My Courtyard Shelter

Chapter 26: Global Day of Mourning

At dinner, Mrs. Xu ate an extra bowl of rice. They say happiness lifts the spirits, and when you’re in high spirits, your appetite naturally increases. During the meal, Xu’s dad also announced the decision to reopen the convenience store. Although Xu Dong repeatedly objected, it didn’t do a damn bit of good. Early the next morning, as expected, Xu Dong was once again roped into helping out—this time as a cashier. Mr. Xu was getting on in years; while he used to manage scanning barcodes and handling payments just fine, the store was now operating entirely with cash—which proved a bit of a struggle for the elderly man. Coincidentally, the previous stock clerk had quit before the New Year, so Xu’s dad simply took on the role of both stock clerk and sales associate. The convenience store had only been open for a short while when customers began trickling in. “Mr. Xu, do you have any rice here?” Dad Xu quickly nodded. “Yes, we have hybrid rice, Northeast rice, and Simiao rice—we carry every variety.” “Why have the prices gone up so much?” “You still think it’s too expensive? We’ve only raised our prices by 5 mao, but the big supermarkets have generally raised theirs by one yuan.” Mr. Xu wasn’t naive; he’d checked the market prices before opening up. Right now, there’s a severe shortage of transport vehicles on the market, making it difficult for supplies to come in right away—which has caused prices throughout the capital to skyrocket. And this was despite strict government controls; otherwise, the increases would have been even more severe. The customer finally bought a 50-jin bag of rice from Northeast China and asked before leaving: “When will fresh produce be in stock?” Mr. Xu gave a wry smile and said, “The wholesale market’s practically been taken over by vegetable vendors. I don’t have any channels right now—you’d better check out the local farmers’ market!” They actually had a batch of vegetables and fruits at home, but the whole family refused to put them up for sale—no one dared to guarantee when the market would return to normal. “I just came from there—nothing’s in stock. Even the rice is completely sold out.” Mr. Xu suddenly had an idea and called out to the customer who was about to leave: “Please wait a moment!” “Hm?” “Here’s the thing—we still have some air-dried chicken and salted pork at home. I was wondering if you might be interested?” Mr. Xu seized the opportunity to make a sales pitch. Ever since the market closed, Mrs. Xu had been worried about all the meat piling up in their yard. The customer was certainly interested. “Oh, how much are they?” “Um, let me explain first. You’re a longtime customer of mine, so you probably know I used to sell free-range chickens.” The customer nodded in acknowledgment; she’d actually bought some a few times before, and the quality had indeed been quite good. Mr. Xu pursed his lips and continued, “This air-dried chicken and salted pork are the same—they’re both authentic local products. I can guarantee it.” The customer waved her hand. “Mr. Xu, just tell me the price!” “Alright then. This air-dried chicken… let’s say 300 yuan per bird, and the salted pork is 80 yuan per jin.” Mr. Xu had practically doubled the price. After all, there were no buyers at the moment, and besides, these were specialty local products—not even the Price Bureau had any say over them. The customer was still hesitating, but Xu Dong was getting impatient. He discreetly pulled Xu Dad aside and whispered, “Dad, you’re selling this way too cheap. You need to at least double the price. Trust me on this—you won’t go wrong!” You couldn’t convince Xu’s dad with direct persuasion, so Xu Dong decided to take a roundabout approach: raise the price first, so that even if they sold, they wouldn’t sell very much. Xu’s dad was still a bit hesitant, but the customer—who seemed to have overheard something—immediately placed a large order: three air-dried chickens and 10 jin of pork, paying the full amount in advance. “Mr. Xu, here’s the money for the meat. Write me a receipt, and I’ll come pick it up this afternoon.” Xu’s father took the 1,700 yuan, didn’t even count it, and tossed it straight to Xu Dong, as if the money were burning his hands. After seeing the customer off, Mr. Xu couldn’t help but lament: “Look at me—I’m such a scatterbrain. I lost nearly 2,000 yuan on this single order. Our shop doesn’t even make 1,700 yuan in a whole day.” Xu Dong immediately tried to reassure him: “Dad, don’t get upset. Next time, just sell them at the prices I told you—600 yuan per dried chicken and 160 yuan per jin of salted pork.” “I know. I’ll write up a sign and hang it on the door in a minute.” The next day—the sixth day after the solar flare had subsided—the nations of the world unanimously agreed to designate February 29 as a Global Day of Mourning to honor all those who lost their lives in the superflare. Among them were: the nine astronauts who lost their lives in outer space; all passengers and crew members who perished in civilian air disasters. According to statistics compiled as of the 28th, a total of 18,647 commercial airliners lost contact following the flare, with less than one percent managing to make a successful emergency landing. The total number of victims of all air crashes amounts to approximately 1,875,927; The number of fatalities in various accidents is currently estimated at approximately 58,000 due to incomplete data; A total of 958 rescue workers lost their lives during disaster relief efforts. At exactly 2:00 p. m. on the 29th, the memorial service in Daxia officially began. As this coincided with a critical phase of the reconstruction efforts, the proceedings were kept simple, and no uniform requirements were imposed on localities. In the capital, Yanjing, all residents spontaneously gathered along both sides of the streets, preparing to observe a solemn three-minute moment of silence in memory of all the victims. It was the same at Xu Dong’s home: the entire family stood in front of the Siheyuan gate, with Yang Lina, Xu Dong, and Xu’s mother each holding one of the triplets, while the two Ke Ke stood at the very front. When the time came, Yanjing’s air-raid siren sounded for the third time this year, and everyone bowed their heads in silent tribute. Three minutes later, the memorial ceremony ended. Xu’s father suddenly remarked with a sigh, “I’m afraid no one will dare to fly anymore!” “Well, that’s assuming there are even any planes left to fly! With so many crashes, the aviation industry has suffered massive losses—it might take decades to recover,” Xu Dong analyzed. At the moment, he was likely the only person in the world who truly understood just how bleak the future of the aviation industry was—even describing it as “in a slump” would be an optimistic assessment. “Forget flying! From now on, our family will travel exclusively by high-speed rail—no one is allowed to fly,” Xu’s mother said, still shaken by the ordeal. When they’d come to Yanjing earlier, her youngest son had even suggested taking a flight—who knew when a solar flare might erupt? Ke Ke had never been on a plane before, so she pleaded, “Grandma, Le Le and I have never been on a plane before.” “Grandma hasn’t either, so none of us are allowed to fly,” Mrs. Xu insisted. Ke Ke pouted and sulked to herself. Xu Dong pulled his little bundle of joy close and whispered, “Once the amusement park calls, Daddy will take you and Le Le to ride the roller coaster. It feels exactly like riding a real plane.” “Really?” “Of course it’s true. When have I ever lied to you? Last time I said I’d take you guys skiing, didn’t I end up taking you?” “Daddy, I love you so much!” “Daddy loves you both, too!” “All right, Ke Ke and Le Le, go play now. Daddy has to go to the store with Grandpa,” Xu’s dad urged. Xu Dong really wanted to slack off, so he pleaded, “Dad, can’t I just take the rest of the day off?” Before Dad could answer, Mom’s furious voice rang out: “What do you mean, ‘take a break’? Hurry up and go to the store! While meat prices are this high, sell all the meat in the yard as soon as possible—we’re really going to strike it rich this time.” Xu Dong felt like crying but had no tears left—this was a total lose-lose situation!