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墨書 Inktalez
After several heavy rainstorms, the weather only cooled down for a few days before it started to heat up again. The water level in the river began to drop, but no one in Zhangjia Village was concerned about that; the election for village chief was in full swing. Zhang Agou sighed every day, never expecting that after so many years of hard work, there wouldn't even be anyone to persuade him to stay.
In recent days, he had been spending more time at the Li Family's place. Zhang Agou found himself getting along well with Li Ming and Yu Tian, feeling that these two young men were very sensible. Especially Li Ming's little friend, who, although sometimes a bit naive, was quite clever and understanding. Most importantly, only Li Xiaoming was willing to listen to Zhang Agou talk about the past for the hundredth time.
As the weather grew hotter, stepping outside meant breaking into a sweat. Every household had their air conditioning on; it was so hot that even the electric fans blew out warm air. Those thrifty young wives didn’t care about the electricity bills anymore; they couldn’t let themselves suffer from the heat. As a result, just a few days later, the television urged everyone to conserve electricity, stating that this year's consumption had already surpassed last year's and offered several tips on how to save energy.
Li Xiaoming was a loyal viewer of this program, sitting on his little stool every day at the same time to watch it. He wouldn’t switch to another channel. The child even practiced what he learned. Just yesterday, he insisted on making ice cubes, so Li Yan specially found a large plastic container and filled it with water. After freezing it for half a day in the freezer, they placed the ice cubes in front of the fan that afternoon after turning off the air conditioning. It turned out that the breeze from the fan felt quite refreshing, and staying in an air-conditioned room all day wasn’t good for their health.
Many factories had also experienced power outages lately, typically operating three days and then resting for one. The young men in the village, especially those living nearby, simply went home to stay. The village became lively again; after seven in the evening, groups of three or five could be seen cooling off or drinking under the old trees, and naturally, some would get rowdy after drinking too much.
Li Yan woke up early and saw her little one sleeping soundly in her arms, tiny bubbles forming at his mouth and his little face flushed pink—adorable beyond words. Due to her long working hours, she usually woke up automatically around seven. After giving her little one a loving kiss on his small mouth, she gently placed him back in bed; she had pampered him well last night, so he would probably sleep until after nine today.
As soon as she stepped out of her room, she saw Yu Tian and Zhou Miao already having breakfast. Yu Tian had learned how to make hand-pulled noodles thanks to Zhang Agou's wife. Watching these four grown men occasionally help out—aside from matchmaking here and there—made them all quite grateful to her.
"Where's Mingming?" Yu Tian asked as he prepared a bowl of mixed fried sauce noodles specifically using his Winnie the Pooh bowl.
"The little guy stayed up late last night; he'll eat when he wakes up," Li Yan replied nonchalantly.
Yu Tian raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He felt that Li Yan had a particular obsession and controlling nature towards Li Ming. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but… Yu Tian couldn’t quite put his finger on it; it seemed like Li Yan took care of Li Ming more than anything else.
Zhou Miao was secretly flirting with his wife under the table while maintaining a serious demeanor above it. Just as Yu Tian was thinking about this situation, he suddenly felt his face flush. This idiot!!! But Yu Tian was shy and could only lower his head to eat noodles as if he were venting his frustrations through them.
After finishing breakfast, Li Yan entered the space. Yu Tian and Zhou Miao couldn’t enter on their own; they needed either Li Yan or Li Ming to take them in. However, they couldn’t stay too long inside either; their physical exertion while working in there was greater than that of Li Yan and Li Ming—perhaps because they weren’t the owners of the space. Nonetheless, using water and food from within helped their bodies feel much better than average people; they could now spend three or four consecutive hours inside without issue.
Most of the vegetables at home now come from their space, but to avoid drawing attention, they still asked the village for a few plots of land to grow some vegetables and fruits. Of course, they sometimes went to the town to buy some as well, since the vegetables in the fields weren't available all year round. However, their family never lacked green leafy vegetables and fruits, which always raised others' suspicions. Fortunately, their family had a car, so no one knew how much they bought at once.
Moreover, most people recognized the Li Family as wealthy, so it was likely that people in the city lived this way.
Li Yan picked some grapes and watermelons; now every usable spot in their space was filled. They had planted grains on several acres of land, and Li Yan was considering whether to grow some herbs since they already had enough food. But what if someone got sick? Although they had stocked up on plenty of medicines, he still wanted to see how effective the herbs grown in their space would be.
He discussed this with Zhou Miao, who thought it was a feasible idea. Although the weather wasn't great right now, their family didn't lack food, and growing other things would be beneficial.
They agreed that in the afternoon, the family of four would go to town while Wonton and Dumpling stayed home. The two Tibetan Mastiffs watched their owners leave, whining... "Master, we want to go shopping too! Shopping is so much fun!"
Thus, they missed the collective brawl in the village and did not get to see Zhang Agou for the last time.
There were quite a few places in town to buy herbs, but not many selling seeds. Most were simple ones like Fish Mint and Angelica. After asking around, Zhou Miao learned that the goods in the pharmacy were actually collected by locals from the mountains. If they were interested, they could go up to the mountains to check it out. This completely dispelled their thoughts; none of them knew anything about herbs. In the end, Li Ming settled on Sunflower Seeds, saying he wanted to plant sunflowers. So after a day of wandering around, they ended up buying a few bags of Sunflower Seeds to take home—considered a day's harvest.
The town remained quite peaceful; perhaps there weren't many people out due to the hot weather. However, there was no news about the Fish Disease incident at all. This could only mean that the government had accepted this matter and that the situation had improved; otherwise, even if they wanted to control it, they wouldn't be able to.
Since they were having sauerkraut fish for dinner, Yu Tian went to the convenience store and bought several packets of seasoning for it. The price was exceptionally high—almost equivalent to a pot of sauerkraut fish.
"Boss, why is this seasoning so expensive? Didn't it just go up in price recently?" Now Yu Tian managed the family's finances; he was diligent about keeping accounts and remembered every cent clearly. Zhou Miao sometimes thought about how his wife, this little white fish, would have fared in that predatory society if she hadn't met him. It seemed destined that she belonged with him.
"Young man, you don't know what's going on outside; it's chaotic out there now. I heard prices are rising again in the city. We can't even get supplies when we go out; it's just because our place is small that there's not much commotion," said the store boss while shaking his head. "Do you think I want to raise prices? Even if I do raise them, things won't sell."
Yu Tian didn't buy much either—just over five hundred yuan worth of goods fit into one bag of seasoning. They indeed had plenty of staples like rice and oil in their space, but these other seasonings were lacking. Yu Tian wondered if he should stock up on some more; however, with current prices...
"We should check out the nearby Farmers' Market," Li Yan suggested. He realized that the four of them always needed to eat. While they could grow some things like chili peppers, there were certain sauces and curries that they simply couldn't make themselves. Besides, their space was limited, so they could only plant a few appropriate items.
The group wandered around the Farmers' Market, but surprisingly, there wasn't much to buy. Perhaps due to rising prices, ordinary people were only able to purchase items little by little, so it didn't feel like there was a shortage of goods. However, since Li Yan and his friends bought more, they found that many items were already out of stock.
They decided to find the Boss of a small shop and expressed their willingness to buy some items, asking him to help restock. The Boss, who had initially looked grumpy, immediately brightened up with a sunny smile. In these times when money was hard to earn, it was clear that these people were well-off, so he eagerly agreed. He took note of what Li Yan and his friends needed and exchanged phone numbers with them, promising to notify them as soon as the goods arrived.
At that moment, Li Yan's phone rang. He glanced at the screen and saw it was Eva. They hadn't been in touch for a long time since the last time she borrowed money from him.
Li Yan squinted at the phone and almost didn't want to answer it, but a nearby child saw it was Eva and grabbed the phone. "Sister Eva, are you looking for my mom?" The child was unaware of the complexities of adult relationships and didn't know what kind of betrayal his brother had experienced.
Eva paused for a moment before hoarsely speaking up, "Mingming, can you let the Boss take a call?" If it weren't for her desperate situation, she wouldn't have wanted to make this call at all; her relatives, friends, and lovers had all become nothing but a burden.
"Hello." Li Yan's deep voice on the other end made Eva feel an urge to cry; unfortunately, she had ruined the trust that man had in her.
"What is it?" Li Yan's voice carried a cold edge.
"Boss." Eva bit her red lip tightly; her voice was filled with exhaustion. The confidence and sweetness she once had were nowhere to be found. Over this period, she had done everything possible to support her family’s expenses—even working as a supermarket cashier.
Since last year's ice disaster, the entire market had been in decline, making job hunting even more difficult. The fifty thousand yuan she asked Li Yan for was originally meant for her family. However, her boyfriend of many years had run off with all her savings while her family only kept asking her for money without caring about her situation.
With no other choice, she agreed to an old associate's request and became that man's mistress. Little did she know he was a pervert who left her bruised every time. Even though she endured it just to get food and water, now… that damned old man had found someone younger and prettier.
Trembling as she held the phone, Eva hoped that the person on the other end would help her one last time. "Boss, can you lend me some more… money? I… I really can't go on like this." The prices were terrifyingly high now; countless people in the city were starving or dying from heat. If it weren't for her constant efforts… she would have starved long ago.
Li Yan didn’t say anything, just hung up the phone and put the number in the blacklist. Smiling and tenderly touching Li Ming's little head, he nodded gently: "Obviously, don't answer calls from strangers in the future, you know?" "But sister Eva is not a stranger, isn't she?" Li XiaomingNot quite He tilted his head in understanding. "Obviously, am I better than that sister?" Zhou Miao took out a pack of Teddy Bear Cookies from his pocket. The child's eyes were shining, and his little head was spinning rapidly: "Zhou MiaoBrother!" What a simple answer. The whole family burst into laughter, and that was the end of the matter... Eva burst into tears while holding the phone. The poor-quality mascara was quickly stained by tears, making her face look horribly hideous. She resents everyone, why treat her like this! ! What did she do wrong! ! Li Yan, Li Yan! ! You bastard! ! Everybody, everybody die! ! At this time, there was a knock on the door, and there was madness and malice in Eva's eyes. No one could be trusted, and no one could be trusted. She can't just finish playing like this! ! She stood up and wiped away her tears, put on her makeup again and put on the clothes with only a few pieces of cloth. When she opened the door, she saw a man in his late thirties standing outside. Li Yan If you were here, you would definitely recognize this person as a security guard from their company who was fired before. He was sent to a detention center because his hands and feet were dirty, and later he heard that he was involved in the underworld. The man looked at that perfect sexy body greedily, licking his tongue to reveal his yellowed teeth. "Baby, are you agreeing?" The man said and already rushed forward. He didn't care that the door was open and started tearing. There were only a few pieces of cloth that couldn't withstand his actions. He started his most primitive movements like a wild beast. "I...fucking...feel good! Clamp it tight!!...Fuck, fuck," Eva yelled wildly, hooking her feet around the man's waist to facilitate his deeper penetration. This caused the man on top of her to sprint fiercely. Eva's eyes looked at the top of the porch. Those eyes were full of malice and resentment, like a poisonous snake waiting for an opportunity. One day... one day she would not let anyone go. Sorry for her people! ! !
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