Chapter 33 Lou Yuncheng

[Congratulations on winning the second prize: Drift Bottle Portable Protective Shield (1-hour experience card, note: this is a level 4 raft function, the experience card can be equipped on any level of raft)]

【Do you want to receive the prize? 】

【whether】

The small golden card fell into her hand. Maybe it was because of the second prize, she felt that it seemed more dazzling than the third prize card she had won before.

A gold second prize with only one hour of use? And this is a function that only appears when the raft is upgraded to level 4. Compared with the 24-hour drift bottle protection shield, this one-hour experience function is extremely precious.

Judging from the name, because she had used the "Drift Bottle Protective Shield", when she saw the card with the word "portable" added, she could probably guess the function of this prize.

However, all cards need to be swiped on the function screen in the Drifting Island House to activate the trial. She doesn't want to move the furniture and bed in the hotel room to make space, so she doesn't have the conditions to place the raft now.

This card would have to wait until she found a house and set up the raft in a completely safe space to verify the result.

She hadn't put out the raft for several days and missed her small and cozy drifting island house very much. Without much hesitation, Shu Fu changed her clothes and packed her equipment to prepare to go out.

She must put on a thick raincoat on the outside. The raincoat she wore before was wet inside and out because of yesterday's heavy rain and the escape. She had already rinsed the raincoat when the water came this morning and now it is stored in the space.

But she bought many raincoats of the same style and color, so she could just exchange them for a clean one.

Now she is not in the shelter, and her identity is not a refugee, but a local who has finally returned home after working hard outside, so she doesn't need to dress so poorly. Under the raincoat, she wears warm, lightweight, sweat-wicking base clothes as usual, and an easy-to-remove fleece coat on top, and waterproof jackets and boots on the outside.

She also changed her backpack back to a waterproof backpack, and put two cans, a bag of bread, a bottle of water, a pack of tissues and a pack of disinfectant wipes in it for show. Anyway, she could take whatever she needed from the space at any time with the cover of the raincoat and backpack.

She put her backpack in front of her, hung her cell phone in a waterproof bag, then put on her raincoat and left the room.

There were quite a few guests in the hotel, but most of them stayed in their rooms.

Those who stay here are outsiders with financial resources. Many of them have lived in the hotel for a long time. Some are waiting for bus and train tickets to cities further west or north; some have their own cars but are also waiting. They are waiting for passes issued by northwestern cities.

The origin of the need for a pass to enter the northern cities and western plateau cities can be traced back to a month ago.

About a month ago, the live broadcast video of the suicidal man in Suicheng talking about the end of the world was released to the entire Internet by someone with ulterior motives.

The video was re-edited, with various disaster scenes from all over the planet in the previous month added in, and doomsday stories and doomsday footage switched back and forth, making this video, which originally seemed like a mentally ill person making trouble, look like a real doomsday prophecy video.

The person who made and uploaded this video hacked into various website platforms, causing chaos on the Internet for a while before the video was completely blocked.

After that period of time, various popular science posts and expert videos appeared on the Internet, all of which analyzed how much land would be flooded by the planet's water resources. They told the public from various angles that the doomsday theory was not credible, that the disaster would always pass, and that the country would continue to rescue the disaster-stricken areas.

The whole thing was suppressed, but the restless human heart could no longer be suppressed.

Some people say that the person who posted the video is an anti-social element, and that this action is purely anti-peaceful, intended to shake people's hearts and create chaos; others say that the person who posted the video is a hacker expert, and that the video is real. The suicidal man in the video had already been secretly transferred from the mental hospital, and it is not known whether he cooperated voluntarily or was controlled. In short, research has already been underway.

Some people believe it, some don’t, some sneer at it, and some are in a state of panic over the approaching end of the world…

In any case, after this incident, this video and the doomsday theory have become known to everyone in the country.

Those who believe in the end of the world firmly believe that Muzhou Province, Xiren Province, Lankou Province northwest of Xiren Province, and even Xiangzhou Province with a higher altitude to the west of Muzhou Province are not safe enough. They must go to the plateau cities because that is the last pure land after most of the land and cities on the planet are submerged.

That is the safe city that can truly survive to the end.

Hua State has a large population. Even if only a few people firmly believe in the end of the world, the number of people moving around is still astonishing.

But the problem is that many people are already in safe cities like Louyun City and there is no need to move at all. Under the current situation of flight suspension and difficult transportation, this has invisibly added unnecessary pressure to all parties.

Especially in plateau cities, the sudden influx of a large number of people will also cause many problems.

These cities are not refugee resettlement cities. They are now the rear bases of Hua State. They work hard every day to manufacture and produce various supplies such as food, water, medicine, clothing, rain gear, etc. needed by refugees from all over the world. The influx of population will disrupt the social balance and cause these solid rear bases to experience situations similar to those in Hemuzhou Province and Xiren Province.

So in the end, there were traffic bans and city entry passes.

Forget about those people who had already flocked to the plateau cities earlier, but it would not be so easy for the larger numbers of people who came later to get over.

Nowadays, those who choose to stay in hotels in Louyun City instead of renting houses are all people who are temporarily stranded here due to the new traffic ban and pass regulations. They don't plan to live here for a long time, so naturally they don't have the energy to look for houses to rent.

**

After Shu Fu went downstairs, she first went to a medium-sized supermarket near the hotel to check the prices.

Prices have indeed risen, but not as outrageous as what she saw when she was surfing the Internet in Suicheng before. This may be because what she saw at the time were the conditions in several disaster-stricken areas. The conditions in those disaster-stricken areas were not good at the time. After two months, they had been completely submerged by floods and the refugees had also been relocated.

The prices of most of the food here, such as rice, flour, canned and convenience foods, have increased by about 50 to 70 percent, and some have even doubled in price. As for fresh produce such as vegetables, fruits, fish and meat, the variety on the shelves is not as complete as before, but different types of fresh produce are rotated every day.

At the same time, all popular commodities such as drinking water, beverages, rain gear and boat equipment are subject to purchase limits of different amounts for ordinary people who sell them as retailers or for businesses that need to wholesale when opening restaurants.

For example, on the fruit shelves of this supermarket, there are only cantaloupes, oranges, apples and pears today. Apples and pears are daily products, while oranges and cantaloupes are new models. All fruits are put on the shelves in the morning, and the new models will be sold out today, and restocking will have to wait until tomorrow.

It is said that there was a little chaos in the early stage of the purchase restriction policy. Supermarkets were packed every day, and some people even fought over a few supplies. The policy became a hot topic one after another.

But as time went by, everyone slowly discovered that although there were purchase limits on supplies, there had never been a shortage. The shelves that were empty today would be full the next day. As long as they went to the supermarket a little earlier the next day, they could buy what they couldn't buy the day before.

Once this was realized, the chaos died down.

Because everyone has discovered that this purchase restriction does not actually affect the lives of ordinary people. After all, a person only eats and drinks so much every day, and the restricted purchase amount is completely enough for everyone to live on, and it is even more than enough.

What the purchase restrictions really restrict are those who want to privately stockpile large quantities of goods and then wait for the right opportunity to resell them at a high price.

She felt that a lot of the news about Lou Yuncheng that she had seen on the Internet before was more or less full of personal emotions and the description of the situation was a bit exaggerated.

The atmosphere in the supermarket was good. Many people were discussing yesterday's disaster, but their expressions did not seem panic-stricken. Some even spoke with pride and pride, probably because the safety wall of Louyun City blocked the huge waves yesterday and firmly protected the city.

Just like after yesterday, the doomsday theories on the Internet have also subsided, and more voices have emerged believing that Muzhou Province and Xiren Province are very safe. After all, the construction of the water-blocking dam is still in progress, and the safety factor will only be higher in the future.

Shu Fu didn't stay long. He took out his ID card and asked the other party to register. He bought all the fruits he could, paid the bill and left.

The price of oranges is twice as much as before. Each person is limited to one bag, which contains six oranges. The same goes for apples and pears. People who come to buy fruit can buy all three bags plus a cantaloupe, but if they want to buy more oranges, they have to go again tomorrow.

Not to mention these four fruits, even these six oranges are too much for a normal person to finish in one day.

If ordinary people really feel insecure and want to stock up more food and drinks at home, they can go to the supermarket every day. By accumulating a little bit at a time, they will definitely be able to save up a lot of food.

However, these quantities could not be resold at high prices, nor would they affect the prices of the entire market. Shu Fu began to suspect that the negative comments on the Internet were all from unscrupulous merchants who wanted to hoard goods and monopolize the market.

After leaving the supermarket, she went to a telecommunications business hall across the street. She now has three mobile phones, one for public use with unlimited data packages. No one knows the numbers of the other two, which are mainly used when there is no network due to the large capacity memory. Occasionally, when she turns off her original phone, these two phones also allow her to access the Internet.

She used to top up her phone bills through her mobile phone, but now she doesn't dare to top up her phone for fear that the money will be automatically deducted once it is put in, so she chose to top up her phone bills with cash at the business hall. After she had enough money on her three phones, she took a taxi to a local car dealership with a good reputation.

This was her second time renting a car, and she was quick to follow the advice.

There are many slopes in Louyun City, so this time she chose a domestic jeep with a higher chassis, automatic transmission, a large trunk, a flat back seat, and a one-way vehicle film.

The monthly car rental fee has increased a lot, now it’s 4,000 yuan a month.

She did not pay a deposit the last time she rented a car. Since she had lived in Suicheng for more than four years, had a good online banking reputation, and had savings, she could just use a credit card pre-authorization.

But then Suicheng was flooded and the car was lost, which was a force majeure factor. She couldn't do anything about it, but the pre-authorized amount on the card had not been unfrozen. Of course, now is a disaster period, the pre-authorization is useless, and she has to pay a deposit, either in cash or gold.

This was convenient for Shu Fu. The car she rented was an economy model, so she didn't need to pay a large deposit. She simply took out a simple gold ring from her backpack and handed it to the other party.

In addition to money, it is common to trade gold and food in the market. Generally, merchants who collect gold will prepare personnel in this field. The other party quickly gave the appraisal result, 999 999 pure gold, 7.8 grams, which is enough for the deposit.

The other party went through all the necessary procedures and gave her a deposit slip.

Shu Fu put away the list, but didn't care. It didn't matter whether the gold ring was returned or not. The automatic water fishing rod would sometimes suddenly work and she would get baskets of various gold jewelry and even gold bars.

Although she had a negative balance on her card and limited cash, she had no shortage of gold.

Not long after leaving the rental car company, she turned off the dashcam, just like she did when she rented a car in Suicheng. Although this model of dashcam is a one-way camera that can only capture the situation outside the front of the car, she is always cautious and it is safest to turn it off and remove the memory card.

Her next stop was the gold shop, where she planned to exchange some gold to offset the negative balance in her mobile phone account and leave a little extra money on it.

Although repayments for previous purchases of various supplies will be automatically deducted every month, it is necessary to keep funds flowing through the phone, because you can still order takeout in Louyun City!

Nowadays, most of the takeout items delivered are those with no purchase restrictions.

Some people will buy limited-purchase items on food delivery apps, but the quantities released by supermarkets and farmers' markets are limited, and they are sold out as soon as they are updated at 0:00.

Moreover, just getting an order does not mean that you will buy the product. Anything unexpected can happen before the delivery man successfully delivers the item.

For example, sudden weather changes and force majeure factors may cause the deliveryman to cancel the order or run away with the goods. After all, there are many refugees from other places in the city now. They don’t want to live in the shelter and only receive meals and water. They are willing to earn money to eat through their own efforts.

Food delivery companies will strictly screen new employees, but there are always unexpected events.

For example, I found that the list I sent contained medicine that my family really needed but had never been able to buy...

Another example is that I decided to leave Louyun City and go to the mountains of a nearby small town to seek refuge with someone I knew. I happened to receive an order and found that the family was very fast and bought a lot of supplies...

Nowadays, there is a severe lack of big data, and it is impossible to control petty thefts.

If Shu Fu wants to order takeout, he will try to avoid items with purchase restrictions.

She went to a chain gold shop. In the past, when she went to a gold shop to exchange gold, she needed a copy of her ID card. But now the world is in chaos and so many cities have been flooded. It is not easy for some people to reach a safe city alive, so some procedures have long been waived.

As long as they are not robbers, they are guests.

Because of rising prices and a slight depreciation of the currency, the exchange rate of gold has also increased. She tries to choose bracelets and necklaces that are heavy and simple in style. After the transaction is completed, the other party directly transfers the money into her mobile phone account.

Not long after the money arrived, deductions began to be made. Fortunately, the amount she exchanged this time was relatively large, and there was still enough balance after the deductions were completed, which was enough even if she needed to use her mobile phone to pay for rent later.

**

After coming out of the gold shop, it was already past noon, and Shu Fu drove to the next street.

In Shu Fu's memory, there was a very delicious noodle shop on this street. The prices were affordable, the noodles were very chewy, and there were parking spaces on the road in front of the shop.

Nowadays, prices are high, and most people choose to cook their own meals. Some people who work outside during the day are used to bringing meals or using sandwiches instead. The catering industry market is sluggish, and many stores have closed. Fortunately, this store is still open, but there are not many customers inside.

After parking the car at the door, Shu Fu left her raincoat in the car and held an umbrella instead.

She ordered a bowl of beef noodles. The price had doubled compared to before the disaster, so it was a bit expensive. However, the money in her mobile phone account was all harvested from her automatic water fishing rod, so she didn't feel bad.

Prepared food from restaurants is not subject to purchase restrictions. This type of food is difficult to preserve, and normal people will not buy it in large quantities without reason, nor will they hoard it and resell it at high prices, unless there is a dining party.

Before leaving after eating, Shu Fu told her boss that she was buying for the company's dinner party and packed fifty servings of noodles: four flavors: pea noodles, beef noodles, egg and vegetable noodles, and sauerkraut beef noodles.

The purchase of raw materials for the catering industry is now uniformly managed by the government. Every store that is still in business has stricter management of food safety. Stores of different sizes will have a corresponding floating purchase quota, which can be regarded as a manifestation of purchase restrictions.

At the same time, a management department will be added, and people will come to the store to conduct temporary spot checks every few days to ensure that the food that people eat directly is safe.

The boss received a large order and after some calculations found out that he could close early today after completing this order. So he happily took the money, went into the kitchen to help cook and pack the noodles, and finally helped load the truck.

Shu Fu was in a particularly good mood when she drove away. After all, ten days ago, she was still living in an empty city on the water with no one around, and she thought she would live out her life there alone. But she didn't expect that ten days later, she would be back in the bustling city again, and could continue to stock up on some of her favorite delicacies.

She knew that according to the course of the apocalypse, Louyun City would sooner or later be submerged by floods like Suicheng and become an empty city on the water.

But ever since she saw the waves that were over 40 meters high yesterday, and the water-blocking dam that could completely block these terrible waves, she couldn't help but have some different thoughts in her mind.

This couldn't be a real scripted world. After all, she really lived here and could clearly feel the joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness of everyone around her.

Will the previous video about the reborn person's apocalypse be able to make the authorities pay attention to this matter?

Could it be that there are other reborn people somewhere she can’t see?

This type of people do not have the same restrictions as her. If those in power can believe in their predictions, extract useful information from them, and take preventive measures in advance, is it possible that the originally predetermined doomsday will change?

Further speculation, is it possible that the water-blocking dam in Louyun City is some kind of preventive measure in advance?

After all, building such a high security wall in an inland city at a high altitude does have a sense of foresight...

While waiting for the red light, Shu Fu turned on the navigation on his mobile phone. However, just like when he was in Suicheng, the navigation could not be set for all the intersections, stations, and nearby cities that could lead out of Louyun City.

As for various ticket purchasing apps, she had tried them while waiting for the noodles to be packed, but was unable to purchase any of them.

When she looked at the gray, unselectable ticket columns, she felt like she was reliving a nightmare.

Her attempt at this moment was only because she was unwilling to give up. After all, the situation is different now. The airport is closed, and train tickets are difficult to buy, so it is not surprising that she cannot buy them.

She was very familiar with the city streets of Louyun City. In her mind - or in "Shu Fu's" memory, she had the experience of going to the train station and leaving the city.

She now wanted to replicate the experience in her memory.

Two hours later, the black jeep stopped on the side of the road in the pouring rain, giving up the idea of ​​leaving Louyun City.

Obviously, she failed.

Except for the waterway area where she came from Suicheng, there were still invisible barriers in all other directions of Louyun City that prevented her from leaving.

But this time, Shu Fu was depressed for only a short time before she recovered. If she couldn't leave, then she couldn't leave. This place was not bad.

Unlike Suicheng, Louyun City has areas with high altitudes. The residential buildings built in these areas are basically 20 stories high, and there are also 50-story and 70-story residential buildings. These residential buildings are not only high, but also have large building bases. Many high-altitude residences have large balconies, which are quite like high-altitude garden villas.

With such a height, it would take a long time for the water to flood to the point where normal life could not be possible, not to mention that there are water-blocking dams in the suburbs outside the city.

So now all she had to do was find a suitable place to live and settle down.

**

In the next three days, Shu Fu drove to many places. Part of the time, he followed the RV agent to look at houses, and the other part of the time, he went to some delicious restaurants to buy some of his favorite special foods and snacks according to his memory.

Stinky tofu, hot pot skewers, hot and sour noodles, mouth-watering chicken, brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, spicy pig's trotters, grilled fish, hand-torn grilled rabbit, ice jelly, red oil wonton, pot cakes, various barbecue skewers, spicy hot pot base...

The remaining space on Shu Fu's bracelet is getting smaller and smaller. She has stockpiled all the other items she needs. The only thing she wants to buy now is this kind of cooked food with a sense of fireworks.

Fortunately, there is no purchase limit on cooked food, so it is not too eye-catching if she buys more than 20 portions at a time.

Regarding the house, she wants to rent a house in an area with a higher altitude, with relatively good security in the surrounding area, and there must be supermarkets, markets, shopping malls and other supply points nearby. The house can be smaller but cannot be shared with others.

In addition, the residence must be on a high floor, which is mainly to prepare for a rainy day.

If Louyun City was eventually flooded like Suicheng, then at least this time she wouldn't have to wander around the water city looking for a higher shelter. She could stay in her own high-rise cabin until she could no longer survive.

Two days later, she finally saw a nice house.

Except for the price, the other conditions are basically the same. If she rents this place, she will have to go to the gold shop to exchange some gold, or she can directly ask the agent whether they accept gold.

When everything was settled and she was about to sign the rental contract, she suddenly felt a vibration on her wrist.

A new mission?

Although she knew that the other party would most likely not see the bracelet and the black notebook, she would notice movements when she checked the notebook, so she still used the excuse of going to the restroom, went to the restroom of a nearby fast food restaurant, and hid in the cubicle to check.

On the bracelet, the "book" icon was flashing, and the task had indeed arrived.

[Within three days, if you check in at Jixing Community and rent a house, you will get a 10% progress bar for level 3 of the raft. (Current progress of level 3 of the raft: 25%)

Note: Failure to complete this task will deduct 10% of the progress bar. 】

Obviously, the community where she originally planned to sign the rental contract was not Jixing Community.

Shu Fu: ...

It was outrageous! She had been running around for three whole days before she found the house she liked!

Couldn't this crappy mission have been released earlier?