It was still a clear sky that day, and the sun was shining brightly early in the morning. The water level had receded to the fourth floor. After Qiao Qingqing woke up, Shao Shengan would lift a corner of the curtain to let the sunlight in and shine on the bed so that Qiao Qingqing could bask in the sun.
"Dad caught a lot of leeches and is waiting for you to get better so he can clean them up."
While eating, Shao Shengan said with a smile. Qiao Qingqing rolled her eyes at him: "Mom made preserved egg and lean meat porridge today!"
Shao Shengan glanced at the black preserved egg in her bowl with a smile: "It looks different, it's a preserved egg, okay, it's a little dark, my bad, my bad, you should eat it quickly."
Qiao Qingqing snorted and continued eating porridge.
Shao Shengan was very happy to see that she was in a mood to laugh and joke, and felt that this was a sign of improvement in her condition.
She did feel much better. She no longer felt cold in the past two days and her sense of taste began to return.
"Mom! Someone is coming!" Shao Shengfei suddenly shouted outside.
"I'll go check it out, you continue eating breakfast."
Shao Shengan went out quickly, walked to Shao Shengfei and looked over.
"Brother, look at so many people, they all have bald heads. Brother, can I have a bald head too?"
After taking a look, Shao Shengan's heart sank and his brows furrowed.
Baldheads, six baldheads, they matched what Qingqing said, this group of people were the ones who took away the house and drove Qingqing away! He immediately asked Shao Shengfei to go upstairs and call for help: "Call Dad down."
"Oh!" Shao Shengfei went upstairs.
Shao's mother was washing pots in the kitchen. When she heard the noise, she shouted, "Don't run too fast! Feifei, hold on!"
Qiao Songzhi was washing clothes in the bathroom and said with a smile, "Fei Fei should be more lively. She was scared like that a while ago. I felt so sad when I saw her."
Mother Shao smiled: "Yes, I was so worried at that time. Fortunately, Qingqing was capable and prescribed medicine for Feifei. After taking the medicine, he no longer woke up from nightmares at night. Alas, being a mother is a lifelong thing. When I close my eyes, I still have to worry about my children."
"Isn't it..."
The two of them didn't know the seriousness of the matter yet, and they were doing their work with laughter and chatter as usual. Shao's father was rolling leeches on the terrace. He looked at the buckets full of results in the corner and felt a sense of accomplishment. When Shao Shengfei came upstairs, he was squinting his eyes, one hand on his waist and the other wiping his sweat.
"Dad! Your brother is calling you to come down!" Shao Shengfei shouted loudly.
"Oh, your brother is calling me? I'm coming. Go downstairs first. It's very hot here."
Downstairs, Shao Shengan had already taken out weapons from the utility room, including two machetes and a steel pipe.
"What are you looking for? Let me help--" Qiao Songzhi came out with the washed clothes and wanted to hang them on the balcony to dry. She was stunned when she saw the machete.
"Mom, there might be some trouble at home. Please take my mom into the house to accompany Qingqing."
Hearing the cruelty in Shao Shengan's tone, Qiao Songzhi was quite uncomfortable seeing this side of her son-in-law for the first time. But that was not the point. The point was what trouble was there at home?
Just then, Shao's father and Shao Shengfei came downstairs, and Shao Shengan arranged the weapons.
"Dad, this one is for you. Brother, take this steel pipe."
Shao's father took it in a daze, and Shao Shengfei held it tightly with great joy, and asked, "Brother, where are we going?"
"Bad guys are coming, let's beat them up."
"Yeah! I'll beat up the bad guys! I'll beat up the bad guys!"
Father Shao was confused: "Sheng An, what are you doing, machete——"
"Dad, someone is coming to rob us and has already come ashore and upstairs. They will be at our house soon. You have to be prepared!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The iron door at the entrance was knocked, and the harsh sound passed through the triple security door and faintly came into the house.
Shao Shengan turned around and faced the door, pursed his lips and said, "They are here. Mom, you and my mom, please go into the house." He was still thinking about this.
"I understand!" Qiao Songzhi reacted, put down the bucket and ran to the kitchen, whispered to Shao's mother, and after comforting her, they went into the second bedroom together. However, they couldn't rest assured that there was someone outside, so they opened the door and listened to the noise outside.
In the corridor on the eighth floor, Zhou Peng angrily slammed the door again, feeling very frustrated.
"Brother Peng, what should we do? This iron door is so hard that the tools we brought can't cut it open."
Zhou Peng was a little annoyed. His cousin Du Jie told him about this Feng Shui treasure land, which just gave him an excuse to vent his anger. This damn world doesn't allow people to live, why is he still holding it in? His old house collapsed, and the shelter built on it was almost destroyed. The shelter without supplies is useless, and those people are still snatching it there, what the hell! This kind of residential building is very good, there are always people living in it, and there are not as many people living there as in the shelter, so the environment must not be very bad.
After hearing what Du Jie said, he immediately decided to rob this place. Knowing that there was an iron gate here, he asked his friend to go back to his house that had long been flooded and search through the boxes and cabinets. He found this rusty big iron pliers. He thought it would be easy to cut the iron gate open, but it turned out that it couldn't be cut at all.
"Brother, this door is damn strong. It must be very expensive. It won't be good if it breaks. We will live here by ourselves in the future. It will be more secure to have an iron door."
Zhou Peng cursed, looked around in dissatisfaction, and gave instructions: "You two guard here, the rest of you follow me to climb the window, get out the rope, we will climb through the window in the corridor to their balcony and enter from the balcony."
"Good idea, Brother Peng! I saw that they have glass on the balcony. This is easy. I brought a hammer!"
"Let's go! Let's do it now!"
701, 702 and 802 had heard the noise and found it incredible.
"How could a thief be so rampant in broad daylight?" Grandma Wang couldn't believe it.
"Aunt, the situation is chaotic now. I don't know where the army is. The bad guys dare to do anything now!"
"What should we do? They seem to be heading to Qingqing's house. We have to do something—"
"Aunt, we can't help you. Look at our family. It's miserable enough now. We don't have the energy to meddle in other people's affairs."
702, Chen Binggang's daughter-in-law Zheng Xiuyi quietly locked the window, drew the curtains, and returned to the room with her mother-in-law to hold the child. The child was frightened by the atmosphere and couldn't help crying.
“Don’t cry!” Zheng Xiuyi covered the child’s mouth tightly and said in a low voice, “Don’t cry! If you cry again, the bad guys will take you away and throw you into the water!”
802, Zheng Tiehui lifted a corner of the sunshade curtain and carefully looked at the balcony of 801 next to it, his heart beating very fast.
Those people climbed out of the window in the corridor and were about to climb to the balcony of 801! He stared at them intently, holding the curtains tightly. It was true that he didn't like 801 next door, but with such a group of bald men who looked extremely vicious, would this building and this community have a peaceful life in the future? But he couldn't muster up the courage to go out and help. He was only one person, and there were six bald men! 801 didn't open the door at all, and these people went to the balcony to force their way in. He would be stupid to open the door and go out to attract fire.
"Strange, why don't they rob others but the one next door? Could they be enemies?" Mrs. Zheng was also worried, "They won't turn around and attack our three families, right?"
"It shouldn't be. Their target is very clear. They went straight to Building 4 when they entered the community, and then went straight to Building 801 after entering the building." Zheng Tiehui still looked at the next door and pursed his lips. "Even if they can't get in and change their target, that target won't be our house! You keep an eye on it, I'll go get something."
Zheng Tiehui entered the room and found a box from a hidden place. The moment he opened the box, his breathing tightened. He carefully put the black □□ into his pocket, feeling more confident. He took a deep breath and walked out of the room to the balcony to watch the situation.
801. After not hearing the sound of the iron gate, Shao Shengan became more alert. He did not think that those people would retreat, and they must have other bad intentions.
Bang!
There was a sound coming from the balcony, Shao Shengan's face changed slightly and he rushed over quickly.
When he opened the curtains, he saw a strange face climbing outside the balcony, hitting the glass with a hammer!
"Damn! This seems to be tempered glass, it's so hard to knock!"
The sound came faintly, and Shao Shengan was very angry. These people, how dare they! As long as he thought of Qingqing hiding at home in fear, and someone outside smashed the door and balcony and rushed in like a wild wolf, he hated it.
"Stupid! Use the pointed end of the hammer to hit it, aim at one spot and hit it!"
This is tempered one-way glass. People can see outside, but people outside cannot see inside. Shao Shengan became more rational despite his anger. The balcony is three meters long. They are on that side and he is on this side. Neither the machete nor the steel pipe can attack them. But if they use a stick to lengthen the machete, they may be caught by the weapon and pulled down instead.
He put down the machete, went to the kitchen to get a kettle of hot water, poured the hot water into a ladle, and then tied a rope around himself.
"Dad, big brother, hold me tight."
"Hey! Don't worry, Dad will definitely hold you back, you have to be careful!"
The balcony is rectangular. When sealing the balcony, Qiao Qingqing followed the master's advice and used cement bricks to seal the side close to the aisle window, leaving the escape window on the side away from the aisle window, and then sealed the middle side with tempered glass. This is both practical and beautiful.
So after Zhou Peng and his friends climbed to the balcony of 801, they were helpless against the cement brick wall on that side. They could only give up cursing and continue to climb forward to smash the large glass wall.
Shao Shengan took off his shoes and climbed out of the escape window. He held the open door outside the escape window tightly with one hand and motioned to Shao Shengfei to give him the water scoop on the ground with the other hand.
"Brother, hold on to the water. It's very hot." Shao Shengfei carefully handed him the ladle.
Taking the ladle filled with hot water, Shao Shengan leaned out and looked to the right.
The man also saw him and was obviously stunned.
Shao Shengan gritted his teeth and poured the hot water over him mercilessly.
The hot water emitted heat in the air, and the glass next to it was covered with white mist.
"ah!"
The steam rising from the hot water makes one's scalp tingle.
Caught off guard, the man dodged subconsciously, but he was clinging to the balcony and had nowhere to hide. In a flash of fire, he loosened his hands and fell down. The rope around his waist grabbed him, and the people in the window hurriedly pulled hard and caught him before he hit the balcony on the seventh floor.
But even so, the ladle of hot water fell down under the force of gravity and still hit him in the face.
"ah!!"
"What happened? Pull the army back quickly!" Zhou Peng shouted loudly.
Several big men worked together and quickly pulled the man up. The man was holding his face and screaming. Zhou Peng pried his hands open and took a breath of cold air.
The face is all red, it's a burn!
"An army?" His voice trembled.
Da Jun cried out in pain: "It hurts! It hurts so much! Am I blind? I can't see! It hurts so much! My face, my face is burned!" He struggled to grab and pull out his hair, but his hair fell off along with his scalp.
"How dare he! How dare he! Ah!" Zhou Peng was so angry that he rushed to the iron gate and kicked it hard several times.
"Brother Peng! What should we do with the army?..."
The others were at a loss, Da Jun looked so miserable that it was scary to look at. At this moment, the skin on Da Jun's face seemed to be uneven, as if there were puddles of water inside.
"I've seen news reports before, saying that burns should be rinsed with cold water first and then sent to the hospital—"
Everyone was silent. Where could they get enough clean cold water? The hospital was no longer the same as before, so it would be useless to send it there.
Da Jun was still crying and struggling in pain, like a fish jumping on the asphalt road in summer. His companions hurried to hold him down, their hearts were in chaos.
"Brother Peng! What should I do?"
Others still called him, hoping that he could give them some advice.
"There is nothing here, let's send the army home first!" Zhou Peng finally made a decision.
He looked at the door of 801 with hatred: "Since they are so cruel, don't blame me for being merciless! Let's go! Go home first! We'll come back for revenge next time!"
"Sheng An, they're gone." Shao's father breathed a sigh of relief.
"They will come again, but everything should be fine for now." Shao Shengan put the kettle back in the kitchen and went into the house to report to Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother that he was safe.
"I'm glad you're okay, ah!"
Qiao Qingqing had already woken up by the noise. She took Shao Shengan's hand to check if he was injured. Seeing blisters on the back of his hand, she felt distressed and asked Qiao Songzhi to find the medicine box and get the burn ointment to apply on him.
"Go take a shower with cold water first."
Not wanting to worry his family, Shao Shengan did as he was told. Afterwards, Qiao Qingqing personally applied the medicine to him. During the process, she heard Shao Shengan talk about what happened just now and frowned: "They will definitely come again."
But she thought about it and realized that as long as those people couldn't get in, there would be no threat.
In the past, she might have worried about how those people would retaliate. Although they were safe hiding at home, they were trapped in a jar. A fire would force them to open the door and come out. However, they had only experienced two cold winters, and everything that could be burned had already been burned. She didn't think those people could find enough fuel to retaliate.
Even if there is, she is not afraid, because the fire extinguisher in her space is not just for decoration.
"Don't think about it. They can't do anything to us." Seeing that she was distracted, Shao Shengan comforted her, "We have three anti-theft doors at home. There's nothing to be afraid of. If they dare to come from the balcony again, I will poke them down one by one."
Seeing the ruthlessness in her husband's eyes, Qiao Qingqing felt very complicated. She was relieved that her husband could adapt to the survival rules of the apocalypse, but she was also sad that her husband actually took this step. If there was no apocalypse, her Sheng An should be wearing a suit and making product presentations in the conference room, instead of climbing the escape window barefoot and risking his life to splash hot water to drive away foreign invaders. She looked at her husband's hands, the blisters on them were very dazzling. These hands should have been typing on the keyboard or holding a pen to write a plan...
"You're distracted again." Shao Shengan was helpless. He touched her face and said softly, "Don't think about it anymore. Your task now is to take care of your body. I will feel at ease only when you are well. Be good, Qingqing."
Qiao Qingqing hugged him and said, "I know. I'll be well soon. Let's protect this home together."
His eyes were soft: "Okay, then you continue to sleep, and then get up to have lunch when you wake up. I'll be out for a while."
"where are you going?"
"I didn't go anywhere, I just went downstairs to discuss with the seventh floor to see if we can install the iron door at our door entrance. Now the water level has been receding, and outsiders can come upstairs from the stairs, which is very unsafe."
Qiao Qingqing let go of her hand, took out a bag of flour from the space, thought for a while and took out a plastic bag, opened the bag of flour, scooped the flour into the plastic bag with a spoon, and stopped after filling only half of the bag.
"This half bag of flour is for Grandma Wang." She wanted to thank Grandma Wang for taking her in in her previous life and for giving her half a potato cake. She couldn't give more because it would bring disaster to the family.
"Okay." Shao Sheng'an hugged her again, "You've done enough. Before the end of the world, you delivered express to their family, including mung beans, potatoes, and other seeds. As long as they run the business well, there will be no shortage of supplies today."
"I know, I just want to give you a little more so that I can feel better." The arrival of cousin Du Jie and others today awakened her bad memories.
Kissing her face, Shao Shengan said softly: "Okay, I will definitely send it to Grandma Wang. She is the oldest person in this building now. She has watched you grow up since you were a child. It is normal for us to send something."
"Um."
Shao Shengan went out quickly, and returned home after a while. He and his father took the tools and started working. Removing the door was a matter of practice, and soon the two of them worked together to remove the iron door, carried it downstairs together, and pressed the iron door against the stairs on the seventh floor.
"We have to block this place off, otherwise outsiders can just use a ladder to climb over from under the iron gate to the stairs to the eighth floor." Father Shao said, pointing to the stairs leading from the seventh floor to the eighth floor.
"Then block it up. I'll go home and get some wood - no, get some steel pipes and weld them together."
"Your welding machine is very easy to use. It's still usable after several years." Uncle Wang praised enthusiastically, "It's of great quality. Does it have batteries? It should be quite expensive, right?"
Shao Shengan smiled faintly and did not respond.
Forty minutes later, the gap was welded, and Shao Shengan and his father packed up their tools and went home.
Uncle Wang went forward to touch and shake the iron gate and fence, and was very satisfied to see that they did not move at all. He dragged his feet and walked slowly into the house. He had arthritis, and the cold weather made his legs more painful, and he has trouble walking even today.
"It's so hot outside and we're welding something. It's hot and noisy. What's so good about it?" His wife complained that he had difficulty walking and was causing trouble.
"I'm in good health!" His face turned pale, and his wife also stopped talking. They both thought of the children who died young. Alas! The two of them were old and immortal. Oh, plus my aunt, the three of us were very old and immortal. The children died young. The old people have sent off the young ones many times. It's so painful and heartbreaking!
"Hey, you two should stop arguing." Grandma Wang took out the flour. "This is what Sheng An secretly gave me just now. Hey, they are all good kids! Let's make some fried flour and some paste for the little ones. Look how thin they have become."
Uncle Wang was shocked: "Shao Shengan gave it to me? Oh, this flour tastes really good, it's not moldy!"
“Why would someone give away moldy things—” Grandma Wang shook her head.
"It seems that the 801 family still has a lot of inventory. I don't know how they survive. Why do I see that they live better than others?"
"I feel like there's electricity in his house, and it seems like he's got the air conditioner on!"
Grandma Wang turned her head in surprise. Wang Jiaxin didn't think he had said anything strange. He walked over and sat down: "Didn't you hear any noise at night? It was very quiet, and it felt like the sound of the air conditioner outside the unit."
Uncle Wang relaxed a little: "You are just guessing, how could the air conditioner be turned on? It was so cold before, all the electrical appliances were frozen! Even if there was one, it couldn't be turned on."
Wang Jiaxin disagreed: "How could I have heard it wrong? Didn't 801 have a solar generator installed? The sun is so bright now, the electricity generated is enough to run ten air conditioners!"
My uncle laughed and said, "I just said it, it was so cold in the past two years that everything was frozen. Even if 801 really had a solar generator, it must have been frozen too!"
Room 802 upstairs is also discussing this.
Mrs. Zheng was still a little unhappy: "They took down the door before, and now they want to install it on the seventh floor. It's a good thing you have such a good temper that you agreed to it."
Zheng Tiehui played with the iron gate key left by Shao Shengan and sneered, "Are you stupid? Why should I oppose something that benefits me? Why shouldn't I take the opportunity that Shao Shengan offered me? Even if I don't agree with him, he can still install it if the people downstairs agree. What's the point of my disagreement? When they install the iron gate, we will have to ask them for the key to go in and out. That's when we have to bow our heads!"
"Anyway, you're right, I don't care. By the way, why didn't you ask them if they really had the air conditioner on? I really heard a buzzing sound next door, it must be the sound of the air conditioner's outdoor unit!"
"So what if I ask? It belongs to someone else. I couldn't use their floor heating before, but now I can use their air conditioning?"
"How can you know if you don't ask——"
"Then Qiao Qingqing will chop the door with a kitchen knife again, aren't you afraid?"
Mrs. Zheng fell silent and threw her pillow to vent her anger.
After a while, he suddenly shouted, "I'm so hot! I'm dying of heat! What kind of life am I living? Is this a life that a human being can live? I've never been so smelly before. I'm covered in sweat all day long. I stink of sweat all over. I can't stand it!"
In the next room, Zheng Liangdong still looked half dead. He turned over irritably and continued to sleep.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
