On the fifth day of the temperature rise, the Chen family father and son returned to the community with swimming rings hanging around their waists. Chen Binggang dragged his son upstairs and shouted, "He has a fever! There is no food or drink in the shelter, and there is not enough medicine! Go find medicine! Go find 801! Go find 802 to borrow some! Go quickly!"
Qiao Qingqing didn't give any medicine. In the past two years since the natural disaster, the neighbors have been sick. The hospital is often short of medicine, and if you are sick, you can only borrow it from everywhere. Qiao Qingqing's medicine has been borrowed many times before, and it has been "used up" long ago. There was no medicine before, and there will definitely be no medicine now. In addition, Chen Chenglei is obviously beyond saving, and Qiao Qingqing doesn't want to waste precious antipyretic and anti-inflammatory drugs on a dying person with whom she has no friendship.
That night, Chen Binggang's son died. He stopped breathing at night and died while lying in vomit. He kept vomiting and no matter how his family members tried to make his bed, it would not get clean. Finally, he vomited blood and something meaty that looked like internal organs, and his breathing stopped abruptly.
"son!"
"Husband!"
The desperate cries of the Chen family echoed through the night.
The next day, Wang Jiaxin's husband also passed away in pain. In the cold winter, Wang Jiaxin lost her daughter, and now she lost her husband. She couldn't bear the blow and fainted.
The temperature was too high and the house started to stink soon after people left. There was no way to stay at home.
But where should we bury it? There is nowhere to bury it. Should we just throw it into the water?
Qiao Qingqing's family once again lent the speedboat so that the Chen and Wang families could deal with the bodies of their family members.
The body could not be kept for long, so the Chen and Wang families went to the funeral together, intending to send the body to Fushan. There was limited space on the speedboat, so those who went included Wang Jiale, Wang Jiaxin, and Chen Binggang.
"If it were you, would you have any solution?" Shao Shengan asked Qiao Qingqing privately.
Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "I am only a half-baked person now. Even if Dr. Wei were still alive, she would be helpless without the necessary medical care. Sheng An, so I am very glad that our family did not go out on the day of the big temperature rise. Most of the people who climbed out of the thawed flood did not survive. This data was made by the survivors' base later. The things in the water are too complicated, almost like poison. If it was before the end of the world, it could be saved, but it would be fatal a few years after the natural disaster."
"What about Uncle Chen?" Shao Sheng'an remembered that Chen Binggang and his son came back from the water together.
"He was still alive when I left here. He might be one of the lucky few."
After listening to this, Shao Shengan looked at the yellow-brown water waves swaying outside the window, and his heart felt very heavy.
For the Chen and Wang families, sufferings always came one after another.
The funeral procession left and never came back. The two families waited eagerly for three days, becoming more and more desperate. The seventh floor was filled with gloom and sadness, while the Zheng family in Room 802 on the eighth floor was overjoyed because Zheng Tiehui was back!
Just like in his previous life, Zheng Tiehui came back at night. His daughter couldn't find him, so he came back by himself. The kayak seemed to be carrying supplies. Qiao Qingqing heard the people next door going up and down twice before they calmed down.
"Zheng Tiehui is really a capable man." Shao Sheng'an sighed.
"Did you notice? There is blood on her clothes."
Shao Shengan frowned: "Did you see it?"
"Well, Sheng An, the really difficult time is coming, you should be mentally prepared."
Taking a deep breath, Shao Shengan smiled and said, "I've been prepared for a long time."
On the eleventh day of the big warming, the temperature exceeded 40 degrees Celsius and remained above 30 degrees Celsius at night.
The stagnant water continued to evaporate in the high temperature, the stench was rising, mosquitoes and rodents were multiplying wildly, and burrowing everywhere.
Due to the lack of food and medicine, countless people died of acute illness after climbing out of the dirty water, and countless people suddenly felt nauseous, dizzy, chilled, and vomited one morning.
Wang Jiale's cousin fell ill and lost consciousness in just half a day. The oldest grandmother, Grandma Wang, also suffered from dizziness and nausea.
In Room 802, the Zheng family was no longer happy. Zheng Tiehui suddenly had a fever at night and soon vomited all over the bed.
"Don't be afraid!" He had a strong psychological quality. He had seen others vomiting when he was taking refuge. He started vomiting blood in just two days and died in the blink of an eye. But he firmly believed that he was fine! Those people had soaked in water and drank dirty water, but he didn't! He didn't! He didn't eat a single drop of it. He wouldn't die!
"Give me the medicine." He told Mrs. Zheng where he hid the medicine. He had antibiotics and antipyretics. He was not destined to die!
Mrs. Zheng was still crying. Zheng Tiehui stared at Zheng Liangying. It was hard to describe the look in his eyes at that moment. Zheng Liangying had never felt that her father was so strange. She almost stuttered in her response: "I, I'll get it. I'll, go get it—"
Despair spread everywhere. One night, Qiao Qingqing heard the sound of water in her sleep. When she woke up, she found a dead body floating in front of the balcony. The body had been soaked overnight and was face down. She couldn't recognize who it was, but Qiao Qingqing knew that it was thrown down by a family in a building in the community.
Qiao Qingqing's house kept its doors and windows closed most of the time. At first, Qiao Songzhi felt uncomfortable and had no appetite after smelling the disinfectant in the house. He only felt better after taking some medicine prescribed by Qiao Qingqing.
"There are so many cockroaches that I often hear them scratching the mosquito nets when I sleep at night."
"There are also leeches, which are slimy and make a sizzling sound when they crawl on the glass. It gives me goose bumps just by listening to them."
"It's really stuffy at home, but when I open the window it stinks outside."
No matter how smelly it was outside, Qiao Qingqing would open the windows for two hours every night to allow air to circulate between the inside and outside, and then close the windows and turn on the air conditioner. There was a sufficient supply of disinfectant alcohol in the room, but except for the first day, Qiao Qingqing had not disinfected the doors and windows of her home again.
She didn't want her family and herself to stay in the greenhouse all the time. At this time, living too delicately was not a good thing. It was wise to breathe the air outside that contained bacteria and viruses appropriately and let the body slowly adapt.
On the tenth day of the fever, Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother began to feel unwell. They both lost their appetite when eating meat and then felt like vomiting.
"Am I sick too?" Qiao Songzhi held Qiao Qingqing with a look of reluctance. On the other side, Shao's mother also held the hands of her two children and explained her funeral arrangements in tears.
"Mom, you can make it through. If you can make it through, you can live and stay with me forever." Qiao Qingqing's eyes were red. "Can you bear to leave me?"
"I can't bear to let go, my dear Qingqing. I have held you in my arms since you were so little. You are the one I can't let go of the most."
Qiao Qingqing slowed down her breathing and coaxed her: "Mom, you have to believe me. I've been through this before, and I got through it without any medicine. Many people have to go through this. Once you get through it, you can adapt to the new environment. The human body is very strong and it's not so easy to be defeated."
She had medicine, but she didn't give it to her mother and mother-in-law right away.
If they could get through it on their own, their bodies would be stronger. Qiao Qingqing could not be too careful when facing the people she cherished. She was satisfied that she could provide better living conditions for her family, but she was also worried about whether their bodies could adapt to the end-of-world environment.
She could only confide this conflicting psychology to her husband in the dead of night.
Shao Shengan always trusted her. He comforted his mother, went downstairs, heard some noise in the kitchen, and went in to see.
"I'll cook some porridge." Qiao Qingqing said to him, and pointed to the thermos on the stove, "You take this pot to mom. She doesn't need to take medicine, but she needs to drink more water."
"Okay." Shao Shengan took the thermos and touched her head before leaving the kitchen. "Don't worry, it will be fine."
He knew that Qingqing's space had been filled with a lot of rice and porridge that had been cooked before, and they could be used anytime they wanted. Now that she was cooking porridge, it must be because Qingqing was upset and needed to find something to do to feel at ease. Wasn't he in the same mood?
"Yeah." Qiao Qingqing smiled at him.
In Jinyuan Community, coughing sounds can often be heard. Even at the quietest time of night, there will be people coughing heart-wrenchingly, and sometimes there will be vomiting sounds.
The sun is getting brighter day by day, but the living feel that there is a shadow over their heads and the future is dark and bleak.
In order to make care easier, Shao's mother lived with Qiao Songzhi in the second bedroom.
For Qiao Qingqing, these five days were the most difficult days after her rebirth. She couldn't sleep the whole night and always had to go into the second bedroom in the middle of the night to feel her mother's breath and pulse.
Shao's mother was in good health and had a low-grade fever for only one day. After the fever subsided, she lost her appetite and vomited twice, but her health began to improve. Qiao Songzhi, however, had a low-grade fever repeatedly and her condition gradually worsened. Qiao Qingqing began to give her medication and closely monitored the progress of her condition.
"My mother-in-law seems to be coughing up blood. She won't let me tell you."
Qiao Qingqing went out to wash clothes, and when she came back, Shao's mother secretly told her. At this moment, she felt her heart tightened and her breathing stopped.
How could this happen? Wasn't everything fine today?
Qiao Qingqing's heart was in turmoil, but she tried to remain calm: "I know, Mom, Sheng An has prepared the meal, you go eat first."
"Hey." Shao's mother patted her hands and closed the door.
"Did your mother-in-law tell you? I'm really fine. I feel much better after vomiting." Qiao Songzhi said with a smile, looking at Qiao Qingqing with gentle eyes.
Qiao Qingqing didn't say anything, but grabbed her wrist and began to feel her pulse. At first, her brows were furrowed, but slowly they began to relax.
"I just said I'm fine - how is it?" Qiao Songzhi asked softly.
Qiao Qingqing exhaled and asked Qiao Songzhi to give her the discarded tissue: "Let me see."
"Well, under the bed."
She knelt down and fished out the ball of tissue paper, opened it and checked it. Then she asked her mother to open her mouth, checked her throat, listened to her lungs with a stethoscope, and checked her pulse. After all this busy work, she finally felt relieved.
"It's okay, just some pneumonia. Mom, I'll get you some medicine. Don't spit too hard."
After a false alarm, Qiao Songzhi relaxed a little and touched his throat: "Just now, the phlegm couldn't come out. I was too strong. Did I scare you?"
Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "I'm not afraid, I know you won't really leave me."
"Oh, I'm just hoping to get better soon, cough cough."
"You will get better, Mom, don't let your imagination run wild."
After taking care of Qiao Songzhi and helping her take her medicine, Qiao Qingqing closed the door and went out.
"How's Mom?"
"Falling asleep... Why are you all on the balcony? What are you looking at?"
Shao Shengan asked her to come over and take a look: "The water level has receded. Look, a small part of the windows on the sixth floor are exposed."
"Yes, Qingqing, come and have a look! The water level has receded a little!" Shao's father could not hide his joy in his tone.
When I walked to the balcony, I saw half of the sixth-floor window exposed below.
"This is really good news. It will be even better once the mothers are fully recovered."
"It will be fine. We have prepared so much. Everything will be as we wish." Shao Shengan put his arm around her shoulders and gave her support.
The water level is dropping, which is the only good news since the temperature has risen.
Two days later, the sixth floor emerged from the water. Shao Sheng went downstairs to check. When he came back, he said, "The sixth floor is completely soaked and smells terrible. I also saw a body stuck in the window on the sixth floor of the building next door. Don't look over there or you will be scared."
After that, the water level continued to drop, although the speed was not fast, but at least it gave people hope that the water would recede. Just as the people at that time could not figure it out, and the experts could not explain where all the rain came from, the survivors at this time could only watch the water level drop in confusion, and no one knew where the water would return to. But what is certain is that the water receding is a good thing, which means that they will no longer be trapped at home and can go out to find survival supplies.
When the fifth floor emerged from the water, Qiao Songzhi's condition had finally improved completely. Qiao Qingqing was extremely happy, but she felt dizzy and fainted when she turned her head.
Qiao Qingqing was prepared for this illness, as she also had a minor illness after having a fever in her previous life.
"Ahem, I just have a cold, it's no big deal. You go back and sleep over there, don't get infected by me." Qiao Qingqing urged Shao Shengan to sleep in the master bedroom.
"I don't want to. Getting sick now can enhance my immunity and help me adapt to the environment. That's what you said. I can't give up this opportunity." Shao Shengan refused to leave. Qiao Qingqing was helpless: "Who would take the initiative to get sick?"
"I won't leave." Shao Shengan lay down and put his hand under her neck for her to rest her head on.
There was nothing Qiao Qingqing could do, so she had to let him do what he wanted.
"You haven't been sleeping well recently and have been staying up late, which has caused your body's functions to decline. Don't be afraid, I'm by your side, and you'll be well soon." Shao Shengan comforted Qiao Qingqing, and also comforted himself, "We haven't been exposed to rats, cockroaches, or dirty water, so the germs in the air must be a small problem. Otherwise, with the temperature so high, it would stink everywhere, and everyone living would have to breathe. Wouldn't everyone in the world be devastated? When you get better, your body will definitely be stronger."
These words were said by Qiao Qingqing to comfort Shao's mother when she was ill. Her nose felt a little sour and she murmured "hmm". She had a headache and couldn't sleep, so she chatted with Shao Shengan.
"No one came to rob the house this time. I don't know whose house they robbed."
"Du Jie's cousins?"
"Yeah." Perhaps it was because she no longer lived alone in this life, and the time when the house was robbed had passed, so the group of people led by Du Jie's cousin did not come.
Shao Shengan's tone was ruthless: "If they dare to come, I won't let them go."
People started to move around outside, kayaks were traveling through the dirty water, creating ripples. No one was too vigilant at first, after all, during the months of the flood, this kind of scene was normal. It was not until in broad daylight that someone broke into the house and robbed it, and the fear of the end of the world really spread.
Natural disasters are terrible, but man-made disasters are even worse!
Jinyuan Community has not encountered such a situation yet, but it seems that there have been several quarrels in other buildings, and once there was a fight. Even through another building, Qiao Qingqing could hear the noise of the fight from that side.
“I don’t know why they are fighting. How can they have the energy to fight when they are not full?” 701, Grandma Wang muttered, her hands shaking as she poured the dirty water in the bottle into the soil, waiting expectantly for the potatoes to grow.
"Grandma, is this water okay?"
Seeing the child licking his lips, Grandma Wang sighed: "We'd better try it. Otherwise, where can we find water to grow crops? Just bear with it. This water is not drinkable." As she said these two sentences, she felt her throat dry and itchy, and she couldn't help coughing.
The child was startled, and Grandma Wang felt sad and comforted the child: "Grandma, it's okay, it's just that your throat is itchy due to thirst, it's okay."
Wang Jiale's wife silently opened the cupboard, took out a half-bottle of water, and poured a capful for her: "Grandma, drink some."
Grandma Wang took it and gave it to the child.
She was anxious: "He and Fangfang have already drunk it, Grandma, you drink it yourself."
Grandma Wang swallowed hard, her lips were cracked, and she could feel the pain of her skin being torn when she forced a smile. "I'm not thirsty, no need to give me any."
Wang Jiale’s wife started crying.
"Don't cry, Jiale will come back. I told him that he can live to be 60 years old. We will just wait for him at home."
Suddenly, a scream came from outside the door: "Min! Don't go!"
Grandma Wang’s hands trembled.
702. The doors and windows of the house were tightly closed, and the curtains blocked out all the sunlight. There were cries in the darkness, and a young female voice said fiercely, "Stop crying! Crying is just a waste of energy!"
"Don't be mean to the child. What do children know?" The older woman's voice was hoarse.
"They don't have a father anymore! They have to understand even if they don't understand!"
There was crying next door, and Chen Binggang's wife hesitated: "Could it be that Jiaxin's cousin is gone?"
The daughter-in-law said, "That should be the case. He has held on long enough. Who can stand coughing like that every day? The sooner you die, the sooner you will be free from this world!" As she said this, her voice couldn't help but choke with sobs.
801. Zheng Tiehui changed his clothes and breathed a sigh of relief: "I told you I'm fine. I, Zheng Tiehui, can fight for another thirty years! God won't take me away!"
"Let's have something delicious at noon to celebrate. You brought back a bottle of red wine last time. I think the wine has gone bad. Do you think it's still drinkable?"
"Let me see - this bottle has been frozen for two years. It seems to have gone bad after being thawed. Don't worry if it has gone bad. This stuff will be good in the future. After going through this, your stomach will become as strong as iron. It will definitely be drinkable. Put it away first!"
Mrs. Zheng responded, frowning, "What are those ghosts howling downstairs?"
"I'll go take a look."
Zheng Tiehui opened the window to hear more clearly, and then he closed it unhappily: "Another person died, what bad luck!" He looked at the water level downstairs, then looked into the distance, his eyes flickering with calculation. The world is going to be in chaos, how can we survive better?
801, Qiao Qingqing also heard the noise downstairs while lying in bed.
"Don't get up. It's windy outside today. Don't get caught in the wind."
"I'm not planning on going out, don't worry." She sat up, "What's going on outside?"
Shao Shengan closed the door, his expression a little heavy: "It was Jiale's cousin who passed away. She had been ill for a long time."
Qiao Qingqing looked out the window: "Wang Jiale and Uncle Chen haven't come back yet. They have always been at home in their previous life. Sheng An, do you think my existence has changed their fate? If there were no speedboats, they would not have decided to go to Fushan for the funeral, and they would not be missing now."
"Qingqing, this is not your responsibility." Shao Shengan said hurriedly, "They are adults. They should have considered the possible dangers on the road before going out. They have already been prepared when they decided to go out."
"But--"
"Qingqing, in their hearts, family is more important than danger, so they want to send their family members' bodies to Fushan for burial at risk. We are just neighbors. They need help, and we provide assistance. That's all. Qingqing, don't think too much. You are still sick, and the worst thing to do when you are sick is to think too much. This is what you told mom before, have you forgotten?"
Qiao Qingqing smiled bitterly. She also found that her emotions were like an overflowing lake, which would flow out at the slightest movement.
Maybe being sick really makes people vulnerable.
"Okay, I'll listen to you. I don't want to think about it anymore." She wanted to lie down again, and Shao Shengan hurriedly supported her and covered her with a blanket.
"Are you hungry? My mom made some shredded chicken porridge. Do you want some?"
"I have no appetite. I'll take a nap and eat after I wake up."
Only after Qiao Qingqing's breathing calmed down did Shao Shengan tiptoe out and carefully close the door.
"Qingqing, do you want to eat?" Shao's mother asked softly.
"She can eat after she wakes up. Let's eat first."
Qiao Songzhi came down from upstairs and handed the clothes she had just collected to Shao Shengan: "They are well exposed to the sun, and all the bacteria have been killed. You can change them for her when she wakes up. She should pay more attention to cleanliness when she is sick."
"I know mom. I'm planning on changing the sheets later."
"What a sin! My cousin Jiaxin is still so young... Alas." Qiao Songzhi felt very uncomfortable when she thought of the noise she had just heard.
"That's right! What I'm thinking now is that it would be best if our family is safe and sound. I'll feel at ease only if Qingqing gets better soon." Shao's mother also sighed.
The body of Wang Jiaxin's cousin was temporarily placed in an empty house downstairs, and similar things happened in other buildings. The high temperature and heat caused the body to rot and stink in a short time, and mosquitoes, flies, rats and cockroaches took the body as a feast, and after eating and drinking, they roamed around, spreading bacteria to every corner.
Qiao Qingqing was recuperating at home, and the house was still ventilated for two hours every night. The familiar stench of corpses poured in from the window, bringing back her unpleasant memories.
But something even more unpleasant soon happened to her. After she talked to Shao Shengan about how Du Jie's cousin had not come to rob the house in this life, Du Jie's cousin brought people to Jinyuan Community again, targeting 801.
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