38 Chapter 38

Tong Songming opened the glass window of the terrace and installed a pulley system where the handrail used to be. After securing the ice, the group pulled the ice from the ground floor to the 12th floor in full view of everyone.

"Go back, everyone. It's too cold. If you need water, you can go to the convenience store this afternoon." Tong Shu waved to the crowd, then turned around and climbed onto Wang Jie's back, letting him carry her upstairs.

"I'm speechless. You twisted your ankle climbing a mountain." Tong Shu is 1.7 meters tall and weighs 102 kilograms. With layers of clothes, she looked like a small mountain on Wang Jie's back. Wang Jie had to bounce up every two steps. He couldn't breathe anymore and complained to her.

"Just say you can't carry it." Tong Shu said angrily, pulling Wang Jie's hair with her gloved hand.

"Ouch! I made a mistake, I made a mistake, don't pull it!" Wang Jie begged for mercy repeatedly. "One of you and one of Xiaoxiao, two big shots, I can't afford to mess with them."

"If they talk about my sister Xiaoxiao behind my back, I'll tell on them later."

“Go on, go on,” Wang Jie rolled his eyes, “She’s so smug.”

Back home, Tong Shu immediately lost her arrogance and was surrounded by her grandparents, parents, and two aunts who scolded her. Even her two uncles were scolded for not taking good care of their niece.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Tong Shu hung her head and let them nag. Wang Jie, meanwhile, was munching on a crisp peach, looking rather smug.

"Tsk tsk tsk, look at these feet, they look like pig's trotters! Don't go out for the next couple of days." Shu Hua took off Tong Shu's shoes and socks, and looked at her feet, which were swollen to the point of being completely swollen, and felt even angrier.

"Stop eating, Ah Jie. Check if your sister's bones are broken." Shu Li saw her son watching the fun and slapped him across the face.

"Oh dear, she's in great spirits. If it were a real bone injury, she would have been crying and sniffling by now." Wang Jie said this, but his hands were already clean. He squatted down, held Tong Shu's foot, and rotated it in circles to discern the varying degrees of pain she was experiencing.

“It’s just a sprain.” Wang Jie stood up. “Just apply some ice, spray Yunnan Baiyao on it every day, and let it rest.”

"Can I go out?" Tong Shu asked cautiously.

"You're still going out? You might as well stay home for ten days or half a month," Wang Jie said gloatingly.

"...Sigh, I was supposed to go to Building 3 this afternoon." Tong Shu sighed deeply as she sat on the sofa.

Shu Hua brought over an ice pack wrapped in gauze and pressed it onto Tong Shu's ankle, saying irritably, "You know something's wrong, yet you're still so careless. Your uncles are working, so you should just stay put, but you insist on running around everywhere. I don't even want to say anything to you."

“Oh, Mommy—” Tong Shu drawled out.

"I won't let you say anything, I'm not going to bother with you anymore!" Shu Hua shoved the ice cube into Tong Shu's hand: "You hold it yourself, I'm going to cook!"

Seeing that she was alright, everyone in the room had already gone off to do their work.

"Shushu, the ice is still on the terrace. Should we deal with it now?" Qin Jiaqiang asked as he came over.

Tong Shu thought for a moment and said, "Cook it on the terrace, and close all the blinds. Don't hide it from people."

Qin Jiaqiang understood and asked Wang Jianye to help him set up the cooking pot on the terrace.

Just then, Qin Xiaoxiao passed by, and Tong Shu called out to her: "Sister Xiao, go to the island to fill the stream with water. Then you can move the water you boil at home into the island, and sell the stream water from the island."

Qin Xiaoxiao gave an "OK" sign and nimbly entered the island.

During the flood, Tong Shu's family collected a lot of empty bottles and cans from neighbors who brought them in exchange for supplies. They used a small portion to make canned food and pickles, and a large portion was piled up in the warehouse. This time, they were able to put them to good use.

"We're having spicy blood curd today. Can you eat it even though you sprained your ankle?" Shu Hua asked, poking her head out from the kitchen.

"I can eat, I can eat, I can eat!" Tong Shu nodded vigorously.

"Then you and your grandparents can eat from the same pot, but make sure it's light and bland."

"Oh..." Tong Shu replied reluctantly.

When the steaming hot Maoxuewang was served, Tong Shu no longer cared about whether it was bland or not. She scooped up a piece of perfectly cooked duck blood, blew on it a few times to cool it down, and then eagerly stuffed it into her mouth.

"Oh—so delicious..." Tong Shu let out a satisfied sigh as she savored the hot duck blood in her mouth and felt the flavors of scallions, ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns burst on her tongue.

"Does this chef's work permit give you a boost in cooking skills? My aunt's cooking is getting better and better these days." Qin Xiaoxiao also praised the Mao Xue Wang (a spicy Sichuan dish), saying that the one she ate was very spicy and had a richer flavor.

"You're so sweet-talking." Shu Hua grinned from ear to ear, urging the others who had just come from the island to sit down and eat.

Shu Li swallowed a mouthful of hot soup mixed with rice and said to Tong Shu, "Your dad has already turned on the electricity over there. I'll go directly to see Director Zhu this afternoon. You stay at home."

Tong Shu nodded: "We can bring a few sewing machines over with us. I remember there are those small sewing machines in the catalog; someone brought one over to trade before."

“Okay, Shuya and I will each carry one over.”

The items recorded in the encyclopedia are in the same state as the items that are recorded. In other words, if it is a broken sewing machine when it is recorded, it will be a broken sewing machine no matter how many times it is redeemed. Therefore, Tong Shu is not worried about being exposed.

After the meal, everyone put down their bowls and went about their own business. Qin Jiaqiang went to work in the vegetable garden, Grandpa and Grandma Tong made canned goods at the island store to earn some extra money, Wang Jianye and Wang Jie boiled water on the terrace, and Qin Xiaoxiao ran back and forth between the house and the island. Seeing that Tong Shu was bored, Shu Hua helped her to the convenience store and set up a recliner for her at the iron gate: "You can watch the convenience store for the next few days. I'm going to wash the dishes."

After noon, people who had heard the news started coming to buy water. Tong Shu took a bamboo pole as a walking stick and took water from the shelf to give to the residents who came.

The temperature in the convenience store was low, and even the water that Qin Xiaoxiao had just brought over had ice crystals on it.

"Two yuan, I'll refund you one yuan when I bring the bottle back." Tong Shu handed the glass bottle to the person outside the door. The bottle contained about a liter of water, enough for the family to drink for a day if they were careful.

"Little Tong, I brought the bucket myself. Could you pour the water into my bucket? I don't need the bottle anymore." An empty bucket was handed in through the open window. Tong Shu recognized the voice. She took the bucket and saw that it was the old man who had delivered water chestnuts to her before.

"Grandma, it's you! Long time no see." Tong Shu greeted her with delight, "How are you and Grandpa doing?"

The old man covered his face with a cloth, but a hint of a smile could be seen in his eyes: "My husband and I are both fine. When you said the temperature was going to drop, I quickly changed into thicker blankets and clothes, and I've been using them as mattresses to sleep. As soon as the temperature dropped, we just huddled under the covers." The Tong family were educated people. They had stopped them from eating water chestnuts before, saving them from a disaster. Later, when they said the temperature was going to drop, the old man took it to heart and made preparations in advance. Sure enough, they were right again.

Tong Shu was happy to hear that the two were safe. She emptied several bottles and filled the old man's bucket, but hesitated when she handed it to him: "This is a bit heavy. Can you carry it? The road outside is so slippery. Isn't it a bit unsafe?"

The old woman looked at the bucket with a dilemma. She hadn't thought of this when she came out, but she came because she heard that the Tong family sold water: "Director Zhu brought a young man to my house earlier. His father passed away that day. Director Zhu said that he should come to our house and share a meal with my wife and me. The young man used to be an armed policeman. He lost an arm while on duty, but he is an upright and hardworking man. He has been the one going out to find water and food for us lately."

The old man sighed and continued, "I must have been exhausted yesterday. I developed a fever in the middle of the night. I do have some medicine at home, but I don't have water to dissolve it..."

Just then, a person wearing a black cotton-padded coat squeezed forward from behind and said solicitously, "Grandma, where do you live? I'll bring you some water."

Tong Shu looked the person up and down, feeling that he was a bit unfamiliar and probably not from her neighborhood.

"Oh, wouldn't that be too much trouble... Which building do you live in?" The old man hesitated for a moment, thinking that if it was on his way, he could do the favor.

"I'm from the neighboring urban village. I heard they sell water here, so I came to buy some," the man in black said.

"...The urban village is quite close to the back mountain, why don't you go to the reservoir to break the ice?" The woman queuing to buy water stared at him suspiciously.

The man in black hesitated for a moment, then said naturally, "I'm not just buying water. Our village committee stopped distributing supplies a long time ago, unlike you where there's a community management office. I've heard you even have a convenience store here. I came to buy some food to take back, and the water was just something I did on the way."

Tong Shu handed him the bucket with some skepticism. It was still broad daylight, so it wasn't a problem to ask him to help the old man deliver water. However, the man's hesitant speech made Tong Shu subconsciously feel that he was not very trustworthy.

"Grandma, the community will deliver supplies to your place at 2 o'clock. Could you please pass on a message to Sister Xu and ask her to replace my water purifier with sweet potatoes?"

The old man didn't understand his intention, but thought it was just a small favor, and happily agreed.

The man in black asked for a bag of flour and two bottles of water. He carried the bucket he had brought in one hand and the old man's bucket in the other, and followed the old man downstairs.

"You're so smart." The older woman who had just spoken leaned closer to the window and whispered, "Knowing that the community staff would come to the door, even if the man had any ulterior motives, he wouldn't dare to lay a hand on the old lady."

Tong Shu smiled and replied softly, "The world is in chaos. You have to be careful around people you know well."

“That makes sense.” The older woman nodded. “I want five bottles of water, three cans of oranges, and a packet of salt.”

Tong Shu handed the items to her and took the money she offered.

...

"Grandma, is this shop run by the community?" The old woman walked slowly on the ice, taking small steps at a time. The man in black followed behind her, seemingly casually striking up a conversation.

"No, it's run by Xiao Tong's family." The old man, watching his step, answered casually.

"Where did one family get so many supplies?"

“They didn’t get it all at once. They went to other cities early in the morning and late at night to exchange it before the water froze.” The old man stopped and prepared to rest for a while. “They are a good family, and they earned their money through hard work.”

“That’s right, that’s right,” the man replied with a smile. “Is this little shop open all day long? The people in our village have run out of supplies, but they still have some money. I didn’t expect that they would accept cash. I’ll talk to the villagers when I get back and tell them to come and buy supplies as soon as possible. It’s better than them having to dig up tree roots on the mountain to eat.”

Upon hearing this, the old man realized it was a big business opportunity and immediately perked up: "Xiao Tong and his team open early in the morning and are busy until sunset. Since you've come all the way from the urban village, there are always people at the shop."

The old man was quite happy to have brought business to the Tong family, and he became more talkative: "It's not just about accepting cash. If they say they're accepting money, that's them doing a good deed. If you have any firewood, kitchen utensils, or anything you need, you can bring them over to exchange."

The man nodded: "I'll go back and tell them."

The old woman nodded happily and guided the man to carry the bucket to her doorstep.

"Thank you so much, but that's too much trouble."

"No trouble at all." The man was in a good mood and bid farewell to the old woman meaningfully: "See you next time, Grandma."

...