Chapter 75: Extreme Heat 16
People along the riverbank, carrying basins, large buckets, and small buckets, rushed to the river.
There was no order, only chaos.
In the pitch black, no one knew who was standing next to them, who suddenly pushed them, or who was arguing. Everyone just wanted to rush into the river, get water, and leave quickly.
This river was once used for flood discharge, with depths reaching dozens of meters. Large boats used to navigate it, and local people affectionately called it the Mother River. However, the Mother River’s water level now exposed the riverbed in some places, and in many areas, the water barely covered their insteps.
Most of the city’s population was crammed into the river, scrambling for water, person-to-person, trampling over each other.
Yesterday, several bodies were already floating in the river, victims of trampling and drowning. After tonight, there would be even more floating corpses in the water…
Li Yunqiang and Liu Yong were two players.
And particularly unlucky players at that.
At the beginning of the game, to prepare for later stages, they took a risk and robbed a lone girl at night. Although they were chased for several miles, they managed to steal over ten thousand yuan. Combined with the funds the game originally provided, they had a total of 14,000 yuan.
With that much money, staying in a Hotel for the remaining ten-plus days was more than enough.
The two went directly to a three-star Hotel, chose a pretty good room, and spent 8,000 yuan to book it for 17 days.
On the fourth day of the game, the power went out, but it had no impact on the Hotel.
On the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth days… the Hotel was still going strong, the generator ran continuously, and the air conditioning never stopped.
Li Yunqiang and Liu Yong spent those days lying in bed, bored, watching TV, looking at their phones, and observing the ordinary people outside who were dying from the heat without electricity. When they were hungry, they ordered takeout, ate and drank well, and even had Hotel staff come to clean.
Life those few days was incredibly comfortable, making them proud of both robbing others and staying in the Hotel.
However, the city’s prolonged water, gas, and power outages meant that even the largest Hotel couldn’t hold on.
First, water supply became impossible.
No water for showering, laundry, or cleaning. Most critically, the toilets stank terribly, making everyone nauseous.
Then, breakfast couldn’t be supplied.
Lunch couldn’t be bought inside the Hotel, and there was no takeout available outside either. The two were starving in the Hotel, their stomachs rumbling, their vision blurred. But at least there was electricity and air conditioning.
They stayed indoors during the day and went out to find food at night, enduring another day like this.
Until yesterday morning, when the Hotel suddenly lost power.
The internal staff had already fled, leaving only one attendant in the Hotel lobby. The power outage wasn’t an isolated incident; all the Hotel’s tenants rushed out, demanding an explanation.
“I apologize, due to the high temperatures, the Hotel can no longer accommodate guests’ living needs. Please line up, and we will now refund the money spent from today onwards.”
Yes, the Hotel had started issuing refunds.
Li Yunqiang and Liu Yong’s good days lasted only a few days before they were driven out. Following the other people leaving the Hotel, they set up camp directly in the Hotel’s basement.
Compared to the air-conditioner-less upper floors, the basement was indeed much cooler. However, the two had made no preparations to combat the high temperatures in advance, and they encountered more and more problems.
The first major problem: no water!
Bottled water at supermarkets and stores had long been snatched up, and even soft drinks were gone. Buying from others cost 100 yuan a bottle, and even then, it was often unavailable.
The two spent a third of their money, managing to buy only three bottles of mineral water and one bottle of cola. In the extremely hot weather, the few bottles of water were quickly consumed.
To survive, these two had no choice but to follow others and scramble for water in the big river, even though the river water was extremely murky and emitted a strange odor. Even though the river contained various terrifying-looking parasites highly harmful to humans, they had to hold their noses and gulp it down to stay alive!
And now, getting river water was difficult.
The two, relying on being men and having considerable strength, pushed and shoved, finally managing to fill a bucket with water!
Just then, a light flashed on the bridge, and a car left from the bridge above.
Not just them, many people below the bridge saw it.
“It’s good to have a car; you can leave the city,” someone said, looking into the distance with a hint of envy.
In the past day or two, quite a few people had left the city.
“It’s so hot everywhere; where can you go by leaving?”
Someone dismissed it, “I heard the glaciers have all melted from the heat.”
“To the countryside.”
Another voice chimed in, “Many rural families have those wells; the well water is directly drinkable, no strange taste, no bugs. Just that alone puts it several streets ahead of the city. And every household has land, rice in the granary, vegetables in the fields, wood for burning. Completely self-sufficient.
Ah… I suddenly envy those country folk.”
“You know quite a lot.”
Liu Yong and Li Yunqiang were both moved by this. “Then why don’t you go?”
Although cars were rare, they weren’t nonexistent.
At worst, getting a bicycle for transport and traveling at night would also work.
“No one to rely on. No acquaintances in the countryside; who would let people eat and stay for free?”
The speaker sighed regretfully, “I shouldn’t have sold the house in the village the year before last. Now I can’t go back to my hometown, it’s truly suffering.”
“I also have no relatives in the countryside, otherwise I would have gone to them long ago.”
Another person also lamented, “But if the city truly becomes unbearable, then the only option is to pack up and find deep mountains, old forests, and caves to live like a wild person.”
…It was Lu Qingyuan and Chu Yian who drove over the bridge. The two were unaware of the discussion their departure sparked, and because gasoline was precious, they even moved some building materials back on their way home.
Game Day 12, Night.
Although there was nothing of value to be found outside besides building materials, the two discussed it and decided to go out one more time.
However, tonight, there were many vehicles on the road. Dozens of cars drove past them, all heading out of the city.
“So many people.”
Chu Yian watched the cars passing by. “Where are they going?”
“I don’t know, let’s go back first.”
Lu Qingyuan sharply turned the car around. The two decided not to go out and drove directly towards home.
Home, close the door, lock up.
They returned just in time, as cars were already passing in front of their gate.
Chu Yian’s first action upon returning was to turn off all light sources and the generator that was supplying power to the refrigerator. Although the food in the refrigerator was precious, she was more concerned that someone might hear the generator’s sound and notice the small courtyard by the roadside.
At this moment, the small courtyard was as quiet as if no one lived there. Chu Yian and Lu Qingyuan both sat outside, waiting for all the cars outside to leave.
