If it had only been Da Niu's word, the two soldiers might have doubted whether this man was using his intimidating presence to force others into swapping houses. But now, with testimonies from the other neighbors on this floor, the soldiers' expressions towards the old lady and her grandchild grew colder.
Before they could say anything, Zhang's grandmother sat down on the ground and began to wail, "I can't go on living! This world is killing people! We've had our house taken and no one cares! We have no home to return to, and the soldiers won't help the common people; they help the bad guys bully us!"
Before they could respond, the old lady was already howling. Despite Da Niu's rough appearance and seemingly fierce demeanor, his eyes were actually quite innocent. Even as Zhang's grandmother sat on the ground, he instinctively took a step back, fearing association with her.
The soldiers glanced at Da Niu. He hurriedly said, "I didn't force anyone to swap houses. They came to us voluntarily. I suffered through the early days, and now that we finally have an elevator, I won't go down no matter what. Weakness doesn't make one right."
One soldier waved his hand in frustration, "Just go inside."
Zhang's grandmother grabbed the soldier's hand, "You can't do this! Soldiers are supposed to stand up for the people, what kind of soldiers are you? This is my home! We want to move back!"
The younger soldier, clearly impatient, retorted, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. You swapped the house willingly. Now that the conditions upstairs are better, you're making a scene. People like you deserve to face such consequences!"
Zhang's grandmother was immediately outraged, "How dare you speak like that! Are you cursing me to death? I'll report you! What's your name? I'm going to report you to your superior!"
The soldier sneered and grabbed her grandson, pulling him towards the elevator. Seeing her grandson being dragged away, Zhang's grandmother immediately pounced, screaming as if slaughtering a pig.
Her grandson remained silent throughout, not resisting as he was pulled along. His clenched fists betrayed his inner turmoil. He had been pampered by his grandparents, and his feelings for them were deep, even more so than for his parents. But being spoiled didn't mean he had twisted values. He never thought his family could be so bad. Although he knew they liked to take small advantages, he understood that everyone loves a bargain. However, when these small advantages turn harmful to others, it's a different story entirely.
His grandfather, for instance, had refused to share water in the elevator, fearing being cheated. In the end, although the water was not given, his grandfather passed away. He didn't understand why a bottle of water was so crucial. They had promised to repay double, but his father said his grandfather's actions were all for him, to ensure he had enough to eat and drink. But did they really lack that bottle of water? It wasn't the case.
After the earthquake, they were in a tent. One family of three had fortunately escaped, but their child seemed to have asthma. During their escape, the first thing they grabbed was a medical emergency kit, but that kit went missing. Later, when the child's asthma flared up, he was taken to the medical team. He didn't know if there was any medicine to help, but he found anti-inflammatory medicine in their bag that wasn't there before.
Later, his grandmother had said that living in a lower floor would make evacuation easier, but now she was reversing the story, claiming that others had occupied their house.
Zhang Zicong couldn't tolerate such confusion of right and wrong. But it was his grandmother, the one who loved him most. Even if there was only one bite of food left, she would make sure it was given to him. He couldn't criticize her, yet he also couldn't overcome the mental barrier. Besides silence, he didn't know how to react to this family he couldn't accept but couldn't let go of.
Because Zhang Zicong was pulled into the elevator, Zhang's grandmother was terrified that something might happen to her grandson. She hurriedly followed after them. The soldiers couldn't be too harsh with an elderly woman, so they just removed the wardrobe to allow the elevator to move and then left the matter to the situation. They couldn't control whether Zhang's grandmother would cause more trouble later, especially since Da Niu didn't seem like someone who would be easily taken advantage of.
Once they were gone, Da Niu moved the wardrobe back to block the elevator and then returned to his room.
After the commotion, Mu Nan remarked, "Those soldiers have a tough job. They have to rescue people, clear bodies, prevent disease, and handle situations like this. It's really exhausting."
He added, "They're like a sharp sword, able to defend and protect. When not needed, they stay quietly in their sheath. It seems like we haven't seen much of the government's presence. But at least our community staff are still doing their planning and organizing. It's just that seeing those in military uniform makes people feel more secure."
Qin Huai responded, "Their discipline determines their capability in emergencies. The government can only handle logistics and overall planning, but at the grassroots level, it's the military that steps in. That's why, whenever there's a major disaster, people immediately think of them for rescue."
Mu Nan sighed, "It's really hard work. But looking at it, it seems like the Zhang family might not be able to return. It's strange even though we haven't had much interaction with them, I instinctively dislike their family."
Qin Huai smiled, "It's probably just a clash of energies. That Zhang grandmother seems restless. If her family faces a water or food shortage in the future, they won't quietly endure. They'll seek help from neighbors, and if helped, they might become ungrateful. If not helped, they'll probably curse you. It's hard to have any good feelings towards such people."
Mu Nan wiped the sweat from his body, which had accumulated from watching the commotion, and sat on the bed with a small fan. "Xu Ming hasn't come out yet. I wonder if he's also hiding behind the door to watch the excitement."
Qin Huai asked, "Has he been self-isolating for several days now?"
Mu Nan checked the calendar, "About seven or eight days. He should be fine by now. Do you think he'll end up staying at Jian Chu's place?"
Qin Huai shook his head, "If the temperature doesn't rise any further and remains as it is, he'd probably prefer staying at home with the air conditioning."
People like Xu Ming, who seem close but are actually quite distant, are hard to truly connect with. However, as long as there's no hostility, they won't actively scheme against you. In today's society, even brothers can betray each other, so finding a true friend is not easy. The best you can hope for is mutual cooperation without harm.
Thinking about this, Qin Huai couldn't help but ruffle Mu Nan's hair. He felt fortunate to have Mu Nan in his life.
Suddenly, Mu Nan, feeling the ruffle, said, "Your expression just now..."
Qin Huai smiled, "What expression?"
Mu Nan said, "... It was like you were thinking my little dog is really cute."
Qin Huai's smile grew wider, as if acknowledging that Mu Nan was indeed very cute.
It was unclear whether the Zhang family had gone to the military office to make a scene or if they came back later, but with the elevator blocked, Zhang's grandmother couldn't move the heavy wardrobe on her own. So she had no choice but to go downstairs. After that, the floor became quiet again. However, Jian Chu mentioned that they could often hear a woman's coughing from Da Niu's house.
Initially, Jian Chu was worried that someone in their house might be ill. But since they had been living there for nearly half a month, the persistent coughing indicated that the person was still there. If it were an infectious disease, they wouldn't have lasted so long. Nevertheless, since it seemed like there was a sick person in the house, Yu Zibai sprayed disinfectant around their door several times each day using the pet disinfectant he got from Xu Ming's pet hospital. It was worth doing, even if it wasn't clear how effective it was.
Compared to Yu Zibai's pet disinfectant spraying, Qin Huai wore protective gear to disinfect the hallway every day. They had prepared plenty of disinfectant, and it was time to use it. Even though the elevator and stairs were blocked, they were still concerned about sick people passing through. Moreover, while the security door could block people, it couldn't stop mice and mosquitoes. The disinfectant could help repel them since its odor was quite pungent. So they sprayed every day to feel secure.
At their front and balcony doors, Qin Huai lit mosquito coils daily. The mosquito coils couldn't be used inside due to the sealed environment, so they were only used at the doors. Now, besides occasionally opening the front door, all other gaps were sealed with tape to prevent insects. They had done everything possible for protection, and now it was up to fate.
After a long day, seeing that it was almost dawn, Qin Huai and Mu Nan had a little to eat before going to bed. However, Mu Nan didn't sleep soundly. He kept waking up and eventually took out his phone to check the time. It was still before noon. Since their sleep schedule had shifted, he rarely woke up at this time.
As soon as he moved, Qin Huai woke up. Without opening his eyes, he reached out to pat Mu Nan's back, "What's wrong? You've been tossing and turning."
Mu Nan sat up, feeling uncomfortable, and Qin Huai quickly turned on the bedside lamp and got up, "What's wrong?"
Mu Nan frowned, "I feel a bit stuffy."
Qin Huai got out of bed, turned on the living room lights. Mu Nan squinted at the bright light, and Qin Huai touched his forehead, "Are you feeling unwell? Besides the stuffiness, is there anything else?"
Mu Nan shook his head, "I feel like it's going to rain."
Qin Huai was taken aback, "Rain?" He walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and saw the bright sun shining with no sign of rain.
However, if Mu Nan felt it was going to rain, there was a high likelihood it would. His sensitivity to rain was more accurate than weather forecasts. Since he was a child, he could always sense approaching weather changes, especially the summer rain, which made him feel damp and stuffy before it even started. Although rain can cool things down, it might not be a good thing now. Not only could rain spread viruses further, but it could also ruin the materials that hadn't been collected from the ruins yet. And the thought of uncollected bodies being soaked by rain was quite alarming.
Mu Nan indeed remembered that in his past life, it had rained around this time, and the outbreak of the plague that followed was particularly severe. However, he couldn't recall the exact date of the rain, as even a few months ago, he wouldn't remember a specific rainy day. Yet, the stuffy feeling before the rain told him that it was coming soon.
Even with the air conditioning on, Mu Nan felt too stuffy to stay lying down but was also very tired. Qin Huai had no choice but to pull him into his arms, just like during every rainy season in his childhood, and said, "I'll hold you while you sleep."
Mu Nan shook his head, "We're grown-ups. If you can't sleep, then don't. The rain will cool things down, so you sleep. I'll watch a movie."
Since Mu Nan wasn't sleeping, Qin Huai couldn't either. He decided to take out the pot of chicken feet that had been cooked earlier. The feet had been cooked, but deboning was a meticulous task. At that time, there were still many big dishes to be prepared. Therefore, such tasks that required time and wouldn't make too much noise were left in Mu Nan's space. This was to pass the time when he couldn't go out and needed to avoid making too much noise.
Mu Nan took out a low table from the space, placed his computer on one side to watch movies while leaning against the bed with a pillow, and put the food container on the other side. With a cushion on the bed, Qin Huai placed the large pot of chicken feet on it, with a separate container for bones. The bones were easy to remove from the tender chicken feet; a small knife could cut them out easily. Mu Nan noticed some bones still had a bit of meat and asked, "What about these bones? Should we throw them away?" He thought it was wasteful to discard anything edible.
Qin Huai replied, "You can keep them. They can be used for making broth. The soup can be used for cooking noodles, which is more nutritious than boiling noodles in plain water."
Mu Nan nodded, "That's a good use of resources. With so many bones, if we had a dog, we could cook them and feed them to the dog."
Qin Huai smiled, "You can also eat the cooked bones if you like; they're good for calcium."
Mu Nan took a moment to realize, "I'm not a dog!"
Qin Huai chuckled and became more skilled and quicker with his task. Soon, the pot of chicken feet was cleaned, and Mu Nan stored the bones and pot in his space. He then took out the pre-prepared soup ingredients, poured them into the food container with the chicken feet, and sealed it. "We'll keep this in the fridge for two days, then store it in the space."
Mu Nan said, "I've seen people cook the deboned chicken feet again in the broth to make it more flavorful."
Qin Huai responded, "It will still be flavorful this way. If you want it hot, just reheat it later."
Mu Nan, smelling the spicy lemon aroma in the air, asked, "Brother, can I have some chicken wings?"
Qin Huai glanced at him, considering he wasn't feeling well, and allowed him slightly, "You can have a little."
Mu Nan quickly got up, took a small container with chicken wing tips, and two cans of cola. "Brother, you've worked hard. Come and cool down."
Qin Huai removed his gloves and wiped his hands with a wet tissue before accepting the cola.
Mu Nan put on gloves and used a small trash can with a bag to dispose of the bones he chewed on. In the past, he would discard the bones with less meat, but now he ate the small crispy bones and cleaned them thoroughly before discarding them. This made him eat very slowly, and by the time he finished one movie, he hadn't eaten much.
Just as he was about to look for another movie, a loud rumble of thunder suddenly sounded, followed by a torrential downpour.
Qin Huai got out of bed, pulled back the curtain, and saw that the sun-drenched sky, which had been clear for months, had finally turned overcast with heavy rain pouring down.
The thunder was so loud it felt like it was right next to him. Perhaps the sound was amplified by the emptiness and collapsed structures after the earthquake. It felt like the sky itself was being torn apart. Even though Mu Nan had predicted rain, the thunder still startled him. One of the chicken wing tips he was holding fell onto the bed, but since he had laid a mat to prevent oil from staining the bed, he quickly picked it up and ate it.
Qin Huai lowered the curtain again, checked the kitchen and bathroom to ensure the sealing tape was intact, and confirmed that the generator room was sealed and dry. In the other room, with the cloudy weather, there was no sun, so Qin Huai closed the windows. He wasn't sure how long the rain would last; their generator's power could last up to three days.
After checking the house, Qin Huai heard cheering and screaming outside. It hadn't rained for almost a year. The scorching sun had been hanging in the sky for so long, and people hadn't seen rain in ages. Some believed this rain might signal the end of the disaster, and the weather might gradually return to normal, just as the smog had vanished suddenly. The eerie heat might also recede with this rain.
As the rain poured down, Mu Nan quickly stored all unnecessary items from outside into his space, fearing that his neighbors might come over. Sure enough, shortly after, Jian Chu called him on the intercom.
Jian Chu said, "Mu Nan, Mu Nan, are you awake?"
Mu Nan replied, "Yes."
Jian Chu asked, "Do you want to come to the balcony to see the rain?"
Mu Nan considered that the rain itself wasn't the problem, but the bacteria and viruses that could breed in the ruins were. He looked at Qin Huai and asked, "Should we go outside?"
Qin Huai said, "Let's check. There are a few solar panels outside. We need to inspect them."
So the two of them opened the door. Jian Chu and Yu Zibai were already standing on the balcony. Seeing them, Jian Chu remarked, "They say there will always be rain after an earthquake. I didn't expect it to take so long to come down."
Yu Zibai looked at Qin Huai and asked, "How long can the generator's power last in this rainy weather?"
Qin Huai replied, "Probably less than three days."
Jian Chu sighed, "We don't know how long this rain will last. If it does lower the temperature, can we collect some of the rainwater? It would be useful for drinking or even just for a shower."
Mu Nan said, "I'm not sure, but it seems like a lot of people are taking showers."
Holding binoculars, Mu Nan could clearly see the settlement points in the distance due to the cloud cover blocking the sun, even though it was still daytime. Many people were out of their tents taking showers in the torrential rain. For those whose homes had collapsed, they had no extra water to bathe with, so they took the opportunity to shower in the rain.
Jian Chu considered this and decided to go inside to get a bucket to collect rainwater. The rain that had not yet touched the ground should at least be free of viruses, regardless of its cleanliness. Collecting some for a bath was a good idea. Since they still had some water at home, if they ran out, they would need to drink rainwater to survive.
Seeing Jian Chu trying to tie a rope to the bucket handle and hang it outside on the balcony to collect water, Mu Nan found two rubber hoses and two large funnels. He attached one end of each hose to the funnels, then used rope to tie the funnels upright to the balcony railing. The other ends of the hoses were placed in two buckets. Since Jian Chu's family was collecting water, it seemed like a waste not to collect it for their own use as well, so Mu Nan decided to collect it together.
Jian Chu looked at Mu Nan and said, "Your family is well-equipped, with funnels and all."
Mu Nan replied, "I bought them for when we need to portion out large bottles of daily supplies." He didn't remember exactly why he had funnels, but he recalled seeing them while organizing and storing household items. When he thought about it, he easily "saw" where the funnels were stored in his space, so finding them was simple.
Although it was raining, it was still hot outside because the rain hadn't yet soaked into the ground, making the heat feel even more intense like a steam room. Therefore, the group didn't stay on the balcony for long and went back inside. Jian Chu's family didn't need to go out; they could simply check if the buckets on the balcony were full. If they were, they could knock on Mu Nan's balcony door to exchange the buckets.
The immediate reaction of people like Jian Chu to the heavy rain was to find ways to collect rainwater. Even those living in the camp tents tried to find containers to catch rainwater, with some even standing in the rain to bathe. Those who had found some bathing supplies while rummaging through things now found them very useful, making bathing feel like a festival.
The military personnel did not stop them from doing this. In fact, some soldiers couldn't resist joining in the showers due to the severe water shortage, even having to conserve water for drinking. Unlike the general public, who were thrilled by the unexpected rain, the leaders were more concerned about the long-term implications. They were worried about how to endure the plague that would inevitably follow this heavy rain.