MTL - How to Feed an Abyss!-Chapter 33 Peak period

"How many audiences are here today?" Qin Luoluo lay on the table, her makeup was still on, her false eyelashes looked like fluttering butterflies, and her four-leaf clover earrings were shining.

"37." Xia Fang answered her, "It seems that the posters are effective."

"Not bad, not bad." Qin Luoluo was very satisfied, "The leaflets sent by Shi Yuan must be useful too—it was the right decision for me to recruit him. Look at his face, who can refuse? Distributing leaflets is another Fast and good."

Shi Yuan:?

He was arranging the stage props. Hearing this, he looked up and saw Qin Luoluo smiling at him like a fox.

Cheng Youwen lowered his head to read the book, and interjected: "I'm afraid that the warning will come again, which makes people panic, and no one appreciates my masterpiece."

"Stop crowing." Qin Luoluo stretched, "I'm going to save money for Isabella."

She took out a 20-yuan card and held it between her fingers, and went upstairs humming a song. Cheng Youwen also stood up, limping on crutches and following her: "Go slowly, I'm going upstairs too."

They left one after the other.

Tracy went to bed early, and Wolfgang disappeared as soon as the show was over. The group performers also left, leaving only Shi Yuan and Xia Fang in the empty backstage.

"Tsk tsk." Xia Fang sighed, "So I said Cheng Youwen likes her, you see it now?"

"Well, I can see it." Shi Yuan thought for a while, "I told Cheng Youwen that I knew it when I was in the i-level warning."

"..." Xia Fang opened his eyes slightly, "Shi Yuan, you really are a straight ball player."

Shi Yuan explained: "I'm not good at sports, I can't play ball."

Xia Fang smiled.

They were busy with their work, and after a while, Xia Fang said again: "I don't understand why they want to save money, or save money for others."

Xia Fang loves money, which he never hides.

He can't be said to be penny-pinching, he even treated Shi Yuan to a dessert once when he was in a good mood, and he was the only one in the troupe who didn't save money for Isabella. He was unwavering on this issue.

Of course, this is not his obligation.

After all, donating money is a matter of affection.

Shi Yuan asked, "Why do you like money so much?"

Xia Fang showed a subtle smile when he heard the words, and asked, "Who doesn't like it?"

"I don't like it very much." Shi Yuan said.

"If so what do you like?"

Shi Yuan thought for a while: "I like my tail, humans, and monsters."

Xia Fang: "...then your taste is quite mixed, enough for fraternity." He rubbed his face, "Shi Yuan, I haven't told you about my family, have I?"

Shi Yuan shook his head.

Xia Fang: "My parents are both in Fengyang City. My mother is a mutant with serious sequelae and goes to the hospital every day. It is a bottomless pit of burning money. My father and I can't fill it up. Of course we don't have any." There is no way out, and if you grit your teeth and hold on, it can last for a few years. But if you want to say whether it can be cured? Who knows, if you want to say that there is no hope, it’s fine, but there are still a few miracles, like hanging on a donkey Like a carrot in front of you, hanging people forward, this is the most tormenting."

He smiled bitterly again: "Many people have sequelae, and they have to be treated. I have encountered the most serious one. However, even if you know it can't be cured, you can't leave her alone, right?"

"Ah." Shi Yuan opened his eyes wide and asked hesitantly, "Does anyone else know about this?"

"More or less." Xia Fang hung up the costume in his hand, "They asked me in private if I needed help, but I refused. Compared with Tracy, our family can still hold on."

"Tracey's operation costs a lot of money?" Shi Yuan asked, "I asked Mr. Wolfgang, and he said he can handle it."

Xia Fang smiled subtly again: "He can handle it? Is that what he told you?"

"That's right." Shi Yuan thought for a while, "They can still save money for Ms. Isabella."

"Uh..." Xia Fang paused for a moment, he seemed to be struggling with something, his fingertips unconsciously pinched the wooden hanger, all turned white, he hesitated to speak, "Shi Yuan, you don't understand...that, that..."

He didn't go on, shaking his head: "Forget it, they are a group of very kind people, and they are also a group of very stupid people. You can't rely on art to make money these days. Sometimes I feel that I am being taken advantage of, and the salary is not high. Here It's time consuming. Now there's always an alarm, and without an outpost, we won't last long, we're all going to die."

Shi Yuan remembered what Lu Tinghan said in the wheat field yesterday.

So he told Xia Fang that the fourth dimension may be time, "being here" is the most important thing, and a moment is eternity.

"This is what Lu Tingting told you?" Xia Fang asked after listening.

"En." Shi Yuan nodded.

Xia Fang said: "If every moment is eternity, then we are too miserable. We can only clean up the backstage here forever. Isn't this a big mistake." He hung up the last costume, "Maybe your man is right Yes, but you can't convince me."

"I'm not trying to convince you. Lu Tingting said that there is no standard answer to this question." Shi Yuan said, "I just want you to know that the wheat fields are really beautiful."

"I'm short of money," Xia Fang smiled, "You let me see the wheat fields, I can only think that wheat is very valuable." He patted Shi Yuan on the shoulder, "But thank you for telling me."

After that, they played five or six scenes.

After that, small warnings continued, and people went back and forth between their homes and shelters. When it was serious, Shi Yuan started to work at the food distribution place again. Lu Tinghan seldom went home, and even when he did, he would come in late at night and leave early in the morning, and he couldn't stay for long.

Shi Yuan snored less often, and could only sleep alone with his tail in his arms every night.

He often heard Lu Tinghan's name on the radio.

They called several times, just like before, it was Shi Yuan talking about what happened, while Lu Tinghan listened, the short time was two or three minutes, and the long time was ten or twenty minutes.

Lu Tinghan is very busy, and he is not someone who can talk on the phone - it is unprecedented for him to make this kind of private phone call.

He didn't deliberately avoid his subordinates.

Occasionally, the adjutant saw the general on the phone with a serious face, no emotion could be seen in his gray-blue eyes, and he would say "um" from time to time, without giving orders, as if he was very serious.

He had never seen such an admiral before, nor did he expect that the battle situation would reach the point where Lu Tinghan could only listen silently, unable to make a decision for a long time. He never dared to disturb, abided by his duties, and said nothing.

Until one time he heard Lu Tinghan say: "No."

adjutant:?

Lu Tinghan said: "No, a rose can't cost more than 50 yuan, don't buy it."

adjutant:? ? ?

The person on the other side of the phone seemed to say something, Lu Tinghan smiled a little, and said, "I'll bring it to you."

"The one I gave you last time was red."

"Shi Yuan, there are no colorful roses in this world... Yes, if there is no one, there is no one, even I can't find it."

"...The unopened peppers are under the cabinet, it's hard to find, you ask Rotten to get them for you."

"I really don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg."

"Well, there are no multicolored roses either."

The adjutant was struck by lightning.

Admiral, you have been taken away!

Are you listening to these flowers and plants with a serious face? ? ! What the **** is rotten iron? It can't be the most advanced t0 guard robot in your home! What a weird topic about chickens and eggs!

His three views were completely broken, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he remembered that he had met Shi Yuan before, and was deeply impressed by that good face that could accommodate both men and women.

When Lu Tinghan hung up the phone, he was the usual him again, his face was as deep as water, and he looked at the adjutant with a strange expression: "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing, nothing." The adjutant stammered, quickly restrained his expression, and followed behind Lu Tinghan.

He said in his heart that he thought it was dewy love, but it faded after a few days, but he didn't expect that he went straight to the main palace, and even the roses were prepared.

...Fucking colorful ones!

Demon concubine!

And after Shi Yuan worked at the food distribution place for a week, he started acting again.

Invisible clouds gather over the city, and smiling faces are rarely seen on crowded buses. People looked out of the window with apprehension.

The troupe's passenger flow finally recovered for a month, and then fell like a precipice, and it was impossible to save it.

The Grand Theater has been renting performance halls to bands in the city. Recently, the band broke the contract and disbanded directly.

The violinist hides his prized instrument and takes it home.

But the drummer directly found someone who sold scraps, and sold a set of drums for 45 alliance coins, and he paid for it with one hand and delivered it with the other. Shi Yuan witnessed the whole process: the man walked towards the end of the street with the money, and when he turned the corner, he wiped his eyes with his cuff.

For Friday night's performance, the audience was sparse and the applause was sporadic.

Standing under the bright light, Shi Yuan bent over to take the curtain call, looked at the empty auditorium and suddenly thought: After that, will anyone come to see it?

The rest of the troupe was not in a good mood either.

While sorting out the manuscript, Cheng Youwen told Shi Yuan a story.

He said: "Theatrical troupes are not always able to perform. 20 years ago, during the peak period of infection, all cultural and entertainment activities were suspended. Most of the troupes in Gleaner City were disbanded in this way. You think, the peak period can last at most Ten years. The ban has been lifted in the past ten years, let alone whether the actors are old or not, it is not easy to contact everyone, let alone they are not willing to do it."

He sighed: "The Wild Rose Troupe ended up in the same way, but the Garcia family has great influence. Ms. Isabella recruited people everywhere, so she barely got the number of people together and started acting again. Think again, it doesn't count." There are only 6 part-time actors in our troupe. If the peak season comes again, after a few years, the troupe may really disappear.”

Shi Yuan: "Oh..."

Ten years is a very long time for human beings.

He can afford to wait, they can't afford to wait.

Cheng Youwen put the manuscripts away one by one, and limped on a chair with a cane on his back: "However, it is unknown whether we can survive the peak period."

"Is the peak period scary?" Shi Yuan asked.

"Nonsense." Cheng Youwen said, "Let me just tell you that 90% of the cities and bases that have been destroyed were destroyed during the peak period. If there is another peak, even if we have that surnamed Lu, I guess there will be more Gou two or three years."

For more than half a year, there have been rumors in the city that the peak season is approaching.

It is forever the sword of Damocles hanging over the city.

——In ancient times, King Dionysius asked his ministers to sit on the throne. Above his head was a sharp sword suspended from a horsehair, shining silver and falling at any time, which meant an ever-present threat. Now people know that this sharp sword will fall to judge fate.

After 20 years of peace, perhaps, it is still time for the final battle.

Shi Yuan didn't know the definition of peak period.

However, he did feel the monster's restlessness.

Every night, their blood and souls come from all directions, like the veins on the leaves, converging and merging, and all rivers return to the sea.

When Shiyuan first entered the city, the long river was turbulent and seemed to be relatively stable on the surface, but recently it was turbulent, and monsters whispered among the tides.

Cheng Youwen touched the manuscript and said in a daze: "Fortunately, I have written a lot of scripts, even... even if something happens, this life is not nothing. It's a pity that no more people can see my masterpiece."

Shi Yuan thought for a while: "You can carve a QR code on your tombstone, and others can see your script with a scan. You can also put a video on it to replay the newspaper's interview with you."

Cheng Youwen: "..."

Cheng Youwen said: "When the time comes when all human beings are dead, who will watch it? Why can't the whole family of monsters stand in front of my grave to watch the stage play? To be honest, it's quite a family reunion."

"I can watch it." Shi Yuan said seriously, "I can also help you like it."

Cheng Youwen: "...Listen to me, thank you..."

He took a deep breath and said, "What about you? If you die, what will you put on the grave?"

"I've thought about this issue." Shi Yuan said, "What I want to write most now is "advertising space for rent, 300 monthly subscriptions". "

Cheng Youwen: "..."

Shi Yuan is really weird! And it's not a joke, Cheng Youwen is 10,000% sure that Shi Yuan will really do this!

Cheng Youwen tentatively asked: "Does your Lu Tingting know that you want to put up an advertisement?"

Shi Yuan replied: "I know."

Cheng Youwen had a glimmer of hope: "What did he say?"

Shi Yuan: "He said three hundred is too expensive, and he wants to bury me, and only charge two hundred."

Cheng Youwen was shocked.

Does this count as a family not entering a house?

I didn't expect you to be such Lu Tinghan!

When Shiyuan came home that day, he turned on his phone to see if Lu Tinghan had replied.

No.

The tip of his tail drooped in disappointment.

At night, he had a strange dream.

In the dream he was standing on the stage, bright and fiery light enveloped him. He didn't wear a costume and couldn't see the other actors. He was alone, alone. And the audience is pitch-black, at first glance it looks like no one is there, but if you look carefully—

Monsters occupy the auditorium.

Distorted vines, strange birds with many limbs, grizzly bears with human faces... There are no seats, only various monsters crowded together.

They all looked at the stage in silence.

This is a one-man show.

The audience is the monster, Shi Yuan is the only protagonist.

In the dream, his body was light and floating, Shi Yuan didn't know what to do, so he stood silently.

What are you waiting for? he thinks.

What are you looking forward to? Why are you all looking at me?

I have nothing to give you.

There was dead silence, followed by a high-frequency sound, like something vibrating at high speed, like...insect wings.

It gets louder and closer.

Almost disturbing.

The stage lights were going out, and the darkness spread up, overwhelming Shi Yuan. At the last second of memory, the eyes of the monsters still fell on him.

So Shi Yuan knew that their waiting would continue.

Even if the protagonist leaves, they will stay in the eternal darkness like this, waiting for him to return.

Forever.

"...!"

Shi Yuan sat up abruptly from the bed.

The morning light fell into the house through the curtains, and the earliest shuttle buses had already started to operate, carrying people yawning all over the city.

It's time to go to work.

The dream just now melted into the light of the sky without a trace.

Shi Yuan got on the car to the theater.

A whole day has passed, and Lu Tinghan hasn't replied to his message yet, he seems to be very busy.

There is no performance today, everyone is busy with their own work.

There will be a performance tomorrow afternoon, and 61 tickets have been sold, which is the highest sales volume in the past few days, probably because the flyers and posters have worked. Shi Yuan was dragged by Qin Luoluo to put up posters again, and the two stood on the street, one with a bucket of glue and the other with a poster.

"Shi Yuan," Qin Luoluo flattened every corner of the poster with his hands, and asked suddenly, "Are you feeling unwell today? For example, uh, tinnitus and dizziness?"

"No." Shi Yuan said, "What's the matter with you?"

Qin Luoluo rubbed her eyebrows: "It's strange, I'm always restless today, as if something big is about to happen."

Shi Yuan asked, "Is it because of that bottle of foundation?"

In the morning, Cheng Youwen accidentally knocked over Qin Luoluo's foundation, causing her to scream through the sky, and almost punched Cheng Youwen into the ground.

"No, no, it's not that." Qin Luoluo said, "Although I have high blood pressure all morning, the feeling is different. You have to trust a woman's sixth sense, something is definitely going to happen."

"What is it?" Shi Yuan asked again, "Another bottle of foundation will also shatter?...Ah!"

He covered his head.

Qin Luoluo took a roll of posters and knocked him on the head: "Don't be crowed, I only have the last two bottles left!" She looked around, and a heavily armed patrol passed by the street corner, "Besides, don't you think that these two days Are there especially many fighters?"

Shi Yuan was at a loss.

Qin Luoluo looked at his expression: "It seems that your man didn't tell you anything."

"He seldom talks about work with me." Shi Yuan said, "A lot of things have to be kept secret."

"That's right," Qin Luoluo sighed, "Besides, he probably doesn't want his family to worry, he's a good man."

The two returned to the theater, Xia Fang and Tracy were mopping the floor, Wolfgang bit a nail, and raised the hammer in his right hand to jingle the solid wood.

Qin Luoluo carefully put away the last two bottles of foundation.

It was business as usual, nothing happened.

Until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a long whistle sounded.

It sounded like a siren during curfew, but it was louder, resounding over the city.

This represents [gathering], everyone stopped their hands, walked out, and walked onto the square and the street. Crowds were everywhere, and Shi Yuan was about to suffer from anthropophobia again, so he quickly shrank in the corner.

A huge, motorboat-like aircraft floated slowly overhead and stopped over the city. The whistle stopped, and it cast a huge holographic projection that could be seen by the whole city.

In the picture, the white-haired old man is sitting upright.

Chai Yongning.

What is he proclaiming?

What is it worth everyone to put down their work and be so serious? The last time a crowd gathered like this, it should be... more than 20 years ago, right?

At this moment, everyone was shocked.

Chai Yongning clasped his hands on the table with a heavy expression, behind him was the Alliance's Xuejianhua flag.

He said: "Hello everyone, I am Chai Yongning, the chairman of the alliance."

The crowd was silent.

Chai Yongning: "According to the observation data of the Union Academy of Sciences and the Observation Center since February 1st, combined with the abyss pollution index for the past three years, and comparing the data of previous years horizontally, today, I announce with a heavy heart—"

He looked solemn, his old eyes were like steel.

"We have good evidence to believe that the peak of infection has arrived."

With just a few words, the whole city was in an uproar!

The sharp sword fell after all, and it was indescribable how chaotic it was. The crowd exploded, screaming, shouting and sobbing mixed together. Amidst the noise, Chai Yongning's voice came: "From today, the alliance will focus on three themes and enter a state of full combat readiness. First, we must adhere to the principle of life first, and the alliance army will do everything possible to ensure the safety of people's lives." , without giving up any individual, without leaving out any..."

A woman was crying, breaking out into high-pitched wailing. Soldiers standing guard on street corners moved into action to reassure the crowd.

"Secondly, the army must be thorough and meticulous, and the masses must obey the command without panic. It is a time of crisis, and any mistake will cause immeasurable consequences. We must start from the details and coordinate all forces..."

There was chaos, and Shi Yuan was dizzy from the noise.

He quietly leaned against the wall, squeezed through the crowd to leave, and was stepped on by countless people during the process.

"Third, we must persist in helping each other in the same boat and always have confidence. In the past 71 years, we have fought with the infected creatures and the abyss with great courage. We have won or lost. We have paid a lot of price, but we have come to this day. We survived Those who live together will always be a community of destiny, sharing weal and woe, only unity can form the strongest barrier, and only cooperation can form the broadest harbor..."

Shi Yuan returned to the theater, opened the door, and the stage and auditorium were empty.

There was a small wooden stool beside the stage. He sat down and turned on his phone.

After a day, Lu Tinghan finally replied to him: [Shi Yuan, don't be afraid]

Shi Yuan: 【I won't be afraid, come back soon】

He waited for a while, the phone screen was about to go off, and then turned on again.

Lu Tinghan: [Okay, I will]

Shi Yuan put away the phone.

Even here, the boiling human voice and Chai Yongning's words can be heard, vague and unreal, as if separated by a layer of mist.

He just sat there, looking at the huge, empty performance hall.

He didn't realize it at first, until he saw posters scattered on the steps.

That was the poster he and Qin Luoluo went to put up today. There were still a few left, Qin Luoluo brought them back, and put them in the front row of auditorium, thinking about tidying them up before leaving get off work.

Then the whistle sounded, and she hurried out, perhaps accidentally bumped into it, the poster slipped from the seat and scattered all over the floor, and there were a few more black shoe prints, which happened to be printed on the words "Wild Rose Troupe" On, ugly and ferocious.

The poster is good-looking, and there is nothing wrong with the poster. It embodies the painstaking efforts of the troupe, and it entrusts an unrealistic and cross-age dream.

But it doesn't work, it just doesn't work.

Shi Yuan stared at the poster for a few seconds, and belatedly realized:

After that, there may never be a stage play again.

They just played a play yesterday afternoon.

The weather was neither good nor bad, the sun covered the face with layers of clouds, the audience was not too many, and the applause of 39 people was not too enthusiastic.

—At that time they just thought it was normal.

The rest of the troupe came back one after another and sat together with gloomy faces.

Qin Luoluo forced a smile: "Ah, this day is still here."

Cheng Youwen's face was extremely pale, but Tracy stopped talking after seeing the atmosphere, and looked at everyone with wide eyes. They all knew that the troupe's activities would be suspended.

As for when to suspend? Can we meet again?

No one knows.

Xia Fang scolded: "I should have left a long time ago! I, I should have gone to Fengyang a long time ago, my parents are there! It's all right now, I can't go at all!"

Now the traffic between the cities is stopped, and no one can go out of the city. Xia Fang's seriously ill mother is still in Fengyang City.

Qin Luoluo comforted him, saying that you can apply for an emergency, and maybe it will be approved, and you have to try.

Xia Fang didn't answer, and grabbed her hair like a chicken coop.

Qin Luoluo said softly again: "...Originally, there was another performance tomorrow, and we sold 61 tickets."

Cheng Youwen's face was heavy, and he said, "I want to act."

"What?" Qin Luoluo looked at him.

"Let's continue the performance." Cheng Youwen supported his crutches, with a few drops of sweat on his pale forehead, but his tone was firm, "Whether there are audiences or not, let's perform one last time."