"If there's one of them, there's bound to be a second, I think we should present a united front."
"Hmm, what do you mean?"
Jhiang Yuan was shocked. He actually wanted to join forces with us, was that the meaning?
"It's just our two households on this floor, my family has a lot of stored food, and I believe yours does too."
Nonsense, didn't you see it all?
2102 looked at her and continued, "We both have generators, and we've been targeted. Haven't you seen the messages in the chat group?"
What messages? Jhiang Yuan belatedly took out her phone.
Damn, those shameless jerks actually @'ed them, scolding for not sharing air conditioning.
"I really didn't see it. Does that person have a screw loose or what, making a fuss about this in the group chat?"
"No need to bother with them, but they might come again next time."
Jhiang Yuan wholeheartedly agreed. Shameless people definitely come back time after time.
"You installed that security door in the emergency passage, right?"
"Yeah."
Isn't that just obvious? Such a high-quality security door with a passcode lock, the developer must be crazy to provide something so good.
"Let's just lock this one, it'll save us a lot of trouble."
Suited her just fine, of course, and Jhiang Yuan was not stingy. She immediately registered his fingerprint, after all, he needed to get home too.
After the process, Jhiang Yuan went back for some disinfectant and sprayed everything inside and out, with 2102 accompanying her the entire time.
This guy, he's really got nothing better to do.
"I'm Song Yi. What's your name..."
"Jhiang Yuan..."
"If the temperature keeps rising, I expect more people will come knocking. Let's keep a united front, help no one, and if there's trouble, just call me."
"Sure."
It's not just talk, just by looking at his muscles, you can tell he's strong, and he is a veteran too. Better a friend than an enemy, certainly.
At home, there's two elderly, one weak and one small. To say they could overpower him would probably be harder than winning five hundred million.
Yeah, a united front is good.
Jhiang Yuan went back and briefly filled her dad and mom in on the situation, but one should always stay vigilant against others.
There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
But the watermelon he brought over was really nice, Xiao Nuan's favorite fruit is watermelon.
We stored quite a bit at home, but were afraid it'd spoil, that stuff does not last long.
Everyone happily ate watermelon, and the group chat blew up again, but this time it was the courier collection point's group.
Because someone caught herpes zoster and was taken away by the ambulance, the video was shot up close. It looked terrifying, his entire face was covered, you couldn't even make out his eyes.
What followed was mostly panic, and then more people fainted from the heat and were taken by ambulances. Before long, the entire network was filled with complaints and grievances.
Jhiang Yuan's face was full of irony. They should save some electricity while they can, because when the power's out, and they can't get out, that's the real panic.
1101: Dear kind-hearted guys and girls, can you sell me some food? We didn't store any, I'll pay, I'll pay.
And then, there was no then...
The group chat fell silent, because after experiencing the mask issue and the recent heat wave, it was likely everyone had bought some stored food. How long it would last was another matter.
Now, no one dared to guarantee when things would return to normal outside. It wasn't a matter of a few bucks or even tens of bucks. Having an extra pack of instant noodles meant more peace of mind. Only a fool would sell now.
But there are always fools, and the avatar for 1101 was that of a goddess-level character.
Probably trying to gain some visibility, after half a day of silence, a kind soul finally spoke up.
1001: "Miss, do you want to come downstairs for some noodles? I'm cooking myself."
1101: "Yay, happy, I'll be right down."
...
These idiots, Jhiang Yuan began silently counting, 1/2/3...
0801: "Big Brother, can you bring me along? I'm willing to pay, or I still have two bags of chicken feet here."
See, she knew it...
Even the video app couldn't stay quiet, it seemed like Jhiang Yuan was bombarded with shingles alerts, the topic was everywhere, looking both pitiable and terrifying...
According to gossip, because of this, West City has already had more than thirty deaths, and the hospitals are overwhelmed.
It's not the heat that's killing them, it's the blisters. There are no beds left, people are living in the hallways.
Even ambulances have broken down on the Third Ring due to the high temperatures, such news is commonplace...
It wasn't until night that the community finally quieted down, and it seemed like the emergency ambulances ceased coming too.
Jhiang Yuan didn't dare to turn on the lights; as it got dark, she went to her room to sleep.
Xiao Nuan was especially well-behaved, not making a fuss or noise; when told to sleep, she actually went to sleep, even before the bedtime story was finished.
Memories flooded back, Xiao Nuan was so sensible and obedient, she couldn't understand how Xia Chaoyang could be so heartless.
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Jhiang Yuan opened up his social media...
"Celebrating a day of new beginnings..."
That was the day she moved out from there.
"Having a home, having you..."
The accompanying photo was of him with Bai Mengmeng and that stepson.
"The weather's too hot, but having you feels so sweet..."
Really, it was all about flaunting their love...
She scrolled to a post in the middle, "Coming back to escape the heat..."
That must have been his moving announcement, attached with a small video. If nothing went wrong, they should be in Unit 1 of Building 9 by now.
Great, Building 9 was just in front of Building 13, to the left front side, how convenient.
These two had played her for a fool for several years and now seemed to have successfully settled down, but they must withstand the test.
Before, asking him to make a social media post was like asking for his life.
He would always claim he was a straightforward guy and couldn't handle such nonsense, but now he can, the shameless jerk.
Don't be in a hurry, let them flaunt for a couple of days; when the order collapses, she must take her revenge.
The humiliation from her past life and Xiao Nuan's death were things she could not let go of for a long time, these two must pay the price, just wait...
The homeowners' group was silent too, after causing such a fuss for so long, they were probably exhausted.
As for whether the lady on the 11th floor went to the 10th floor for noodles or the person on the 8th floor managed to mooch some air conditioning, it all became irrelevant to her.
The visit from someone downstairs today gave Jhiang Yuan a sense of crisis.
Ever since the apocalypse began, they had always been extremely careful, fearful of doing something wrong, but in the end, they still drew attention.
She had bought quite a few slingshots and toy guns online. Jhiang Yuan thought that if it were possible, she and her parents should perhaps practice.
But there was no room left in the house; the balcony was a good option, yet too unbearably hot to go out.
In her last life, around November, they entered the rainy season, followed by endless severe cold.
If things go as expected, this extreme heat should end in a little over twenty days.
In these twenty or so days, who knows how many will die, who knows how long the hospitals can hold out...