"Do you have enough food stocked at home?" Huang Jinghe's mother asked, her voice much softer now. Both she and her husband were in the military, so they already knew supplies had been distributed. But if there wasn't a stash of extra food at home, those weekly rations wouldn't go far.
"Mom, Dad, don't worry. I've got plenty of food at home," Huang Jinghe said quickly. "You told me before to stock up, remember? I did! The thing is, I can't cook, so I mostly bought instant noodles. There's still dozens of boxes left..."
He trailed off suddenly, a thought striking him like lightning.
"Wait. Mom, Dad... you didn't already know there was going to be poisonous fog, did you? Is that why you told me to stock up early?"
No, of course not.
The poisonous fog had come too fast and spread even faster. No one in the world had truly seen it coming. They had known about possible earthquakes and tsunamis thanks to internal sources, but the poisonous fog had caught everyone off guard.
J City sat on a plain, so even if an earthquake hit, the damage wouldn't be as severe as in mountainous or coastal regions. Still, in any emergency, people would rush to grab supplies. They had worried their son might not be able to get what he needed in time, so they secretly sent him a batch of instant foods in advance.
Their supplies were practical: self-heating rice packs, compressed biscuits, instant noodles, chocolate, and—most important of all—clean water. They'd bought a little of everything, just not in huge quantities.
They'd also asked their son to prepare some food himself, just in case their stash didn't suit his taste. Who could have guessed he'd only stock up on instant noodles? If they'd known that, they would've just sent more and saved him the trouble.
Still, having tons of instant noodles wasn't such a bad thing. They kept well and were easy to prepare. If there was water and electricity, they could be cooked. If not, they could be eaten dry. In this kind of situation, instant noodles were basically gold.
But hearing that someone had knocked on the door earlier made them uneasy. With all that food piled up inside, opening the door to strangers wasn't a good idea. They'd only been focused on checking in with their son earlier, so they hadn't asked much. Now that they thought about it, Lan Jin's warning really had been kind.
Still, kindness was one thing. You could accept it, appreciate it—but staying cautious was just as important.
"Half and half," Huang Jinghe's mother said. "We didn't expect the poisonous fog, but we did want to prepare in case something happened. Does that Lan Jin woman know you have all this food?"
Huang Jinghe's father blinked and echoed the question, "Yeah. Does she?"
"Yeah, she knows," Huang Jinghe replied. "Right after the earthquake hit, before the poisonous fog showed up, we sealed the hallway windows and doors together. At the time, people were freaking out in the chat, saying they had no food. Since we were both online, I asked if she needed any. She said no—told me she had enough and just reminded me to seal everything up tightly and not leave the apartment.
Today was the same. When we were downstairs lining up for supplies, two people kept trying to find out how much food I had. Sister Lan kept interrupting so I wouldn't say anything. I didn't get it then, but looking back, she must've already guessed those two were up to no good.
She even told them she'd been eating dog food for a week. I actually believed her at the time. Later, when we got to the thirty-second floor, I offered again to bring her some food. She turned me down, said she was fine, and then warned me not to open the door if anyone came knocking. She also asked if I had anything for self-defense."
He left out one detail: the part where Lan Jin had told him to go read some apocalyptic fiction for reference. No way he was telling his parents that. They'd definitely think she was unreliable if they heard it.
But even without that, his parents were already feeling a mix of emotions.
"She was looking out for you," Huang Jinghe's mother said. "You're still young, and she's helping you. That's rare. In that case, you'd better be extra careful tonight. Keep an ear out for noise from downstairs too. And if it comes to it... you have trained before. A couple of average people shouldn't be a problem for you."
They didn't want their son getting involved in dangerous situations, but they also couldn't bring themselves to say that Lan Jin's kindness should go unrewarded. As soldiers, they couldn't tell him to just look the other way. If someone had looked after their son twice now, then maybe it was okay to repay that.
And truthfully, there wasn't much they could do from where they were. Their son was still so young. If there was someone older and level-headed nearby, someone to offer occasional guidance, that could only be a good thing.
Huang Jinghe's father added a reminder. "We can't get to you right now, and who knows how long this poisonous fog will last. You need to protect yourself, son. Don't trust strangers. Don't stick your nose into things unless you've thought them through. This is a special time. I need you to weigh your decisions carefully before you act. Jinghe, we're not there with you. So take care of yourself. Please."
"Dad, Mom, don't worry. I'll be okay. I'll stay home. I won't go out. With all this food, I can last one or two years easy. Three if I ration things a little."
He said it to reassure them, even if he wasn't sure how long he'd really last. Still, it made his parents feel both proud and heartbroken.
"Alright. We're busy here," Huang Jinghe's mother said. "We might not always be able to pick up your calls. But communications are still up, so send us messages when you can. If we get a chance, we'll always reply."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Huang Jinghe went to his room to find his baseball bat.
Meanwhile, in another city, his parents sat quietly for a while. They were filled with both pride and worry.
"He's still just a kid," Huang Jinghe's mother said softly. "Now he has to face all this on his own. I don't know how long he can hold out."
"If that Lan Jin really is as decent as our son says, maybe she can help watch over him a bit," Huang Jinghe's father replied.
"But who knows how long this fog will last, or how much worse things might get. You saw the stairwells during the last supply run. It's only been a week, and things are already falling apart. Even if she's helping now, what happens if they run out of food? People change."
Huang Jinghe's father frowned. "Don't assume the worst of everyone. We've only seen one corner of this mess. Sure, there are bad people out there, but there are good ones too. Why can't we hope that our son's found one of the good ones?
Besides, every neighborhood has security assigned to it. Once I figure out which complex our son is in, I'll contact someone I know nearby and ask them to check in on him occasionally. I won't ask for anything major. Just a bit of help when it counts. No one would refuse that."
"That's all we can do for now," she said with a sigh. "Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little grateful he dropped out and restarted school. If he'd still been stuck in the dorms when this happened..."
She didn't finish the sentence.
They both fell into silence again. Sometimes, a decision that once seemed like a mistake could end up being a blessing.
With that, they stood up and got back to work. There was no time to dwell. Their feet barely touched the ground as they moved through another busy day, only stealing a few moments here and there to think of their son.