Chapter 19

Tong Songming cut several wooden planks for Tong Shu and the others, punched holes in them, threaded them with string, and glued a lot of foam boxes to the bottom. They tied them to the side of the assault boat, making it look like a small platform. The three of them took out the vegetables from the storage compartment of the assault boat and placed them on the wooden platform. It was quite stable. From a distance, it looked like a small floating market.

The rain has lessened considerably by today, but it's still falling lightly. Not long after Tong Shu's family spread the word, people started coming out in vehicles. The residents of their building were the first to receive the news, and Zhang Ming and his group were among the first to arrive. Today, it was the 12th floor's turn to use the lifeboats, so he rowed over with his girlfriend and his mother, who lived with him.

"Wow! Where did you get such fresh vegetables, and so many varieties!" Zhang Ming's eyes were glued to the vegetables on the small platform.

“We were lucky. We went to H City yesterday and found that the farmers living near the mountains there still had a lot of vegetables. They couldn’t finish them and couldn’t sell them, so we traded some dry food with them,” Tong Shu said. “Fresh vegetables spoil so easily. We got so much with just a little dry food.”

"Then, how do we exchange this? I don't have many supplies left at home." Zhang Ming scratched his head awkwardly.

At this moment, Qin Xiaoxiao took out a sign with writing on it from her backpack: Cash transaction 20 yuan per kilogram; 10 kilograms of compressed biscuits; other goods to be exchanged according to value.

"You still accept cash?" Zhang Ming asked in surprise. "Cash is practically useless these days."

Tong Shu smiled and said, "Once the rain stops, the water recedes, and the city returns to order, we'll still need the money."

"Yeah! Hopefully the rain will stop tomorrow." Zhang Ming took out a compressed biscuit from his pocket. It was from the supplies he got from Jiangxia Square last time. After exchanging supplies with Tong Shu and the others today, they planned to go get another supply.

Zhang Ming carefully selected a variety of vegetables, but he took the most potatoes. Potatoes are very filling; one meal's worth of compressed biscuits could buy enough for several meals. He brought a small bucket from home, filled it with the supplies, and handed it to Wang Jianye to weigh. Wang Jianye used an old-fashioned steelyard balance made by Tong Songming, and after weighing the goods, he even put an apple in the bucket for him.

Zhang Ming was overjoyed: "How could I possibly accept this..."

Wang Jianye: "Take it, we're all neighbors."

Chen Fenfang, the mother from 1203, also took out a compressed biscuit: "If I had known I could use cash, I would have brought the money with me. I never thought I could buy anything with money. You are all so kind-hearted." She then picked out some vegetables and put them into the lifeboat.

"Thank you all! We're going to Jiangxia Square with Sister Chen." Zhang Ming and Tong Shu thanked them and then rowed off towards Jiangxia Square.

Because of the continuous rain, the delivery of supplies is difficult. For residents of Tongshu Community, which is close by and still has community maintenance, the government recommends that they spontaneously go to the nearest supply point to collect supplies in groups. To avoid fraudulent collection, residents need to bring their ID card or household registration book. If the documents are missing, they need to get a certificate from the community and then go to the supply point to reissue them.

Gradually, a lot of people gathered at Tong Shu's vegetable stall. Only a few had lifeboats; most came in large basins or buckets. Some lay on foam boards, while others, young and strong, wore life jackets with foam boxes tied to their backs and swam over.

To ensure that all residents can exchange for vegetables, Tong Shu and her team limited each person to a maximum of 10 jin (5 catties). If they eat these 10 jin of vegetables sparingly, they can last a family a week.

An old man waded over, sitting in a basin with several wicker baskets in it: "Young lady, I don't have much at home. These are baskets my husband wove from wicker. See how many vegetables you can exchange them for?"

Tong Shu took the basket and could tell that the maker was very skilled; the basket was both sturdy and beautiful. Tong Shu liked it very much: "Grandma, this basket is very good. How about I trade you this basket for ten catties of vegetables? Is there anyone else in your family besides you and Grandpa?"

"Oh, thank you so much!" The old man gave a simple smile. "It's just me and my husband at home. We used to live on the first floor of building 3, but now we live in building 6."

"My children are all working in other provinces, and I don't know how they are doing now."

Tong Shu packed 20 jin of vegetables and handed them to the old man, saying, "You two should both stay alive. The child is young, he'll definitely be fine."

The old man nodded, took the vegetables, and placed them shakily beside him: "I've been finding a lot of vines floating on the water lately. My husband has been weaving quite a few in his spare time. I never thought we could exchange them for something. I'll have him make some more when I get back."

"Yes, please ask Grandpa to make more. We'll take as much as he makes; it'll be perfect for storing vegetables," Qin Xiaoxiao said.

Many more residents gathered around, most of them bringing money to exchange. There was no use for the money now, so of course they had to spend it first. Some brought small items they had made themselves, or furniture and household items that they had salvaged from the water. Tong Shu and the others accepted them all. Wang Jie even rowed his kayak over several times to transport them home.

Soon all the vegetables were replaced, and Tong Shu and the other two packed up their things and drove the inflatable boat back to their apartment building.

Once the inflatable boat was taken out of the island, it was difficult to put it back. Fortunately, after this incident, most people in the community knew that it belonged to Tong Shu's family, so they were not afraid of anyone stealing it. They removed the key and tied it to the water pipe exactly as it was.

The rain isn't as heavy as it was a while ago, and the water level is rising quite slowly. I wonder if the rain will stop in a few days.

Thinking of Nini's prediction, Tong Shu was still worried. Even if the rain stopped, the water level would not recede, making it very difficult for everyone to travel, let alone for daily life and production.

In Tong Shu's home, the living room was piled with supplies that had been exchanged. The food had already been picked out by Shu Ya and the others, and what was left were things that they didn't need.

"Shushu, what are you going to do with all this stuff?" Shuhua looked at the living room, which was almost completely filled with these things, and was quite troubled.

Tong Shu rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment before saying, "It's not good to just leave it like this. I'll put it on the island. It can enrich the collection of items that I haven't collected before." Only Tong Shu's backpack could hold the items, so everyone gathered around the backpack and helped Tong Shu pack them up.

Before long, the living room was clean and tidy again.

With nothing else to do at home, and thinking about all the faith points she still needed to collect, Tong Shu turned and entered the island, intending to visit Qin Jiaqiang's farm.

As soon as she entered the island, Tong Shu saw the exchanged supplies piled up haphazardly in the small square in front of the service center. Tong Shu was quite annoyed, because she had a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Suddenly, she remembered the item recycling bin at the store entrance. She used to use this recycling bin frequently when playing games; it was used to buy DIY items and island materials. Although the purchase price was lower than trading directly with the shopkeeper, the advantage was that it could be recycled with a single click, a feature Tong Shu really liked.

Tong Shu wondered if the recycling bins would accept these items. She pulled a handcart from the store entrance, filled it up, and hauled it to the store.

[Settling your account... Total amount recovered: 30 Sen Coins. Transaction? Yes/No]

Tong Shu was overjoyed and quickly confirmed it.

Although the transaction amount wasn't particularly large, at least the items were dealt with, and Tong Shu was very satisfied.

After resolving this minor issue, Tong Shu strolled happily to the farmland.

Qin Jiaqiang has stopped growing lettuce. Lettuce grows too fast; it needs to be harvested every day. Even if several able-bodied men in the family take turns harvesting, they can't keep up with its growth rate. Now, the fields are filled with crops like sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and potatoes, which have high starch content and grow at a slower pace than lettuce. They can be harvested every two or three days, and they're also filling, making them perfect for the current situation.

Tong Shu took another walk around the island. When she was decorating the island, she planted some shrubs and ornamental trees for landscaping. Although they looked nice, they didn't seem to be very practical. She asked Qin Jiaqiang if she could replace all the ornamental trees with fruit trees.

"This should work, right?" Qin Jiaqiang scratched his head. "I just don't know if the trees on this island grow as fast as the vegetables."

Tong Shu thought that since the ornamental trees wouldn't serve much purpose anyway, she could simply replace them with fruit trees and let them grow slowly. Fruit on the island was too expensive; an apple cost 5 Senbi. She had to think twice before eating fruit, let alone other people in the real world.

With a wave of his hand, Tong Shu's family resumed their fruit tree planting business.

Tong Songming, Wang Jianye, and Qin Jiaqiang took chainsaws and hoes to cut down the original ornamental trees. Shu Hua and Tong Shu's two aunts put seeds and filled soil into the pits left after the ornamental trees were dug up. Tong Shu, Wang Jie, and Qin Xiaoxiao followed behind to water and fertilize.

Fortunately, when collecting the illustrated guide, Tong Shu's family bought all the kinds of fruits available on the market. Of course, they didn't have any of the rare tropical fruits, but even these were enough for Tong Shu's family to grow.

Not all fruits grow on trees. For example, Tong Shu's grandfather built a trellis next to the store, scattered some grape seeds along the wall, and scattered some watermelon seeds behind the store.

The island wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either. It took the family several days to cut down all the ornamental trees on the island.

The family argued several times about which fruit varieties to plant. Shu Hua said she wanted to plant more bayberries, but Tong Songming said that bayberries only grow for a few months a year, are not easy to preserve, and have a very low cost-performance ratio. He only allowed her to plant three trees, which angered Shu Hua so much that she ignored Tong Songming for a long time. Since everyone had different tastes, they secretly used their forest coins to exchange for the fruits they liked and planted them like crazy on the island whenever they could find a spot.

The island lived up to expectations; the seeds planted the day before sprouted the next day, growing at an extremely fast pace.

By the time Tong Shu realized it, it was too late. Looking at the place on her island within an island where roses used to grow, the roses had disappeared and replaced by a clump of raspberries. The tender green leaves swayed in the breeze. Tong Shu's vision went black. All the places that should have grown and shouldn't have grown were covered with fruit seedlings.

Tong Shu's obsessive-compulsive disorder was completely cured.