Chapter 239 Acid Rain (Exclusively Published on Jinjiang Literature City)
The Lu family.
The Li family, the Zhang family, and Lu Xuan, Lu Qing, and others stood together in front of the large window in the Lu family's living room, looking at the torrential rain outside.
Heavy, dense rain relentlessly lashed the sunshade outside the Lu family's residence, obscuring the view of those inside. However, several drones that Lu Xuan had deployed beforehand clearly captured the changes brought about by the downpour.
Through the magnified screen, those present could clearly see that the plastic sunshades erected in front of each household in the village had developed many tiny holes under the strong acid rain, and these holes were growing larger and more numerous at an extremely rapid pace.
The Lu family's awning is more sturdy than others', as it is made of polycarbonate panels, similar to those used in greenhouse processing sheds.
However, this material is also susceptible to corrosion from acid rain, but the corrosion rate is not as fast as that of fabric, and it can last for about three to five days longer.
Zhang Chengming gasped in disbelief, "Is acid rain really that powerful? If someone ran outside in the rain, wouldn't their skin get soaked and rotten?"
Ye Ping, Wu Yinyin, and the other women couldn't help but rub their arms, saying, "It shouldn't be that bad, right?"
"It might not be that bad," Lu Xuan said.
When it first started raining, he collected some rainwater and tested its composition with a testing device he bought from the mall. He found that it was extremely corrosive.
Ordinary acid rain may only cause skin redness and itching, or in more severe cases, blisters or rashes. However, acid rain during a catastrophic event can actually cause skin ulceration.
Getting rain into your eyes can cause permanent damage, and inhaling acid rain components or consuming food or water that has been exposed to acid rain can be life-threatening.
After hearing Lu Xuan's explanation, the others couldn't help but gasp repeatedly.
The viewers in the live stream also shook their heads.
I thought that with last year's experience, this year's rainy season would be easier, but I didn't expect the disaster to escalate.
Li Jing asked worriedly, "So, rainwater can't be collected and used either?"
The villagers had collected a lot of water in advance for business purposes, which was fine, but other disaster victims were just waiting for the rain so they could have free access to water.
Now the rain is finally falling, but it's acid rain that corrodes the skin; it's unusable for drinking, let alone bathing.
Li Tuo, however, seemed unconcerned. "Brother, have you forgotten? Didn't Brother Lu say that acid rain doesn't fall every day?"
Li Tie took out the dates for acid rain that Lu Xuan had mentioned, which he had written down in advance, and said, "This acid rain will last for three days, and then it will be ordinary rain for the next two days."
Two days of heavy rain provided enough water to collect for drinking.
Miao Jinfeng was still a little worried, "When it rains acid rain, I'm afraid we won't be able to go out to pick fruit or hunt, right?"
Wu Yinyin said confidently, "Wild vegetables and mushrooms will definitely be inedible after being rained on. Picking them will be a waste of time. Animal fur will also be corroded after being wet, and in severe cases, it will rot into the meat and become inedible."
Lu Qing, who was about to give birth, carefully held her belly and said, "Even if we can still eat meat, we might get caught in the rain while hunting, which is too risky. We're not short of meat, so there's no need to take the risk."
Li Tie frowned. "Hunting can indeed be put on hold for now, but we need people in the fields every day, and the raincoats probably won't withstand the corrosion..."
Lu Xuan said, "Change into corrosion-resistant protective clothing and wear a helmet to cover your whole body. It won't have much of an impact if you just go out briefly."
Li Tie's brow relaxed. "That's true."
During their conversation, most of the sunshades outside had been corroded and could no longer be maintained, and some had collapsed one after another.
Li Tie noticed that some people still had uncollected jars or other supplies in their sheds, so he quickly called them and told them to collect their belongings before the sheds were completely corroded.
As for the corrosion-resistant protective clothing, since it was inconvenient for the villagers to go to the grocery store to exchange it, Lu Xuan went the extra mile and used a drone to deliver it to each household.
The villagers, now equipped with new gear, quickly returned to their daily activities.
I wouldn't dare say they're just wandering around outside, but at least they should clean up the shed that's been corroded beyond recognition, and then the children can go to school and the young adults can go to training.
A living person can't just die from holding in their pee; they still need to get back to their daily routines.
The village quickly returned to its normal rhythm of life, and apart from the occasional sigh of annoyance at the acid rain, it did not cause any other substantial damage.
In contrast, other areas where disaster victims gathered were more chaotic.
Luochuan.
The people in the city were in high spirits as the temperature began to drop, and when the large raindrops started to fall, cheers could be heard everywhere.
Some people couldn't wait to run out of their homes and get a good soaking in the rain.
The others were horrified. "Are you crazy? Come back! This is acid rain! Have you forgotten what the notice from the government office said?!"
"What acid rain?" The disaster victims who ran out were still grinning and spreading their arms to soak in the rain, but soon they felt a burning pain in their arms.
Looking down, I noticed several holes in my sleeve, and acid rain dripped through them onto my skin, causing a burning pain.
As the clothing became more corroded, the pain began to emanate from the shoulders, waist, abdomen, thighs, and other areas.
The disaster victims were so frightened that they scrambled to the nearest rooftop, their faces showing both pain and panic.
"What happened to me? My clothes are all soaked and my whole body aches!"
The other disaster victims, who dared not get too close to the eaves, were speechless.
"The government had already notified us that the first three days of rain were acid rain, which is corrosive and very dangerous. They told us not to go out in the rain, and if we had to go out, we had to cover our heads with something. This is life-saving information. Didn't you pay attention to it?"
A flood victim, soaked by the rain, said anxiously, "It was so hot before, I stayed at home every day and haven't gone out for a long time."
Feeling the increasingly intense burning pain on their bodies, and seeing the dense blisters forming on the backs of their hands completely exposed to the rain, the disaster victim looked terrified: "What should I do now that I'm soaked? Will I die?"
A kind-hearted disaster victim took out a tube of ointment from his pocket.
"This is a medicated ointment I bought from the clinic in advance. I heard it can treat skin damaged by acid rain. You can use it first, and I'll exchange it for one later."
The other person took the ointment with a look of ecstasy and quickly applied it to their hands, arms, shoulders, and other areas that were in severe pain.
Almost as soon as it was applied, a cooling sensation spread across the skin, and the pain quickly subsided.
The other party immediately breathed a sigh of relief, his face full of relief at surviving a disaster.
However, not all disaster victims were as fortunate as the other person to encounter a kind person who delivered medicine.
The government office.
Upon learning that many people in the city had suffered from acid rain and were experiencing health problems, Liu Wenchi quickly arranged for the government officials to put on the anti-corrosion protective suits they had previously obtained from Lu Xuan and to go to provide assistance with ointment.
While helping out, Li Jingli couldn't help but complain, "The notice was sent out a long time ago, why don't these disaster victims listen to advice and insist on going out in the rain?"
Liu Ziming, who was also busy coordinating manpower, sighed, "There's nothing we can do. With hundreds of thousands of people in the city, there are bound to be places that aren't properly notified."
Furthermore, after months of waiting for rain, it's quite possible that people might forget about acid rain in their excitement.
All they can do is try to minimize the losses.
Li Jingli shook his head, looking helpless. "They don't even value their own lives. These people have only been together for a short time and have already lost their vigilance. If something really happens, they'll have their day to cry about."
While the Luochuan government was busy rescuing people all over the city, the situation in the other gathering places that Lu Xuan had visited was relatively good.
Licheng is not particularly short of water due to its geographical location, so its desire for rain is not so intense.
Even if they were tempted by the rainwater, they would only take out a basin to collect it. Then they would quickly discover that the wooden basin changed color and even developed small holes after collecting the rainwater. Realizing something was wrong, they would quickly throw away the water and stay far away from the rainwater.
Yangshan County was the first place in the area to receive the date of the catastrophe from Lu Xuan, so it paid special attention to every abnormal weather event.
Several days before the acid rain arrived, Grandpa Chen and others repeatedly instructed everyone to stock up on anti-corrosion ointments, emphasizing that they should not go out after the rain. They also used corrosion-resistant materials, and the mobile modular units they had the most of built extended corridors.
With this corridor, although people in the community dared not get wet in the rain, their range of activities was not greatly restricted.
If you accidentally get caught in the rain, you can quickly apply the ointment you carry with you to prevent the injury from worsening.
Despite these preparations, accidents still could not be completely avoided, but with only a little over a hundred injured out of more than 70,000 people, they had done the best they could.
As for Feng County.
Apart from the people Ye Feiluan arranged to stay in the greenhouse two days in advance to facilitate the operation of the agricultural drone, the rest of the people were either eating and sleeping at home or engrossed in playing in the holographic world while the acid rain was falling.
The disaster victims in Fengxian County had already survived numerous battles, and no one would act as foolishly as the people of Luochuan after receiving advance notice of the disaster.
The greenhouse has yielded several harvests, and everyone has enough food to last at least ten days, half a month, or even several months.
Since there's plenty of food, they can simply stay home as long as the acid rain continues.
I'm really getting restless, so I'll wait a few days until it rains normally and then go out for a stroll before going back home to stay cooped up.
Ye Feiluan is not a saint. If someone insists on going out in the rain against advice, whether they die or get injured is their own choice, and he will not care.
The seemingly passive approach actually resulted in almost no one in Fengxian County being injured by acid rain.
Similarly, the capital city was also very comfortable.
Lu Xuan's miraculous feat left a deep impression on the people of the capital.
The new emperor issued an imperial edict in the name of Yunxian Marquis receiving guidance from an immortal, explaining the acid rain issue, and no one among the people dared to ignore it.
When acid rain falls, apart from a few mischievous kids who went out to play when no one was looking and got soaked and cried loudly, there were basically no other accidents.
After contacting acquaintances in various gathering places and confirming that the problem was not serious, Lu Xuan stopped worrying about it.
However, these large settlements were able to remain safe thanks to the various supplies and information provided by Lu Xuan, while other settlements were different.
The towns that the able-bodied people had visited were fine, but the settlements in Yunlu Village, which they had never been to before, knew nothing about acid rain. The disaster victims rushed into the rain without any precautions... and the result was predictable.
To prevent other settlements from suffering heavy losses due to acid rain, Huo Tiankuo, who had been busy suppressing internal unrest during the hot season, rushed to towns and cities large and small that had not yet been able to re-establish contact to provide relief.
There wasn't enough time to explain the disaster, the change of dynasty, or the local forces; at least we could send them some medicine to address their immediate needs.
However, this greatly increased the demand for the ointment, so they had to ask Lu Xuan to increase their orders.
Huo Tiankuo looked at Lu Xuan on the other end of the screen with shame, "I already troubled you once before, and I didn't want to bother you again..."
Lu Xuan didn't take it to heart. "I said that last time it was just a mutually beneficial arrangement, and the general doesn't need to take it to heart. This time is the same."
Huo Tiankuo thought Lu Xuan was just saying polite words to avoid making him feel guilty, so he sincerely thanked him again.
In reality, Lu Xuan wasn't just saying that for show.
Putting aside the fact that this ointment wasn't given away for nothing, just consider the last time Huo Tiankuo discovered a county town completely occupied by evil forces and led troops to suppress it by force. The reason Lu Xuan went there specifically to help was ultimately to increase the recommendation effect.
Lu Xuan only discovered later that although the 72-hour pop-up reward could be recommended in three installments, it was not indefinitely postponed, but had to be used up within two months.
If he were to simply broadcast the daily life in the village, it would be a waste of the recommendation effect. He contacted his acquaintances in various settlements and discovered Huo Tiankuo's suppression plan. He immediately arranged the second recommendation for the day of the operation.
Not only did it allow viewers in the live stream to witness an authentic battle from ancient times, but it also used various superpowers to assist viewers as they expected, giving them a glimpse of violent aesthetics.
As for the last recommendation, Lu Xuan placed it on the day of the Crown Prince's contract with the Vampire Vine.
Both recommendations were fairly effective, but perhaps because the interval between the two recommendations wasn't long, the increase wasn't as significant as the first one.
After using up all 72 hours, Lu Xuan did not manage to push his fan count to 5 billion in one go, but instead stopped at 4.2 billion, while his online count just exceeded 20 billion, and his total points balance recovered to over 11 billion.
Therefore, Huo Tiankuo really didn't need to thank him. On the contrary, Lu Xuan gave Huo Tiankuo a discount, selling a large batch of ointments at an 80% discount.
·
After the rainy season began, the temperature dropped to below 20 degrees Celsius.
This year's rainy season has seen almost no light rain, but rather begins with torrential downpours, followed by a continuous cycle of heavy rain, torrential rain, torrential downpours, heavy rain, heavy rain, and torrential rain every day.
The heavier rainfall than last year caused the village to flood rapidly. In less than five days, all the villagers, including Lu Xuan, had to move to a large boat.
The Lu family still lives on the No. 1 boat from last year, but the rest of the villagers have moved to a larger and more comfortable boat that the village chief bought with 200,000 jin of public property, which can carry more than 500 passengers.
A group of women looked at the cabin, which was more spacious than last year, with rather excited expressions.
Grandma Lin sighed, "Last year I lived on the boat for more than two months, and I was quite used to being on the water the whole time. Now that I'm going to start living on the water again, I kind of miss it."
Looking at the guest room with a double bed and plenty of room, Aunt Liu said happily, "This year is different from last year. Isn't this room much more spacious than the No. 2 ship?"
Aunt Zhang smiled and said, "After all, it's a new boat that cost several times more, so of course it's bigger."
Miao Jinfeng said, "The more public supplies accumulate, the more they just sit there. Buying a big ship would make everyone more comfortable, instead of being stuck in small rooms all day. It's really stifling after a while."
The others nodded in agreement.
However, the water level is currently less than two meters high, so the boat cannot float yet.
While it's called starting a life on the water, it's actually not much different from living on land.
Given the tonnage of the new ship, it will need to wait until the floods actually arrive and the water depth reaches at least ten meters before it can float.
·
Almost immediately after the villagers of Yunlu Village moved onto the boats, the disaster victims at Huo Family Army Camp also moved into the boats that Huo Tiankuo had previously purchased, as the ground began to flood.
The area where Huo Jiajun's camp is located is at a higher altitude than Yunlu Village, so there is no need to worry about the greenhouses being flooded.
But when the civil official sent by the new emperor to manage the camp came to Yunlu Village during a normal drizzle to check on the situation, he was shocked.
It's not surprising that the villagers moved to the boat, but... where did all those houses in the village go?
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