Chapter 11

The first news that emerged online was alarming: many people who had previously recovered from the illness were now experiencing severe relapses. One case involved a seventy-year-old man whose family discovered in the morning that he had a fever and cough again. Although they hadn't initially been concerned, thinking it was just a cold, by the evening, his condition had deteriorated so rapidly that he passed away just before midnight.

This was not an isolated incident. Over the next two or three days, reports of severe relapses and worsening conditions became more frequent, accompanied by a growing number of both true and false rumors. Those who had previously recovered seemed to be marked by death itself, with no escape from it. Under the mounting pressure, some even jumped to their deaths before they had relapsed.

In Mu Nan's community, there was one such case of a man who had jumped from a building. He was a middle-aged man, unmarried, and without children. His illness had been diagnosed in its early stages when the hospital conditions were less severe, and he had received appropriate treatment. After recovering, he went home, but as the situation deteriorated, he became so despondent that he took his own life even before his illness had returned.

Mu Nan didn't have much recollection of this, possibly because he hadn't paid much attention in his previous life. Though it was in their community, the buildings were quite far apart, and with the inability to go outside, he could only learn about such news through the community group. When he turned off his phone, he was cut off from the updates.

Qin Huai, however, knew the man who had jumped. Mu Nan was surprised, "You knew him? Was he an old neighbor? I don't remember much about him."

Qin Huai replied, "You were too young to remember. This person had some mental health issues and never married. He even had a fight with Uncle Mu before."

Mu Nan was even more surprised, "Really? He fought with my dad? Who won?"

Qin Huai smiled, "Of course, it was your dad who won. I remember your dad was downstairs playing cards. I was passing by after school when he called me over, saying Auntie was working late and gave me a hundred yuan to take you to KFC after school. Just as I was about to leave with the money, that man bumped into me. Your dad glared at him and said something about not watching where you're going. Then the man turned around and overturned your dad's card table."

There was a KFC just outside their community, and Mu Nan recalled that Qin Huai would occasionally take him there. These occasions usually happened when his mother was working late, and his father, unwilling to cook, would have Qin Huai take him to KFC. Meanwhile, his dad would order some dishes and drinks with his card-playing friends. Especially in summer, his dad would bring back a basin of shrimp after drinking, and he and Qin Huai would sit in the living room in their vests, eating shrimp and watching cartoons.

Hearing Qin Huai talk about these memories brought Mu Nan a sense of nostalgia, as if his dad would appear at any moment from the elevator, stamping his feet to light up the hallway's sensor lights, open the iron door, and smilingly show them the shrimp, shouting, "Delicious, spicy shrimp! Who wants some?"

Mu Nan smiled and asked, "So what happened next? Did they end up fighting?"

Qin Huai nodded, "Yes, they fought. You know how your dad has that temper. Even though he won, it was four against one. After that, the man avoided your dad whenever he saw him."

Mu Nan was moved to hear about this past connection with the man who had jumped.

Originally, as the number of infected people decreased and more recovered individuals were discharged from the hospital, people had begun to adapt to the smog. The chaos had turned into calm as people got used to staying at home and participating in community group purchases, figuring out what to buy and eat each day. However, the resurgence of the epidemic caused widespread panic again. People were more fearful of the smog outside and longed to lock themselves away in completely sealed spaces.

Although Mu Nan had experienced the situation before and knew that as long as they were cautious and did not expose themselves to the smog, they would not get infected, he still meticulously checked all doors and windows every day and placed air purifiers in both of their houses. In their living room alone, he placed two purifiers, fearing that the purification might be insufficient. While air purifiers might not be effective against this particular virus, keeping the doors and windows tightly shut and improving indoor air quality could still be beneficial. Fortunately, neither he nor Qin Huai smoked.

Just as their lives seemed to be returning to normal, the sudden outbreak of the virus once again disrupted everything. Although the chaos online was visible every day, it was somewhat distant and could be minimized by turning off their phones. However, the chaos erupting around them was not so easily contained.

Initially, there were inquiries in the community group about whether people who had recovered from the illness were still infectious if they relapsed. Some asked the community leaders whether those who had recovered and returned to their homes were now being monitored. Others demanded that the community reveal the addresses of those who had been ill, initially seeking to be informed and to avoid potential contact. They wanted to know if they were living on the same floor as someone who might have been infected, fearing the risk of contagion.

Eventually, the demands escalated to requiring the community to relocate those who had been infected to hotels or other places outside the community, essentially demanding that these individuals be removed from their homes to prevent any further spread of the disease.

Some, driven to paranoia by the disease, agitated in the group, insisting that the community leaders forcefully remove these people as if not doing so would inevitably lead to more infections and deaths. The ugliness of human nature, exacerbated by this secondary outbreak, was beginning to show.

Of course, the community staff could not comply with such demands. Unless the individuals who had recovered relapsed again, the community could only arrange for them to be moved to a hospital's designated area. Since these people were currently healthy and staying home, the community had no right to expose their information or evict them from their homes.

However, since the community did not expose the information, others did. The first to be exposed was Mu Nan's building. A young couple living on the fifteenth floor, directly below Mu Nan, had had their child fall ill during a heavy rainstorm. At that time, the disease had just begun to appear, and medical resources were not yet critically strained. Though there were no specific drugs for the lung condition, some medications for the flu had been somewhat effective, allowing the couple's child to recover and be discharged before the virus outbreak intensified.

Unexpectedly, despite their efforts to remain at home, their family's information was exposed in the group.

Mu Nan saw the details of the family's situation circulating in the group, including the child's age and the school class they attended. He felt it was excessive and said in the group, "The virus's infectivity is very low. As long as we avoid contact, we are unlikely to be infected. There's no need for this. Everyone has relatives and friends; let's be understanding of each other."

Unfortunately, this comment quickly got drowned out by waves of criticism. Some even suggested that if Mu Nan felt sorry for them, he should let them stay with him, as they wouldn't get infected anyway.

Mu Nan was left speechless by these comments, muttering to himself, "What kind of people are these?" His interactions with neighbors had generally been positive, even if they were not very familiar. Most were polite. It was strange how, through the barrier of the internet, it felt like a different world entirely. This was not even the worst of the inhumanity to come.

Qin Huai said, "The prejudice of the broader environment can't be changed with just a few words."

Mu Nan frowned, "These people won't do anything extreme, will they?"

He recalled his previous life, when he had been busy with his thesis and comic drafts. Everyone was confined to their homes, leading to a spike in the popularity of online works like novels and comics. His comic editor had asked him to increase the update frequency, leaving him little time for anything else. Initially, he had paid more attention to external information, but as he adapted to the confinement, he became less concerned about the epidemic. Now, he couldn't even remember what had happened to the family downstairs.

Qin Huai reassured him, "At least for now, it's unlikely that there will be any extreme actions. The order hasn't collapsed, and legal constraints are still in place. All they can do is attack online; they can't do much else."

As Qin Huai said, besides online attacks, there wasn't much more people could do. Even if they wanted to act out, they might lack the courage, given the pervading sense of danger and the need to stay indoors.

However, with their family information exposed and countless abusive messages and phone calls attacking them daily, the stress was overwhelming for the young couple. Even the slightest noise at their door made them jumpy.

Despite being victims of the virus, they didn't want their child to be infected. Now, they were being treated unfairly. Mr. Li, the head of the household, was losing his hair from worry. With their child ill, the pandemic spreading, and their inability to work, their income had stopped. They rented their home and had some savings, but they could not sustain daily depletion. When their daughter fell ill and was briefly admitted to the ICU due to breathing difficulties, even with insurance, the daily costs were over several thousand yuan. Having barely survived that, they now faced the second outbreak. Watching their innocent and lovely daughter, Mr. Li was filled with despair, and Mrs. Li was on the verge of collapse. They received no help or understanding from outside, only continued malicious attacks. Even with the door tightly closed and all networks and phones shut off, the malice found ways to penetrate.

What broke Mr. Li the most was when, in the afternoon, their daughter was watching TV when suddenly the power went out. Initially, Mr. Li thought it was just a power outage in their old neighborhood. However, when the power didn't return late into the night, he carefully checked his phone, ignoring the abusive messages, and looked at the community group. It seemed that only their household was affected by the power outage.

That afternoon, Mr. Li noticed something was wrong and went outside with a flashlight. He discovered that the wires connected to their electricity meter had been cut.

At that moment, Mr. Li lost his temper completely. He stormed back home, looking for scissors to cut the electricity meter of whoever had done this to them. He was determined to make sure that if someone could cut his meter, he could cut theirs too.

Mrs. Li was shocked and terrified by her husband's rage. Once she understood what had happened, she couldn't stop crying, but she managed to reason with her husband, saying, "Let's go. We should tell the community officials and ask them to help us find somewhere else to stay. Don't act impulsively. If you cut everyone's electricity, they'll just band together and we'll end up being the ones to suffer. There's only the two of us and our daughter. We can't withstand them if they come together. Please, don't make things worse. I'm scared. I'm really scared."

As Mrs. Li cried and pleaded, Mr. Li gradually calmed down. Holding his sobbing wife, he couldn't help but cry as well. They had never harmed anyone, why were their once-friendly neighbors forcing them into such a desperate situation?