At first, the little one hadn't understood what was going on. But as the cries of pain echoed from the building, Qiao Qiao finally realized something was wrong. She dropped the bun in her hands and flung herself into Lan Jin's arms, sobbing loudly.
"Mama, Qiao Qiao scared… scared…"
The screams outside kept coming.
No matter how Lan Jin tried to soothe her, Qiao Qiao wouldn't stop crying. Her wails were loud enough to draw Ling Jiang from next door.
Lan Jin quickly swept the breakfast off the table and tucked it into her spatial storage. As soon as she opened the door, before she could say anything, Ling Jiang asked, "What happened? Qiao Qiao's been crying for a while."
"She wanted to go play in the rain, but I didn't let her. We were just about to eat when the screams started. That must've scared her."
In hindsight, thank goodness Lan Jin hadn't let her go out. If Qiao Qiao had touched that rain…
Not everyone had been so lucky, though. In Ling Jiang's apartment, her grandmother hadn't tried to play in the rain either—but she had wanted to collect some in a bucket to flush the toilet. No one had expected the rain to be so strange. Before long, the plastic bucket had started corroding and sprung a leak. Now Ling Jiang's grandmother was watching the damaged bucket with a heartbroken look on her face.
Still, as much as she cared about the bucket, once she heard Qiao Qiao's cries from next door, she'd sent Ling Jiang over to check on them.
Seeing that mother and daughter were safe, Ling Jiang relaxed. "Good. As long as you're okay. I'll go check upstairs."
But the two people upstairs didn't need much checking. They were still lying in bed, sound asleep, completely unaware of what was happening. Since they hadn't gotten up, they hadn't joined in the "rain collecting" either.
When they heard Ling Jiang's voice from below, they cracked their eyes open and looked down the stairwell.
"The rain can corrode buckets?" Lao Gao muttered, still groggy. "What kind of rain does that?"
Just as he finished speaking, Huang Jinghe, still half-asleep, suddenly remembered a post-apocalyptic novel he'd read once. He hesitated, then said, "Is it acid rain? I remember reading that strong acid rain can corrode things… even skin and walls, not just plastic or metal. If there's enough of it, it can cause real damage. If this really is acid rain, is our building safe? And if it touches skin, we'd need a lot of water to wash it off... but the water's out again, isn't it? You didn't touch the rain, right?"
Ling Jiang shook her head quickly. The rain looked wrong. She had stopped her grandmother just in time, before she could reach into it.
But the mention of acid rain made them all uneasy. If it could eat through a plastic bucket, then what about the power lines? Those thin wires probably wouldn't hold up for long.
Lan Jin checked her phone, and just as expected, the signal was gone. No bars. That confirmed it. This had to be acid rain.
Still, the rain had only just started. There was no need to panic—yet.
She tried to calm everyone down. "Let's not jump to conclusions. You said it takes a lot of acid rain to really cause damage. Let's see how long it lasts before we worry."
But regardless of how long it lasted, one thing was certain—they were trapped in the building again.
This acid rain wasn't much better than the poisonous fog. At least with the fog, you could suit up and go outside if you had the gear. But acid rain? That would melt right through your equipment. Not to mention, if it could damage buildings, then no umbrella or rain shield would be much use.
Best to stay inside and wait it out.
Lao Gao sighed deeply. "Why is it always something new every day?"
Qiao Qiao had finally stopped crying. Since she was calm now, the others didn't linger long at Lan Jin's door.
Just as they were about to head back, another round of shouting erupted from apartment 3204. That same couple again. First came the screaming and cursing, then the sound of things being thrown and smashed.
Qiao Qiao had just calmed down, and now she burst into tears all over again.
Ling Jiang clenched her jaw, ready to kick their door in, but Lao Gao stopped her.
"Easy, you've got a temper on you. This isn't the first time they've fought. Let it go. Sister Lan, take Qiao Qiao back inside and shut the door. If she can't hear them, she'll calm down."
"Alright, I'll close it now. You all head back too, and make sure you didn't get rained on."
Sure enough, once the door was closed and a bit of time passed, Qiao Qiao settled down again.
She rubbed her red eyes and glanced at the now-empty table. Her breakfast was gone. But she remembered—she hadn't finished eating.
"Mama, breakfast?"
Lan Jin chuckled through her exasperation. "Cried that hard, but still remembers breakfast, huh? After all that sobbing, you probably digested it already."
Qiao Qiao ducked shyly into her mother's arms, a little embarrassed.
But as kids do, her mood shifted fast. As soon as Lan Jin took the food back out, Qiao Qiao happily continued eating as if nothing had happened.
The screams outside hadn't stopped. They rose and fell, sharp and pained. But as Qiao Qiao slowly got used to it, her fear eased. She even looked up at Lan Jin with a serious little face and said, "Mama, Qiao Qiao be good now."
Lan Jin smiled. "Mama never said you weren't good. Didn't you come over right away when Mama called you? That means you listened. Listening means you're a good girl. You were very brave."
Qiao Qiao beamed under the praise, puffing up with pride.
But not everyone was as lucky as them. Losing a bucket was nothing. The real pain came from the acid rain touching skin.
It was a burning, searing kind of pain—something that went straight to the bones.
There was nothing they could do but treat the wounds. But even that was a problem. They didn't have enough water to wash the acid off properly.
Most people had injuries that hadn't even fully healed from the last disaster, and now new ones were layered over the old. No one had the strength left to struggle anymore. But the pain made it impossible to rest.
Lan Jin didn't need to see it to know—everyone's bodies were probably in bad shape right now.
To avoid witnessing anything she didn't want to, she decided to stay inside for the time being. She let Huang Jinghe know too, and he agreed without complaint.
Ling Jiang and Lao Gao were also quick to come to the same decision. Not that they had much choice, really. Even if they wanted to go outside, they couldn't.
The rain continued, soft and steady, tapping against the building.
Its corrosive power must've been strong. Even though it wasn't heavy, it still managed to wipe out most of the bugs outside. The mosquitoes that had been buzzing around non-stop were suddenly gone.
Acid rain.
Lan Jin had completely given up on trying to do anything about it.
What could she do, anyway? There hadn't been acid rain in her previous life. And she had died not long after the heavy rain period started.
So whether she gave up early or late didn't really matter anymore.
That night passed quietly.
By the time the sun came up, the bugs were gone. Not a trace of them remained.
Standing behind the mesh door, Lan Jin took a deep breath. The heavy dust and grit from yesterday were gone. In their place was a crisp, fresh scent, like new leaves after spring rain. It was oddly comforting.
Upstairs, Huang Jinghe had stayed up all night keeping an eye on the rain. Living on the top floor made him paranoid—if anything went wrong, he'd be the first to get hit.
He waited until he figured Lan Jin was up, then spoke into the walkie-talkie.
"Sister Lan, is it just me, or does the rain look different now? I don't think it's acid rain anymore."
"Even if it looks different, don't try to test it," Lan Jin replied. "Just because it looks normal doesn't mean it is. If you get hurt, we don't have medicine to fix it. Besides, there's always a few fools in this building who'll go out first to check. Why are you in such a rush?"