Time passed quickly, and when the first batch of green onions planted by Shao's father was ready for harvest, the smell outside had finally faded a lot.
"The road surface has melted in the sun, and everything has dried up." Qiao Songzhi pointed at the abandoned street lamp at the entrance of the community and said, "See, the crow under the lamppost is dead! I just saw it fly over and land on the lamppost, and suddenly it swayed left and right and fell down. It fluttered on the ground for a while, and now it is motionless. It must have been burned by the lamppost. It's really scary!"
Qiao Qingqing flipped through the calendar: "Two months have passed since the day when the temperature rose and the ice melted. Time flies." She put the calendar down, took out the finished product of the first crossbow, and showed it to Qiao Songzhi like a treasure, "Mom, what do you think?"
Qiao Songzhi touched it in amazement: "It looks like it could be used. Can it be used? It has to be as useful as the crossbow you bought."
"Yes, I have tried it. Mom, you can try it."
Qiao Songzhi wiped his hands and said, "Let me try. I'm not very good at it."
"Mom, you can do it. You've played with toy crossbows before. I remember your aim was pretty good."
"How is that the same? I just treated it as a toy and I've only played with it a few times...Okay, I'll try." Seeing his daughter's insistence, Qiao Songzhi rubbed his hands and took the crossbow.
"The arrow is for you."
Looking at the crossbow in front of her, Qiao Songzhi exclaimed: "You even made a bow and arrow. Although it is made of wood, it looks quite sharp." She was about to touch the arrow head but was stopped by Qiao Qingqing.
"Be careful not to scratch your hands. I used a special method to make the arrowhead harder, and it has been specially polished, so the arrowhead is very sharp." Qiao Qingqing took out a piece of paper and threw it from the arrowhead. With a "swish" sound, the paper was cut in half.
“This is too sharp.”
"It's not as good as a special arrow, but it's good enough to deal with danger. Mom, you try it."
Qiao Songzhi stood at the end of the living room, aimed at the wooden board with target paper on the wall at the end of the corridor, took a deep breath, and shot an arrow.
With a "bang", the crossbow arrow pierced into the wooden board.
"Hiss, the arrows you made yourself really work? Qingqing is amazing!" Shao's father praised, while Shao's mother looked at Qiao Songzhi with admiration, "Mother-in-law is amazing, you hit the target!"
"Mother-in-law, you can try it too—"
Mother Shao waved her hands repeatedly: "I really can't do it. I can't even learn to use the toy crossbow that Qingqing gave me, let alone this. Don't give it to me. I'm afraid I might accidentally hurt you."
Afterwards, Shao Shengan and his father tried it, and both felt that the homemade crossbow was only slightly inferior to the one they bought. Shao Shengan made a more detailed suggestion: "Mom shot one arrow, Dad shot two arrows, and I shot five arrows, a total of seven arrows. When I shot the seventh arrow, I felt that the crossbow's aim was a little crooked, and the crossbow seemed a little unstable. Did the frame begin to deteriorate after a few arrows?"
Qiao Qingqing nodded: "That's right. After all, it is homemade, so defects in workmanship are inevitable. Its quality can only support ten arrows at most, and then it needs to be repaired and calibrated. The limitation of the material means that it can only shoot thirty arrows at most. After thirty arrows, it cannot be repaired and will be completely scrapped."
After trying it, Zheng Tiehui said he wanted to change it. Since the quality was limited, he had to make concessions on quantity.
"This watch, twenty of these crossbows, and two hundred arrows."
Qiao Qingqing shook her head.
"Hey, the quality of your watch is not good. It broke after using it for 30 times and needed to be repaired in the middle. It's not worth my famous watch at all! Xiao Qiao, we are all neighbors. It's not good to ask for such a high price. It's so hurtful."
"I don't sell finished products, I sell technology." Qiao Qingqing looked at Zheng Tiehui, then at Wang Jiaxin and Zheng Xiuyi, and said her decision, "I don't have enough energy and materials to make a large number of crossbows and crossbow arrows, and be responsible for the subsequent maintenance, so I thought about it and decided to sell the technology. You can come to me privately to discuss the transaction. That's it, you think about it."
Zheng Tiehui and others who had seen Qiao Qingqing and Shao Shengan's killing spree a week ago could not refuse this deal. Later, they all made deals with Qiao Qingqing. Zheng Tiehui exchanged a diamond-studded watch for technology and a set of finished products, the Wang family exchanged a piece of jade Guanyin for technology, and Zheng Xiuyi exchanged a pair of gold earrings for technology and a set of finished products.
Qiao Qingqing only sent the Jade Guanyin into the space, and asked Shao Shengan to keep the watch and earrings.
"We also need to save some gold and luxury goods for future use." Even in the end of the world, luxury goods still have a market among certain classes.
"Okay, I'll hide it."
Looking out the window, Qiao Qingqing frowned: "Is there a fire there?"
She walked to the window and saw a fire on the rooftop of the eighth floor of the third building next door.
"It's really on fire. I'll go take a look." Shao Shengan asked Qiao Qingqing for her opinion.
"Come along, and bring a fire extinguisher."
A fire in this weather is no small matter. Don’t just look at the fire in the building next door. Now is the time when the sun is at its hottest. It is very likely that this building will also be affected! No, the whole community will be affected!
The residents of Room 801 in Building 3 rushed to put out the fire after discovering it, but the fire on the terrace was so fierce that they did not have enough water to put it out, let alone a fire extinguisher. They could only watch the fire grow bigger and spread to the attic.
"Go downstairs and dig up some soil to put out the fire! Quick!"
"Pack your things and go downstairs to hide! Food, clothes, blankets, and ID, hurry up!"
Three families living nearby were also worried that the fire would spread to their homes, so they went downstairs to dig soil to help put out the fire.
"boom!"
The fire in the attic spread rapidly. The wooden floor, blackout curtains and tatami provided sufficient fuel. The entire attic was completely burned. The flames climbed out of the attic and burned onto the stairs.
High temperature and dryness are the best catalysts. The wooden stairs caught fire very quickly, and black smoke filled the air, scaring the people who were packing up in the house into screaming.
When Qiao Qingqing and the others went there, they met the residents of Building 3 who were digging the soil and looking for flower beds everywhere.
"Girl, do you have a fire extinguisher?" The owner of 801 was surprised and asked if she could help.
"I'm just here to help." Qiao Qingqing didn't chat any more and went upstairs immediately, and the owner quickly followed.
When climbing the stairs, Shao Shengan asked what caused the fire. The owner looked confused and said, "I don't know. It just caught fire suddenly. The attic was too hot and we were all in the living room. Suddenly, we smelled smoke. I climbed up and saw that the terrace was on fire."
"There are too many things piled up on your terrace."
The householder looked ashamed: "There were a lot of things piled up, and I don't know which one suddenly caught fire."
As they were talking, they quickly climbed to the seventh floor. The owner was out of breath and looked up to see his family hurriedly coming down the stairs.
"Honey! The fire is so big it's already in the attic!"
The owner hurriedly asked them to go downstairs: "Go down quickly and go to the first floor to avoid the sun. Do you hear me? This girl has a fire extinguisher. I'll take her to put out the fire!"
The residents of Room 801 looked at Qiao Qingqing and her husband curiously, but were driven downstairs by the owner before they could ask any more questions.
"Excuse me, please follow me quickly!"
Climbing up to the eighth floor, a thick smoke hit me in the face, making my throat itchy and my eyes sore. I unconsciously wanted to close my eyes and cough.
Qiao Qingqing took out three sets of fireproof masks from her backpack - in order to easily access things in the space, she would carry a backpack as a camouflage whenever she went out.
She tore open the package and took out the respirator, then pulled out the two can plugs, quickly put on the hood and tightened the straps. After making sure she could breathe smoothly, she looked at Shao Shengan, who had just put it on.
The householder was still frantically putting on his fire mask, and took the time to chat: "Wow, you are so well equipped. It's a pity that I didn't expect to need it before. My family is not equipped with anything for fire fighting. This is so hard to put on!"
The couple ignored him, checked each other, and rushed in with fire extinguishers.
"Hey wait for me! Wait for me!"
Qiao Qingqing and Shao Shengan rushed into 801 and ran towards the attic with a clear goal.
The flames were scorching, and she could feel her skin stinging. The stairs leading to the attic were completely on fire. She knew something was wrong at first glance. The flames were flowing like water and had already burned to the second bedroom. She opened the fire extinguisher and sprayed it. The fire on the second bedroom door was out, but the fire burning down from the attic was endless, and in a few seconds it licked towards the master bedroom on the left.
Without hesitation, Qiao Qingqing decided to put out the fire on the stairs first. Shao Shengan understood her intention and cooperated with her to put out the fire.
Two fire extinguishers were opened at the same time and emptied at the same time. Qiao Qingqing took out two more bottles from the space. In the white sky, only two sounds of heavy objects falling were heard.
Bang!
The fire on the stairs went out, and the burnt wooden boards fell to the floor. Qiao Qingqing looked up and saw that the attic was ablaze with fire.
Without the help of stairs, the walls downstairs were already burning, sparks were still dripping from the attic, and the floor in the corridor was also on fire.
Qiao Qingqing knew there was no way out. If she could have contained the fire to the terrace or in the attic, there would still be hope. But now she didn't have enough tools, and using a fire extinguisher alone was no longer a solution.
The heat made her realize that her clothes were on fire. She quickly poured water on them and shouted to Shao Shengan, "There's nothing we can do. Let's retreat!"
The two of them left 801 decisively.
When they rushed out of the room, the owner just rushed in, and the two groups collided head-on.
"Qingqing!" Shao Shengan hugged her to stop her momentum, and he knocked against the door himself.
"Sorry, sorry! Ahem!"
"Hurry up, the fire can't be stopped!" Shao Shengan shouted at him and pulled Qiao Qingqing out.
"Girl, don't leave, there's a fire in my house..." The owner hurriedly tried to pull the fire out.
"I tried my best. The fire extinguishers are all used up. The fire in the attic is still spreading. I really have no other choice." Qiao Qingqing looked at him, "Run."
Looking at the backs of Qiao Qingqing and her husband, the householder didn't believe it and decided to run in to take a look. As soon as he entered the house, he saw black smoke swirling on the ceiling like a snake. His vision was blurred and he was stunned. How could the fire spread so quickly! The next second, all the window glasses exploded and the heat wave exploded. He was rushed back two steps by the heat wave and his hair was on fire. He held the fire extinguisher in his hand and looked around in confusion, not knowing what else he could do.
He had no choice but to withdraw, unable to hold back his tears, he looked at his home again with longing, and ran downstairs. He could never imagine that he had a home just a moment ago, but in such a short time, he and his family no longer had a home?
It was just a small fire! It was just a small fire. It would not be a big deal in the past. He could just call 119 to solve it. But now he could only watch his home burn to ruins.
The people on the seventh floor stopped him and asked him about the situation.
"It's gone! It's all gone! You guys should leave as well!"
"No way? What about my family then?"
"How should I know! I have no home either!" The owner struggled to break free and continued to run down.
The father of Room 701 went upstairs to take a look, and was horrified. He went downstairs and asked his wife and daughter to pack up.
In building four next door, room 802, Zheng Liangdong stared at the fire in the building next door in a trance.
The fire was so bright, more dazzling than the sunlight. He looked at it in fascination, with the red fire reflected in his eyes.
Outside the door, Mrs. Zheng was complaining, "Our family won't be that unlucky. Why is your father so anxious?"
"Mom, listen to Dad. We have a lot of stuff piled up on our terrace, and I'm afraid it will catch fire like the eighth floor of the building next door," Zheng Liangying said. "Mom, a fire at this time is no small matter. The weather is too hot. Once it starts burning, it's over!"
"It's so hot. Do you know how hot it is now? It's so hot on the terrace. I don't want to go there. Can't I wait until the sun goes down to clean it up?" Mrs. Zheng didn't care. "It's been piled up for a long time. How could it catch fire in a short time? Don't scare yourself."
Zheng Liangying was helpless: "Then I'll clean it up myself."
"...I'll go, I'll go! Let's go together, okay? You can just rely on the fact that I care about you."
Zheng Liangdong listened to the noise outside and curled his lips mechanically. His sight was still fixed on the building opposite. As he watched, his eyes gradually brightened, so bright that it was frightening.
"It's beautiful, really beautiful." Zheng Liangdong reached out to touch it, as if he was holding a flame in his palm. He looked down with joy, and his smile instantly disappeared.
"No, no!" He turned his hands over and over, looking more and more anxious, his eyes trembling, and he couldn't help biting his fingers.
"No, no!" he shouted.
Mrs. Zheng and Zheng Liangying, who were packing up on the terrace, did not hear his voice.
He turned around like a trapped animal, his eyes glued to the opposite building, confused and distracted. Suddenly he turned around, his eyes swept around the room, he walked out of the room, turned around like a wandering soul, and finally found a box of matches in the kitchen.
Looking at the firewood piled in the corner, he smiled.
After bringing the firewood into the room, Zheng Liangdong walked to the front door, holding a piece of wood chips in his hand. He stared at the keyhole with a struggling look in his eyes, and finally he smiled and gave up.
If you want to live, then continue living. I will not take you with me. I will go alone. If you live in pain and suffering in the future, don't blame me for not helping you escape from the sea of suffering.
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