from my heart [last days]

Chapter 23

The cafeteria kitchen is quite complete with pots and pans, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, star anise, small dried peppers, bay leaves, and a whole plate of spices that can be preserved. A few ungerminated potatoes were found under the stove. , cut into pieces and fried in a pot with the chicken, the fragrance wafted all over the place, the children lined up according to age, staring at Pei Ze holding the spoon, their eyes almost burst into green light after being hungry for more than ten days.

Each person has a bowl of rice, three pieces of chicken, some potatoes, and the braised sauce soup is rich and fragrant. Ze said thank you.

When the children are finished, it is the adults' turn.

One chicken is not enough for thirty people, and the children have already bottomed out after the distribution is over.

Xie Congxin didn't intend to join in the fun, so Gu Zi filled a bowl of rice and sat at another table.He himself does not have much pursuit of food, as long as he can meet the basic needs of his body.What's more, compared to the horrible taste of canned noodles, a bowl of clean white rice is almost benevolent.

"Academician Xie hasn't eaten much these days," Cheng Yinshang beside the stove said in a low voice, "I'll give it to him, I'll just open the can."

Peng Heben was ready to leave after eating, but turned back when he heard this, and said with a smile: "I'll share with him, just in time to lose weight."

As he spoke, he took an empty bowl and was about to take out half of his share of meat, but Zhou An stopped him.

"He's not a child," Zhou An said, "Can he still starve himself to death? There's no need to do that."

Both Cheng Yinshang and Peng He were taken aback. They didn't expect Zhou An to react like this. Pei Ze raised his eyelids and looked at Zhou An. Zhou An smiled and left.

Peng He and Cheng Yinshang looked at each other, Pei Ze said in a deep voice, "Let's go eat."

"……Oh."

The two followed Zhou An to the table on the other side. Pei Ze changed to a clean small pot and started the fire again.

In the afternoon, he brought back two boxes of eggs. He took one and broke it up, heated it with thin oil, slicked the egg and sprinkled it with salt, opened a can of beef, poured it in and stir-fried it together, and put it on a plate.

Then he took the plate, didn't go to Zhou An's table, and sat in front of Xie Congxin.

Xie Congxin raised his head and raised his eyebrows, "Captain Pei, are you giving me some advice?"

Joking and ridicule, without sincerity, and will not say a word of thanks.He clearly has such an attitude towards everyone, why does Zhou An think that there is an affair between them?

Pei Ze pushed the plate between the two of them, and said calmly, "Eat."

Xie Congxin saved face, and took a bite. The inferior canned meat was wrapped in soft and smooth eggs, which tasted much better than when the canned food was eaten dry. Pei Ze's cooking skills are not bad.

While chewing, his eyes crossed Pei Ze's shoulder, and met Zhou An who was watching them not far away.

Xie Congxin raised one corner of his lips, and that slightly mocking, unfavorable smile seemed provocative.

Zhou An frowned and turned his head back.

It was completely dark after dinner, Fan Zheng turned on the emergency lights and took the children to spread the floor in the classroom. The third team borrowed the classroom on the third floor to hold an impromptu meeting on the unfinished historical issues left over in the afternoon.

In late October, the third day of the lunar calendar, a crescent moon hangs in the sky, shining in through broken glass windows, and reflecting a little light on the classroom desk.

Zombies wandered outside, devastated, but this small school seemed to be in another world, quiet and peaceful, a paradise.

Zhou An sat on a table and said: "The captain and I will leave tomorrow morning, and the two of you will stay. If we haven't returned after 48 hours, you will leave and bring Academician Xie back to Beijing."

"What?" Peng He jumped up from his chair in shock, "I'll stay?"

Zhou An repeated again: "Well, you stay here, and I will go in with the captain."

"No!" Peng He flatly refused, "I'll go with you!"

Zhou An smiled helplessly and said, "Peng Peng, this is an order."

Peng He was so anxious that he jumped on the spot and wanted to say something, but was stopped by Cheng Yinshang.He knew about this in the afternoon, and thought that Pei Ze had made a decision and there was no room for discussion, so he just sat on the chair and pursed his lips without saying a word.

Zhou An only looked at Pei Ze as if the matter had been decided.Pei Ze was looking at them calmly with a cigarette in his mouth, his expression remained the same as before, and Zhou An said, "Stop smoking, how many cigarettes do you have today?"

There were only the two of them smoking in the team, but neither of them smoked vigorously. They just cheered up when they were tired. Today, Pei Ze smoked one cigarette after another, and the cigarette case was half empty.

Pei Ze didn't take down the cigarette. In fact, he didn't smoke much, and most of the time he just held it in his hand. "Zhou An, I didn't say such an order."

Zhou An was startled, Pei Ze continued: "You don't need to use this method to force me to make a decision."

"..."

He naturally understood the so-called great righteousness. Compared with the tens of millions of lives upstream and downstream, the four of them were insignificant. Even if Xie Congxin, who might make a vaccine, was added, it was not enough to balance the two ends of the balance due to countless uncertainties.If sacrificing a few of them can save the world, there is naturally no room for evasion.

But things in the world are not so easy.

Even if tens of millions of lives are in front of you, you still have to measure your own ability, not to die bravely.Be it Xie Congxin or the entire third team, personal strength is always limited, and no one will be the savior of the world.

An was too hasty in this matter last week, and he is not like the usual him anymore.

Even if in the end they went to the power station because of their sense of morality as soldiers, it must not have been such a hasty decision.

Zhou An quickly recovered his expression after being stunned for a moment, and smiled apologetically: "...Sorry, I thought you also thought this was the best arrangement."

He knew that Pei Ze did not agree with this plan in his heart, but he never denied it. The current situation could not find a more balanced solution, so he thought that Pei Ze had already acquiesced, but he did not expect that Pei Ze would be in Cheng Yin at this time. Shang and Peng He vetoed it mercilessly in front of them.

Pei Ze withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "Let's find a way to contact Zhongcheng."

It is impossible for Xu Shan to ignore the fact that it is related to the survival of the entire Yuzhong District. Zhou An frowned and said, "What if the heavy city wants to take Academician Xie back? Can we stop it?"

If you can't stop it, you have to stop it.

Without saying a word, Pei Ze twisted the end of his cigarette. To deal with Xu Shan, no matter what, there was room for him to think of a way.What's more, Xie Congxin is an important person of the central government, Xu Shan may not really have the courage to become an enemy of the central government at this time.

The biggest problem at the moment is how to contact Xu Shan, and whether it will be too late for him to send someone.

Peng He looked at the faces of the two, scratched his head and said, "Then what, in fact, we went upstream to take a look this afternoon."

Both Pei Ze and Zhou An looked over.

Cheng Yinshang took the conversation and said in a low voice: "Brother Fan said that the water level is close to 180, and it won't last for two days. Even if we can contact Chongcheng now, it's probably too late..."

"..."

What's more, the signal was intermittent. Even if they set off immediately and returned to the heavy city, and waited for Xu Shan to integrate his forces before coming back, most of Yuzhong District might have been submerged.

Zhou An looked at Pei Ze again, "Make an idea, Captain."

At this point, it seems that it really has to go.

But is it really possible to make decisions this way?Pei Ze didn't think he was an indecisive person, but he couldn't bring his teammates to die in a hurry.The life of tens of millions of people is life, isn't it the life of the three people in front of you?

Suddenly there were two knocks on the door behind him.

When everyone turned their heads, they saw Xie Congxin and Fan Zheng, one in front of the other, entering the classroom through the back door.

Xie Congxin put his hands in his pockets, walked past the crowd, sat down at a table next to the podium, and said with a half-smile, "I'm afraid you may have forgotten something."

Zhou An said, "What did you forget?"

Xie Congxin said: "Dare to ask Deputy Team Zhou, do you know how to operate the water turbine?"

"..."

He casually opened the dusty pencil case on the table, took out a pencil, raised his hand, tapped the end of the pen on his forehead, and smiled at everyone: "Deputy Zhou, it's a good thing to understand justice. But people can’t just rely on impulsiveness and recklessness to live, they have to use their brains occasionally, don’t they?”

"........."

Sometimes Pei Ze felt that Xie Congxin's sharpness was more than [-]% deliberate.

Just like at this moment, there was no need for him to use this method that would anger Zhou An.

Zhou An took a breath, and the anger that calmed down in the afternoon went away and returned, "I am not as smart as Academician Xie, so what does Academician Xie think should be done?"

Xie Congxin didn't pay attention to his expression at all, "I said, not going is the best choice."

Zhou An sarcastically said, "Academician Xie is really smart."

Pei Ze remained calm and stood in front of Zhou An, "Academician Xie can speak directly if he has something to say."

He didn't know who was stopping him from this action. Xie Congxin smiled, twirling the pencil nimbly with his slender fingers, and said: "I can't stop you if you insist on going. Instead of sending each other to death, why don't I take a step back and plan this together with everyone?" One thing, strive to go early and return early without reducing the number of staff, what do you think?"

Xie Congxin... is really a very interesting person.

He clearly has the ability to observe words and feelings, but he insists on himself, his words and deeds are sharp, and he doesn't seem to care about other people's opinions, let alone whether he makes others feel unhappy.But he understands the principles of the world, he is not willful, and occasionally makes unexpected concessions.

So much so that you can never predict what his attitude will be in the next second.