Call Me Daddy

When Kong Yao was buying, she just purchased quantities suitable for the entire family, without splitting them into two separate households.

“Oil, dried goods, and noodles, including instant noodles, we can get a few boxes…”

Since she had enough cash, Kong Yao counted on her fingers the items and quantities she needed to buy.

“Right! Water!”

Seeing the beverage shelf, Kong Yao suddenly remembered the water outage during the day.

If the power didn’t come back on for a long time, water for drinking would be a major issue. She needed to buy some large bottles of water. While washing and bathing could use the old well water in the yard, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of drinking and cooking with it.

However, there was no need to buy bottled water at the commercial street; she could stop by the local water plant on the way back and get dozens of jugs. The price was cheap—12 yuan for a large jug, and they even delivered to the countryside if she bought twenty bottles.

“Er Bai, why did you buy so many seasonings?”

Since her mother-in-law had given a list of seasonings, Kong Yao hadn’t paid much attention to that part while stocking up. It wasn’t until she saw her brother-in-law loading boxes of various seasonings into the car that she realized the extent of the purchase.

Salt, sugar, MSG, and other commonly used seasonings were bought by the box—two boxes of each, with twenty packs of 500 grams in each box. It seemed as if they were preparing to last for a couple of years.

Additionally, soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, and various other seasonings were also purchased in bulk.

Although Kong Yao was focused on stocking up, she hadn’t anticipated buying so much. She still believed that the power and signal would be restored eventually. Perhaps her current stockpile would soon become a subject of ridicule.

Who would have guessed that her brother-in-law would be even more heedless than she was?

“Mom gave a list, but she didn’t specify how much to buy,” Su Aobai said with an innocent face, holding a box of 24 bottles of soy sauce, his tone apologetic.

“The boss said buying in bulk would be cheaper than the price Mom gave. Plus, you said to buy more, so I got all this,” he said, looking honest and as if he were saying, ‘I was just following your instructions.’

Kong Yao was left feeling helpless. She had only noticed that her brother-in-law followed her mother-in-law’s and husband’s instructions but hadn’t realized he paid so much attention to her words as well.

Well, what was done was done. At worst, they would just cook more often to use up the soy sauce and vinegar before their expiry dates.

“Miss, since you’ve bought so much, I can give you a bigger discount. Do you like these seasoning packets? Sour soup beef, oil-splashed prawns, sweet and sour pork… As long as you prepare the ingredients and follow the instructions on the packets, the taste will be nearly as good as in a big restaurant. If you buy ten packs, I’ll give you two extra.”

“Our egg noodles are handmade by a local workshop. They’re a bit more expensive than the regular ones, but they taste better. Besides, we’ve dried the noodles thoroughly. Since there’s no electricity and you can’t use the refrigerator, they won’t go bad if you leave them outside for a while…”

“Miss, do you like dried shrimp…”

Spending money could become quite addictive, especially during a large purchase. By the end, Kong Yao’s head was spinning from the constant chatter of the vendors. Many items she hadn’t originally planned for or needed in large quantities were bought due to the various discounts and enticements from the sellers.

When the car was finally packed to the brim, Kong Yao’s awareness slowly came back, and the cash in Su Aobai’s wallet had dwindled to just over a thousand yuan.

Seeing the tightly packed trunk and backseat, Kong Yao felt embarrassed for having just lectured her brother-in-law about buying too many seasonings.

She had initially planned to stock up with a few thousand yuan, but as she kept buying, it had ballooned to over 10,000 yuan. With so many supplies, it would take the family forever to use them up.

Kong Yao felt a bit of a headache, but since the shopping was done, there was no point in dwelling on it.

Her minor regret turned into relief when she arrived at the city government office and saw Su Yiqing, who had rushed out from the office.

***

Kong Yao had never expected the power outage and signal loss to be nationwide. Since they hadn’t been able to contact other countries yet, it was uncertain if the problem extended globally.

If satellites had disappeared worldwide and power production was halted, stockpiling supplies would be even more crucial.

Kong Yao even felt that the tens of thousands of yuan worth of goods she had just bought might still be insufficient.

“Er Bai, hurry back to the village and notify Mom and the village chief. You drove here, right? Don’t return the car just yet; help stock up on more items. Also, Yao Yao, I’ll give you the car keys later. When you leave, drive our family car and go find father-in-law. Remember to tell Mom and Dad not to sell any of the grain, and inform the village officials about the situation so everyone can prepare.”

Su Yiqing didn’t know when the inexplicable situation would return to normal, but he knew that if it was an abnormal situation on a national or even global scale, and if it continued for a long time, societal order would definitely be disrupted.

They needed to prepare for the worst.

“It must be quick!”

Su Yiqing knew that other people who were aware of the situation might also be trying to inform their families. Even though communications were down, there were still other ways to spread the news.

Once the news spread completely, it might become difficult to buy these supplies.

The first concern was the possibility of price increases, and the second was the fear that the vendors might simply stop selling altogether.

As the three talked, several groups of people had already started to leave the office building, all contacting their families. It seemed the news would spread quickly.

Kong Yao and Su Aobai appeared to have caught Su Yiqing’s urgency. They didn’t stay at the city government office for long and hurriedly left.

“Hey! I forgot to mention something!” After Kong Yao and Su Aobai left, Su Yiqing suddenly smacked his forehead.

As a small official at the city government office, Su Yiqing had been exposed to some confidential matters. Recently, there had been a rise in reports of strange illnesses.

Some people had suddenly begun sweating profusely, others had developed magnetic abilities that allowed them to stick metal to their skin without using any adhesive, and some had caught fire without being burned…

These bizarre reports had just come in and were being handled by higher authorities before Su Yiqing had the chance to address them. Those affected by these “strange illnesses” had been taken elsewhere for treatment.

Because Su Yiqing hadn’t been directly involved in handling these matters, he hadn’t paid them much attention at the time. There were always peculiar diseases in the world, and some could be exaggerated or fabricated.

But now, thinking back and considering the inexplicable disappearance of satellites and the sudden inability of power plants to generate electricity, Su Yiqing began to wonder if these strange illnesses might be related to the sudden changes that began last night.

Su Yiqing’s mood grew heavier.

Why did it all increasingly seem like an apocalypse?

Strange diseases could be a precursor to supernatural abilities, and there might be zombies or natural disasters in the future.

With this thought, Su Yiqing quickly shook his head.

Such bizarre events seemed too far-fetched. He must be overthinking things.

The power would return, and the signal would be restored. He hoped they were just being overly worried.

***

“Why hasn’t the power come back yet? Guo Hua went to town to get some news and has been gone for over an hour with nothing to report!”

“Stop complaining. Guo Hua rode his bike, which is much slower than the electric scooter he used before. Besides, if the town can’t solve the problem, he’d have to go to the county, and just traveling back and forth would take more than an hour.”

Without water or electricity, a group of villagers with nothing to do gathered to chat.

It was the height of the sweltering August heat. Normally, during the hottest part of the day, everyone would be at home enjoying the breeze from fans or air conditioners, eating ice-cold watermelon. But without electricity, they could only sit under the shade of trees to cool off, each holding various types of fans.

“Don’t you think the temperature today is a bit lower than the past few days?”

An old lady fanned herself a couple of times. Normally, at this time of day, the breeze from a fan would feel hot and dry, and only the air conditioner could make it feel cool. But now, sitting in the yard and fanning herself, she didn’t feel particularly hot.

“What’s that called? My granddaughter said it’s called the ‘heat island effect,’ yes, that’s the term. Do you know what the heat island effect is? My granddaughter explained that it’s because we always use air conditioners, and the outside units blow out hot air. With the weather being so hot, all that hot air blowing out just makes it worse.”

Another thin old lady explained.

“I actually think it’s not so bad to have a power outage once in a while. The temperature drops immediately. Think about when we were young, we didn’t have these fancy air conditioners. Having a fan at home was a big deal, and we didn’t think it was so hot. It was the kind of heat that made you feel faint under the blazing sun.”

Temperature fluctuations were normal, and no one paid much attention to whether it was cooler today than in the past few days.

“I don’t think the power outage is good at all. I was watching ‘Love Returns Home’ yesterday, and just when the little wife was having a miscarriage.”

Another old lady said; she wasn’t happy about the power outage at all. Although they lived in the countryside, their southern thinking was generally more affluent. They weren’t afraid of the heat; if necessary, they could afford to use more electricity, and it wasn’t like they couldn’t afford the air conditioning.

“You watched ‘Love Returns Home’ too!” Deng Caihua’s voice immediately rose in pitch. The group of old ladies found a kindred spirit and started a heated discussion about the drama’s plot.

Some supported the female lead, feeling sorry for her, believing she kept encountering scoundrels.

Others thought that although the female lead’s mother-in-law was harsh, she wasn’t entirely wrong. After all, the female lead didn’t deserve her son, turning from a Cinderella into a less-than-perfect phoenix, bringing shame to the family. Wasn’t it natural for the mother-in-law to grumble a bit? Most of these people were themselves mothers-in-law.

Then there were those, like Deng Caihua, who criticized both sides—annoyed at the female lead for being ungrateful and at the other characters in the drama.

The shade beneath the trees became lively, with chatter about characters and plotlines.

“That old lady in the family is really vicious…”

“And that little wife, how could she…”

“Clop, clop, clop—”

“If I were that little wife, and the old hag dared to harm me and make me childless, I would…”

“Clop, clop—”

“That man is also to blame. If his wife is tormented like that by his own mother, then he should…”

“Clop, clop—”

The intense conversation suddenly stopped.

Why did it feel like some strange noises had mixed into their discussion?

“Clop, clop—”

In the quiet atmosphere, the galloping sound was particularly clear this time.

“Oh my God!”

Ma Aifang jumped 3 feet into the air. She saw not far away a large wild boar charging toward them, its tusks gleaming sharply in the sunlight.

***

The crowd scattered instantly, everyone shouting for their lives. Some were calling for weapons to subdue the wild boar, while others were screaming for help. Despite their loud cries, the boar didn’t seem to be deterred; instead, it stubbornly focused on Deng Caihua’s rear.

“What a misfortune, why is it targeting me!”

Deng Caihua glanced back and saw the boar right behind her, so frightened she almost lost her composure.

“Don’t follow me!”

Ma Aifang, running ahead of Deng Caihua, used all her strength, her face turning red from the exertion.

With so many people around, why is the boar following us?

Deng Caihua is really trying to get me into trouble!

In reality, Deng Caihua hadn’t thought much of it; both of them had instinctively run in the same direction.

First birds, then dogs, followed by chickens, ducks, and geese. Now even wild boars were chasing them. Deng Caihua waved her old arms and legs furiously. She still had to help Su Su deal with any evil mother-in-law and absolutely couldn’t die in the jaws of a wild boar.

In a burst of adrenaline, she sprinted ahead of Ma Aifang.