Chapter 80: Ice-Cold Beer and Barbecue

A group of people started chatting animatedly.

“What’s up with the weather this year? First torrential rains, now suddenly it’s heating up.”

“It’s almost winter, but there’s no sign of cold at all. Now it’s getting hot again… Could it be that the Beautiful Country couldn’t resist stirring up trouble and made some kind of weather weapon?”

“I don’t think so. Before the internet went down, I saw online that they got hit too. If they made a weather weapon, would they really hurt their own country as well?”

“You never know. Isn’t there a saying: ‘He who harms others ends up harming himself’? Too many crazy stunts, and it backfired!”

The women, unlike the men who were standing around shirtless and chatting, hurried back home. Once inside, they could finally strip off their clothes and cool down a bit.

The men didn’t come to any conclusions either. They just felt hotter and hotter, didn’t even want to talk anymore, and quickly headed upstairs to their homes.

Global warming had been getting worse over the years, and every summer seemed hotter than the last. Temperatures hitting 35°C were nothing unusual anymore.

But what was strange was that it was supposed to be the month when snow started falling, yet there hadn’t been any sign of cooling down. Just a while ago, it was a cool 15°C, but now the temperature had suddenly shot up by over 20 degrees, making everyone break out in a sweat.

For those who were outside, it wasn’t so bad if home was nearby—they could just go upstairs, lie down, and tell themselves that a calm mind brings coolness.

But for those farther from home, it was a real ordeal.

During the floods, many cars had been swept away, and most people couldn’t even find their vehicles. Even if they could, the cars were waterlogged and useless.

So, most people had to go everywhere on foot.

Now, feeling the sudden heat, they wanted to escape the blazing sun and go home to rest, but all they could do was trudge back step by step under the scorching sky.

Bai Wenbin was among the unluckiest of them all.

At this moment, he was walking home, drenched in sweat, getting hotter with every step. Even after stripping off his jacket and shirt, he couldn’t cool down.

He hadn’t planned to go out today—he’d wanted to stay home and wait for his cousin to visit, hoping to get her to stay. But when he woke up in the morning, he suddenly remembered that Creepy Brother Zhang still owed him a case of bottled water.

That was his hard-earned reward.

He and his cousin had enough food at home to last until water and power were restored, but their water reserves would only last a few more days.

Now that the floodwaters had receded, they couldn’t just keep boiling floodwater to drink.

So, he had no choice but to go see Brother Zhang one last time.

As expected, he couldn’t avoid being groped, but besides the case of water, Zhang also gave him a bag of millet.

By the time Bai Wenbin left Zhang’s house, he was already exhausted. After just a few steps, he was hit by the 35°C heat.

It was a full three-hour walk from Zhang’s place to Kangwang Community.

He hadn’t gone far before he was overwhelmed by the heat, lugging a case of water and a bag of millet.

Before the disasters, he’d been a bookish student who’d never suffered any physical hardship.

Now, drenched in sweat and carrying heavy loads, every step home felt like torture.

After a while, he wanted to give up and go back to Zhang’s place to cool off. But remembering the perverted torment he’d just endured there, he instinctively squeezed his legs together, gritted his teeth, and kept going.

On the way, he ran into someone else making the same trek.

The man was dark-skinned and muscular. Seeing Bai Wenbin’s delicate appearance, he couldn’t help but say, “Kid, you’re really weak. It’s just a bit hot—why are you so wiped out? Want me to carry that water for you?”

The man had worked construction for years, building up strong muscles and willpower. Hard labor and high temperatures were nothing to him.

Bai Wenbin eyed him warily.

This was his hard-won survival resource—how could he just hand it over to someone else?

So, he snapped back a harsh refusal.

The man shook his head at him. “Tsk, don’t know a good person when you see one. Suit yourself!”

With that, he picked up his pace and soon left Bai Wenbin far behind.

The sun beat down mercilessly. As Bai Wenbin walked, parched and exhausted, he twisted open a bottle of water and gulped it down.

But it didn’t help. The more he walked, the hotter and thirstier he got, until he was on the verge of collapse.

By the time he finally staggered home, he was about to pass out—and the case of water he’d brought back was down to just two bottles.

Bai Wenbin looked around. Qian Ying’er had already delivered the supplies, but she was nowhere to be seen—she must have dropped them off and left.

He felt a headache coming on. His cousin was so stubborn, insisting on staying over there to watch An Nan’s “show.”

Well, let her do as she pleases. He couldn’t worry about her anymore.

Bai Wenbin collapsed onto his bed, dizzy, his skin burning, ears ringing, nauseous and dry-heaving.

He must have gotten heatstroke.

He cursed through gritted teeth: Damn it! I should’ve just stayed home!

He’d gone through all that, suffered at Zhang’s hands, and now the water he’d brought back was almost gone.

All that effort for nothing!

He’d suffered so much on the way, and now his whole body felt awful.

What the hell is up with this weather? Why did the temperature suddenly shoot up like this?

Cursing silently, Bai Wenbin smacked his lips.

He’d been busy all day and hadn’t eaten anything.

But he was so weak he couldn’t even get out of bed. He grabbed the bag of millet he’d brought back, scooped up a handful, and shoved it into his mouth raw.

He couldn’t be picky now—he just tried to imagine it was delicious meat.

...

“Eat up, Fugui.”

An Nan skewered five lamb kebabs and tossed them into the dog’s bowl.

She herself cracked open a can of ice-cold beer, grabbed a big handful of skewers, and alternated between sips of beer and bites of meat.

As she ate, she kept grilling pork belly and veggie rolls.

Fugui polished off everything in his bowl in no time, then looked up, staring at the food in her hand.

An Nan said, “These are mine—they’ve got salt, so you can’t have them.”

Salty food isn’t good for dogs, so An Nan had specially grilled a salt-free batch for him.

“Here, have this grilled quail first.”

She put two cooled-off grilled quails into his bowl.

Fugui dug in, crunching up meat and bones alike.

Beef and lamb skewers, grilled quail, pork belly, soy-glazed tendons, pork skin, tendon skewers, veggie rolls…

Once both human and dog were almost full, An Nan took out the leftover crocodile meat to grill, planning to bring some over to Chu Peipei and Zhao Ping’an.

They’d helped her a lot before, and she’d traded some of the crocodile meat for supplies.

She couldn’t explain where the beef and lamb came from, so she couldn’t give those away, but she figured they’d enjoy the grilled crocodile.

She prepped the meat, brushed it with oil, sprinkled on seasoning, and soon the aroma filled the air."