The next day, people from the Housing Management Office came to Building 20 to clean a room downstairs. Less than half an hour after they finished cleaning, a new tenant moved in.
After hearing the noise, Qiao Qingqing went out to see what was going on. After all, they lived in the same building, so she had to know what the new neighbor was like.
After going downstairs, she heard from the housing management office that the original owners of the house had all died, so the house was taken over by the public and resold.
"There is another person in this house. Wasn't he taken away by the security team for education?"
"The owner of the household has died. He participated in the cult's holy bathing activity at West Wind Square during the last acid rain season. He died without rescue efforts."
The neighbors sighed.
Some people said: "It's good to leave, the family is reunited."
"Yeah, it's scary for him to live in this building. I think he's gone crazy."
"Shh, stop talking. Everyone is gone."
After hearing this, Qiao Qingqing felt a little depressed. She looked at the new neighbors again and saw that there were old people and children in this family. She knew what was going on and went upstairs.
Even after the rain stopped, Qiao Qingqing and the others still did not go out. Qiao Songzhi felt that those "doctrines" that could incite a person to die in pain were very scary. Going out would risk being brainwashed, so it was better not to go out.
During the chaotic and terrifying acid rain season, Qiao Qingqing made a large number of crossbows at home and fell asleep every day to the sound of rain and corrosion.
Having a solid and safe home in her life, she did not find life difficult.
Half a year after the acid rain, the transportation of materials was no longer by airplanes. Trucks equipped with new tires and full vehicle shells were no longer afraid of acid rain and could travel to various places to transport materials during the acid rain season. The security team was no longer constrained by acid rain and could patrol as usual during the acid rain season. The crime rate at the base was effectively controlled, and the cult activities were also severely hit. Once, there was another cult gathering at the gate of Ping'an Community. This time, it was successfully stopped by the security team, and everyone was caught and loaded onto the truck and taken away.
"Thank God, it's good that they are taken away. I hope their illness can be cured by the doctor." Shao's mother only prayed to the Buddha. She didn't want to hear the same horrible screams as before again. It was really too scary.
A month later, the acid rain resistant material developed by the institute was finally mass-produced, and the new community was the first area to receive the new umbrellas.
"I see that the clothes and shoes worn by the security team are also specially made, and they look silver like this umbrella." Qiao Songzhi couldn't let go of the umbrella and asked Qiao Qingqing expectantly, "Shall we try it?"
Then try going to the rooftop.
Qiao Qingqing opened the door to the rooftop, stepped on the 20-centimeter wooden soles, and stepped out carefully. The rooftop during the acid rain season was actually very scary. The rain caused a large area of fine bubbles to appear on the ground of the rooftop, corroding the ground all the time. Qiao Qingqing stepped out and felt that the moment she stepped on the thick wooden soles, the soles of her shoes were also making a whine of being gnawed.
Shao's mother and Qiao Songzhi stood inside nervously, staring at Qiao Qingqing intently.
Acid rain fell on the umbrella and then flowed down. After one minute or ten minutes, the acid rain could not damage the umbrella. Qiao Qingqing turned around and said with a smile: "The effect is quite good, Mom, do you want to try it?"
Qiao Songzhi was excited and tried it for the first time. She held an umbrella and walked carefully a few steps on the rooftop. The haze in her heart seemed to be dispelled with these steps. She raised the umbrella slightly and looked at the sky in the distance. She felt her mood was more open than ever before.
No one wants to be confined at home every day. Being able to stand under the sky and walk under the sky is every human being's instinct to pursue freedom.
"Axia, you come and try it too." Qiao Songzhi suppressed the moisture in the corners of her eyes and said to Shao's mother with a smile.
With umbrellas, it would be more convenient for Shao Shengan and his friends to go home.
Shao Shengan and his two sons worked in a cannery. They had two days off every month, but not every time they had a holiday, they would have to save it up until the next time they had a chance to use it together. Therefore, in the past six months, the three of them had only come back twice.
With the umbrella, the father and his two children returned home safely even though the vacation was also during the acid rain season. Every time this happened, Shao's mother was particularly happy, walking around, arranging this and that, and making sure they felt the warmth and care of home.
But each reunion was very short. The two-day vacation was over in the blink of an eye. In order not to miss the early shift the next day, they usually only slept at home for one night and returned to the factory in the evening of the next day while it was still light - it was too dangerous to go out at night.
Hard work brings rich rewards. With the wages of three people, the family has more supplies.
Of course, Qiao Qingqing and the other two also made some achievements in the vegetable-growing business. There were many more fresh vegetables in the space. Although the varieties were a bit limited, everyone felt a sense of accomplishment.
The street ban at the survivor base was lifted, and more and more people went out with umbrellas. Qiao Qingqing often saw from the window that many people downstairs were holding umbrellas and moving slowly to avoid being splashed by rain.
The base seems to be coming back to life, which is a lucky thing.
In her previous life, Qiao Qingqing was on the outskirts of the base and didn’t get an umbrella until much later. However, before she could use the umbrella, the acid rain season ended.
"It's been more than 20 days, right? Why hasn't the acid rain season come yet?" said Shao's mother.
"It's been 27 days, and the rain has never stopped for such a long time. Could it be that the acid rain is going to stop?" Qiao Songzhi became a little excited when thinking of this possibility.
In the early autumn of the seventh year of the apocalypse, acid rain had not reappeared after disappearing for a whole month, and Ping'an Community gradually became lively. Qiao Qingqing put away another bundle of crossbow arrows, stretched her muscles, and suggested: "Let's go downstairs and take a walk."
Qiao Qingqing's family has increased their physical exercise activities by walking in the community, and they walk around several nearby buildings for an hour every day.
While walking, Qiao Qingqing said, "I plan to start hatching eggs and raising chickens at home."
Acid rain corrodes buildings. Fortunately, the Ping'an community where Qiao Qingqing and her family live is newly built. At that time, the insulation layer was poured very thickly to prevent sun exposure. After a year, the rooftop became a few inches thinner, but at least it was not drilled through. The rooftop is now full of potholes. Qiao Qingqing thought that there would be threats from the sky in the future. After the acid rain stopped, she did not plan to move the vegetable basin back to the rooftop and still kept it on the sixth floor. As for the chicks that were hatched later, she planned to keep them in the room on the seventh floor, so as to minimize the impact of raising chickens on the neighbors.
There has been no suitable opportunity to raise chicks in the past few years. Although the acid rain has not entered the house, the air is full of its moisture. This year, vegetable planting has been greatly affected and has not grown well. I think the chicks will also be affected, so Qiao Qingqing waited until today.
Shao's mother was very supportive: "My hometown used to raise chickens, I have a lot of experience, you can just hatch them, I can raise them!"
"I've never raised one, but I can learn." Qiao Songzhi agreed.
When there was no man at home, Qiao Qingqing and her family could do everything by themselves. She focused on the incubator and did not waste any fertilized eggs. Shao's mother and Qiao Songzhi began to cut wood and build fences, dividing the seventh floor into "small rooms" and making lids. They planned to raise a few chicks in each small room after the chicks were hatched, which would be more convenient to take care of.
Regarding raising chickens, Qiao Qingqing told her neighbor Chi Yuxiu that she had bought a batch of fertilized eggs from the market and would raise the chicks herself after they hatched.
Chi Yuxiu was also tempted. Her husband said he wanted to get two hens from the farm and raise them home so they could lay eggs, but she hadn't had the chance in the past two years.
"Can I trade two with you?"
Qiao Qingqing readily agreed and agreed to give her two chicks, a male and a female, in exchange.
When Shao Shengan and the other two went home on their turn to rest, they saw a group of yellow furry creatures.
"Chickens!" Shao Shengfei shouted in surprise! "So many chicks! Wow! Chicks!" He held the chicks in his palms, and the chicks pecked him gently, his face full of joy and happiness.
The shadow of acid rain is slowly fading away. People have to live and cannot always wallow in the pain of the past.
Qiao Qingqing's chicken farming business developed very smoothly. With their careful care, every chick survived and grew up healthily. Qiao Qingqing looked at them with tender eyes, and had already planned 18 ways to eat the chicks in her mind.
Production has been fully restored, and the people have felt that the top management has a more intensive production plan than in previous years. New factories have been opened, new production lines have been added, and new positions have been distributed in large numbers. The entire base is like a high-speed spinning top. The people have no time to feel sad about the autumn. Work hard! For food! For survival!
Qiao Qingqing felt that this life was somewhat different from her previous life. At least there were not so many positions in her previous life. She understood that the top management had believed in the Eternal Night and the Great Earthquake, and was trying their best to accumulate life-saving supplies for the future. She was happy to see this change, but she would occasionally look up at the sky with worry.
Pei Yan seldom returned home for a family reunion. Qiao Qingqing noticed that he had lost a lot of weight compared to when they first met. The dark circles under his eyes had deepened over the years and had completely disappeared today. He used to have a gentle and refined temperament when he wore glasses, but now he squinted at people with glasses on. He looked thin and haggard, and only his smile showed the shadow of his past.
"There's nothing I can do. My glasses have become more dilated and I can't afford to buy new ones. They're too expensive." Pei Yan smiled bitterly.
He came to visit Qiao Qingqing's home, chatted about daily life first, and then lowered his voice to tell her a piece of news.
"There may be more disasters in the future. The top leaders have put a lot of pressure on us. You'd better store more food and don't let your guard down."
With his personality, he would not tell outsiders about the so-called secrets he had inferred. His work was confidential, and the principle of keeping his eyes and mouth shut was deeply rooted in his bones. But he knew that he had changed, and he had to do this, and had to use this secret that sounded interesting at first glance, but had no substance when you thought about it carefully, to express his friendship to his neighbors. In the past few years, who doesn't know the importance of storing supplies? A year of acid rain, many people can only survive on relief, and can only say that they are not starving to death, nor are they full, just surviving.
He has deeply experienced the saying that a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor in the past two years. He has been away from home for a long time, and his brother-in-law has his own work and tasks. When they are busy, they are both equally busy, so there are only his old mother and wife at home, and both of them are in poor health. Fortunately, there is a good neighbor next door, and he is sincerely grateful to Qiao Qingqing's family. The neighbors are prosperous, hardworking, and have no shortage of supplies at home. This news is the only thing he can use to express his friendship.
Qiao Qingqing thanked him and assured him that neighbors should help each other. His work was very great. As a survivor benefited by the Agricultural Science Institute, she was willing to do her best.
"They will build a dormitory building for us. I have already applied to them and will try to bring my mother and Yuxiu to the dormitory as soon as possible."
After Pei Yan left, Qiao Qingqing went up to the seventh floor to clean up the chicken manure. After collecting a bucket of chicken manure, she went out and rode her bike for half an hour to the nearest farm. She exchanged the chicken manure for four freshly dug potatoes. She didn't stay too long. After completing the transaction, she went home immediately. Riding on the street, she felt the cold winter wind blowing on her face. Pedestrians were hurrying on the road. There was a homeless person hiding in a corner. When he looked up, his face was corroded by acid rain and his facial features could not be seen.
The bike stopped and she put a potato into the bowl in front of him.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Qiao Qingqing didn't say anything. Just as she was about to continue riding forward, she suddenly heard a strange noise above her head. She looked up and saw a large black shadow passing through the air.
A feather fell down and floated in front of Qiao Qingqing. She reached out and grabbed it.
This was a black feather about ten centimeters long, exuding the smell of being soaked in rotten meat.
She threw it into a trash can on the side of the road, sprayed her hands with alcohol to disinfect them, pedaled hard, and the bike sped past and into the Ping'an community.
Strange flocks of birds began to appear frequently above the base, and the base, which was already suffering from the infestation of mutated and aggressive rats, soon noticed this problem.
"They are very aggressive, and the reconnaissance aircraft was almost crashed by them."
"We have to drive them away or bomb them. The research institute's report just came out that they carry more than a dozen pathogens. This is a huge challenge to the base's epidemic prevention."
"Then lead them out to the wild to kill them. I'll be responsible for the ammunition." said Commander Peng.
After the high-level telephone conference ended, Mayor Luo put down the microphone, pressed his brow tiredly, and walked out of the communications room.
"Let Jianling come over."
That night, several explosions occurred in the wild, and people outside the base were awakened and talked anxiously.
Eighty percent of the first flock of crows that arrived were killed in time, and the rest failed to be trapped and escaped.
There was no noise in the Ping'an community, and Qiao Qingqing's family was sleeping.
In the second half of the night, Qiao Qingqing heard the sound of flapping wings close to her ear. When she woke up from her dream, she heard another loud crash.
She woke up instantly, and her mother also woke up in a daze: "It seems like a bird is flying outside. Did a bird hit our window?"
Qiao Qingqing got out of bed, leaned against the window to listen to the noise outside, turned around and whispered to Qiao Songzhi, "It's probably about this time. The threat from the sky is coming. There should be a flock of crows outside."
The 20% of small groups of crows that escaped dispersed and attacked various places in the base. Their size had doubled compared to before the disaster and they were extremely aggressive. They rammed into walls, doors and windows, completely disrupting this late night.
Countless screams and cries for help were heard in the darkness. Qiao Qingqing and the other two all got up and used flashlights to check the doors and windows.
“Bang!”
There was a crashing sound coming from the direction of the corridor, followed by the sound of flapping wings.
"Could it have flown in from the corridor window?" Qiao Songzhi worried.
The next second, they heard the sound of someone's door being pecking at downstairs.
"Duoduoduo!" The sound was very loud.
"It's okay. We have an iron door, and the windows in the corridor on the seventh floor have been sealed before." Qiao Qingqing was already prepared. She asked her husband to nail the windows shut while installing the iron door.
Next door, Chi Yuxiu listened anxiously behind the door as an old lady slowly walked over, holding onto the wall.
"how's it going?"
"Mom, it's okay. There's an iron door outside, and the windows next door have been sealed. The seventh floor is safe."
"That's good, that's good. I wonder how Yan'er is doing. These are really troubled times!"
After checking the doors and windows, Qiao Qingqing, Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother sat cross-legged on the ground and began to prepare crossbows by candlelight.
Bundles of homemade crossbow arrows were taken out.
Qiao Songzhi said softly: "My archery skills may not be very accurate. I always miss moving targets."
Mother Shao frowned. Her aim was even worse. She couldn't even hit a motionless target.
Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "This time it's the crow." She held Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother's hands with a firm look in her eyes.
"Just practice like you normally would."
Qiao Songzhi took a deep breath and said, "I will do my best."
Mother Shao tried to calm down: "I, I will also try my best."
The sudden attack of the crows brought great threats in a short period of time. The security team searched and killed them overnight, but the base was too large and it took time for the security team to move. Qiao Qingqing didn't want to wait and see, she wanted to take the initiative.
It was not until dawn that Qiao Qingqing and the others began to take action.
In order to isolate the crows from possible germs, they went out wearing protective clothing. Qiao Qingqing hung the lamp on the wall and pointed it at the outside of the iron gate, nodded to Qiao Songzhi, and Qiao Songzhi went forward to knock on the iron gate.
Ding ding, ding ding ding…
After knocking more than ten times, the three of them clearly heard the sound of crows flying up from downstairs. The crows flew accurately towards the iron gate, and soon Qiao Qingqing saw their dark figures. Qiao Qingqing aimed at the gap in the iron gate and shot an arrow.
A crow fell to the ground with its head pierced through.
At the same time, Qiao Songzhi also shot an arrow, piercing the crow's wings. The crow screamed miserably and flapped its wings continuously. Qiao Songzhi held his breath and concentrated, then shot another arrow to kill it.
There was an iron gate blocking their way, and the mother and daughter shot the crows that flew over one by one in front of the iron gate. Shao's mother missed a single shot and hit her head in regret.
The bodies of eight crows were piled under the iron gate. Qiao Qingqing listened attentively: "There are no more in the corridor." The protective suits of the three people were splashed with blood. Shao's mother wiped the blood off the masks of Qiao Qingqing and Qiao Songzhi, and asked Qiao Qingqing what to do with the crow bodies.
"Put it away in the trash can outside?"
Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "Put it away and put it at home. It may be useful in the future."
Qiao Songzhi understood. Just like the previous rat infestation, there were many "roasted rat" stalls in the market. These crows should also be in demand.
Shao's mother went into the house to get a bucket and a mop. Qiao Qingqing opened the iron gate and went out, and together with Qiao Songzhi, they first recovered the crossbow arrows. After Shao's mother took out the bucket, they threw all the crow corpses into the bucket. There was a lot of crow blood on the ground. Shao's mother mopped the blood clean, wrung out the wet mop, and the blood fell into the bucket. Qiao Qingqing sprayed some floral water to cover up the remaining traces and smells.
The mother, her two daughters and her two daughters went back home. Apart from a few dirty feathers on the ground and the smell of blood mixed with toilet water near the iron gate, no one could tell that this place had been attacked madly by more than twenty crows, leaving corpses all over the ground.
The residents of Building 20 were surprised and delighted to find that the crow that had just attacked the gate seemed to have flown away and never came back.
"It must have gone somewhere else. It's really too scary. Is it really a crow? The sound of it banging against the door is like a cannonball!"
"God really doesn't want us to live!"
"Can crows be eaten? There should be meat, right?"
"Do you dare to eat it? Nonsense!"
"I ate the mouse and it didn't die! Why can't the crow dare to eat it?"
"That's different. Crows eat rotten meat. How dirty."
"That rat has even crawled into the gutter. It might eat the dead flesh. Why should I be afraid?"
702, Chi Yuxiu breathed a sigh of relief and said to her mother-in-law: "It's okay, there is no sound outside, he must have passed away."
"It's so scary. Why do those crows keep hitting the iron gate? My heart is beating so fast!" Mrs. Pei covered her chest. Seeing this, Chi Yuxiu hurried to get the medicine, "Mom, take the medicine."
Mrs. Pei shook her head, unwilling to eat. She said worriedly, "I wonder how Ah Yan is doing now. Could the crow have gone to the farm as well?"
Chi Yuxiu pursed her lips, also very worried, she knew her husband had been busy with projects recently, if he was still working overtime on the farm so late, the consequences would be disastrous. But she still comforted her mother-in-law and coaxed her to sleep.
She waited until her mother-in-law fell asleep before she carefully opened the door and shone a flashlight. There was a fishy and foul smell in the air. When the flashlight shone under the iron door, she saw a strange brown color on the ground. She turned her head to look at the door next door, and had a strong premonition that the disappearance of the crows was related to the neighbor next door.
The next morning, Ji Yuxiu's younger brother took time to see her and was relieved after making sure that she was not injured.
"We started killing crows last night. There were too many of them, and they were so ferocious that they could peck away a piece of flesh from a person!" He was really too busy, so he quickly saw his sister and left. His colleagues were killing crows in the next door community!
A group of security teams came to Ping'an Community to kill crows. Feathers were flying everywhere, and people in the residential buildings began to get sick. Crow feathers carried viruses from outside. People with weaker bodies quickly became sick after coming into contact with feathers and blood, with fever, vomiting, coughing...
When the patient came to her house, Qiao Qingqing had no way to deal with it.
"I don't have any antibiotics. I can't cure this disease. You have to go to the hospital."
She was helpless. In the past few years, the medicines she had on hand had been consumed unilaterally, and there was no place to refill them. If she found a way to refill them, the prices were extremely expensive. In recent years, the environment was not good, and she didn't even have the opportunity to go out to find medicinal materials. She used antibiotics and other drugs very sparingly, both to save resources and for self-protection. Antibiotics are now expensive drugs, so how could she have an inexhaustible supply of them? Wouldn't that be dangerous?
She felt very upset when she saw the patient's family members carrying the patient back crying.
Worse news came. A resident went downstairs cautiously to fetch water, only to find that the nearest well had been sealed. The man carefully identified the warning posted next to the deep well: "The dead crows are polluting the water source - damn! Do we still want to live? The previous acid rain was annoying enough. The water from the deep well could only be used last month. Oh my god, it can't be used again!"
The people fetching water were cursing the unfairness of God. Suddenly, there was the sound of flapping wings in the sky. Everyone's face changed and they hurriedly ran home with their buckets.
The crows are coming again.
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