Chapter 48:

After tidying up the house over and over again, all the food and drink, even the bed and small coffee table, Mu Nan has been put into the space. If it wasn’t for the troublesome installation of the air conditioner, and their building didn’t collapse in the previous life, he would have I can’t wait to remove the air conditioner and put it in the space first. Although it didn’t collapse in the last life, if there is a difference in this life, it doesn’t matter even if it collapses. There is another one in his space that can withstand high temperatures. It would be no problem to settle down when conditions permit in the future.

After carefully checking inside and out several times, Mu Nan was still a little worried. It wasn't that he didn't worry about missing something at home, but that he had lingering fears in the face of such a terrible earthquake. A disaster that could destroy the world was about to happen. It happened, and I couldn't suppress my panic just thinking about it.

Qin Huai looked at him anxiously walking around the house and didn't stop him. If letting him check over and over again could relieve his anxiety, then let him have a look. But seeing Mu Nan's face getting paler, Qin Huai still couldn't help it. Hold out your hand and hug him: "Don't be afraid, relax, no matter what happens, we will be together, as long as we are together, there is nothing to be afraid of, right, we have a lot of things, we are well prepared, no matter where we are You can all settle down smoothly, if you really can't control your panic, then take an inventory of your space and look at the things we bought, do you feel safe?"

Mu Nan nodded, took a few deep breaths, and tried to calm himself down. It was precisely because he had experienced it once and knew that all the chaos of order began with this earthquake, so he became more flustered and frightened. But think about it carefully. Well, since natural disasters can't be stopped, it's useless to be so afraid, and they are well prepared, and they can always live more confidently than others. Thinking about it this way, they really calm down a little.

Seeing that he had calmed down, Qin Huai let him go, went to the balcony and raised the curtain to have a look. The sun was about to set, but it was not completely dark, there was still a little light from the sky. But Qin Huai didn't plan to stay at home any longer. Mu Nan said that the earthquake happened after dark, but he didn't know the exact time. Instead of staying at home and thinking wildly, it might be better to go outside to relax a little.

At this time, because there was still a little light outside, no one went out, so the two simply sat at the entrance of the corridor for a while. The formerly lush green garden was now bare. Later, the grass on the ground withered and the trees planted died in the sun. People in the community leveled the entire green area, fearing that the dead wood would cause a fire. Later, someone tried to grow vegetables at home, so they secretly dug soil in the community. You dig a little and I dig a little. Now the whole small There was only one pit left in the bare garden, so at the moment they sat at the entrance of the corridor, looking at the small garden without shelter, and could see the sun sinking in the sky in the distance.

Mu Nan asked, "Would you like to call them down later?" Although the building didn't collapse, the whole process of going downstairs could easily cause a stampede. No one expected such a tragic earthquake to happen. After he escaped, he was in a daze. He couldn't recover for many days, and naturally he didn't have the heart to pay attention to other things. But they usually don't go out when they have nothing to do, and there seems to be no reason for calling people down suddenly.

Qin Huai asked him to lean on his shoulder for a while: "Don't worry, I'll send them a WeChat message later to see if they can get down."

After it was completely dark, Qin Huai took Mu Nan to the open area of ​​the community, and sent a WeChat in the small group with the reason just thought of.

Qin Huai: "Mu Nan and I are going to visit the night market in the small square, do you want to go together?"

Mu Nan on the side looked at the message he sent, and said, "Brother, didn't you say that before the earthquake, there will be some phenomena of heaven and earth? I just took a closer look. There are no flying birds, no moving ants, and the whole environment is special. calm."

Qin Huai was actually observing his surroundings, but there was indeed no sign of an earthquake. All of this happened, just like the sudden smog and high temperature, which came without warning in an instant, and everything seemed so strange.

"If there were signs, the country should have issued an early warning. If the state machinery had detected such a serious earthquake in advance, it would be impossible to conceal it and not report it. It can only be that even the state machinery could not detect it, and even the sensitive animal kingdom could not detect it. Pre-warning crises, probably like the smog and high temperature, happened for no reason. Maybe many, many years later, people will dig out the reasons for these natural disasters, but now, it is obviously beyond our understanding. Know."

Someone in the small group quickly responded to the message, and Xu Ming quickly responded, telling them to wait and go downstairs after preparing themselves. After a while, Jian Chu also responded, saying to go together.

Seeing this, Mu Nan breathed a sigh of relief, as long as he can come down.

When they came down, there were already people coming back from the cold supply point outside one after another. As soon as Jian Chu saw the two brothers, he smiled and asked: "Why do you have the leisure to run down today? Normally, can you not?" People who don’t go out when they go out.”

Qin Huai said: "I want to see what can be bought at the night market stalls in the small square opposite."

Jian Chu sighed: "We also want to buy some clothes, but we have nothing to wear." Originally, there were not many clothes in summer, but now there is not much water, so it is impossible to wash every day, so we can only save as much as possible to wash together, I can't give laundry detergent, and I don't have so much water to wash it several times. I can only soak it in water to remove the sweat smell. It would be great if I could change two more clothes. If I had known today, I would have directly wholesaled hundreds of vests for five yuan a piece online, which would have saved even water.

Xu Ming said: "The small night market opposite has only opened in the past two days, right? It is said that a lot of things were stolen from other people's shops."

There is definitely no food, so most of them are clothes, pants and shoes. Yesterday, some people posted photos of the night market in the group, and some people even put out some gold ornaments to exchange water and food. Is the decoration also stolen?

A few people walked towards the small square opposite the community while talking. There were quite a few people there, but the distance between the stalls was quite wide. Maybe it was because the distance was close, and the smell in the stuffy heat was not very pleasant, and then One is probably also afraid of being robbed, so he kept a safe distance, so as not to be crowded with too many people shopping and someone to fish in troubled waters and steal things.

However, it is also convenient for Mu Nan and the others, the venue is looser, and when there is movement, it is easier to run through the booth to a more relaxed place, so as not to get crowded and panic, but accidentally get injured.

There are quite a lot of stalls in the small square, some selling cheap toys, clothes and shoes, pots and pans, books, and even all kinds of discs, but there are many people shopping and buying There are few people, and most of the stalls have price lists. You don’t need to ask, how much is something, just look at the brand on the other side, and you can pay back the price. If it’s not what you want, you don’t bother to ask. , so there are a lot of people, but it is not noisy at all, and they all stroll around quietly.

Jian Chu soon found a stall selling clothes, with a sign on it, two hundred yuan a piece, clothes and trousers of choice.

Seeing the price, Jian Chu wanted to roll her eyes: "It's not a brand-name product, but it looks like the one-hundred-and-three-piece item in the past. It's not food or drink, but it's so expensive."

Mu Nan at the side said, "But there are still quite a few people buying." There was a circle of people picking and choosing in front of the stall, and I don't know if they got used to today's sky-high prices, thinking that two hundred pieces of clothes are considered cheap , I am still afraid that the price will become more and more expensive in the future, and two hundred yuan may not be able to buy a piece of clothing, so there are quite a lot of people who buy it. Compared with the book stall next to it, it is a crowded market.

Seeing that Jian Chu and the others didn't move forward, Mu Nan said, "Aren't you going to buy it? If you don't buy it now, maybe the price will increase in the future." Although he knew that it was impossible to raise the price again, after tonight, Money is worthless, so it is useless to keep money, it is better to just buy something.

Jian Chu shook his head: "Forget it, just wear those few clothes in rotation." With that extra money, they had already gone shopping for food. Looking at the vendors, Jian Chu felt that maybe he really wanted to Went to break open the door and steal something.

When continuing to walk forward, there was a group of people dragging a cart. As soon as they reached the small square, they were surrounded by people. They even pulled up a fence, as if they were planning to let a few people in at a time. Mu Nanshen I squinted my head and peeked inside: "What is this for sale? There are so many people around before the things are brought out, selling food?"

Xu Ming, who seems to surf the Internet when he has nothing to do, always pays attention to the dynamics in the group, knows everything: "It is indeed selling food, selling self-healing pot."

Mu Nan was shocked, at this time, can there still be self-healing pots for sale?

Xu Ming said: "It seems that at the beginning of hoarding goods, a group of people bought goods in a warehouse, and planned to hoard them at that time, and then sell them at a higher price, but they didn't expect that the current situation is worse than they expected. That batch of goods was stockpiled right.”

Mu Nan saw that those people opened boxes of Zihai pots, and put up a sign, five hundred and one boxes, with optional flavors. A piece of clothing only costs two hundred, as long as it can be eaten, it is really more than ten times the price.

The price is high enough to dissuade many people, but some people still buy it. There are vegetables and meat in a self-healing pot. Now that the conditions are such, meat and vegetables are really hard to come by. Don’t say that you are full, buy a box and go home. The whole family can cook some rice and eat it with just this box, and the Chinese New Year is coming soon. If you buy it and put it away for the Chinese New Year, it can be regarded as a big meal. Who would have thought that one year, eating a bowl of Zihai Guo would be considered a feast.

Mu Nan asked Qin Huai in a low voice: "How much money do we have left? Do you want to buy it?"

Qin Huai said: "There are less than 10,000, let's buy it." Buy it now, and when you can't stand it anymore and want to take it out for a dental festival later, the things can be regarded as having a source, after all, it will definitely be in that kind of rescue tent when the time comes If they stay for a few days, they can’t fill their bags with food, water and a little food in advance, and they can also say that they are preparing for going out to visit the small night market to see if they can get something in exchange. If there are too many, it’s like The same as preparing for escape.

Mu Nan went to line up. This stall can only enter two or three people at a time. If there are too many people, they are afraid of being looted, so the line is still a bit long. Yu Zibai also pushed Jianchu, motioning him to queue up.

Jian Chu quickly shook his head: "It's too expensive." The things that used to be forty or fifty at most, are now tenfold, and they can buy more than ten bottles of water for five hundred yuan, and even at forty-five, he is not willing to eat. However, it is even more reluctant now that it is so expensive.

Yu Zibai smiled: "Go ahead, buy a box, we eat it during Chinese New Year, all year round, we always have some meat, go quickly."

Jian Chu's expression was tangled, but he still obediently stood behind Mu Nan, and Xu Ming who was at the side directly transferred a thousand yuan to Jian Chu: "I won't wait in line, and help me buy two boxes."

He has been working for many years, and he is a veterinarian. He earns a lot of money every month, so he still has savings. At this time, he should not be generous to himself. , that is a pity.

The queue was long, but the flow was very fast. They arrived at Mu Nan and the others in no time. Mu Nan bought four boxes directly. He wanted to spend all the rest of the money, but that was too irrational, so he only bought four boxes. , This is still based on the precedent that Xu Ming bought two boxes by himself.

When Mu Nan was choosing flavors, Qin Huai noticed that in the grooves of the flower bed where the green plants had been stripped off, and in the pitted soil, a bunch of ants were moving in groups in one direction. It seemed that there was a sign. But the time of appearance is too short. After thinking about it, he took a picture of this scene and sent it to the officer Shi Yuanfei.

Shi Yuanfei is taking a rest today. Even if they are soldiers who have adapted to the daily high-intensity drills, their bodies can bear it, but their minds may not be able to withstand the pressure of many people dying every day, so proper rest is very necessary of. Seeing Qin Huai's WeChat message, he thought that the other party was here to ask for a reward from them, but he clicked on it and saw a picture of a group of ants.

Shi Yuanfei's head was full of question marks, why did you send him this kind of photo, you can't just send him to share and share when you see something novel, Shi Yuanfei didn't react for a while, put down the phone and prepared to go to the cafeteria to get a meal, but suddenly took two steps Startled, he immediately turned back and picked up his mobile phone to carefully check the photos sent by the other party, and then immediately ran towards the office of his superior officer.

In the end, Jian Chu also bought two boxes of Zihai hot pot, thinking that since the Chinese New Year, he should have a good meal. As for what to do in the next day after the money is spent, let’s talk about it later, and put the bought Zihai hot pot When I put it in the bag, I couldn't help sighing: "It seems that I will really go to move bricks next year, but I don't know if there are any threshold requirements for moving bricks."

Yu Zibai put the bag on his back: "Do you want to continue shopping?"

Mu Nan hurriedly said: "There are still a few stalls in front that I haven't seen, let's go and see what they sell."

As a result, before he could take two steps, he felt dizzy as if he had stepped on the cotton under his feet.

Qin Huai hurriedly dragged Mu Nan to run, while facing Xu Ming and the others: "Run to the open space!"

The few of them didn't react yet, they just ran along instinctively, and then air defense sirens sounded everywhere. However, although their country has occasional earthquakes, it is not a country with frequent earthquakes. Many cities do not even have a systematic sense of earthquake prevention. Unlike some countries, the masses can respond immediately when the siren sounds Evacuation measures, so when the air defense alarm sounded, many people were still unaware of the situation.

But this state of confusion only lasted for a few seconds, and soon everyone found that the ground under their feet was shaking, and there was an earthquake. This was the first thought that came to everyone's minds. Some stall owners even Busy collecting things from the stalls, after all, all they can feel now is the shaking, which is not too strong. Naturally, it is not to the extent of fleeing for their lives in the first place. Grab something from other people's stalls and run away. At this time, I don't forget to take advantage of it.

This slight trembling was just a beginning signal, and soon the ground tremor became more and more intense, so strong that people couldn't even stand on the ground, Qin Huai and the others couldn't run too far, they only ran to the center of the small square and were strongly shocked. The strong shock made them fall to the ground, and they couldn't even get up because of the violent vibration. Qin Huai dragged Mu Nan into his arms, hugged him tightly and protected him, since he couldn't run away under this situation. , then you can only stay where you are as much as possible, and Mu Nan also said that he dreamed that the small square later was used as a resettlement place, which proves that there should not be much damage here, and no matter where you run now, you may be killed. Under the collapsed building, you can only stay where you are and resign yourself to fate.

Accompanied by the increasingly loud vibrations, there were still thunder-like bangs coming from my ears. The loud sound of the house collapsing almost burst people's eardrums. The scorching heat, the dust everywhere, and the panic caused by And the heartbeat was so fast that it made people breathless for a while.

The break of the road, the collapse of the house, and the broken wire made the night into a darker darkness.

Rumbling, rumbling, it collapsed, fell to the ground, and hit people's hearts.

Mu Nan took out two wet towels from the space, struggled a few times before delivering them to Qin Huai's hands, Qin Huai pressed him into his arms, covered his mouth and face with the towels in one hand, otherwise, in this pervasive dust, it would really To suffocate.

They no longer cared about the situation of the people around them. From time to time, some gravel fell on them, and every time there was a loud noise in their ears, it gave people the illusion that they had smashed a building on the top of their heads. This kind of vibration and loud noise lasted for a long time, and there was no sound in the ears for a while, it was buzzing, as if being stuffed in deep water, the suffocation of the internal organs, the throat of the uncomfortable person was full of fishy sweetness.

The whole earthquake was an extremely long process, even if they were not trapped in the building, and were not chased by death and fled in a panic, the waiting in the middle was also the feeling of being infinitely close to death. Qin Huai couldn't do anything except hold Mu Nan tightly in his arms and put him under his body. Even though he was mentally prepared to face a world-class natural disaster, until this moment, he couldn't do anything. Only then did I realize that I was not as powerful as I thought, just like the lives in this earthquake, as small as sand.

The entire earthquake didn’t last long, maybe only a few minutes or ten minutes, but the collapse of houses caused by the earthquake was continuous. When there was no more movement underground, there were only some damaged and broken buildings on the ground that could not support them. The slight tremors caused by the collapse, the time has passed for almost an hour, and there is not a single piece of the whole earth that is intact, and all you can see is dust floating in the air.

Qin Huai tried to check Mu Nan's situation with the dizziness after the earthquake. Mu Nan was already lying on the ground and couldn't move, and he couldn't hear any sound in his ears. The buzzing seemed to be isolated from the world, and he felt someone He was slapping himself, he knew it must be Qin Huai, he was struggling to open his eyes, but his face was covered with a layer of dust or dirt, the sticky eyelids weighed a thousand pounds, and he couldn't open them at all, so he could only use his strength She squeezed Qin Huai's hand and told him that she was still alive.

Qin Huai took a while to calm down the dizziness, and found his backpack from a pile of rubble thrown from nowhere. Fortunately, their side was the center of the small square, and the surrounding houses There is at least one straight road away from here, so at most some rocks splashed over, but no other large objects fell over, so the food and water in his bag were still intact.

Qin Huai poured water on the towel, wiped Mu Nan's face, wiped off some of the sticky dust from his mouth and nose, and helped him up from the ground to feed him a few sips of water. After taking two sips, Mu Nan choked and coughed, feeling a lot of small stones in his throat. Obviously he tried his best to cover his mouth and nose with a towel, but he still sucked in a lot of dust. However, this coughing made him sober up a bit. When he opened his eyes, he saw Qin Huai covered in dust like a terracotta warrior. He couldn't help shouting hoarsely: "Brother..."

Seeing that he was finally awake, Qin Huai breathed a sigh of relief, and said in a hoarse voice: "I'm here, don't be afraid, drink some water, I'm fine, the earthquake has passed."

Mu Nan took two sips, then pushed the water bottle to Qin Huai's mouth, Qin Huai drank the rest of the water in one gulp with the sand in his mouth, stuffed the empty bottle in his bag, and hugged Mu Nan with one hand, While looking at their surroundings, but because the power was cut off, it was already night, and now it was covered by dust, and they couldn't see anything. Qin Huai glanced at the watch on his wrist, and he could still see the approximate time with the luminous pointer. It was only half past twelve, and there was still a little time before dawn.

"Lie down for a while with your eyes closed. If there are no aftershocks, nothing will happen to our side. When it calms down, see if anyone arranges where to hide from the sun. If no one arranges, we will go home first. If our family is still there."

Mu Nan lay down for a while, but couldn't help getting up and spitting out a few mouthfuls of water. The oppression hovering in his chest finally eased a little. Qin Huai let Mu Nan lean on his body in distress, while stroking his chest, Want to make him comfortable.

In just a short while, the people who ran along with him seemed to have slowed down. In the dusty atmosphere, Qin Huai could vaguely see a humanoid silhouette slowly getting up from the ground unsteadily. The person seemed to look around in a daze, and when he fully realized the environment he was in at the moment, he couldn't help but knelt down on the ground, as if he wanted to cry, but he couldn't make a sound as if his neck was strangled by something. All that could be heard was a hoarse hoarse hoot.

Qin Huai hugged Mu Nan tightly, felt the beating heart in his arms, and gradually regained his body temperature.