After the disaster

After seeing off Boss Bai and the others, Qiu Cheng and Ah Chang still went to work on the [-]th floor, and it was almost time for the elementary school to start. I plan to postpone the start of school and see if the situation in the city will improve after a while.

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, it started to rain again outside. Qiu Cheng and Ah Chang came downstairs after finishing their day's farm work, took a bath each, and sat on the terrace to watch the misty rain outside.

The rain "cracked" on the transparent glass above the terrace, converging into a trickle and sliding down to the lower place. Qiu Cheng sat cross-legged, holding the "Wood Repair Notes" in his hand to ponder carefully. Recently, he I am trying to refine Bigu pills, but I don't know why, but I can't make pills.

Ah Chang was lying on the side, and after a while, he became a little drowsy.Considering that the sofa cushions are not very comfortable, Qiu Cheng recently laid out a mattress on the floor next to the wall of the terrace. It is a large cotton mattress, which is very thick, and can be spread on the ground to prevent it from leaking out from the floor. coolness.

Recently, Qiu Cheng meditated while sitting on this mattress, and Ah Chang nestled aside to take a nap.In the other corner of the terrace, wooden baskets are neatly placed, and ginseng is planted in these wooden baskets.

The refining of Bigu Pills seems simple, but in fact it is much more subtle than detoxification. The ingredients are a few grains and some very common herbs. It is obviously not easy to use these simple materials to refine pills with amazing efficacy The process of alchemy is a test of the alchemist's skill and cultivation.

Qiu Cheng didn't have an enlightened teacher to guide him, so he relied on his own groping. It was inevitable to take detours. He had failed many times with this bigu pill, and he couldn't find the crux of the problem. He planned to try again tonight.

In fact, Qiu Cheng didn't think about whether he should take it out if he really refined the Bigu Pill.In such a time of food shortage, one bigu pill can supply more than ten days of rations. This is definitely a blessing for many people, but it is not the case for Qiu Cheng. He does not want to push himself and the people around him to the forefront superior.

But this question can be considered after he has figured out the bigu pill.If the situation outside has not improved on the day when he refines Bigu Pills, he will have to make a choice whether to risk taking these pills out, or keep them at home, and then sit back and watch. Watching those people outside die one by one because of hunger.

This is undoubtedly a difficult choice for Qiu Cheng, but he is willing to face this choice. He would rather be charged with selfishness for his choice than let himself become a weak person with a will and powerlessness.

"Don't sleep, let's cook." Seeing that it was almost time, Qiu Cheng patted Ah Chang and asked him to cook dinner with him.

"!" Ah Chang yawned big, and turned over on the quilt.

"Da da da da..." At this time, there was a series of footsteps that were not light or heavy in the corridor outside. When Ah Chang heard this sound, his whole body tensed up instantly, and he pricked up his ears to make sure that the footsteps outside belonged to After seeing Zhou Quan they were familiar with, they laid down on their stomachs with peace of mind.

Qiu Cheng smiled helplessly, pressed the "Wood Repair Notes" under the quilt in his hand, and got up to open the door for Zhou Quan.

He has been living with him for almost a year, and some of Ah Chang's habits are still the same as before. He is easy to be frightened, and he will remain vigilant even when he is resting. In this way, he cannot practice meditation like Qiu Cheng at all. If you are frightened while practicing, you will be in trouble if you lose your breath.

Most of the elixirs recorded in "Wood Repair Notes" are relatively low-level elixirs, so those who are just getting started like Qiu Cheng can also slowly refine them by themselves.

But there is also a relatively difficult elixir, that is Zhuji Dan, probably because of the importance of this elixir, the author used a long page to record the refining process of Zhuji Dan in detail, but even so, With Qiu Cheng's current cultivation base, it is impossible to successfully refine a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Fortunately, Ah Chang is still young, so he can wait.

"I pulled out a few cabbages." Outside the door, Zhou Quan was holding a handful of juicy cabbages in his hand. His body was not muddy, and he obviously came here after taking a shower.

"Okay, I'll cook the rice first." Qiu Cheng said and entered the kitchen.

Ah Chang had already come in from the terrace at this time, and followed Qiu Cheng into the kitchen: "Scrape the potatoes." Qiu Cheng assigned him a task.

Qiu Cheng was in charge of cooking and cooking. Ah Chang scraped off the potato skins, washed them, and cut them into small pieces with a kitchen knife and cutting board. Zhou Quan sat in the living room and chose the cabbages, and then took them in for Ah Chang to wash.

There are only three dishes in the evening, one mapo tofu, one fried cabbage, and one fried pork slices with potatoes.The tofu and meat are all taken out of the refrigerator. Qiu Cheng killed the pig a few years ago, and Qiu Cheng kept a lot of meat, which was kept in the refrigerator for freezing. Every now and then, he would cut a small piece and stir-fry it. It might be edible. long time.

As for tofu, their family seldom breaks it anyway, and eats it almost every day, and Ah Chang is a little tired of eating it. Fortunately, the stir-fried Chinese cabbage is very delicious, and the sliced ​​meat is also very fragrant.

Today it was Ah Chang's turn to wash the dishes. Zhou Quan went back to his side after eating. Over the past few days, he had already arranged the room next door to look like his own nest. A lot of musical instruments were replaced on the Internet, as well as some mechanical equipment that Qiu Cheng and Ah Chang could not understand.

Qiu Cheng knows that he likes music, and he is also trying to compose and write songs by himself. He and Ah Chang can often hear Zhou Quan playing and singing next door. There are sadness and heaviness in those songs, as well as longing and yearning.

That night, Qiu Cheng tried to refine Bigu Pills again, but ended in failure without any surprise. By the time he came down from the fifteenth floor exhausted, it was already very late.

Qiu Cheng planned to rest for a while before starting this night's meditation. During this period, he opened his eyes and checked the situation in Xinnan City with Ah Chang. The situation was similar to the previous two days, and there was no improvement. , and there was no particularly serious deterioration. In the end, Qiu Cheng paid more attention to the current situation of some people.

In Xinnan University, Qiao Yongmao's wife and children are resting. With the one hundred catties of cornmeal secretly sent by Qiu Cheng, and the military's strict management of the victims, the situation of the mother and son will not be too serious. Had a hard time.

This large classroom is quiet. At first glance, it seems that everyone is sleeping, but if you look closely, you will find that it is not as peaceful as it seems on the surface. Many people are in false sleep, and so is Qiao Yongmao's wife. One of them, she is on guard now, and it will be her son and daughter's turn after a while.

Now, although Xinnan University is strictly controlled and open robbery has rarely happened, petty theft has been repeatedly banned. A hundred catties of cornmeal is very worrying here...

Qiu Cheng cut the screen and transferred it to an ordinary residential building in the city.

"... woo woo woo, brother, I'm so hungry, I want to eat cornmeal steamed buns..."

"I know how to eat and eat all day long. I'll eat it for you today. Will I survive tomorrow? I'm so annoying. Don't disturb my sleep. I'm going to cut grass outside the city tomorrow." Ma Xudong turned over on the bed , I don't want to talk to his crying sister anymore.

"Xudong, why don't I go with you tomorrow, and earn an extra cornbread." His mother's body seems to be much better recently. At this time, she is mending an old dress. Although the clothes in the night market It is cheap, but the three of them, mother and son, have no income at present, so they are reluctant to spend money on clothes.

"What are you going to do?" Ma Xudong sat up impatiently: "It's been raining for the past two days, so don't get sick again. I heard that there are too many patients in the city, and it's hard to get medicine in the hospital."

"It's not that easy to get sick," his mother insisted.

"Okay! Don't make any more trouble, you think I'm not tired enough!" Ma Xudong said in a bad tone.

"Okay, I won't disturb you, look at you, I'm in a hurry to say a few words." His mother coaxed quickly.

"Hmph, sleep." Ma Xudong lay back on the bed again.

"Brother, I'm hungry, I'm hungry..."

"I'm sick!"

"Just give me a cornbread..."

"No."

"Girl, you have to be obedient. We don't know what will happen in the future. We don't have much food left. We need to save some food, ah."

The mother put down the clothes in her hand and went to coax her little daughter. The little face of this child has become yellower and more prone to crying than before. This is not a good sign. In the temporary base a few years ago, she I saw a lot of children just disappear like this.

"Woooooo...I'm so hungry..."

The little girl wept again for a while, and Ma Xudong put on a padded jacket and got out of bed and went to the kitchen. While adding some water to heat up the rice cooker, he took out the key in his pocket, opened the cabinet where the food was kept at home, and took out the rice cooker from inside. A small bag of cornmeal.

"Brother, do you want to cook cornmeal paste? Brother, put in more, or I'll be hungry again soon." Seeing her brother bring out the bag of noodles from the cabinet, the little girl walked up to him like a puppy. follow.

"If you keep arguing, I won't give you food!" Ma Xudong said impatiently.

"!" Her sister immediately fell silent, just watching helplessly.

Ten minutes later, Ma Xudong put a small bowl of thick cornmeal in front of his sister: "Eat it."

"Brother, where's yours?" The little girl swallowed at the cornmeal, then looked up at her brother again.

"You eat by yourself." Ma Xudong picked up the rice bowl and handed it to her: "Okay, let's go out and eat, and go to sleep after eating."

"Mom, would you like to have a bite?" The little girl sat beside her mother with her rice bowl in hand.

"I'm not hungry, you can eat." The woman smiled and told the child to finish eating and go to bed, otherwise she would be hungry again, and then she lowered her head to mend the clothes in her hand and sew a few stitches, but she couldn't help it He raised his head and looked in the direction of the kitchen, his eyes were a little red.

In the kitchen, Ma Xudong rinsed the inner pot of the rice cooker with cold boiled water from the electric kettle, picked it up and drank it clean, wiped his mouth, took the inner pot of the rice cooker under the faucet, rinsed it for a while, let it dry, and then He swaggered back to his room and went to sleep.

Room 1406, Building [-], Jiayuan Community.

"If you care about him, send him something." Qiu Cheng glanced at Ah Chang who had been silent for a while, and reminded him.

"I don't care." Ah Chang turned his hand to the other side awkwardly.

"You can give away everything in our kitchen." Qiu Cheng said with a smile.

"..." Ah Chang said nothing.

Then the next morning, before Ma Xudong and the others got up, they heard a "bang" outside the balcony, ran out to have a look, and saw a black plastic bag with a bag of potatoes, a bag of cornmeal and two Chinese cabbages in it. Turning it over inside, a small piece of pork came out.

This is really a very small piece, and Ma Xudong is not even sure if it has one or two weights.Looking at this piece of meat, he recalled the scene in school, when that guy Ah Chang, under the eager eyes of his tablemate, picked and picked the smallest leek egg bun from the lunch box and handed it to him.

"Bah! Cheapskate!" Ma Xudong cursed, then picked up the big bag of things, and swaggered into the house.

"!" At 6, Building 1406, Jiayuan Community, Ah Chang was grinning at the jade mirror that Qiu Cheng gave him!