Chapter 26: Stirring Up Trouble

By the time Liu Lei and his team finished up and left, it was already noon.

The main holdup was assembling the Apple Pod and installing the photovoltaic solar panels, which took much longer than expected.

After the assembly and testing were done, they had to wait for the cleaners to go over the place several times, inside and out. Then, every facility and appliance inside was inspected one by one.

Fortunately, the jetpacks, hydroponic machines, and ice makers all arrived during this window.

The only issue was that they were stored in another warehouse a bit further away.

Once everything had been checked and everyone had left, Jiang Yan put it all away into her space.

There was still some time before the bank reopened in the afternoon, and she was getting hungry. So she simply took out a serving of spicy and sour liangpi beef tendon noodles and a cup of iced coconut sago from her space for a quick meal.

Those incredibly refreshing liangpi beef tendon noodles were from an old, tucked-away shop she’d discovered—absolutely delicious.

The lady boss there wasn’t nearly as overbearing as the hefty sister from the rice noodle shop.

Not only did she happily accept Jiang Yan’s order for three thousand servings, she even threw in fifty free roujiamo and three thousand cups of sour plum juice.

After eating, Jiang Yan sat alone on a small stool to rest for a while.

She didn’t choose to go into her space.

It was always a comfortable temperature in there, but the temperature difference with the outside was too great.

She’d be out and about all afternoon, and worried that if she got used to the coolness, she wouldn’t be able to handle the heat outside, or worse, get sick from the sudden temperature changes.

When she figured it was about time, Jiang Yan took out a brand new Harley motorcycle from her space, hopped on, and sped off toward the bank.

This motorcycle didn’t have a license plate—in fact, it was basically smuggled in, since she’d bought it overseas and stashed it in her space.

Of course, she knew that driving an unlicensed vehicle could get it impounded and cost her a 200 yuan fine.

But compared to the time she was racing against the apocalypse, that was nothing.

Besides, at this moment, the traffic cops probably had their hands full and wouldn’t bother her.

She did have a second-hand van with plates in her space, but for today’s situation, the van was clearly inconvenient. Unlike a motorcycle, which she could stash away in a deserted alley with just a touch.

After the bank, she went to buy gold bars, which took some more time.

Today, the price of gold had already shot up from over 800 yuan per gram yesterday to more than 2,000 per gram, driven by people’s fear and desire for safe-haven assets.

And prices were still climbing.

Normally, these gold bars would only cost a bit over 600 per gram.

The jewelry store was packed with people.

After all, when it comes to safe-haven assets, gold is everyone’s first choice.

But Jiang Yan’s mother used to be a super VIP at the Anming branch of a well-known jewelry group, so Jiang Yan didn’t bother with the counters.

She went straight to the company’s gold processing plant.

Most of the big-name jewelry brands on the market are actually owned by the same group, and these companies have gold processing plants in a few select cities.

Anming happened to be one of them.

After buying the gold, Jiang Yan also went to the bank vault to retrieve the jewelry her mother had stored for her, then rode off toward Qianshui Bay.

On the way back, she didn’t forget to listen to the local news with her Bluetooth headset.

By now, the outside temperature had reached fifty degrees Celsius, with visible heat waves shimmering in the air.

The ground was even hotter—scorching, really.

She could even feel the asphalt softening under her motorcycle tires.

Every gas station, mall, pharmacy she passed had long lines out the door.

Every now and then, she’d see someone faint on the street from the heat.

Some people went to the mall for supplies, but even more were sneaking their families past the residential security’s “one person out at a time” rule, just to enjoy the mall’s air conditioning.

Extra security guards had been posted at mall entrances, but they couldn’t stop the sweaty, desperate crowds from forcing their way in to escape the heat.

The subway stations were also packed with people seeking relief.

In fact, early this morning, except for a few essential services and special industries, most companies had been ordered by the authorities to close and let employees work from home. Still, plenty of people went to the office on their own.

It wasn’t that they were so dedicated to their jobs.

It was just that Anming’s climate was usually so pleasant that hardly anyone had air conditioning at home, but all the office buildings were required to have central air.

But more people, especially middle-aged ones, braved the heat and the risk of attacks from giant bloodsucking mosquitoes, hauling supplies home for their families.

The news also mentioned a new finding:

Giant bloodsucking mosquitoes usually start swarming around 5:30 p.m. and keep going until 7 a.m. the next day.

No one explained why—none of the so-called experts had an answer.

They just urged everyone to get home before five.

Even so, there were still occasional reports of people being attacked by blood mosquitoes on the streets, though not as many as before.

There were also plenty of fender-benders and cars catching fire due to overheating from lack of coolant.

Some high-rises and old neighborhoods had caught fire too.

The thick, rolling smoke was truly terrifying.

Some out-of-the-way shops selling refrigerators and freezers had already been looted.

In short, the whole world was a chaotic mess.

*

Qianshui Bay.

Zhou Guangfu helped his father into the house. Once he’d caught his breath and seemed okay, Zhou grabbed the e-bike keys and hurried out.

Ever since the mask incident, the family had gotten into the habit of stockpiling at least a month’s worth of rice, flour, and cooking oil.

He Chunmei also made pickles and cured meats every year.

Still, he needed to buy more supplies, just in case.

Especially since the kids’ fever medicine was almost gone.

He also needed to get some chlorpromazine tablets for treating and preventing heatstroke, as well as enteric-coated aspirin and the like.

Right now, whether it was Chinese or Western medicine, there was no way to get into outpatient or emergency clinics—so they had to rely on medication at home.

Luckily, his mother, though elderly and frail, was still using a towel to wipe down his little granddaughter, helping her cool off physically.

His little grandson was standing at the washbasin, using a towel to cool himself down.

No need for the bathroom—the water from the tap was already hot.

To keep out the bloodsucking mosquitoes, all the windows were tightly shut, not even the screens left open.

Their apartment was on the top floor, which was freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. The whole place felt like a steam room, day and night.

They’d put plenty of bottled water in the freezer, but there just wasn’t enough ice water to go around.

He Chunmei hadn’t told her husband about secretly gathering a group to “storm” apartment 3201.

There was only one person per household in the owners’ group chat, so Zhou Guangfu had no idea what she’d been posting.

Soon, more than twenty people had gathered in the common area on the 32nd floor."