A Guide to Raising Younglings During Natural Disasters

Natural disasters were incessant. Ning Xia had survived alone for six years and finally decided to return to her old home in Qianzhou to start anew. Unexpectedly, she rescued two skinny little ones...

Chapter 47: Temporary Separation

Ningxia turned back around and continued to throw away the trash. The two nightstands beside the bed were no longer usable, so Ningxia threw them out the window along with the lamp and the unusable items in the drawers. Throwing them out the door was too much trouble, so she just threw them out the window and would transport them farther away later when she had time.

All the large items in the house were thrown away. Ningxia wrapped the carpet on the floor into a cylinder and handed it to Xiaomu, asking him to put it in the yard and clean it when she had time.

This carpet is made of gum. Perhaps because the owner of the house was worried that cotton carpets in the countryside would be difficult to clean and easily dirty, he chose this material that can be wiped clean easily. Once it is washed, it will definitely be cool to sleep on the floor during the hottest time of the year. Ningxia has a good plan.

"Xiao Mu, could you please go upstairs and help me pull down a few large plastic bags from the box?" Ningxia looked at the small garbage scattered all over the ground and had nothing to put them in. The box of garbage bags upstairs happened to come in handy.

When Xiaomu came back, Ningxia had already gathered all the mess on the ground into a pile.

"Let me do it, you go clean the bed." Xiaomu put on gloves, turned the garbage bag upside down on the pile of things, and with a strong hug, he put most of the things in.

Ningxia felt a headache just looking at the bed. Fortunately, it was made of an iron frame and was fine except for the rust. She pulled off the bedding and found a thin mat on the mattress underneath. It was this mat that saved the mattress. The mattress wasn't too bad, just a little moldy around the edges, but not too dirty.

The two of them worked together to carry the mattress outside. Lin Yi had already laid a layer of leaves in the middle of the yard. They placed the mattress on top, facing the sun, so they could carry it inside and use it at night.

Ningxia went back and wrapped all the quilts and pillows on the floor in sheets and took them to the yard. Although the sheets could no longer be used on the bed, they could still be used for other purposes after washing, so Ningxia was reluctant to throw them away and put them aside.

Because the pillow was placed on the top layer of the bed, it was no longer usable, so Ningxia had to throw it away.

The quilt cover was removed and put aside, and after washing it, it was used elsewhere. Ningxia even took the quilt apart, and found that the cotton wool inside was in clumps and there was still a lot of use. Ningxia got in directly, and it took a while to take out the usable ones and put them in the sun to dry.

This quilt must be two and a half meters wide, thick and heavy. The cotton removed might even be used to sew a small quilt to cover the wind and snow. Ningxia sighed, the road ahead is long and arduous.

Now there was only an iron frame left of the bed, and two boxes could be seen under the bed at a glance. Ningxia couldn't help but smile when she saw them.

After finishing up most of the things that needed to be tidied up in this room, Ningxia went to the bathroom to get the giant mop down. Two small insects had even scurried out of it. Ningxia held her breath and shook it vigorously for a long time, making sure most of the dust had settled before carrying it to the yard.

By this time, Li Gang and Lao Liao had also finished four windows. Ningxia noticed that the wooden strips in the middle of two of them were thicker, and both sides were covered with nails, densely packed. Isn't this a mace?

Li Gang explained with a smile, "The windows in the living room and kitchen don't have nails on them, and the wooden strips are sparse. We thought we'd install them in the front, where there's a yard separating them. There's no wall around the back rooms, so we made them sturdier, so keeping out small animals shouldn't be a problem."

Ningxia was deeply touched. She didn't expect them to be so thoughtful and consider all these issues for her.

Li Gang and Lao Liao carried the windows and went in to install them. Lin Yi followed behind them with a lot of tools.

Xiaomu was banging on the gate of the yard for some unknown reason, but Ningxia ignored him. After all, he was not trying to harm him, so she went to wash her own mop.

The water she used was left over from cooking, which she put in a children's bathtub that she found in the bathroom.

The two people in the house worked quickly and soon installed the master bedroom window. Ningxia confidently took the mop and went in, mopping carefully.

How could it be so easy to clean a room that hadn't been taken care of for several years? After mopping the floor, only some of the more obvious stains faded a little, and the dirt on the floor became more evenly distributed.

But Ningxia was already very satisfied. She just wanted to take away the dust. The dirt on the ground could only be cleaned slowly when she had time.

Ningxia walked forward and took a closer look at the window. Although it was visibly rough and out of tune with the rest of the room, it was indeed sturdy.

The window was fixed with a wooden strip nailed in the middle, and the gap was so small that it couldn't even fit her fist. When her hands were free, she would nail the removed curtains back in and the problem would be solved.

Several people worked together enthusiastically. After a short while, the four large windows outside the house were nailed up. It looked really ugly.

"Ningxia, we're going back. It's almost four o'clock now. It might not be dark yet if we hurry over." Li Gang said goodbye to Ningxia with a few others.

Ningxia quickly stopped him, "Captain, you've been busy all day. How can I let you go if you don't have dinner?"

Li Gang smiled and said, "You have been busy all day, aren't you tired? Well, there is always a chance to eat. We have to come back after we finish patrolling the mountain!" After that, he waved his hand and asked them to leave.

Ningxia was holding Sangsang's hand, with Lin Yi standing beside her, watching the tall figures gradually moving away.

After Li Gang and his companions left, Ningxia took Lin Yi to clean up the yard.

"Xia Xia, I can help." Sangsang raised her little face and looked at Ningxia.

Ningxia smiled and gently stroked her head. "Sure, Sangsang, come with me to pick up trash, okay?"

Sangsang naturally nodded in agreement.

Lin Yi also went upstairs and pushed the cart down, and the brother and sister picked up stones, fallen leaves and other things in the yard and put them in the cart.

Ningxia looked at what the house next to it was used for, and when he walked over he found a different world.

From the outside, the triangular house seemed to be connected to the main house. She thought it was just a nice design. There was a door at the connection point. Ningxia pushed the door open and found that it was a fairly spacious corridor separating the main house from the triangular side house.

On either side of the corridor, one wall was the kitchen wall of the main house, which had no door, while the other wall was the toilet wall, which had a door. Ningxia pushed the door open and entered, revealing a different world.

It was just one room, long and wide, with no partitions on the ceiling. When you looked up, you could see the concave triangular roofs on both sides.

The window was on the innermost wall, but it was also a wooden window. It looked much better than the one made by Li Gang and his team, and it was still usable, except that the glass was broken.

The dirty curtains on the side were not made of luxurious satin like those in the main house, but coarse linen embroidered with ethnic patterns.

The decoration is not as modern as the main house, and it has a strong primitive flavor. The inside of the house is inlaid with a layer of brown wood. There is a small bed under the bed, and the sheets on it are also embroidered with ancient patterns. There is a wooden table against the wall, which is very heavy when opened.