Chapter 114: A Man Sheds No Tears Lightly

This little bottle of sake is about forty percent alcohol. Normally, it only costs a few bucks a bottle and is usually bought to pickle vegetables.

Its packaging and seal can’t compare to those expensive bottles of Feitian that go for thousands.

Jiang Yan’s space is stocked with all kinds—red, white, yellow, black—high-end, mid-range, and cheap, everything you could want.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have a legitimate reason to take any out.

Especially since she wasn’t familiar with Tian Jiliang, she was much more guarded around him than with Su Dai, Ye Qing, and the others.

“This…” Sun Jingtao also noticed something was off. He smacked his forehead and said,

“Ai, I forgot about all these days of high temperatures—the alcohol must have evaporated! No wonder the smell was so faint just now!”

The scholarly-looking Tian Jiliang, hearing this, simply picked up the cup and downed it in one go:

“No problem, it’s just as well—water instead of wine! These days, even pure water is a rare commodity!”

He laughed heartily, then, still not satisfied, brought the paper cup to his nose for another sniff.

Though the alcohol scent was faint, there was still a bit left in it.

After sniffing, Tian Jiliang put the cup down, took off his glasses, breathed on them, and wiped them with his shirt corner, saying:

“I remember seeing on the news once that in some really cold places in Russia, when they couldn’t buy vodka, some people actually bought shower gel to drink and ended up getting poisoned.”

“Huh?? How could anyone drink that?! And why would they drink shower gel? That’s crazy!” Su Dai was completely baffled.

“Dai-jie, the shower gel they bought contained methanol, also called industrial alcohol—the same stuff we’re burning in the stove right now. But methanol is actually toxic; it’s only used for antifreeze and fuel, not for drinking. The kind of alcohol that’s added to drinks is ethanol—that’s the one that’s safe to consume.” Ye Qing patiently explained.

Su Dai listened, her face full of disbelief.

“There’s also that stir-fried river stone snack from Xingcheng, which was a huge hit online for a while,” Jiang Yan chimed in.

She was a food blogger, and had almost flown to Xingcheng just to try it.

That place had lots of interesting snacks.

Su Dai stared at Jiang Yan in surprise. “What? Stir-fried river stones? What kind of weird thing is that?”

“It’s actually just washing the river stones clean, putting them in a wok with all kinds of seasonings, stir-frying, and then sucking the flavor off the stones before tossing them out. Supposedly, this dish was invented by fishermen who, after coming back empty-handed and running out of food on the boat, came up with this idea.” Ye Qing explained, following Jiang Yan’s lead.

Su Dai looked at him admiringly. “Wow, Xiao Ye, you sure know a lot!”

“Wife, it’s not that he knows a lot—it’s that you’re just too clueless, haha.” Sun Jingtao, for once, teased his wife in front of everyone.

Su Dai huffed, “Alright, Sun Jingtao, you’re getting bold with Jiang Yan and the others here, huh? Daring to make fun of me—tonight you’re on dish duty!”

“Not scared, not scared—as long as it’s not kneeling on a keyboard or durian, or being kicked out of bed, I’ll survive.” Tian Jiliang quickly joked from the side.

Sun Jingtao grinned and put a piece of fish in Su Dai’s bowl, coaxing her:

“Alright, alright, wife, have some fish. People who eat more fish are smarter.”

“Can’t you ever stop? Always poking at me, huh?” Su Dai put down her chopsticks, pretending to be annoyed as she reached out to pinch Sun Jingtao.

Sun Jingtao twisted away, dodging to the side—only to bump right into Tian Jiliang’s raised arm.

Tian Jiliang quickly pinched his nose and said, “Aiyo, Jingtao, your wife’s right here and you’re throwing yourself into my arms? That won’t do! That won’t do!”

His slightly effeminate tone and exaggerated hand gesture had everyone bursting out laughing.

Jiang Yan and Ye Qing watched from the side, like spectators at a show, joining in the laughter.

“But seriously, this isn’t just the best meal I’ve had in months—it’s also the happiest I’ve been in a long time.” Tian Jiliang was still smiling, but suddenly his eyes grew moist.

A man sheds no tears lightly, only because he hasn’t reached the breaking point.

After the heatwave hit, his parents both died of sudden heart attacks, one after the other.

Then the blood mosquitoes appeared, and his wife and son were also lost, one after the other.

A whole family, now leaving him all alone.

No more mortgage, no more car loan.

But the normal, decent life was gone too, replaced only by endless uncertainty about the future.

Sometimes he even thought about ending it all with a necktie.

But in the end, he just couldn’t do it.

Humans are social creatures; we all need emotional connection.

Moments like this, sitting together and chatting happily, were truly precious to him.

But once the eating, drinking, and chatting were over, they still had to return to their dull, dark, endless days.

The smiles on everyone’s faces suddenly froze, and they all put down their chopsticks in unison.

Since the heatwave began, everyone had experienced or witnessed something, more or less.

They could all empathize with Tian Jiliang’s feelings.

The happiness and calm they’d shown lately, to some extent, was a deliberate act—a way to numb and comfort themselves.

In truth, they were all a bit lost about the future.

That’s why, when making decisions, they sometimes acted rashly, like grasping at straws.

Just like the day before, when it hadn’t rained, many people clung to wishful thinking.

They thought about staying home and being self-sufficient, and looked down on those who wanted to go to the official base.

But a day later, when the torrential rain returned, they pinned all their hopes and future on the government’s rescue.

“Do you guys think this rain will just keep coming, and flood us all the way up to the 32nd floor?” Su Dai glanced at the torrential rain outside the window and sighed.

Tian Jiliang wiped his eyes, put his glasses back on, and said,

“Hard to say. Look, the government boats still haven’t come. They have so many resources, but even they can’t handle it. What can ordinary people like us do?”

“I don’t think it’s that they can’t handle it,” Ye Qing said, standing up. “It’s probably that there are places with people who need help even more than we do, and the rescue teams have been sent there.”

He was calm, completely unaffected by Tian Jiliang’s words.

Ye Qing took a few packets of instant noodles from a nearby bag, tore them open, and put the noodles into the pot.

He added a bit of water.

Jiang Yan agreed with Ye Qing’s assessment.

After all, the government’s transport capacity was limited.

If the second wave of torrential rain kept getting worse, they’d definitely prioritize the low-lying neighborhoods.

Here at Qianshui Bay, even though only a few buildings were left and the lowest was 24 floors, at least there were still six floors of living space.

But in other neighborhoods, that space was already gone.

“So do you think, when they go to those places, will they take the elderly and children who don’t meet the requirements?” Tian Jiliang asked."