"Mom, how are you?" Shao Shengan pulled Qiao Songzhi up to the third floor. Seeing Qiao Songzhi covering her hand, he asked hurriedly.
"It's all right. It's all right."
Shao Shengan pried her hands apart, his eyes red. Qiao Songzhi's right palm was red and the skin on the palm was gone.
"Mom, sit down. I'll take care of it for you." Shao Sheng'an took off his backpack and took out water, gauze, and ointment. Qiao Songzhi also carried a bag, or should I say that the whole family carried this bag when they went out. The things were packed by Qiao Qingqing, just in case. There were food and medicine in it, as well as a thin outdoor emergency blanket that was only the size of a palm when folded.
He talked to Qiao Qingqing and she knew that acid rain would definitely come, but no one knew when it would come. Even if Qiao Qingqing remembered the specific time when the acid rain came in her previous life, it might be different in this life.
But they can't just hide at home and wait for that day.
Life still has to go on, and we can't live in a tense and fearful atmosphere. So the two of them discussed and decided to equip their family with supplies first, so that if acid rain comes, their family members will not be helpless when they are outside.
"Mom, let me clean your wound."
The water rushed over her palms, and Qiao Songzhi finally couldn't help but groan. Shao Shengan felt sad, and quickly washed Qiao Songzhi's palms with clean water, and then applied a layer of ointment on her.
After treating the most serious wound on Qiao Songzhi's palm, Shao Shengan cleaned the wounds on her face and arms. The wound on her neck couldn't be washed with water, so he wet the gauze and pressed it gently to absorb the acid. After he had done everything, he allowed Qiao Songzhi to help him. During the process, he kept looking out the window, with worry suppressed in his eyes.
"Don't worry, we have already agreed that if we encounter danger, we should first find a place to hide and then find a chance to go home. Your dad works in the community and is the closest to home. Your mom, Feifei, and Qingqing are all at the market. With Qingqing here, they will definitely be fine."
"Can you lend me some of your ointment?"
A man next to him came over and asked, Shao Shengan came back to his senses and looked at him warily: "No."
"Hey little brother, please help me! We are all in this world together, let's help each other!"
Shao Shengan looked at the gold ring on his hand hesitantly. The man noticed it and cursed him as a profiteer. He wanted to exchange a gold ring for a tube of ointment. He was robbing me!
"I'll do it! Little brother, I'll buy it! Do you have any more water? Give me another bottle of water and I'll buy it!" A female voice came, and at the same time, a gold ring inlaid with emerald was stuffed into Shao Shengan's hand, "Here you go!"
"Hey, what are you doing? I need to buy it first!"
Without saying a word, Shao Shengan stuffed the remaining one-third of the ointment and a bottle of water into the woman's hands and kept the gold ring himself.
Many people saw them treating their wounds. They knew they couldn't keep the ointment on them anymore, so it was safer to throw it away. He had two more ointments in his backpack, and his mother-in-law had three in her backpack, enough for them to use in case of subsequent injuries.
There was a quarrel over the ointment, while Shao Shengan and Qiao Songzhi huddled in the corner and didn't get involved. He unfolded the emergency blanket and wrapped it around Qiao Songzhi: "Mom, are you cold?"
"It's not cold. I'm wearing enough clothes." As he said this, Qiao Songzhi couldn't help shivering.
This made Shao Shengan take it very seriously. He touched Qiao Songzhi's forehead and found that he had a fever.
It’s okay, he has anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drugs, Qingqing has prepared them.
Shao Shengan took the medicine calmly and covered it with another emergency blanket so that Qiao Songzhi could take the medicine.
"I'll be fine. I was probably frightened just now or tired from climbing the stairs. I'll be fine after a rest. Don't worry." Qiao Songzhi touched his head.
"Okay, Mom, go to sleep. I'll be watching over you."
There was a hint of vigilance in his calm eyes as he observed the people around him.
The relatively stable days in the survivor base over the past few years did not make him forget his experience in Jinyuan Community. Now everyone is still cursing the acid rain outside with a common hatred, but if they are trapped here all the time, food shortages will sooner or later cause trouble. Qingqing put compressed biscuits in her backpack. Their food reserves can last for a week, but can the two of them eat openly when others are starving? In addition to the two of them, there are six refugees on the third floor. The number of refugees on the second and first floors will not be small. What should they do then? Fight with everyone to defend their own food?
Shao Shengan shook his head in his heart. Qingqing said that in his previous life, the first acid rain lasted for five days, followed by a three-day safe period. After that, the acid rain came and went. He had to take his mother-in-law back to Ping'an Community during the "safe period" after the first acid rain.
market.
Qiao Qingqing was so busy that she felt dizzy. She donated the tube of ointment she had just opened, but it had already been used up. The market management office said that they had regular medicines, but they were just ordinary iodine, alcohol and gauze, without a single antibiotic or fever-reducing medicine.
Many people were trampled to death and their bodies were temporarily moved to the corner of the first floor.
More people were injured, and the seriously injured died one after another. Some were still hanging on and unwilling to leave. Qiao Qingqing and Doctor Miao were unable to do anything without the resources available. They were exhausted by the evening, and the alcohol gauze provided by the market management office had all been used up.
How busy the market is at ordinary times, how badly it suffered from the disaster. At night, the darkness, cold and hunger made the atmosphere even more depressing. There were corpses downstairs. People on the first floor were not very happy to stay there, but they could not squeeze upstairs, so several conflicts broke out. The market manager got angry and said he would drive people out, only then did he suppress the riot downstairs.
Tired, Qiao Qingqing returned to Shao's mother and the others, and was relieved only after making sure that they had not been bullied in the office the whole afternoon.
"Here you go." Shao's mother stuffed compressed biscuits into Qiao Qingqing's hand.
"Thank you, Mom." Qiao Qingqing took a bite and chewed slowly, while Shao Shengfei opened the bottle cap for her.
"Drink it, sister."
"Thank you, brother."
"There's been a quarrel outside. I was worried about you."
"I'm fine, I'll do my best." If I could find a better place for my family, all the hard work of the afternoon would be worth it. "Have you all eaten?"
"I ate it. Feifei just took a nap. This blanket is really useful. I won't feel cold when I wrap myself up."
It was completely dark and no one came into the office. Qiao Qingqing took out six sets of fleece underwear from the space and asked Shao's mother and Shao Shengfei to change into them. After they put on their coats, they could no longer be seen.
It was a difficult night in early winter without a bed and a quilt, so Qiao Qingqing could only use this method to make the three of them feel a little better.
She took out the emergency blanket from her backpack and wrapped herself up. Just as she was about to lie down for a while, the door opened and five market managers came in, looking exhausted. One of them walked up to Qiao Qingqing and the others and said, "Doctor Qiao, this is for you. It's not much, so just eat it."
"Thanks."
Qiao Qingqing and the others did not sit on the chairs in the office. They just sat on the floor leaning against the wall to rest. The man asked them to sit down, but Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "No, we are fine like this, you guys sit down."
The five of them started to eat dinner, chatting as they ate: "I don't know when the rescue will arrive."
"Can the rescue come? The rain outside is so heavy that the rescue vehicles may not be able to handle it."
"Yeshan has an army, and the army's vehicles, tanks, etc., can't they withstand it?"
"I should be able to handle it. Sigh, I never expected it to be like this today. It's so tragic..."
"Stop talking and eat quickly! After you finish eating, go downstairs and patrol to make sure they don't start quarreling again."
After they finished eating, they went out, and only Qiao Qingqing and the other three were left in the office.
"Go to sleep and stay awake." Qiao Qingqing said softly.
"Hey, I'll listen to you. Feifei, come to sleep."
On the sixth floor of Building 20 in Ping'an Community, Shao's father listened to the sound of Lu Ping tossing and turning in the living room, staring at the darkness with his eyes open.
In the neighborhood, shop owners began to collect overnight room fees: "I can't help it. Let's all be considerate of each other and give us anything as rent!" Shao Shengan grabbed the bag of apples when he got off the car and exchanged an apple for rent.
The shop owner couldn't help swallowing his saliva when he looked at the apples in his arms. He was able to open a shop, so his family was certainly not bad, but he couldn't bear to buy apples of this quality. The apples were big and red, and still had moisture from being taken out of the cold storage. If you go to the market to buy an apple of this quality, you will need two kilograms of rice.
"One is not enough for the two of you. I'll give you another quilt."
"make a deal."
He folded the quilt in half, used one half as a pillow and the other half as a cover, and asked Qiao Songzhi to lie down and sleep. Qiao Songzhi refused: "We each take half."
"Mom, just listen to me. You still have a little fever, but don't catch a cold. I'm young and not afraid of the cold." Shao Shengan pressed Qiao Songzhi to sleep, tucked her in, and then covered her with the emergency blanket.
"You cover yourself, I have the quilt and that's enough."
Shao Shengan didn't listen. After finishing, he told her to go to bed quickly: "Mom, you will be fine when you wake up. Go to sleep quickly."
Qiao Songzhi still felt a burning pain in the palms of her hands. The low fever gave her a headache and dizziness. She had no energy left. She closed her eyes and fell into a hazy dream.
That night, Shao Shengan sat beside her wrapped in an emergency blanket, remaining half asleep and half awake.
A chaotic day ended, but the new day is still full of challenges and crises.
Qiao Qingqing woke up to the sound of crying. She opened her eyes and took a rest. The sleepiness gradually faded and her spirit gradually recovered. She listened and guessed that someone must have died and family members or friends were crying. She sat up, leaned over to touch the foreheads of Shao's mother and Shao Shengfei, and then untied the emergency blanket and stood up.
The floor of the office was full of people. In the middle of the night, she heard the door open. She knew it was the market manager who came back, so she didn't pay any attention and continued to sleep.
She didn't go out, but first pulled open the curtain and looked out the window.
The acid rain was still dripping, and she stared at the thin layer of water on the road. It covered the ground, and a large area of bubbles appeared on the ground, which looked very dangerous. She looked into the distance and saw a body several dozen meters away. The body was corroded by the acid rain, and the clothes became debris. The body was turned into unrecognizable pieces... She took a deep breath and looked away.
In her previous life, when acid rain came, she was at home. The shed was of poor quality and could not withstand the corrosion of acid rain. Fortunately, she had space. Although she was short of the two most important supplies, food and medicine, the space was filled with all kinds of messy things. Water accumulated in the shed. When the four legs of the bed were corroded, she put a table on the bed board and kept replacing it. She was not afraid of the ceiling leaking. She squatted on the table and put a wooden board on her head to block the rain, trying to protect herself.
During those five days, she wanted to give up several times. Her back ached, and she felt dizzy from lack of sleep. But she gritted her teeth and persevered, listening to the sound of rain outside, the sound of rain hitting the roof, and the occasional screams coming from other sheds.
When the rain stopped, she felt like her body wasn't her own anymore, but she still couldn't rest. She used two stools to alternately step on them to leave the shantytown. The scary thing was that she didn't meet a single living person along the way, and could only hear faint groans from some shanties. After leaving the flooded area, she climbed down the stool and stumbled forward, not daring to stop even when she stepped on the rain. She rushed into the mall that had just opened. She bumped into many people and was cursed by many people, but she didn't care about anything. She squeezed in when she found an empty seat, closed her eyes and fell asleep instantly.
In my previous life, when acid rain first came, it lasted for five days, then rested for three days, and then fell without warning again. After that, it fell without any pattern, tormenting the survivor base for a whole year.
"Has the rain stopped?"
Qiao Qingqing turned around and saw the man who asked her to go to the first floor to help yesterday got up. He stood up and rubbed his neck with a grimace.
"No."
"Captain, can you contact the higher-ups?"
"My last name is Yue, Doctor Qiao, you can just call me Old Yue. I can't contact the higher-ups, and communications have not been restored in the past few years. I know you always think we have special means of communication, but we really don't, at least not at our level." Old Yue yawned, "In the past few years, the higher-ups said there was something abnormal in the magnetic field, and they kept saying they wanted to rebuild the communication channel, but it hasn't worked. Maybe there is a channel that can be used, but I guess only a few people can reach it. Our small market management office really doesn't have it."
"So, are there enough supplies here?"
Lao Yue shook his head and did not answer: "I'll go out and take a look." Before leaving, he woke up his colleagues one by one, "Don't sleep anymore, get up and work!"
Shao's mother and Shao Shengfei also woke up. Seeing that there was no one else in the office, Qiao Qingqing took out breakfast for them from the space. The breakfast was a tasteless rice ball with cucumber shreds, salted egg yolk and pork floss. Each rice ball was the size of a palm and could fill you up with just one.
Seeing Shao's mother rubbing her neck, Qiao Qingqing went up and pinched her neck twice, and Shao's mother soon felt her neck much more comfortable.
"It's still raining? When can we go home?" asked Shao's mother.
"Wait a little longer until the rain stops."
The situation in the building was not good. As people started to get up, a new day of unrest began.
Everyone's temper was aroused by the acid rain, and no one could remain calm at this time.
"Why hasn't the rescue come yet?"
"Is there anything to eat? I'm so hungry."
"Do you smell the stench? It stinks so bad, like the smell of a dead person."
"Move your foot away! You're stepping on me!"
“…”
Shao's mother was glad that they could stay in the office, all thanks to her daughter-in-law. Compared with the chaos outside, the office was like a paradise. Qiao Qingqing reapplied medicine to Shao's mother, and Shao's mother also changed hers. The two looked at the wounds on their faces in the mirror. Fortunately, the weather was cool, and they treated the wounds in time, and the wounds recovered very well. Qiao Qingqing expected that there would be scars, but these scars were not serious. She would apply some scar removal cream in the future, and they would fade away over time.
On the sixth day of the acid rain, the rain still did not stop. At the end of a new day, the survivors in the building had become so noisy that the market manager could no longer control them.
The dispute revolved around three points: resting space, food and water, medicine, and theft.
People who were burned by acid rain but did not receive treatment, endured the pain from the festering wounds, and their tempers were not very good at all. The slightest spark could ignite their tempers.
Food and water. Although the market management tried their best to coordinate and persuaded two vendors who brought supplies to the market to take shelter from the rain to sell the supplies to the market management, it was still a drop in the bucket. There were too many people! Yesterday, Lao Yue led his men to rush to the nearby food stores to purchase, but they only bought a little.
As for medicine, there was also a stall owner selling homemade ointment. It was said that he sold the ointment at a high price, but the effect was mediocre. The seller was attacked by a group of buyers and it seemed that blood was even shed.
Theft was the most frequent noise that Qiao Qingqing heard when she heard quarrels outside. People often said that something was lost, and the seeds of suspicion kept growing, but no one wanted to be searched, and every time it was a big fuss. Once, Lao Yue fired a gun, and the gunshot was deafening, and the whole building fell silent in an instant.
In the following days, Lao Yue asked Qiao Qingqing to see the patients at first, but he stopped asking her later. Lacking medicine, she and the other doctor had no way to prevent the infection caused by acid rain corrosion.
Qiao Qingqing and the other two hid in the office, usually keeping the door locked and only opening it when Lao Yue and the others came in to rest.
Knowing that the rain would stop, Qiao Qingqing was still able to hold on. She could only suppress her concern for her mother and Sheng An in her heart. She should have believed them. They had agreed to reunite at home, and they would all be reunited safely at home.
"Open the door! Open the door!"
Fierce shouts and loud knocks on the door interrupted Qiao Qingqing's thoughts. She stood at the door with a frown: "Who is it?" She knew that the people outside were not Lao Yue and the others. The injuries of the people on the sixth floor were relatively light. Lao Yue and the others focused on patrolling downstairs. They just made a full patrol ten minutes ago and would not come up in the short time.
"Open the door when I tell you to, why are you talking so much!"
"Qingqing!" Shao's mother also heard that the person outside had bad intentions. She nervously took out the dagger from her backpack, asked Shao Shengfei to sit where he was, and walked to Qiao Qingqing.
"Mom, don't be afraid."
Qiao Qingqing opened the door and saw several people standing outside, both men and women.
The man who knocked on the door didn't expect the door to open suddenly and was stunned for a moment.
"What's up?"
A person nearby reached out to push Qiao Qingqing, saying, "Move aside—Ah!"
"Don't hit my sister!" Shao Shengfei stood up and shouted.
Qiao Qingqing held his wrist and pressed the acupoint skillfully. He felt a sharp pain in his wrist and cried out.
"What are you doing? Let him go!" the man's companion shouted.
Qiao Qingqing let go of his hand and stepped aside, her expression calm: "He pushed me, I fought back, that's all. Do whatever you want to do quickly, don't block the door."
Seeing Shao Shengfei and his mother approaching her, she pulled one by one and said, "Let's stand aside."
Unexpectedly, Shao Shengfei couldn't pull him apart. When he turned his head, he saw Shao Shengfei clenching his fists and glaring at the man fiercely.
"Brother, I'm fine. Listen to me, brother. Can we stand aside?"
Shao Shengfei followed her angrily.
The people outside wanted to sneak in and check while Lao Yue and the others were away. They suspected that there were things hidden in these offices. They were hungry, so there was no reason for them to sit and watch the people in the market management office enjoy themselves. I thought the door was hard to knock, but it opened. I thought it would be easy to get in, but this woman fought back, and then backed off, pretending not to stop me. What was she doing?
Several people were confused by Qiao Qingqing and didn't know whether to fight first or search first.
"You dare to hit me! I'll make you pay!" The man whose wrist was pinched by Qiao Qingqing couldn't swallow this breath. After Qiao Qingqing shook off her hand, he rubbed his wrist first. After he recovered his strength, he rushed towards Qiao Qingqing.
"Don't make things complicated, search first!" The leader grabbed him.
Qiao Qingqing held Shao Shengfei tightly and ignored them no matter how they searched.
There are no supplies hidden in this office. They will definitely find nothing.
"Hey, let me see your backpacks."
Qiao Qingqing raised her eyebrows: "Our backpacks?"
"right!"
"This office is not mine, so I have no objection to you searching it any way you want. But if you want to search our backpacks at will, you are dreaming."
"Brother Yao, they must have hidden something in their backpacks."
"Brother Yao, we can't find it anywhere. They must have hidden it."
"That must be the case! I was wondering why she was so generous to let us search, this damn woman must have been prepared!"
"Beauty, why don't you be more self-conscious? We don't want to cause trouble. We make money in harmony. Please cooperate."
Qiao Qingqing said expressionlessly: "If my backpack doesn't have what you want, can you ask this person to apologize to me?"
She looked at the man who had just pushed him.
The man was embarrassed and annoyed: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Brother Yao glared at him, then turned to look at Qiao Qingqing: "Okay."
"Search." Qiao Qingqing put the three backpacks on the ground and asked them to check.
Shao Shengfei twisted his fingers anxiously, and Qiao Qingqing patted his arm gently, her eyes gentle and peaceful. He was comforted and silently called her sister.
Naturally, there were no so-called hidden supplies in the backpack. Apart from a few empty water bottles, there were clothes, towels and other sundries.
"Only this bottle has water in it. Tsk, just one sip." The man picked and chose from Qiao Qingqing's backpack, took out a water bottle and shook it.
"That's my water." said Qiao Qingqing.
What is this little bit of water worth? Brother Yao asked the man to put the water back, said sorry to Qiao Qingqing and left.
"What about the apology?"
The man glared: "Why are you apologizing? Don't be so annoying!"
"Lin Cheng, let's go! We still need to search other offices!"
Lin Cheng looked at Qiao Qingqing smugly, and then cursed Shao Shengfei as a "fool", and stuffed the water bottle into his arms. Seeing this, Qiao Qingqing's eyes flickered. Lin Cheng threatened: "Don't say it!" and then followed him leisurely.
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