It was 9 p.m.
According to the pattern over the past few days, the outdoor temperature would normally drop to around 30°C at night.
However, at this moment, it still held at a scorching 40°C.
Due to insufficient power supply, each district was only able to receive electricity for a few hours.
Now, Mingyue Huafu had plunged into a blackout again.
The people gathered in the underground parking lot were there to escape the heat—the basement was much cooler than outside.
The community management had also placed dozens of large fans there.
These big fans ran on power supplied by the generator, providing everyone with brief relief from the heat.
However, the community’s reserve of engine oil was limited and also needed to support elevator operation.
The large fans ran for just one hour before shutting off.
Even after the fans stopped, people were reluctant to return home.
Many chose to stay in their cars because at least the air conditioning could run on gasoline.
Soon, the underground parking lot was filled with the smell of running engines.
But the exhaust fumes were hot, and the relatively cool basement quickly became stifling.
After throwing out the trash, Su Yu hurried home.
The city that was once alive with nightlife had now fallen into darkness, as if everything had gone silent.
The days ahead became increasingly difficult.
The city’s medical system collapsed, overwhelmed and completely unable to meet demand.
Medications for cooling down and preventing heatstroke during summer were severely out of stock.
Because of the heat, people found it difficult to go out to work, and many city services stopped operating.
Couriers and food delivery workers were unable to work in such conditions.
The power company tried desperately to fix the situation, but many workers died one after another in the heat.
The city’s leaders refused to leave their homes.
Doctors and nurses, wearing thick protective suits, also became victims of heatstroke.
Various supplies in the market began to run out.
Some merchants started raising prices, and no one was there to regulate or manage prices.
“Anyone have Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid? I’m willing to pay a high price.”
“Anyone got any ice pops? Unmelted ones? It’s killing us out here, not a single pudding to be found.”
“Anyone have extra tissues? It’s summer and using tissues for everything is burning through supplies.”
Almost everyone in the Mingyue Huafu resident group was trying to buy from neighbors who had stock.
They weren’t short on money, but young people didn’t like hoarding supplies.
Homes really were running low on essentials.
Amid the complaints, the community management organized a distribution of supplies.
But in such extreme heat, door-to-door delivery was impossible.
They set up a stall in the open area of the underground parking lot where residents could come down to pick up what they needed.
Mingyue Huafu had about one hundred households.
Each household could receive two bags of vegetables and two bottles of mineral water.
Normally, these items seemed unremarkable, but now—amid the heat, shortages, and fast spoilage of produce—they were worth thousands of yuan.
The city hadn’t yet run out of water, but supplies of drinking mineral water were already obviously insufficient.
Many households had been boiling water and letting it cool to drink.
This showed how precious bottled water had become.
The community management required residents to register their detailed information when collecting supplies.
A sharp-tongued woman and a wealthy local tycoon were also in line.
The woman’s brother worked at the meteorological bureau.
That’s why they had stocked up on so much mineral water earlier—the bureau predicted the weather would continue getting hotter, with no rain in sight.
Most meteorological staff had begun quietly hoarding supplies.
They kept the predictions of rising temperatures under wraps to avoid public panic and prevent criminals from exploiting the chaos.
Although the wealthy tycoon had received the news early, he hadn’t stocked much.
Naturally, they came to collect the supplies.
Suddenly, the sharp-tongued woman asked, confused:
“Why didn’t that mistress and her sugar daddy come?”
About 80% of families in the community came to the underground lot to get these scarce supplies.
Those who hadn’t fallen into two categories:
Residents had to register their housing info when collecting supplies, so Su Yu naturally didn’t show up.
She didn’t want to reveal any information to the wealthy tycoon.
But that didn’t stop Su Mom from being in line.
Since moving into Mingyue Huafu, Su Mom rarely went out, so coming to collect supplies wouldn’t draw much attention.
Moreover, the sharp-tongued woman and the tycoon didn’t know Su Mom.
Even if Su Mom registered, they wouldn’t know it was Su Yu’s family.
At the woman’s reminder, the tycoon scanned the line.
Sure enough, he didn’t see Su Yu anywhere.
“He probably has supplies at home, so didn’t come to get these,” the tycoon explained to the woman.
His dark eyes flicked with a lecherous look, as if he’d thought of something.
Leaning close to the woman’s ear, he whispered:
“Your brother at the meteorological bureau said the end of the world is coming, right? If it really happens and order breaks down, we can just go to that mistress’s place and take their stuff.”
“Yeah! I remember they took the elevator from Building Six that day. When the community checks the registration list for supplies, we can find out which floor their place is on.”
The two schemed against Su Yu’s family.
Little did they know that with their physical strength, even if they found Su Yu’s family, they couldn’t defeat them.
Not to mention, they were guessing the wrong building from the start.
Many who had collected supplies stayed in the basement, unwilling to return home.
After all, it was only 30°C down there—much better than the 40°C steam room at home.
For several days, some families survived by relying on car air conditioning.
But gasoline supplies were limited.
As the heat continued, those without fuel could no longer run their AC.
Some who didn’t mind the environment took cooling mats from home.
They spread them out in the underground parking lot and rested.
This endless cycle seemed to have no end in sight.
People asleep hoped for rain tomorrow, hoped for power restoration tomorrow.
No one expected worse news.
The water supply stopped!
Those trying to cool down with cold showers found no water coming from their faucets after applying soap.
People who had just finished using the toilet and wanted to flush found no water.
The only consolation was that the phone signal still worked.
On the internet, people vented endlessly about the terrible weather.
Su Yu counted the days.
Social order wouldn’t last much longer.
Soon, people would begin looting and fighting over scarce supplies.
They would fight over the chance to stay somewhere cool.
Meanwhile, Su Mom received a call from her friend Wen Jinghua.
“Qin’er, the city heat is terrifying. The research institute is moving to a government-designated power-supplied area. Even though you’ve resigned, they want to save a spot for you because of your contributions.”