Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 562 Investigating Hidden Dangers

She put on a mask and quickened her pace toward the center of the satellite city.

The closer you get to the city center, the more pedestrians there are, but the way people interact is different from before.

In the past, although people on this street were in a hurry, at least they would make eye contact, and occasionally you could hear a few acquaintances chatting on the roadside.

Everyone is now hunched over, heads down, and walking quickly, as if they're afraid of picking up something bad if they stay outside for even a second longer.

More than half of the shops along the road had their roller shutters down, with handwritten "Temporarily Closed" signs posted on the doors. Some shops had even taken down their signs, leaving their storefronts empty, as if the owners had given up on operating.

She walked to a street corner where there were a few people, and saw a group of people gathered in front of the notice board.

A recent official notice was posted on the bulletin board. The paper had been dampened and the ink had smudged, but the handwriting was still barely legible.

She leaned closer and tiptoed to take a look. It was an emergency announcement issued by the Management Committee of Satellite City No. 5, stating that preliminary tests had revealed that the recent rainfall contained unidentified chemical substances.

The incident has caused extensive damage to vegetation in the urban area. Residents are advised to minimize outdoor activities and avoid consuming open-field-grown vegetables and fruits. Relevant departments are stepping up testing of water and soil pollution levels, and further updates will be provided later.

Next to the notice board was a handwritten supplementary notice, the handwriting messy, as if it had been hastily written, which read:

"Attention all residents: If anyone in your household develops symptoms such as persistent fever, cough, fatigue, or skin redness and swelling, please go to the hospital immediately to register for isolation. Do not conceal or delay."

After reading the two notices, Xu Xiaoyan felt utterly disheartened.

Although the supplementary notice did not explicitly state it, the meaning between the lines was very clear: the rain not only destroyed the plants, but may also have an impact on people.

The symptoms described were exactly the same as those of the previous outbreaks in other satellite cities: fever, cough, fatigue, mild symptoms that worsened over time, insidious in the early stages and explosive in the later stages.

She suddenly remembered a post she had seen on a forum before, in which a medical student commented that this type of virus survives longer and is more active in low-temperature and humid environments.

The three-day downpour washed virus particles from the air onto the ground and plants. As the rainwater seeped into the soil and clung to the leaves, it evaporated back into the air, creating a comprehensive and thorough pollution cycle.

She turned and walked quickly home, hardly looking up at anyone along the way.

As I walked back to the entrance of my alley, I saw two people in white protective suits standing on the street corner, holding a sprayer and spraying some kind of disinfectant on the road and walls.

White mist diffused from the nozzle, forming a thin cloud in the sunlight, carrying a pungent bleach smell.

When the smell wafted over, Xu Xiaoyan subconsciously held her breath and walked a long way around from the opposite sidewalk back to her own courtyard gate.

The moment she closed the door, she leaned against it and let out a long sigh.

The rows of white plastic greenhouses in the courtyard still perfectly cover every inch of land. Sunlight shines on the film, reflecting a soft white light that illuminates the entire courtyard.

She walked to the greenhouse, squatted down, and peeked inside through the plastic film.

The leaves of the bok choy are still lush and green, the vines of the green beans are still slowly climbing up the bamboo trellis, and the flower buds of the loofah are plump and full, topped with a little yellow flower bud, ready to bloom.

Fortunately, the entire yard was built in advance.

She stood up, patted the mud off her knees, and turned to go back inside.

From now on, she has no intention of getting involved in the chaos of the outside world. She has water, food, electricity, and internet. Vegetables and fruits are growing continuously in the greenhouse in the yard, and there are enough supplies in the space to last her a lifetime.

Once the gate is closed, the entire courtyard becomes a self-sufficient island.

In the middle of the night, Xu Xiaoyan suddenly woke up. She sat up abruptly, wiped the sweat from her forehead, steadied her breathing in the darkness, and slowly recalled the things that had flashed through her mind just now: rain, groundwater, pollution, and the yard.

The rain that lasted for three days and three nights contained substances of unknown composition. When the rainwater fell on the ground, it not only came into direct contact with plants, but also seeped down to the groundwater level.

A significant portion of the water supply for Satellite City No. 5 comes from groundwater.

If this kind of rain continues for a few more times, or if it continues intermittently like this, sooner or later the groundwater will also be polluted.

By then, even if her yard is covered with greenhouses and all the rainwater falls from the sky, as long as she still uses groundwater for irrigation, those pollutants will silently seep into her soil and vegetables through the irrigation channels.

Her courtyard was not spared either.

Unless she isolates all the exposed soil in the yard and puts it into separate flower pots or planting troughs, completely severing the contact between the plant roots and the native soil.

Then use the water that has been filtered by the water purification tablets to water the plants, or to be on the safe side, take the stored purified water directly from the space.

Even if the groundwater is contaminated, her planting system in the yard will remain independent, clean, and unaffected.

The problem is, where did she buy so many flower pots?

The yard has nearly 300 square meters of land, and to convert it all into container planting, at least dozens or even hundreds of large flower pots or planting troughs will be needed.

There don't seem to be many flowerpots for sale in the satellite city right now, and she's almost out of money in her account.

She sat in the dark thinking for a long time, then suddenly her eyes lit up. That's it! Cement!

She can make her own flower pots! She mixes cement and sand, pours it into a mold to shape it, and once it dries, it becomes a sturdy and durable cement planting trough.

You can control the length and width yourself; make it as big as you want, and it won't be a problem to cover the entire yard.

Cement and sand are inexpensive and not like food or medicine, which are in high demand and should still be available.

The more she thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed. The cement planting trough had moderate air permeability and decent water retention, and a few holes at the bottom would be enough for drainage.

Moreover, cement itself is an alkaline material, which slowly releases calcium into the soil, which is actually beneficial to many vegetables.

Without hesitation, she picked up her phone, opened the forum, and searched for posts selling building materials. After scrolling through more than ten pages, she finally found a building materials store that was still operating normally.

She left a message on the website, asking directly whether there was any cement or sand left. Surprisingly, the other party was also awake and replied quickly, saying that there wasn't much cement in stock, but there was plenty of sand.