
"Look at him! I'm working so hard to take care of this family, but what's that look in his eyes? Does he despise me?"
Zheng Meng tried to comfort him: "He's just a child, why are you arguing with him? I'll boil some water for you to take a bath. You got off work late today, and your parents and uncle all went out after dinner. They said that your cousin had some work to do."
Du Jie didn't have time to get angry. He knew his cousin always had connections. "What kind of job?"
"It's hard to say. Just ask when mom and dad come back. I'll go heat up your dinner first." Zheng Meng muttered as she heated up the dinner. "There's not enough firewood. Where can I get wood nearby? I saw the neighbors dismantling their furniture to burn... By the way, what happened to you today? You're so angry."
When Du Jie talked about this, he was very angry and felt that he was unlucky. He told the story, and Zheng Meng poked his head out of the kitchen: "No way! Qingqing is not that kind of person."
"But she just slapped Mr. Lin! You know, I got in by currying favor with Mr. Lin. I was barely a temporary worker. I didn't have to do hard labor and I could get an extra salary. How great it was. Who knew that Qiao Qingqing would suddenly go crazy? There was really no sign at all!"
Zheng Meng brought out the food. Du Jie complained about why it was rice porridge and pickles again. She didn't want to comfort him anymore and said absentmindedly, "Qingqing must have encountered something and her personality has changed drastically."
"Her husband is here too. How could she be in trouble? I think there is a conflict between the father and daughter! Qiao Qingqing must be wrong. Mr. Lin only kept me because she is your best friend. But she doesn't give face to her father. She is just a barbecued pork. No matter how beautiful she is, it's useless. She has a vicious heart."
Zheng Meng came back to his senses and frowned: "Don't say that about Qingqing!"
"Then how do you explain what happened this afternoon? Who could have thought it would be like this? He's your best friend, don't you know him better than I do?"
Zheng Meng was choked. That was right. Qingqing wasn't that kind of person. She was usually gentle and easy to talk to. She had never seen Qingqing slap anyone in the face in all the years they had known each other. Slapping her own father? She couldn't even imagine that scene.
"Maybe they had a conflict. I'll find time to go see her and find out what's going on. You can't lose your job."
"Hurry up and go. I think Mr. Lin will be very unkind to me when he returns home tonight. He holds a grudge!"
At the same time, at the Lin family, Yu Manshu had just returned from get off work, and her daughter brought her a hot towel to wipe her hair, face, and neck: "Grandpa and grandma fell asleep early on the second floor."
"Yeah." "Why is the house so quiet? What happened to your dad?"
Lin Weini shook her head: "I don't know. It's like this since I came back. No matter how grandpa and grandma ask, dad won't tell me."
"Yeah, it's ok. Is dinner ready?"
After dinner, Yu Manshu asked Lin Mingyong in the bedroom if he had encountered any difficulties. Although the natural disaster destroyed a lot, the foundation of her mother's family was still there, and her cousin still had a position and even got promoted to a higher level. Relying on her cousin's relationship, she and her husband gave up business and went into politics, one in the municipal government and the other in the logistics ship. They were a perfect match, and the Lin family not only did not collapse, but developed even better.
Lin Mingyong had nothing to hide from his wife, so he told her what happened today.
"That damn girl made me lose face. It turns out that this child can't grow up without me. She's disobedient and disobedient!" Lin Mingyong sighed, "I don't know why she hates me. When she was admitted to university, she didn't want my red envelope. She also didn't let me go to her wedding. She just treated me as if I didn't have a father. It really hurts my heart."
Yu Manshu smiled: "The child is ignorant, why do you care about her, okay, don't be angry, your dark face scared your parents and Vinid Jun. Do your job on the material ship well. Although you don't have much power now, it is the place closest to the army. Now the army... you know their status. It sounds good for me to work in the municipal government, but in troubled times, guns are the most important. If you seize the opportunity to join the army in the future, our family will have a bright future. It's not worth getting angry over such a small matter. You should focus on your more important future. Du Jie, that kid, just give up if you don't like him. There are more young people who can read the expressions. There is no need to make things difficult for yourself."
After coaxing Lin Mingyong into submission, Yu Manshu pulled up the quilt and closed her eyes.
Qiao Qingqing had no idea that the slap would have such consequences. The next morning, she got up early to take out the trash and went around to the power room to take a look. From a distance, she saw many more grave mounds.
"Qingqing is back, haha, is your mother in good health?"
She turned around and saw Zheng Tiehui.
"What's the matter?" After the last time, she didn't think it was necessary to maintain superficial neighborly etiquette with Zheng Tiehui.
Zheng Tiehui's smile froze, and his pretended enthusiasm faded. He asked directly: "I just want to ask, didn't you go to the listed hospital? Didn't the hospital you went to have a psychiatric department? There are no doctors in the psychiatric department of the county hospital."
“I don’t know.”
"Is that so? Haha, that's a pity. All right then." Zheng Tiehui said he was going to work, waved his hand and walked away on his skates. When Qiao Qingqing went upstairs, she saw Zheng Liangdong standing at the door. This scene looked very familiar to her. Zheng Liangdong often stood at the door and looked at people gloomily. They had never said hello to each other.
It was the same this time, but after Qiao Qingqing entered the room, Shao Shengan told him that Zheng Liangdong had just spoken to him.
"It's very strange. I went out to clean the ice off the door and he suddenly appeared and asked me if I wasn't tired of doing this useless work." Shao Shengan touched his chin, "His mental state doesn't seem right."
"Tell my parents to be careful. I just met Zheng Tiehui, and he asked me about the psychiatric department of the city hospital. I felt that he was asking about Zheng Liangdong."
"You are so young..." Shao Shengan shook his head and said nothing more.
Suddenly remembering something, Qiao Qingqing, who had just sat down, stood up again and went to the kitchen to ask Shao's mother: "Mom, have you seen the nanny next door during the days we were in the hospital?"
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