As the Spring Festival approached, people in the Chinese cultural sphere were basically preparing for the festival. This was a custom, so it was no exception even in the doomsday. No matter what, during the New Year, one had to eat more abundant meals. If there was no food during the New Year, then the family's life would surely be miserable.
This is exactly what the saying goes: "Who doesn't eat dumplings during the New Year?"
This precisely proves the importance of the Spring Festival. No matter what, the Spring Festival must be celebrated, and during the Spring Festival, one must eat better than usual. For this reason, every household began to prepare New Year's goods, and Yanjing was no exception, or rather, Yanjing was particularly so.
The people of Yanjing have always believed that they are nobler than people from other places. If their ancestors had lived in Yanjing for generations, it would be even more remarkable. They are authentic old Yanjing people. As old Yanjing people, even during the New Year, they must live better than people from other places. Therefore, people in Yanjing started preparing New Year's goods early in the morning. If they met someone, they would also brag a few words, otherwise, they could not show their status.
"Oh, Old Li, you've struck it rich in a few days! Carrying crabs in your hand? These things are hard to keep alive, can you last until New Year's Day?"
"Heh heh, Old Wang, it seems your family isn't doing well. You bought some New Year's goods and have to wait until New Year's to eat them? Haven't you heard that after the Laba Festival, it's the New Year? So, it's already New Year's now."
"Haha, that was in peaceful times. Back then, as long as you had money, you could eat whatever you wanted. But now it's not peaceful. Be careful not to run out of money, and in the end, what happens is that on New Year's Eve, you just watch others eating meat and fish, while your own home has nothing. A plate of scallions with tofu and a piece of pork skin to celebrate the New Year."
The people of Yanjing, when joking, also had allusions. For example, pork skin. In the past, there were some fallen Manchu nobles who had no money but still pretended to be rich outside. Helplessly, they had no oil or fat at home, so after much thought, they found a piece of pork skin and smeared it on their mouths when they went out, making their mouths greasy. In this way, when others saw it, they would know that this family ate meat every day.
Originally, the effect was quite good. As a result, the dog at home, having been hungry for several days, snatched the pork skin away. The son of this Manchu noble, while running on the street, was still shouting loudly: "Quickly put down the pork skin that Dad smears on his mouth..."
Therefore, whenever old Yanjing people encountered someone showing off, they would use this story to mock them.
Li Keyi sat by the window and watched the people below talking. A look of envy couldn't help but appear in her eyes. Li Keyi herself naturally didn't worry about food and drink, as she was both a researcher and an ability user, so her treatment was definitely top-notch. Talents like her could have anything they wanted.
However, Li Keyi was very lonely. She used to have an obedient Golden Retriever, but it was killed by that scoundrel Jin Zijue two years ago, leaving only a dog leash. Originally, she had parents, but when the mutated birds airdropped zombies from the sky, her parents died in a stampede. Li Keyi had to bury her parents' remains.
Thus, by this time, although Li Keyi had no material worries, at this moment, there was no one by her side. Especially during the family reunion, there was no one around. After discovering this situation, Li Keyi felt very lonely.
It wasn't that no one pursued Li Keyi during normal times, even many people in the research institute, and they were all excellent. However, Li Keyi did not fancy these people because she wanted a powerful person as her partner, at least stronger than herself. In a chaotic era, men without strength would find it difficult to protect the women around them.
Moreover, in Li Keyi's opinion, powerful men could only be like Shen Feng. Only a man as powerful as Shen Feng could have the strength to protect her in this world. But such men were too few, and at Shen Feng's level, he could get whatever he wanted, so why would he pursue Li Keyi?
Therefore, Li Keyi could only sigh in the face of the current situation. Not being able to be with the person she liked was a kind of torture.
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting began in Yanjing City. This meeting was not aimed at the mutated birds. Spring was still two months away, so worrying about mutated birds in the heavy snow was unnecessary. Moreover, the North American virus attack had taken effect. Birds in the Southern Hemisphere were dying in large numbers. If this continued, the viruses and bacteria would kill the mutated birds. Their side only needed to hold on for a few years to see the end of the mutated birds.
The reason for the meeting of the Yanjing high-level officials was that the investigation results from the southeast direction had come out. When they discovered that food was being transported into Yuzhou from the southeast direction at the headquarters, they had already become vigilant. Tens of thousands of tons of food were not a small amount, and it was unreasonable for so much food to be transported away without a sound. Most importantly, the headquarters had not heard any news, which meant that the transaction was completed behind their backs.
This matter was no small feat. Food was an extremely important resource in the doomsday. Yet, people below were able to transfer tens of thousands of tons of food without reporting it. It was simply out of control. Therefore, the headquarters immediately began an investigation. It was not until this investigation that they discovered the "Southeast Mutual Protection!"
In many historical periods, the southeastern provinces, in fact, as long as they encountered disasters, whether it was invasion by foreign races or natural disasters, their first reaction was to unite and deal with it. During normal times, there might be friction, but at critical moments, they had to help each other.
The emergence of this phenomenon directly bypassed the headquarters, and the power of the local government increased. In simple terms, it became difficult for the headquarters to command the actions in the southeast. Even if the southeast complied with orders, the final outcome was often to obey orders in public but disobey them in private.
The high-level officials at Yanjing headquarters were now discussing this matter. "Southeast Mutual Protection" seemed harmless, just people sticking together for warmth, but it also indicated a weakening of the headquarters' control. Since these places could unite to resist disasters, they could also unite to deal with the headquarters.
"We must find a way to make these southeastern provinces abandon their current practices. They must obey the headquarters' command, otherwise, the consequences will be endless," someone said.
"This is not easy. Because the seven provinces in the southeast have never signed any contracts or established organizations. They are just acting in unison. We cannot find any reason to make them abandon this mutual cooperation," someone immediately offered their opinion. If the southeast had a giant organization, they could directly order it to disband. However, they had not left any handles, so it was impossible to deal with them now.
This was still like the "invincibility through formlessness" mentioned in martial arts novels. No matter what kind of moves there were, they all had flaws. There were no moves without flaws in the world, but as long as there was no form, it meant that the opponent also had no way to break the move. In this regard, the southeastern provinces were very experienced and used the method of mutual protection with tacit understanding.
"It's best to catch one typical example to warn a hundred others. By the way, isn't there a gang in Meizhou? I heard that this gang often smuggles, and the entire southeast direction has been covered by their underground transactions. Uprooting this organization should have the effect of alarming the enemy by attacking the sparrow."
"This suggestion is good. Eradicating this Qinghong Gang. I hate gangs the most in my life. What Qing Gang, what Hongmen, all are historical dregs. Unexpectedly, Wang Aoye picked them up from the trash can. Such a person must be punished."
At this point, everyone seemed to have a target, and that target was Wang Aoye. In normal times, Wang Aoye felt that he was well hidden, but this was only on the surface. In fact, Wang Aoye had long been targeted by the headquarters, but they had not had the time to deal with Wang Aoye before.
However, at this moment, someone said, "I'm afraid it's useless for us to crack down on Wang Aoye. Because the simplest point is that Wang Aoye also has influence overseas, and even one of Wang Aoye's website servers is overseas. Once we start cracking down, Wang Aoye will directly take his people overseas. Then they can return at any time, so the crackdown effect is not good."
Upon hearing this, everyone showed a look of helplessness. If Wang Aoye fled into the wilderness, it would be difficult to find him.
However, not cracking down was also not an option. If they continued to let the southeastern regions unite, the southeast would surely fall into chaos.
At this moment, Long Qian of the Tianlong Bureau spoke: "I heard that the Qinghong Gang has a relationship with Shen Feng of Yuzhou and often engages in private smuggling. I believe we can start from here. Let's not suppress the Qinghong Gang, but suppress this trade route and ambush these people, cutting off their underground trade routes."
After hearing Long Qian's suggestion, everyone began to ponder and consider the feasibility of this matter.
Then someone said, "The problem we need to deal with now is the southeast. What's the use of cutting off Yuzhou's trade route? It has no deterrent effect on the southeastern provinces. Most importantly, if we anger Yuzhou, Yuzhou will also act with the Qinghong Gang, and we will have pressure to deal with them. If Shen Feng and Wang Aoye gather their ability users, the number can reach more than forty, and then the chaos will inevitably escalate."
Long Qian quickly explained: "I'm not saying to anger Shen Feng and Wang Aoye at the same time, but to deter others by cutting off the trade route. Leaders, you can imagine that the most powerful forces in the civilian sector now are Yuzhou and Meizhou. If we cut off the connection between these two forces, wouldn't it be able to demonstrate the authority of the headquarters? Then, dispatch troops to strictly investigate smuggling, especially in the southeast, to cut off the private connections between the provinces. Who would dare to resist?"
"So, your suggestion is a two-step approach. The first step is to cut off Yuzhou's trade routes with the outside world to deter the southeast, and the second step is to strictly investigate smuggling and cut off the connections between the provinces. Is that right?" A leader then asked.
Long Qian nodded and said, "That's right, that's it. In addition, our Tianlong Bureau has not achieved much since its establishment. Let's take on this task. We guarantee that we can completely eliminate smuggling."
At this time, Long Qian's true intention was also revealed. It turned out that Long Qian wanted to achieve merit at this time, and catching smugglers was the safest thing to do. So Long Qian volunteered. After consideration, the headquarters also felt that this was a good choice. Now, they needed a reason to deal with the southeastern provinces, and catching smugglers was a very normal reason.
"Then the Tianlong Bureau will prepare well. You must complete this mission." Someone then agreed to Long Qian's suggestion and prepared to execute the mission later.
However, at this moment, the intelligence department also delivered the latest intelligence: "According to satellite electromagnetic wave detection, the king of the giant sea beasts in the ocean, that is, the mutated blue whale that ate the meteorite, has recently appeared in the Indian Ocean. And it has not moved for a long time, which is rare. There must have been an accident. We must investigate and clarify as soon as possible. However, ordinary people cannot approach the divine realm."
Long Qian looked at Qin Kewei and Gong Changfa and said, "The Tianlong Bureau has its own mission now. The task of exploring the movements of sea beasts at sea will probably be the responsibility of your two departments."
Upon hearing this, Gong Changfa and Qin Kewei's faces changed instantly, clearly showing extreme fear of such a matter.