Chapter 35

The expressions of the three people all darkened.

Gu Kai took another step forward, grabbed one side of the iron gate and shook it vigorously a few times.

Then, a little girl's voice suddenly came from inside: "Who? Who are you? Don't come in! My brother is at home, I'll let my brother come over and beat you up!"

She seemed to be getting more and more scared the more she spoke.

The people outside didn't say a word, but she actually started crying as she spoke.

She cried and shouted loudly: "Brother! Brother! Come and beat them!"

Judging from the voice, the child should be very young, and was truly terrified. He cried so hard that the ears of several people outside were buzzing even through the iron gate.

Gu Jiashu was the first to cover his ears.

"Fuck, whose kid is this? Why is he crying so much?" He muttered softly, then rubbed his ears.

Shen Cong glanced at him.

Gu Kai leaned forward again, put his face to the gap between the door and the wall and looked inside, then he called out tentatively: "Cancan? Are you Shican?"

The little girl's crying suddenly stopped.

She seemed to move closer to the crack in the door, but she obviously couldn't see the scene outside clearly.

After a while, he sobbed and asked, "Who are you?"

Only then did Gu Kai breathe a sigh of relief.

He quickly said in a gentle voice: "Cancan, I'm Uncle Gu from across the street from your house. Do you still remember me? You even gave me White Rabbit candy!"

After he said this, Chen Cong also remembered!

The little girl inside should be the child of their neighbor across the street, her youngest daughter Shican.

Having lived two lives, Chen Cong almost forgot about this family. It was only after her husband reminded her that she remembered what the little girl looked like.

The little girl is probably not even six years old this year?

Smaller than Tongtong!

Thinking of what the little girl had cried before, Shen Cong's heart sank, and he subconsciously asked, "Cancan, I'm your Aunt Shen, where are your parents?"

It would have been fine if her parents hadn’t been mentioned, but as soon as they were mentioned the little girl burst into tears again!

Along with the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground, the child cried out loudly: "Mom, I want mom! Mom, come back, come back! I don't want soda anymore, I want mom!"

The sound was so sharp and shrill that it made the three people's scalps tingle.

Gu Kai couldn't help but took two steps back.

The couple looked at each other, knowing that the child's parents must have died.

But why was she locked in the house?

Where is the brother she keeps calling for?

"We have to open this door." Chen Cong said in a deep voice.

The other two nodded.

Before the three men could take any action, they heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor again.

The voice was urgent and stumbling, and you could tell how panicked the person was at the moment.

The three of them turned around at the same time, and without waiting to say anything, they saw a white object coming straight towards them!

The three of them were startled and dodged to the side at the same time. The object fell to the ground, bounced up, and then rolled a long distance.

Only then did they realize that the thing was actually an empty oil barrel that had been washed.

"Go! Don't stand at our door, get out of here!" A boy, about sixteen or seventeen years old, came up.

His sister's crying obviously irritated him, and the child went crazy.

He didn't even look at the three people carefully, he picked up the oil bottle and swung it at the head of Jiashu, the one closest to him!

While cursing: "I told you to bully my sister! Die!"

Gu Jiashu dodged helplessly, and Chen Cong and Gu Kai stepped forward to stop him.

The three of them pulled and tugged, and finally Gu Kai simply hugged the boy's waist and pulled him aside, then yelled at him: "Shi Chen, calm down!"

Hearing his name being called, the boy's tense body relaxed a little, and his red eyes became a little clearer.

He looked up at Chen Cong who was facing him, hesitated for a moment before calling out, "Auntie?"

Chen Cong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then answered: “It’s me, your neighbor Aunt Shen.”

An embarrassed expression suddenly appeared on the boy's face, his body stiffened, and he stood there looking a little stupid, as if he didn't know how to face them.

Gu Kai let him go.

Then she rubbed his sweat-soaked head with concern, and said, "Open the door, don't scare Cancan."

At this time, Cancan, who was separated by a door, heard the fighting outside.

But she couldn't see what was going on, and her crying was so loud that it was almost inhuman, and it was heart-wrenching to hear her cry.

Shi Chen quickly walked to the small iron gate to coax his sister.

"Don't cry, Cancan. Your brother is back. Open the door and let us in. Be obedient and open the door."

He said it several times before the little girl's crying gradually stopped.

Then slowly, the sound of heavy objects being pushed came from inside, followed by the hissing noise of iron objects rubbing against each other.

I don't know what the little girl was fiddling with inside, but it took a while for the small door to be opened a little bit.

"Stand aside." Shi Chen said gently to his sister.

The little girl inside was still sobbing. She hiccuped and replied in a grandmotherly voice, "Okay."

Shi Chen was very patient at this moment. He waited for a while, and after making sure that his sister had dodged, he pushed hard towards the iron gate.

The sound of heavy objects rubbing against the ground was heard again.

Then everyone watched as the door was pushed open and leaned against a pile of messy construction waste bags that contained no idea what they were.

A very narrow path was revealed, which was only wide enough for one person to pass sideways.

Several people followed Shi Chen in.

Shi Chen walked over quickly and picked up his sister, holding her in his arms and coaxing her slowly, while Chen Cong turned his head to look at the iron door that had been pushed open.

Only then did she notice that there was a hole drilled in the iron door, which must have been drilled not long ago. An iron ring was nailed on the wooden wall parallel to the hole.

At this moment, there was a stainless steel rolling pin on the ground next to the wooden board, as well as a wooden box for footstools.

It seems that the brother and sister used this rolling pin to fasten the door from the inside.

She went to take a look at the pile of garbage again, and then found something interesting.

Most of the earth, stones and bricks blocking the door were placed in fixed positions. They were numerous and heavy, and it looked like they could not be moved with Cancan's little strength.

But next to the door and the garbage heap, there was a small bag of rocks placed on a small wooden board. There were two universal wheels under the board, and I don't know what furniture it was taken from.

It can be seen that what Cancan should have moved just now was this bag of things.

Since it is on wheels, it should not be difficult for even a child like Cancan to move it.

After her brother went out, the little girl moved the bag of garbage to between the door and the garbage pile and fastened the buckle of the universal wheel. In this way, all the garbage bags became one, blocking the door tightly. Unless someone was very strong, it would be difficult to push it open.

When her brother came back, the little girl moved the board with the pulleys away and took away the rolling pin, and Shi Chen was able to push the door open with his own strength.

Shen Cong looked at the boy deeply. While he was amazed at his intelligence, he also felt extremely heavy.

What on earth happened in this building to scare the two kids like this?

Let's not talk about how much time and effort Shi Chen put into this arrangement, and how many ways he thought of. Just these things...

It is a huge project to move so many stones and bricks up from downstairs bit by bit!

This is the 19th floor!

While Shen Cong was still staring at the arrangements in a daze, Shi Chen had already coaxed his sister.

He walked over and apologized to the three of them: "Uncle, aunt, I was wrong just now. I was too anxious and didn't look carefully. I almost hurt you. I'm so sorry. Don't be angry."

Gu Kai patted him on the back and sighed: "Don't say that, you are also worried about Cancan."

Shi Chen was silent for a moment, then explained: "The upstairs has been restless these past few days, especially before the disinfection began, with people from outside running upstairs every day.

They knocked on the doors of every house, and if they couldn't get them open, they would break them down or pry them open. Many empty houses were occupied by them.

We were the only family living on this floor before you came back. No one from your family or the two families across the street has returned.

They came and knocked on your door several times, including at your house. I was afraid they would occupy the house, so I found an excuse to deal with them.

Recently, they may have discovered that I had deceived them, so they came again and brought several people with them. I was a little worried..."

Before Shi Chen could finish his words, Cancan, who had recovered, started to interrupt.

"How bad! They beat my brother and also want to beat Cancan!"

The little girl may feel that she has gained confidence after meeting someone she knows.

It may also be that I haven't seen adults for a long time, and when I see them, I feel that someone is backing me up, and I am eager to complain to them.

"They have sticks, beat my brother! Bad guys! They want to get into the house!"

The three people's expressions suddenly changed.

"Are you hurt?" Gu Kai looked at Shi Chen and asked.

"It's okay." Shi Chen shook his head and acted disdainfully: "They are just pretending to be powerful. They become scared when I take out a knife."

After that, he looked at the three people again: “Uncle Gu, Aunt Shen, I made the door like this without your consent, do you mind?”

The house in Fulin is a two-elevator, four-family house. There is an elevator room in the middle, and there is a passage on each side of the elevator room, with a family at each end of the passage.

There is another door next to the elevator on the east side, leading to the stairwell.

The Shi Chen brother and sister sealed the area between the elevator and the passage on their side, which meant sealing his house and Shen Cong's house together.

This is easy to understand, because the brother and sister are too weak, and Shi Chen probably doesn't want Chen Cong's family to be occupied by outsiders.

If one less apartment on this floor is occupied, the living environment for the two of them will be safer.

"I don't mind, but my uncle's house has a more suitable door. Let's replace that door together later." Gu Kai said.

When he heard that there was a more suitable door, Shi Chen showed a surprised expression.

Gu Jiashu suddenly realized, "Brother, you bought an extra anti-theft door just to install it here! No way, can you two predict the future?"

When renovating the house, Chen Cong ordered a total of three anti-theft doors.

Two were installed at the main entrance, and there was a folding sliding door similar to those commonly used in street shops. After receiving the goods, it has been placed at home, and neither of the couple mentioned the installation.

Jiashu was surprised at first and asked his brother several times what the door was for and when it would be installed.

Gu Kai evaded all of them.

After a long time, he forgot about it.

I didn't expect that Gu Kai would bring it up again at this moment.

"What a prophecy. We wanted to install it at the entrance to the rooftop, but the property management didn't agree, so it has been sitting there uselessly.

It just so happens that it is available here. Come in and get to work. You are the only one who talks too much."

Jiashu was not angry when his cousin scolded him. After all, it was not the first time he had been scolded since he was a child.

He said "Oh" and followed the two people into the house, but he still felt that something was wrong.

Why install a sliding door on the roof? Wouldn’t it be afraid of rain if it was installed outdoors?

But since I'm not at ease now, it doesn't matter.

He threw aside all the mess in his mind and followed Gu Kai to lift the door down from upstairs.

Chen Cong took Cancan by the hand and brought her back home.

She took out a wet tissue from her bag and wiped the child's face, then took out a bottle of mineral water and handed it over.

The child said obediently: "Thank you."

Then he held the bottle and gulped down half of it in one breath. It was obvious that he was very thirsty.

But Cancan only drank half of the bottle before putting it down, then screwed the cap on carefully and placed it beside him carefully.

"You drink it. Auntie has some more here. I'll give it to your brother when he comes over later." Shen Cong said.

Cancan showed a shy expression, but shook her head: "No, just give mine to my brother."

After that, she looked at Chen Cong and said seriously: "Auntie, water is very expensive now, don't give it to others casually, cherish it."

The little girl's eyes were clearly black and white, shining brightly, and looked extremely pure.

But seeing this made Shen Cong feel sour again.

In fact, they didn’t have a close relationship with the Shi family before.

First of all, the couple had not lived here for long and were not very familiar with the neighbors.

Another reason is that Shi Chen was admitted to the No. 1 Middle School in the city two years ago.

No. 1 High School is the best high school in Bac Ninh, and every parent hopes that their children can be admitted.

But that school is located in the suburbs, it is an old campus, and the accommodation conditions are poor.

Therefore, many people start renting a house nearby to accompany their children from the day they are admitted, and continue to stay with them until their children are admitted to university.

The Shi family is also a family that allows children to study with their parents.

Therefore, it was unknown how many times Chen Cong and his family would meet in a year.

The house was being renovated before, and maybe it coincided with Shi Chen’s final exams, so they hadn’t seen the whole family during the entire renovation process.

This is also the reason why when they saw the door to the corridor was sealed, none of the three of them thought about the neighbors.

When Gu Kai and Gu Jiashu moved the door to the passage, Shi Chen came back from downstairs.

He had just gone out to fetch water, and halfway there he heard his sister crying, so he gave up the water and rushed up!

There was nothing I could do at this moment, so I had to ask again.

At this moment, he was holding the white oil barrel in one hand and a large mineral water barrel in the other.

I was so tired that I was sweating and panting.

The boy has not fully grown yet and is still in high school, studying hard. He looks tall and thin, like a bamboo pole propped up by his clothes.

The T-shirts were all clanking on my body.

After carrying up the two buckets of water, the boy's lips turned white with exhaustion.

The veins on the back of his hands were bulging.

Seeing him like that, Jiashu was the first to notice the problem and asked, "Kid, have you eaten today?"

Shi Chen looked up at him, pursed his lips and did not answer.

Jiashu sneered, "You may be young, but you have a bad temper. I didn't even bother with you for hitting me just now, and you think I was being rude?"

He smiled again and patted Shi Chen on the shoulder: "Don't think too much, I don't mean to look down on you, it's just... I didn't hear clearly what my brother called you just now."

"Shi Chen." The young man replied coldly.

Jiashu didn't care about his attitude at all.

He asked again: "Shi Chen, have you eaten yet? Have you and your sister not eaten since this morning?"

"have eaten."

Seeing that his brother didn't say anything, Shi Can, who was following Shen Cong, answered for him: "I ate half a bowl of instant noodles. I'm full!"

She said this while rubbing her belly.

Half a bowl of instant noodles.

Can a 16 or 17-year-old boy, who is in puberty, be full with half a bowl of instant noodles?

Moreover, judging from Shi Chen's expression, it was very possible that he didn't eat it at all and saved the noodles for his sister.

Without saying a word, Jiashu went back to the house, took out a beef-filled pancake from his backpack, and stuffed it directly into Shichen's hand.

"Eat, then work."

The pancake had been kept in the bag for two days. Although it hadn't gone bad yet, it looked a bit unrecognizable.

The pancakes became soft.

But at this time, such pancakes are also a rare delicacy.

Shi Chen was about to refuse immediately.

Gu Kai stopped him and said, "Eat, and when you're done, come over and let's work together. These things have to be thrown downstairs. This is a physical job, and you can't do it without strength."

As he spoke, he pointed at the "big project" that Shi Chen had done before.

Shi Chen's face turned red. He did not refuse again, but reached out to tear the pancake. It was obvious that he wanted to share a portion with his sister.

"You eat it yourself. We Cancan don't eat that. We eat small bread." Shen Cong stopped him.

As she spoke, she tore open a small package of honey bread in her hand and put it to Cancan's mouth.

Shi Chen lowered his head, took a big bite of the pancake, and chewed it hard.

Use slightly exaggerated movements to hide the fragility that flashed across the eyes.

Shi Chen hadn't cried for a long time, and he only cried once after his parents died.

He always felt that his parents' death had something to do with him.

If it wasn't for accompanying him, the family wouldn't have moved to live near the school, and there wouldn't be no food stored at home.

If he hadn't had to take tutoring classes at school, they could have come back a few days earlier.

Parents no longer have to risk their lives rushing out to buy food for the family after the government has issued an earthquake warning.

if……

No matter how many ifs there are, it won’t help.

The moment he saw his parents' bodies being dug out of the supermarket, Shi Chen knew he no longer had the right to cry.

My parents are gone, the pillars of the family are gone, but the home cannot be gone.

As long as he is there, he has to take care of the family.

At the same time, we also have to shoulder the responsibility of having a bright future.

Shi Chen felt that he had been able to be very strong. He did not show any fear when facing such a group of evil people!

But Uncle Gu touched his head, and Aunt Shen gave his sister a small bread...which made his eyes wet again.

Shi Chen finished the pancake in just a few bites, and then the four of them worked together to throw all the construction waste downstairs.

They did not throw away the stones and planks, but stacked them neatly in the corridor, ready for future use.

It is said to be a backup, but to put it bluntly, it is just an excuse.

Because there are too many things and people are too tired, after all, this is the 19th floor!

I was almost exhausted after going up and down so many times with empty hands, not to mention having to move things.

At the end of the day, the three members of the Shen family valued Shi Chen even more. They felt that the tenacity of this child should not be underestimated.

The four of them were working so hard, but the garbage hadn't been completely thrown away. How did he carry it up there piece by piece?!

When asked, he simply said, "I used the biscuits to have someone help me lift the door."

But it’s not just the door that’s being moved up!

The two families had lunch together at noon, and they ate the food that Cheng Ru brought for them.

In the afternoon, they tidied up some odds and ends, and then several people worked together to fix the door. Shi Chen took the key and went home with his sister.

It was obvious that he was afraid that Chen Cong and the others would keep them for dinner again.

In order to take the children's feelings into consideration, the three of them did not stay this time.

The next day, none of the three went out and they all stayed at home to clean the house.

Although the house did not collapse, it does not mean that it was not damaged.

The earthquake came so suddenly that Chen Cong didn't even have the chance to come back early to tidy up the house, so the tragic situation in the house at this time can be imagined.

All the furniture was smashed to pieces, and the decorative paintings on the walls that had not been removed fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

The worst thing was the kitchen. Not only were the glass panels of the two sliding doors shattered, but several wall cabinets also fell down and smashed the kitchen countertop to pieces.

The only thing to be thankful for was that they moved all the kitchen utensils away when they moved to the villa, so they didn't have to see the scene of broken pots and pans all over the floor.

A water tank installed on the rooftop fell off the fixed rack, and the sharp corners of the metal poked into the gaps between the floor tiles, destroying the waterproof layer.

All the cameras installed outside flew away to who knows where, and several solar panels were blown off.

Gu Jiashu did not go out to find work, but worked upstairs with his cousin for the whole day.

Chen Cong was cleaning up the mess downstairs.

Fortunately, the couple had anticipated this situation before coming and had already informed their family that they would stay in the city for a few more days, so they were not in a hurry.

After Gu Jiashu had decided to find a relief center and sleep on a large dormitory bed, he was naturally less worried when he was blessed to have a big house to live in.

Although there were a lot of things to do, the three of them didn't feel too annoyed.

The next night, the work was finally almost done, and the three of them sat down and seriously discussed their next plans.

Gu Jiashu was the most optimistic among the three. He was the first to say, "Brother, sister-in-law, you don't have to worry about me. I am alone now. Not only do I have no burden, but I also have a place to live. I don't know how much better off I am than others!

You guys just stay at the villa, I don't need to worry about anything here, just take good care of the old man."

"Without this much food, what do you eat?" Shen Cong didn't listen to his nonsense and asked directly.

"I'll look for work tomorrow."

"What if I can't find one? You also said that if I want to find a job I have to register first and then wait for the assignment. If there's no suitable job, you'll just starve?"

"There won't be any suitable ones. If I can't find a permanent job, I'll just do part-time work."

Shen Cong shook his hand, interrupting his explanation.

Question: "You said the other day that grain prices have been rising and money is worthless. Does that mean that there are still people willing to sell grain, but the price is high?"

"Of course! The government is still here, and maybe one day they will regulate the market, and then the price will definitely come down.

By that time, wouldn't those who sell grain now make a lot of money? "

Gu Jiashu started out as a salesperson, so he knows a lot about these things.

"If I give you money, can you buy it?" Chen Cong waited patiently for him to say a few more words before asking.

“Should I be able to…right?”

Jiashu was a little uncertain: "Anyway, when I went to see you guys, I saw someone selling it. But the price was really expensive.

Even the most common rice in woven bags is now sold for 50 yuan per pound. It used to be sold for 2.5 yuan!"

Fifty yuan per pound.

It’s actually the same price as what Yingshui Village asked before.

Chen Cong and Gu Kai looked at each other, and both of them wanted to laugh.

They thought of--

If Xu Liang knew that they had maliciously raised the price in the beginning, and that the sky-high price they marked has now become the norm, and may even be sold at a lower price, wouldn't he be so angry that he would die!

Money is worthless, and the rice you have sold cannot be recovered no matter how much you want in the future.

Knowing that Jiashu might have a connection, Chen Cong walked into the house without saying a word, took out some money from the space and gave it to him.

"Tomorrow you can use this ten thousand yuan to buy food. Buy as much as you can. Buy whatever you can get. Don't be picky. Take everything, no matter how expensive it is. Don't be reluctant to spend."

Gu Jiashu was startled.

He never imagined that his brother and sister-in-law would carry so much cash when they went out.

He waved his hand quickly: "Sister-in-law, no need. How can I use your money? I still have some in my card..."

"Can you get the money in your card?" Chen Cong glanced at him.

Jiashu suddenly fell silent.

"We're not giving all of them to you. We just want to stock up as much as possible while you can still buy them. You can go and try first. If you can buy them, we still have money." She explained again.

Now Jiashu had nothing to say.

Because the earthquake came too suddenly, more than a week earlier than Chen Cong had expected, their family’s money was not spent in the end.

There are still hundreds of thousands left.

When Chen Cong left this money, he actually had some speculative ideas in mind.

She originally wanted to go back to the city with Gu Kai after the aftershock, and then go to the jade shop in the antique market to buy some jade pieces that were damaged by the earthquake.

After all, they used jade only to set up the formation and didn't care whether it was intact or not.

I believe the price of those jade fragments will definitely be very cheap.

But no one expected that the big earthquake would be followed by aftershocks, catching people off guard.

This time they still wanted to go to the antique market, but the couple knew that it was unlikely that they could exchange money for jade now.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to exchange as much money as possible for food.

Although Chen Cong knew that it would be impossible to get much in return by buying from the market like Jiashu.

But any change is good, at least the money can be of some use before it becomes waste paper.

The author has something to say:

There will be another chapter tomorrow during the day, I really haven’t finished writing it yet.

I will still try my best to update on weekends!

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-07-07 23:21:14~2022-07-08 23:25:35~

Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Yimeng 2; Yiyun, Mmm 1;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 1 bottle of Materialism;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!