Chapter 111: Comparison

As mid-November approached, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an had gradually adapted to life without running water.

During this week-long water outage, Shen Yanming devised a solution for Bi Qiao’an’s bathroom needs: each day, they would pack their waste in plastic bags and dispose of it in the public restroom when leaving for work in the morning.

Why not simply use their bathroom with their ample water supply?

Well, they were wary of arousing suspicion!

In the midst of a water shortage, who could afford the luxury of freely using the bathroom without concern? Furthermore, with everyone forgoing flushing toilets, wouldn’t the sound of flushing from their apartment draw unwanted attention?

Therefore, Shen Yanming retrieved a small trash can from his stockpile of supplies, lined it with a black plastic bag, and placed it in the bathroom as Bi Qiao’an’s makeshift toilet.

As for himself, he had initially relieved himself outside, but eventually, even he found it unbearable and resorted to the same solution as Bi Qiao’an.

During workdays, the couple minimized their food and water intake to avoid needing the restroom while outside. They saved their appetites for a hearty evening meal at home. If an emergency did arise, they had no choice but to endure the discomfort.

Moreover, on workdays, the two didn’t dare wash their faces or hair. Each night, upon returning home, they could only clean themselves below the neck within the privacy of their space.

In fact, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an were faring quite well compared to others, who were truly living in a disaster zone!

Could you imagine the feeling of your face being so oily after several days without washing that you could blot the grease with a tissue?

Could you imagine vigorously scrubbing your body with your fingers, only to see layers of dirt roll off?

Could you imagine your hair clumped together, the strands greasy and slick?

Could you imagine the constant desire to scratch your scalp, each scratch revealing a pile of dandruff and sebum clogging your fingernails?

Could you imagine the relentless itchiness all over your body, dead skin flaking off with every scratch?

Could you imagine the unbearable stench emanating from your body, clothes unwashed, underwear barely changed?

You didn’t need to imagine because these were the grim realities that everyone was enduring!

Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an were indeed among the fortunate ones. At the very least, they could brush their teeth daily, wash below their necks, and change into clean underwear every day.

The citizens of Qinghua were venting their misery about the lack of water on Weibo. However, after seeing the situations in other countries on foreign networks, they realized how fortunate they were.

In the Lelherlands, riots had erupted during the global rainy season. As life began to return to normal after the rains, another water outage struck.

The Lutch people had not anticipated a drought and failed to store water in advance. Bottled water supplies in supermarkets were nowhere near enough to sustain them. Within a week, the situation deteriorated to the point where an average of thirty-seven supermarkets were looted daily.

Charles had emailed Shen Yanming, but Shen Yanming didn’t reply. It was safe to assume contact was lost, as he couldn’t and wouldn’t want to get involved now.

In Yran, more than half of the residents had taken steps to store water. Yran and Qinghua are neighboring countries with cultural similarities and close ties between their citizens.

When the energy rain made headlines in Qinghua, many observant Yranians paid attention. Their long-standing trust in Qinghua led them to follow suit.

After experiencing the benefits, these Yranian residents were determined to follow Qinghua’s example, heeding the advice of Qinghua netizens and making preparations.

However, only a small portion of the Yranian population had adequately prepared for the dry season. Human nature is greedy, and unequal distribution, rather than scarcity, is the root of the problem. Sooner or later, riots would likely erupt in Yran as well.

Many countries found themselves in situations similar to those in the Lelherlands and Yran. This month, the entire world was in chaos.

Perhaps Qinghua was now the most tranquil nation, united in its preparations and undaunted by the challenges that lay ahead.

Indeed, Qinghua had never censored information about the catastrophes. However, as the ruling party, the Qinghe Alliance recognized the need to avoid excessively propagating news of the apocalypse.

Any country paying attention to Qinghua’s developments could observe the Qinghe Alliance’s strategic deployments.

Regrettably, few countries chose to believe Qinghua, with many opting to turn a blind eye. Some even accused Qinghua of political conspiracies.

For them, facts, right and wrong, and even the lives of their citizens were irrelevant. Their sole pursuit was economic gain and power.

Now, foreign netizens witnessed the resilience of Qinghua citizens enduring hardships with unwavering determination. This sparked outrage as they questioned their own governments’ inaction.

Under mounting public pressure, these countries unanimously shifted the blame onto Qinghua.

They held press conferences, interrogating Qinghua about why they hadn’t disclosed the information earlier.

Upon seeing these reports, Chief Alliance Officer Li Cheng sneered, “They finally can’t keep their composure!”

With the concerted efforts of Qinghua’s citizens, the census work was smoothly completed by the end of October. However, fingerprint and iris information registration had reached only one-third completion. The Qinghe Alliance Guard and the Public Security Department still needed to continue their efforts.

This month, the Qinghe Alliance focused on purchasing excess properties from residents. Free trade of properties by residents had been ongoing since mid-September and gradually decreased by the end of October. However, many wealthy individuals were still unable to sell all of their excess properties.

Therefore, the housing administration directly extracted residents’ property information from the census summary data. After cross-referencing, they dispatched local staff to proactively visit residents and assist in completing property transfer procedures.

Although this was an official acquisition, the Qinghe Alliance ensured fair pricing to prevent resident losses. Despite initial resistance, people willingly accepted the process upon seeing the compensation offered.

However, during the information comparison, the housing administration discovered many unclaimed properties. After a public announcement, these properties were directly appropriated by the state.

All work proceeded in an orderly manner. This time, the housing administration maintained a low profile, not borrowing staff from other units. As a result, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an could only learn about the progress through television and Weibo.

As they scrolled, they stumbled upon a trending topic: “Did you grow taller today?”

Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an clicked into the comment section and saw netizens gleefully showcasing their before and after photos.

After several days of being shared, a splicing fashion trend had emerged in Qinghua.

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Translator’s Notes:

To further reflect the author’s original intent. I will be making changes to the translations for the countries. Previous chapters will be edited later. Netherlands → Lelherlands; Iran → Yran.

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