Chapter 15
Jiafu Community was not the first community where the soldiers had distributed supplies. They had experienced similar scenes too many times.
But each time, they could only remain silent.
Having been out on missions for so long, they more or less knew the situation. This disaster was perhaps just the beginning. The country was currently doing its utmost to integrate resources, build bases, and prepare for even more difficult challenges ahead.
However, these things couldn’t be told directly to the common people. They wouldn’t be able to handle it, and the chaos would be even more thorough.
If they were to lie to appease them for a while, only to face a greater disaster later, the government would lose its credibility. The loss would outweigh the gain. Therefore, they all kept their mouths shut.
In the end, a mature soldier with a megaphone took charge of the situation. “Everyone, please calm down. We will do everything we can to lead you through this disaster. Now is the time to distribute supplies. Please return to your own buildings, appoint a building leader as a representative to count the population, and we will distribute the supplies in batches!”
The crowd didn’t get the answers they wanted and became anxious. They chattered and pulled at the sleeves of a group of soldiers, asking questions, but still, no one answered.
Another group of soldiers had already begun to organize the supplies.
The megaphone continued to persuade them to go back and choose a building leader to count the people.
Finally, the crowd, after some persuasion among themselves, dejectedly went back.
Ji Yang didn’t plan to participate in these matters, so she didn’t go down immediately. No one would care if a few households were missing. Sure enough, about ten minutes later, someone came knocking on her door.
She opened the door and saw a middle-aged man with a warm smile. “Hello, I’m Qiao Huijun, the building leader everyone has chosen. This is the deputy building leader, Liang Zhen.”
He said, pointing to the slightly reserved man standing beside him.
Ji Yang glanced at the two of them and nodded. “Hello.”
Qiao Huijun said cheerfully, “We’re here to do a population count. May I ask your name? And who else lives with you? We need to see them to register their identity information.”
He had come all the way up, so he was already familiar with the process. He handed over the form in his hand. “The soldiers over there said you have to write down your own identity information to prevent over-reporting.”
Liang Zhen then reminded her, “Children can also be reported. As long as they have ID information, they can all receive supplies, but children under ten can only receive half a portion.”
Ji Yang understood, took the form, and quickly wrote down her information.
Qiao Huijun was stunned. “Just you alone?”
“Yes,” Ji Yang replied.
Qiao Huijun took a couple more glances, somewhat surprised. A hint of appraisal entered his gaze, and then he noticed how truly beautiful this young girl was!
Young girls love to be beautiful. Her home was warm, so she wasn’t wearing many clothes. That face, that figure… he swallowed, his eyes momentarily fixed.
“Ahem!” Liang Zhen frowned and said in a deep voice, “Then you’d better be careful. The world is a bit unstable right now.”
Ji Yang silently took out the Tang sword she kept behind the door. The tip pointed downwards and, with a “ding,” it pierced the tiled floor, making a crisp sound. She curved her lips into a smile. Her beautiful little face looked extremely harmless, but her words sent a chill down one’s spine. “It’s fine, I’m a lawyer. I’ve studied self-defense very thoroughly. I guarantee that if anyone dares to come over, they will not return, and I will be completely fine.”
Qiao Huijun: !
The little bit of heat that had just ignited in him instantly turned to ice.
He said drily, “That’s… that’s good.”
Liang Zhen was a bit surprised, but he didn’t say much. “Alright then, we’ll be going. In about an hour, remember to come down to the first floor to get your supplies.”
“Okay,” Ji Yang said with a smile.
As she put away the Tang sword, she even gave it a flourish, her movements swift and elegant.
Qiao Huijun, who hadn’t had time to look away, immediately quickened his pace of departure.
—
Counting down an hour, Ji Yang didn’t go down immediately.
The main reason was that she could see the situation of the supply distribution from her balcony. The entire community had nearly a thousand people, and the supplies for so many people couldn’t be handled casually.
The military used a convoy to escort them.
Therefore, by the time the supplies were actually distributed to their building, it was almost two hours later. It wasn’t just the two building leaders who were getting the supplies; anyone in the building with a bit of strength went to help. Bags of coal, boxes of food, sets of clothes, and so on—the quantity was really quite large.
Seeing that everything had been moved in, Ji Yang instructed Xixi to guard the door and went downstairs.
She had wrapped herself up very tightly, with only her eyes visible. The others were the same, so no one noticed that she was clean and her hair was fresh and not greasy.
In such cold weather, most people wouldn’t dare to wash their hair. Otherwise, the hot water would turn to ice halfway through, and their wet hair would become a block of ice before it had a chance to dry. With a little force, it would break into a mess.
Therefore, most people’s hair was greasy.
Some people were ruthless enough to shave their heads to feel more comfortable.
But when they went out, their heads also had to be well-wrapped; otherwise, the temperature of over minus fifty degrees could freeze their brains.
At this moment, Ji Yang didn’t see many greasy heads.
Qiao Huijun and Liang Zhen were currently preparing to distribute the supplies. The former was in charge of arranging everyone to line up according to their floor, while the latter was busy organizing the supplies. Everyone had been looking forward to the supplies for a long time. Even if they still had a lot to eat at home, they wouldn’t waste this relief food. So, they were all very well-behaved, afraid of delaying the process.
Soon, the crowd formed a U-shape, with the supplies piled in the middle.
Ji Yang happened to be in line behind the Li family.
Seeing her, Li Yi greeted her warmly, “You’re here. I was just saying I didn’t see you.”
Ji Yang: “Just arrived.”
The two could only be considered acquaintances, not familiar. Ji Yang’s attitude was also rather cold. Li Yi was a little disappointed and didn’t try to start another conversation.
She didn’t know many people here, and the internet was down. She had thought she could find a friend of a similar age, but unfortunately, the other party didn’t think so.
Ji Yang pretended not to see the disappointment in her eyes. At a time like this, what’s the point of making friends? Who knows, that friend might die one day, and she would have to be sad.
And if a friend ran into difficulties, should she help or not? If she helped too much, the other party would become dependent. If she suddenly stopped helping, one could imagine what would happen next.
However, it was also at this time that Ji Yang learned that there were two other households living above her. One on the seventeenth floor, a single man in his fifties or sixties; and on the sixteenth floor, a middle-aged couple in their forties, with worried expressions on their faces.
The speed of receiving supplies was quite fast because the amount distributed this time was not small.
Of course, this was for half a month.
Therefore, some people still raised objections, thinking it wasn’t enough. But they only complained a little and didn’t continue to find fault. After all, it was free, and they all… had some stock of their own.
The main shortage was heating supplies like coal.
In about half an hour, it was Ji Yang’s turn.
She reported her apartment number and quickly received her supplies: a bag of coal, five jin of rice, five jin of potatoes, ten jin of vegetables, a bag of five packs of instant noodles, half a jin of meat, a bag of salt, a set of down jackets per person… a miscellaneous assortment, but enough to keep everyone from starving for the next half a month to a month.
In addition, there was a survival guide for the snow disaster and extreme cold.
A thin piece of paper, filled with text, telling everyone how to save themselves if they got frostbite, how to read the sky to watch for blizzards, hail, and the like, how to burn charcoal scientifically, how to better find desired supplies when going out, and how to better protect themselves…
A rough scan revealed it was full of practical information. Just looking at it gave one the impression of a teacher earnestly teaching.
Ji Yang smiled. She had also received this in her previous life and had seriously memorized it, which had saved her multiple times when she was out searching for supplies later.
However, not everyone was grateful. Some people, upon receiving it, immediately asked irritably, “Does this mean this snow disaster is not going to end?”
“Damn it, I don’t believe this bad situation can last forever…”
“What is this? The words are too small, I can’t see clearly. Forget it…”
With that, they crumpled it up and threw it away.
—
Everyone had received their supplies. At this time, food and drink were still relatively plentiful, and no one had any crooked ideas. Ji Yang directly took out a burlap sack, put the supplies in it, and then, carrying one in each hand, easily went upstairs.
She passed by those with families, whose supplies were several times hers, and quickly returned home.
Leaving behind someone who asked in surprise, “Was that a little girl just now? She’s so strong!”
“Kids these days are amazing. They eat much better than we did. It’s normal for them to be strong.”
“Not necessarily, look at my daughter…”
The girl who was being talked about smiled helplessly, took a deep breath, wanting to quickly climb up and stun her mom, but she ran out of energy halfway up. As she gasped for breath, the biting cold wind was sucked in, and her respiratory tract ached so much it made her tremble.
She decisively sat down to rest.
No, no!
That young lady is really amazing!
***
After the relief food was distributed, the building seemed to become much more active.
This was reflected in the increased number of trips to the rooftop to get snow. They probably had enough fuel and heating coal and wanted to boil more water.
It was also good for soaking their feet to warm up their bodies.
Anyway, the heat was there, so it shouldn’t be wasted.
It could also add some humidity to their homes.
However, this little bit of fuel wouldn’t last too long. Many people didn’t completely rely on the official relief food. When the snow was lighter, they would form groups to go out and chop wood.
Fortunately, the greening here was well done. Although the snow had buried many trees, the few bits that were exposed could be dug down along, and they could chop with precision. A tree was usually surrounded by a grove of trees.
When these trees were brought back, one tree could last for one or two days.
This way, plus the supplies from the government, they could live quite comfortably. But soon, as the time for the next distribution of relief food approached, Ji Yang clearly felt that the sky above was a little darker than the previous few days.
Before, it was just snowing. Although there was no sun and it felt a bit overcast, now it was covered by dark clouds.
There’s danger!
The sky began to change around noon, when it was relatively warm. Ji Yang happened to be eating on the balcony and noticed it immediately. She looked up. In just a few minutes, the people outside didn’t even have time to find shelter before “thump, thump, thump”—ice chunks began to fall one after another.
Accompanied by snowflakes, fist-sized hailstones smashed into the snow, creating pits.
“Hail, hail! It’s hailing!”
“Dad, come back quickly—”
A few people who had gone out to chop wood and had just reached the community entrance immediately sensed that something was wrong. They didn’t care about the firewood on their backs and desperately ran towards the nearest building.
Some ran fast and were lucky enough to find cover a moment before the hail fell.
But some were very unlucky. Just one step away, the hail fell on their bodies and heads. The force of it directly smashed them to the ground, unable to move. Then, a dense shower of hail fell, and blood gradually spread…