5
I had done so much physical work over the past few days that today I felt sore all over. The sun had warmed the blankets, and I couldn't help but laze around.
It wasn't until mid-morning that I finally dragged myself out of bed.
I turned on the faucet, but nothing came out.
November 19th, the third day of the lockdown.
No water.
To be precise, the water had stopped early this midnight.
At five in the morning, someone in the residents' group had reported the issue.
The property management said they were in contact with the water company, suggesting it might be a pipe accident requiring urgent repairs and asked for everyone's understanding.
The water outage in District J was entirely within my expectations, but whether it was related to the current outbreak, I couldn't be sure.
I moved my toiletries to the balcony, where the solar panels were steadily generating power.
I leaned against the railing, looking down.
The world was changing too fast; it was hard to remain unaffected.
It could profoundly alter your behaviour, lifestyle, and even thought patterns.
I often felt a sense of alienation.
At that moment, I seemed like a detached observer.
Occasionally, I felt lonely.
Although I had been living alone in this city since I graduated from college, I found myself missing my family and old friends more often.
Every night, I made it a point to call my parents.
They said everything was normal in Greenfield, which seemed much better than here.
I no longer tried to persuade them to stock up; instead, I directly ordered everything on my shopping list for them, which should be arriving soon.
People of their age were incredibly stubborn, especially with their staunch faith in science.
If they found out I was making such a fuss over a dream, they'd surely scold me.
Back in the kitchen, I continued to finish up yesterday's work.
Compared to the potatoes, the rest was much easier to handle.
The corn only needed to have the husks removed before vacuum packing.
The cabbage and lettuce were handled similarly.
The broccoli didn't need much processing, saving me a lot of time.
Once all the vegetables were done, the balcony and kitchen felt much less crowded.
I then spent a long time figuring out how to maximize the efficiency of the solar panels. Searching on Amazon, I found that all solar panel mounts had a certain angle.
However, I had too few tools and materials on hand. Trying to mount eight solar panels at an angle on the balcony with just glue was impractical.
Although my plan to maximize power generation failed, it didn't stop me from making some other repairs.
I reinforced the contact points between the solar panels and the clothesline with hot glue and protected the exposed wires with waterproof tape.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
I glanced at the time—it should be the volunteer delivering supplies.
"Thank you, just leave it at the door," I called out as I walked over.
But the ringing didn't stop. Peeking through the peephole, I saw the light outside flickering.
Puzzled, I suddenly saw a distorted face due to the magnification.
One eye was completely clouded over, with the pupil almost invisible, fluttering like a fly in the socket.
...He was looking inside!
I instinctively stepped back.
I recognized him... it was Old Jack, the security guard from downstairs...
How had he ended up like this?
Was he still Old Jack?
Little did I know that this was just our first encounter.