“When the doomsday came, the oxygen content in the air rose to 70%. Insects mutated, and fires broke out frequently.”
“Everyone had to rely on oxygen cylinders to live.”
“Grandma and Uncle’s family took away all our oxygen cylinders when they saw that resources were limited.”
“Our house was burned to the ground because the piled-up trash was ignited by a small spark.”
“Although my parents and I narrowly escaped the big fire, we soon suffered from oxygen intoxication in the high-concentration oxygen and couldn’t move. We were eaten alive by several giant praying mantises that were 1.87 meters tall.”
“When I opened my eyes again, I went back to the day when the oxygen concentration had just started to rise.”
“‘What are you standing there for! Hurry up and come to help me move them. Really, only I, an old woman, worry about this family all day long.'”
“Looking at Grandma who was dragging big and small bags of mineral water bottles and cardboard, I froze in place.”
“Was this at the entrance of the community?”
“Suddenly, my heavy body was filled with vitality, and the sharp pain of being torn and bitten gradually faded away.”
“I realized that I had been reborn.”
“I greedily breathed in the air with 21% oxygen content.”
“You know, before I died in the last life, there was a global mutation, and the oxygen concentration reached an astonishing 70%. Just a few more breaths could kill a person.”
“Hurry up. Don’t delay your grandma from making a fortune! You put these bottles and cardboard back. I’m going to pick up other things.”
“Reluctantly, I took these bags of waste products and thought all the way back home.”
“As soon as I opened the door, an indescribable sour and rotten smell hit my face.”
“The house was almost filled with the trash hoarded by Grandma, and it looked like a waste recycling station.”
“I just put the things down when my mother heard the noise in the room and rushed out to hug me tightly.”
“After confirming our eyes, Mom was also a reborn person.”
“After a long while, Mom patted my back and said, ‘Child, don’t be afraid. I know what to do! I often read stories on Yanxuan. No one knows more about rebirth than I do. Next, we should quickly find another community and move away quietly, and then hoard supplies like crazy…'”
“I interrupted her, ‘No, hoarding things is useless.'”
“The doomsday crisis we were going to face next was the soaring global oxygen concentration, which couldn’t be solved simply by hoarding supplies.”
“Oxygen with a suitable concentration was the most important survival resource.”
“Then should we buy more oxygen cylinders?”
“I still shook my head.”
“How many bulky and space-consuming oxygen cylinders could we hoard? Moreover, things were very unsafe in the city. They were flammable, explosive, and easy to be robbed.”
“In the last life, it was Grandma and Uncle’s family who secretly took away all our oxygen cylinders, which exposed our family of three to an oxygen-rich state.”
“We couldn’t move because of oxygen poisoning and were eaten alive by giant mutated praying mantises.”
“Mom’s eyes widened, ‘Then what should we do?'”
“I smiled and thought of the old house in the countryside.”
“We still had a dilapidated house in our hometown in the countryside, surrounded by mountains and rivers but in a remote location.”
“No one had lived in it for many years.”
“Without delay, I took Mom back to have a look.”
“As soon as we opened the door, the dust in the room made us cough.”
“There were about a thousand cockroaches crawling around casually.”
“Mom got goosebumps all over her body and rubbed her arms crazily, ‘This is too scary.'”
“At this time, the oxygen concentration had already shown signs of rising.”
“Insects had extremely strong adaptability and could quickly iterate to versions with stronger survival abilities along with changes in the natural environment.”
“‘Were the cockroaches in the last life much scarier than now?'”
“Mom patted my head, ‘Shut up! Don’t say it.'”
“After measuring and recording the condition of the house, we went back home and prepared to design a shelter to avoid this doomsday oxygen-rich crisis.”
“When we returned to the community, it was already night.”
“Grandma was at home rummaging through the few broken bags she had just picked up.”
“We had advised her many times before not to bring trash back home.”
“One day, she didn’t go to pick up trash, but saw on the news that someone picked up a bag that others didn’t want that day, and there was 500,000 yuan in cash in it. She was so angry that she gritted her teeth.”
“She kept scolding our family for cutting off her source of wealth and ruining her luck.”
“Since then, no matter what it was, as long as it looked useful or could be sold, she would vengefully pick it up and bring it home.”
“She wouldn’t take out some to sell until the house was almost full. Even mineral water bottles and cardboard were not willing to be thrown away, saying that she would hoard them until the waste recycling price went up.”
“‘Damn it! There’s nothing again. Why didn’t these people put some money in the bags when they threw them away?'”
“She rummaged through the few broken bags she picked up this time but found nothing and became unhappy again.”
“Then she pointed at me and Mom and started scolding, ‘It must be you two bad luck stars watching me that I couldn’t find good things. Don’t look at me when I rummage through bags next time!'”
“She kept nagging and slammed the door and left.”
“Grandma had just left when Dad came back.”
“At the dinner table, Dad hesitated several times before speaking.”
“‘Well… you may not believe it… I, I was reborn.'”
“He began to vividly tell the various chaos and tragedies in the city after the global oxygen concentration soared in the last life, as well as our forbearance when we were exploited by Grandma and Uncle’s family during that time.”
“After telling the story, he scratched his head, a little at a loss.”
“Mom and I listened quietly to his profound reflection, feeling that Dad, who had been PUAed by Grandma for many years, had finally awakened.”
“We both showed our cards, ‘We were also reborn.'”
“He looked at Mom, ‘Then what should we do next?'”
“Mom’s face was calm, ‘Listen to the child.'”
“Dad slapped the table, ‘No problem! I’ll pay and contribute. Even if I risk my life, I must protect our family.'”
“I took out the payment QR code, ‘Dad, transfer money, fill it up.'”
“I took stock of my savings over the years, plus the part of the money Dad gave me, and I had an idea in my mind.”
“Soon, I contacted a reliable construction company online.”
“I signed the contract, submitted the drawings, and took them to my hometown to explain in detail the delivery standards for each place.”
“I gave repeated instructions, with the focus on reinforcement and fire prevention. The basement must be moisture-proof.”
“I would check the construction progress of the house in my hometown through my mobile phone monitor every day.”
“At the same time, I bought some industrial equipment and daily necessities online according to the construction progress.”
“Before long, the oxygen concentration would rise beyond the normal range that humans could adapt to.”
“The prices of oxygen inhalation equipment such as oxygen cylinders would also soar.”
“Therefore, I decided to make oxygen by myself.”
“While waiting for the house to be repaired, the oxygen content in the air rose from the normal 21% to 24%.”
“At this oxygen concentration, flowers and leaves were flourishing, and the climate was pleasant, presenting a thriving scene.”
“Grandma also became energetic, and her voice when scolding us could be raised several pitches higher.”
“Now she could pull five trips of trash home a day.”
“When the house was almost repaired, I began to order some key equipment online.”
“I ordered them all and had them shipped to my hometown, and installed and debugged them when no one was paying attention.”
“Once, due to carelessness, the samples I bought were actually sent to my home and were opened by Grandma.”
“‘For no reason. What are you buying oxygen masks for? The air is so fresh now. It must be you, a bad luck star, spending money recklessly and losing wealth, so I haven’t been able to pick up treasures all the time!'”
“Fortunately, I had a quick mind, ‘There’s a cosplay event recently, and I’m going to cosplay as Hanzo Hattori.'”
“She didn’t continue to suspect but just took away the packaging, ‘The courier box belongs to me. Otherwise, it will be thrown away by you, a spendthrift.'”
“She skillfully flattened the box, sprayed water in the middle of the cardboard, and threw it on the top layer of the cardboard piled on the balcony.”
“When Grandma turned around, I quickly changed the default address for online shopping.”
“Everything was arranged properly. Next, it was time for our family of three to show our acting skills.”
“Dad cooked a big table of steaming hot meals at home and invited Uncle’s family to come up and eat.”
“Uncle’s family lived downstairs from us, but they rented the house.”
“They moved here on purpose, saying that it was convenient to enhance feelings.”
“In fact, it was convenient for them to freeload meals from our family and take some things back from time to time.”
“Dad had been PUAed since childhood. No matter how well he did, he was regarded as a burden in the family.”
“Grandma always said that it was a difficult birth when giving birth to him, so Dad’s life was owed to her, and Dad couldn’t repay this kindness even if he was filial.”
“Uncle also PUAed him, saying that if there wasn’t an extra younger brother, he could eat one more steamed bun in a meal.”
“So it was only natural for their family to take advantage of Dad.”
“Today’s meal was very sumptuous. Uncle’s family of three started eating without hesitation, for fear that they would lose the dishes if they moved their chopsticks too slowly.”
“I pretended to hesitate for a long time, ‘Grandma, that… there’s an overseas project in my company, and they want me to go abroad to work.'”
“‘How long will it take?’ Grandma picked up the dishes indifferently.”
“‘One year.'”
“‘Oh.'”
“‘My parents also have to go.'”
“Grandma’s chopsticks suddenly shrank back, and her face was full of dissatisfaction, ‘No, your parents can’t go. Who will do the housework and cook for us if they go with you?'”
“Uncle’s family, who kept putting food into their mouths, also commented, ‘That’s right. We can’t leave Grandma to our family to support. What a bad idea you have.'”
“Dad scratched his head as usual, ‘It’s just that the project of the child’s company is short of people. His mother and I can go to cook for the local workers.'”
“Grandma still didn’t agree.”
“Dad sighed regretfully, ‘Alright then. I originally said that we could earn more money abroad and send 15,000 yuan back to honor Mom every month. Since Mom can’t bear to part with us, we won’t go.'”
“‘How much?’ Grandma straightened her neck.”
“I leaned close to Grandma’s ear and shouted loudly, ‘15,000 yuan.'”
“Hearing this number, Aunt quickly chimed in, ‘Mom, you’re so short-sighted. How nice it is to work abroad. I say, you should go! You should go!'”
“Uncle also nodded frantically and didn’t forget to remind, ‘Just don’t forget to send money to Mom on time after your family goes abroad.'”
“Dad patted his chest, ‘How could that be? For so many years, when have I ever treated Mom unfairly in terms of money?'”
“A shrewd look flashed in Grandma’s eyes again, and she stretched her neck and said to Dad, ‘Your family will be away for a year. How lonely it will be for Mom to live in this house alone. Why don’t your eldest brother’s family reluctantly move up to help you look after the house.'”
“Uncle’s family also highly agreed with this suggestion.”
“It was such a good plan to get more than 10,000 yuan every month, live in a big house without paying rent.”
“Moreover, occupying our house, they were not afraid that we wouldn’t send money after leaving.”
“My parents and I looked at each other, and we understood each other without saying a word.”
“We readily agreed to vacate the house, packed our luggage a few days later, and rushed back to our hometown overnight.”
“Before we set off, the oxygen concentration in the air had reached 27%.”
“My parents and I put down our luggage and stood in front of the newly built house, looking around at the green mountains and clear waters.”
“There was a sense of ease like ‘After long being caged, I finally return to nature’.”
“As soon as we opened the door of the house, Mom screamed like a steam train.”
“There were three one-meter-long big cockroaches crawling leisurely in the living room.”
“I picked up the big stick placed at the door, swung it round, and knocked the three cockroaches on the head twice, killing them.”
“Mom was almost crying, ‘Isn’t the oxygen concentration only 27%? Why did they mutate so fast!'”
“‘The oxygen concentration in the house is 60% now. I used it for simulation testing. Cockroaches really adapt too quickly.'”
“I pointed at the twitching legs of the cockroaches and said, ‘Let’s each carry one.'”
“Mom waved her hands repeatedly, ‘I won’t do it even if you kill me.'”
“Dad and I dragged the cockroaches by their legs and buried them in the vegetable garden outside the door as fertilizer.”
“After returning to the house, I adjusted the indoor oxygen concentration to 21%.”
“‘I installed an oxygen-balancing device in the house, which can adjust the oxygen concentration at any time. Even if the outdoor oxygen concentration rises to a level where we can’t breathe directly in the future, we don’t need to wear oxygen masks in the house.'”
“After familiarizing my parents with the rooms, our family of three officially started a rural life.”
“Dad loosened the soil and plowed the land, and carefully sowed vegetable seeds in the field.”
“Mom wore an apron and cooked dishes in the big pot in the kitchen.”
“I couldn’t help sighing, ‘This is the life I want! So full of life! What was the point of running around in the city and suffering so much at work?'”
“When I was free, I would also walk around the house and admire my ‘artwork’.”
“To avoid attracting attention, this’shelter’ didn’t look very designed on the outside and was just simpler than ordinary houses.”
“Outside the door was a vegetable garden where we could grow vegetables and be self-sufficient.”
“Entering the door was the living room converted from the main hall, with five bedrooms and three bathrooms.”
“There was a gym in the basement, and when we were in the mood, we could also go to the audio video room to sing KTV.”
“There were three workshops set up in the backyard, which were the oxygen production room, the oxygen filtration room and the power generation room respectively.”
“Besides, there was a small warehouse where various kinds of food and drinks were stocked and classified.”
“Because most of the money was spent on building the house and buying oxygen production equipment, the amount of stocked food was not particularly large.”
“The whole house was built with the best fireproof materials.”
“Our family cut down some surrounding trees together to avoid being invaded by mountain fires.”
“After adapting to all these things unhurriedly, the oxygen concentration had risen to 30%. If the concentration continued to rise, it would be harmful to human bodies if people inhaled it for a long time.”
“People began to go out with oxygen cylinders on their backs.”
“Sometimes, I could see villagers carrying oxygen cylinders on their backs and going to work in the fields from a distance.”
“The first thing I did when I got up in the daytime was to go to the oxygen production room to make oxygen cylinders for breathing, so that it would be convenient for my parents and me to carry them when we went out to work.”
“When I was free, I would also lie on the sofa and open the monitor of our former home to check the movements of Grandma and Uncle’s family.”
“They also put on oxygen cylinders in the house.”
“Grandma still persisted in picking up trash and bringing it home.”
“Uncle and Aunt began to be dissatisfied, ‘Mom, the house stinks so much that it makes our eyes hurt. Could you please stop picking things up and bringing them home?'”
“‘You don’t understand anything! The fortune-teller said that I would get rich sooner or later by picking up things. You just haven’t lived through hard times.'”
“‘No, it takes too much physical strength for you to go out each time. There isn’t enough oxygen in the cylinders for you to breathe alone. Has the second son’s family sent over 15,000 yuan this month? The price of oxygen cylinders is rising every day. Go and urge them!'”
“Aunt quickly added, ‘That’s right. We must make them send more. We haven’t even been paid for looking after the house for them!'”
“Then I heard Dad’s WeChat ringtone.”
“Dad calmly picked it up and slowly entered the acting state, crying about how hard it was for him to work abroad.”
“He told with tears how our family was exploited by foreign capitalists, how we couldn’t have enough to eat from morning to night, how there wasn’t enough oxygen, and how we were also defaulted on wages by the boss just like in China.”
“After hanging up the phone, he proudly shook his mobile phone at me, ‘How was Dad’s acting just now?'”
“‘Better than the Golden Horse Best Actor.'”
“As the oxygen concentration rose, fires in the city began to break out frequently.”
“In the last life, it was just because of a tiny spark that ignited the cardboard hoarded by Grandma.”
“In the high-concentration oxygen environment, with so much trash as fuel, the fire quickly spread to the whole building.”
“We not only lost our house but also implicated all our neighbors. We had to hide everywhere like rats crossing the street.”
“And at this moment, Uncle in the monitoring screen took out a lighter and was about to smoke.”
“As soon as he lit it, a one-foot-long flame shot straight to his hairline, burning all the hair on his forehead completely.”
“He panicked and patted his head. When the fire was put out, he had already become ‘Mediterranean’.”
“‘Damn it! Mom, should you throw away these cardboard? It seems that they are easy to catch fire.'”
“‘What do you know? I sprayed water in the middle of these cardboard. They won’t burn.'”
“Aunt looked unhappy, ‘You sprayed water and it’s easy to stink. We can hardly bear it. We’ve wanted to throw them away for a long time.'”
“‘I’d like to see who dares to throw them away! You’re so ignorant. Spraying water can make them weigh more when sold. When the waste recycling price goes up, I’ll sell them all at once. Besides, the Chutian’s family has gone abroad and hasn’t sent money back yet. What will you drink the northwest wind if you throw them away?'”
“Although Uncle’s family expressed various opinions, Grandma still didn’t want to throw away the treasures she hoarded and continued to pick things up and bring them home.”
“I watched them quarrel every day as if I was watching a variety show.”
“As the oxygen concentration continued to rise, it was obvious from their conversations that the order in the city was gradually collapsing.”
“The changes in the countryside were also very obvious.”
“Under the oxygen-rich environment, plants grew very fast and some vegetables grew extremely large.”
“The changes in the size of insects were also very obvious.”
“In the vegetable garden, we could now pick up water spinach leaves that were sixty centimeters wide and catch fifty-centimeter-long caterpillars.”
“In the past, we could kill a blood-sucking mosquito with one slap, but now we could slap a flying mosquito in the sky and make it fall down and cover its face to reflect on its mistakes.”
“Mom, who had always been afraid of insects, had already got used to it.”
“No matter what kind of insects they were, she would knock them dead with a few sticks after seeing them, drag them away and bury them as fertilizer.”
“In order to keep healthy, we would carry oxygen cylinders on our backs and take a walk nearby every day. When we got home, we would take off the equipment and live a normal life.”
“The indoor oxygen concentration had been constantly maintained between 21% and 24%. We could do anything in the house very calmly.”
“At night, our family was having a hot pot happily when there was a sudden knock on the door.”
“The chopsticks of the three of us were suspended in mid-air, and our hearts were in our throats.”
“Could it be that Grandma came to find us so soon?”
“I walked softly to the door, carefully looked outside through the peephole, and then breathed a sigh of relief.”
“It was Aunt Li.”
“Although she was called a neighbor, there were several plots of land between us.”
“‘Aunt Li, what’s the matter?'”
“She looked into the room, ‘Well, Chutian, I saw that your family of three could go out for a walk every day. Do you have a lot of oxygen cylinders stocked? Could you sell some to us at a cheaper price?'”
“‘Uh…'”
“She blushed and stammered, ‘The oxygen cylinders outside have been sold at several hundred yuan each. We really… really can’t afford them…'”
“Aunt Li was not a bad person. She used to give me fruits and snacks from time to time when I was a child.”
“Seeing that it was a neighbor, Dad’s kind-hearted nature came out, ‘Yes, yes, there are still some at home. I’ll get you some. I won’t charge…'”
“I quickly stuffed a big steamed bun into his mouth, asked Mom to knock him out and drag him away.”
“Then I turned to Aunt Li and said, ‘Okay, Aunt Li. I’ll sell you some at the price before the price increase, but you’d better not tell others.'”
“The resources were limited. If the whole village came to me to buy oxygen, it would be a big trouble.”
“She nodded repeatedly.”
“I took out oxygen cylinders of different sizes for her, which were enough for her family to use for one or two months.”
“However, paper can’t wrap fire after all.”
“Other villagers saw that Aunt Li, who had been poor before, now had some extra oxygen cylinders, so they surrounded her house and questioned her.”
“Forced by them, she could only say that she bought them from me.”
“A large group of villagers rushed to my door with brooms and shoulder poles, looking as if they were going to rob.”
“My heart was pounding.”
“Unexpectedly, the village head, who was leading them, burst into tears and held my hand.”
“‘Chutian, your family suddenly came back to live in the village. Did you stock a lot of goods and plan to make a fortune from us?'”
“‘If you want to sell them, can each cylinder be one hundred yuan cheaper than those outside? The oxygen outside is sold at a terribly high price now. We can’t breathe oxygen with normal concentration now. Several families have been sent to the hospital because of oxygen intoxication, but it’s even more expensive to inhale oxygen in the hospital!'”
“‘Look, we are all villagers. Several families of us are almost out of oxygen. I’m not afraid of losing face as an old man. I’ll kneel down for you. Please have mercy…'”
“I quickly went up and supported the old village head.”
“Looking at their eager eyes for survival through the oxygen masks, I began to think.”
“Should I sell or not?
“If I didn’t sell, it would turn into robbery. It would become ‘If you don’t let us live, we won’t let your family live either’.”
“However, if I sold them, I couldn’t sell them too cheaply. If these things were sold at a price lower than their value, the villagers would ask for them endlessly.”
“Giving a little kindness may lead to gratitude, but giving too much may lead to enmity.”
“Nor could I sell them at a very high price. Otherwise, the villagers would be angry, and our family would become the target of public criticism.”
“So, I had to sell them, and I had to sell them reasonably.”
“Moreover, I had to set a purchase limit. Otherwise, someone would buy and resell them.”
“So, under the witness of the village head, I reached an agreement with the villagers.”
“If they wanted to get oxygen to survive, they had to make some efforts.”
“They either had to give appropriate property or provide some basic raw materials for oxygen production.”
“In short, if they wanted to continue to live in the village, they had to participate in labor.”
“The most important thing was that this matter had to be kept confidential.”
“I asked the village head to register the situation of each family for me, and I would be fully responsible for the distribution.”
“The villagers were all grateful to me.”
“The village, which had been in a state of panic due to the lack of normal oxygen, became calm again.”
“But it also brought me new troubles.”
“Some villagers thanked the wrong person after being saved and called Grandma to express their gratitude.”
“Just like in the last life, Grandma still managed to burn down our house in the city.”
“She was wandering around with Uncle’s family.”
“At this time, they suddenly heard about my great achievements in my hometown.”
“The four of them, carrying oxygen cylinders on their backs, looking shabby and dirty but full of anger, rushed back.”
“‘Well, you bad luck stars! You played a trick on me. You lied to me that you went abroad and would send 15,000 yuan every month. You started acting for us after you left.'”
“Uncle’s family also kicked the door crazily, ‘Let us in! Otherwise, I’ll set fire to your house! You ungrateful bastards!'”
“They were at the end of their rope, so it was normal for them to do extreme things.”
“After a short hesitation, I still opened the door.”
“As soon as the four of them entered the door, they started yelling at me and my parents.”
“While they were scolding, suddenly the power went out and the house was pitch-dark.”
“‘What’s going on?’ Because of the fright, Grandma and Uncle’s family of three instinctively hugged each other.”
“I calmly took out a flashlight, walked to the refrigerator, and shone it inside, ‘This means that the doomsday crisis has completely broken out.'”
“The afterglow of the flashlight swept over the still frightened four people.”
“I took a sip of the drink unhurriedly and continued, ‘Maybe the city has already been in chaos. The power system and network communication will be affected until they are completely paralyzed.'”
“‘Then… then what?'”
“‘At least the refrigerator can’t be used. In the high-concentration oxygen environment, food will go bad quickly.'”
“Aunt was a little scared, ‘It doesn’t matter if the refrigerator isn’t used. We don’t eat ice cream… What does that mean?'”
“‘It means that after we finish the meat in the refrigerator, if we want to eat meat, we’ll have to hunt.'”
“It was very difficult for animals and birds to adapt to the high-concentration oxygen. The livestock in the village had already died out long ago.”
“Grandma had been hungry for several days. She swallowed and asked eagerly, ‘Then how much meat is left in the refrigerator?'”
“I opened my mouth wide, picked up a piece of steak on the dining table and put it into my mouth. After chewing it, I sucked my fingers unhurriedly, ‘Sorry, Grandma. That was the last piece of meat we had just now.'”
“Grandma was about to get angry when the windows suddenly flapped.”
“A group of people stared at the three-foot-long moths flapping towards the flashlight light and were silent for a long time.”
“The oxygen concentration had exceeded 50%, returning to the ecological environment of ancient times.”
“The insects had become terribly big.”
“However…”
“Believe it or not, the insects that ate our family alive in the last life were actually very delicious when cooked.”
“I killed a small praying mantis about 1.5 meters long. Its big pincers were even more delicious than crabs when roasted.”
“‘Look! What have I caught!’ Dad proudly showed off his trophies with a one-meter-long caterpillar in his left hand and an eighty-centimeter-long grasshopper in his right hand.”
“Uncle’s family looked disgusted and scolded us, saying that we were always bumpkins and would eat such lowly animals.”
“They were highly civilized city people, thinking themselves noble and would rather die than eat such disgusting things.”
“So they only ate vegetarian food every day.”
“The power system was sometimes on and sometimes off. Sometimes it would be out of power for more than a week. Uncle’s family, who only knew how to spend their days watching short videos, had nothing to do all day long and soon fell into anxiety and depression.”
“However, Grandma was quite good at finding things to do. Since there were no cardboard or mineral water bottles to pick up here, she began to pick up some rotten vegetable leaves or broken iron hoes from other people’s fields and bring them home.”
“Even though I had reminded her countless times that there would be no shortage of plants in the oxygen-rich environment and the vegetables we grew were completely enough.”
“She would still look for opportunities to run out and pick up trash.”
“The meaning of picking up trash had become a proof of her sense of existence and a test of obedience for her, but my parents and I didn’t want to spoil her anymore.”
“At this time, Uncle played the role of a saint, ‘You unfilial descendants! Can’t you respect Grandma’s living habits? The house is so empty. What’s the matter if she puts some things in it?'”
“I waited until he finished speaking and then said slowly, ‘No problem. Your bedroom is the most suitable place to store things. Grandma can put all the things she picks up in your room in the future.'”
“Uncle’s family quickly waved their hands, ‘No, no, just put them in the living room.'”
“‘There is oxygen adjustment equipment in the living room, which is very sensitive. If the trash damages the equipment or affects the oxygen quality, don’t blame me if you are poisoned to death.'”
“Suddenly, they all pointed their fingers at Grandma and strongly resisted her picking up things and bringing them home.”
“After a few quiet days, Grandma suddenly nudged me.”
“‘Dear grandson, what’s the password of your oxygen room? Grandma will help you check the inventory every day so that we can find out in time if something is stolen.'”
“I just waved my hand gently and smiled, ‘Grandma, don’t worry. It won’t be stolen.'”
“For several days, she tried to get the password in a roundabout way, and I also refused to give it to her in a roundabout way.”
“Once, she was the center of the family. She could decide how to arrange every item in the family, how to distribute the dishes, and whether we should stand or sit.”
“But now, I’m in control of everything in the family.”
“Moreover, I will also control the time when she and Uncle’s family go out to avoid consuming too many oxygen cylinders.”
“Her sense of existence has dropped sharply.”
“The oxygen concentration was still rising continuously.”
“One day, Grandma and Uncle’s family came back very late.”
“When I opened the door for them, a large group of people carrying oxygen cylinders and knives on their backs suddenly rushed in.”
“Without saying a word, they tied up my parents and me.”
“The leader took off his oxygen mask and looked at Grandma, ‘Second Aunt, you really didn’t lie to me. Chutian’s family really doesn’t need to wear oxygen masks. This is so comfortable.'”
“The generator was only maintaining the minimum power supply, and the light was a bit dim, but I still recognized that this was Liu Daqiang, my grandma’s nephew. According to the seniority, I should call him Uncle.”
“He put the tip of the knife against my neck, ‘Tell me! Where did you hide the goods?'”
“‘What goods?'”
“‘Oxygen cylinders! Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking? You clearly settled down in the city but suddenly returned to the countryside. You must have hoarded a lot of goods and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to extort a sum of money from the villagers. You don’t want to share the wealth with your Uncle. Do you want to swallow it all by yourself?'”
“I understood that he wanted to rob the oxygen cylinders and make a fortune by taking advantage of these resources.”
“Grandma was looking triumphant, ‘It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t tell. The room where the oxygen cylinders are stored is in the backyard. This little bad luck star goes in and out of there every day but refuses to tell me the password.'”
“They escorted my parents and me to the backyard and opened the door, but they were dumbfounded.”
“There were only a dozen or so scattered cylinders inside, and they were all empty.”
“‘Tell me! Where did you hide the oxygen?'”
“I asked him to look at the numerical control equipment behind him, ‘The oxygen concentration in the air is constantly changing, so I make oxygen on the spot every day. When the oxygen concentration is high and the power is sufficient, the liquid separation oxygen production method can be directly used. This is a physical method, and it will be very fast if it is operated by a program.'”
“He put his hands on the console, ‘How to operate this thing?'”
“‘It’s very simple. You just need to know programming.'”
“Liu Daqiang ordered me ferociously, ‘You, teach me immediately!'”
“I signaled them to untie me first. I walked to the bookshelf next to me, took out a classic programming textbook “C Language from Getting Started to Giving Up”.”
“I patiently guided him beside him. Liu Daqiang groped on the keyboard with his index finger and typed out a few lines of code with great difficulty.”
“After twenty minutes, the words “Hello, World” were successfully displayed on the screen.”
“Uncle exclaimed beside him, ‘That’s amazing! Uncle Qiang, you’ve learned C language! Awesome!'”
“Liu Daqiang wiped the sweat off his forehead, ‘Huff… I told you it wasn’t that difficult…'”
“He looked at me again, ‘What’s next?'”
“‘Next, as long as you flexibly use the C language and change the program to control the equipment according to the real-time oxygen concentration. When the oxygen concentration rises by 2%, you just need to modify about five thousand lines of code.'”
“Liu Daqiang grabbed my collar and roared, ‘Five thousand lines? You’re fucking kidding me!'”
“He was about to hit me when a villager suddenly shouted excitedly,”
“‘Uncle Qiang, come here quickly! He has another room where oxygen can be produced by chemical methods.'”
“A group of people escorted me to the adjacent room as if they had found a treasure.”
“There were large and small test tubes, beakers, as well as raw materials for oxygen production such as potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide piled up inside.”
“Liu Daqiang was surprised and said, ‘Can we use these to supply oxygen to the whole house so that we don’t need to wear oxygen masks?'”
“I nodded.”
“‘Quick, tell me immediately! How to do it?'”
“‘The method is not difficult either, but for the sake of health, the generated oxygen needs to be controlled in concentration and strictly filtered.'”
“‘It’s not that complicated. Are you trying to deceive me again?'”
“Liu Daqiang got angry again, but a young villager behind him poked him, ‘Uncle Qiang, he’s not lying to you. I used to work in a chemical factory for a while. If the proportion of these things is wrong, it will cost lives…'”
“He patted my head, ‘You, teach me immediately.'”
“I took out a copy of “Basic Chemistry”, ‘You need to learn some chemical equations to understand the ratio of raw materials.'”
“Liu Daqiang’s throat moved, ‘Still… still have to learn?'”
“He turned around and looked at the people around him, looking a bit embarrassed.”
“I guided him to write down chemical equations one by one on the small blackboard and then taught him how to balance them.”
“He was sweating all over, tremblingly holding the chalk, but he couldn’t figure out how many numbers should be written in front of each substance on both sides of the reaction equation for a long time.”
“‘Forget it.’ He threw the chalk and turned around to kneel down to me, ‘Big nephew, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’ll kowtow to you. To tell you the truth, my family doesn’t have many oxygen cylinders left either. You, as an elder, please forgive your Uncle. Our several families still have to rely on you to survive.'”
“I was curious why he changed so quickly.”
“Liu Daqiang helplessly supported himself on the ground, ‘In this world, anyone may deceive me, but mathematics won’t. Mathematics won’t, just won’t.'”
“My cousin corrected him, ‘Uncle Qiang, this is chemistry.'”
“‘The essence of all sciences is mathematics. I know that! What’s more, I think to learn this set of things, I still have to learn advanced mathematics. I can hardly recite the multiplication table of nine-nine. Is that something I can learn?'”
“Grandma saw that Liu Daqiang suddenly turned against her and quickly rushed over to pull him.”
“‘Daqiang! Get up! Why are you suddenly begging him for mercy! Even if you don’t understand advanced mathematics, you can let your daughter do it! Your daughter is a technical secondary school student. Let her do it. She will surely be able to handle it.'”
“Liu Daqiang stood up and slapped Grandma hard on the mouth, ‘She’s just a technical secondary school student. What does she know about advanced mathematics!'”
“Uncle also came up to persuade him, ‘Uncle Qiang, Uncle Qiang, try harder. Look, you’ve even learned C language. Why are you giving in to a kid?'”
“Liu Daqiang got angry when he heard this, jumped up and cursed, ‘I fuck your mother!'”
“Then he slapped Grandma and Uncle’s family hard on the face in front of everyone.”
“Uncle hugged his head and shrank on the ground, ‘It’s not about this C language… My mom is right here. Don’t scold or hit anymore.'”
“Seeing that I was indifferent, Liu Daqiang asked the group of people he brought to kneel down to me together, ‘Chutian, please forgive us! As long as you promise to sell oxygen to us, from today on, I dare to guarantee that no one will dare to harass your family anymore.'”
“I glanced at Grandma and Uncle’s family, ‘Isn’t someone harassing our family right now?'”
“A group of people beat them up hard again and then continued to kneel down, ‘Are you satisfied? If you’re still not satisfied, we’ll keep beating them until you are.'”
“I reached an agreement with Liu Daqiang.”
“I will ensure the basic living oxygen for their group of people.”
“Like the previous villagers, they also need to keep it confidential and provide property or materials in exchange.”
“At the same time, they also have to be responsible for protecting the safety of my parents and me.”
“After this incident, Grandma and Uncle’s family became much more obedient and didn’t dare to speak too loudly at home now.”
“For a long time, the oxygen content in the air remained at 70%, and the insects had become extremely huge.”
“Praying mantises could grow to 1.87 meters, cockroaches could grow to 3 meters, and caterpillars could grow to 1.58 meters.”
“I was unlucky when hunting that day and only caught a sixty-centimeter-long bamboo worm when I came back.”
“My lazy cousin was very dissatisfied, ‘It’s so small. How many people can it feed?'”
“Their family hadn’t eaten meat for a long time and was so hungry that they were dizzy.”
“Last week, they finally put aside their status as ‘city people’ and couldn’t stop eating fried grasshoppers after taking a bite.”
“Every time they ate insects, they were afraid that they would get less if they were slow in grabbing.”
“I threw the bamboo worm hard on the ground, ‘If you think you can do better, go ahead! You’re just like an overgrown baby all day long. How dare you criticize me?'”
“He was unconvinced, ‘I… I’m sure I can do better than you!'”
“I looked him up and down at his fat head and big ears, and looked at him with disdain,”
“‘In terms of appearance, height, figure, education, wisdom, popularity with the opposite sex, and energy level, which aspect are you better than me? Oh, no, your ability to produce feces is indeed stronger than mine. Since you were a child, you’ve been nothing but a good-for-nothing who just stretches out his hand for clothes and opens his mouth for food!'”
“My cousin blushed with anger and couldn’t refute for a moment. He pointed at the bamboo worm on the ground and started to change the topic, ‘You only caught such a tiny thing after going out for half a day? Just wait. I’ll go and catch a big one to slap you in the face!'”
“After saying that, he picked up a spear and ran towards the back mountain.”
“There were many mutated creatures on the back mountain. It was very dangerous for a person to go there. Usually, when villagers and we went hunting on the back mountain, we had to go in groups and didn’t dare to go too deep.”
“I shouted at him, ‘Hey, come back! It’s too dangerous over there!'”
“But he just wouldn’t listen and ran far away.”
“It was late at night, and my cousin still didn’t come back.”
“Uncle and Aunt ignored our dissuasion and insisted on going into the mountain with flashlights to look for their son, and they also disappeared without a trace.”
“The village organized a group of people to go into the mountain to search the next day, and only found their gnawed clean remains and torn clothes.”
“After Uncle’s family died, Grandma was sad for only a few days and then started to pick up trash and bring it home without restraint again.”
“‘My son and grandson are gone! What’s wrong with me picking up some things and bringing them home? If I pick up treasures and get rich, you’ll all have to beg me, an old woman!'”
“I advised her several times and then didn’t say anything more.”
“Just let her do whatever she wants. She has almost picked up everything nearby. How much worse could it be?”
“The oxygen content in the air had reached an astonishing 75%.”
“The country on the other side of the sea, the ‘Aunt Towel Country’, had completely perished due to the violent eruption of the Fusi Mountain, which led to the ** of volcanoes across the country.”
“One evening, the village head took several families and sat in the front yard of my house, looking worried.”
“They knew that now the power supply system had completely broken down, the diesel of my generator had been used up, and the physical oxygen production method would eventually be unable to continue.”
“The raw materials for chemical oxygen production were also almost used up, and the villagers couldn’t supply new raw materials either.”
“‘Chutian, I know you’ve done your best. Look, can you think of another way for us to tide over the difficulties together?'”
“Other villagers also echoed one after another, ‘Yes, yes, Chutian. You’re knowledgeable, handsome, and elegant. Our admiration for you is like the surging river that never stops flowing, and like the Yellow River flooding out of control. You have to think of more ways to save us all…'”
“Just as they were talking, Grandma walked in with a weak flashlight, dragging big and small bags of things.”
“When she saw our group of people, her eyes lit up and she showed off to us,”
“‘Look what I picked up from the back mountain! It’s gold! I can buy as many oxygen cylinders as I want by selling this thing! I’m finally having a change of luck in my old age! At that time, if you want to survive, you’ll all have to beg me!'”
“Although we had already told her that in this period, gold was worthless and only the survival materials that could keep people alive were valuable.”
“But she just didn’t believe it and even dared to risk her life to pick up trash from the back mountain.”
“Looking at her cheering and walking towards the house, I shook my head helplessly.”
“Forget it, just let her be.”
“Suddenly, the village head stopped her, ‘Stop! What are you holding?'”
“After saying that, he reached out to snatch it from Grandma’s arms.”
“Grandma hugged the big golden iron lump and shouted while dodging, ‘What are you doing! You’re robbing! You’re robbing! I picked this up. Why are you snatching my gold!'”
“I could roughly see the shape of the big golden iron lump in her arms, but I still couldn’t tell what it was.”
“‘Village head, what did she pick up?'”
“‘It’s a bomb… Decades ago, when our village fought against the Japanese invaders in the back mountain, the Japanese invaders left a batch of scattered ammunition that hadn’t been removed. In order to cover up their tracks, the Japanese invaders painted all the ammunition gold. In recent decades, we found some scattered ones and reported them to the state for disposal. But some were scattered in the minefield, and no one dared to go there, so they were hard to be discovered…'”
“I swallowed hard.”
“The current oxygen concentration was 75%. If this thing exploded, it would blow our house to pieces.”
“Grandma held the bomb tightly and refused to let go.”
“The village head ordered everyone to chase her and deliberately drove her out of the house.”
“Grandma used all her strength to run far away.”
“She stood in an open space and shouted at us angrily,”
“‘You ungrateful bastards! You just can’t stand seeing me having a good time and getting rich! This is gold! It’s gold!'”
“The village head shouted to her from a distance, ‘Old woman, don’t be stupid! It’s a bomb! Throw it far away quickly. Don’t seek death and harm the whole village!'”
“Grandma still wouldn’t give in, ‘True gold is not afraid of fire! If you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it to you right now!'”
“From a distance, I saw her take out a lighter. The flame of the lighter shot up more than ten feet high.
The village head was almost on his knees, “We want to live! We’re begging you now!”
Grandma gradually brought the flame closer to the bomb.
My companions and I were stunned at first, and then we started running back like crazy.
Behind us, Grandma’s shouts still came, “Look! It won’t melt! It won’t melt! I told you it’s gold. It’s gold…”
Accompanied by a deafening bang, a bright light shot straight up to the sky, and a huge mushroom cloud rose from the open space.
In the oxygen-rich environment, even the backward bombs from more than eighty years ago exploded with astonishing power.
The village head and I were heavily thrown to the ground by the blast wave. Fortunately, we ran far and fast enough, and no one was hurt.
The red halo in the sky didn’t fade away for a long time.
That day, the whole village saw Grandma.
Looking at the fireworks that lingered in the sky for a long time, the village head stood there for a long time and then slowly said, “You… you should restrain your grief…”
I felt relieved instead, “Alas, there’s nothing to be sad about. It’s finally quiet now.”
The village head frowned again, “But what should we do next? Our oxygen cylinders won’t last long…”
Do you still remember the basement I designed?
Every day when I made oxygen cylinders for the villagers, I would secretly store an extra 30%. This is called “redundant backup”.
But I wouldn’t tell the villagers that there were ready-made oxygen cylinders and surplus raw materials in my basement.
I said to the village head, “There’s no technology left, but I still have magic. You go back first, and come to get new oxygen cylinders tomorrow.”
“Why? How come there are more again?”
I spread my hands, “Because, I! Am! A! God!”
The village head nodded firmly, “I believe it!”
The other villagers also echoed one after another, “We believe it too. We believe it too.”
After the villagers left, I opened the hidden secret door in the basement.
The remaining oxygen and semi-finished products were enough for my family and the villagers to survive for another half a year.
But what should we do after half a year?
Dad patted me on the shoulder, “Let’s leave it to fate.”
Plans always can’t keep up with changes.
One month later, with a heavy rain, the oxygen concentration started to drop from 80%.
Two months later, the oxygen concentration had dropped back to 29%.
Everyone didn’t need to rely on oxygen cylinders to live anymore.
The air began to regain its vitality, and life began to thrive again.
The highly adaptable insects also gradually shrank in size.
When the oxygen concentration dropped back to 24%, the village held a grand celebration party and treated our family as honored guests.
Every household gave us a big red envelope.
The next morning, my parents and I stood in front of our house, looking at the lush distant mountains.
My parents asked me, “What should we do in the future?”
I stroked my chin and thought carefully, “Our house in the city has been burned down.”
“Yes…”
I asked myself again, “Do we have to go back to the city?”
“Otherwise?”
“Dad, Mom, we have such a good reputation and high prestige in the village. Even the local bully is respectful to us. With such a good mass base, what do you think is the most in line with the law of historical development for us to do next?”
My dad and I looked at each other tacitly and said word by word, “Gather troops and armor, declare ourselves kings.”
I also nodded with a smile, deeply agreeing.
“Father!”
“Son!”
The father and son clasped their fists and bowed to each other to salute. Mom gave each of us a slap on the back of our heads, “What crazy dreams are you having! The doomsday crisis has been lifted, and everything is waiting to be rebuilt. The country needs you. Go back to the city and find jobs again!”
“Woohoo, okay, Mother.”
