At noon the next day.
The official channel broadcast a recruitment notice.
The funeral home was hiring body handlers and crematorium workers.
The benefits were generous: the government provided three meals a day, plus an additional ten kilograms of grain each month.
Before the extreme heat, a funeral home recruitment notice would have attracted practically no interest, but things were different now.
After residents learned of the recruitment notice through various channels, excitement erupted.
What tempted everyone most was the promise of three meals a day.
At a time when many people died every day from illness, starvation, or accidents, there was a place that could meet their basic needs for food.
No one cared anymore whether the job involved dealing with all kinds of corpses all day.
Anyone who got hired would have found a way to survive in these hard times.
On the evening the notice went out, city hall was packed with residents applying for the jobs.
Many people from Jiaxing Residential Complex went to apply too.
Their Building 8 alone had over a dozen people going.
Bored with nothing to do, Jiang Ci had planned to go shopping at the government supermarket with Si Beichen. When she went downstairs, she happened to run into those dozen or so people.
She glanced over them and spotted several familiar faces.
There was Hu Cuihua, Zhou Junming's mother from the ninth floor, her neighbor Liu Shicai, the professor who lived alone in apartment 1102, and several familiar older women who loved square dancing and gossiping. A few of the young men, however, looked unfamiliar.
They were probably from those households that had some food left and had barely ventured out since the extreme heat began.
They had probably been clinging to the hope that the extreme heat would soon pass and the world would quickly return to normal.
Now they had no choice but to face the harsh reality and take this opportunity to find jobs to earn food.
Jiang Ci did not linger and went to the government supermarket with Si Beichen.
But when they arrived, they discovered that the government supermarket had actually closed.
A notice to residents was posted on the door.
It stated clearly in black and white that cash transactions would no longer exist and the government supermarket would not reopen.
Transactions would now be conducted through barter.
The trading market was located in the municipal square. Residents who needed supplies could go there to barter.
Si Beichen wanted to take a look at the trading market, and Jiang Ci went with him.
The two went to the underground parking garage on level B1 to get the car.
Si Beichen's Land Rover Defender was parked in a space at the very back.
Level B1 was pitch-black. They could not see a hand in front of their faces.
Si Beichen walked ahead, lighting the way with a powerful flashlight, while Jiang Ci held his arm and followed behind.
The parking garage was silent, and many spaces were empty. Clearly, some smart people had hidden away gasoline.
Otherwise, the fuel thieves would surely have stolen it all.
They had probably all driven out because of the recruitment.
Neither of them spoke, and their footsteps were quiet, so even the slightest sound in the garage was amplified many times over.
The farther in they went, the more they could hear strange noises, until they passed a white van and heard the sounds coming from inside with perfect clarity.
Someone was actually hiding in a van in the parking garage to have an affair.
Si Beichen reached back and pulled Jiang Ci in front of him, tucked the flashlight under his arm, covered her ears with both hands, and pushed her forward quickly.
It was not illegal for other people to satisfy their physical needs, and he had no right to interfere, but he certainly would not let them corrupt his girl.
Si Beichen swiftly bundled Jiang Ci into the passenger seat and shut the door.
Then he opened the trunk, took out a fuel can, and filled the tank.
Once he finished refueling, he immediately started the car and drove out of the garage.
Li Weiwei and Zhang Shuai did hear another car starting in the garage, but neither paid it any mind. Instead, they found it even more exciting with other people around.
Jiang Ci obediently sat in the passenger seat with her seat belt fastened, took a small packet of raisins from her pocket, and began eating.
The streets had not been this lively for a long time, ever since the extreme heat began.
Even on this dark, sweltering night, plenty of cars were heading toward city hall from every direction.
Si Beichen's Land Rover Defender was among them.
As they drew closer to their destination, Jiang Ci could see from afar that the municipal square and city hall were brightly lit and teeming with people.
If the hot weather had not constantly reminded her that they were in the extreme heat, she would have wondered whether they had returned to the time before it.
The line at city hall already stretched outside, winding into an S shape.
Everyone was there to apply for the government jobs.
Jiang Ci and Si Beichen had no interest in applying to become body handlers or crematorium workers. They glanced into city hall, then looked away.
Rows of stalls were laid out on the scorching ground of the municipal square, turning the entire square into a trading market.
There were plenty of people setting up stalls, but few people coming to trade.
After Si Beichen parked, the two got out and began strolling leisurely past the stalls in the trading market.
There were books, antiques, winter clothes, quilts, furniture, handicrafts, and Spring Festival couplets for sale. In short, there was everything except food and drink.
And all those selling useful items wanted to exchange them for food.
As they browsed, Si Beichen suddenly stopped in front of a stall.
Jiang Ci looked over in puzzlement. It was a stall selling cigarettes and alcohol.
A young man with disheveled hair sat behind it on a small folding stool, smoking with his head lowered.
Seeing Si Beichen staring at the stallholder as he smoked with his head down, Jiang Ci asked, "Do you know him?"
Qian Zimo raised his head at the sound of her voice, and his eyes lit up when he saw the tall man standing in front of his stall.
"Captain!" he called out excitedly.
He hurriedly stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, brought out the little folding stool, and gestured for Si Beichen to sit.
Seeing that this was someone Si Beichen knew and knowing they must have things to talk about, Jiang Ci offered, "Brother, I'll go browse on my own for a bit. Stay here and chat."
Si Beichen nodded and instructed her, "Don't go far."
Only after watching Jiang Ci walk away did he sit down on the folding stool without ceremony. Qian Zimo simply plopped down on the cloth spread out for his stall.
"Captain, your little sister is really pretty."
Si Beichen did not want to discuss his girl with anyone else, so he changed the subject. "Why did you leave the military too?"
Qian Zimo had always been easygoing and optimistic. He said casually, "I was worried about my parents and little sister. I had enough to eat, but they weren't doing well."
Si Beichen understood immediately and did not press him. He only asked, "Is there anything you need help with?"
Seeing Si Beichen's clean, tidy clothes and noticing that he did not smell of sweat, Qian Zimo knew his captain was doing fairly well. Still, he did not want to trouble him.
They had already left the military. His captain was no longer obligated to help him with anything.
He would not allow himself to become a burden to his captain, either.
Besides, although he was not doing as well as his captain, he did have enough food and clothing.
That was how things stood, and Qian Zimo concealed nothing, telling Si Beichen honestly about his family's circumstances.
After hearing him out, Si Beichen was indeed reassured.
After all, Qian Zimo had been a member of his team, and they were brothers who had faced life and death together. Now that they had run into each other, he could not possibly remain indifferent.
Si Beichen also asked Qian Zimo how some of the others on the team had been doing since his departure.
While they were talking, Jiang Ci returned from a circuit of the market and asked Si Beichen for the car keys.
Si Beichen did not ask what she wanted them for and simply tossed them to her.