Chapter 43 Flood [VIP]

Tang Tian and Shen Boyun went home separately. After talking with Tang Yi and Wei Mingxia, they decided to continue sleeping on the floor in the living room.

When the weather gets hot, just put the cooling equipment in and use it.

That morning, the sky was no longer raining and snowing, and the azure sky was mixed with a few strands of grayish white.

Tang Tian stretched lazily and went to the balcony. The thermometer had reached the 2-digit mark, which was the most comfortable temperature for Spring City in the past.

But she soon smelled a faint fishy odor in the air, and saw dense clumps of snow floating in the stream downstairs. She frowned and hurried back to the house.

Wei Mingxia gets up the earliest every day. At this moment, she is standing by the fireplace which is still burning, stirring the liquid in the bowl with chopsticks, preparing to make chive egg pancakes.

These leeks did not come from the system, but were grown by her using her supernatural powers in the constant temperature chamber. They grew one after another and could not be harvested all at once. This time, she had a full breakfast again.

The system said at the beginning that the place where ingredients are obtained will automatically change with the season.

But because there were so many different kinds of food that could be harvested, Tang Tian didn't pay much attention to it and just stored them in the warehouse.

It seems that the system has now switched to summer, and the probability of seasonal ingredients appearing has increased.

Tang Tian connected the battery, used the coffee machine and coffee beans she bought for free, then added the ice cubes she had stored, and made a cup of iced latte to drink slowly, while Tang Yi drank an Americano.

There was more water than snow outside, so the snow could be broken up. It was almost time for her to go shopping.

If he was forced and had to go in his previous life, Tang Tian, ​​who had supplies in this life, could be said to be confident and determined to act decisively.

While chewing the fragrant chive egg pancake, Tang Tian opened the warehouse and saw the kayaks and speedboats of various sizes that she had purchased in advance were quietly placed in the corner.

There are actually many means of water transportation, but ordinary people basically don’t have them at home.

So along the way, Tang Tian will probably see a lot of strange things: such as large plastic basins, rafts, and even a few swimming rings that can float.

In their previous life, Tang Haifeng and his men actually made a raft. Perhaps they also felt that it was not safe enough, so they let Tang Tian and other female relatives go out.

But this homemade tool was not sturdy after all. After Tang Tian went out for the several times using it, it was overturned by a big wave and completely fell apart. She never climbed out again.

"Tiantian, how about I go with you?"

The smallest vehicle they bought was also a two-seater, so the two sisters could go out together.

Tang Tian thought about it and shook her head:

"Our family is basically surrounded by enemies right now. We don't know if Qiu Hongwei and his men will suddenly attack again. Sister, you and Mom should stay home for now."

"And there's Tan Tan. There's water all over the place, and it's not convenient for him to go out. Let's stay here too, so that he can have some attack power."

Tan Tan tilted his head slightly, but seemed to realize that Tang Tian didn't want to take him out. He ran over with a howl and buried his head in Tang Tian's arms.

Wei Mingxia was a little worried. Just as she was about to speak, Tang Yi covered her mouth and smiled and said:

"It's okay. In my opinion, Tiantian won't go out alone in the end. I'm afraid there will be someone following her."

Tang Tian was speechless for a while, but didn't answer anything and looked at her sideways.

Wei Mingxia felt strange, but she didn't think much about it and just nodded in agreement.

The two of them stayed, not only to guard the house, but also to do many things:

For example, exercising, practicing weapons, and training Tantan. The former can also continue to practice wood-attribute abilities, especially the equipment purchased can also be activated.

…

Tang Tian took out the map, and this time the target was a commercial complex that was farther away.

The floodwaters are now around the fifth floor, and some tall buildings are beginning to emerge from the water, allowing us to explore.

While planning the route, a message suddenly came through the walkie-talkie.

It was sent by Li Feiyang. He saw from the windowsill that various props were floating outside, with people sitting or swimming on them, and his heart began to beat fast.

He has been living frugally these days, and with the help of official relief supplies, he lives a more comfortable life than ordinary people.

I even have the energy and leisure to do extra exercise, and in my spare time I will revisit the various apocalyptic novels in my collection.

He didn't read these novels for nothing, and having survived the extreme cold with great difficulty, he knew that this was the best time to buy them for free.

However, it was impossible to go out alone, it was too dangerous, so he naturally thought of Tang Tian, ​​his strong support.

Of course, he still offered his contribution first this time, otherwise why would the boss be willing to move?

Li Feiyang said he could contribute an inflatable kayak that could easily seat four people, which saved Tang Tian the trouble.

But Tang Tian hesitated. After all, she knew that Li Feiyang and his men were going out to look for food and drink, but she was going out to look for gold and jade.

After thinking about it, she politely declined Li Feiyang's invitation, but then changed the subject and asked him to invite the Shen family next door.

This was unfortunate. Li Fei was the second one, so he was not discouraged at all and quickly contacted the Shen family to discuss it.

But Tang Tian thought about it more and sent a message asking:

"You're going to go up there, but some of it is probably still underwater. You'll probably have to dive to get it."

Li Feiyang sighed:

"Isn't it? So this time when I went out, I didn't think about looking for much, just..."

, and then continued:

"How about this, I have some diving equipment at home that I can rent to you, but you have to exchange it for supplies."

"...Sister Tian, ​​you are my God!"

Li Feiyang was very excited because he had a diving certificate and could dive underwater to look for supplies.

However, there was no diving equipment in his rented house. After all, it was impossible for him to know in advance that there would be a major flood in the future.

Tang Tian's words really helped him a lot.

Li Feiyang quickly asked what supplies were needed, and Tang Tian replied:

"Gold, jade, jadeite, jewelry, etc. Money is fine, but it must be cash. No luxury goods."

Li Feiyang was in a dilemma. Although he did have such a thing, Tang Tian's requirements were a bit high.

However, he immediately decided to go to 1701 and show the display directly to the latter, and give them whatever they want!

Not long after, the two met at the door.

Li Feiyang scratched his head:

"Sister Tian, ​​these are all I have on hand right now. Take a look first!"

Although he said that, he still blinked his eyes, hoping that Tang Tian could rent the diving equipment to him.

Tang Tian looked around and saw phoenix turquoise bracelets, brooches, gold and silver pendant chains and rings, among other miscellaneous items.

After confirming with the system that these could all be paid for, she accepted them all with peace of mind and exchanged them for diving equipment.

Li Feiyang was secretly happy. These things could not even be exchanged for a pound of food now. No one wanted these things that could not be eaten or drunk, and there was no point in keeping them.

But if he could exchange it for diving equipment, then his chances of getting more supplies would increase!

Thinking of this, he greeted again:

"When it comes to jade and jadeite, my brother has collected the most. Unfortunately, he's in Area A now, too far from Area S, and there's no way to contact him..."

Area A is a full hundred kilometers away from Area S. In the absence of power and signal, it is indeed impossible to communicate smoothly.

And in the end times, if there is no news at all, it is equivalent to that person being gone.

…

Li Feiyang was very happy after getting the diving equipment. After saying goodbye to Tang Tian, ​​he didn't rush back, but went to 1702 and knocked on the door again.

Tang Tian returned to the room and immediately spent all the jewelry on gold coins, totaling tens of thousands of gold coins.

She quickly packed her backpack and did not forget the most important superpower.

Tang Tian has scanned the orange recipes and roughly divided them into several abilities:

There are water attributes, ice attributes, as well as interesting abilities such as purification, diving, furnace, and strengthening.

It's a pity that she currently only has three ability slots, otherwise she would definitely want all of them.

Strengthening is about strength, endurance and defense; as the name suggests, thirst quenching is about being able to stay thirsty without drinking water;

Purification can purify water, while the furnace can be used for forging, which is considered an auxiliary function.

After careful selection, she first chose diving and water-attribute abilities for this outing.

Tang Tian looked through the recipes for diving-related dishes, all of which used ingredients obtained from the [Water], such as stir-fried snails with soy sauce and king prawns in tomato sauce.

She unlocked all of them with the ingredients she had saved, but found that diving seemed to be a special skill. If the level was too low, it would not be of much use to her.

For example, the first two dishes are LV3 and LV4, and can only last for a quarter of an hour and half an hour. If you dive underwater to look for supplies, this time is not enough.

It seems that to make this kind of food, one must start with high-level ingredients.

So Tang Tian explored and soon unlocked a new delicacy:

【West Lake Fish With Vinegar Sauce】

[A classic dish, this combination of freshness, sweetness, and sourness is unforgettable. After eating, you gain the diving skill level 6, allowing you to breathe regardless of the water, for 100 minutes.]

Tang Tian: ...

No, is this considered a delicacy?

As a food blogger, Tang Yi has made this dish, and Tang Tian even went to Yucheng next door to check in and taste it. The taste... is indeed unforgettable.

Tang Tian continued to unlock unwillingly, but she soon discovered that the more advanced diving dishes seemed to be ingredients that only appeared in the ocean, and she had not yet unlocked the [Ocean] where to obtain ingredients.

Helplessly, she could only start with this West Lake Vinegar Fish!

It was time to prepare lunch. Wei Mingxia connected the induction cooker and Tang Yi went to prepare the food.

Since West Lake Vinegar Fish was the main dish, they first made two vegetarian dishes, and then a braised shrimp and a clam and winter melon soup.

Tang Tian prepared West Lake Vinegar Fish in the system and served it up. Upon closer inspection, the fish was fish, and the sauce covering it was sauce, but there was a clear gap between the two...

Tang Tian swallowed, but it was definitely not because she was greedy.

The three of them sat at the dining table. She picked up a piece of fish dipped in sauce with her chopsticks and put it directly into her mouth.

Well, the fish was at least cooked through, the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and minced ginger barely covering the fishy taste. The sweetness of the sugar and the sourness of the vinegar seemed to separate the fish, filling my mouth.

Tang Tian finished eating in silence. She finally had the ability to dive, and quickly filled a bowl of soup to rinse her mouth.

A classic dish, so scary!

…

After dinner, Tang Tian put on her backpack and went out with the inflated kayak. Before leaving, she did not forget to comfort Tan Tan.

I don’t know how much supplies other neighbors have, but at this point, unless they have been out and haven’t returned yet, they should all be staying at home to eat.

The corridor was still filled with a faint fishy smell, dried blood, and occasional human remains. The broken door had been closed tightly, so it was quiet all around.

However, at this moment, two people suddenly rushed over and fell to the ground.

Tang Tian looked closely and found that the people were Zhang Manxin and Yue Ming!

"Miss Tang! You must be out looking for supplies, right? Please bring me some back, anything you want! Please be magnanimous, don't be so magnanimous with us, we were really wrong before!"

Zhang Manxin had two big panda eyes and looked so thin that she was almost unrecognizable.

Ever since she became obsessed with money and gain, Yue Ming's reputation in Building 15 has been completely ruined. Only the residents of Building 1202 across the street forgave her because they have been neighbors for many years and they help each other.

We finally survived the extreme cold and got relief supplies, but now there is less help and our neighbors are unwilling to provide any more aid.

Qiu Hongwei and his men still wanted to collect protection fees, so the two of them were back to starving and living like beggars.

"Get out of the way."

Tang Tian refused outright and was about to go downstairs.

But Zhang Manxin half-crouched, grabbed one of her ankles, and begged again:

"Ms. Tang! If all else fails, let my son join you! At least let him find the supplies himself. We only need a little bit! I only have this one son. Even if I die, he can't die!"

Then, she suddenly started to kowtow like crazy, banging her head on the ground and begging continuously, her forehead turning red in a few seconds.

"Mom! Don't do this!"

Yue Ming also rushed over crying to stop her, but Zhang Manxin seemed to have not heard what others were saying. She just kept on kowtowing, and the color on her forehead became darker and darker.

The self-torture tactic was useless to Tang Tian, ​​and this was a special secret operation, so it was impossible for her to bring anyone with her.

Besides, it was Zhang Manxin's family, so he struggled to break free and continued to go downstairs.

Zhang Manxin didn't have the strength to get up, so she could only lie there and continue shouting, with countless tears still rolling down her eyes. This might be the only moisture they had left.

"Mom, they've been at odds with us for a long time, and they've even made enemies with Qiu Hongwei and the others. No matter how much you beg, it's useless! Why don't we go to Aunt Lin and beg her? It'll be more effective than this!"

Yue Ming had also lost a lot of weight, with long slicked-back hair and a beard, looking disheveled and sloppy. He spoke angrily with red eyes.

The Aunt Lin he mentioned is the resident of 1202, but recently she has been finding excuses to ignore them.

Zhang Manxin bit her lips with tears in her eyes, as if she was about to bleed, and then she punched her fist angrily:

"I really shouldn't have come to her for help... Now there's someone else in charge of the building, and they're so powerful. I don't believe she can survive here forever!"

"Mingming, when the time comes, you can go find Qiu Hongwei and join them to make a living. When you go to the Tang family, you can avenge your mother!"

It doesn't matter where this hatred comes from.

As long as you see others living well while you are not, jealousy and resentment will be like a surging river, and it will be out of control.

…

The further down you go, the more water stains there are on the floors, and the windows at the end of the corridor are broken.

Finally, we reached the fifth floor, where half of it was flooded. The bluish-white water surface was slowly rippling, and the air was filled with a damp stench.

Seeing that the window was broken, Tang Tian put down the kayak in his hand and floated on the water. Just as he was about to sit on it, someone shouted from above his head:

"Beauty, wait a minute!"

Tang Tian tilted her head and saw several men of different ages coming down the stairs quickly, their eyes fixed on the kayak, their eyes full of brilliance.

Most people don’t have kayaks or speedboats at home, so they were stunned when they saw this.

One of the men, who looked older, continued to ask:

"Beautiful lady, I see there's room for another person on your kayak. Can you take me with you? If we find some supplies, you take 70% and I take 30%. How about that?"

"Then I'll be there as soon as I'm done, take me with you!"

"no."

Looking at this auction-like scene, Tang Tian said coldly.

The men's expressions changed slightly, and they were immediately dissatisfied, but they still said patiently:

"Can you bring me some supplies? I'll trade them with yours!"

Tang Tian didn't answer, turned over and sat on the kayak, picked up the universal paddle and started paddling, drifting out of the window.

The man became furious in an instant and was about to yell when another group of people came down from upstairs.

The leader said loudly:

"Don't worry, everyone. If she doesn't help, I'll help!"

When people saw who was coming, they cheered:

"Great! It's Building Director Qiu! We're saved!"

"I didn't expect Building Director Qiu also has a kayak. He has to take me with him this time!"

"We're all neighbors, yet you refuse to help us. You're so mean! The building manager is the best to us!"

Tang Tian raised her eyebrows, turned around and met Qiu Hongwei's eyes.

The latter was about thirty years old, his narrowed eyes revealing a shrewd look. He was much cleaner and more respectable than the average person, worthy of being a figure who controlled hundreds of people.

She was wearing a medical mask, goggles, and a hooded raincoat, but she looked more like a woman than in the extreme cold.

Could this be the Tang Yi on the roster?

No, that's not right. Choi Soo-young said that there are three people in their family, including two young girls.

Tang Tian turned around again and walked out of the building.

She knew that Qiu Hongwei did it on purpose, with the intention of making her the target of public criticism in the entire building.

But she was already like that in the extreme cold, so could she still be afraid of these things?

Qiu Hongwei looked at Tang Tian's back as she walked away, his face gloomy.

Since those who had attacked at night had not returned, he knew the result. He thought the bodies had been dealt with as well.

It was the locksmith who escaped first who came to report with a panicked look on his face, and even advised him not to confront him head-on.

What kind of magical powers does the Tang family have?

And today he really wanted to go out to look for supplies. Although he didn't have diving equipment, as the flood increased, many supplies were floating on the water, and maybe he could salvage some.

Since you are in charge of these survivors, supplies are also essential.

He had found the kayak because he thought the snow would melt, and they also had a homemade raft. They would go out together as a small team.

Just as they were marking out the buildings in a mighty procession, Tang Tian was about to mark out Hexinyuan.

There were still some pieces of snow that had not completely melted on the water surface, and she broke them up with the paddle.

Then there are all kinds of garbage: branches and leaves, plastic, furniture debris, etc.

Especially the various body parts thrown away, the stench they emitted was so strong that you could almost smell it even with a medical mask on.

Tang Tian thought about the direction on the map and continued forward.

After leaving Hexinyuan, there was even more garbage: road signs, tiles, billboards, and even parts of vehicles, all passed by her in the flow of the flood.

I continued rowing and could vaguely see other people.

Some were riding rafts, others were kayaking. Some were even standing in the windows of buildings, but relying on their good swimming skills, they jumped out and swam to other buildings.

Some people saw Tang Tian paddling a kayak and waved and called out, wanting to give her a ride or rescue her, but she ignored them.

The kayaking speed was not slow. After two hours, she was about to reach the commercial building. It seemed that she could already see the glittering glass wall from afar.

Tang Tian stopped for a moment, took out a telescope to observe, and saw that there were several large hovercrafts and lifeboats parked next to the building!

She frowned, wondering if another group had gotten there first?

Tang Tian thought about it and finally rowed slowly to the side.

The closer she got, the more she saw that the vehicles were adorned with national flags, which looked quite unusual...

"Please stop immediately!"

The sound from the loudspeaker made Tang Tian pause, and a small boat quickly swam over to the side, with two soldiers in uniform, helmets, and guns across their shoulders sitting on it.

They saluted and reminded:

"Sorry, we are working now, please take a detour!"

Tang Tian looked back and saw that there were boats and people outside the building salvaging supplies from the water. There were also several entrances on the glass wall, so they must have gone inside to look for useful supplies.

These are all official ships and official personnel. It seems that I can't go in and buy for free.

Moreover, in the future, I am afraid that more and more commercial areas like this will be targeted and searched by the authorities.

Although most of the supplies we received were used as relief supplies, it was still not as fast and convenient as buying them for free.

Seeing that Tang Tian didn't say anything or leave, the soldier sighed, moved closer, and handed her something.

Tang Tian looked down and found that it was a pack of compressed biscuits.

"Go ahead. There are several official shelters in S District now. You can go there on your own. They can accommodate everyone."

"If you really can't go, please try your best to stay alive. Once the flood recedes, there will be more help."

Officials will definitely not be persuaded by any persuasion or threats, and will only follow the rules and obey orders.

Tang Tian had no choice but to nod and accept it, and prepared to go around to see if there were any new places to buy things for free.

But the other party seemed to realize that she was a girl going out alone, and couldn't help but remind her:

"Recently, water bandits have appeared in many places. They specialize in committing crimes in groups, robbing passers-by. Regardless of whether they have supplies, they will kill them all. Their attitude is extremely cruel."

"It's better to have someone with you when you're outside, or try to return to a shelter as soon as possible, that way it's safer."

Speaking of pirates, Tang Tian had some memories.

She had heard about it from her temporary teammates or passers-by during her previous drifting trips in her previous life.

But she didn't encounter them yet, and instead died in the flood. But it seems that this group of water bandits should be even more brutal.

If the authorities were not actively searching for supplies, they would probably have gone to suppress the bandits first.

The golden sun emerged from the clouds, and for some reason it was unusually hot, and I felt even hot and humid in the water.

No wonder the snow melted so quickly, is there something wrong with the sunlight?

Tang Tian took out the regional map that he had taken great pains to print out, unfolded it and looked at it, feeling delighted.

Although the commercial building has been occupied, there is always a shortage of shops nearby such places.

But most of them are flooded, and only high places can be found.

For example, a few hundred meters away, there is a large store selling gold jewelry with famous brands!

Tang Tian immediately put away the map, picked up the paddle and rowed excitedly in that direction.