"Qingqing, calm down." Shao Shengan was very worried when he saw her face turn pale with anger. Then he saw her staring at Hu Yanhai, and he was even more afraid that she would lose control and stab Hu Yanhai.
"It's my fault, it's all my fault." Qiao Qingqing's questioning woke Hu Yanhai up from his trance. He looked numb, "Qingqing, I know you hate me, just kill me."
"The sea!"
"Iwanai!"
"Why would I kill you?" Qiao Qingqing calmed down and turned around. "When will the funeral be held?"
There was no funeral, Yuan Xiaowen was simply buried.
Hu Yanhai was unwilling to bury Yuan Xiaowen nearby in the community.
"It's too cold, all ice, I want to bury her in the soil of Fushan."
Early the next morning, Qiao Qingqing, Shao Shengan, Hu Yanhai and his two cousins, a group of five, with Hu Yanhai carrying the corpse, skated to Fushan on skates.
Qiao Qingqing didn't know what Wang Jiale and his friends felt when they borrowed his skates to take Grandpa Wang to Fushan for burial, but she knew that she felt like there was a hole in her heart. She didn't want to talk or make any expression, and her feet slid mechanically.
Even though a night had passed, the image of Yuan Xiaowen, her brain splattered and blood all over the floor, still appeared in front of her eyes, and her grief remained unabated.
She even thought that in her previous life, she was in dire straits and had never looked for Yuan Xiaowen. Later, she lost contact with Wenwen. Was it that Wenwen at that time was just like in this life, experiencing the same pain, becoming more and more desperate in the closed and cold environment, and finally choosing to be free?
The goggles in front of her eyes were fogged up. Qiao Qingqing took them off and let the cold wind blow away the moisture in her eyes.
We arrived at Fushan at noon. Fushan was chosen as one of the shelters because of its geographical advantage. From a distance, the roofs and walls were all gray. The material of the newly built shelter was exactly the same as that of the Jinyuan Primary School shelter.
Before the end of the world, Fushan was the location of the cemetery, and usually only worshippers and cemetery managers would come here. But floods and ice disasters followed one after another, and as long as there was a high ground to stay, it would be good, and it would not be a big problem to be neighbors with the dead.
When going up the mountain, Qiao Qingqing and the others had to undergo inspection. There were troops stationed here to maintain order.
After registering, a staff member guided them: "All the good seats are gone. The remaining ones are all remote. You can choose one."
In the end, Hu Yanhai chose a location facing Yuan Xiaowen’s hometown.
The body was burned by fire and turned into a small urn of ashes. The land was frozen, and Hu Yanhai dug it up alone, and he did not allow others to interfere. When the urn was buried, Hu Yanhai's soul seemed to be buried in the ground as well.
"I do hate you, but Wenwen loves you and she doesn't want to drag you down. You should live well and don't let her die in turmoil."
Hu Yanhai didn't say anything and continued kneeling there, but Qiao Qingqing didn't expect his response and left after saying this.
Qiao Qingqing remained silent on the way back. It was completely dark when they got home. Qiao Songzhi and the others were waiting at home anxiously, and only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw them return.
"I guessed that you must have stayed at Wenwen's house for one more day. You two have always had a good relationship... What happened?" Qiao Songzhi asked softly, "Did something happen?"
"Wenwen is gone." said Shao Shengan.
Qiao Songzhi was shocked: "How could it be? She is so young!"
"She committed suicide. Mom, let me rest for a while. I won't eat dinner." Qiao Qingqing went into the room to change clothes and got into bed. But as soon as she closed her eyes, she thought of Yuan Xiaowen's tearful eyes. It turned out that Wenwen had said goodbye to her at that time.
People are strong and fragile.
Human life can be as tenacious as weeds, but can also be as fleeting as morning dew.
The door of the room was opened and she heard some rustling sounds. After a while, Shao Shengan also went to bed.
She turned around and snuggled into Shao Shengan's arms.
"Are you hungry?"
She shook her head and asked him if he had eaten.
"If you don't eat, I don't want to eat either."
Qiao Qingqing frowned and tried to get up, but was hugged by Shao Shengan.
"Don't move. I know you're in a bad mood. Let's hug each other. When you feel better, let's go have dinner together, okay?"
"I'm fine. I'll get you something to eat."
"I want to eat beef noodles, the spicy kind."
Shao Shengan got up, brought the small table up, and lit the candles. Qiao Qingqing took out two bowls of spicy beef noodles from the space. As soon as the steaming hot beef noodles were taken out, the whole place was filled with its overbearing spicy and spicy smell.
"I also want to eat steamed dumplings with leek filling, and steamed buns. Do you have any?" Shao Shengan ordered.
"Yes." Qiao Qingqing not only took the steamed dumplings and xiaolongbao, but also a plate of fried wontons.
A small table was placed on the bed, and the couple ate their late dinner with their heads close together. At first, Qiao Qingqing had no appetite, but the spicy taste of the noodles soon whetted her appetite. She felt her stomach sending her hunger signals, urging her to eat quickly.
Shao Shengan picked up a steamed dumpling and fed it to her: "Is it delicious? I remember when I was in school, you told me that the steamed dumplings near your home were especially delicious. I drooled when I heard that. Later, you packed one for me. I still remember the taste to this day."
"It still tastes the same. Wenwen also likes to eat the dumplings here. Sheng'an, you don't have to worry too much about me. I am very sad that Wenwen is gone, but I told myself that at least I can meet her again in this life--" Qiao Qingqing took a deep breath and suppressed the sob in her throat. She gave Shao Sheng'an a sad and relieved smile.
"Before, I was always worried about gains and losses, but now I have figured it out. Sheng An, starting over again does not mean that everything can go as you wish. I have prepared myself mentally for separation. Separation is not terrible. At least I have reunited with Wenwen in this life. It is a reunion after ten years. Every moment is worth cherishing and savoring. This is enough. This is a gift from God."
Looking at Qiao Qingqing's red eyes, Shao Shengan felt sad. He knew that Qingqing was very worried, and it was not something that he could enlighten with just a few words. The ten years of living alone, without the company of relatives and friends, must have left Qingqing with a heavy psychological trauma. All he could do was to do his best to let Qingqing feel his presence, that he would accompany her and would not leave her.
"Okay, let's cherish every day and every second of the present and leave no regrets."
When leaving Hu Yanhai's relative's house, Qiao Qingqing took some of Yuan Xiaowen's belongings as souvenirs.
One of her clothes, one of her necklaces.
Qiao Qingqing packed the clothes and necklace in a box, and also put in the box the old photos of her and Yuan Xiaowen, the letters Yuan Xiaowen wrote to her when she was a student, the birthday gifts she gave her... Qiao Qingqing put the box in her space and kept it as a treasure. After that, Qiao Qingqing had nightmares for a long time, in which she saw Yuan Xiaowen's bloody corpse and ice stained with blood.
The dream was cold and desperate, but fortunately the people around her were warm and vivid. When Qiao Qingqing woke up from the hellish dream, she could always hold the hand that led her back to the human world.
Time moves forward and never stops for anyone.
Summer is here, and another winter is here, but the world is still shrouded in cold. This winter, the lowest outdoor temperature reached minus 80 degrees Celsius. The temperature was too low, and when Qiao Qingqing asked the master to install the floor heating, she asked for the best quality and most cold-resistant brand. The heating cable was not available locally, so Qiao Qingqing promised to pay three times the price and had it shipped from the north in an emergency, saying that it could be started in minus 60 degrees weather. There were no other disadvantages except that it was expensive and consumed too much electricity.
Using electric floor heating these days does consume a lot of electricity and fuel, but as long as you can have a good night's sleep, all the expenses are worth it.
On that day when the temperature was minus 80 degrees Celsius, the electric floor heating could not be turned on, so Qiao Qingqing's family had to use a traditional coal stove for heating. Every night before going to bed, she would check the ventilation in the house for fear that the whole family would be poisoned by carbon monoxide.
Her family's living conditions were already good, but after such a cold winter, their family of six still suffered from frostbite, and Shao Shengfei cried in pain.
Compared with death, frostbite is a trivial "cost of survival".
More people are sleeping in the darkness, and graves are bulging in the temporary cemeteries in the wild.
Suddenly one day, the doors of some people's houses stopped opening. Neighbors went to the supply ship to call the police. The police pried open the doors and carried out bodies that were frozen into stones.
Wang Jiale's daughter, Wang Jiaxin's daughter, and Wang Jiale's cousin's son, all three children could not survive the cold winter. Their illnesses recurred and they eventually died.
Death has become the most common tragedy in these years.
The economy collapsed, countless companies and factories closed down and went bankrupt, countless people lost their jobs, and social instability factors continued to soar. The security teams on the supply ships patrolled day and night, struggling to maintain order. In troubled times, severe punishments were used. There was no imprisonment these days, only hard labor or the death penalty.
"A man from the building next door was caught digging ice. It was said that he raped a teenage girl. Oh! What a sin!" Qiao Songzhi came back from taking out the trash and told the news.
"Such a bad person was only arrested to dig ice?" Shao's mother was very angry for the little girl, "He should be castrated!"
"Digging ice is not pleasant. I heard that someone dug ice for more than ten days in a row and his toes were frozen off. In order to survive, they had their toes amputated below the knees." The person is disabled, almost like a castrator, and can no longer go out and harm others.
"Qingqing and the others haven't come back yet?" Qiao Songzhi listened to the noise in the room.
"No, but it will be soon. It will be our turn to go and get it. Mother-in-law, go change your clothes first. Remember to wear a scarf to cover your ears. I was really scared when I saw a person without ears outside that day. This damn thing is really too scary."
Qiao Songzhi nodded: "I'll go right away."
At the supply ship, Qiao Qingqing, Shao Shengan and Shao Shengfei had already received the supplies. The reason she hadn't gone home yet was because she met an acquaintance.
The company where Shao Shengan worked before was a software developer, but it went bankrupt after a year. The foreign trade pharmaceutical company where Qiao Qingqing worked also suffered a heavy blow and is now struggling to survive.
The acquaintance I met today was actually an old colleague from Qiao Qingqing's previous company. They hadn't seen each other for a long time, and the old colleague still had a lot to complain about in his heart, so he kept talking to Qiao Qingqing.
"I resigned a long time ago. I wouldn't do the supervisor position even if I was offered it. These days, working 996 is a gamble with your life, and I value my life... We couldn't pay salaries in the past few months. Although the higher-ups said that businesses are not allowed to not accept currency, the money just can't be spent! You use the money to buy things, but they won't sell them to you, and there's nothing you can do! A salary of nearly 30,000 yuan a month, but I can't even support myself. I think the higher-ups must know this situation and know that ordinary people like us can't survive on salaries, so they have been issuing relief food... Salaries? Later, the boss said that I could use the company's medicine to offset it. What do I need so many health products for? Health medicines can only keep me full and warm, and it's difficult for me to exchange them for other supplies. No one wants them these days. I think the company wants to force us out of our sales positions. Anyway, there's no need to shout these days, everyone is scrambling to buy. I heard that the benefits at the factory are so good, I even wanted to transfer there, but it didn't work out..."
An old colleague complained about the company's shrewdness and stinginess: "If I was paid with practical drugs, I would be reluctant to work. Now it's hard to find a box of antipyretic drugs... The company is making money from the national crisis, and they are exporting large quantities of drugs abroad. It's simply crazy..." She leaned close to Qiao Qingqing's ear and whispered, "I heard that they paid with gold and jewelry. I heard that our company's boss built an underground safe at home, hundreds of cubic meters! It's all filled with gold!"
Qiao Qingqing laughed when she heard this: "It's not that exaggerated."
The old colleague laughed: "It's definitely a bit exaggerated. Gossip always gets more and more exaggerated. Although there are no safes with hundreds of cubic meters, there must be safes with dozens of cubic meters. The pharmaceutical industry is making huge profits now!"
When I met this old colleague again later, she said, "I heard the company was raided! The CEO was arrested! It took him so long to get arrested, the CEO must have a strong backing."
Qiao Qingqing rarely paid attention to the outside world. She only focused on her family every day. Meeting with old colleagues and listening to some gossip enriched her daily life. Unfortunately, the old colleague did not stay in this area for long. After a month, she said that her family was leaving.
"We were originally here temporarily, but my father-in-law has found a better place, so we have to move again. Qingqing, we'll see you again someday."
Qiao Qingqing gave her a bottle of face cream as a parting gift. The old colleague was very surprised and hugged her: "Take care of yourself."
Seeing off this old colleague with whom she had a mediocre relationship, Qiao Qingqing felt a rare sense of sadness. In the apocalypse of natural disasters, every person you know is seen less and less, and you never know when you will be separated.
She understood the reason, but Qiao Qingqing never thought that her separation from Dr. Wei would come so suddenly.
The next day after picking up the supplies was Saturday, and Qiao Qingqing went to Dr. Wei's home to study as usual. After a year of getting along, the two had developed a deep friendship. Dr. Wei's granddaughter looked a little thinner, but she grew up healthily after being fed with rice, flour and milk powder brought by Qiao Qingqing.
"It's too cold today. Don't come to pick me up tomorrow. I'll go back by myself."
"It's not that cold. I'm used to this temperature. Come upstairs, I'll put your rations away and leave." Shao Shengan carried half a bag of rice, a bag of noodles, some ham, dried vegetables and eggs. These were both Qiao Qingqing's food for the next two days and her tuition.
After going upstairs, Shao Shengan knocked on the door, and it was still Dr. Wei's daughter-in-law who opened the door. The daughter-in-law had a heavy hemorrhage during childbirth, and she was rescued but in poor health. The adults in the family went out to find work to earn supplies to support the family. Usually when Dr. Wei was on vacation, only the daughter-in-law and her daughter were at home to accompany her.
As the door opened, Qiao Qingqing first saw the haggard and pale face of Dr. Wei's daughter-in-law, and then she heard noisy sounds in the room. The stuffy air in the room was filled with the smell of blood.
Her heart sank immediately.
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