19 June midday
Xiao Mo was entirely unaware of the events that conspired that night. He had slept till the middle of the day. Within these three days, his handphone had rang continuously until the it became flat.
These three days, Xue Li Hong was very lived like a salted fish. Other than casually checking Xiao Mo’s pulse every day, lifting his eyelids, pinching his nose to help clean him up, he was very free. He did not even clean up the bloodstains on Xiao Mo, let alone the cow leather mattress. He also did not bother sending him to the medical centre to receive medical help.
Ah, for ease of cleaning, he had removed the boxer shorts that Xiao Mo was wearing.
Thus, when Xiao Mo woke up, he felt a ray of light, before feeling that his skin was very tight, before he smelled a whiff of pungent scent arousing from his body. It was a very complex mixture of all kinds of stench.
He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids seemed to be glued together. He habitually turned over to face the alarm clock on his bedside table before finally cracking open his eyelids. Feeling disoriented, he lifted up his hand to rub his eye. He made an effort to grab hold of the alarm clock, but he failed to grab it and it slipped out of his hand and dropped on the floor instead.
Dong
The alarm clock dropped and rolled on the floor.
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Ebld Dwl Nk Tsdt blyae vbl pswde, bl blze y csoz sq kdpvydv dssezlp yde oldv vsoyaep Dkys Ys’p assx.
“Zsw’al yoyjl, sze Dkys.” Mbl csu ypjle nypwyzzu.
Dkys Ys qzkrrle shla, pwrrsavkdt bkp cseu okvb bkp lzcso yde bl vakle vs pvyde wr okvbswv pwnnlpp. Rv qlzv vbyv bl bye pzlrv qsa ps zsdt vbyv bkp fskdvp bye vwadle awpvu- lhlau xshlxldv tyhl bkx ps xwnb rykd vbyv bl qlzv lhld xsal yoyjl. Ohld bkp caykd oyp vokvnbkdt kd rykd.
Xb tsep! Ebyv oyp yzz vbkp sd bkp cseu?
“Ebyv… kp vbkp pxlzz… Ebu ps pxlzzu?” Tkp vbasyv vbyv bye dsv clld wple qsa y hlau zsdt vkxl oyp hlau eau yde rykdqwz. Tl pswdele zkjl y bsapl yde bkp osaep yzps nyxl swv kd casjld pldvldnlp. Dkys Ys zknjle bkp nbyrrle zkrp, bkp pyzkhy qlzv hlau vbknj yde pvknju, yde bl qlzv vbyv bkp vsdtwl oyp nsyvle okvb y vbknj zyula sq obkvl nsyvkdt. Tl vbld zkqvle bkp byde vs pnayvnb yv y pvykd vbyv bl pyo sd vbl svbla byde, cwv bl alyzkgle vbyv ds xyvvla bso xwnb bl pnayvnble, vbl czynj yde ale pvykd oswze dsv nsxl sqq.
Dkys Ys rywple. Eykv, bl dso alxlxclale, vbl pvwrke pupvlx oyp alyz, yde bl oyp kd pwnb y rykd clnywpl bl bye qykzle vs nsxrzlvl vbl xkppksd vbyv vbl pupvlx plv, ps bl oyp clkdt rwdkpble clnywpl sq vbyv. Mbld obyv ycswv vbl wdjdsod pwcpvydnl vbyv vbl pupvlx xldvksdle? Eblal oyp kv qasx?
“Jas, usw pbswze vbydj vbkp nso zlyvbla xyvvalpp rasvlnvsa. Rv xyel nzlydkdt wr ps xwnb lypkla, sa lzpl vbkp assx oswze byhl clnsxl lhld pxlzzkla yde ekavkla.” Dwl Nk Tsdt wple bkp nbsrpvknjp vs pvka bkp csoz, “Twdtau? Eydv y csoz?”
“…” Dkys Ys blze bkp blye, wdpwal sq bso vs alprsde vs bkx.
After drinking two glasses of water and eating a piece of dark chocolate Xue Li Hong gave him, Xiao Mo felt infinitely better and finally walked towards the bathroom.
The handphone was finally plugged in and charging. Xiao Mo had thought of calling back, but he ultimately decided to wait, as he could no longer tolerate the smell coming out of his own body. Anyways, he had already delayed for three days, might as well wash up first before calling back.
While water flowed down his body, Xiao Mo tried talking to the system, “Ah, can you hear me? The whatever system.”
“Hello? Are you real or an illusion? Do you really exist?”
“Can’t hear? Then it must be my illusion.”
“Not an illusion, I am the recycler training system, in charge of training recyclers to recycle all sorts of rubbish that is recyclable.”
Xiao Mo was full of questions, such that he lost track of which ones to ask. “What is happening? What did you mean by recycling the Liu Wang couple? Why recycle them? Is this virus related to them? Why did you choose to come to me? What do you want me to do? What do you want from me?”
The system only picked a few of his questions to answer, “You are the new recycler, and I am in charge of training you. The style of training is the traditional way of giving missions for you to complete, and I, the system, will determine if the mission is well done and the type of reward or punishment if the mission is not done in time. If the recycler is unable to complete the mission twice in a row, he will be considered incompetent and will be rejected. For punishment and to maintain high confidentiality, the rejected recycler will be wiped out and killed. As for the mission detail and objectives, please find out through your own research and judgement. According to the rules, I do not have the obligation to explain them.”
“Fxxx! I didn’t ask you to be the recycler, this is like being forced to win a prize, ok. You better get out of me or I will report you to the police!”
The system did not bark, but coldly answered, “Reporting to the police will only have two results: First, you will be treated as a lunatic, second, your body will be brought for research.”
“I do not want to do the mission. You, go find other people!” Xiao Mo became angrier.
The system went into silent mode and ignored Xiao Mo. No matter what he said, the system did not respond.
Xiao Mo spent at least half an hour to wash and scrub his entire body. After washing, he finally felt refreshed, the heavy feeling in his body instantly became lighter and he felt himself becoming more flexible and his response becoming faster. The feeling he got after he woke up was completely gone. Previously, he had felt that his body was very heavy and his bones were akin to an un-oiled machinery, but now, the feeling was completely gone. Although he still felt a little ache inside his bones, but compared to the pain he had gone through, the pain was of a completely different grade, so low of a grading that one could ignore.
If my headache can be washed away, it would have been even better. The man thought and sighed, massaging his forehead in an effort to relieve the pain.
After washing, the first thing he did was to bring out his cow leather mattress protector to the balcony to wash and sun dry. If the spring mattress wasn’t too heavy and difficult to move, he would have wanted to bring it out to wash and expose it to the sun too.
Luckily, he had the cow leather mattress protector, and all kinds of dirty discharge did not penetrate through it and stain the spring mattress.
However, Xiao Mo still felt a little uneasy looking at the mattress. He was tempted to change a new one, but finally gave up the idea as it would be such a waste.
He turned away and did not notice that after his hand left the mattress, the mattress and its flower pattern on it turned bright, like new, even though he had bought it two years ago.
Xue Li Hong just happened to enter the room with his backpack. He of course saw the mattress, but he thought that the mattress had been very well kept.
“Oh yeah, what was that black stain on my body?” Xiao Mo had not been able to figure out an answer, so he casually asked.
Xue Li Hong answered, “Blood stains, when your illness striked, you scratched your skin till it was all broken, but it seems that it is all recovered now.”
Xiao Mo’s facial muscles twitched. He removed the pillow cover and thin blanket on the bed and walked towards the balcony to wash and sun dry them. As for the newly grown skin, he already had a suspicion whilst he was bathing. He even felt that there was a difference between the old skin and the new one.
Xiao Mo asked the kid why he was following him as he walked. Xue Li Hong did not answer. He stared at him for a while, and finally asked after a long time, “Are you hungry? Don’t you feel that your limbs are soft and there is not much strength in you? Is there a panic feeling within you?”
“I’m lucky; I don’t have any problems of low blood sugar.”
“You slept for three days.”
“I know.” When he was charging his phone, he checked on the date and time.
“I thought you would die.”
“Kid, words are spare, a big blow and it will be gone.” Xiao Mo recited the old saying, pushing the kid to one side as he placed the pillow case, towel and thin blanket into the washing machine.
“I washed your underwear for you.” Xue Li Hong started claiming credit.
“Thanks.”
“I do not want to eat instant noodles, are you able to cook today?”
“Of course.” After Xiao Mo finished cleaning up and packing his bedroom, his body felt much livelier and more relaxed.
Xiao Mo turned his head to look outside. While he was putting the mattress protector out to dry, he didn’t realise. But now that his body felt much better and his brain started to feel clearer, when he glanced at the balcony again, he finally spotted something very unusual.
From his balcony, he could see Ning Guo Garden, as well as the big square of Xin Xin Jia Wan.
Ning Guo Garden used to have an empty space, but now, there were quite a few large tentages as well as a number of large medical vehicles.
The doctors and nurses were all decked out in protective gear that he had only seen in movies. They were all working to help the people in the quarantine zone.
Xiao Mo even saw a police officer wearing protective gear.
Only very few patients were queuing to see the doctors.
There was nobody around the square, the park, the roads, even Ning Guo Avenue, there were barely any vehicles at all. Even if there was one, then the vehicle would be traveling from Xin Xin Jia Wan and on that vehicle, you would see a cross. It was a special quarantine vehicle used for transporting those quarantined people to the hospital.
“Those patients that were very badly infected would be sent to a vacant block at Xin Xin Jia Wan.” Xue Li Hong was also watching from the balcony.
“Oh?”
“You see that vehicle coming from Xin Xin Jia Wan? I heard those that die because of the disease will be sent to the city for anatomy.”
“Who told you this?”
“Everybody was saying so, don’t you feel that there are only a few residents left at Shan Nan Jia Wan?”
Xiao Mo walked towards the kitchen. From the kitchen window, he was able to look out and see the residents in the opposite block. During the day, all the windows would be dark, as the had been coated by a layer of film that has the effect of blocking the sun as well as preventing any spying.
After looking at those windows for a while, Xiao Mo felt that Shan Nan Jia Wan had the feeling of being abandoned- the whole place was too quiet, not like the usual setting.
“If you are ok, can we go to the supermarket to collect our daily supplies?” Xue Li Hong followed behind him, asking.
“Collect?” Xiao Mo turned to face him and asked.
“Yeah, heard that this is the government welfare. Because of the quarantine, everyone is in hardship, so, those who stay in the quarantine area will be able to receive grocery support from the government. I also heard that one person can receive up to twenty kilograms of rice, one litre of oil, three kilos of pork, one chicken, one duck, five eggs, two kilos of various kinds of vegetables and some spices. You can collect them in one go or split it into a few trips. The first two days were very crowded, those survivors all went out to collect their supplies, some even started fighting in the queue.” Xue Li Hong told Xiao Mo in a serious tone.
Xiao Mo felt that it was a very difficult task to treat this kid like a child. Which kid ever talked like him, with all the information so well organized and the message getting straight to the other party?
“So much food, almost enough for an adult to live for a month. Don’t tell me the government intends to quarantine us here for a month?” Xiao Mo was fearful of his own speculation.
“A month?” the boy smiled, but the smile felt weird, it was a combination of smirking and pity, or a feeling of sympathy. “Don’t worry, it won’t last for a month. Looking at the speed of the virus spreading, in not more than a month, Zhong San City will be entirely gone.”
“…I… Let me call home first.” Xiao Mo used his finger to press on his forehead that had a sudden spike of pain before leaving the kitchen. Being unable to explain what was happening to his body combined with the current situation, he felt helpless.
What was happening? A new type of virus, a system that happens only in movies and novels, and this suspicious and secretive boy.
Xiao Mo felt that his head was about to burst!
What exactly was happening? Three nights ago, he was in extreme pain, it hurt so much that it was killing him. But after he slept for three nights, he felt very good, his body had recovered, and it even felt way better than he was before he had slept. He did not believe the system was so kind as to condition his body after punishing him. Perhaps it was the unknown liquid that the system mentioned, did he drink something before he slept? He just couldn’t recall at all.
At the same time, opposite the balcony, in one of the units of Xin Xin Jia Wan.
From one of the isolated rooms, one of the specialists that was invited from the University School of Medical Sciences walked out from it. Following him were a group of assistants.
A few of the doctors who were wearing protective clothing immediately crowded around him when he appeared from the door.
“Old He, how is it? Any outcome?”
He shook his head. He was also cloaked in protective gear. From behind his mask, he spoke, “Six bodies all came out with different symptoms, the cause of death is also unknown. Unable to locate the new strain of virus, besides the heavy metallic poisoning.”
“How can it be? Even anatomy also cannot find the cause of the illness?”
It looks like Xue Li Hong had the wrong information. Inside the quarantine zone, there were already people that had been anatomized, it was not only those sent to the city in the isolation vehicle.
He continued to shake his head, “It is not that we were unable to find the cause of illness, but we were unable to find the same virus that caused all these symptoms.”
As he was speaking, he suddenly recalled something and lifted his head, ”Oh yes, I heard from someone that a few patients from the city hospital had awakened.”
Xiao Mo turned on his television and tuned into the local news. As soon as his phone was fully charged, he immediately called his family.
These three days, his family had constantly called him, including his nephew. There were many missed calls, especially from his sister-in-law and his younger brother. This two called him the most, as well as a few other friends and business acquaintances.
Besides the missed calls, all kinds of message inboxes were also full, mostly asking him: “How are you? Is everything ok? Why are you not replying my message? I was not able to come in to the quarantine site, there are more and more people falling sick, etc.”
Some of the messages were from the Institute of Infectious Diseases or the Government. These messages were mostly on how to protect yourself, how to disinfect and when you come across a patient, what should you do and how to contact the Institute of Infectious Diseases, how to help yourselves or help others, etc.
From these messages, one could see that the city officials’ focus was on the disease, but the only information Xiao Mo hoped to know was how far the disease had travelled.
Looking at the time, Xiao Mo pressed the number for his brother and sister-in-law’s restaurant’s fast dial button. At this time, they should have been in the restaurant.
The telephone rang twice before it was very swiftly picked up. Luckily, they are still in the restaurant, Xiao Mo thought.
“Xiao Mo! Is that you?” That was Deng An Jie.
“Yes, it is me.”
“Is that really you? Thank goodness you are fine! We were worried sick, we thought we had lost you. Why didn’t you pick up your phone, your brother and I nearly went mad. No matter what we told them, they won’t let us in. We got no information and we weren’t able to contact you through your phone. They said the disease is super infectious and many people died, we thought you…” Deng An Jie was so anxious and worried, she spoke out all her thoughts in one breath. At the end of her speech, sounds of sniffling could be heard.
Xiao Mo wanted to explain but he heard An Jie sniffled and continued, “You wait, let me call your brother, third brother and father, they are all here.”
The waiter went to look for the people listed by An Jie while she continued, “How are you, are you ok? Where are you right now?”
“Cough, these two days I was not so well, so I went to the community hospital. I was there for two days and had forgotten to bring my pone, I’m sorry that you were worried sick. But I am ok now, I have already recovered. I’m really good now, my condition is well.”
“Don’t say sorry, as long as you are ok, everything is all well!” Deng An Jie was so overjoyed that she almost cried.
When An Jie was not as emotional and had settled down, Xiao Mo asked, “How about your side, any sign of the virus? Is Dad and the rest alright?”
An Jie dutifully answered, “No, our side is ok. Father-in-law is watching the news inside the cubical, he will be out soon. But these two days, the business has been bad. The people heard that those that were infected by the virus will die ah. After the news reported it, lesser people came out to eat at our restaurant. Our chief cook Old Wu’s wife called to report that he was sick, so Old Wu is in the hospital right now.”
“Old Wu stayed in the northern city if I am not wrong. How come he was also infected?”
“You don’t know? Only a day after your side, the northern city’s Wan How Villa was also isolated and quarantined. The City Hospital and the Army’s Command Center has also been covered in plastic sheets in order to prevent people from coming in.”
“Now that the situation here at Zhong San City is very depressing. A lot of people tried to go out, but no matter who it is, as long as it is regarding going out of the town, everyone has to get medical checks. Only those who are healthy are allowed to leave. The mayor appears on the television almost everyday, asking the citizens to be calm, saying that the doctors from all over the country are rushing over, trying to solve this problem.”
“Then how is Old Wu’s condition right now?” Xiao Mo lowered the volume of the television, gazing to the side and finding the kid sitting on the sofa meddling something. He wasn’t facing Xiao Mo, so he didn’t know what he was doing.
An Jie sighed deeply, “Don’t know, his wife was unable to explain it clearly. She said that Old Wu and her father-in-law were both infected by something, so they won’t be able to come to work. After saying that she disconnected her phone and we were unable to contact her since then.” Uncertainty was laced in her voice.
“Then who is the chief cook in the restaurant currently?”
“The assistant chef Zhang Qian and the two helpers were in the kitchen, but there are very few customers, so the work load is still quite manageable.”
“Then that’s good.” Xiao Mo suddenly remembered an important question and asked, “Da Zhi is in the restaurant? How is he? Is he ok?” If he didn’t think wrongly, his brother worked in an office within the quarantine zone.
“He is alright. Last Friday his company told him to take leave and stay at home. Only until the quarantine was over are they allowed to go back to work. This fellow was so happy. Alright, your brothers are here, you wait, I’m going to switch to speaker mode.”
Xiao Mo heard the rampaging footsteps, while hearing his father’s loud voice simultaneously, “Is it really your second brother-in-law, kiddo? Is he still alive?”
His sister-in-law obediently answered, “Yes, it really is him. He is ok, don’t worry.”
“Second brother, are you alright?” The family’s third son, Xiao Da, was the first to get to the phone, asked in a worried tone.
“I’m alright.” Xiao Mo replied, a smile forming on his lips.
“Why didn’t you answer the phone? You want to push us all to our graves? We were all worried sick! You know, big brother, sister-in-law and your younger brother were all so shock with the news. They all went to the zone to look for you but the police just wouldn’t let them enter. I even used my connections to get people to go to your house, you know? How, did anyone knock on your door?” Father Xiao asked.
Xiao Mo didn’t hear anything from the kid, so he replied, “Father, I was in the community hospital, so I was unable to know if anyone had knocked on my door.”
“That’s why I said, I even gave him two rows of cigarettes. He definitely won’t be able to find you, but your brother insisted that I was spending unnecessary money. He is not in charge of that area, but he should be able to ask around.”
His father started to go off track and talked about other topics, so Xiao Mo hurriedly pulled back the conversation. He asked about all of the family members and how are they, as well as the situation over at that side. He also did not forget to remind them to stock up on their food supplies. After talking for about an hour, he finally hanged up the phone.
Glugluglug
Xiao Mo held his stomach. Was he hungry?
He glanced at his phone, the clock indicated that it was only 14:30. It was too early for dinner and he had already taken his lunch, so he decided to endure till 16:00 before starting to prep dinner.
While he was watching the television, he saw on the news channel that the Department of Environment was cooperating with the Institute of Infectious Diseases and had deployed workers to spray disinfectant throughout the entire city.
The newscaster had a relaxed expression, as if the disease this time would be gone real soon and it was just another strain of the common flu.
After browsing through a few channels, he could not find any word on Chong San City. Perhaps the timing is not right, he thinks.
Xiao Mo then intended to surf the net for more information and expend his source of information.
“What are you doing?” Xiao Mo frowned as he approached the sofa, looking at the mess the kid had created.
Before, he had just woken up and his head was still in a mess, so it slipped from his notice. But now, he realized how chaotic and disorganized the living room had become. There were screws scattered all over the floor, circuit boards, wires and microchips littered all over the sofa, tabletops, such that it was almost fully occupied.
“I didn’t disturb your study room.”
Xiao Mo glanced at the other half of the study room. Good, still the same as it was, not in a mess, but… “What are you doing?”
“The lighting here is much better.”
“I repeat my question: What are you doing?”
The kid’s hands did not stop; he didn’t even lift us his head while replying Xiao Mo. He asked, “You’re not going to collect the entitled grocery?”
Xiao Mo surrendered with his both hands up in the air, “Fine, I’m not going to ask, but you better clean up the mess, we will need to have our dinner here tonight.”
“Oh.” The kid answered carelessly. Xiao Mo wondered if he actually heard himself.
Xiao Mo couldn’t help but approach his half room. Just as he was about to reach, his stomach started complaining again. It was as if he was feeling hungrier by each second. Perhaps he should eat a chocolate before he starts cooking dinner.
After indulging in a piece of dark chocolate, he turned on his computer and used the Shen Long search engine to search for any clues relating to the words “Zhong Shan” and “infectious disease”. There turned out to be about ten thousand search results.
He realised that the virus that swept Zhong Shan City did not cause actually cause a very big commotion. It only reached the hot search two days ago, when one of the representatives from the Institute of Infectious Diseases came out to speak on the television.
Although the ten thousand search results had seemed bountiful, in actuality, the ones that contained real useful information was not much, only a handful. Hence, Xiao Mo opened a few that looked more convincing and took a look.
There were people who took photos of those who got the disease and shared the pictures on the web, but most netizens were reprimanding them. They were mostly suspicious about the virus and not much were actually concerned about the virus. At most, netizens inquired what type of virus it was and whether it was infectious.
Did someone deliberately cover up the lethality of the virus? Or… was it that the netizens all had strong wills?
Xiao Mo chuckled, he thought, it was most probably the latter.
He then carelessly skim through the other search results. One of them strongly caught his attention.
The ID of the blogger was named “Zhong Shan City Dreamer”. The title was very attention catching, called “The virus made him gain special abilities”.
Xiao Mo hurriedly opened the blog. It was structured like a diary, and the date of upload was only two minutes ago. It was very short; the total word count amounted to only a little over six hundred words, but it was extremely alarming. Xiao Mo was stunned by its contents.
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