Two or Three Events in the Last Days 003
Chapter 3
Jing Lin was startled awake. He lifted Le Le’s pajamas to check his stomach and back, only to discover that even the areas covered by clothing were covered in red bumps as well.
Jing Lin held down Le Le’s hands to stop him from scratching. Even though it itched terribly, Le Le obediently endured it when Jing Lin told him not to scratch. He only quietly shed tears from discomfort without making a sound, lips pursed as tears silently streamed down his face. Jing Lin hurriedly washed up in the bathroom, and when he came back out and saw Le Le like that, his heart ached terribly. He quickly changed Le Le into long sleeves and pants, then comforted him while grabbing his bank card and carrying him out the door.
When they arrived at the hospital, Jing Lin realized that Le Le’s situation was far from an isolated case. Many parents were cradling inconsolable children covered in red bumps throughout the outpatient department. Some adults had the same symptoms as well. On top of that, because of the power outage, many of the hospital’s systems had fallen into chaos. Even the registration area alone was filled with arguing patients and family members.
Only then did Jing Lin realize another very critical issue—he was running low on cash. The entire city seemed to have lost power, and there had still been no notice about when electricity would return. Without electricity, the money stored in his bank account could not be withdrawn.
Seeing the hospital in complete disorder, Jing Lin had no choice but to leave with Le Le in his arms. After wandering around nearby for a while, he found a clinic that also specialized in treating children. It too was packed with people, and over half of them had brought their children in because of the red bumps covering their bodies.
After waiting for a long time, it was finally Le Le’s turn. The diagnosis was the same as the children before him—it was not caused by insect bites, but was categorized as an allergic reaction. They were given two days’ worth of western medicine and ointment to try first, with instructions to return for a follow-up visit in two days.
Jing Lin had less than five hundred yuan left in cash. After paying over a hundred yuan for the medicine, he only had a little over three hundred remaining. Frowning, he went to the nearest bank, only to find exactly what he had expected. Because of the power outage, the bank was closed as well. Quite a few people lingered anxiously outside the bank, clutching their cards with worried expressions. Clearly, they too had come to withdraw cash, only to find themselves unable to do so.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
The sun outside blazed fiercely. Jing Lin found a shop and bought a parasol. The weather was unbearably hot, and Le Le lay limply against his shoulder with his eyes closed, completely lacking energy. Every so often, he tried to raise a hand to scratch himself, but Jing Lin stopped him each time before he could.
Jing Lin had originally wanted to take a taxi, but after looking at the cash in his hand, he ultimately brought Le Le onto a bus instead. Watching the vehicles pass by outside, he realized that with no electricity and no network, nobody knew what conditions were like in other places, either. Aside from their own city, everything elsewhere was unknown. Jing Lin began considering going to the neighboring city the next day to check on the situation there.
When they returned to the residential complex, Jing Lin saw several people unloading bottled water from a car. He walked over to a slightly chubby young man and politely asked, “Hello, I just got back from outside. Has the complex’s water supply been cut off?”
Hearing this, the man immediately started complaining to Jing Lin without caring whether they knew each other or not. “Exactly! The water only got cut off not long ago. First, the power goes out, then the water too. It’s not like it’s the end of the world—can’t a person just live in peace?” What had only been a casual complaint instantly startled both of them.
The man paused, then said, “No, I need to go buy more water to stock up on. We’ll need to drink it anyway.”
After saying that, the man no longer paid attention to Jing Lin. After speaking briefly to the people who were presumably his family, he drove off again.
Holding Le Le in his arms, Jing Lin turned and walked back out of the residential complex with a grave expression. As an avid reader of novels in the past, he was certainly no stranger to the concept of a “post-apocalyptic world”—in fact, a foreign blockbuster movie about the end of the world had once caused widespread panic. Given the current situation, Jing Lin felt that whether he truly believed in such scenarios or not, there was certainly no harm in stocking up on a few extra supplies to keep at home. Fortunately, he had previously bought a large stockpot, and combined with the water stored in two smaller buckets, if they conserved carefully, it would be enough for the two of them to drink, cook, and bathe for three or four days. He planned to stay here another three days. If the water and electricity had still not been restored by then, he would have no choice but to return to his hometown.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Because money was running low, Jing Lin did not shop at the nearby supermarket like he usually did. Instead, he went to a more distant wholesale market. Even though the goods were only slightly cheaper, under the circumstances where he could not withdraw money from the bank, every little bit saved mattered. He selectively stocked up on food items that were both kept well and were filling, along with some easily digestible food specifically for Le Le. He also bought several bottles of mineral water and ten candles to his haul before proceeding to checkout. This purchase cost him another hundred yuan or so, leaving him with less than two hundred yuan in cash.
Returning home drenched in sweat, Jing Lin warmed up some water and gave Le Le a bath, then applied ointment to his skin. After watching him fall asleep, Jing Lin went to organize the supplies he had brought back.
By the afternoon, Jing Lin noticed that the red bumps on Le Le’s body showed no signs of fading. However, Le Le seemed to be trying to scratch himself less often, which eased Jing Lin’s worries considerably.
That evening, Jing Lin did not take Le Le outside for their usual walk to cool off. Perhaps because he had slept so much during the day, Le Le was unusually energetic that night. Seeing that he could not fall asleep, Jing Lin began telling him stories about a little duck’s jungle adventures.
Halfway through the story, a loud commotion suddenly erupted outside. Jing Lin went to the window to look, but because it was too dark, he could only vaguely make out parked vehicles and several human silhouettes under the dim moonlight. He had no idea what exactly had happened.
The sounds of quarrelling dragged on for a very long time—so long that Jing Lin did not even realize when he had drifted off to sleep.
When Jing Lin woke up the next morning, he remembered the disturbance from the night before and walked to the window again. He saw a long line of cars twisted crookedly across the road, with some vehicles having collided into one another. Small groups of people had gathered together, manually pushing the cars to the roadside.
Le Le was still asleep, so Jing Lin went downstairs to throw out the household garbage. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the man he had spoken with yesterday sitting shirtless on the steps at the entrance of the residential complex, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. More vehicles were slowly being pushed into the complex from outside as well.
Jing Lin walked over and asked, “What happened? Why are all these cars stuck on the road? Did they all break down?”
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
The man recognized Jing Lin and sighed deeply. “They’re all broken down. My car was driving perfectly fine last night, and then suddenly it stalled. Every other car on the road had the same problem.” The man looked extremely uneasy as he asked, “Brother, do you think the apocalypse is really coming? Otherwise, how could everything suddenly go wrong like this? First, the power cuts out, then the water, and now even cars stop working in the middle of driving.”
Jing Lin frowned and caught the key point in his words. “All of them?”
“Yeah!” the man replied worriedly. “My wife’s younger brother goes to college in the neighboring city. He just got back this morning and said their entire city lost power too. The bus he took broke down halfway through the night, and by the time he walked home, his sandals were worn through. Right now, there’s no electricity and no internet, so nobody can contact relatives or friends. And that’s just nearby cities. Who knows if places farther away are going through the same thing? Do you think the world’s really going to end like in those movies? Earthquakes, collapsing mountains, all that…”
The man clearly belonged to the type who had a strong sense of crisis. His anxiety put him under immense mental pressure, making him especially talkative. Even without Jing Lin asking further questions, he poured out all of his speculations about the apocalypse.
Jing Lin politely listened to him ramble for several minutes, offered a few comforting words, and then returned home.
Back at the apartment, Le Le was still asleep. Jing Lin checked the red bumps on his body again, but their color still had not faded at all. After speaking with the man, Jing Lin decided to leave early and return home. Fortunately, his hometown was not very far away—it only took nearly three hours by long-distance bus to get there. Then he counted all the cash he had left on him, worrying that if transportation stopped running, he did not know whether the money would even be enough to buy a secondhand pedal-powered tricycle.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: 1st chapter for the week. 2nd will be posted on the weekend.
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomKnight73
Proofreader: Yume
Avid BL reader, editor, and translator with 1 story completed (CLWP) and 1 story in progress (TELD). Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.
