The hot weather and expensive food, which decays quickly, were already bad enough. What made things even more frustrating was the increasingly rampant cockroaches in the house.
The situation was somewhat better for homes with marble floors. After a photo from a user with wooden floors, showing their house infested with cockroaches, went viral online, many others started sharing similar photos. It wasn't an exaggeration at all—lifting the floorboards revealed nests of insects so densely packed it resembled a beehive. The sight was like something out of a sci-fi movie about insect plagues.
Pest control companies and masons became the most sought-after services. Those renovation companies that had gone bankrupt due to the pandemic and scorching heat were now experiencing a peak in business. Even changing a single floor tile could be profitable, but given the current weather and the shortage of workers, the prices were high. With so many clients needing pest-proof flooring, it was hard to find anyone available to do the work.
Seeing the online news about the losses caused by cockroaches, including damaged belongings and food, Mu Nan sighed in relief, "Luckily, our home has tile floors."
Qin Huai smiled. The Mu family's home had also been fitted with wooden floors, but with a playful boy running around and toys scattered everywhere, it had become too difficult to manage. Even though their downstairs neighbor was a very patient teacher, they couldn't let Mu Nan's antics go unchecked. So, they replaced all the wooden floors with marble.
It was fortunate they had done it back then otherwise, they'd be facing additional problems now. However, not everyone was so lucky. The Zhang family's home, which had been vacant for a year or two, had wooden floors.
When Zhang Jianwen's grandson, Zhang Zicong, saw the online news about cockroaches, he couldn't shake the feeling that their wooden floors were infested. Unable to resist, he lifted a slightly warped floorboard. As soon as he did, the entire family went crazy because their home also turned out to be a nest of cockroaches.
What made the situation even more desperate was that they had just moved in and were busy unpacking items from their fire-damaged house. The belongings were piled up in the living room, and with cockroaches crawling and burrowing into the clutter, it was driving them insane.
The Zhang family members screamed and jumped around, unable to keep up with the swarm of cockroaches. Lacking insecticide, their only option was to flee outside. With the door open, the cockroaches naturally started crawling out, but the commotion led to several cockroaches invading the neighboring apartments.
Qin Huai came out to check but did not open the door. Instead, he used the peephole to observe the situation. Seeing the Zhang family members jumping around and cockroaches scuttling on the ground, he pushed Mu Nan inside and said, "There are cockroaches outside. Go inside and close the door tightly."
Mu Nan, shivering at the thought, asked, "Cockroaches in the hallway? A lot of them?"
Qin Huai replied, "They probably came from Zhang's house. I'm not sure if their floor is wooden, but given the number, it likely is."
As Qin Huai spoke, Mu Nan received a WeChat message from the group where he had bought the film. The message was a voice note from Yu Zibai, and when he opened it, Jian Chu's panicked and disgusted voice could be heard: "Don't open the door! There are so many cockroaches outside!"
Clearly, Yu Zibai's home had let in a few cockroaches. Dr. Xu also sent a voice message. Although his tone was calm, he seemed to be enduring something: "You should have said something sooner."
Mu Nan couldn't help but laugh a little, despite feeling it wasn't the right time. "Their home is already overrun with cockroaches."
It was one thing not to know, but knowing cockroaches had entered your home without finding and killing them meant you wouldn't sleep soundly, wondering where they were hiding and whether they would crawl over your bed or utensils, or even mate in some corner of your room. Just thinking about it made his skin crawl.
The Zhang family members continued to jump around outside. The younger ones tried to avoid the cockroaches, while the older ones used anything they could find to swat them, hoping to kill as many as possible.
Cockroaches don't just sit still waiting to be swatted; they hide in dark places. So, the ones in the hallway soon crawled up the safety stairs on either side. But there were likely still some in the Zhang home. Zhang Zicong, in despair, said he would rather stay in a hotel and refused to go back inside.
Qin Huai looked through the peephole for a while. Their door was well-sealed, leaving no gaps for large cockroaches to enter. As long as the iron door remained closed, there was no need to worry about them coming in. Seeing that it wasn't a major issue, he returned inside.
Once inside, he saw Mu Nan sitting on the bed, holding a pillow and laughing. Mu Nan waved at him and said, "Brother, you should listen to the next door. It seems our soundproofing isn't very good. We used to not hear anything because the noise wasn't loud enough." From the living room, they could hear Jian Chu yelling and directing Yu Zibai to deal with the cockroaches. The chaotic and excited sounds gave a vivid picture of how frenzied things were next door.
The neighbors were indeed in a miserable state. Because of the air conditioning, they had been living in the living room, keeping the doors to the other rooms tightly closed. Seeing the news about cockroaches, they had been cautious, keeping everything off the floor and avoiding leaving any hiding places. They had kept the kitchen and bathroom doors closed to prevent cockroaches from getting in and contaminating their living spaces.
However, despite their efforts to prevent the infestation, a single door opening couldn't keep it all out. When Jian Chu opened the door, he saw several cockroaches running inside. He quickly managed to crush two, but the others vanished almost immediately.
At that moment, Jian Chu and Yu Zibai were turning the house upside down, even lifting the bed to find the cockroaches. If they couldn't find them, there was no chance of getting any sleep.
Dr. Xu's situation wasn't much better. Although he lived alone and had a habit of keeping his home very clean, he had brought back a lot of insecticide from the hospital when the cockroaches first appeared. Despite this, a single door opening had rendered all his efforts useless.
However, his situation was slightly better because he lived in a bedroom with the door kept closed to maintain the temperature. This meant he only needed to deal with the cockroaches in the living room. Even if he couldn't find the ones that got in, keeping the bedroom door shut would prevent them from entering. Nevertheless, Dr. Xu decided to use tape to seal any gaps around his bedroom door to ensure no cockroaches could get in while he slept.
The cockroach infestation had led to a tragedy for all three families involved.
But it wasn't only Zhang's house that had wooden floors. While not all houses with wooden floors experienced such severe infestations, the possibility was much higher compared to marble tiles. In older buildings, it was also difficult to avoid debris thrown from higher floors. Some people, too lazy to take their trash downstairs, threw it into the courtyard. Despite weekly clean-ups, garbage still accumulated, attracting pests like mosquitoes and rodents. Lower floors had already suffered, and now, with the cockroach outbreak, they had become hotspots.
There were so many cockroaches that children living on the lower floors were even bitten. Although cockroaches themselves aren't poisonous, they carry numerous viruses. One child suffered a severe allergic reaction and nearly didn't survive.
In response to the cockroach infestation, the city government issued notices to various neighborhood committees, instructing them to arrange for pest control supplies from the city. The goal wasn't to eradicate the problem entirely but to prevent it from severely affecting daily life.
In one district, after pest control work, the collected cockroach corpses piled up into a small mountain, leaving many netizens feeling squeamish. Some speculated that changes in the Earth's magnetic field might be affecting the climate and causing mutations in pests, signaling drastic changes happening on Earth.
The district carried out pest control for three consecutive days, posting announcements and repeatedly notifying residents in their group chats about the extermination schedule to avoid going outside during those times.
The three days of fumigation had a significant effect. At least, people who went outside in the evening reported that they no longer saw cockroaches crawling everywhere. Although the entire district had been fumigated, some homes still faced issues. Even with external pest control, cockroaches sometimes found their way indoors. Many hoped the community could help find pest control services, but with the overwhelming demand, even community assistance was ineffective. Thus, people had to deal with it themselves.
For some, handling the situation themselves proved difficult for their neighbors on the same floor, like the Zhang family.
Since the cockroaches were hiding under the floorboards, they decided to lift all the floorboards to leave no place for them to hide. The Zhang family was in relatively good conditions and had several protective suits. To avoid contact with the cockroaches, they wore the suits while prying up the floorboards. Once they started lifting the boards, many cockroaches scurried around, making it impossible for the neighbors to open their doors. It wasn't just that the doors couldn't be opened—though it was a problem, staying indoors was still manageable. However, their kitchen window faced the courtyard, allowing cockroaches to run rampant. Moreover, as renters, they had no airtight range hood; they only had an exhaust fan over the stove, which allowed cockroaches to enter their home.
Even though they had sealed all doors and windows to prevent the high temperatures from coming in, seeing several cockroaches on the balcony and crawling on the kitchen floor was disgusting. Additionally, prying up the floorboards over several days meant encountering cockroaches while waiting for the elevator, which was unbearable.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Jian Chu confronted the Zhang family, urging them to resolve the issue as soon as possible. He suggested that if they couldn't solve it within a day, at least use insecticide while prying up the floorboards. Without a pest control company, they should at least use the insecticide themselves rather than letting cockroaches crawl everywhere.
Zhang Jianwen, who was sensitive about losing face, felt insulted even though Jian Chu had used a polite tone. He responded curtly, "It sounds easy for you to say. Go buy some insecticide and see if you can find any. If you can, I'll pay you double for it!"
Jian Chu was almost driven to laughter by his response, "If you can't find insecticide, does that mean everyone else's homes have to be overrun with bugs? If you're having trouble, you can ask the community. They still have some insecticide available. I saw some residents picking up medication from the community..."
Before Jian Chu could finish, Zhang Jianwen interrupted impatiently, "You think just asking will get you anything? You have to wait in line! If you can't get the insecticide and can't get rid of the bugs, should we just move out? Will you cover the cost of staying in a hotel? You young people don't think things through and have no manners!"
From just those two sentences, Yu Zibai could tell that Zhang Jianwen was not a reasonable or easy person to deal with. He promptly dragged Jian Chu back into their house.
Jian Chu, still fuming, glared at him and said, "Why are you dragging me away? That old man is completely unreasonable! What does he mean by saying I lack manners? If I truly lacked manners, I would have kicked his door down when his family first brought cockroaches into our home! What a joke!"
Yu Zibai sighed, "Forget it. Right now, it's hard to get insecticide. It's even harder to find than the masks were. It's normal if people can't get it. We just need to keep the doors and windows tightly shut. I already applied for insecticide from the community; they said there might be some available in the next couple of days. Once we get it, we'll clean every corner of the house."
Despite the reassurance, Jian Chu was still very upset. Why couldn't people speak politely? At the very least, they should offer an apology. What kind of person criticizes others for lacking manners in such a situation?
The cockroaches that had infested Jian Chu's balcony also affected the neighboring Mu Nan's home. However, Mu Nan had sealed his balcony, so the cockroaches that came over could only crawl on the outside of the window. Mu Nan hadn't noticed this until one day when he decided to pull back the window's sunshade to see the daylight outside. To his horror, he saw numerous cockroaches clinging to the outside of the window.
Because the indoor temperature was low and there was an extra layer of insulation outside, the cockroaches couldn't enter the house. They probably sought a cooler place, so they crawled into the gaps of the sunshade to escape the scorching sun and enjoy the coolness seeping through the window. It was as if they intended to use the space outside their window as a nest.
Seeing this, Mu Nan let out a dramatic high note.
Qin Huai, who was brushing his teeth and washing his face in the bathroom, was startled by Mu Nan's voice. He ran out of the bathroom with his toothbrush still in his mouth. Seeing Mu Nan jumping energetically on the bed, he sighed in relief, "What's wrong?"
Mu Nan pointed at the window, "It's turning into a bug nest out there! It's so disgusting!"
Qin Huai, still brushing his teeth, said, "Don't move. I'll handle it."
Mu Nan pulled open the curtains inside. For convenience, he had attached a thin cotton rope to the outer insulation membrane. The rope was always pressed against the window gap, allowing him to pull it from inside the house to lift the insulation membrane. When Qin Huai came out of the bathroom, he saw Mu Nan struggling to pull the rope and muttering, "I'll roast you! Scorching heat for you!"
Qin Huai approached with a smile, "Don't end up sunburned
yourself while trying to kill the cockroaches."
Recently, there had been news about a child who, during a sunny afternoon when adults weren't paying attention, opened the curtains and looked directly at the sun. Whether it was because the child hadn't seen the sun for a long time or just didn't know better, by the time the family realized and closed the sunshade, the child's eyes had turned completely white. Although the condition improved somewhat later, the child's vision remained blurred. They had to rush to the hospital, where it was discovered that many people had suffered irreversible eye damage due to the strong light, with some even going blind.
Seeing Mu Nan attempting to lift the thick membrane outside, Qin Huai quickly intervened, "Let me handle this. Step back."
Mu Nan, aware of the strong sunlight, quickly retrieved two pairs of sunglasses from his space and handed one to Qin Huai, "Don't look directly at the sun. Just lift it a bit to drive the cockroaches away."
As soon as the membrane was lifted, the intense heat drove the cockroaches away, and soon the glass window was clear of cockroaches.
Mu Nan said, "They ran away today, but maybe they'll come back tomorrow. Why are there suddenly so many cockroaches?" In his previous life, the sudden increase in cockroaches was also unresolved. The situation worsened over time, with more pests like rats and insects, but by then, people were more concerned about whether these pests were edible rather than why they were multiplying.
Qin Huai speculated, "Could it be related to an earthquake?"
Mu Nan was puzzled, "You mean unusual behavior of animals before a major earthquake? But the earthquake isn't due for at least two months. Could the animals already be feeling uneasy?"
Although Qin Huai wasn't sure, he suggested, "It might not be an earthquake but rather changes in the entire climate, making all living creatures restless."
Mu Nan didn't delve further into the speculation. Once he ensured that all doors and windows were properly covered, he went to brush his teeth. It was dawn, the sun was out, and it was time for them to sleep.
The intermittent power outages had somewhat eased, and most people had adapted to living with several hours of power cuts each day. However, with the persistent high temperatures, many regions hadn't seen rain for months. Water levels had dropped significantly, making water usage increasingly strained. Some neighborhoods had been without water for nearly a week, relying on water trucks. Each person could only collect five liters of water a day. Although it wasn't enough to cover all daily needs, it was still better than nothing. People managed to save a bit and could even bathe every other day.
Of course, if the water was also needed for sanitation, it wasn't sufficient. Public restrooms, once used by passersby or tourists, had become a place for many to address their physiological needs. The increase in users made the environment unbearable due to the lack of water for regular cleaning.
Mu Nan's situation was slightly better, but water usage was also being restricted. Unlike electricity, which required continuous consumption and could only be intermittently cut off, water could be provided in concentrated periods. Thus, to alleviate the pressure on water usage, there was a staged supply: every night from midnight to one a.m., water was available for an hour, allowing residents to fill containers and store enough water for the day.
Mu Nan had stored a lot of water in his space, and he didn't even need containers to hold it. He could concentrate the water into a single mass, like a lake. However, when it came to taking the water out, he could only do so with his hands. Previously, when there were no difficulties in storing water at home, Mu Nan used to keep a large storage box in the bathroom every day. Once it was filled, he would collect it. He could even store the water directly into his space without needing the box. Although the space didn't take up room, storage boxes were quite expensive. Initially, he collected water in boxes, but as he ran out of money for so many containers, he started storing the water directly and found it to be feasible.
Despite having ample water, Mu Nan was still cautious not to waste any. With the restriction on water use now in place, Mu Nan asked Qin Huai, "Should we take out the cat litter for use?"
Qin Huai thought it wasn't necessary for now, as there was still an hour of water supply each day. He replied, "Let's leave it for now. In the future, cat litter might even be useful for trade."
Mu Nan felt a bit embarrassed. If he were alone, it wouldn't be such an issue, but with two people, it felt a bit awkward. Moreover, the situation hadn't reached that level yet, so he decided to put that idea aside for the time being and continued diligently storing water each day.
However, as the flow of water from the faucet gradually decreased to a mere trickle, the pressure from the inadequate water supply began to build up.