Zhang Qiang stubbornly defended himself, "I saw you were asleep, and I thought you weren’t hungry. So I ate it all by myself."
Actually, Zhang Qiang originally wanted to leave half for his wife, but he was too hungry. He had planned to keep half the food for himself and leave the other half for her. However, after finishing his share, he was still starving. Throwing caution to the wind, he ate his wife’s portion too.
Yang Hong cried, "I can see you don’t care about me at all! You’re human, and so am I. You get hungry, and I’m pregnant—do you think I don’t get hungry? How could you do this to me and the baby?"
After she finished speaking, Yang Hong burst into loud sobs.
Zhang Qiang muttered, "What are you crying for? People are dying every couple of days now. When that happens, I’ll just grab more stuff and let you eat a bit more, okay? Stop crying!"
...
Chen Momo pressed her ear against the door and listened for a while. She wasn’t surprised by this kind of thing at all.
Turns out, he was just another piece of trash.
People often said that true love was revealed in times of hardship. However, more often than not, hardship didn’t reveal true love, but rather true human nature. Last time she saw Zhang Qiang making his wife take out the trash, and this time she heard him eating his wife’s share of food. She knew for sure that Zhang Qiang was no good.
That night.
Chen Momo and her son finished dinner. She poured a glass of hot milk for both herself and her son, planning to binge-watch some shows, when she heard him coughing softly.
Chen Momo’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately put down her iPad and walked into her son’s room. "Did you catch a cold?"
Her son tilted his little head up, beaming a bright smile. "Mommy, Xiao Bao just coughed a tiny bit. I’m fine, Mommy doesn’t need to worry."
Chen Momo gave him an exasperated look. "Fine, my foot! You absolutely cannot catch a cold in this situation. Even a tiny cough is unacceptable!"
It must have been from when her son was sleeping behind the sofa; the floor was too cold, and he caught a cold. This little brat was going to worry his mother to death.
"Sit still and be a good boy. Give me a second."
Chen Momo immediately took out some cough syrup and a thermometer from her dimension. She handed the thermometer to her son first. "Hold this under your arm."
Chen Xiaobao obediently tucked the thermometer under his armpit.
Chen Momo busied herself with preparing the cough syrup, then ordered him to drink it. Chen Xiaobao naturally drank it all like a good boy.
By the time he finished the syrup, the thermometer was about done. Chen Momo took it out and checked his temperature. 36.7 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, his temperature was normal; otherwise, things would have been much more troublesome.
Before going to bed that night, Chen Momo mixed a packet of Banlangen granules for her son and made him drink it.
After her son fell asleep, Chen Momo went to her dimension, grabbed another quilt, and draped it over him. There were already two electric heaters in his room, so she couldn’t plug in any more. Instead, she added hot water bottles for him. She placed two by his little feet and gave him one to hold in his arms, making three in total.
She tucked the corners of the quilt tightly around Chen Xiaobao and softly urged him, "Go to sleep. Once you sweat a bit, you’ll be all better by tomorrow morning."
Watching his mommy bustling around his room, the little boy was very touched. He said in a childish voice, "Thank you, Mommy."
Chen Momo closed the door to her son’s room and sat on the living room sofa. She lowered the volume on her iPad, watching her TV show while listening out for any sounds from her son.
About two or three hours passed without hearing him cough. She checked the time; it was already one in the morning. Only then did Chen Momo get up and go back to her own room to sleep.
Still worried in the middle of the night, she woke up two or three times to check on him. Seeing that her son was sleeping soundly without any issues, Chen Momo finally felt at ease to sleep.
The next day.
Naturally, she woke up a bit late. By the time she got out of bed, a glass of hot milk had already been brought to her. "Mommy, Xiao Bao heated this milk for you!"
Chen Xiaobao was dressed very handsomely today. He wore a small scarf and a thick red plaid boy’s coat, paired with black jeans over his little padded trousers.
"PFFT," Chen Momo chuckled. "Oh, you know how to heat up milk for your mom now?"
Chen Xiaobao smiled sweetly, looking a bit shy. "Xiao Bao made Mommy worry yesterday. Xiao Bao’s cough is all better now, Mommy doesn’t have to worry about Xiao Bao anymore!"
This little guy actually knew his mother was worried about him. Well then, he shouldn’t have slept on the floor!
Chen Momo finished the milk her son had lovingly prepared and handed him a thermometer again. "Take your temperature one more time. It’s freezing out there, so don’t make your old lady worry about you."
Chen Xiaobao obediently took the thermometer and ran off to measure his temperature. A moment later, he ran back and showed the thermometer to Chen Xiaomu. After confirming he didn’t have a fever, Chen Momo finally let out a complete sigh of relief.
Chen Xiaomu quickly got out of bed, washed up, tidied the room, and prepared to head to the kitchen to start making breakfast. Since her son had been feeling unwell, they naturally needed to eat something light today.
So, boiled eggs, millet porridge, hot steamed buns, and two cups of hot soy milk made up the mother and son’s breakfast for the day!
After eating, Chen Momo mixed another packet of Banlangen granules for her son, just in case.
Having eaten and drunk their fill, the mother and son rolled out the yoga mat and practiced boxing together for a while. Right as they were playing around, they heard a knock on the door.
"Is anyone there?"
It was Wang Jian Country’s voice.
Chen Momo shooed her son back into his room. He was still too young, and she didn’t want him hearing too much news that wasn’t suitable for his age.
Chen Momo got up and opened the door just a tiny crack. Poking her head out, she saw Wang Jian Country standing alone at the door.
"Brother Wang, Sister Wang didn’t come with you today?" Chen Momo asked.
Wang Jian Country said, "Wang Liping caught a cold, so she didn’t come today."
Then, Wang Jian Country sighed. With a heavy expression, he said, "When we went to check the rooms today, we found that three more households—908, 909, and 110—couldn’t hold on and passed away in the middle of the night. In a bit, everyone will line up to collect their belongings, starting with 908."
Chen Momo didn’t say anything more; she simply nodded in silence.
Wang Jian Country knew it was just the mother and son at home, so he gave her an extra reminder, "Sister, take good care of the child. The rescue center will definitely come to save us. You and the boy must hold on."
"I know, Brother Wang," Chen Momo replied. "Thank you."
Wang Jian Country nodded and left to notify the other households one by one.
Chen Momo grabbed a plastic bag as a mere formality, took out her flashlight, and prepared to head downstairs to 908.