Chapter 167: Two Weeks

I opened the door and saw two people fully covered in protective suits standing outside. One of them carried a disinfection device, looking as though he had been spraying the stairwell all the way up, while the other held a clipboard and a pen. Seeing me open the door, the latter said, "Excuse me, we are from the city epidemic prevention station. Did you hear the broadcast downstairs just now? In accordance with regulations, we will disinfect every household in this building, record your details, and take down your contact information. Please cooperate with our work, thank you!"

I nodded slightly, and the person with the disinfection device stepped into the apartment, beginning to spray disinfectant from the corner. Xu Shu also hurried over and asked the person taking down the information, "Are we really going to be quarantined? What is going on?"

The man flipped open his clipboard and said, "Unfortunately, a resident on the fourth floor of building unit three recently returned from Guangzhou and has just been diagnosed by the hospital as a suspected SARS case. The situation is critical. To contain the virus from spreading as much as possible, we are tracing every place he has visited and everyone he has come into contact with over the past few days, and we are taking every possible measure to isolate the source of infection. The buildings right before and after yours in this residential complex are priority quarantine zones. However, there is no need to panic too much; as long as you stay in your room and avoid wandering around casually, the chance of being infected should be very low."

I turned to look at Xu Shu and noticed she had already cleverly put on a face mask. Otherwise, if her beauty and fame were recognized, it would be a miracle if she didn't completely shock the epidemic prevention officers!

At this moment, Xu Shu appeared extremely anxious and said to the epidemic prevention worker, "But I just arrived here! I've been in this residential complex for less than half an hour, so I should be fine, right? Can you let me leave first?"

The worker's face, hidden beneath the protective visor, remained entirely expressionless. "I'm sorry!" he said. "Even if you only arrived half a minute ago, you still have to be quarantined. The SARS virus is no joke; this is a matter concerning the lives and safety of eight million citizens across the city. The municipal party committee and municipal government have already issued an order that anyone who might possibly have come into contact with the virus must be quarantined on the spot immediately. There is no room for negotiation. Therefore, please cooperate with our work and make a temporary sacrifice for the sake of the lives of the majority of the city's citizens. Thank you for your cooperation!"

Xu Shu was rendered speechless with anger, unable to utter a word for a long time. I immediately smiled and said, "Of course we'll cooperate with the government's work. Don't worry about that, we won't go anywhere and will honestly stay at home."

The worker nodded, picked up his pen, and asked, "Then let's register your details. May I have your name, please?"

"Tang Qian!" I replied.

"Are you the head of the household?"

"Yes!"

"Have you experienced any headaches, fevers, or high temperatures recently?"

"No!"

...

After questioning me, the worker turned to Xu Shu and asked, "And your name?"

Xu Shu froze for a moment and looked at me. I stood by with an amused expression, folding my arms, thinking to myself that while you can use a mask to cover your face, what will you use to conceal your identity? Don't look at me, there is no way I can help you out.

Seeing me smiling without any intention of helping, Xu Shu gave me a fierce glare, but she was exceptionally clever after all. With just a quick turn of thought, she had already fabricated a lie. "My name is Hua Jingjing," she said.

"What is your relationship with the head of the household?"

"I am his... fiancée..."

Hearing this, I almost burst out laughing. What a clever Xu Shu! To prevent others from discovering that she was a major celebrity, she had actually pretended to be my fiancée.

With her face covered by the mask, her expression was invisible, but her eyes no longer dared to meet mine. I desperately suppressed my laughter, turning my head away with great difficulty, terrified that if I saw her wretched expression, I would completely lose control and roar with laughter. Given the mischievous nature of Xu Shu's little demon persona and her paper-thin pride, once everyone left, she would exact a vicious revenge on me. For the sake of my backside, I simply had to endure it!

After the basic information was finally gathered and registered, Xu Shu could no longer hold back and asked, "So... for how many days do we need to be quarantined?"

The worker closed his clipboard and replied, "That depends on the circumstances, but generally no less than two weeks. The incubation period of the SARS virus in the human body is about one to two weeks, and it won't exceed fourteen days at most. Therefore, if there are no abnormal conditions, we will lift the quarantine after two weeks. But in the event that another suspected case is discovered among you, well... then it's hard to say."

Xu Shu let out a painful groan and muttered, "Fourteen days? It's over! What... what am I going to do?"

I chimed in, "If it's as long as fourteen days, how are we going to solve the problem of meals? There's no way we have enough food at home to last that long."

The worker said, "No problem at all. We have dedicated staff responsible for handling the needs of every household in the residential building, including buying rice and vegetables, cigarettes and alcohol, or anything else. Whenever you need anything, you can reach out to us at any time."

I nodded and said, "Good, then I'm relieved."

Right at that moment, the disinfection worker emerged from the room and nodded at the registrar to indicate everything was done. The registrar then said, "Alright then, we are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused and thank you for your cooperation. We will take our leave now, as there are still other households that need to be registered and disinfected. By the way, if anyone experiences a headache or fever during the quarantine period, please be sure to report it promptly so we can handle it. Our staff will be on standby downstairs twenty-four hours a day."

I thanked them repeatedly while closing the door to see them out. Once the door was shut, the smile on my face still refused to fade. I felt a fleeting sense of confusion: when other people heard about SARS and quarantine, they were scared out of their wits. Why was I, on the contrary, feeling exceptionally excited and so happy that I couldn't stop smiling?

Turning around, I immediately understood: Xu Shu and I were going to be confined alone in a single room for a full fourteen days! These fourteen days... we were essentially going to live together!

Xu Shu clearly thought of this problem as well. We stared at each other in silence for no more than three seconds before I noticed her ears and the back of her neck rapidly turning red. I imagined that the face beneath her mask must be flushed bright crimson as well.

My heart suddenly fluttered, and a smile involuntarily spread from within me to my expression. However, in Xu Shu's eyes, this must have looked like a lewd, malicious grin, because a mix of shock, anger, helplessness, and a hint of shyness had already surfaced in her eyes.

I quickly reined in my smile and said with a deliberately heavy tone, "Xu Shu, look how terribly unlucky this is. Because of this little string of prayer beads, I never expected it would trap you here. I imagine you must have a lot of things to take care of, right? Now that things have come to this, what should we do?"

Xu Shu slowly pulled down her mask, a half-smile playing across her beautiful face. She stared at me and said, "Do you think a tiny problem like this can stump me? Just wait and see!"

With that, she took out her cell phone, frantically searched through her contacts list, and pressed the call button. A moment later, Xu Shu said with a smile, "Hello, Uncle Zhao! It's Xiaoshu... Yes, it has been a long time... My dad is doing well... Oh come on, please don't flatter me... Haha! By the way, Uncle Zhao, I want to ask a favor of you, and I'm not sure if it's possible... Really? Then I'll say it. Here's the thing: today a friend of mine went to the Huaxia Residential Complex, and as ill luck would have it, she got caught right when a suspected SARS case appeared there, and she's locked inside the complex and can't get out. But my friend only just stepped in—how could she possibly catch SARS? She called me saying she has something extremely important to handle and needs to leave, begging me to think of a way for her. Knowing that you're the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, Uncle Zhao, I figured this is something only you could resolve... She's a very good sister of mine... What? But... Well... Oh, I see, I understand... Goodbye!"

Xu Shu hung up her phone with a look of utter dejection. I watched her with a smile, thinking to myself that this was a matter concerning the lives and safety of millions of people! If nothing happens, fine; but once something does happen, which of these officials has enough heads on their shoulders to risk it? Who would dare risk losing their official hat or even going to prison to do something foolish during such extraordinary times?

Failing to display her prestige in front of me left Xu Shu feeling thoroughly displeased. She raised her phone again, dialed another set of numbers, and after a moment said, "Dad! Zhao Zhongkai is really giving no face at all. Next time he comes to you for a favor, you shouldn't pay him any attention... I just asked him for one tiny little favor. He has received such a huge favor from our family, yet he actually refuses to help. Don't you think that's infuriating? ... Oh come on, I just wanted him to let a single person out of the SARS quarantine; that person has something crucial to attend to and absolutely must leave, and she definitely hasn't been infected with the SARS virus... She's one of my best friends, I can vouch for it. Dad, if Zhao Zhongkai won't help, forget it. You can just contact Zhao Zhongkai's superior and have him issue an order... What? Me... No way... You're saying that too... But Dad... Of course I know it's dangerous, but... I understand, I understand, the safety of the people's lives is certainly paramount, but the probability of this is just too small... You really won't intervene? Dad! I'm your own flesh and blood! You're just going to sit by and watch me... No, no, how could I... Oh, you have no idea how busy I am, when would I have time to come home? We can talk about it after this busy period passes... There you go again, are you worried your daughter won't be able to get married?! Fine, fine! If you won't help, then forget it, I'm not talking anymore. Tell Mom that I'm doing well! Goodbye!"

Xu Shu hung up the phone in a rage, looked up, and saw my sneaky grin, which immediately drove her up the wall. In a fit of embarrassed fury, she snapped at me, "What are you smiling at? Are you feeling quite pleased seeing me make a fool of myself?"

I smiled and said, "Was I smiling? I don't think so?"

Xu Shu was grinding her teeth so hard she looked ready to pounce and bite me. Furious, she yelled, "And you still say you weren't! I... I've had enough! This is all your fault! With me suddenly disappearing for fourteen days, I actually have a whole pile of things waiting to be handled. What are they going to do when they can't find me?"

Looking at Xu Shu, who looked slightly exhausted from her recent busy schedule, I suddenly turned solemn and earnest. "Just think of it as taking a vacation for yourself. Look how tired you are; even your skin looks a bit darker. You might as well make use of these rare two weeks to get some good rest and relax both your body and mind. It'll be good for you. How about that? Hm?"