***
"Hao Qiang! Did you send the document?! The other party said they haven't received it yet!" A middle-aged man wearing a shirt and tie, with thinning hair, roared at someone in a cubicle.
Hao Qiang jolted awake, tapped the send button for the Weibo comment, and said awkwardly, "Okay, Manager Wu."
"What's so good about it!" Manager Wu, whose few remaining hairs were practically standing on end, was furious. "I asked you if it was delivered!!!"
"Send it, send it, I'll go send it right now!" Hao Qiang swept a few file folders off the table in a daze, turned around and rushed out of the office.
You stupid bald guy, Wu.
He cursed inwardly, "She's like a menopausal woman all day long, calling him to bring her tea one minute and water the next. What kind of documents is she supposed to deliver? Have you even given me time to deliver them?"
He muttered to himself, and only after going downstairs did he glance at the documents he had hastily grabbed.
Fortunately, the portion that Manager Wu wanted was inside, so there was no need to go up again.
But then he thought unhappily, "What era are we living in? Still sending paper documents? What kind of nonsense is this? No wonder this crappy company is about to go bankrupt..."
What did we say when we lured him in? We said that our Galaxy Group will definitely become a cosmic behemoth in the future, standing tall forever in the river of time, and that you will be the shining medals of the Galaxy Group!
...How beautiful it sounds.
Unfortunately, it was just bullshit.
Last month's salary is still only half paid!
Hao Qiang took out his phone to call an autonomous taxi, but for some reason, there was no response for a long time.
He thought the software was broken, so he re-downloaded it and checked his network connection to see if he had any outstanding bills... Everything was fine! What happened! What an unlucky day!
Hao Qiang didn't want to go upstairs and get scolded, so he sat in the lobby on the first floor and opened Weibo to kill time.
Looking at it this way, I almost got so angry with myself.
He accidentally posted the comment he was just writing!
"A stupid dog doesn't bite a bone": You're such a braggart, I'm laughing. Did Z give you money? Why are you staring at me like that? It's easy to shut me up, just give me money and I'll lick your boots.
Hao Qiang: "..."
He meant to say, "I licked your mother's boots!" Now that your mother's gone, it all seems so strange!
He scrolled down with trembling hands and saw a group of onlookers laughing wildly. In just a few minutes, there were already more than fifty comments.
What's the dog licking with the bone?
- Lick...feet?
-Don't lick money, it's disgusting, haha.
- Or just lick...emmmm
-How does God feel?
...
Hao Qiang could only pray that the main character in the verbal battle hadn't seen it, but he was clearly going to be disappointed.
May: Goodbye, your mouth is probably no cleaner than mine.
A bunch of yoooo followed.
Hao Qiang's vision went black.
Damn it!! He's worked so hard to build this account!! Before, the win-loss record was about 50/50, but now he's going to be laughed at for a year!!
He dejectedly closed Weibo, pretending not to have seen it, and then opened the ride-hailing app, only to find that it was working again.
Hao Qiang was cursing and swearing as he located the location when suddenly a furious roar came from behind him: "Hao Qiang!! Aren't you going to deliver documents—"
"I'm going, I'm going!" Hao Qiang jumped up as if his pants were on fire and hurriedly ran out of the building, but suddenly he was stunned.
The sky was filled with dark yellow clouds that hung low.
The Galaxy Group's building was originally over a hundred stories high, and these clouds seemed to press down on it, creating a heavy and oppressive feeling.
It was still noon, but because of these clouds, the whole city seemed to be shrouded in twilight, creating an unsettling feeling of time being out of balance.
Hao Qiang suddenly got goosebumps, but was quickly pulled back to reality—whether it was windy or rainy, he still had to deliver the document!
The taxi arrived as scheduled, and Hao Qiang got in. After thinking for a moment, he turned on the car radio.
"Hello everyone, this is the Music Heart to Heart program, I'm your host Ali."
A female voice then spoke: "I'm the host, Xiaoting."
"Just now, our Rongcheng Meteorological Observatory issued an emergency rainstorm warning. It is said that a heavy rainstorm is coming, but the exact time is not yet clear."
"Yeah, Ali, did you see the clouds outside? Right now, they look terrifying... Here, we also want to remind everyone traveling by car to pay attention to safety and check your seatbelts. If possible, try to switch to manual driving mode. Although the topic of eliminating manual driving is discussed every year, Ali thinks that in situations like this, it's really not reassuring..."
"Haha, I don't think so. At worst, we just won't go out."
Hao Qiang clicked his tongue, thinking to himself that women are just ignorant. People in society always have a lot of helplessness. You think you can just stay at home whenever you want? Idiot!
"Alright, let's cut to the chase. We played an electronic music special in the last two episodes, so today we're changing things up with a retro oldies special."
"That's right! The first song of the day is perfect for our current weather."
"oh?"
"Look at the clouds in the sky, it looks like a huge rainstorm is about to hit. This song was written more than two hundred years ago, and one of the lyrics is very fitting."
"By the way, it sings: 'Even if the heavy rain shakes this city to its core'..."
Wow, that's so poetic!
"Alright, now let's enjoy this song, 'Little Love Song'!"
A soft melody filled the car, but Hao Qiang wasn't in the mood to appreciate it. He thought to himself, "What if it really starts raining? I still have to deliver documents! It won't rain until I get off work..."
However, this was destined to be an unlucky day.
The taxi had just stopped in front of the partner company when Hao Qiang got out and was suddenly hit hard on the head by something falling from the sky!
"Ah!" he screamed, instinctively clutching his head, only to be hit repeatedly all over his body, causing excruciating pain!
He rushed into the other company's gate, then turned around, still shaken.
The scene before him left him completely stunned.
Hail, hailstones the size of goose eggs, fell from the sky!
Author's Note: Old Liu: Made in Xia Country.
("Little Love Song" by Sodagreen, I wonder if kids these days still listen to it? Two hundred years from now, it will truly be retro, not just nostalgic!)
(Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting 10,000 words a day! I'll post on Weibo after each update, probably in the evening. Please forgive me for not being able to set a time for unannounced updates...)
Chapter 96
What's going on here?!
Such huge hailstones could kill someone!
Hao Qiang trembled with fear, touched his forehead, felt a sharp pain, and felt a sticky sensation on his hand.
Looking down, I saw blood.
Hao Qiang's legs went weak and he fell backward. The security guard at the door quickly helped him inside.
"This is bad..." An elderly security guard stood at the door, holding a thermos of chrysanthemum tea and looking outside. The awning was being pounded by hail, making a loud crackling sound, as if it would be smashed through at any moment.
The company had a TV in the lobby, and the receptionist quickly switched it to the local news channel. People from various departments upstairs came down; some crowded around to watch the commotion, some stared at their phones, and one person, pale-faced, kept grabbing the person next to them and saying, "My son is still in kindergarten, could he be in his activity class? Could he be?"
Hailstones the size of goose eggs are already a serious natural disaster. More and more office workers crowded down in the lobby, wanting to rush out as soon as the hail stopped.
Those who can contact their relatives by phone or internet are fine, but those who can't seem to reach them are quite anxious.
One minute later, the local news in Rongcheng finally broke the news with a new update.
Everyone's worries were indeed not unfounded. The hail came too suddenly and was too heavy. Many people walking on the streets were injured in the initial stages. As of just now, according to information collected from all hospitals and public departments in Rongcheng, there have been more than fifty seriously injured people, and the number of minor injuries is too high to count.
Hao Qiang made a phone call in a fit of rage, covering his head with a tissue given to him by a security guard.
"What do you mean 'I'll take care of it myself'?! My head is bleeding!" he yelled. "I'm bleeding, shouldn't an ambulance be sent to pick me up?"
After waiting a while, his face flushed red and he said, "You're the sissy and weakling!"
Hao Qiang was scolded by the operator and was so angry that he felt like he was about to explode. He had no choice but to lower his head and angrily open Weibo to vent his frustration.
When the homepage refreshed, he froze. A chilling fear, like an icy hand, crept up his spine from his ankle.
It rained so hard where I live, the first floor is flooded...
- Hail [Video Link]
What happened to my homepage? Are you guys okay? I can't reach my best friend by phone! Does anyone on my homepage know how things are in Lecheng?
-I took a taxi today, and the app got my location wrong, locating me at a funeral home in the city?! That's terrifying... Which sister is cursing me? I'll retaliate?
The power went out in my neighborhood, and my phone only had 10% battery left. I just wanted to die right there.
-What's going on? The world suddenly seems to be in chaos... I went to Twitter and found out that a small part of the Allied countries was hit by an earthquake... Please don't do this, I'm so panicked, is the end of the world finally coming?
As soon as the first person mentioned this word, many posts appeared on the homepage as soon as it was refreshed, with more and more people asking, "Is the end of the world coming?"
Hao Qiang sat there blankly, mechanically turning his head to look outside.
The hailstones had shrunk considerably, now only the size of broad beans, and were not as dense as before. However, the sky shrouded in yellow clouds still carried an eerie and ominous air.
Is everyone just being overly pessimistic, or is there really... an apocalypse?
"Mommy—" Someone outside brought a child under a large umbrella. The child's cries and screams pierced the air. A woman in the crowd kicked off her high heels, pushed through the crowd, and ran out, hugging the child and crying together.
The crying was very infectious; some of the more vulnerable little girls also started wiping away tears and staring blankly outside.
What... is wrong with this world?
***
At this moment in the Arctic, everything outside the light membrane is in perfect order.
No matter how many unexpected disasters occur in the outside world, they only need to focus on the present.