"Otherwise what?"
"No, you can't go down the mountain alone. I'll go with you." Qi Xie refused after hearing Feng Ran's request to go down the mountain alone.
"It's nothing. I'm just taking a stroll. It must be tiring for you all to follow me. It's nothing serious."
“No. I’ll go with you,” Bai Lian said.
"Really, you don't need to."
"Then don't go down the mountain. I'll go out and gather information for you," Qi Xie said again.
"Yes. Let him out. What do you want to know?"
Qi Xie glanced at Bai Lian after hearing his words, but did not refute him.
"Fine. Let's go together then."
"Okay. I'll stay with you."
"I'll go too," Bai Lian said.
"Don't go. Stay home with Jixiang and work on feed and firewood."
"...Alright."
...
Qi Xie and Feng Ran descended the mountain the next morning.
The further down the mountain you go, the thicker the dust and sand on the ground become.
When we reached the highway at the foot of the mountain, the dust and sand on the road were so thick that we couldn't drive on it.
The sand along the entire road was almost ankle-deep. And it was so soft and spongy. Driving on it was risky because the wheels might slip.
The two walked and looked around.
It's been a while since I've been down here. It's quite refreshing to look around.
Wearing masks and hats, Qi Xie and Feng Ran spoke, and it felt like there was dust and sand in their mouths through the masks.
The air quality is terrible.
"Where to go first?"
"Let's go to the government resettlement area first. Let's see how the people there are doing now."
"Um."
The two only glanced at other places they passed by. There was hardly anyone around. Finally, they stopped at the greenhouse area they had visited before.
The greenhouses all collapsed.
The vegetables inside are all gone. It looks like they've been picked. People are still emptying sand from inside. There are also people repairing the greenhouse.
Feng Ran casually approached a few women chatting and working in an inconspicuous spot and asked, "Sisters, have you finished harvesting all the vegetables here?"
"Don't you know?"
"Ah, I just fled here from another city," Feng Ran replied weakly.
Seeing that the two people in front of her were dressed in tattered clothes, Zhang Cuihua assumed it was true and replied, "Yes, the sandstorm blew down all the greenhouses. But the vegetables were saved. We just need to repair the greenhouses."
"Hey ma'am, can people from other cities come here? What are the benefits and living conditions like inside?"
"Don't even mention it. Go to a big city. Here, we don't have enough to eat or wear, and we're forced to work twelve hours a day. There's not a drop of oil in the food."
I saw online that people in coastal cities can eat fish and seafood every day!
"Then why don't you go to a coastal city?"
"Go away! I'm used to staying here. Just make do!" the older woman said as she vigorously shoveled mud and sand from the greenhouse.
The person next to her, who looked like her daughter-in-law or daughter, was also desperately trying to pry. Their hands were dry and withered, not only frozen purple but also bleeding.
"Thump!"
"Ouch! Her!" Feng Ran was looking at the girl when, to her surprise, she suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Li!"
The woman lunged at her.
Another woman nearby glanced over a few times before returning to her work.
Every day, someone checks on the staff at the greenhouse base. If they see anyone slacking off, they'll be recorded, and the person will get less food in the evening. So everyone is afraid to slack off, and even when they're chatting, they don't dare to move.
"It's so hot! Li! How can I live like this!" the woman cried and screamed.
"Sister, please take her to the infirmary quickly!"
Feng Ran was getting anxious; what good would crying do?
"There's no medical clinic here. Especially medicine for colds and fevers, it's been out of stock for ages. Everyone just has to tough it out if they can, or they'll die if they can't..." the woman next to her said coldly as she worked.
"Waaaaah... Li! If you die too, Mom won't live anymore! I'll go with you!"
The people around me were indifferent. It seemed like this kind of thing happened every day.
"Sister, please stop crying. Hurry back and wipe her down with water. See if that helps bring down her fever."
"It's no use...it's no use...I used it last night, and Qiangzi died the same way...they're all gone..."
The more the woman talked, the more obsessed she became.
Just then, a man walked over, carrying a pen and a notebook.
"What happened?"
"Mr. Li, Xiaoli from Yanzi's family has a fever and has fainted," the woman next to him explained.
The man just pursed his lips and said, "Alright. If you can't hold on, I'll give you half a day off. Half the food will be gone tonight. Don't just stay here!"
"Waaaaah... Ah!..."
"I've been holding this against you for ages. Hurry up and go back! You're bad luck." The man grumbled as he left.
The woman was still holding her daughter, frozen on the ground, not moving at all.
It's as if they're just waiting to die.
"Let's go," Qi Xie reminded Feng Ran, looking at her with a pained expression.
"Um."
Before leaving, however, he took a few steps and squatted down next to the woman, patting her thigh as if to comfort her.
He grasped her cold hand and then gestured to her with his eyes.
The woman felt the sharp point in her palm in disbelief...
Then, secretly glancing down at the corner of his palm, he instantly tensed up.
"Sister, go back. Even just giving your daughter some hot water is better than freezing to death here."
"well……"
The woman instantly perked up. She first reached into her pocket, then pressed it down again, still unsure. Then, with all her might, she hoisted her daughter onto her back and ran towards their home.
Feng Ran saw her eldest sister run away. She and Qi Xie also left.
A few hundred meters away, Qi Xie looked at Feng Ran and said, "Feeling overly compassionate again?"
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