Chapter 57: Caught

“Alas, that’s the advantage of youth. They don’t worry much. My house has been packed these past few days, torturing me to exhaustion. Look at these dark circles under my eyes; I can’t even cover them up,” Chen Qing lamented, pointing to the shadows beneath his weary gaze, the strain of the situation evident on his face.

“It’s the same at my place, already in chaos!” Wei Qin massaged her temples, expressing empathy, the stress of the situation weighing heavily on her.

“My parents and my wife’s parents have all come. They even almost dragged my eldest brother-in-law’s family over. You know my house is only ninety square meters with three bedrooms. My wife and I have to squeeze in one bed with our son and daughter. I can’t sleep at night, and I might have to take the floor in a few days,” Shi Leyong shook his head and sighed, his shoulders sagging with helplessness.

“What happened?” Li Yueya asked, confusion etched on her face.

“Many low-lying rural areas have flooded. I guess they all came to the city seeking help from relatives,” Bi Qiao’an recalled the submerged scene she had witnessed in the suburbs the other day.

“I know, I know. It’s because it’s been raining for nearly three months, and the low-lying areas are all flooded. Actually, if it was just the rain, the problem wouldn’t be that big. The key is that many villages don’t have tap water, so those places can’t get clean water, and many people have gotten sick. Recently, there have been a lot of gastrointestinal infections and fevers in the hospitals.” Yu Shui explained.

“Moreover, the rain is heavy and has lasted a long time. The villages all have dry toilets, you know?” Yu Shui raised her eyebrows and asked Li Yueya.

Without waiting for Li Yueya to answer, Yu Shui continued, “The dry toilets are all flooded, filled with water, you know, so those places are almost uninhabitable, not to mention that because of the rain, some bungalows will leak, and some walls will grow mold, moss, and poisonous mushrooms. It’s terrible.”

“Yes, my mother-in-law was crying, saying that the village couldn’t even get water to drink. Many people got sick from eating unclean things and had to be sent to the hospital overnight. She cried and said she didn’t want to die, what could I do? I could only take her in and take good care of her.”

Wei Qin sighed and continued, “Usually, it doesn’t matter if they come and stay for a day or two, but this time, who knows how long they will stay. We have different living habits from the elderly. If we’re not careful, conflicts will arise when we’re together every day.”

“My sister argues with our little cousin every day, giving us a headache. But you can’t say we can kick my uncle’s family out in this situation,” Chen Qing shared his troubles, his voice heavy with frustration.

Bi Qiao’an sighed, “This is still for those who have relatives in the city. I don’t know what to do for those who don’t have relatives in the city.”

“There should be someone to take care of it. Look, everyone is discussing this matter online. Maybe there will be a solution in a few days,” Yu Shui took out his phone and pointed to the messages on Weibo, hoping to reassure his colleagues.

“Hopefully so!”

While the discussion continued on this side, on the other side, Shen Yanming was handing out wedding candy and invitations to everyone by himself.

“Why didn’t your wife come?” someone asked, curiosity evident in their voice.

“It’s raining heavily; I don’t want her to go through the trouble.”

“Shen Yanming, are you really getting married? You’re still so young, you…” Mi Xue’er took the invitation, her heart aching as if pierced by a needle, disbelief and longing warring in her eyes.

Shen Yanming directly interrupted Mi Xue’er, his voice firm, “My wife and I are childhood sweethearts. We are destined to be together.”

However, Mi Xue’er seemed to have lost her senses and shouted, desperation lacing her words, “Won’t you get tired of living with the same person for so many years?”

Shen Yanming frowned, his voice cold as ice, “Then I wish you a new person every day in the future!”

“Shen Yanming, you…” Mi Xue’er looked at Shen Yanming in disbelief after she reacted, her heart shattering into a million pieces.

However, Shen Yanming no longer paid attention to her. He took the invitations and left the office to find Zhu Shiliang, and specially invited Director Zhu to bring Zhu Ranran when the time came.

Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an got off work and went home. As soon as they exited the elevator, they saw a middle-aged couple coming out of 1601. 

The couple was stunned for a moment when they saw the two. Shen Yanming immediately frowned, suspicion darkening his features. Bi Qiao’an was about to ask what was going on when she saw Zhang Heping’s girlfriend Song Qingqing come out.

Song Qingqing smiled awkwardly. “You’re back. These are my parents.”

Bi Qiao’an smiled politely, masking her surprise. “Are you going out?” 

“Yes, there’s not much to eat at home. We’re just about to go out and buy some.” Song Qingqing had a guilty feeling of being caught. She hurriedly pushed her parents to the elevator on the other side and pressed the down button, eager to escape the uncomfortable situation.

Bi Qiao’an nodded without saying more and went into the house with Shen Yanming, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“I feel like there’s something wrong with Song Qingqing,” Bi Qiao’an said to Shen Yanming while changing her shoes, her brow furrowed with concern.

“Most likely Zhang Heping doesn’t know that she brought her parents over,” Shen Yanming said in a very unpleasant tone, his jaw clenching with irritation.

“It’s hard to say. Maybe their relationship is good now, or maybe Zhang Heping is kind-hearted and took them in. Our colleagues said that many people from the countryside have recently come to the city to seek help from relatives.” Bi Qiao’an pondered, trying to give Song Qingqing the benefit of the doubt.

“Yes, I’ve heard about it too. In some places, the floodwater has even washed out the sewage. If it weren’t for the energy rain supporting us, there would be epidemics.”

“But I heard that many people have been hospitalized with gastrointestinal inflammation?”

“The energy rain is not omnipotent. In that environment, it’s good enough to survive.”

Bi Qiao’an thought about it and agreed. After all, epidemics did break out in the apocalypse. Compared to epidemics, vomiting and fever were really nothing.

Seeing Bi Qiao’an turn around and enter the kitchen, Shen Yanming picked up his phone and sent a message to Zhang Heping, his fingers flying over the screen, “Come home and take a look when you have time!” he typed.

Zhang Heping was stunned when he received the message. There must be something wrong at home, but it wasn’t something urgent. Then there was only one possibility— Song Qingqing was up to something again.

Zhang Heping scratched his slightly greasy short hair with his right hand and cursed in frustration, his voice a low growl, “She really doesn’t give me peace of mind!”

“Dr. Zhang, another emergency!”

Zhang Heping immediately adjusted his state and rushed to the emergency room, his white coat flapping behind him. As for going home, he would do it when he had time!

A few more days passed, and Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an finally figured out through experiments that the mushrooms would be saturated after absorbing energy for about five days, so they went to collect mushrooms every five days.

In the past few days, the orders from Sweet Dessert House had all been completed, and the goods ordered by the printing factory had also been delivered to the warehouse. Shen Yanming gradually put them all into his storage space, satisfaction evident on his face.

In the past few days, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an also went to invite other colleagues to the wedding and sent invitations to friends, excitement bubbling within them.

In the past few days, Qinghua had also taken some measures. For example, they encouraged residents living in inconvenient villages to temporarily stay with relatives in the city. If they really had nowhere to go, they could apply to the Qinghe Alliance to temporarily stay in designated hotels, of course, with the food and accommodation costs shared by the Qinghe Alliance and the residents themselves.

As a result, the deserted hotels suddenly became bustling, their halls filled with the chatter of displaced families.

---

In the Qinghe Alliance office in the Imperial Capital, Chief Alliance Officer Li Cheng received a phone call, his brow furrowing as he listened intently.

“Sir, the few people from my family who went abroad are coming back in the next couple of days. I heard that the other countries have noticed and no longer allow exports. They were almost detained and couldn’t come back…” the voice on the other end reported, the urgency evident in their tone.

After listening, Li Cheng reassured them for a while and said to let the people come back quickly, safety first, his voice calm and authoritative.

Subsequently, Li Cheng also contacted other people to learn about the situation. Most countries had already noticed their little trick, so he decisively decided to withdraw completely, his mind already formulating the next steps.

Now, they were just waiting for everyone to return and hold a meeting.

The time had come to reveal certain information to the public.