Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 395 Minus Seventy Degrees

"Ouyang!"

"Wan Lin!"

There is one person standing inside and one person standing outside the elevator, their hands clasped together.

Ouyang's hands were large and strong, while Wanlin's hands were delicate and soft.

Apart from his hands, if it weren't for his distinctly masculine voice, one would definitely doubt his gender.

The two argued fiercely on the phone, but in reality they were amicable and showed no signs of anger.

Ouyang still held the candle in his hand, not giving up even after the connection was made; Wanlin wore a protective mask and also prepared equipment for testing spores.

The high-precision kind.

"Please take a test," Wan Lin said. "It's a special time, please understand."

"It's okay, I understand." Ou Yang didn't take it to heart at all and cooperated by blowing air, and more than once.

Wan Lin was using experimental-grade high-precision equipment. After the green indicator light came on, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, immediately took off his mask, and took a deep breath: "Please, this way!"

After saying that, he led the way, and Ouyang followed behind, curiously looking around.

This isn't a research area or a ward; it seems more like a place specifically for resting: "Are you all alone?"

Wan Lin paused briefly, but quickly resumed his pace: "Yes, it's just me."

"What about the rest?"

"Everyone who could leave has left, only I am left here." Wan Lin's tone was very strange, without much disappointment or anything like that, but rather a flat, calm, and undisturbed statement.

It's like he's talking about someone else who has nothing to do with him.

Ou Yang asked, puzzled, "What do you mean? What exactly happened?"

Just as Wan Lin was about to speak, Ou Yang's stomach suddenly rumbled. Wan Lin immediately smiled knowingly: "Hungry? Let's eat and talk."

Ouyang patted his rebellious belly and nodded emphatically: "Good!"

Wan Lin led Ou Yang to a very spacious room with sofas, tables and chairs, and a small bar. The room was decorated in a very casual way, and even when it was empty, it gave people a feeling of relaxation.

"Sit wherever you like!" After arranging for Ou Yang to sit down, Wan Lin took out two boxes of instant rice, one box of Cantonese sausage, and one box of beef and mushroom, and handed them to Ou Yang.

Ou Yang skillfully tore open the packaging and followed the instructions: "I won't stand on ceremony with you."

"Don't be shy, there's more if you need it!" Cheng Lin said with a smile.

Ouyang asked curiously, "What's this place for? Is it a rest area?"

"It's not just a rest area, it's also a canteen, and personal hygiene issues are also addressed here."

Ou Yang was slightly taken aback: "Take a shower?"

"Not only that, but also when urinating."

Ou Yang was confused: "Aren't there restrooms on every floor?"

"That's for infected patients. Researchers and medical staff aren't allowed to use the restroom in the ward; they must return to the rest area to take care of their personal needs." At this point, Wan Lin's eyes lit up with surprise as he pointed to the steaming self-heating rice. "Are you sure you want to talk about this at a time like this?"

“It’s okay, I’m not that sensitive,” Ou Yang said.

He was just saying a few words; he wasn't actually there. Given his experience, he wouldn't be so easily disgusted by just a few words.

As they were talking, the food was almost heated up. Ouyang stopped talking and focused on filling his stomach, finishing four boxes of self-heating rice in one go.

He felt like his stomach was a bottomless pit; no matter how much food he ate, it would be completely digested in the shortest amount of time. Seeing that he still looked like he hadn't had enough, Wan Lin worriedly advised him, "Four boxes should be enough, right? Don't eat anymore."

Ou Yang looked disappointed, clearly still not full: "Don't be so stingy, give me another box!"

He saw it all; there were plenty of supplies stored here, so one or two boxes wouldn't make a difference.

Wan Lin shook his head: "It's not that I'm stingy, or that I'm reluctant to spend the money, but you haven't eaten for too long, and overeating can easily cause problems!"

Ouyang patted his stomach, feeling that there was still plenty of room; the hunger hadn't completely disappeared.

But what the other person said did make a lot of sense, so he reluctantly nodded: "Okay then!"

Putting down his chopsticks, Ou Yang began cleaning up the mess: "Can you tell me now?"

Wan Lin was taken aback: "What did you say?"

Ou Yang rolled his eyes and looked at Wan Lin seriously: "I want to know what exactly happened, and where everyone went!"

"Huh? Oh!" Wan Lin thought for a moment, "This way!"

He walked to a computer, turned it on, and opened a folder on the desktop named "Epidemic Report".

The folder contained a large number of neatly arranged PDF files, each named after a specific date and time of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ou Yang's eyes widened: "A report every day?"

“Yes!” Wan Lin nodded. “Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the higher-ups have been collecting information from all over the world every day and then reporting it to various units at home and abroad. Overseas regions also need to report their situations, and a model for the spread of the epidemic is being built using big data.”

Ou Yang was extremely surprised: "Is that so?"

"Of course there are, it's just that ordinary people don't have the means to find out."

"What did you find out?" Ouyang asked again.

Wan Lin pursed his lips: "I don't know about that. I've only heard that every simulation results in the event of global spread, only the speed varies."

Ou Yang was suddenly a little confused and didn't know what to say.

Wan Lin didn't notice his unusual behavior and continued, "So the higher-ups have been trying every means to slow down the spread while investing all their efforts in research, striving to find an effective drug to combat phantom lung disease before the epidemic spreads on a large scale."

Ou Yang's heart sank. So that's how it is.

The file scrolled upwards, then stopped and scrolled back two pages. Wan Lin opened one of the files and selected a section: "Here!"

The document clearly states that in early January of this year, cases were discovered in a coastal village with only a few hundred people in eastern Siberia.

Ouyang could hardly believe it was true: "It had already spread last year?"

"Yes, cases appeared as early as late December last year, but due to the traffic disruptions, it wasn't until mid-January that we noticed something was wrong. But you should know what kind of environment Siberia is in. Because the temperature is so low, patients can't go out at all, and there's nowhere to get treatment. All the infected people were frozen into ice sculptures by the extreme cold of minus seventy degrees Celsius."

How did the news get out?

"Because of the communication disruption, the Russians sent a plane to check and found the entire village was deserted. Then they sent people to check and found a diary left by an infected person. Fortunately, the temperature was low and it did not spread."

Ouyang asked worriedly, "This thing not only infects humans, how can it be controlled?"

Wan Lin blinked: "Have you ever heard of minus seventy degrees Celsius?"

Ou Yang had a sudden inspiration: "Could it freeze the spores to death?"

Wan Lin laughed: "We've done experiments. At -30 degrees Celsius, the spores lose their activity in 5 to 6 hours; at -35 degrees Celsius, they lose activity in two hours; at -40 degrees Celsius, it takes half an hour; and at -47 degrees Celsius, it only takes four minutes!"

(End of this chapter)