Chapter 62: Food Insufficiency (1/2)
Chapter 62: Food Insufficiency
Translator:Editor:
It was already seven days after the appearance of the mutated mosquitoes but the situation was not getting any better. The whole city was like a ghost town and nobody could be seen on the streets.
“Mom, I’m very hungry!” A fat kid of about five years old said pitifully.
“Be good, my little Yu, and wait a little longer as it is not dinner time yet!” Yu’s mom responded.
“But I didn’t eat any rice during lunch! I’m so hungry that my stomach hurts!” The little boy, Yu, said bitterly while he was playing with his remote-control car which had now run out of battery.
The eyes of little Yu’s mom turned red and she looked at Huang Wei. He sighed and nodded saying, “alright, go cook then. We’ll sleep earlier tonight.”
“Oh! Finally, I can eat!” Little Yu threw the remote-control car aside and jumped for joy.
Little Yu’s mom sighed, stood up, walked to the almost empty rice bag and scooped a small cup of rice. Then, after some thought, she poured half of it back before she went to wash it in the kitchen. After she put the rice on the wok, she added in three large bowls of water, started the gas, and began cooking.
After half an hour, she scooped three bowls of porridge and put them on the table. She weakly uttered, “it’s time to eat.”
As Huang Wei and his son walked over, he noticed the porridge on the table was as clear as water. He asked in surprise: “Do we not have any rice left?”
“We only have about five scoops left and we don’t know how long this situation will last.” Little Yu’s mother sighed heavily while she replied and continued, “We should save as much as we can now.”
Huang Wei nodded in disappointment. Fortunately, they had bought a packet of rice weighing about 20 catties prior to the incident. They thought the chaos would end soon but instead the number of mutated mosquitoes increased every day.
Other than the first few meals of rice the three of them managed to have at the beginning, they had been eating porridge every day. Even a person with a strong body cannot survive over a long period of time solely on porridge. It was only the fifth day so far, but only their son was still about the same size. Both of them had clearly lost weight. Sadly, their rice grains were also depleting soon.
Little Yu was slurping the porridge and had forgotten all about his toy. Even for a kid who is very particular about food, he enjoys anything edible when he is starving.
As he looked at his son who was gulping down the porridge which was still hot, he kept silent for a while and said, “I’ll try to borrow some food from Mr. Wang opposite us!”
“Do they still have rice?” Little Yu’s mom asked.
“They should have since they managed to buy a lot before the incident. I think they’d still have some. I’m also quite close to Mr. Wang. If we can’t borrow, maybe we can buy some even though the price is high.” Huang Wei comforted them though he himself was not certain. After all, it was not the good old days and food today was more expensive than gold as it was more scarce and necessary for survival. Nobody would lend food to you unless you are their relative or their friend.
He and Mr. Wang actually just got to know each other as he used to sell him insurance. Mr. Wang might be annoyed with him now since he had lost all his money in insurance now that there are no insurance companies around anymore. Huang Wei was weighing the personal gains and losses as he thought more about when he wanted to request for help.
He blew gently towards the porridge to cool it down before quickly swallowing it into his stomach. As he ate, he felt even hungrier. His stomach was growling and rumbling with pain. He touched his disappearing belly which he used to try hard to lose, stood up slowly and said: “I’ll go opposite and ask.”
He walked to the wardrobe to put on a raincoat and a pair of boots. Then, after some thought, he wore a helmet as well although he was unsure if it could protect him from the mosquitoes.
“Please be careful. Come back quickly!” Little Yu’s mom said worriedly.
“It will be alright. The government’s campaign vehicle said that those mutated mosquitoes can’t bite through a raincoat.” Huang Wei smile insincerely, took a deep breath, opened the door and closed it as fast as he could.
He looked around the corridor carefully and when he found that there were no mutated mosquitoes, he walked quickly to the house opposite his and knocked on the door gently saying, “Mr. Wang, are you home?”
After about 10 seconds, a reply came from the inside, “Who is it?”
“Mr. Wang, it’s me, Huang Wei from the opposite you!” he quickly replied.
“Why aren’t you accompanying your wife and son at home? Aren’t you afraid of being bitten to death by those mutated mosquitoes?” Mr. Wang said with a teasing tone but he did not seem to want to open the door.