Chapter 13

"We're here." Wen Shaocheng stopped in front of Tong Shu's house and put her down.

Tong Shu was a little embarrassed. Without looking at him, she asked in a low voice, "Major, do you have somewhere to go?"

Wen Shaocheng did not answer, but only said, "Go inside, and don't come out unless necessary. I'm going to check on the other people's arrangements."

Tong Shu nodded, and then watched as that tall, straight figure slowly walked away and disappeared at the top of the stairs.

"Shushu is back!" Grandma rushed over to greet Tong Shu as she entered the door. "You silly child, you just ran off like that, you don't know how worried we were."

"Grandma, I'm fine now." Tong Shu helped her grandma sit back on the sofa.

Candles were lit in the room. Tong Songming and his two uncles were pointing at the torrential rain outside the window and talking. Tong Shu also walked over and squinted to look down.

In less than half a day, the water had flooded the entire first floor. Tong Shu remembered that there used to be some low-rise bungalows next to the community, but now nothing could be seen. The heavy rain seemed to be pouring down from the sky, and dark clouds covered the sky, making visibility very low.

Tong Shu returned to the island and spent 1,000 Senbi to buy a diesel generator. This was originally found by Tong Songming in an abandoned factory. It was completely unusable. After taking it back to the island and modifying it according to the engineer's blueprints, it was immediately included in the island's encyclopedia.

Tong Songming quickly connected the generator to the circuit and made some adjustments, and the lights in the Tong family's house came on.

"Close it quickly, don't let anyone find out," Wang Jie said.

Qin Xiaoxiao quickly turned off all the switches. The entire city's water and electricity were down, and since their house was on a high floor, leaving the lights on would be easily noticed.

"Let's make do for now. We'll buy some thick blackout curtains on the island later, so we can turn on the lights whenever we want," Tong Shu said.

With Tong Shu around, everyone could freely enter and exit the island using their work badges. Shu Hua and Shu Ya packed some food from the island's restaurant to take out for everyone's lunch.

"Boiled fish, braised pork, lettuce with oyster sauce, minced meat stewed with eggs... Wow! So much food!" Qin Xiaoxiao's eyes narrowed with delight as she looked at the dishes on the table. She had been craving food for the past few days, eating either self-heating rice or self-heating hot pot. Eventually, she could only eat compressed biscuits. She was truly suffering in silence.

There were too many people in their family, so they divided the dishes into two portions. The elders sat around the dining table to eat, while Tong Shu, Wang Jie, and Qin Xiaoxiao sat directly at the coffee table. Qin Xiaoxiao took out her tablet from her backpack, selected a pre-loaded variety show to watch while eating, and invited Tong Shu and Wang Jie to watch it together.

“Buying ready-made meals with these Sen coins is still too extravagant. Let’s turn on the generator and cook for ourselves from now on,” Shuya said.

Qin Jiaqiang nodded in agreement: "The land on the island hasn't been planted yet. I'll use my salary to buy some seeds and plant them all. Then we can eat fresh vegetables. Didn't Shushu say that the floods will last for a long time?"

Everyone at the dinner table agreed, and the family enjoyed a harmonious time together.

Tong Shu's maternal grandmother passed away not long after giving birth to Tong Shu's mother. Her maternal grandfather raised the three sisters by himself. He had worked hard in the fields all his life and his body was already worn out. Seeing his three daughters get married, the old man's wish was fulfilled, and he soon passed away as well.

Tong Shu's two aunts married honest men. Wang Jianye's parents had him late in life, and by the time he got married, they were both elderly and passed away before seeing their grandson. Her second aunt's husband, Qin Jiaqiang, was an orphan from the same village as the Shu family. He grew up relying on the kindness of many families. Because they lived nearby, Tong Shu's maternal grandfather took good care of him. He was a grateful man, and seeing that only one person in the Shu family worked, he would often go to their fields to help. Shu Shu was very dependent on this older brother she had grown up with, and their marriage was a natural progression.

Tong Shu was taken care of by her two aunts' families since childhood. She also knew that her two older sisters were like mothers to her mother. Therefore, she did not hesitate much and accepted her aunts' families into the family.

During her time in the air-raid shelter, she had seen too many families who had lost loved ones. Now, seeing her own family all together, eating happily, filled Tong Shu with an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

After dinner, the family members got busy with their own things; those who had nothing to do went to the island to earn Senbi (a type of in-game currency).

Qin Jia rushed off to buy seeds, while Shu Li told Tong Shu not to rush to buy curtains, as her tailor shop could make them. The two elderly people couldn't offer much help, so they listened to the news on the radio to see what was happening outside.

The satellite signal had already malfunctioned due to the previous high temperatures, and communication had not been restored.

"...Extreme rainfall has occurred across the country...Residents who took refuge underground have been evacuated in an orderly manner...Police officers and soldiers are carrying out the transfer of supplies..."

Tong Shu stood by the window and looked out. Under the torrential rain, she saw several small orange-yellow dots moving about. She crouched down to look closer and realized they looked like kayaks and inflatable boats. Firefighters and military personnel were carrying out a rescue operation in the rain.

No matter when or how dire the situation, there will always be a group of people in this country who will step forward in times of crisis, disregarding their own safety to ensure the safety of the people.

As Tong Shu thought of the faces of the deceased soldiers she had seen today, her heart grew heavier.

The floodwaters rose rapidly. Even though Tong Shu's house was located at the highest point, the water had already reached the third floor in just one day. Tong Shu couldn't imagine what the city center, which had already collapsed, looked like now. Everywhere was submerged.

The next morning, Tong Shu heard a commotion outside her door. She looked through the peephole and saw that it was Hao Dadong's family and other residents.

Tong Shu thought to herself, "I didn't expect this family to be so lucky."

Originally, this family had been hiding in a corner of the garage, unwilling to take their supplies into the air-raid shelter even in the sweltering heat. Later, when they were out for some fresh air at night, they happened to run into some soldiers delivering supplies. Since they were always looking for bargains, and the supplies were meant for the residents of the community, they quickly locked their car and went to the air-raid shelter to collect their supplies.

After that, he would hide in an air-raid shelter and cook a little something at night near his car, sneaking around and trying not to be discovered.

When the flood first started, Hao Dadong's family had just finished eating a bag of braised beef and were staggering back to their air-raid shelter when they saw a large crowd rushing towards them. Fearing that others would steal their supplies, Hao Dadong quickly locked the car. As the crowd drew closer, they heard someone shouting, "There's a huge flood!" Hao Dadong's family panicked and, before they could even turn around to salvage their belongings from the car, they were swept away by the crowd and taken into other apartment buildings.

"This is my home! Get out of here right now!" Hao Dadong shoved a mother and daughter, herding them toward the stairwell.

"I'm so sorry, we didn't know anyone lived here." The mother apologized repeatedly, holding the hand of a six or seven-year-old child. "Could we take our things with us and find somewhere else to stay?"

"Stop talking nonsense! What things? What things are there?" Hao Dadong revealed a rogue's face. "Everything in my house is mine. What business is it of yours? Get out of here!"

"...But it really was our...the government's relief package. We were so careful with it, we didn't eat much..." The woman looked reluctant and kept glancing into the room.

"Dad, what are you talking nonsense with her for? Come in!" Hao Jia reached out a hand from inside, pulled Hao Dadong into the room, and then slammed the door shut.

The little girl was clearly frightened by the situation. She pouted and started to cry softly. Her mother picked her up with heartache and kept patting her back to comfort her.

Tong Shu was inside hesitating whether to go out and deliver some supplies to them when she saw a young man walk out of room 1203 next door.

"Sister, please bring your child over here," the young man said. "There's no one else here, just my sister and me. We don't know how long the water will rise, and people will definitely come up to the top floor. Please come in first, so we can look after each other when others come."

"Hey, hey!" The woman wiped her face, thanked them repeatedly, and took the child into room 1203.

Seeing that everything was alright, Tong Shu turned around and went back into the room.

The rain wasn't as heavy as yesterday, and visibility was better. There were many more kayaks and speedboats on the water. Some were full of people, some were transporting supplies, and some were paddling in various buckets and basins, as if they were looking for supplies.

Although the government will distribute relief packages, these items can only maintain basic survival. It is difficult to have enough to eat, and in the current situation, it is unknown when the supplies will stop. Without some food reserves, everyone is uneasy.

Although Tong Shu's family didn't need any supplies, it was still a big family, and if they stayed at home all the time, it would definitely arouse suspicion. Tong Shu thought that perhaps they could go out to find some things after making preparations.

Tong Shu shared her idea with her family, and they all agreed. In the face of such a great disaster, the more different one is, the more likely one is to attract misfortune. They quickly divided into groups and decided to go out every three days to find supplies, mainly items not yet included in the catalog.

The next morning, Tong Shu, Wang Jie, and Wang Jianye set off, heading first to Jiangxia Square. They took out a speedboat. Tong Shu initially didn't want to be too conspicuous, but Shu Hua was really worried that something might happen if the three of them were paddling in the heavy rain. Tong Shu couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she had to bring the speedboat.

Fortunately, they came out in a speedboat. Even though they were wearing raincoats, the rain still made it hard for Tong Shu and the other two to open their eyes. Wang Jie was wiping his face while controlling the direction, and Tong Shu was holding a water ladle and scooping water out.

Only one floor of the four-story Jiangxia Plaza is now above water. Wang Jie stopped the assault boat at a window on the west side and signaled Tong Shu and Wang Jianye to go in and find supplies, while he stayed outside to keep watch.

Tong Shu braced herself with her arms and climbed over the window, helping Wang Jianye along the way before turning and walking inside.

After walking a few steps, I saw a person standing indistinctly in front of a shop not far away.

That height, that physique.

Who else could it be but Wen Shaocheng?