Time passed quickly, and Shao Shengan's work in the town was finally coming to an end.
On the day he left town, he packed his luggage. Qi Ming was not well yet, so he went out for a stroll to kill time.
"Protest, protest! The housing distribution on the base is unfair! We want fairness! We want justice!"
"We also have a share in Pingshan Community! Why are you kicking us out? This is unfair! It's not fair!"
When he got outside, he saw a parade from afar. They held signs and banners and shouted out their demands. The setting sun was behind them, and the sunset glow dragged out a long, gorgeous skirt. Shao Shengan looked over, and seemed to still be stung by the afterglow of the setting sun, and couldn't help squinting his eyes.
The group of marchers crossed the square and passed through the streets and alleys, their slogans gradually becoming hoarse.
Shao Shengan watched their backs from afar and could feel their anger and despair.
When they returned to the dormitory, Qi Ming saw that he was happy when he went out, but had a gloomy face when he came back, so he asked him what was wrong.
“I encountered the parade.”
Qi Ming understood and sighed, "There's nothing we can do about it. You see, I'm a local. My house is on the first floor. After it was flooded, our whole family was rescued and took refuge on Yeshan Mountain. When the water receded, we didn't go far. We thought it was safer near Yeshan Mountain, so we stayed in the village at the foot of the mountain. Later, several villages were rebuilt into new communities, and our family was forced to move away, right? Although it's a bit sad, it's understandable. After all, it's someone else's territory, so our whole family moved back to the town. As a result, the house in the town was occupied by others, and it hasn't been taken back yet. Now our family lives in another house. I'm afraid that the owner of the house will come back one day to take back the house. Where can we go then? So now the higher-ups are going to check the property, and I'm actually very happy. At least we can go home... As for the people who live in my house, the higher-ups will definitely make arrangements. Now they are making trouble so radically, I'm afraid it won't end well."
"For some people, they were relocated once before after the new community was built. This is the second time, so it is understandable that they are emotional."
Qi Ming said: "But there are still places to live. Instead of making trouble, we should quickly find a new place."
“And then they were moved away again?”
Shao Shengan shook his head, remembering several notices issued by the new government of the survivor base in Pingshan Town yesterday.
First, it was announced that Pingshan Town would be officially included in the survivor base and renamed Pingshan Community. Second, it was announced that a household registration check would be conducted. Local residents were encouraged to bring their household registration books, ID cards, property certificates, or other materials proving their household registration to the household registration office to check and update their information. Foreign refugees were reminded to go to the household registration office to apply for temporary household registration information and cooperate with urban construction management. Third, a post-disaster abandoned house check was conducted. All survivors were required to bring their property certificates or other materials proving the ownership of the property to the Real Estate Bureau for registration. The disputes over the ownership of the property between the original household owners and the later refugees over the property ownership over the past few days should be resolved as soon as possible. On the basis of protecting the rights and interests of the original household owners, the resettlement of foreign refugees should be done well.
He had read the three notices, which were full of notifications. In simple terms, they were to determine the rights and interests of local residents or people who owned property locally. If the owner of a house evacuated during the disaster and the house was now occupied by someone else, then after the original owner returned, the house should be returned to the original owner and the person living there should leave.
He understood the determination of the superiors to rebuild order. Order needs to be maintained by the majority of people, so the superiors valued the locals. When building new communities, they took good care of the villagers of the former Akiba Village and other villages. Those villagers had a strong sense of belonging and identity to that land, and because they were close to Yeshan, they were also obedient.
The new community has developed very smoothly after it was opened, thanks to the original villagers and the "new villagers" who moved in later. This is why Shao Shengan dared to leave his family behind and come out to work. People like Lin Mingyong are either wealthy businessmen or have good backgrounds. The new community is their new battlefield, and they will do their best to maintain it. Therefore, Shao Shengan believes that the new community is currently the most stable and safest place.
Now, Pingshan Town has also been included in the base. The higher-ups want to replicate the success of the new community, but Shao Shengan feels it will be a bit difficult this time.
There are troops stationed in Yeshan, and it seems that they also have a large amount of supplies. From the natural disaster to the present, the casualties in the towns and villages under the protection of Yeshan are relatively small. Yeshan even has spare capacity to support the nearest Flower City. The survivors yearn for Yeshan and live around Yeshan. The composition of the people here is particularly complex. Later, a large number of survivors from Flower City came...
In troubled times, no one wants to drift like duckweed, and everyone longs for stability. Foreign refugees lost their homes and property and came here, but lost their homes under the new policy, and they were confused and uneasy.
The notice said that they would do a good job in resettling refugees from outside. How would they be resettled? Would they be relocated to the county or the city? The core of the base was Yeshan, and the new community closest to Yeshan was the Garden of Eden that people dreamed of. No one wanted to be away from Yeshan.
Seeing Shao Sheng'an lost in thought, Qi Ming patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't think so much. We are all ordinary people. It's useless to think too much. Just take care of yourself! Our lives are not easy either. My son is already 21 years old. Young people these days don't know what to do. The worst thing is that he is in love! The last time I went home, my wife told me that he secretly brought his girlfriend home to spend the night. My wife said she was afraid that the girl would get pregnant, so she asked me to remind my son. Alas, I would have been happy to be a grandfather in the past, but in this world, how dare I! I can't afford to support him, I can't afford to support him!"
Shao Shengan withdrew his thoughts. He knew that Qi Ming was right. They were just one of the many small waves in the vast ocean. They had done their best to take care of their families. Everyone had his own destiny.
"Are you ready? Strap on my bike and I'll take you back to your house."
Qi Ming liked Shao Shengan's considerate and thoughtful personality: "Stay at my house for a day. It's almost dawn. You can take a nap at home and return to the new community in the evening."
"No, I can ride a bicycle very fast."
"Well, don't ride too fast, or your tire will burst."
Qi Ming, this is a bad mouth! Shao Shengan's bicycle tire really blew out halfway, and it was very bumpy to ride. There were many pedestrians on the road, many of whom were workers like him, coming to the town from the new community to work. Everyone was carrying large and small bags, luggage and settled wages, and they were hard-working and happy to rush home.
A patrol security team passed by them, scanning every passerby with hawk-like eyes, making some people with sneaky eyes dare not look any longer and avoid their sight.
Today is the day when the workers finish work and return home. The superiors attach great importance to the safety of the workers. They are afraid that the workers will be robbed while carrying a large amount of supplies, so they dispatched the security team to patrol the road from the town back to the new community.
"Shh." Shao Shengan heard another sound of breathing, and the rear tire burst. He sighed, got off the bike and pushed it. He could still ride the bike, and he could stand the bumps, but he felt sorry for the bike and was afraid that if he continued riding it, it would be too damaged and scrapped prematurely.
He pushed the cart in the crowd. The lights in the hands of the security team illuminated the way ahead. He walked forward in the direction of the light, thinking to himself, did Qingqing go to the market to set up a stall today?
In the new community market four kilometers away, Qiao Qingqing suddenly wanted to go home.
"How about we close the stall early today?"
Father Shao thought she was tired: "Okay! Business is pretty good today, let's go home early."
There was a light on the front of the tricycle. Shao's father drove the car seriously. Qiao Qingqing sat leaning against the bamboo basket. She could see the lights in the direction of the market scattered like stars. She thought that Sheng An's work should be finished, and then they could come here to set up a stall together. Sheng An had never been to the market before.
When will he have his holiday?
They moved closer to each other, just like every day and night in the past, and when the eternal night came, they would rely on each other and never separate.
In the autumn of the fifth year of the apocalypse, the surviving base launched the Nth rat eradication operation, and the operation was once again a great success, but everyone knew that after a while, these damn rats would come back again. No one knew how they could survive and reproduce so well in such a hot day!
"There are more and more roasted rat stalls in the market. I dare not eat one because it looks scary," said Qiao Songzhi.
"It smells good, but I've seen them slaughter rats. The rat meat is bright red with lots of white spots inside. It looks scary. We are lucky that we can still eat fresh meat at this time." Shao's mother kneaded the tendon meat in the basin. She added salt, MSG, pepper, oyster sauce and starch to it. After kneading for a while, she stopped and put the meat in the room to marinate. There was air conditioning in the room, so there was no need to worry about the meat going bad. She would fry the meat after it was marinated.
Qiao Songzhi peeled the potatoes and was shredding them. Mother Shao watched for a while and then laughed, "You are more skillful with your hands. I am not as good as you. I have never been able to cut potatoes so finely. It's like knitting scarves, sweaters, and bows. You taught me all of that, but I am just a little bit behind."
"It doesn't matter how big the potatoes are cut, they all taste good when cooked." Qiao Songzhi avoided the topic of weaving towels and asked her if she wanted to add chili peppers to the potatoes.
Shao's mother likes eating chili peppers very much, but she is afraid of getting a sore throat.
"Then let's make spicy fried potatoes. There's nothing to be afraid of if you get a sore throat. Just ask Qingqing to cook something to reduce the heat in your stomach." Qiao Songzhi said with a smile.
This is an ordinary day.
Qiao Qingqing was making ointment in the pharmacy in the second bedroom on the seventh floor. The lights were on in the room, and the smoke from the boiling herbs filled the entire room and went out through the gaps in the windows.
It was an ordinary night. For the people in the survivor base who were used to staying out at night and staying at home during the day, this night was really unremarkable. Like every night before, the remaining temperature from the daytime rose from the ground, making the night air still hot.
Sweat, thirst, mental fatigue from the heat...
Nothing is different.
At first, Qiao Qingqing, like everyone else, didn't notice anything unusual, and she concentrated on boiling the ointment. She found some medicinal herbs at the market a few days ago. The herbs were not well preserved, but they still had some medicinal properties. She bought them all and planned to boil them all into ointment.
Smoke came out of the window and rose in wisps in the darkness.
Suddenly, white mist came from nowhere and wrapped around them. After the two merged into one, the volume of the white mist gradually increased. In the end, Qiao Qingqing stopped boiling the ointment, but the white mist outside was still expanding and spreading, and then completely occupied the night.
It was half an hour later that I realized something was wrong.
Qiao Qingqing packed the cooled ointment and suddenly felt an itch in her throat. She couldn't help coughing a few times. She put the ointment away and went to the sixth floor. As soon as she opened the door, the itch in her throat became stronger and she kept coughing.
Coughing sounds were also heard from other people's homes in the building, and the sounds echoed in the corridor.
Qiao Qingqing's face changed drastically.
She went back to the house to get a flashlight, opened the curtains and shone it out the window. The window was nailed shut with wooden boards, and only the gaps between the boards allowed for ventilation. The flashlight shone through the gaps, and Qiao Qingqing approached the window, staring out through the gaps between the boards.
Under the light, she saw thick, lingering white mist flowing outside the window.
"Poisonous fog--" Qiao Qingqing murmured, and it was early again.
She slammed the curtains shut and rushed downstairs.
Qiao Songzhi coughed as she opened the door for her: "I don't know what happened, but the whole family suddenly started coughing, and our throats are itchy, cough cough!"
She was responded by a mask pressed against her face.
"Mom, don't move. I'll help you put on the mask." Qiao Qingqing said in a muffled voice, hanging the two straps of the mask on her mother's ears.
Qiao Songzhi's eyes were filled with confusion: "What's going on?"
"There's something wrong with the air now, Mom, please close the door first."
Qiao Qingqing entered the room and put masks on Shao's father, Shao's mother and Shao Shengfei in the same way.
"Sit down and breathe slowly."
After a few minutes, their coughs were greatly relieved.
"What's going on?" Shao's father asked, "I didn't hear anyone burning anything strange, so why does my throat feel itchy?"
"It's foggy outside, and there seems to be something wrong with the fog. Sheng An hasn't come back from getting water yet, so I have to go pick him up." Qiao Qingqing gave instructions and went out.
There were coughing sounds everywhere. Qiao Qingqing ran, panting, down the sixth floor towards the deep well.
She passed by some residents, shining the flashlight everywhere, and she was eagerly looking for Shao Shengan.
"Qingqing? Ahem, what happened? Ahem, why are you so anxious?"
Shao Shengan's voice appeared beside him. Qiao Qingqing turned around, breathed a sigh of relief, and went forward to put a mask on Shao Shengan.
"What are you doing sitting here? I was scared to death when I couldn't find you." Qiao Qingqing felt her heart finally settle down. She squatted in front of Shao Shengan and put her hand on his knee. "Why don't you go home?"
Shao Shengan smiled bitterly, bent down and touched his ankle: "There was a fight just now, I was squeezed and stepped into the ditch, and my ankle was twisted."
Qiao Qingqing checked Shao Shengan's ankle first, and Shao Shengan inhaled when she pressed it.
"Let's go home first."
"Ahem, Qingqing, is this the stage you mentioned? A lot of people have been coughing just now, ahem."
"Don't say anything for now, let's talk about it when we get home." Qiao Qingqing helped him stand up.
"This bucket of water—"
Qiao Qingqing was helpless and looked up and shouted, "Dad! Dad, come down for a moment!"
Two minutes later, Shao's father came down and took Shao Shengan over. Qiao Qingqing followed behind with water, and the three of them went upstairs together.
There were coughing sounds everywhere, which made people's scalps tingle.
After arriving home and closing the door, Qiao Qingqing first treated Shao Shengan's sprained ankle. After applying ice, she applied a thick layer of freshly made ointment on it and then wrapped it with thick gauze.
"What's going on? It seems like everyone is suffering from a coughing disease. I thought it was just our family that was coughing, but as I went downstairs, I heard people coughing on every floor. It sounds so scary." There was a look of surprise in Shao's father's eyes.
"Dad, did you notice that it seemed to be foggy when you went downstairs?"
"Yes, yes. It's so strange that there is fog. This season is not right."
Shao's mother said, "The weather has been fine in the past few years! Qingqing, are you saying that the fog is poisonous?"
"It should be. We should be careful to wear masks and stay at home for the time being. Let's see if the government has any comments."
Qiao Songzhi rubbed his arms: "Why do I feel a little cold?"
"Is the air conditioner turned on too low?" When Shao's mother heard her say this, she also realized that she was cold.
"No, it's the same as usual, twenty-six."
"Turn off the air conditioner. If it's hot, turn on the fan." Qiao Qingqing found the remote control and turned off the air conditioner. However, when the fan was turned on, Qiao Songzhi and the others still said they were cold, so they simply turned off the fan.
"It seems to be getting colder. Where's the outdoor thermometer? Let me see how high it is."
Everyone looked at the 18 degrees Celsius displayed on the table and looked at each other in bewilderment. Qiao Songzhi finally remembered what her daughter had said. She couldn't help but focus her eyes on her daughter. Qiao Qingqing felt it and nodded at her.
"The temperature is back to normal!" Shao's father was surprised and delighted. "It's autumn now, this temperature is normal!"
"Oh my god, I haven't seen this red line drop below 30 degrees in more than two years. Now it's 18 degrees?"
Shao Shengfei didn't understand all this, he just complained about being cold.
"The thick clothes are all here. I'll take them." Qiao Qingqing took out a large pile of clothes. Although the clothes looked a lot, they were not that much if they were distributed to each person.
"Just make do with what you have for now. I'll tidy up the space tomorrow and take out the autumn and winter clothes and quilts."
Everyone changed into autumn clothes. Qiao Qingqing wore a long-sleeved and thin coat. Shao Shengan and Shao's father were not afraid of the cold and only wore a long-sleeved shirt. Shao's mother and Qiao Songzhi put on sweaters directly. Shao's mother wanted to put a sweater on Shao Shengfei, but Shao Shengfei didn't want to: "Enough, enough, it's not cold anymore!"
"Didn't you say you were cold just now? Put on one more layer of clothes. Okay, then I won't put on any more clothes, you naughty child!" Shao's mother gave up.
Within fifteen minutes, the abnormally high temperature weather ended and the temperature returned to the normal autumn and winter range.
But the strange white mist also descended silently in the darkness of the night, and at the moment when the sun rose as usual, it still expanded stubbornly and domineeringly, covering the entire world in white.
Yesterday, no one was able to go out during the day, and if they looked out the window they would be blinded by the scorching sun.
It's a pity that the heavens just don't let us have a good time. In the past few years, the temperature dropped sharply, and in the past two years, it has risen sharply. It was so hot that people almost turned into dried pickles. As a result, it is foggy again! Before, the sun was too strong and the day was too bright. Now, it is gray everywhere. People open their eyes wide but feel like blind people. They can't see people five steps away. What is going on?
Obstructed vision is not a big deal for the time being. As thick fog appears, respiratory diseases also come in waves. A large number of patients with severe coughing rush into the hospital. Almost everyone is coughing!
"From your pulse, I can see that you don't have any respiratory disease. I can't prescribe any medicine."
On the sixth floor of Building 20 in Ping'an Community, within an hour after the thick fog appeared, Qiao Qingqing received several groups of acquaintance patients from the same community, all of whom came to see her because of coughs.
"Then just prescribe something, cough cough, anything to clear away heat and resolve phlegm will do, cough cough, I really can't stand the coughing! It feels like there are bugs crawling in my throat, cough cough, I just want to cough."
Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "I don't have much medicine, so I can't use it casually. If you want, just listen to my advice. Go home and don't go out. If you don't have a mask, make one with clothes. Cut a few layers and breathe through the mask. Then try to talk less, and the situation should be alleviated. Guarantee? I can't guarantee it, but my family members all do this, and so do I. Did you hear me coughing? Do you cough rarely? Go back and try it!"
"Oh, oh! Ahem, okay, Ahem, I see, thank you Ahem!"
After closing the door, Qiao Qingqing coughed twice. Shao Shengan came over and frowned, "Write a piece of paper and post it on the door. I'm afraid you'll inhale too much if you keep opening the door—"
"Ahem, don't worry, I'm wearing a mask." Qiao Qingqing whispered, "I told you, this stuff will only kill people when it reaches a certain amount. But your idea is not bad, I'll write a piece of paper and post it outside."
After the reminder to wear a mask was posted, Qiao Qingqing stopped opening the door.
Following her advice, my family has nailed three more layers of curtains on the windows. The air in the room is a bit stuffy, and wearing a mask makes it even more stuffy.
Shao Shengfei always wanted to take off his mask, but was stopped several times by his mother. Qiao Songzhi suggested: "Let Feifei watch TV to distract him."
The battery of the solar generator still has power, but obviously if the heavy fog continues, the solar generator will become ineffective again, and if we want to use electricity we will have to use a fuel generator.
The TV was turned on, and Shao Shengfei focused on watching it, so he didn't bother with the mask.
"It's no wonder Feifei wants to take off the mask. I feel uncomfortable wearing it too." Qiao Songzhi sighed. She recalled the time when the neighborhood caught fire and their family walked to Xicheng. At that time, they all wore protective clothing. It was really hot and stuffy. If they hadn't stuffed ice packs in their protective clothing to cool down, they really couldn't stand it. After arriving in Xicheng, they didn't protect themselves like that anymore. As a result, they have to wear masks again. The air in the house is not circulating, and it's stuffy and dizzy. This world is just not easy for people to live in.
Mother Shao cleared her throat: "It feels like something is crawling in my throat. It's uncomfortable."
"There must be something bad in the fog that caused the inflammation of my throat, but Qingqing said I don't need to take medicine, so it should be fine."
Listening to their conversation, Shao Shengan looked at Qiao Qingqing, who shook her head at him with a soothing look.
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