"There are two possibilities." The child raised two fingers. "First, they planned to ask from the seventh floor down, so the first one to ring was the doorbell on the seventh floor; second, no one from the third to sixth floors heard it. The doorbell rings, or no one wants to open the door for them.”
Xiao Mo denied it without thinking: "The second possibility is impossible. There are eight families living on the third to sixth floors. It is impossible that there are no people in each family."
Xue Lihong thought of her observations over the past two days and remained silent.
Xiao Mo stared at the child in disbelief, "...Is there really no one left?"
"At least in the past two and a half days, I haven't seen anyone alive except me come out of this building."
"Impossible! Even if the people who went to work on the night of the 16th were outside and didn't have time to come back, as far as I know, there are old people and children at home on the third and sixth floors, and the foreigners renting in 402 on the fourth floor are also because their wives are about to give birth. I am at home with my wife every day, so these people must be at home.”
"Maybe they all went to the emergency site, maybe someone like you slept for days and hasn't woken up yet."
"Yes, that's right, that's for sure."
While the two were talking, a different doorbell rang. The visitor had climbed up to the seventh floor and arrived outside their home.
As soon as the door opened, the person outside the door quickly took a step back.
"Hello, we are the staff of the disease center census team. Thank you for your support and cooperation in our work."
Outside the door, a middle-aged man in a jumpsuit barely had a professional smile on his face. He showed a work sign with the words "Disease Center" and nervously said to Xiao Mo who came to open the door.
Behind him was a medical worker in a white coat and two armed policemen. Without exception, these four people all wore full-body protective clothing and helmets with transparent masks.
The medical staff was farthest from the door. The two armed policemen stared at Xiao Mo nervously, holding batons in their hands, as if they were ready to pounce on the person at any time and suppress him.
"Hello everyone, thank you for your hard work." Xiao Mo turned his eyes and said politely, intentionally or unintentionally turning his body to one side to block the man's gaze from inside.
Inside the house, Xue Lihong was quickly putting the tools and parts on the sofa and coffee table into a small backpack.
About that time Xiao Mo looked normal, and the enumerator's expression relaxed a little.
Xiao Mo didn't understand why these people looked so nervous.
The man took a small step forward.
"Excuse me, are you the only one who lives here?" The man found that he couldn't see inside the house, so he had to pick up the record folder and start asking as usual.
"Yes, I live here alone."
The man's pen tip paused slightly, "Do you remember the census a few days ago? There was also a child entered in your information."
"Oh, you're talking about Xiaohong. He is my friend's child. He is temporarily staying with me for the past two days." Xiao Mo said very naturally.
Before opening the door, he considered whether to reveal the child's true origin, but as soon as the door opened, he changed his mind.
He didn't think it was a good idea to tell the overstretched census takers that the child's origins were unknown in this particular situation.
"And where is your friend now?"
Xiao Mo frowned, "Aren't you here to check if anyone is sick? What does the location of my friend and his wife have to do with you?"
"Haha," the man laughed awkwardly, "Just asking. How are you two physically? Have you felt uncomfortable or anything in the past few days?"
"No, we are all fine, we just found that the situation outside is not very good."
"You haven't gone out these days?"
"No, we didn't dare to go out because the situation was bad."
"You didn't go to collect relief supplies?"
"I'm going to pick it up, but I don't feel at ease because I have children at home. I plan to wait until the situation calms down a bit in the past two days before going out."
Seeing that Xiao Mo's answers were flawless and that he looked very healthy and his expression didn't look like he was hiding anything, the man didn't ask any more questions.
"Can the child come out and do a simple check-up with you? It's very simple and won't take you long."
Xiao Mo turned to call Xue Lihong, and then asked with an uneasy look on his face: "What is going on? Is it a new type of virus? Can it be treated? Can we go into the city? When can we resume normal life? "
The man motioned for the medical staff to come up for a routine check, and said perfunctorily: "Don't worry, the virus has been controlled, and there are currently treatment plans. Just to be cautious, this area still needs to be isolated for a period of time."
"About how long?" Xiao Mo asked.
"This... there will be a notice above, so just wait and see. It shouldn't take long." The man gave Xiao Mo a comforting smile.
The medical staff stepped forward and motioned Xiao Mo to put a test strip into his mouth.
Xiao Mo did as he was told, and when he took out the test paper, he casually asked: "What kind of test is this?"
"See if the metal content in your body exceeds the standard." The medical staff probably received instructions and did not conceal the purpose of the test.
"Metal? Is this virus caused by heavy metal poisoning?"
"Oh, you responded so quickly." The medical staff praised him.
"But there are no paper factories near us, nor any hazardous chemical factories." Xiao Mo asked suspiciously.
"So we are looking at the source of the virus."
Xue Lihong came over with a small backpack on her back. The medical staff held the test strips and motioned for him to open his mouth. Xue Lihong hugged Xiao Mo's thigh and refused.
Xiao Mo smiled and said that children are afraid of strangers. He took the test strip and looked down at the child.
The child raised his head and opened his mouth obediently.
Seeing the child licking the test paper wet, Xiao Mo handed the test paper back to the medical staff.
Because it is just a simple test, the results come out quickly. Within five minutes, the medical staff told their companions that there was no problem with the baby.
Xiao Mo thought that the examination was over, but the medical staff took out an electronic thermometer and asked them to take their temperatures.
"What's going on?" Xiao Mo asked with a slightly impatient expression.
The man on the side stepped forward and replied: "Oh, this is to see if you two have been infected with the virus before."
Xiao Mo was shocked and asked tentatively: "Didn't everyone who got infected go to the hospital? Wouldn't they have died earlier if they stayed at home?"
"This is true for some people, but there are also some people who, because of their relatively strong immunity, can recover without medication after surviving the pain of the disease."
"Isn't that a good thing? Why check?"
"This is to prevent the second occurrence of the disease, so people who have not been registered must be registered."
Xiao Mo didn't know what was going on with him. A strange intuition made him not want to tell others about his illness and recovery, especially the census workers.
"Mr. Xiao, have you been feeling unwell before, but are you feeling better now?" As the man asked, the atmosphere at the door suddenly became tense.
"Uh, I don't know if it's like what you said." Xiao Mo slowed down his speech, thinking of countermeasures quickly in his mind. Lying would definitely not work. He has a record of taking medicine at a community hospital. As long as someone is interested, he can check it. They can find out. Instead of lying now and making them suspicious later, it is better to tell the truth...
Just before Xiao Mo had figured out how to explain, the child who had been holding his thigh suddenly said:
"Uncle Xiao had a fever a few days ago. I'm so worried about him. Uncle, can you take care of him?"
"Oh? Really? Just a fever?" The man and the medical staff stared closely at Xiao Mo's expression.
"Yes, it's just a fever. But it's gone now." Xiao Mo didn't understand what Xue Lihong meant when he said he had a fever, but he still followed his words.
Xue Lihong heard his last words and couldn't help but want to bite him. Idiot, there is no tacit understanding at all!
"No other symptoms?" The man looked at the child specifically when he asked this question.
"No. My fever is probably just caused by a cold. I wasn't feeling well before our community was quarantined, but it was probably just a common cold. Haha, you see, it happened by chance, and I scared myself half to death. This is what I have been doing these days. The reason Tian didn't dare to go out was because he was afraid of getting infected." Xiao Mo became more and more sloppy as he spoke, and became calmer as he spoke.
The man found that the child looked scared, and would avoid his gaze when he looked at him. Other than that, he had nothing else. He didn't have any special expression when Xiao Mo said this.
"Whether the fever is caused by this viral infection, we will know by taking your temperature now."
The man couldn't tell whether Xiao Mo was telling the truth or a lie, because there were coincidences like what Xiao Mo said. And if Xiao Mo was really infected by the virus, the tragic appearance of the disease would definitely leave a deep impression on the children around him.
Adults can hide their expressions and lie, but how can a child as young as that
"Can you tell by taking your temperature?"
"At present, we have found that anyone who recovers from the illness will have a very high body temperature within 24 hours after recovery." The medical staff replied.
Xiao Mo was a little worried. He had not been awake for more than twenty-four hours.
Xue Lihong hugged his thigh tightly. Xiao Mo's body temperature was indeed a bit high. He said he had a fever just to cover up the situation, but this idiot actually said he was cured. What should he do now
Xiao Mo watched helplessly as the thermometer got closer to his neck.
This is a contact thermometer that has become more popular in recent years. It only takes one minute of contact with any part of the skin to get a very accurate temperature value.
"Wouldn't it be impossible to tell after more than twenty-four hours?" Xiao Mo was at a loss for words. In my heart, I was chanting crazily: I want to be normal, I must be normal!
"That's right. So we must hurry up and check as much as we can."
"I see that you went directly to our seventh floor. Have you checked the residents downstairs? Are they all okay?"
The man glanced at the medical staff and seemed to be hesitating whether to talk to Xiao Mo.
The medical staff said: "I suggest you not to visit relatives and friends during this period, let alone go to other people's homes. This is to avoid secondary infection and for your health."
"Of course, I'll pay attention."
"As for the residents downstairs, most of them are in the hospital now. Some people should still be at home, but we can't contact them." The man paused, "We will record these residents who cannot be contacted, and we will record them later. Other relevant personnel will come to check.”
"That's it..." Xiao Mo thought about it. If someone really died at home, he couldn't just let the body rot at home. Someone must come to deal with it.
The sound of "beep" sounded, and the medical staff took away the thermometer and looked at the display screen.