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墨書 Inktalez
"Hello, we came from out of town specifically to buy piglets. I heard there is a large farm here," Li Yan said as he got out of the car and pulled out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, offering them to the Young Man.
The Young Man did not take them; instead, his tone became even more severe. "This area has already been requisitioned by the government. There is no farm here, let alone any piglets."
"Comrade, we came here after making inquiries," Zhou Miao also got out of the car and said, "Brother, look at how far we traveled. Times are tough, and it's not easy for us to come here. Could you at least point us in the right direction? We are all Chinese."
"I'm sorry, this area has already been requisitioned by the government. If you don't leave, I will call security." The young man was completely unyielding, his words as hard as steel.
Not far away, a few people were watching them, clearly ready to intervene if anything happened. Zhou Miao and Li Yan exchanged glances and got back into the car.
Zhou Miao was still not willing to give up; he looked inside but was stopped by the young man. The young man's expression was serious and cautious: "There's nothing worth seeing inside; you should leave quickly."
Li Yan noticed that people inside seemed to be coming over and pulled Zhou Miao along with a smile, saying, "Sorry about that. My brother is just anxious; we’ll be leaving now."
The people inside only turned away after they saw the car start up, but just that one glance allowed Zhou Miao to catch sight of the buildings inside. The structures were not ornate but appeared very sturdy, especially a side that had already been enclosed by a wall that looked almost like a city wall.
They deliberately drove around the perimeter of the enclosure. This fence surrounded the entire town, meaning that this town, rumored to have an epidemic, along with nearby villages had been requisitioned by the government. And such a large area must have taken considerable time to enclose.
The group observed silently without saying anything and returned to Zhangjia Village that same day.
It was not safe outside now. As for the situation in the city, it looked prosperous and quiet, but who knew what might happen? Li Yan held the sleeping child in his arms, gazing at the innocent sleeping face with a hint of affection. The child stirred restlessly in sleep and mumbled, "Brother Miao... bad guys... candy... Mingming."
Ah, the child still held a grudge about what happened during the day. Zhou Miao shamelessly pretended to be wronged as he turned to Yu Tian and said, "Wife, I've been slandered." Indeed, it was true that Zhou Miao had taken a few bites of candy and stuffed it into Yu Tian's mouth. Yu Tian felt that this person was no longer human; truly, absolutely not human—and he refused to converse with non-humans.
By the time they arrived at Zhangjia Village, it was already past midnight. Wonton and Dumpling were incredibly enthusiastic, barking loudly at everyone. This was the result of two days of eating dog food and dry bones; dogs have feelings too! They shouldn’t be treated so cruelly! Their owner was too much—if they were going to leave, at least leave some fruit!
Yu Tian originally planned to cook rice but Zhou Miao cherished his wife and asked her to prepare a big bowl of noodles instead. He gathered some mushrooms from their supplies and added a few vacuum-packed smoked meats using broth cubes as a base. Li Xiaoming was hungry and directly dove into the kitchen with his own little bowl, looking up at Yu Tian with big eyes as if she were his benefactor. Li Yan darkened his face and pulled the child from his lap onto his thigh.
"Brother, I'm hungry," Li Ming said pitifully. The child had slept throughout their journey and woke up starving—this habit had been cultivated by Li Yan over time. When he was younger and didn’t know whether he was hungry or not upon waking up, Li Yan would always feed him some snacks first; over time this became a habit.
"Be good; it will be ready soon." Li Yan felt sorry for him as he patted the child's head and kissed him gently. The child obediently pouted his lips in response. The meaning was quite clear; seeing this made Li Yan's earlier worries dissipate as he leaned down for another kiss.
Zhou Miao could no longer bear it; this was bullying! He was still an innocent young man who shouldn’t be subjected to such stimuli! "I say you two should stop it already! My youthful heart hasn’t even blossomed yet; you both should consider me too!"
“Miaozi, we’re not making fun of you. Right, Mingming?” Li Yan said this quite seriously, but the implication was definitely a hundred percent boastful and two hundred percent teasing. After all this time, still no progress—what a shame!
Li Ming nodded in agreement, his head bobbing heavily. Zhou Miao cursed that guy for not having stamina at night!
After dinner, once Yu Tian and Li Ming had fallen asleep, the two men quietly slipped out of the house to summarize today’s events.
“What do you think?” Zhou Miao asked while munching on a melon.
“I think you already have an idea, don’t you?” Li Yan replied, reclining in a rocking chair. Not a single star was visible in the night sky. He remembered sitting here as a child while his grandfather told him and Mingming strange stories about stars and deities. Back then, the sky was blue, the clouds were white, summer felt like summer, and winter was winter… The Earth had been damaged too severely in recent years; if there were no space, what would he and Mingming be like?
It seemed the government wanted to establish a large base, but their methods were indeed too despicable. If the climate continued like this, the country’s food supply would eventually run out; however… Li Yan sighed. He had no right to criticize anyone; in the face of disaster, he and Zhou Miao would selfishly choose to protect their families.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before people were ordered to evacuate the town. The Hypoxic Fish incident from months ago erupted here; things that had been suppressed finally came to light. Even if he thought about it with his toes, Li Yan could guess what the government was planning.
The newspapers and news outlets even ran special segments on the live coverage of the Hypoxic Fish incident. The government organized a large number of “experts” to go to Xinfeng Town’s hospital. The experts described the situation as extremely serious and released a list of casualties. To everyone’s surprise, the death toll had already reached 167, with many patients in critical condition; the experts stated they would do their best to save them.
Panic spread everywhere. It was said that this illness was contagious; Xinfeng Town Hospital was the largest in town, with countless people coming and going every day—who could guarantee they hadn’t been infected? As a result, many people in town were quarantined. The news reported that those in quarantine were treated fairly well but were mentally distressed. Who wouldn’t be anxious knowing they had a contagious disease?
Disinfectants flew off the shelves, and naturally, hotels and restaurants were directly affected. Who would dare go out to eat at a time like this? Schools closed early; many residents had moved to the city recently, leaving very few students behind. In fact, the principal’s family had already moved to the city; she was just waiting to release the students so she could head back immediately.
Later on, after news segments aired showing late-stage symptoms of this illness, everyone became terrified and regretted not moving to the city when they had the chance. The mayor of Xinfeng Town and the hospital director were dismissed from their positions for failing to report such severe conditions that put lives at risk—this was an unforgivable crime. The government would surely handle it fairly and punish wrongdoing to save lives.
Recently in Zhangjia Village, there was also a farce where villagers joked about it during tea breaks—well… it was quite entertaining.
The news even produced a documentary featuring families who lost loved ones, each recounting their sorrow with tears streaming down their faces. The pain of losing family members left them crying daily.
Zhang Zhong was one of them—a big man who couldn’t hold back tears on camera. He spoke about how capable his daughter-in-law was at managing their household; she had gone into the hospital for minor issues but never returned after that. He shared how he and his son had been struggling during this time—how sad and painful it had been.
When reporters interviewed Zhang Zhong's son, an unexpected incident occurred. His son pointed at Tian Guifang beside him and started cursing her out loud on camera—perhaps he had been holding back for too long because his words were extremely harsh as he recounted everything about Zhang Zhong and Tian Guifang right there on live television. Since it was live coverage, even if reporters wanted to cut that part out, they couldn’t do anything about it. As a result… Zhang Zhong got angry, Tian Guifang got angry, and Zhangjia Village became furious.
Many people called into the television station to express their concern over this father-son duo's situation. Even online discussions led to Zhang Zhong being doxxed. Those who had moved to the city called home frequently just to get updates on this drama for some casual entertainment.
So you see, most people are just idly passing time; they ignore what truly matters while acting like self-righteous heroes over trivial matters.
Zhang Zhong cared about his reputation; every day he drank alone while feeling increasingly irritated with Tian Guifang. After all, his son was still his son—he could scold him as much as he wanted. Zhang Zhong began harboring resentment towards Tian Guifang, feeling that she was his misfortune; ever since she returned home, he hadn’t enjoyed a single comfortable day. Naturally, Tian Guifang remained unaware of this; she continued weaving beautiful dreams about her future with Zhang Zhong.
During this farce, Heavenly Father started to act up again. It began to snow heavily, real goose-feather snow. With the New Year approaching, everyone thought it would be a cool day, so no one prepared for winter. After all, just a few days ago, it was so hot that people wished they could go without clothes; who would think to prepare winter clothing?
Many who went to the city were in a rush, leaving many things back home. Although they had sold their houses, it was agreed that they could return to pick up their clothes when they had time, since the new owners weren’t in a hurry to move in.
So quite a few people took advantage of the fresh snowfall and quickly hired cars to come back for clothes and furniture. When they returned, each of them acted as if they had become wealthy.
Many specifically changed into new clothes for their return; after all, they had only been in the city for a few days. No matter how good the city was, it couldn’t transform someone overnight. Zhang Liang felt uneasy seeing Xiao Liuzi from Dong Village; in just a few days, his clothes looked quite expensive, and that thick gold chain around his neck was impressive. Damn it, if I went to the city, I’d definitely be richer than Liuzi.
However, Zhang Liang wasn’t foolish. Why did those people want him to buy houses in the village? Something must be happening. He took a sip of white liquor and felt much more relaxed; his life had been going smoothly lately. The trouble with Zhang Zhong had escalated, and now those above trusted him even more. He had managed to keep many things from Zhang Zhong and benefited greatly.
Zhang Zhong's wife brought a plate of braised chicken into the room, speaking to Zhang Liang with such tenderness. Especially when she saw the gold chain on his wrist, her smile brightened. Even when Zhang Liang's cold hand slipped under her clothing, she leaned into him softly…
There were still wise individuals in the village; Zhang Sanye was one of them. He came out to advise others that no matter how good the city was, it couldn’t compare to the countryside when it got cold—at least there was a mountain nearby. The old man had lived through tough times and suffered hunger and hardship, so he worried more than the younger folks.
Unfortunately, most people were unwilling to listen to him; his son felt frustrated and didn’t want to bother with the old man. Why should everyone else go to the city while his family stayed behind? But being a filial son, he ultimately remained in the countryside.
The weather turned cold quickly; within a few days, nearly twenty centimeters of snow had fallen, and people were too afraid to venture outside. With New Year’s approaching, there were pitifully few people out and about. Even the television stations had stopped obsessing over the Hypoxic Fish incident recently.
The snow showed no signs of stopping, and crises began to emerge in many areas.
The author has something to say: This is a supplement for yesterday; there will be another update today.
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