Chapter 036: Do You Have a Younger Brother Named Wang Eight-Eight?

It was an elderly couple from a few days ago who wanted to hitch a ride to go out and buy water.

At around seven or eight in the evening, the sky was pitch black; you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, and there was no moon or stars. The temperature had dropped to 6°C. The sound of police sirens broke the silence. Jing Shu’s family had just finished dinner and, upon hearing the noise, put on their coats, windproof clothing, masks, and hats before going out to see what was happening.

Under the streetlights, the variety of flying insects was increasing, buzzing incessantly. By the time Jing Shu’s family arrived, there were already five or six security guards, six or seven nearby residents, police officers, and forensic personnel present.

The elderly couple who had wanted to hitch a ride that day were lying in bed wrapped in thick quilts. Their bodies had already decomposed, producing many maggots, and flies were crawling up and down laying eggs. It seemed that a batch of maggots had already hatched. The whole house was filled with the unpleasant smell of decay.

Jing Shu’s mother, frightened, hid in her husband’s arms. Jing Shu’s father instinctively covered her eyes, and then they remembered they had a daughter… Perhaps they were true love, and Jing Shu was just an accident.

But Jing Shu calmly looked at the corpses, even feeling an urge to study them. She listened as a neighbor’s aunt explained what had happened:

“For two consecutive days, there was this nauseating smell. We couldn’t stand it anymore and told the security guards. Later, they traced the smell to their house. When they pried open the door, this is what they found.”

The forensic officer, wearing gloves, carefully examined the bodies. Pointing to the unopened air conditioner, he said, “There’s a big temperature difference between day and night. At night, temperatures drop below zero. They might have tried to save electricity by not turning on the air conditioner, instead covering themselves with quilts and closing the windows. Then, by six or seven in the morning, temperatures rose to 40°C. High temperatures, combined with dehydration and heatstroke, and poor air circulation—they suffocated.”

“Setting the air conditioner to a constant temperature would have been fine. There have already been more than a dozen such deaths in the city,” the forensic officer said routinely.

The aunt tried to save money by hitching rides and not turning on the air conditioner… but ended up with such a fate.

The forensic officer took some photos, and the police, familiar with the procedure, wrapped the bodies in body bags and took them away, leaving two staff members to begin disinfection and post-processing.

“Hello, are you new neighbors? I’m Wang Qiqi from Building 13. I’ve created a neighborhood group with over 60 people now. Would you like to join? It’s easier to discuss any issues together,” a dark-skinned man in his thirties said enthusiastically.

Jing Shu and her father joined the group. Jing Shu particularly wanted to ask at that moment, “Do you have a younger brother named Wang Baba?”[^1]

[^1]: *Note: In Chinese, “Wang Qiqi” means “Wang Seven-Seven,” and “Wang Baba” means “Wang Eight-Eight.” Additionally, “Wang Ba” is a homonym for an insult meaning “bastard” or “scoundrel.” Jing Shu is making a pun here.*

“What building are you in? For convenience, everyone should note their building numbers. No need to mention specific units or floors.”

“We’re in the villa area.”

Wang Qiqi was a bit surprised, sizing up the family quickly. He then promptly added remarks next to Jing Shu and her father’s names. “There aren’t many residents in the villa area now, and it’s more remote. If anything comes up, just mention it in the group. Everyone will help if they can.”

“Thank you very much.”

“No need to be so polite; we’re all neighbors. You can check the announcements—we have contacts for food delivery, water delivery, car services, supermarket phone numbers, etc. If you have any additions, feel free to let me know.”

Wang Qiqi then went to speak with the aunt who had just spoken, as well as a few others watching the commotion. He even pulled the security guards into the group and added notes.

Before long, the group owner, Wang Qiqi, @mentioned everyone, recounting the tragic death of the elderly couple at home, and reminded everyone not to skimp on electricity—set your air conditioners to a constant temperature, and if you don’t have one, buy one quickly.

Young Master I Have Kids, Building 13: “Damn, scared me into turning on the air conditioner immediately.”

Wang Xuemei, Building 2: “Anyone in the group selling air conditioners or have contacts for air conditioner sales? Please share.”

In the north, few have air conditioners; in the south, there’s no heating.

Due to high daytime temperatures, nighttime cooling, and muddy water, air conditioners, refrigerators, and water purifiers were sold out nationwide. Even second-hand fans were sold out in appliance stores. Online orders were backlogged for two months, and scalpers offered to deliver within three days at high prices.

The chaos at the beginning of the apocalypse started from here.

The dustfall had been ongoing for more than a week. In places with snowplows, they used them to clear the streets of dust. Where they didn’t have such equipment, people swept manually. Elementary schools and kindergartens remained closed, while middle and high school students and various units were assigned areas to sweep daily. If not swept for a day, a thick layer would accumulate, and a light breeze would send dust flying everywhere.

Hospitals saw many cases of heatstroke and pneumoconiosis, and online complaints were rampant.

“Are you kidding me? After shoveling snow for over a decade in the north and escaping to work in the south, now I have to sweep dust every day…”

“Sweeping dust is one thing, but eating dust is worse. Everything we eat, use, and live in is covered in dust. No matter how we try to prevent it, we can’t. Even the water we bathe in is muddy.”

“You guys have it better. Our reservoir is clogged with silt from the dust and can’t discharge water. We’ve already lost our water supply and rely on water trucks daily!”

“The rivers here have been filled with dust. We line up every day to buy mineral water. Even muddy water would be fine!”

Across the country, frequent power outages and circuit failures occurred due to overloading from 24-hour air conditioner use amid alternating high and low temperatures. In some areas, rivers and reservoirs were filled with dust, and with high daytime temperatures accelerating evaporation, droughts occurred.

Many lakes and reservoirs were decreasing by several centimeters daily. The state initiated various remedial measures.

Every day, online news exposed reservoirs turning into mud pits and mineral water companies halting production, further fueling people’s frenzy to hoard mineral water.

The price of a bottle of mineral water soared to 10 yuan, and various beverages were even more expensive. Supermarkets had ample food supplies, but the first things to run out were water and drinks—something no one had anticipated. Water plants nationwide began 24-hour filtration and accelerated production. Where reservoirs were blocked, water trucks were dispatched.

The public was urged to conserve water. If there’s water coming out of your tap, make do with it. Having water is better than nothing; don’t be picky.

One crisis after another ensued. Before the dust and water issues were resolved, some regions entered ultra-high temperatures nearing 50°C, and outbreaks of diseases from chickens, pigs, and cattle dying from heat began to spread.

Cases of death from heatstroke accumulated to tens of thousands, with the highest numbers in the north. Surprisingly, the hottest southern regions—Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Sichuan—had the fewest deaths, reportedly because they were more accustomed to high temperatures.

Half of the north had suspended classes and work, while in the southern metropolis, everything operated as usual.

Police, doctors, government officials, and others certainly wouldn’t stop working. In her previous life, Jing Shu’s mother continued working non-stop, which eventually led to her heatstroke.

“Mom, there’s chilled mung bean soup in the thermos, cold cucumber salad and white-cut chicken in the insulated container, and make sure to eat the herbal jelly,” Jing Shu said, handing over a small box.

In this life, she couldn’t persuade her stubborn mother to stop working, but with the spiritual spring water, it wouldn’t be so easy for her to suffer heatstroke.

“Eat less chicken, duck, and pork. There’s an outbreak of epidemics in the south.”

—

Author’s Note:

Suddenly jumped to 7th place~ Should I add more chapters? Can we reach 6th place?