Chapter 21 – The Unusual Song Yi

Jiang Yuan wasn’t idle at home either—she opened the surveillance feed of the big flat.

She saw Mengmeng tidying up while Xia Chaoyang was sleeping.

Clothes and belongings were being packed into a suitcase—clearly, she was planning to leave again.

Jiang Yuan thought about it and quickly understood.

Xia Nai wasn’t an easy person to get along with. Anyone living with her probably couldn’t last more than a week.

Mengmeng had always lived alone with her child and was used to doing things her own way. Xia Chaoyang didn’t visit every day, so her life had been pretty carefree.

Now that it was raining, it was natural she’d want to get away.

Over there, she’d have to take care of a big household—who would want that?

As for what excuse she gave Xia Chaoyang, Jiang Yuan didn’t bother thinking about it.

By evening, the rain had stopped, and the weather had cooled down.

The internet was full of cheers, but Jiang Yuan felt something was off. In her previous life, it had never happened like this.

That rain had lasted a full month, without ever stopping.

This time, things were strange—the temperatures had been even higher, and now the rain was acting unpredictably.

“Sweetheart, look, the sky has cleared. It should be fine now—and it’s not hot anymore,” her father said cheerfully.

Jiang Yuan was skeptical, though she kept her thoughts to herself. After all, who would believe the end of the world was coming?

“We stored up so many supplies, it’s like running a supermarket,” Qin Yue sighed. “Now what? I guess we’ll just eat through it slowly.”

She felt a bit embarrassed for overreacting and blindly following her daughter’s lead.

“Look here,” her mom pointed to her phone, “lots of places are restocking tonight—they’re even reopening stores. Let’s go out for a look.”

Jiang Yuan leaned in to see. Since the temperatures had dropped, many places were seizing the moment for a big reopening.

Supermarkets especially—this was a great opportunity.

After such a long lockdown, people were desperate to eat out again. Even small eateries were preparing to reopen.

As for supplies, every supermarket had a sizable warehouse. The only things in short supply were fresh fruits and vegetables.

Jiang Yuan took the phone and scrolled through the comments, her brow furrowed.

Why was everyone so excited? No way things could return to normal overnight, right?

One comment caught her attention—it thanked the government. When she tapped in, she discovered the truth:

To ease the burden on the public, many of the emergency relief points were distributing fresh vegetables.

No wonder people were going wild.

Still, she felt uneasy. If those reserve supplies were being distributed, what if something worse was coming?

The only explanation she could think of was that the reserves themselves had been compromised.

Take frozen vegetables, for example—if the power went out, everything would spoil. So yes, it was possible.

In that case, distributing them now wasn’t a bad move. Otherwise, they’d be ruined by the time the extreme cold hit.

Letting people buy some now might help cushion the blow when things got worse.

“Mom! What is all this?!”

Qin Yue shouted. Jiang Yuan ran over quickly.

“What’s wrong, Mom?”

“I wanted to open the window for some air—why are there so many flies and mosquitoes?!”

Jiang Yuan rushed to the window. Sure enough, countless green bottle flies and long-legged mosquitoes were stuck to the windowpane, soaked by the rain.

Because the mesh curtain had been drawn, no one had noticed earlier.

Some were still alive and wriggling. The sight was enough to make your skin crawl—luckily, she didn’t have a phobia.

What was worse, the flies looked… mutated. They were bigger, with purple-glowing bellies. Very strange.

“Dad, Mom, close all the windows. Right now!”

Even with her rural upbringing and experience with bugs, she had never seen this many at once.

“Didn’t we buy bug spray? Want me to go spray some?” her father offered.

“No—don’t,” Jiang Yuan stopped him quickly. “These bugs seem off. Let’s not bring them in. If they bite someone, it could be serious.”

“Our windows seal pretty well. As long as we keep everything shut, we’ll be fine.”

Even her dad, normally tough and unconcerned, didn’t argue.

His own skin could handle it, but not his daughter and Little Nuan. No way he’d risk them getting bitten by these mutant bugs.

They carefully checked every window, closed them all, and drew the mesh curtains.

Still not at ease, Jiang Yuan disinfected the house thoroughly.

She had just changed clothes and was about to spray the stairwell with insecticide when the doorbell rang.

Startled, she rushed to the monitor—turns out it was Song Yi, bundled up tightly, only his eyes visible.

“Hello…”

She didn’t open the door, speaking through the intercom.

“Jiang Yuan, it’s me, Song Yi. I’m heading downstairs—do you have any trash?”

So that’s all? She felt a bit embarrassed for being so suspicious. Things hadn’t gotten that bad yet.

Click—she opened the door.

Jiang Yuan was wearing a purple tracksuit, though she hadn’t bothered with a mask or hat.

Song Yi looked at her, surprised.

“Go back inside—there might be mosquitoes in the hallway. Put on a mask and a hat.”

His tone was almost commanding, which confused Jiang Yuan. The weather wasn’t hot anymore, and most people weren’t dressing like it was.

“Fine, wait a sec…”

Bang! She shut the door and went back inside to get properly dressed.

Yeah, she had been careless. She should’ve known better.

When she came back out, Song Yi was still at the door—she nearly bumped into him.

“Why haven’t you gone down yet?”

He stared at her for a good ten seconds before finally saying, calmly:

“Jiang Yuan… it’s raining.”

“I know it’s raining.”

Was this guy alright in the head?

She could clearly see the rain—what was his point?

“I mean, now that it’s raining, the weather will change. That’s when flies and mosquitoes start laying eggs the most.”

“Oh. Well, I was just about to disinfect the stairwell.”

Song Yi looked at her and sighed quietly. It wasn’t loud, but she heard it.

“Song Yi, be honest with me—do you know something?”

He hesitated for nearly a full minute before responding, voice calm:

“What could I possibly know? It’s just… when I was on a mission in the Amazon, I saw similar insects.”

“Usually, a bite isn’t a big deal. But if they’re laying eggs—then they can embed larvae under human skin.”

What?!

That sounded disgusting. Could mosquitoes really do that?

They didn’t lay eggs through their needle-like mouths… was he trying to scare her on purpose?