In the early hours of the next morning, Luo Yuan was awakened by the loudspeaker of a promotional truck outside.
"Dear citizens! Dear citizens!"
"In order to maintain stability, suppress prices, protect people's livelihood, and allow citizens who cannot buy food to eat enough food. From now on, rationing of food, drinking water, meat, and vegetables will be implemented. The municipal party committee and government will implement rationing at major farmers' markets. Supply points have been set up, and citizens can provide limited supplies with their ID cards.
"Dear citizens! Dear citizens!"
The speakers outside played it over and over again!
His drowsiness disappeared, he quickly got up, put on his clothes, and opened the door.
"What's going on outside?" Zhao Yali walked out of the bedroom door in her pajamas, yawned and said with a confused look on her face.
"The government has taken measures so that food and vegetables can be rationed in the future?" Luo Yuan said anxiously with a happy face.
Although he has stored a lot of food and other supplies, it is difficult to buy fresh vegetables and meat, because they will be robbed quickly, and it will be empty. How long can such a small amount of food last? Now that the city government has finally taken measures, it means that there is no need to worry in the future, which is undoubtedly a great news.
After all, except for careerists and some fanatics, no one likes troubled times.
"I'll go take a look first to see if I can buy it?" Luo Yuan said with a smile.
"Then let's go together, at least we can get a double portion." Zhao Yali said with a smile on her lips.
"Okay, you go put on some clothes, don't wash up yet, go there early, there will definitely be a lot of people later, and there will be a long queue by then."
"Ah!" Only then did Zhao Yali notice that she was still wearing pajamas, her face turned red, and she quickly closed the door.
The woman dressed more slowly. By the time she finished dressing and opened the door, ten minutes had passed. Judging from her appearance, she seemed to have dressed up a little.
Luo Yuan smiled bitterly and went out with her. As soon as he walked out of the building, Luo Yuan was startled even though he had been mentally prepared.
The community was crowded with people. He had never noticed that there were so many people in this community. These people seemed to be pulled by an invisible force and gathered into a huge flow of people, flowing slowly towards the gate of the community.
Residents with private cars honked their horns non-stop, but were unable to move in the crowded flow of people. Some wise people opened their car doors and got out of the car, walking along with the flow of people.
These people were carrying vegetable baskets, washbasins, and even a suitcase, but most of them were like Luo Yuan, with empty hands.
I originally thought that the flow of people in the community was spectacular enough, but when I walked to the street, I realized that it was nothing compared to the big one.
Just like a river flowing into the sea, as it continues to advance, countless small flows of people continue to merge into the street, and the entire street is almost gradually filled with people. Luo Yuan and Zhao Yali were squeezed back and forth in the crowd. They didn't even have to move, their bodies were automatically pushed forward by the flow of people.
He had only seen this kind of scene on TV, but he didn't expect it to actually happen.
"It's so lively!" Zhao Yali said slightly excitedly, seeming to enjoy it: "I always felt that this city was very cold in the past. There are so many people in the city, but only three or four are close friends? It makes people feel very lonely. I didn't expect it to be so..." When it’s busy, it’s like going to the market as my mother said when I was little.”
Luo Yuan shook his head and couldn't understand: "You will be busy then. If I had known there would be so many people, I wouldn't have come. How long will it take until it's our turn?"
He even regretted coming out.
"Maybe it's because I'm about to leave this city. I thought I would stay in this city all my life, marry a husband, have children... I didn't expect that I would have to go back in the end." She looked downcast, and her eyes quickly became moist. .
"Don't think about sad things. In fact, the countryside is not safe now. There are many mutant beasts. You should advise your parents to move to the city or town. It will be safer at least."
"Well, thank you anyway. If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't be able to survive." Zhao Yali looked at Luo Yuan gratefully and said.
"We're going to see each other after saying thank you. Why, we've been renting together for so long?" Luo Yuan said with a smile.
"No matter what, we must keep in touch in the future!" Zhao Yali said seriously.
"It's as if life and death are parting. I will take you back tomorrow and wait until you get home." Luo Yuan was a little taboo about Zhao Yali's words and quickly interrupted.
The two of them were chatting and walking, and time flew by. After an hour, people finally arrived at the door of the nearest farmer's market.
Two rows of heavily armed police stood upright, holding automatic rifles in their hands, maintaining order in the team. Under the intimidation of these armed police, the crowd became slightly commotion, but soon calmed down.
Luo Yuan and Zhao Yali followed the flow of people into the market. Various facilities in the market had been cleared and replaced by mountains of materials. A yellow warning tape formed a circle around the market, and a heavily armed police guarded it every meter.
Every five meters, a simple metal trading window similar to a police box is set up. Looking along the road, there are more than a hundred trading windows. If the other three sides are added, there are a total of four to five hundred. trading point.
But even with so many transaction points, the movement of people is extremely slow.
There were too many people, and the air seemed stuffy and hot. After only ten minutes, he and Zhao Yali were already sweating profusely.
He is fine. After all, he is strong and has never been sick since he got the system. Whether it is physical strength or energy, his recovery speed is far faster than ordinary people. But Zhao Yali is not good. I am afraid that they will die before it is their turn. Heat stroke.
"How about we go to the front and squeeze in?" Luo Yuan said.
"I'm afraid I can't squeeze in, right?" Zhao Yali used her hand as a fan in an attempt to cool herself down. She looked at the crowded crowd and said eagerly.
"Leave it to me, hold my hand?" Luo Yuandao said.
While Zhao Yali was hesitating, her hand was grabbed by Luo Yuan, and then her body was pulled by him and pushed forward.
Luo Yuan had great strength, it was close to eleven o'clock, almost 1.5 times that of a normal person, and he was agile in movement, with quick eyesight and quick hands. His body was like a swimming fish, moving towards the gaps between the crowds.
There were complaints all around, but such behavior was common in the crowd, and Luo Yuan was not obvious among them. Chinese people have a high tolerance for this kind of behavior. In fact, most office workers never have to deal with crowded traffic every day.
After a while, Luo Yuan and Zhao Yali finally squeezed into the first trading window.
"Why do I have so much less money than others? Are you mistaken?" an older middle-aged woman said loudly.
"Because you don't have a local registered permanent residence, please see the bulletin board outside for details." The young female waiter sitting behind the computer said impatiently: "Don't take up space, come next."
The middle-aged woman still wanted to argue, but was quickly pushed away from behind.
"I want them all, give me the biggest share." A bald man with a huge gold chain hanging around his neck shouted loudly, waving a wad of banknotes.
"Each person can only purchase a share for three days with their ID card. You need to buy the rest after three days." The service staff glanced at the stack of banknotes and said calmly.
"Can you be a little more accommodating? Money is not an issue." The bald man said loudly.
"There is nothing we can do about it. The policy stipulates that the total is two hundred!" the service staff explained.
"It seems we can only buy them on the black market!" the bald man muttered. After paying the bill, he took two large plastic bags handed over by a staff member at the window.
At this time, it was finally Luo Yuan's turn. He took out his ID card and two hundred yuan, handed it to the waiter, and asked, "It's also for three days."
The service staff took the money and ID card, entered them into the computer, and soon someone handed over two bags.
After Zhao Yali finished her shopping, he took Zhao Yali's bag, and the two of them squeezed out of the market with difficulty.
"You squeezed me out and finally came out. Are you suffocating me to death?" Zhao Yali let go of her hand holding Luo Yuan's arm and looked at the still dark crowd behind her, saying with lingering fear.
"See what's in there?"
"One bag contains rice, which seems to be only five kilograms. The other bag contains one kilogram of meat, two kilograms of vegetables, three apples, five kilograms of drinking water, oh, and three pieces of chocolate and a small bag of toffee." Luo Yuan clicked and said.
"It's so dark. It costs two hundred for such a small amount. This money is becoming less and less valuable. I'm afraid it was less than fifty yuan before!" Zhao Yali secretly exclaimed.
"It's already very cheap, what else do you want? At least it's much cheaper than the black market." Luo Yuan said disapprovingly. From what he knew about the black market, food on the black market has now risen to twenty-five yuan per catty, and meat is even more expensive. It’s shockingly expensive, costing at least one hundred yuan per catty. At this price, there’s no place to buy it. Calculated this way, two hundred yuan is already very cheap.
"That is restricted by the government. How can it be so bad? The government is going crazy for money. Fortunately, I am going home. Otherwise, I would not be able to afford it if I live in the city?" she said angrily. She works as a clerk in a foreign-funded company, and her monthly salary does not exceed 3,000. Even if the company does not close down, it will be difficult to support herself under such prices.
"That's true!" Luo Yuan smiled, but his smile was a little bitter.
In fact, what about rural areas
Eight days ago, Captain Chen from the Gaotang Town Police Station called and asked him to stock up on some food and prepare. He didn't say much at the time, but his words were full of solemnity.
Luo Yuan was curious and went to Gaotang Town.
After a large area of tree felling and burning of wasteland, the situation in Gaotang Town is very stable and there is nothing abnormal.
But when he reached the intersection, he discovered a strange phenomenon. A new season of rice has been planted on the farmland in Gaotang Town. Although it is almost the New Year and it is still winter, due to the abnormal climate, rice, like other plants, should grow very luxuriantly.
But that was not the case. He saw that the rice fields were overgrown with weeds, growing very densely and luxuriantly. They were two or three inches taller than the rice. The living space of the rice had been completely occupied by weeds, and even Even sunlight is unavailable and there is no way to compete with it.
He asked an old farmer passing by and learned that this kind of weed could not be removed with pesticides at all. He could only rely on the old method to slowly pull it out in the farmland. But now the fields are full of insects and snakes, and they are poisonous and vicious. There is no one. If you dare to do this, you can only let it be abandoned.
He was shocked and confused at the time. He didn't even know how he came back. He only knew that the world was about to change.
At 12:30 noon the next day, Luo Yuan and Zhao Yali packed up.
Luo Yuan took her two boxes, walked out of the community, hailed a taxi, and drove towards the station.
"Why are you holding a wooden box?" Zhao Yali looked at the thing in Luo Yuan's hand and asked curiously.
"A piece of handicraft." Luo Yuan smiled.
"Actually, you don't need to give gifts. This will cause them to misunderstand." Zhao Yali obviously misunderstood and said a little feebly. If Luo Yuan came to the door with gifts, I'm afraid her parents wouldn't believe her no matter what she explained.
"You are mistaken. This is not a gift. I forgot about the gift. I might as well buy it when I get to the train station." Luo Yuan replied with a smile.
"Don't buy it, or I will have a headache for a long time." Zhao Yali quickly stopped her, but she forgot to ask what was in the wooden box.
"Are you going home to meet your parents? If you want to buy a gift, why not give a bag of rice? The mother-in-law-to-be will definitely be happy." The driver heard the conversation and joined in the fun.
Two red clouds flew up quickly on Zhao Yali's face.
"Actually, we are just ordinary boyfriend and girlfriend, so she is afraid of misunderstanding." Seeing Zhao Yali's face turning red, Luo Yuan came to the rescue.
"I saw it quickly. Of course, that's how my wife and I came. Where are you going? I mean where are you going by train?" the driver asked.
"Yushui City!" Luo Yuan said concisely and concisely, not wanting to talk too much.
"Yushui City, is there a place called Yushan?" The driver suddenly asked.
"Yes, Yushan is on the edge of Yushui City. It is a famous tourist attraction. Driver, have you been there?" Zhao Yali said excitedly when talking about her hometown.
"I've never played it before, but you have to be careful. I heard from my friend that a lot of people have died there recently, and even armored vehicles have entered and been firing all day long." The driver said seriously.
Zhao Yali turned pale with fright.
Luo Yuan patted her shoulder, comforted her, and asked solemnly: "It's so serious. Is your news reliable?"
"How could I lie to people about this kind of thing? It's no good. My brother is from Yushui City, but he works in Donghu City. Now he has brought his parents here. Now it seems that Donghu City is safer. There are many The place is in chaos," the driver said.
"This was news a few days ago?" Luo Yuan continued to ask.
"Three days ago, it should have been settled by now." The driver said, "But it's never wrong to be careful!"
"Thank you, master! If you didn't tell us, wouldn't we know?" Luo Yuan thanked him immediately.
"No, it's not easy for anyone now. I see, the end of the world is coming, and the government is still so strict? I would say giving everyone a gun is better than being on tenterhooks every day now."
"Xiao Yuan, what should I do? What do you think will happen to my parents?" Zhao Yali said in confusion.
"Didn't you call me last night? Call again and check?" Luo Yuan reminded.
"Oh, yes! Yes!" She quickly took out the phone.
"Hey, Mom! Are you and Dad okay? Are you okay? I'm just asking. We take the train at half past one, and should be able to get home at three-thirty or four... There is also a colleague who came to see me off... He's a man... It's not what you think... By the way, Mom, did something happen to Yu Shui... A rat plague... Oh, Mom, it's okay, I hung up!" Zhao Yali hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, it's okay. It seems that there was a rat plague there. It should be okay?" Zhao Yali said.
"Is it just a mouse?" Luo Yuan thought, but there was an unknown premonition in his heart.
Because he knows that the F+ mission is definitely not that easy to complete.
The two came to the train station, but during the inspection, Zhan Ma Dao couldn't pass the security check. No matter how Luo Yuan explained that it was a handicraft, it was useless. He only had to handle emergency consignment and Luo Yuan was relieved until he was sure that it would arrive at the same time.
Without the Zhanma Dao, Luo Yuan would not have the confidence to complete the F+ mission.
The train station was so crowded that it almost made people think it was the Spring Festival. Most of these people had heavy faces, with unbreakable melancholy and worries about the future.
The two of them couldn't find a seat, so they stood in the aisle!
Luo Yuan discovered that train delays were serious. In just half an hour, four or five trains were delayed all at once. When it was almost 1:30, the train bound for Yushui also showed delays. It seemed that something happened on the way. whats the matter.
"Why does this high-speed train show that it is delayed? It's so inaccurate!" Zhao Yali complained.
"Take your time, as long as you can get there." Luo Yuan comforted, but his heart gradually sank.
Fortunately, no accident happened this time. Half an hour later, the train finally pulled into the station.
After Luo Yuan cut the tickets, he and Zhao Yali walked into the platform. Suddenly everyone was in an uproar, and some people even screamed. I saw that the entire train was covered in blood and a mess, with some feathers stained in some places.
Luo Yuan bent down and picked up a half-foot-long feather that was gray in color but had a hint of metallic luster, and used an identification technique.
"Sparrow Feathers"
"Purpose: Material"
"Rarity: White."
"Weight: 10 grams."
"Evaluation: This is the feather of a mutated sparrow."
Mutated sparrow
Has this train been attacked by sparrows
He looked at the feathers, which were half a foot long, and roughly estimated that the sparrow should be close to a foot long.
If even birds mutate, things will be a little bit worse. The route may become very unsafe or even be completely closed. What's more serious is that birds are more difficult to defend than wild beasts, and their hunting distance is too large, not to mention some particularly large birds.
Even if you cut down the trees and burn the forests, you can't stop the arrival of these mutated creatures. He couldn't help but feel chills all over when he thought about the giant bird that would cover the sky and block out the sun appear over the city.
I hope this will not happen in Donghu City. Luo Yuan comforted himself, but even the most optimistic estimates were slim. With the burning of mountains and forests across the country, some mutated ferocious birds with no food for food might target humans for food.
"How could such a thing happen?" Zhao Yali said in panic, holding Luo Yuan's hand tightly, her body trembling slightly.
Luo Yuan responded silently, really not knowing how to comfort him.
"Let's go, get in the car." Luo Yuan said, "Otherwise, we'll drive away."