She didn't remember when she fell asleep. In short, when she woke up again, it was already broad daylight.
Shen Mo wasn't in the room.
Bai Youwei slowly yawned and saw a mouthwash cup, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a basin of clean water on the table.
She didn't move immediately. Instead, she sat on the bed in a daze for a while, then slowly changed her clothes, got out of bed and sat in her wheelchair, brushed her teeth, and washed her face.
She had accumulated two days worth of dirty clothes. She wanted to throw them away, but thinking that she no longer had the capital to be extravagant, she had to endure her annoyance and take them to the separate bathroom in the dormitory to wash them.
It was so annoying. She had never washed clothes since she was a child.
Cheng Teacher was cooking in the corridor outside.
He borrowed a firewood stove and an iron pot from upstairs. Beside him were rice, oil, salt, vinegar, and various bottles and jars. Hearing the movement of Bai Youwei getting up, he immediately said, "Weiwei, breakfast will be ready soon. There is porridge and eggs. Tu Teacher also gave me a bag of noodles. Which one do you want to eat?"
"Anything…" Bai Youwei asked from inside the room, "Where is Shen Mo?"
"He and Tan Xiao went to Yangzhou Harbor early in the morning." Cheng Teacher looked towards the school gate. "They should be back soon."
Bai Youwei let out an "oh" and rubbed the clothes in her hands a few times, not caring whether they were clean or not, and hung them all up in the dormitory.
After that, she had nothing to do, so she slid her wheelchair to the back of the dormitory building and picked mint leaves in the flower garden.
She picked a large handful.
She carefully washed each leaf and dried them in the shade of the corridor with newspapers.
It was probably because she and Cheng Teacher were too leisurely, one cooking and the other drying leaves, that the students upstairs looked at them with indescribable expressions when they came down.
Tu Dan was going to take the students to play the Frog game today, and she was busy preparing early in the morning. The atmosphere was very tense.
Bai Youwei held the bowl, watched them busy while drinking porridge, and felt a little regretful, because Cheng Teacher's cooking skills were obviously not as good as Tu Dan's.
She saw 13 students, plus Tu Dan, a total of 14 people, get on their bicycles and raise their arms and wave:
"Have a safe trip."
Tu Dan also waved at her and set off with the students.
The 14 bicycles left one after another, riding on the campus road, like a school of fish shuttling in the water, with a neat rhythm and full of vitality.
Bai Youwei looked at the galloping wheels, took a sip of porridge, and murmured, "I'm so envious…"
…
Not long after Tu Dan and the others left, Shen Mo and Tan Xiao came back.
They got gasoline and collected some living supplies, stuffing the SUV even fuller than before, almost to the point of exploding.
"That's it." Bai Youwei said coolly, "It seems that finding a shelter is hopeless, otherwise they wouldn't have brought back so much food and supplies."
Cheng Teacher looked at Shen Mo and Tan Xiao expectantly, hoping they would bring back good news.
Facing the old man's eyes, Shen Mo, who was originally decisive, found it difficult to speak.
He pondered for a long time before saying, "…The ship didn't come."
Cheng Teacher's eyes dimmed.
Shen Mo continued, "The ships responsible for transferring personnel were initially scheduled to arrive every two hours, but in recent days, not a single ship has appeared. Some people couldn't wait and robbed the working ferries at the shore, and some people walked south along the Yangtze River embankment. Now there are only a dozen tents left at Yangzhou Port. It is estimated that in two days, the rest of the people will also leave."
"You mean… the ship will never come?" Cheng Teacher asked tremblingly, "Those people don't plan to wait any longer?"
"They can't wait any longer." Tan Xiao sighed, "They said that the fog in the city has been expanding. At first, it was only the size of a community, but now, the entire urban area has been swallowed! If we wait any longer, Yangzhou Harbor will not be safe either!"
Confusion appeared on Cheng Teacher's face. "Then we…we…"
"My idea is…" Shen Mo looked at them and said, "Should we go into the fog and have a look?"