Chapter 49 Cousin

Hurrying along, it was already seven in the evening by the time Bai Xiao returned home. The residential area's patrol followed a three-day rotation; after patrolling on the first day, she had spent the next two days outside. Tonight, it was once again the turn for her 12th floor to be on duty, but this time she was assigned the first half of the night.

Time was tight. She hurriedly took off her raincoat, took a quick shower, changed into fresh clothes, and wolfed down a few bites of food. She left the house before her hair was even completely dry.

Despite her haste, she was still the last one out. The others in her group didn't rush her, simply gathering and waiting outside Zhao Fangzhe's door.

As soon as she stepped out, several gazes converged on her, accompanied by the beams of flashlights.

"Are you Bai Xiao?" an unfamiliar female voice asked, sounding full of uncertainty.

Bai Xiao closed her door and looked toward the source of the voice. "Cheng Ru?"

Cheng Ru hadn't expected Bai Xiao to be Zhao Fangzhe's neighbor. When the heavy fog first descended, she had been trapped at school. Since her home wasn't in Yunzhou, her mother had worriedly called her uncle—Bai Xiao's father. He told her that Bai Xiao was currently living in Yunzhou and warmly invited her to take refuge at Bai Xiao's home, saying he would come pick her up. In the end, she waited and waited, but no one ever came, and she couldn't even get in touch with them.

She had struggled through half a month like that. It wasn't until the fog began to thin over the last two days that her ex-boyfriend, Zhao Fangzhe, with whom she occasionally kept in touch, heard of her plight and offered to let her stay at his place temporarily.

Since Bai Xiao's parents divorced, their few meetings over the years had only been at her grandparents' milestone birthday celebrations. However, for some reason, Bai Xiao had stopped appearing at these events after the age of fourteen.

Looking at this cousin she hadn't seen in years, her features hadn't changed much—she had just matured—but her overall aura felt very unfamiliar.

She was wearing a light coffee-colored utility casual set and a pair of black Martin boots. She had an indescribable air of ease and freedom, as if she didn't consider the patrol to ensure the residents' safety an important matter.

She seemed to have just bathed; her skin was fair and rosy, and her waist-length hair fell in lazy waves. In the dim hallway, she silently exuded an untouchable sense of aloofness.

She seemed to be living very well. At that thought, Cheng Ru gritted her teeth in secret resentment. Over the past half month, she had lacked food and water, leaving her face sallow and her body thin from hunger. The school bathhouse had closed; forget taking a shower, even when she wiped herself down in the dormitory, her towel would stay damp for days without drying. She was living like a refugee.

Bai Xiao closed her door and walked toward them. She hadn't expected Cheng Ru to be here either. She wasn't close to this cousin, and her few memories of her were unpleasant. Cheng Ru used to enjoy mocking her for being a child without parents whenever the adults weren't looking, colluding with other young relatives to isolate her, and always intentionally dirtying her clothes at family gatherings to make her look foolish.

Later that year, she had overheard a conversation between her mother and grandmother and learned that her father was suspected of having an affair. Coupled with the fact that her father had started a new family and had a son, they were the ones who acted like a close-knit family at those banquets, while she felt like an outsider. Gradually, she began to resist spending time with them and slowly stopped all contact.

"You two know each other?" Zhao Fangzhe hadn't expected such a coincidence.

Cheng Ru nodded and said with a gentle smile, "She's my cousin. Azhe, since my cousin is here, I should stay at her place instead. I won't trouble you any further."

Zhao Fangzhe nodded. He naturally had no objections, as they were proper relatives.

"No." Just as Zhao Fangzhe was halfway through his nod, he heard Bai Xiao's cold refusal.

She said indifferently, "We haven't seen each other in ten years. We aren't close, and I don't like strangers staying in my home."

Hearing this, Cheng Ru's eyes immediately filled with aggrieved tears. "Cousin, how can you say that?"

"I'm just telling the truth. From childhood until now, the number of times we've met can be counted on one hand. We really aren't much better than strangers. What is the relationship between you two? I feel like your relationship is much closer than ours."

She directed this question to both Cheng Ru and Zhao Fangzhe.

Zhao Fangzhe's face flushed, and he didn't quite know how to answer. Just as he was about to say something, Cheng Ru beat him to it: "We are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Zhao Fangzhe's brow furrowed deeply upon hearing this. He opened his mouth to explain, but meeting Cheng Ru's pleading gaze, his heart softened, and he didn't speak further.

Bai Xiao had no desire to pry further and simply said to Cheng Ru, "In that case, your relationship is indeed closer than ours. If you're unwilling to stay at his place, then go back to wherever you came from."

"Alright, alright, isn't everyone supposed to be patrolling? Let's get going; it's not good to be late." Seeing the atmosphere freeze, the people around them hurriedly cut in to ease the tension.

Originally, only four people were needed for the patrol each night, but today there were surprisingly six in total.

After Cheng Ru arrived, she heard about the community's rule of rotating patrols. Since she and Zhao Fangzhe were exes after all, she already felt uneasy about mooching off him and was eager to do something to quickly establish a foothold in the neighborhood.

But she was also somewhat afraid. Zhao Fangzhe hadn't wanted her to participate in the patrol, but he couldn't sway her. Seeing her looking pitiful yet determined, he offered to accompany her.

The other two were Yue Jianping's wife, Xiang Mei, and their son, Yue Lin. Their son was eighteen and had just graduated from high school this June. In the eyes of the couple, although their son was an adult, they still felt he was just a child and truly didn't feel comfortable letting him go out alone.

The couple had agreed to take turns accompanying him until they felt at ease letting him go out by himself. This way, the three of them could take turns getting an extra rest in the future.

Since the incident of malicious retaliation in Room 1301 three days ago, the building had been very peaceful at night. Tonight, nothing happened again, and when their shift ended, they said their goodbyes and went home.

...

The seventh day after the game ended, July 22nd of the Blue Star calendar. On this day, more than half of the fog had dissipated, leaving only a hazy mist. Conversely, the rain continued to intensify, falling in sheets and slowly forming runoff on the ground.

The last round of relief food had been distributed five days ago. According to custom, people generally believed that today should be the day for the third distribution of relief food.

Some people who had run out of food woke up early, with their umbrellas and raincoats ready, thinking they would set out to collect supplies as soon as the text message arrived.

As it turned out, they waited from morning until noon, and from noon until afternoon, but the Neighborhood Committee never sent out a notice.

That day, there was a lot of chatter in the community group chat.

【3#1-702】: What's the situation today? I haven't received a notice to go collect relief food.

【5#2-904】: Yeah, the food at home is hitting rock bottom. How are we supposed to get by if there's nothing to eat?

【1#1-1102】: Does anyone have any inside info? What's going on? Logically, now that the fog has cleared, transportation and logistics should return to normal, and the distribution of supplies should be faster.

【2#2-1403】: It's not that simple. Think about how many cars were blocked on the roads during those two days of heavy fog. Now, some parts of the streets are piled high with them. The roads haven't been cleared for days, so it's impossible for traffic to flow smoothly.

【6#2-303】: I heard from a relative that it seems the city's original reserves of processed grain have run out. The fog caused factories to stop working, and now the power is also depleted. Raw grain can't be processed, so they can't issue any more finished food products.

【4#1-1702】: How can that be? How could such a large city have so little food?

【6#2-303】: Modern cities don't actually have many reserves of processed grain; most of it is raw grain. But no one expected the power to go out. Without electricity, raw grain can't be processed in large quantities, so naturally, they can't supply us.

【4#1-1702】: Then aren't we going to starve to death?!

【2#1-501】: Everyone, look at the main street!

【6#2-1004】: Brother, just say it straight. Besides you guys in Building 1 and Building 2 at the very front, which building can actually see the main street?

【2#1-501】: A lot of people are gathering on the road, looking for things along the street. [Image] [Image]

【6#2-1004】: Why does it look like some of them are prying open the shops along the street?