Apocalypse Chapter 11: Vision

Chapter 11: Vision

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

If the wholesale market in City D is heaven for food, then the small commodity market in Province Z is heaven for daily necessities. Jiang Rong and his son had never seen so many daily necessities before, let alone imagined that things here could be so cheap.

Hundreds and thousands of clothes in department stores were available at wholesale prices. The money usually spent on buying a set of clothes for his son could buy a dozen here. Apart from the favorable prices, the variety of styles of clothes was dazzling.

No child could resist the temptation of new clothes, and Jiang Xiaoheng was no exception. Seeing so many beautiful clothes, he completely forgot about his previous unpleasantness. He eagerly held Jiang Rong’s hand and stopped to ask to try on clothes whenever he saw something nice.

The salesgirls couldn’t resist Jiang Xiaoheng’s charm. They went all out to dress him up. Jiang Xiaoheng looked like a delicate doll, even cuter in the new clothes than in the display photos outside the shop.

Amidst the compliments of “cute” and “adorable” from the salesgirls, he gradually lost himself. Jiang Xiaoheng quickly ran to Jiang Rong, showing off the patterns on his clothes with excitement. His face flushed with excitement, his eyes sparkling with anticipation, “Dad, can we buy this outfit?”

It was obvious that Jiang Xiaoheng really liked the clothes he tried on. However, Jiang Rong firmly refused his son, “We’ve already bought a lot of clothes today, and this one is just like the ones before, only the pattern has changed from a bunny to a dinosaur. Be good, let’s go find other clothes, okay?”

The pile of clothes Jiang Xiaoheng tried on formed a small mountain. If they continued to buy, he wouldn’t be able to wear them all. And compared to the style of clothes, Jiang Rong paid more attention to comfort and practicality.

Seeing Jiang Xiaoheng pouting, Jiang Rong played his trump card, “Daddy will buy you ice cream later.”

Upon hearing about the ice cream, Jiang Xiaoheng’s unhappiness vanished instantly. He quickly took off the clothes he was wearing and asked, “Can I have strawberry and pineapple flavor?”

Jiang Rong chuckled, “Yes.”

Jiang Rong realized that his son’s taste and his own were not aligned. He prefers simple and practical things, while his son likes colorful and fancy stuff. In the following shopping trip, Jiang Xiaoheng chose many items that were more about appearance than utility, most of which were mercilessly vetoed by Jiang Rong.

Before bringing Jiang Xiaoheng, Jiang Rong was worried that his son might not have enough stamina and wouldn’t last long. However, after strolling for an afternoon, he found his son’s stamina surprisingly good. Both of his legs were starting to ache, but his son was still full of energy and spirits.

The two spent most of the day just exploring a corner of the wholesale market, but their harvest was remarkable. Jiang Rong felt that if the big crisis hadn’t come, he could have opened a store and sold these clothes.

The small commodity wholesale market was very large, and a day was not enough to explore it all, so the two decided to stay and explore properly.

It was Jiang Xiaoheng’s first trip far from home, and he found everything fascinating. Whenever he saw something interesting, he would video call Uncle Chu and Auntie Chu. The elderly couple was overjoyed by Jiang Xiaoheng’s antics and wished they could fly to Province Z right away to explore the small commodity city with him.

Just like now, Jiang Xiaoheng pointed the camera at the large round cake in front of him, “Grandpa, look, Dad and I are having meat pie tonight.”

Uncle Chu and Auntie Chu’s faces squeezed into the small screen. Seeing the pie on the table, they felt a bit sorry, “Why only one pie? Is there nothing else?”

Jiang Xiaoheng moved the phone to a bowl of beef offal, “There’s also this. Dad said it’s a specialty of City Y, and it’s delicious.”

While listening to his son chatting with Uncle Chu and Auntie Chu, Jiang Rong took out a notebook and started jotting down notes. He had been spending money quickly these past two months, fearing he might accidentally go over budget, so he made sure to record every expense every day. He thought the things he had hoarded before were already sufficient, but today at the small commodity city, he realized that a family needed a lot more to live well after the crisis. 

While Jiang Rong was focused on keeping accounts, Jiang Xiaoheng had already finished the video call. Xiaoheng enthusiastically picked a piece of beef offal for his dad, “Grandpa and Grandma said even when it’s hot, we should still eat well.”

Jiang Rong put down his pen and smiled contentedly at his son, “Alright, Dad will eat now.”

At that moment, the phone screen flashed, and Jiang Rong saw that Uncle Chu had transferred twenty thousand yuan to him, along with a message: “Don’t make things hard for yourself and the child while you’re away from home.”

Seeing this message, Jiang Rong was stunned for a moment, then a warm feeling surged in his heart. Since his parents passed away, it had been a long time since anyone had sent him money.

Today, while wandering around the small commodity city, he and his son had been talking non-stop. By dinner time, neither of them was actually hungry. But out of habit, they ordered two items just to make a gesture.

Unexpectedly, a pie and a bowl of beef offal appeared frugal to Uncle Chu and Auntie Chu, so they didn’t hesitate to transfer twenty thousand yuan.

Normally, Jiang Rong wouldn’t accept this money. However, after a moment of contemplation, he decided to accept it and replied to Uncle Chu with a thank you.

After the big crisis, the currency in circulation would become worthless paper. The money received now would turn into essential goods for the Chu family after the crisis. With this in mind, Jiang Rong accepted the money with peace of mind.

In the following days, Jiang Rong and his son continued to explore the small commodity city. When he was hoarding goods alone before, he focused on quantity. Now, with Jiang Xiaoheng’s participation, he no longer hoarded goods hastily, but carefully selected what he needed.

With his son’s company, he found many things outside the hoarding list, such as sanitary pads, which were useful for sweaty feet. Also, smokeless charcoal, which would be great for a barbecue during cold weather.

In addition to daily necessities, Jiang Rong also bought a lot of medicines: disinfectants, anti-inflammatory drugs, hemostatic agents, painkillers, health supplements…

All these supplies were packed up one by one according to the previous packaging method and then transported to the warehouse in the HS Logistics Park.

After returning from Province Z, Jiang Rong was left with one last thing to deal with, and that was moving.

Don’t be fooled by how his house looks; when it comes to packing, there’s quite a lot of stuff. Especially the small household appliances and kitchen utensils in the kitchen, they filled up three large boxes.

Of course, the most space-consuming items were the movable furniture in the house. Jiang Rong originally wanted to save himself some trouble and leave the furniture behind. But the attitude of the real estate agency made him very uncomfortable, so he decided to take everything that could be taken. The furniture in his house was of good quality, and who knows, they might come in handy in the future.

The process of cleaning the house and moving was exhausting, and after moving into the new house, there were still many little things to buy. Jiang Rong and his son spent nearly half a month busily sorting things out. When everything was finally in place, the date had come to June 5th.

Jiang Rong looked at the calendar on his phone in silence for a long time. This day was finally coming. But looking at his son beside him, the tension in his mind finally eased. He did it; he finally found a place for himself and his son before the big crisis arrived.

Thinking of the hardships of his past life, and now looking at his warm and sturdy home and his healthy and lively son, Jiang Rong’s eyes moistened slightly. These past few months have been really tough. Whether he was being proactive or just acting impulsively and losing everything, it would all be revealed today.

But Jiang Xiaoheng obviously didn’t know Jiang Rong’s current mood. He was enjoying watching a TV program. The TV was airing an advertisement for the Dragon Paradise in City D, with the voiceover enthusiastically tempting the audience in front of the TV, “Dragon Paradise Water World, giving you a cool summer!”

Seeing this ad, Jiang Rong couldn’t help but think of his past life. In his past life, Jiang Xiaoheng always wanted to go to Dragon Paradise, but either his timing was off, or the weather wasn’t suitable for outings. Until the big crisis broke out, his son hadn’t set foot in the park. And after the big crisis, the park closed its doors, making it a luxury to even think about going there.

During the two years at the base, his son was forced to mature early, shouldering the burden of survival like an adult. The more sensible his son became, the more guilty Jiang Rong felt. He clearly had time and energy before the big crisis, so why couldn’t he spare some time to fulfill his child’s dream?

Without further ado, Jiang Rong opened his phone and booked tickets to Dragon Paradise. After successfully booking the tickets, a text message reminder came, showing that there was still over a thousand yuan left from the 21.65 million he had used so far. This money would allow them to enjoy a day at Dragon Paradise and even buy some supplies from the foreign supermarket next to the park on their way out.

Jiang Rong called out to Jiang Xiaoheng, “Let’s go, son, Dad will take you to Dragon Paradise.”

Jiang Xiaoheng was stunned for a moment, then his round eyes sparkled with excitement, “Really?!”

Because of the hot weather, there weren’t many visitors to Dragon Paradise. But this also had its advantages—all the amusement rides didn’t have long lines. Except for a few projects that Jiang Xiaoheng couldn’t play due to his height, the father and son tried out all the remaining ones.

Jiang Xiaoheng had a blast and was extremely happy. If Jiang Rong hadn’t noticed that his son’s skin was wrinkling from being in the water too long, he could have stayed in the water for a few more hours.

The experience of playing at Dragon Paradise was so wonderful that Jiang Xiaoheng kept reminiscing about it. While strolling through the foreign supermarket, he kept saying, “Dad, can we come here again tomorrow?”

Jiang Rong, putting snacks and fruits into the shopping cart, responded to his son, “We probably can’t come tomorrow.” Even if there wasn’t a big crisis, he wouldn’t have the money. But seeing the disappointment in his son’s eyes, Jiang Rong couldn’t help but add, “If we get the chance, Dad will definitely bring you here again.”

The light returned to Jiang Xiaoheng’s eyes, and he flashed a smile with his little white teeth, “Okay, I want to come to Dragon Paradise with Dad often in the future.”

With his son’s energy fully released, on the way back home, he couldn’t help but doze off. Just when Jiang Rong thought he would sleep all the way, Jiang Xiaoheng suddenly woke up. He looked out the window, holding onto his little feet, and gradually a layer of red reflected in his black eyes, “Dad, the sky is turning red.”

Jiang Rong’s heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively looked up at the sky. The originally azure sky was quickly turning red, the clouds floating in the sky turned into a beautiful pink color, and even the setting sun was tinged with a golden red hue. The entire sky from east to west was filled with deep and shallow red, and everything under the sky was dyed with a layer of red halo.

Seeing this scene, many vehicles on the road slowed down. People raised their phones to the sky, wanting to capture the beauty of this moment. But little did they know the danger hidden beneath this beauty. In a few hours, nature would unleash its most terrible retribution against humanity. Under this sky, most of the people would not see the sun rise tomorrow.

Jiang Rong furrowed his brows and stepped on the gas pedal, while the car’s Bluetooth system kept dialing Chu Qiang’s number frantically. After a series of beeps, Chu Qiang’s phone finally connected, “Hello, Xiao Jiang? What’s wrong?”

Jiang Rong urgently asked, “Chu Qiang, can you and your parents go back to your hometown tonight?”

For the past few days, Jiang Rong and his son had been calling Chu Qiang’s family every day, hoping they would move back to their hometown sooner. Chu Qiang also wanted his parents to return earlier, but his work was too busy, and his parents always encountered some issues. As a result, the time for them to return home kept getting pushed back.

Chu Qiang sighed helplessly, “We can’t go back. There’s too much going on.”

Hearing Chu Qiang’s response, Jiang Rong’s eyes dimmed a little. People who hadn’t experienced the crisis didn’t know how terrifying it was. His frantic and urgent actions might all seem like baseless worries to Chu Qiang’s family.

At this point, Jiang Rong could only say solemnly, “Chu Qiang, after work tonight, go to the supermarket and buy more water and food to put in the trunk of your car. Also, make sure the gas tank is full!”

Chu Qiang seemed to be in a place with poor reception, “Hello? Hello? Xiao Jiang, the signal is bad… I know…”

After a burst of noise, the call was disconnected. Jiang Rong tried several times to call Chu Qiang’s parents, but for some reason, he couldn’t get through, so he had to give up struggling.

Jiang Xiaoheng, in a childish voice, asked, “Dad, the sky looks so beautiful today. Is this what they call a fire cloud in the books?”

Jiang Rong looked at the sky with complex emotions, didn’t say anything, just shook his head. This was the second time he had seen this day. But compared to the first time, Jiang Rong was now prepared to face everything. He regained his composure, stepped on the gas pedal, and drove among the crowd of people looking up at the sky. He had done all the necessary preparations, reminded the people he needed to remind countless times, and now, he could only leave the rest to fate.

 

 

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