My Courtyard Shelter

Chapter 41: May

“Xiao Xu, did you bring all of this?” Xu Dong nodded. “One big bag for each person—they’re filled with over a dozen kinds of snacks, plus two cases of yogurt. Uncle Sun, help yourself—I’m going to take a break.” “Alright, I’ll help myself then.” The male coworker picked out a bag, opened it to take a look, and immediately gave a thumbs-up: “Xiao Xu, you’re a great guy. If you ever run into any trouble, don’t hesitate to come find Uncle. I’ll definitely help you out if I can.” With this many snacks, if he rationed them, they’d last his grandson for months. Given the current situation, this was far more worthwhile than just scrounging a free meal—it was truly a huge favor. Xu Dong shook his head modestly. “It’s not that much. My family used to run a convenience store, and I still have a little stock left over.” “No wonder! I was wondering… You can’t find this many snacks on the market these days. I wonder when this will all end?” his male colleague remarked with a sigh. Xu Dong pursed his lips. This was just the beginning—the hard times were still ahead! Especially under a system like Daxia’s, where the entire nation operates as a single entity—when it really comes down to a matter of life and death, a single order from above means that no matter who you are—rich businessman or powerful official—everyone has to suffer together. “It should be soon,” Xu Dong agreed half-heartedly. Next, the colleagues from the Security Department trickled in one by one to start their shifts. Each received a large gift package, and every face lit up with surprise. Three female colleagues, in particular, went to great lengths to “steal” quite a few snacks under the pretext that men shouldn’t eat them—a move that nearly sparked a public outcry and turned the entire office into a chaotic commotion. It even drew a crowd of onlookers from other departments. When Section Chief Li arrived at the office, this was the scene he encountered. “What’s all the commotion about? Hurry up and get changed—it’s almost time to start work.” The crowd scattered in a flash, and only then did Xu Dong let out a deep sigh. These old hands in the system—not exactly eager to get to work, but certainly experts at arguing and bickering. Section Chief Li glanced at Xu Dong, his voice taking on a serious tone: “Come see me in my office in a moment.” Xu Dong didn’t dare delay. Carrying the large bag and two cartons of yogurt, he followed Section Chief Li into his office. “Uncle Li, here’s your share,” Xu Dong said, casually setting the items down on the sofa. Section Chief Li nodded, then softened his tone: “Keep a lower profile next time. With what you’ve done, I’m sure everyone in the Company knows about it now—it doesn’t look good.” “I’m sorry, Uncle Li. I didn’t think it through—I really didn’t expect everyone to be so enthusiastic,” Xu Dong explained with a wry smile. “All right, I’ll let it slide this time. Just be more careful next time. If you have something to do, try to handle it after work—don’t make it public knowledge.” Xu Dong nodded. Section Chief Li then asked, “I see there’s another bag on your desk. Is that for Director Su?” “Yes, as you know…” “I get it! It’s not a good time for you to be seen right now. I’ll go deliver it for you!” Fearing Xu Dong might misunderstand, Section Chief Li quickly added, “Everyone’s watching you. Just stay at the West Gate today—don’t go anywhere. Let the storm blow over first.” “I understand. And thank you so much for your help, Uncle Li!” Xu Dong hurriedly thanked him. “All right, you better hurry to work!” Upon hearing the words “go to work,” Xu Dong suddenly slapped his thigh hard and exclaimed in frustration, “Oh no, I forgot to clock in this morning!” Section Chief Li waved his hand dismissively: “It’s fine. I’ll write you a note later saying you were assigned to work off-site.” “Thanks, Uncle Li!” Xu Dong thanked him again. After the “snack” incident, Xu Dong became famous throughout the entire Power Company. Everyone knew there was a “Xu Dong” in the Security Department who could get his hands on hard-to-find goods, so people flocked over to ask him for information. Xu Dong was fed up with the constant inquiries and had to explain the situation over and over again. It wasn’t until he’d gone into hiding for a full half-month that the incident finally died down. By then, May had quietly arrived. On the first day of May, just as Wang Xiujuan had predicted, prices for water, electricity, and gas all went up—and the increases were staggering. Among them, the price of tap water saw the most extreme increase: not only was the tiered pricing system abolished, but the unit price also jumped twentyfold from the original 5 yuan per metric ton to 100 yuan per metric ton. This caused an immediate uproar across the country, but it also sparked a frenzy of interest among private investors in seawater desalination plants. After all, with current technology, the cost of desalinating seawater can already be successfully kept at around 5 yuan per metric ton. The profit margins involved are, as one can imagine, astronomical. However, it should be noted that this cost figure refers to the period before the Sun's flare, not the current situation. As for what the current cost is, no one knows for sure—after all, the domestic industrial chain has recovered by less than 35 percent, though even this puts China far ahead of other nations. In addition to water prices, electricity rates have also risen significantly; residential electricity alone has climbed to 3 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and the cumbersome tiered pricing system has been abolished. Based on this rate, a typical household consumes about 300 kilowatt-hours per month, which means electricity bills alone will cost nearly 1,000 yuan. Who can afford that? Overnight, many families stopped using their air conditioners, and electric fans suddenly became all the rage. Fortunately, heating costs haven’t risen much, so at least people won’t freeze to death at night. Gas prices saw the smallest increase of all. Thanks to the global plunge in raw material prices, gas rates rose only “slightly”—by less than 50 percent. However, none of this really affects the Xu family—even if water rates skyrocket, they can still afford it. Right now, Xu Dong and his family are focusing all their energy on selling electric fans. The sudden surge in demand for electric fans has the whole family overjoyed. Xu Dong also agreed that selling electric fans was a good idea. For one thing, they took up too much space; for another, their prices were high enough—not much lower than in later times. “Mom, if we sell them ourselves, how long will this go on? We might even get on the Price Bureau’s radar. Fines would be the least of our worries—if we end up in jail, that’s when we’d really be in trouble,” Xu Dong cautioned. Making money is a good thing, but you can’t let greed cloud your judgment. “I know, Mom. Finding a wholesaler is fine, but we can’t let the price drop too low.” Xu’s mother thought it over; he had a point. Besides, her younger son had just started working at a state-owned enterprise—if something really went wrong, he might even lose his job, and that wouldn’t be worth the risk. Seeing that his mother had agreed, Xu Dong immediately dialed Boss Wang’s number. Boss Wang was the man who had sold him the electric fan last time; he’d been holding a grudge ever since, feeling he’d been taken advantage of. “Hello, is this Mr. Wang?” “This is he. Who’s this?” Xu Dong felt a bit awkward—it seemed he’d really upset Mr. Wang last time; the man had even deleted his phone number. “It’s Xu Dong here. I bought a warehouse full of electric fans from you before—did you forget?” After being reminded, Mr. Wang immediately remembered and hurriedly asked, “Mr. Xu, have you sold that batch of electric fans yet?” “Not yet!” “Well, congratulations—you’re going to strike it rich,” Mr. Wang said with a touch of sarcasm. “Thanks!”