The autumn wind was bleak, roaring past with a chill in its wake. The roadside trees thrashed violently under its assault, their bare branches moaning.
The few withered yellow leaves remaining on the branches clung tightly to the limbs, stubbornly resisting the wind. Their edges had long since been blown into brittle curls.
Every now and then, a few leaves could no longer withstand the wind's ravaging. They drifted free from the branches, spinning through the air in withered yellow arcs before finally landing hard on the wet manhole covers, making faint pattering sounds.
Lin Li left Su Yue's home, and a frigid gust instantly slipped down his collar, making him shiver.
He hurriedly raised a hand to tighten the gray scarf around his neck, wrapping it firmly around the lower half of his face and exposing only his eyes as he rushed toward the parking area.
When he had gone out that morning, hardly anyone on the road had been wearing masks. But now, looking around, more than half of the pedestrians downstairs had put on blue medical masks, deliberately keeping their distance from one another.
It seemed everyone already knew how fiercely this bout of influenza had arrived. They had dug out the masks they kept at home and put them on, doing everything possible to avoid being infected.
Lin Li quickened his pace.
Before long, he reached the parking area, quickly opened the car door, and climbed inside. With a "bang," he shut the door, completely shutting out the biting wind.
He rubbed his chilled hands together, started the car, turned the steering wheel, and smoothly swung around toward the residential complex's entrance.
After leaving the complex, Lin Li drove straight toward the nearest community clinic.
There were not many vehicles on the road, but most pedestrians