Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Choice
*
"Thank you! Thank you for the medicine, thank you for the fans and cooling patches. Thanks to you, the children were able to sleep well today. I, I thank you on their behalf."
The yard was shrouded in thick fog and it was dark and gloomy, but Zhou Qin's eyes were the only ones that were glistening with tears.
She was of small stature and had a choked voice. She stood side by side with Wei Qianlan, looking at Gu Mengran and others intently and sincerely, then bent down and bowed solemnly.
"No, no, no, don't do this!"
Before they could bend their waists, a pair of hands suddenly supported their shoulders.
Meng Gaoyang's brows were knitted so tightly that they could pinch a mosquito to death. After the two men stood up again, he let out a long sigh and shouted anxiously, "What's wrong with young people nowadays? They have to give such a big gift just to say thank you."
Wei Qianlan: "Grandpa, you guys have helped a lot, this is due to——"
"Why should you agree? Girls, it's just a small favor for us. You are the kind people who take care of so many children at this critical moment!" Meng Gaoyang admired the two girls from the bottom of his heart and was so moved that his eyes became red as he spoke.
Zhou Qin tried to hold back her tears and sniffed, "Grandpa, you're joking. We're not really kind or righteous, but we just can't bear it..."
"Good girls, they are all good girls!"
"How many children are there in your school? Aren't their parents here to pick them up?" Gu Mengran was not as sentimental as his grandfather. He was only interested in understanding the situation and went straight to the point without hesitation.
Zhou Qin's shoulders were shaking so badly that she couldn't speak for a while.
Wei Qianlan patted her arm and sighed softly, "Our school is not big, with no more than 100 students, including the kindergarten teachers and students. After the yellow fog broke out, the small and medium classes were suspended, and only our large class was still in class as usual."
"Of course, many parents were worried and asked for leave for their children. Only 14 children came to class on the day of the earthquake. The earthquake came very quickly and violently. The teaching building collapsed. Fortunately, we were in the activity room at the time and were lucky enough to escape."
Wei Qianlan pointed to the left front, but it was pitch black and she could not see anything.
"Fourteen," the old man looked through the window into the dark activity room and muttered to himself, "What about the other children..."
Wei Qianlan: "It's okay, everything is okay. After the earthquake, six children were picked up by their parents one after another, and the parents of the remaining eight children have not come yet. I guess..."
The words were not finished, but everyone understood.
No one will abandon their loved ones, except Gu Decheng and the dead.
The heavy topic made the yard quiet for a moment, and the depression spread silently.
Gu Mengran was sweating even when standing there. He wiped his forehead, lowered his eyes to look at the sweat on his palms, and asked softly, "What are you going to do next? Do you plan to stay here?"
"I don't know." Wei Qianlan shook her head, confusion evident in her eyes.
"When you came here, you should have seen that there is still a building in the garden that has not collapsed. It is the newly built canteen at the back. Zhou Qin and I checked it out. There is no major problem with the house. There is still a lot of rice, flour and oil inside, which is enough for us to survive for a while.
We originally planned to move in with our children, but the parents who came to pick up their children and the aunties from the kindergarten taught us a lesson: the house didn’t collapse, but people’s hearts had already collapsed.”
Zhou Qin couldn't hold back any longer, and tears started to fall down her cheeks.
She stubbornly refused to let anyone see her, and covered her face with her hands, crying: "They were like bandits entering the village, rummaging through the building and taking whatever they saw! They didn't care about the children's lives at all, and took away all our food."
The old man was so angry that he yelled, "Beast! A beast that repays kindness with enmity!"
"How have you been spending these days?" Gu Mengran asked.
Wei Qianlan: "People often come here to look for things. Since we can't live in the cafeteria, we have to hide in the activity room. During the day, one of us looks for the children while the other goes to the ruins to look for food. We can barely make ends meet."
"But starting from the night before yesterday, the temperature suddenly went up and it was unbearably hot. There is a generator in the park, and we took great pains to move it here and install it, but after just one day of using the air conditioner, the generator broke down."
Zhou Qin gradually calmed down, rubbed her red and swollen eyes and sighed: "We don't know what to do. Zixuan got heatstroke after the power was cut off for half a day. If the temperature doesn't drop, the children won't be able to bear it."
"It broke down after just one day?" Gu Mengran raised his eyebrows. "Is the generator powered by diesel or gasoline? What kind of oil did you use?"
Wei Qianlan's eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation, "There are diesel and gasoline for generators? We, we use gasoline from the cars on the road."
If you don't come into contact with generators often, you really can't tell the difference. Gu Mengran pinched his chin thoughtfully, "I guess I added the wrong oil."
"Do you know anything about generators? Can you help fix it?" Zhou Qin asked.
His slightly red and swollen eyes were full of anticipation. Gu Mengran avoided his gaze, pursed his lips and fell into deep thought.
He could repair it, or at worst give them a brand new generator, but the question was, how long could the generator and air conditioner last? The temperature was getting higher day by day, and ordinary air conditioners were useless in such extremely hot days.
And even if they manage to survive the high temperatures, Linhuai City is still located in the lower reaches of the Huangjiang River. It won't be long before it becomes a vast ocean.
Ten adults might be able to turn a blind eye, but eight children, two girls... Gu Mengran had a headache.
Gu Mengran knew that he couldn't let good people burn out their passion and die with regret. So after a brief thought, he looked up at the two great teachers and said solemnly, "Leave. Staying here is not a solution. Two people work for ten mouths to feed. How long can you hold out if you can't wait for rescue?"
The two were stunned when they heard this, and were silent for nearly a minute. Zhou Qin was the first to speak: "To a city where there is no earthquake? But the fog is so thick, and we are carrying a group of children, how can we go?"
No earthquake? Hearing this, Gu Mengran realized that after the earthquake, communications were interrupted and news was blocked. Not everyone knew that this disaster was global.
There was no way to explain it clearly, so Gu Mengran reminded him in a roundabout way: "It's about the same. There may be rescue teams and bases in other cities. It's better to go out and look for them than to sit and wait for death. As for how to get there..."
Gu Mengran thought for a moment and said, "We are planning to go to Yinan now. If you don't mind, we can go together. We have a car and food, and we can help take care of the children on the way."
"Yinan? It's too far." Zhou Qin began to hesitate when she heard this.
"Your destination does not necessarily have to be Yinan. We will pass through many places on the way. You can stop at any time when you encounter a base or rescue personnel." Gu Mengran explained patiently.
There are cars and food, and the cars must have air conditioning. Wei Qianlan was very excited when she heard this and asked carefully for details: "How do you drive the car in such heavy fog? Do you have enough fuel? Is there enough food and water for everyone?"
Gu Mengran answered them one by one: "As long as we have a way to come from Shaozhou, we will have a way to leave. You don't have to worry about that. We have prepared a lot of fuel, food, water, and daily necessities. There is enough for us."
After the disaster, everyone was in danger and had no time to take care of themselves. Wei Qianlan knew how difficult it was to meet a group of enthusiastic people who were willing to lend a hand. There was only one chance. Once this group of people left, they would be trapped and die in Linhuai before they could be rescued.
To go or not to go?
Zhou Qin looked hesitant, and was clearly still hesitating. Wei Qianlan couldn't make a decision on her own. After careful consideration, she said to Gu Mengran, "When are you leaving? Can we discuss it?"
It was three o'clock in the morning. Gu Mengran glanced at the time and said, "Before the evening. You guys should discuss it first and agree to come to the camp to find us. If you don't want to leave, you don't have to make a special trip. We will leave before you can wait."
"We will come whether we leave or not. Thank you, thank you."
*
After leaving Sunshine Kindergarten, the three of them walked back dragging their tired bodies.
After climbing over the ruins, the kindergarten disappeared in the thick fog behind them. The old man immediately quickened his pace to catch up with Gu Mengran, twisting his head and asking, "Boy, where is your car?"
There were cars everywhere in the middle of the road. Gu Mengran pointed casually and looked at his grandfather with a smile, "Okay, pick whichever one you like. Don't be polite to me."
"Let's talk business, you're not serious!" The old man glared at him angrily, "Hurry up and tell me what you are planning. How are you going to take care of a group of five or six-year-old children? How about just putting them into the space and taking them away?"
"No, I can't."
Before Gu Mengran could speak, Liang Zhao decisively rejected the old man's proposal: "Grandpa Meng, the greenhouse is gone. The flowers in the greenhouse must face the storm and actively adapt to the environment. Mengran can't protect them forever. He must face reality."
Gu Mengran agreed with this very much and nodded solemnly: "Yes. And unless it is an emergency, the space must not be exposed."
The thick fog and flood made it impossible to drive a car or a boat, so it seemed that putting the children in the space was the best option. But the space was their last trump card, and it was the basis for Gu Mengran to ensure the safety of his family. If one more person knew about it, there would be an additional risk, and he could not take that risk.
"Tsk, this won't work, that won't work, then why don't you tell me how to solve this problem?" The old man was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks, "One by one, it's like playing charades. What if they come directly this afternoon? Are there more than ten of us going to walk together?"
Gu Mengran: "Grandpa, don't worry, I'm trying to find a solution."
The old man was stunned, "What do you want now?"
"yes."
"You kid! You were so confident just now, I thought you had a plan in mind, but...what should I do?"
There were no questions or doubts, and everyone seemed to agree that they should have taken the children away with them. Gu Mengran liked the feeling of being united with his family.
As for how to solve it...actually, they don't need to solve it.
Gu Mengran vaguely remembered that thick fog and high temperature did not exist at the same time.
The temperature rose sharply and the thick fog gradually dissipated, but this was not good news. Without the fog to block their view, they would face the scorching sun and experience the hottest summer in history.
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