Chapter 42 Returning Home
The green hills and clear waters lingered in the glass, while the faded blue bus stopped on the only asphalt road in the countryside.
Lin Xi, carrying a heavy suitcase, was immediately hit by scorching hot air and the deafening chirping of cicadas as soon as she got off the bus.
She walked along the country road under the scorching sun, without holding an umbrella to shield herself from the sun, carrying a blue-green plaid vest bag in one hand.
On a quiet July afternoon, the country lanes were almost deserted, with everyone enjoying the cool air at home. Along the way, I passed several large lotus ponds, where the lotus flowers were in full bloom, and beneath them lay countless sections of lotus root.
The roadside is lined with rows of self-built rural houses, but they are sparsely built, indicating a small population and therefore a limited number of houses.
Those inside the gate were naturally curious to see a stranger carrying a suitcase walking down the street. Lin Xi overheard someone whispering, "Whose college student is back?"
"How many college graduates are there in our village? They all stayed in the city. Don't you know this girl?"
Lin Xi walked with her head down, sweating profusely from the sun.
She hadn't walked this road many times, but she knew it was at least a kilometer from her house. No one she passed along the way recognized her, and no one knew where she was going.
She has lived in Nanhua since birth and rarely returns to her village.
Her father, Lin Yi, was the second son in the family. He had the eldest son who was the apple of his parents' eye, and his uncle and younger brother who were college students in the village. Lin Yi was the least favored son in the family, so although the plot of land he was allocated was large, it was in the most remote and inconvenient location.
As the second son in his family, Lin Yi didn't receive any beneficial resources, so he and his wife went out to work and settled in Nanhua at a young age. They only came back to visit during the Chinese New Year, and not every year.
Lin Xi had little affection for the people here. After her parents passed away, she had little contact with the area and never returned for the Lunar New Year.
This old house, with its three levels of buildings, has rusty fences and peeling paint that reveals reddish-brown mud bricks and broken cement underneath. It looks old and dirty, almost like a dilapidated building.
Lin Xi entered the old house with the land ownership certificate and key. The uneven cement floor and yellowed walls were covered with dust and cobwebs. There was not much furniture, and it was all old. After all, he hadn't been back for 7 years, and it really didn't look like a habitable place.
Lin Xi took out a broom and an old towel from the storage room and gave the tables and chairs a quick sweep. With a place to stand, she took out a sandwich and milk she had bought from the convenience store at the station for lunch.
The more than 4 million yuan brought back could not be squandered. Before the house was renovated, Lin Xi did not plan to rent a house or stay in a hotel in town. In order to save money, she would live in the old house directly.
Although the house is dilapidated, it has all the necessary internal organs.
After lunch, I rushed to clean the old light green washing machine, connected it to the water supply, took out a printed four-piece bedding set from the wardrobe on the second floor and threw it in to wash, and then hung the old cotton wadding to dry in the yard.
Whether it's mites or fleas, after being exposed to the scorching sun in the afternoon of July, the old cotton quilts became fluffy and looked brand new in just one afternoon. Lin Xi brushed off the dust outside and carried them up to the clean bedroom on the second floor.
The old washing machine's spin-drying function stopped working, but the sheets and duvet cover dried completely under the afternoon sun, so I had a bed for today.
Following the method for cleaning air conditioner filters that she found online, Lin Xi cleaned the old, yellowed air conditioner filter. The moment she turned on the remote control, the outdoor unit emitted a loud rumbling noise, as if it were falling apart.
After waiting for about ten minutes, the cold wind finally blew on Lin Xi's sweaty forehead, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, I can get a good night's sleep today.
She's endured the hardship of not being able to turn on the air conditioning during the sweltering summer heat of the apocalypse. She can get by without air conditioning, but having it is better than not having it. One shouldn't lower one's standards and make oneself suffer.
Before dark, Lin Xi finished cleaning the bathroom with its floral floor tiles and the kitchen with its earthen stove.
There was no food stored at home, and even if there was, it was seven years old and had long since rotted. There were many fields five or six hundred meters away from the house, but the vegetables there were all grown by locals, and she couldn't just pick other people's vegetables. Even if someone was willing to give her some vegetables, she didn't have any oil or seasonings to cook them.
At this point, you can simply take out a packet of spicy and delicious snail rice noodles and cook it for dinner.
Lin Xi ate snail rice noodles in her huge hometown without worrying about the smell being too strong and drifting into her room on the second floor.
After eating and cleaning up, they boiled a big pot of water for a bath. The old house didn't have a water heater or solar water heater, so they had to do everything themselves. However, Lin Xi had experience in surviving the apocalypse, so this little thing was no problem for him.
After a long day of tossing and turning, Lin Xi was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the bed.
The next morning, Lin Xi woke up to the sounds of birds chirping and the roar of the air.
The air conditioner, its casing yellowed, trembled like a frail old man, straining to deliver its meager supply of cool air, emitting a loud "booming" noise.
If this were in the past, when Lin Xi'ai had trouble sleeping due to staying up late, she would have been tormented by not being able to sleep all night. But she had long since adapted to going to bed early without turning on the lights at night, and after a long day of work yesterday, she slept soundly on the hard wooden bed.
Lin Xi picked up the remote control and beeped it, letting the old air conditioner rest.
After a quick wash, Lin Xi put on a simple long-sleeved shirt, a sun hat, and a mask before heading out.
When Lin Xi returned to build the "Sunshine Farm," she knew she would be exposed to the sun, but what was a little sun compared to death? She dressed like that simply to avoid being recognized.
In Yunxiang, there was her uncle's family and grandmother, whom she had met a few times. Although it was unlikely that she would run into them so easily upon returning home, Lin Xi did not want to get involved with unfamiliar relatives or be recognized by others as the daughter of Lin Lao Er's family who had returned from Nanhua.
After all, she had already witnessed the ugliness of humanity in the post-apocalyptic world in her previous life, where even blood relatives could be abandoned or persecuted, let alone relatives like hers who had been at odds with her in the previous generation and whom she had hardly ever met.
Yunxiang is 3 kilometers away from the nearest town, Yunxiang. It's not cost-effective to walk 1 kilometer to the bus stop at the village entrance to take the bus or to walk 3 kilometers directly to Yunxiang. People in the village usually travel by electric scooter, but Lin Xi doesn't.
Another way to obtain supplies is to go to a small market at the border of the two villages. A small commercial area has sprung up around the market, with grocery stores and barbershops, etc.
The morning is the busiest time, just like the old-fashioned market day.
I walked 1.3 kilometers under the not-too-scorching morning sun to reach that street, which was already bustling with activity. On both sides of the road were elderly people selling fresh vegetables, calling out their wares.
Most of the shoppers were middle-aged or elderly, and Lin Xi's simple attire clearly indicated that she was a young person, making her stand out from the crowd.
She bought soy milk and fried dough sticks at a breakfast shop with yellowed walls. She broke the fried dough sticks into pieces and let them sink to the bottom of the soy milk. She ate them with a spoon, ignoring the curious stares of strangers. She took out her phone to check the items recorded in her notes.
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