Chapter 1: Crossing

Xia Zhizhi was awakened by the sound of a child screaming, but she did not open her eyes immediately.

Listening to the noisy movement around her and smelling the mixed smell of the air, she felt as if she was in another world.

Very strange and familiar.

In the apocalypse, I was chased by all kinds of zombies and mutant beasts for several years, and the air was filled with the stench of decay and blood.

The noises that can be heard are mostly the roars of zombies and mutants.

Everyone I met, whether ordinary people or people with special abilities, had tired and gloomy looks on their faces.

People are fleeing and rushing around every day without a moment of relaxation.

Therefore, even though she was not living badly in the apocalypse, she quickly agreed to travel through time after the system came to her.

Small tasks like not killing anyone, being a supporting actress, stirring up trouble between the male and female protagonists, and messing up shit are really not worth mentioning compared to the end of the world.

After all, she is not a murderer.

In the end times, everyone's voices were suppressed and low, whether they were crying or laughing, so she quite enjoyed the faint smell of food coming from the neighbors on the right and the howling cries of the naughty kids being beaten on the left.

Although it was a little noisy, the air was filled with the breath of life, and the children's cries revealed vibrant hope.

She couldn't lie still anymore, so she threw off the quilt and got out of bed.

As soon as I got out of bed, I staggered, my vision went dark, and I almost fainted.

My goodness, that's a weakness.

After walking around the house, I found that the house was quite compact, with a usable area of ​​less than 40 square meters. It was the middle unit of a tube-shaped building with two bedrooms and a living room. There was a coal stove in the corridor outside the house, which was used for cooking and heating water on weekdays. Looking around, there was a stove at almost every door. This row of houses were basically small units with no kitchens, so everyone could only cook at the door.

There is a small living room right at the entrance. The coal for burning is placed behind the door to prevent others from stealing it.

There were portraits of great men on the wall opposite. The paint on the wall was yellow and mottled, and the peeling parts were covered with newspapers.

There was a dining table and three benches against the wall. They were all made of very ordinary varnished logs. You could tell at a glance that they were made by a country carpenter.

Next to the dining table, against the wall, there is a high-legged cupboard with double doors on the top, which contains bowls, chopsticks and cups. There is a drawer at the bottom, which contains needles, thread and other household items.

The paint on the cabinet surface is a bit peeling and pitted. The whole cabinet is black and red, and looks like it is covered with pulp. The sanitary condition is worrying.

There was a double-layer washbasin rack on the floor next to the cabinet. It was nailed to the wall and had a rope on it with a few tattered towels hanging on it.

There was a half-used bar of soap in a soap dish on the shelf, and a toothbrush and a flat tube of toothpaste in an enameled water bowl.

There is an enamel basin on the upper layer of the basin rack, which is usually used for washing face, vegetables and clothes. The heavy wooden basin on the lower layer is usually used for washing feet.

The room was small to begin with, and filled with these things, it looked crowded and dim.

There are two bedrooms in the house. Xia Ruhai and Li Dongmei, her step-parents, live in the smaller bedroom.

The larger bedroom was divided into two small rooms in the middle. Her eldest brother Xia Jianguo occupied the smaller one, while her third sister Xia Lanlan and fourth sister Xia Fangfang occupied the larger one.

As for herself, she used bricks to support two wooden boards in the corridor between the living room and the room.

Generally speaking, the family was penniless.

But most families are like this now, not as many as his family.

There are two full-time workers in their family. Xia Ruhai gets a second-level salary of 37.2 yuan a month, and Li Dongmei gets a first-level salary of 32 yuan a month, which adds up to nearly 70 yuan, which is not a small amount nowadays.

It is now the spring of 1967, and prices are low. Oil costs about one dollar per pound, pork costs 60 to 70 cents per pound, coarse grains cost a little over 10 cents, and fine grains like rice and flour cost only 2 to 30 cents. However, they all require tickets and are rationed.

The prices of meat and vegetables are the same as now, with some fluctuations occasionally.

If there is not enough food, you can only take the money and buy it at a high price. Whether you can buy it or not depends on luck.

Due to the lack of fried dough sticks, people usually rely on walking for transportation. One or two people doing this kind of exercise often have big appetites, and if they eat as much as they want, I guess most people can finish a whole bowl of this dish.

So most families don’t have enough food to eat. Of course, those who have to tighten their belts and live simply because they are hungry are another matter.

Normally, people with ample funds would buy some high-priced food.

As for vegetables, they are only a few cents per pound, and no ticket is required. This place is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and green leafy vegetables are sold all year round. Most of them are priced at this price. Occasionally, if you come across rare vegetables, you can sell them for a few cents.

Fruits are more expensive due to transportation and storage, but this is limited to foreign goods and will not cost more than one piece. Locally produced ones are much cheaper.

For an adult of average build, it costs about ten yuan to buy a piece of cloth to make clothes. If you buy new materials like Dacron or polyester, you have to add a few more yuan.

Their tuition and miscellaneous fees are 2.5 yuan per semester for primary school and 5 yuan per semester for secondary school.

Although the prices are not high, a family of six needs to eat, wear clothes, go to school, and occasionally have to take medicine when they are sick.

Xia Ruhai's parents in the village also had to give some money for their support.

In addition to the social interactions, money is required everywhere, and the family lives a tight life.

This year, Xia Jianguo is 18 years old and has reached the age to get married. He needs to find someone he likes and the gift price is not a small amount. She has heard Li Dongmei talk about this several times.

She walked around the house and then strolled out. After all, the place was so small.

The auntie who was beating the child next door had not finished yet. When Xia Zhizhi went out, the auntie shifted her attention, and the child broke free from her hand and rushed towards Xia Zhizhi.

She kindly reached out to help it. After all, in the end times, the cubs are almost endangered animals and need to be taken care of.

The child pushed her hard and tried to run back.

She was too thin, and after being pushed like that, she staggered and quickly leaned against the wall to prevent herself from falling.

Fortunately, she came here. Although her physical condition is poor, she still has basic reactions. If the original person was here, she would probably have fallen flat on her face.

Xia Zhizhi grabbed the child's arm tightly with her backhand and whispered, "Be careful, don't fall."

Then he said softly to the auntie who beat the child, "Auntie Liu, please stop being angry. Is it because Tiedan peed in your coal rack last time or because he and Erniu next door took rice from home to exchange for popsicles? These are all things of the past. Calm down..."

"You little bastard, I told you that the rice at home won't be so fast!" Aunt Liu had a bad temper. Before Xia Zhizhi could finish her words, she grabbed Tiedan with one hand, and the chicken feather pole in her hand left an afterimage. She beat him and scolded him: "I told you to pee in the basket, and then the whole house was filled with the smell of urine. I've told you so many times, today I must teach you a lesson!"

Xia Zhizhi sighed in a fake manner: "Ah, auntie, just give him a beating to calm him down, but don't beat Tiedan too hard, just teach him a lesson, otherwise Tiedan's grandmother will be heartbroken."

Tiedan's grandmother, an old rural woman, always wants to control her daughter-in-law. Aunt Liu's family has power, so naturally they are not used to her.

She couldn't do anything to her daughter-in-law, so she could only start with her grandson and sow discord between him and his mother.

As long as the daughter-in-law teaches her grandson a lesson, no matter whether she is right or wrong, the father will protect her, not for anything else but to annoy the daughter-in-law.

Mentioning the old lady Aunt Liu made her angry and hit him a little harder, beating Tiedan until he screamed.

Xia Zhizhi walked downstairs lightly, looking at everything on the street curiously.

Yangshi is not too big, and the residential buildings of several factories are all in this area, so it is quite lively here. Although it is a bit far from department stores, there is a supply and marketing cooperative nearby, so it is quite convenient for daily use.

Although the houses were not tall and the walls were old, dust would be stirred up on the road when someone walked by. Pedestrians had their clothes patched up one by one, and except for their shining eyes, everything else was dusty, but she was still in a good mood.

Although it is backward and poor, it is full of hope and vitality.