"Exactly. The real problem is, you can't just show up and get water. There's only one tap, and even if it's just one bucket per household, there are still so many people. You end up waiting hours in line, then climbing dozens of flights of stairs. Who can take that?"
"Yeah, this setup just doesn't make sense."
"Then what do you think makes sense? Sure, we've got a lot of people here, but didn't the staff say they'll use loudspeakers to call each neighborhood? Once they do, the line won't even be that long. If you think it's too tiring, just don't fetch water."
"And drink what?"
"???"
"This water is for drinking? I thought it was for flushing toilets."
"Where did this little fairy who doesn't eat human food come from? You think bottled water's free? No one's working anymore. Of course everyone's drinking tap water."
"But there's no electricity right now. You can't boil it, so you can't drink it either."
"The power comes on at night. I swear, some of you have zero survival instinct. Fetch water during the day, boil it at night when the electricity comes back. Just adjust your routine. You're not working, why bother sleeping on schedule? That way you can have hot water."
"Who wants hot water, though? Even if I boil it, I'll let it cool before drinking. Who drinks hot water in this kind of heat? But yeah, raw water isn't great either."
"Wait, the issue isn't the water. We were talking about the stairs."
"Well, whose fault is it they bought such a high-level apartment? You chose it, now live with it. That's the benefit of living on a lower floor."
"Sure, until it floods."
That last remark successfully lit a fire. High floors had their benefits, and so did lower ones. But Lan Jin still firmly believed the higher floors were better. Once the rainy season came, the others would figure it out for themselves.
As soon as the power cut out, Lan Jin brought out the solar battery pack and set it up in the living room. It charged and powered devices at the same time.
For her household, life wasn't much different from before.
Still, before using it, Lan Jin did a quick clean of the house. She disinfected surfaces and sprayed insecticide. A good environment was always worth the effort.
But even with everything handled, Lan Jin found herself doubting life again. She sat on the sofa, staring into space, trying to recall how things had unfolded in her previous life.
This apocalypse was just like before, yet also completely different.
The sequence of events was the same, but the timing was completely off.
How could there be such a huge discrepancy? Was it because of the butterfly effect triggered by her rebirth?
Could that really change this much?
Lan Jin couldn't say.
Also, was this heat considered extreme?
It didn't feel exactly like what she remembered of an extreme heatwave.
Because of global warming, temperatures had started rising more than a hundred years ago. Hitting the 70s during summer wasn't unheard of anymore.
But even back then, no matter how hot it got, the seasons still changed normally. It was already November. Even if people weren't wearing winter coats yet, they should at least be switching to long sleeves.
Yet here they were, still lounging around in short sleeves and shorts. If not for the fear of sunburn and bug bites, people probably wouldn't bother with long clothes even when going outside.
So what was going on with this weather?
Lan Jin couldn't figure it out. She tossed her phone aside and leaned back on the sofa, sighing over and over.
"This is too hard. Life is just too hard."
To her surprise, Qiao Qiao mimicked her with a pouty little voice. "Too hard. Too hard."
Lan Jin laughed. "What's so hard for you? You eat and drink all day."
Qiao Qiao frowned. "Wanna go outside. Stuck at home every day."
Lan Jin glanced at the blinding light beyond the window. "I want to take you out too. But I told you to wear your sun-protection clothes and you didn't want to. There are too many mosquitoes out there. If they bite, the swelling won't go away for days. Everyone's staying inside. No one wants to go out right now."
The sun-protection outfit was made of ice-silk fabric, a long-sleeved set with pants and a hooded cap. It was a must-have for summer. Right now, it worked for both sun and bug protection, making it the ideal choice for going out.
But no matter how breathable the fabric was, kids didn't like the look of long sleeves and pants. Qiao Qiao wouldn't wear it, and since she refused, Lan Jin couldn't take her out. So lately, they really had stayed indoors the whole time.
"I... I..." Qiao Qiao looked conflicted. She tossed her toy aside, wobbled over to Lan Jin, then pointed down at Nana. "Mama, Nana wanna go too."
Nana seemed to understand what Qiao Qiao meant. After hearing her, the dog looked at Qiao Qiao, then turned to Lan Jin and gave a loud bark, as if backing her up.
Lan Jin gave a helpless smile and sighed. "Qiao Qiao, how about this? You go stand on the balcony for a bit. If you really think you can handle it, then we'll go out, okay? Same goes for Nana. If you both can take the heat and the bugs, we'll head out."
She sprayed the mesh door with insecticide, opened it, and quickly shoved one child and one dog onto the balcony. Then she shut the door firmly behind them.
Two minutes later, both of them were begging to come back in.
It was hot, yes, but it was the swarming mosquitoes that made it unbearable. The feeling of insects bouncing off your skin was awful. After those two short minutes, neither of them made another fuss about going outside.
With Qiao Qiao quiet again, Lan Jin could finally relax.
...
Speaking of water, she hadn't even looked for a proper bucket yet. After sending the kid and dog back to the toy corner, Lan Jin slipped into her space and began searching.
There were many types of buckets inside, but the ones she liked most were the blue, narrow-necked plastic water bottles—the kind often used for bottled water delivery.
The small mouth made it easy to fill without spilling, and the round body was stable. The smaller ones had handles, but the larger ones didn't.
They needed to carry 6 liters of water. That meant the large size, which wasn't easy to hold.
But that was a problem she could solve. First, she had to make sure she had the right kind.
As it turned out, she did.
Back when she first signed up for water delivery service, she had ordered 3,000 of those same water bottles. The standard dispenser bottle held 3 liters, but since she ordered in bulk, the owner had thrown in over a dozen 6-liter bottles for free.
So yes, she had exactly what she needed.
She rummaged around and quickly found the bottles. There were twelve of the big ones. Five were already filled with fresh juice she had made from space-grown fruit. The other seven were empty.
Lan Jin took out two. One for herself, and one to give to Huang Jinghe.
That kid was the reliable type. If they fetched water together, he would definitely help her carry it. She didn't mind sharing a bottle with him.
Even if he didn't help, it wasn't a big deal.