Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Like a Stray Dog
"What’s the situation outside?"
"The gas has been cut off. I brought you some portable stoves and a few gas canisters."
"Oh, that’s wonderful." Song You’ai didn’t even remember that Xiao Gu had already given them a box of canisters before.
Xiao Gu had really brought a lot with him this time.
Three cases of chicken eggs, one case of duck eggs, and plenty of vegetables and meat.
What really caught Xie Ning’s eye were the live fish in sealed water bags, still thrashing about.
’Talk about perfect timing. She had just been thinking about getting some fish to test her Dimensional Space.’
"Aren’t supplies being distributed at seven-thirty?" Xie Ning asked as she walked over to him.
"I’m hungry." Gu Chen turned his head and gave her a pitiful look.
"Oh my, then let’s get it in the pot! Quick, let’s get it cooking and eat together!" Song You’ai’s heart ached for them. "You haven’t eaten all day, have you? No matter how busy you are, you have to eat before getting back to work."
"Exactly! How can you work if you don’t eat?" The others all chimed in, crowding around them and pushing Ningning to the edge of the circle.
"Should we cook the fish tomorrow? Let’s just make hot pot. We’ll add the vegetables first, and then some noodles!"
"Sis, I’ll go slice the lamb and beef."
Seeing everyone bustling about and paying her no mind, Xie Ning quietly picked up the bags with the live fish. "I’ll put these in the kitchen."
She slipped into the kitchen with the bags of fish and locked the door. "Future, open the Dimensional Space."
"Future reminds the Host: If water reserves in the Dimensional Space are insufficient, the live fish will die when placed inside!"
’There’s only enough water to fill these few bags. It wouldn’t even cover the bottom of the Dimensional Space. Does it expect the fish to just flop around and suffocate in a waterless void?’
Xie Ning realized that was a good point.
Little Spider crawled onto the stove. "If the Dimensional Space begins to stink from rot, it will perform an emergency shutdown. Reopening it will cost double the points."
Xie Ning cursed inwardly. ’So damn particular. What a rip-off.’
"So I’ll just put them inside along with the water bags?"
"You can."
"Put them in, then."
"Commencing Dimensional Space storage." The water bags on the stove vanished in an instant.
Several water bags appeared inside the translucent, light-blue cube.
"Dimensional Space storage complete."
"Scanning Dimensional Space. Two black carp, two crucian carp, two sea bass. Calculate weight?"
"No need." She had just hefted the bags herself and estimated they were around thirteen or fourteen pounds.
Half an hour later, more than a dozen people crowded around the round table, enthusiastically enjoying a help-yourself hot pot.
The round table was piled high with all sorts of vegetables and meat. Ji Taixian even rummaged through his Space to produce a soup base, meatballs, and fish balls, which he tossed into the pot.
There wasn’t enough room for everyone to sit, so they just squeezed in together and ate standing up.
Everyone held a bowl in one hand, their chopsticks descending on the food like a downpour.
If you were a second too slow, all the meat would be gone...
The two elders, who loved the lively atmosphere most of all, were grinning from ear to ear. "Slow down, slow down," they urged. "There’s more if you run out."
Gu Chen turned to look at the young woman standing beside him. The slow, methodical way she ate was truly a pleasing sight.
The large searchlights outside bathed the villa in bright light, while outside, a steady, fine drizzle continued to fall.
Ji Taixian pulled an electric fan out of his Space and connected it to a storage battery. "Does anyone feel like the temperature’s risen a lot?"
"You’re just sweating from all the food!" Wang Zongxuan teased.
"No, it just feels muggy," Ji Taixian insisted, pulling an indoor thermometer from his treasure-trove of a Space. "Just you watch."
"28 degrees?"
Xie Ning glanced at it and frowned, a strange feeling quietly spreading in her heart.
"I checked yesterday, and it was only 25 degrees."
"Logically, the temperature shouldn’t be this high in mid-September, right?"
"You’re from the Capital, young man, so you wouldn’t know," Song Youzhi said, unbothered. "It’s always like this down south, with the temperature fluctuating. After autumn arrives, we still have to put up with an Indian summer."
"That’s right. It’s often 30 degrees on October 1st. You’d die of heat wearing long sleeves!"
"I see." Ji Taixian put the thermometer away. "Maybe I was overthinking it, then."
They made quick work of the hot pot, finishing by seven-twenty.
"Any sign of the rats?" Xie Ning asked.
"We haven’t found any yet, but we’ve notified every household to conduct their own inspections," Lu Wei answered. He couldn’t help a feeling of helplessness as he recalled people’s reactions to the news.
’If only they could be as calm as Xie Ning.’
When each household heard about the rat attacks, every single person panicked, looking like they wanted to climb a ladder onto their roofs.
And after hearing that the rats were relentless and could get in anywhere no matter how high they hid, everyone panicked completely.
"We have to go distribute the supplies," Gu Chen said, getting up. He glanced at Xie Ning and pointed to his phone. "Lock your doors and windows and get some rest. Don’t go out until the rain stops."
The gesture meant ’we’ll text later if anything comes up’.
Xie Ning gave him a blank look and waved him away dismissively.
Song You’ai started to get ready to see them off, but they stopped her.
Song Youzhi, wearing a raincoat, saw them out. The moment he pulled open the metal gate, everyone jumped in surprise.
A weak, helpless, and pitiful figure in a white lab coat was squatting at their front gate.
Hearing the noise, he looked up at them.
"Who are you!" Song Youzhi shouted in alarm.
Lu Wei rubbed his forehead. "Uncle Song, this is Dr. Yu from the research institute next door."
Song Youzhi finally calmed down. "Oh. Then what’s he doing squatting here?"
Zhai Ruobai burst out laughing. "Probably... begging for food?"
Gu Chen was speechless.
Lu Wei, at a loss for words, gave him a tug. He then turned to Yu Tianfeng and said politely, "Dr. Yu, you should head back for now. We’ll be over to deliver supplies shortly."
"I can’t move," said Yu Tianfeng, who was curled into a ball. His face was scrunched up in a conflicted expression, his fluffy white hair flopping over his forehead.
"The hot pot... smells so good..." he murmured, raising one hand.
Song Youzhi had to suppress a laugh. "Xiao Gu, Xiao Lu, you all go on and get to your work."
Lu Wei nodded. "Uncle Song, could I trouble you to look after Dr. Yu, then? Maybe give him a couple of steamed buns to tide him over?"
"Sure!" Song Youzhi agreed immediately.
’This Dr. Yu must be a very important person,’ he thought, ’otherwise Xiao Lu wouldn’t have asked me to look after him.’
"Thanks, Uncle Song. We’ll be on our way, then."
"No buns... hot pot..."
Song Youzhi watched the four of them leave, then looked down at Yu Tianfeng, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Get inside first, we’ll talk then."
Xie Ning and Song Kexin were about to help their aunt clear the table when they suddenly heard a rustling from the doorway.
They turned their heads just in time to see Yu Tianfeng quickly shed his protective suit and lunge for the round table...
"What are you doing here?" Displeasure was written all over Xie Ning’s face.
Yu Tianfeng ignored her, instead throwing his arms around the pot. "Don’t take it away! Wait, don’t take it away yet!"
Xie Ning raised a hand to smack him on his big head, but Song You’ai quickly stepped in to block her.
She recognized him. ’Isn’t this that Dr. Yu from the biomedical research institute?’
’My daughter is always trying to hit people. She can’t go around beating a renowned intellectual into a half-wit! We could never afford to pay for that!’
