In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 180: The Cool Dad in the Apocalypse (10)

This large-scale power outage lasted nearly two months. Due to frequent earthquakes and aftershocks in various regions, the power department didn’t dare to casually send workers to the damaged areas. Of course, even if the heads of the power company had such intentions, most employees prioritized survival and didn’t dare venture into dangerous zones.
During these two months, Qi Sheng had quietly continued treating Qi Lei well, but hadn’t tried to have any in-depth conversations with him again. The father and son seemed to tacitly enjoy the delicate relationship they now shared, and Qi Lei no longer rejected Qi Sheng’s efforts.
Their relationship had made great progress, and now it was already May.
The various disasters over the past six months had finally made people across the global village realize the Earth Mother’s volatile temper. Humanity could not hide forever in seemingly safe and cozy shells. Gradually, as people continued to suffer in the face of these unpredictable disasters, they finally decided to confront them with courage.
Even though earthquakes still occurred sporadically in many areas, power and communications companies had begun dispatching technicians to repair power stations and communication base stations.
Society as a whole seemed to be making a concerted effort to recover, and Qi Sheng decided it was time for a trip.
Previously, in preparation for the apocalypse, he had stored a considerable amount of equipment and supplies in his space. He hadn’t had a reason to bring them out before, but now was the time to start “transporting” them under the guise of other explanations—especially the solar-powered and diesel generators, which were now extremely valuable survival resources.
This time, Qi Sheng went out alone. He borrowed Qi Mao’s van, and despite the visible dissatisfaction—one child openly upset and the other giving him subtle hints—he simply waved goodbye and drove off nonchalantly.
One reason for this trip was to assess the current state of the city. With news having been cut off for nearly two months, Qi Sheng was eager to understand how severe the disaster had become.
He set his destination as the city center. Initially, he expected to arrive before noon, but due to the earlier blizzards and frequent earthquakes, the highway leading to the city had collapsed.
With no other choice, Qi Sheng had to take detours. Unfortunately, the detours seemed endless—every time he thought he was back on track, he had to circle around again.
He didn’t dare to drive fast either, afraid that he might unknowingly drive into a collapsed area.
Occasionally, he glanced at the roadside scenery—collapsed buildings, broken thick trees, and snapped power lines hanging from branches. He couldn’t help but sigh.
There still weren’t many people daring to travel. After driving for a long time, Qi Sheng would only occasionally see a cargo truck or two, mostly small ones—large trucks simply couldn’t get through.
The roads were still manageable for a while, but the closer he got to the city center, the more frequent the scenes of destruction became.
At another landslide site—an important entrance to the city—a barricade had been set up, and personnel in traffic police uniforms were standing guard.
Seeing Qi Sheng drive up, one of them stepped forward and asked, “Are you going into the city alone? What’s your purpose?”
The officer held a pen and paper. Qi Sheng accepted the ID offered to him, examined it carefully, and replied, “My old home is near the Third Ring. Since there hasn’t been much seismic activity the last few days, I thought I’d go back to retrieve some belongings, and also buy a few daily necessities.”
The officer carefully recorded his details and asked, “Which area of the Third Ring? Many residential complexes have already been sealed off. If you want to retrieve something, you’ll need to first confirm whether access is allowed. Otherwise, it’d be a wasted trip. Tell me your neighborhood—I’ll check for you.”
Qi Sheng gave the name of the district and the complex. The officer quickly flipped through some papers and replied, “You can’t enter that complex. Forget about retrieving anything. If you want to buy supplies, head to Lushui Park in the Fourth Ring. That’s currently the largest centralized marketplace for daily goods.”
“The city’s been hit that badly? The entire complex is off-limits?”
Qi Sheng was surprised at the extent of the disaster. His old complex might not have been upscale or low-density, but it was still a well-known developer’s property. Could it really have been shoddy construction?
Noticing his skepticism—likely something he’d seen often—the officer explained, “It’s not the entire complex, but inspections found cracked walls and collapsed stairwells. To prevent accidents, the whole place has been sealed off.”
Before the area was officially closed, some daring individuals had sneaked back to retrieve their things. Because they didn’t understand the structural integrity of the buildings, over ten people were crushed to death by falling walls, and even more were injured. To prevent further casualties, the government organized building safety inspections and sealed off any neighborhood deemed hazardous.
Perhaps fearing that Qi Sheng might also try to sneak in, the officer added, “Don’t even think about slipping in—security gets tighter the deeper into the city you go.”
“What if I want to buy power equipment or a solar water heater—do I still go to Lushui Park for that?”
“No, those are located about two kilometers ahead of Lushui Park, in a cleared area originally designated for development. They’ve all been centralized there,” the officer replied, then looked at Qi Sheng and added, “But you’ll need gold or other valuables to buy those. Cash isn’t accepted anymore.”
“No cash?”
“That’s right. Even the vendors in Lushui Park didn’t want to accept cash at first—it was only after repeated government negotiation that they relented. But if you’re paying with cash, even a basic pack of toilet paper will cost over a hundred yuan. You’d better be mentally prepared.”
“That expensive?”
“Yeah, nothing we can do. Most factories have shut down. No one’s producing anything—it’s all existing stock, so of course the prices have gone up. But you can try bartering. The exchange terms vary—you’ll have to check it out yourself.”
Qi Sheng got a general understanding from the traffic officer. Seeing another car approaching behind him, he didn’t ask further. After expressing his thanks, he drove toward Lushui Park.
Sure enough, just as the officer had said, almost every intersection was equipped with barricades and officers. Qi Sheng followed the designated path and slowly made his way to Lushui Park, where he found it had practically turned into a giant shopping plaza.
Although there were many vendors, the market was relatively well-ordered. Most stalls were guarded by a few burly men, and there were also many police officers and security personnel monitoring the area to maintain order.
Qi Sheng spent quite a while before finding a parking spot. Once inside, he was shocked by the sky-high prices for cash purchases and the bartering conditions.
Cash prices were not worth mentioning—everything had increased tenfold or more. Even then, cash transactions were limited in quantity!
Qi Sheng, however, was quite intrigued by the bartering system.
For example, a simple pack of toilet paper could now be traded for a pound of potatoes, or just half a pound of wheat or rice!
He was amazed by how valuable food had become, but upon further thought, it wasn’t all that surprising.
The weather had become increasingly erratic, and the widespread snowstorms earlier in the year hinted that crop yields this year would likely be minimal, if not completely lost. Price inflation was inevitable.
Qi Sheng continued browsing the market and happened to run into a parent of one of his former students.
The parent, surnamed Wang, used to be the boss of a small company. His family was once fairly well-off, and he had a refined demeanor. He was now carrying a small bag of rice and greeted Qi Sheng warmly.
“Mr. Qi, you’re here to shop too?”
“Yeah, just looking around. How have you been? Where are you staying now?”
Qi Sheng recalled that this Mr. Wang came from a scholarly family and was a local native. Given the current circumstances, it was likely that he either had no relatives in the countryside or wasn’t close with them.
“We’re getting by. The government set up some temporary shelter zones earlier this year. My entire family—young and old—is living in one.”
“Shelter zones?”
“Yeah, they’re basically like factory warehouses. Inside, each family is assigned a basic tent setup, and we live in those tents.”
“It’s been freezing lately. You’re staying in a tent?”
Mr. Wang gave a bitter smile. “There’s no other choice. Other than those in villas, who dares stay in high-rise buildings? The shelters are fairly well-insulated, and the tents are equipped with heating. It’s not ideal, but at least we don’t freeze.”
To prevent people living in tents from freezing to death in the winter, the shelters had been supplied with uninterrupted power. Even so, the living conditions were nowhere near what they used to be.
Qi Sheng asked curiously, “So no one is living in the residential areas in the city anymore?”
“Pretty much. Except for the villa zones with low-rise buildings, hardly anyone dares stay inside apartments.”
Mr. Wang then reminded him, “Mr. Qi, did you come back to get something from home? I’d suggest dropping the idea. If you get hit by a loose wall or falling debris, even calling 120 might not help you!”
“It’s that bad? Even the hospitals are shut down?”
“City hospitals have all stopped operations. Only a few top-tier hospitals in the outskirts are still open, but they’re completely packed with patients—even the lobbies are full.”
Qi Sheng could easily picture the scene and couldn’t help but wonder how the hospitals in his own county were faring. If anyone got sick now, getting treatment would be a real challenge.
After chatting for a long while, Qi Sheng said goodbye to Mr. Wang and decided to make another round through the market. Since he had already come this far, it would be a waste not to buy anything. However, thinking about the current food shortage, he chose not to take up any food resources and instead spent his cash on various daily necessities.
On the way back, everything was fine at first. Occasionally, there were still cars on the road, and some small farmhouses lined the way. But once he reached a stretch of highway flanked only by open fields, he was “lucky” enough to run into a robbery.
This stretch of road had previously experienced a landslide, cutting the wide road down to nearly half its original size—convenient for someone wanting to quickly set up a blockade.
As soon as Qi Sheng stopped the car, three masked, machete-wielding men swaggered over.
Seeing their stance, Qi Sheng knew he couldn’t win in a fight, so he simply pulled out his tranquilizer gun and hit each of them with a shot—no chance for the bad guys to say a word!
He had formulated the tranquilizer himself, and it was very potent. The thugs, smug and arrogant just seconds earlier, collapsed to the ground within moments.
Qi Sheng waited a little while longer to confirm that no one else was hiding nearby. Then he got out of the car with a stun baton in hand.
He removed their hoods and, after some thought, took out a rope from his backpack, tied them all together, and secured them to a tree by the road. Before leaving, he even made a warning sign and casually called the police to their shameless robbery in full detail.
With the road cleared again, Qi Sheng was in a great mood. As he neared their town, he stopped at a secluded spot and finally took out the solar-powered generator and some fruits and meats from his spatial storage.
He felt that today had been quite a fruitful trip—his family was bound to be thrilled. What he didn’t know was that back home, everyone was frantic with worry. Qi Sen and Qi Lei had even started up the car to go out searching for him.
So just as Qi Sheng drove into the village entrance, he saw a familiar license plate—and the two people in the car.
“Xiao Sen, Lei Lei, where are you two headed?”
“Dad!”