Chapter Ten: It All Begins with a Bat

“Dear, do you know how much those masks we stocked up on are worth now? They're being sold individually outside—one for four or five yuan each!”

“With the virus this serious, people aren’t allowed to go out freely anymore. And selling masks at a high price is definitely not acceptable. Sure, you could make money now, but it’s money that’s easy to earn but hard to spend.” Aunt Liu from the market looked at the Spring Festival Gala on TV, her face full of worry. There was no way she could set up her stall now. Was she supposed to risk her life for a bit of extra cash?

“Dad! Did we stock up on masks before the holiday?” Aunt Liu’s daughter, bored and watching the gala with her family while scrolling on her phone, immediately tossed her phone aside when she heard her father speak. “How many did we buy? My social media is going crazy—if we have masks, I could sell them all!”

“Nice!” Her father’s eyes lit up. “Selling online works—no need to meet up with anyone, so it’s safe! I bought three boxes of regular disposable masks, one box of N95s, ten bottles of disinfectant, and five spray bottles! We could have a prosperous New Year! You have no idea, Lili, back when the raccoon virus hit, your mom and I dared to stock up too. There was no online shopping or social media back then. We sold spray bottles and disinfectant one by one for a markup…” He looked nostalgic as he recalled those days.

“Enough! It wasn’t this serious back then—how can you compare the two? Look at this situation. Make money? Make money my foot!”

In the house, Aunt Liu still had the final say. After her words, only the sound of the Spring Festival Gala on TV remained.

“Let’s wait and see. If the situation gets worse, we’ll donate some of the masks. As for the rest, we’ll decide what to do with them then.”

…

A few years later, Tian Shengli asked Zhao Nannan with great curiosity, “Mom, why do almost all my classmates have the same birthday—the same year, month, and day?”

Zhao Nannan gently patted her son’s head and replied, “Well, it all started with a bat…”

The End

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