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墨書 Inktalez
The weather is so hot that even the young and strong men can't handle it, let alone the elderly and children. During the day, it's somewhat bearable; at worst, they can use the most primitive method—a fan. But at night, it becomes unbearable. A few elderly villagers approached Zhang Zhong, who is now the village chief, and it was time for him to shine and provide some power.
Zhang Zhong didn't refuse. He hopped on his motorcycle and went to town with a young man from the village. Everyone gathered at Zhang Zhong's doorstep waiting for news. Li Ming was enjoying an ice pop, happily licking it with his agile little tongue. The nearby children saw this and began to whine to their parents, demanding ice pops.
In previous years, ice pops were no big deal; after all, there are fewer children in the households now, and they are treated like treasures. Who doesn't have dozens stored in their freezer? But this year has been tough with natural disasters and rising prices. The young wives in each household are constantly calculating their little savings, so ice pops—something non-essential—naturally fell off the list of daily necessities.
Of course, there were a few families that had some ice pops at home, but those people kept quiet and silently took their children home. Who would admit to having extra food at a time like this? They weren't fools.
"Mommy, I want an ice pop! I want an ice pop!" A chubby little boy was the first to shout out. The young wife next to him pretended to scold him a bit before smiling at Li Yan and saying, "Li Family brother, look at how greedy this child is. Kids just can't stand the heat. By the way, do you still have any ice pops at home?"
The way she asked was quite technical. When Li Yan said no, no one believed him; he would be secretly labeled as stingy. If he had them, he should just take them out.
This young wife was Ma Juan, the wife of Tang Zaiping from Dong Village. Their family was one of the few outsiders in Zhangjia Village. Tang Zaiping had been doing well in recent years, taking on several small projects outside and renovating their home inside and out while also buying a small car. However, Ma Juan lived her life in a way that could only be described with one word—stingy!
She was harsh on herself and even harsher on her family; there wasn't a single meal with meat in a week because she claimed her father-in-law had high blood pressure and couldn't eat it. That wasn't all; her little daughter had never worn new clothes since she was born. The seven or eight-year-old girl always looked disheveled, making the villagers feel sorry for her.
At first, everyone thought Ma Juan's stinginess was just her nature, but then she had a son. This son was born with a golden spoon in his mouth named Tang Bao. Ma Juan spent generously on him; his clothes cost hundreds of dollars each, and it was said that his formula milk was imported. The villagers finally understood—Ma Juan was truly something else.
"Oh look, isn't that Ma Juan? Your husband is quite the boss out there; what’s going on? Can't even spare an ice pop for your child?" Someone spoke up; he had long been displeased with Ma Juan and didn't hold back his words.
"What boss? My husband is just a worker; our whole family relies on him alone. As a woman without a job, how can I afford to be extravagant?" Ma Juan forced a smile but then gritted her teeth and said to Li Yan, "How about I buy one?"
"One? I see your daughter looks pretty eager too! Come here, Zhao Di! Do you want an ice pop?" He waved towards a corner of the crowd.
Everyone turned around to see that it was indeed Tang Zhao Di standing there in an old dress that looked neither beige nor white; the style didn’t need mentioning either. The little girl’s hair was messy as she looked longingly at her mother but immediately fell silent when Ma Juan shot her a glare. However, she couldn’t take her eyes off the ice pop in Li Xiaoming's hand.
Li Ming was eating a Dream Dragon, which used to cost only four or five yuan each, but now due to rising prices, it costs fifteen yuan. Li Yan was worried that ice pops would become a luxury in the future, so he bought various drinks in bulk for ten thousand yuan, knowing they wouldn't spoil in storage.
"Alright," Zhou Miao said, leaning against his wife. Yu Tian frowned as he glanced at the little girl, who surprisingly did not push Zhou Miao away.
Zhou Miao's rogue demeanor was evident. "We're not overcharging; we bought them from the town for thirty yuan each. If you want to buy one, I won't raise the price—just give me thirty." Zhou Miao wasn't lying; they had purchased them last year when prices were lower. Besides, with the current state of affairs, even if you wanted an ice pop, there might not be anywhere to buy one.
"Thirty?!" Ma Juan's voice shot up, causing those nearby to wince. Her expression darkened; how could this thing cost thirty yuan?! It was clearly a scam. Ma Juan stopped smiling, her face long like Changbai Mountain, almost setting a Guinness record. "Li Family brother, that's quite a joke. It's just an ice pop for a child; if you don't want to sell it, just say so. My little Bao won't die if he doesn't have one today."
Ma Juan's voice was too loud; little Bao saw that the ice pop was out of reach and immediately rolled on the ground crying and throwing a tantrum. The child was used to getting his way—if he didn't get it, he would fuss and complain until he did. Ma Juan's face turned red with anger as she held her child but couldn't bring herself to lift a finger against him. If she were truly a good mother, Li Yan wouldn't care about that one ice pop, but with a son and daughter—one heaven and one earth—Li Yan's gaze grew noticeably colder.
"Enough! If you want to take care of your child, go home," finally interjected Zhang Sanye from the village. He was an elder with authority in the community.
Ma Juan glared at Zhou Miao and left with her child. As soon as she walked away, the other women began gossiping about her, saying things like how Tang Zaiping had another woman outside, which is why Ma Juan treated little Bao like her lifeline.
However, many people also said that Li Ming was lucky; his intelligence surpassed that of ordinary people. He must have been born under a lucky star—never worrying about food or drink. People really do need to rely on fate!
Without electricity, it was unbearable to stay indoors. The Li Family had a habit of storing ice cubes, thanks to the children watching television. They took out the ice cubes to cool down somewhat. They could also stay in their space for comfort, but spending too much time there made them reluctant to leave.
Humans are social creatures; Li Yan felt it wasn't good to stay in the space all the time. Plus, Zhou Miao and Yu Tian couldn't remain there for long either. So they mostly tried to stay outside whenever possible. Li Yan brought some fruit from their space; the family enjoyed watermelon and drank spring water while living comfortably.
Li Ming rolled his eyes and pouted as he noticed that the adults weren't paying attention to him. He quietly took out a Kawaii Duo from the space and ran out happily, followed closely by Wonton. The little guy felt secure with his companion and walked confidently like a character from a gangster movie on TV, strutting with exaggerated steps that looked quite amusing.
Li Ming had sharp eyes and spotted Tang Zhaodi squatting under someone's eaves in the shade away from the sun. The child squatted on the ground without knowing what she was doing.
When Li Xiaoming handed Kawaii Duo to the little girl, she snatched it without tearing off the wrapper and put it straight into her mouth. She took a big bite while nervously glancing at Li Ming as if afraid he would take it back. Tang Zhaodi looked dirty and wore old clothes; other village children were reluctant to play with her, so she gradually became wary of others.
Once they finished eating Kawaii Duo, Tang Zhaodi noticed that Li Ming didn't try to take it back and felt slightly fond of this older boy. "Thank you, brother," she said shyly. She had seen her mother teach her younger brother to say thank you when someone gave him something to eat. In the past, everything had been given to her brother by their mother; thus, she never needed to say thank you to anyone else.
The child shook his head seriously, revealing a cute little tiger tooth with his small mouth open, and his big, watery eyes shone with pride. "No need, I'm robbing the rich to help the poor."
"Robbing the rich to help the poor?" Tang Zhaodi, only nine years old, couldn't understand this term. "What does that mean?"
"Um..." The child tilted his head, recalling what Zhou Miao said on TV. "It means robbing wealthy families and then helping the poor." Li Ming felt happy to meet someone even more naive than himself, which made him even friendlier towards Tang Zhaodi. "Do you want to eat more? I can get you some." Li Ming had been mistreated by his stepmother when he was younger, so seeing the little girl's mother made him feel uncomfortable; that mother was a bad woman, much worse than his second mother.
Li Yan watched his child from a distance, feeling a deep discomfort inside. A chilling coldness flickered in his deep-set eyes. Zhou Miao sighed and patted Li Yan's shoulder: "Just having you as a brother is enough; don't think too much."
"Of course." Li Yan smiled gently at the child not far away. "I will take good care of him." For a lifetime.
When Zhang Zhong returned, it was already past eight in the evening, and he brought back bad news. He heard that there was a power shortage in the big city, so the electricity from nearby small towns was redirected there. For the next week, there would be three days without power; the town would fare slightly better with two days without power each week.
This news was like a bolt from the blue for the villagers. If it were spring or autumn, it wouldn't be such a problem even in winter. But now it was summer; the elderly and children couldn't endure such heat. Were city people human while they were not? A few people insisted on going to find the town mayor, but Zhang Zhong stopped them. He wiped his face and said, "Don't go; I heard that people from other villages went and were sent back directly. We don't even know if they are alive or dead."
After hearing Zhang Zhong's words, the villagers calmed down. The common people have never fought against officials throughout history. Someone suggested calling the television station; they didn't believe there would be no rule of law.
But who would make the call? If one person called, it could benefit many, but what would happen to that person afterward was uncertain; this had been exposed on TV several times before. Those people could handle one or two individuals easily but not a large crowd.
In the end, the idea of making a call fell through since there were still four days without power left. Life had gone on just fine before electricity existed. Candles in town sold like crazy; Li Yan and others hadn't thought about candles at all initially—there were plenty of oil lamps available, but they needed oil for those too.
It seemed that even wise men could overlook something; among all those supplies, Zhou Laoyezi didn't have a single candle! Well then, the Li family could only join the ranks of those hoarding candles. Of course, the Li family also bought several white wax trees because if they really ran out of candles, they would have to find a way themselves.
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