Chapter 29 Chapter 29 The Strange Survivor
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An hour ago, it was Gu Mengran who was dumbfounded.
An hour later, the person who was dumbfounded turned out to be the owner of the house, Zheng Yijie.
The door was wide open, and the dark stairwell was illuminated by a strong flashlight. On the stairs, one by one, the children lined up in a long queue and walked down the stairs slowly under the guidance of two young girls.
12345……
Zheng Yijie stood at the door and counted, he was stunned and felt very sad.
The number of the other party was far beyond his expectations, and Zheng Yijie regretted agreeing to let them stay temporarily.
It’s not that we feel sorry for the supplies because of the large number of people, but with such a large group of people, most of whom are children who cannot take care of themselves, can they really take themselves out of this city safely?
The trip lasted more than a week, and the children were exhausted because they didn't have a chance to rest. After getting off the bus, they walked for a while in the hot weather. All the children were exhausted and had sad faces, and the joy they had before the trip was long gone.
The dark and narrow staircase looked eerie and scary, and the children felt completely unsafe.
After moving the supplies, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao came to help. One holding the other, they finally walked down the stairs and lined up to walk to the security door. The fat boy Zhang Zixuan, who had previously suffered from heatstroke, could no longer bear it. His shoulders shook violently and he burst into tears.
The emotions that had been accumulated for a long time turned into a violent storm, spreading out at a speed faster than lightning. For a moment, the basement was like a boiling pot, and the loud cries were deafening.
“Wow…it’s so dark in here, I don’t want to go in!”
"Teacher, where are you taking us, Mr. Zhou?"
"I don't want to go out to play anymore, Mom, I want Mom, woo woo woo..."
…
Emotions are contagious. Once they start, they can't be stopped. Eight children crying together, the scene was - uncontrollable chaos.
All the adults joined in and it took nearly ten minutes of coaxing and tricking the children into coming into the house.
Of course, you can go back to the house and cry as usual.
The piercing cries were so loud that they hurt people's ears. Gu Mengran rubbed his swollen temples and pretended to rummage through the pile of supplies that had just been brought in, but in fact he took out a large bag of candies from the space and gave them to Zhou Qin to distribute.
The children were fed up with the snacks, and candies didn't work. The eight children seemed to be wearing the same pants. If one of them was still crying, the others would follow suit.
This mental torture lasted for a long time. The two teachers were helpless, and everyone else was even more helpless.
Gu Mengran even thought about crying, since he would stop crying when he was tired. And just at this moment, Zheng Yiji, who had always had little presence, walked out from the aisle with a huge cardboard box in his arms.
The cardboard box was gently placed on the coffee table in the living room, and Zheng Yijie raised his hand and patted it twice.
The applause attracted the attention of some children. He took advantage of the situation and suddenly raised his voice and said, "Children, congratulations on successfully arriving at the first stop of this journey, Shancheng! I heard that you were very good and obedient along the way, and didn't make any noise or trouble, so your uncle carefully prepared gifts for you."
Zheng Yijie's superb acting skills, coupled with his deliberately quirky voice, immediately aroused the children's interest.
Some of the other children looked at him while crying. The little fat boy, who was the first to cry, sniffed and looked at the cardboard box and said in a muffled voice, "Gift? What, what gift?"
Zheng Yijie smiled and shook his head: "Uncle said that the gifts are specially prepared for obedient children. Now you are crying and making a fuss, so the gifts don't belong to you. But you behaved very well on the way, so uncle will give you one more chance. Dry your tears within five minutes, and the gifts will still be yours."
No child can resist the temptation of a gift. Before she finished speaking, the little boy curled up in Zhou Qin's arms and sobbed, hiccuped and looked at Zheng Yijie with tearful eyes, "Then, then uncle, you have to show us what the gift is first."
First see if the gift suits your taste, and then decide whether to continue crying?
Gu Mengran was amused by the child and laughed out loud.
Zheng Yijie was very comfortable with it. He raised his index finger and shook it, "No, the gift is a secret for now. But uncle can tell you a little bit. It's not a snack, but a toy."
"Wow, a toy?" The little fat boy's eyes lit up and he immediately raised his hand to wipe his tears. His face was covered with snot and tears. Zhang Zixuan raised his nose and stretched out his hand to Zheng Yijie, "Uncle, I am good, I am the best, can you give me a present?"
"Of course, all obedient children will have gifts."
Zheng Yijie opened the carton slowly, as if in a slow-motion shot, deliberately slowing down his movements so that each step seemed particularly long.
The crying and shouting gradually weakened. The children had been whetted for a long time. With snot and tears hanging down their faces, they completely forgot to cry and stretched their necks to stare at the cardboard box intently.
It took him three full minutes to open an unsealed carton, and the noisy living room fell completely silent. Seeing this, Zheng Yijie finally sped up, opening the carton in a few seconds and taking out several boxes of Lego bricks with different patterns printed on them.
Transformers, trucks, excavators...
The living room was boiling like boiling water.
"Uncle, I want Doraemon!"
"Uncle, can I have an excavator?"
"Castle, uncle, I like that beautiful castle."
The children burst into laughter and lined up obediently to receive their Lego toys. Their joyful laughter dissolved the dull and depressing atmosphere.
Gu Mengran was amazed. This guy really knew how to coax children.
After settling the children, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao made two more trips to move all the luggage in the car back to the basement.
Tired and hot, Gu Mengran returned to the basement and slumped on the ground, too tired to even move a finger.
There aren't that many rooms in the basement, so we can only squeeze in at night.
Fortunately, when they went out to move the luggage, the two teachers were not idle either. With the approval of the homeowner, they took the old man to lay the patchwork mats on the ground for the children to play with Lego and also for them to rest and sleep at night.
After the work was done, all that was left was to fill their stomachs and how long they could rest here.
There was a faint fragrance in the air. Gu Mengran exhaled a breath of hot air, rubbed his stomach which had long been deflated, and stood up by supporting himself on the floor.
The owner of the house, Zheng Yiji, was not in the living room. Gu Mengran looked around, gave Liang Zhao a calm look, slowed down his movements and walked towards the passage behind the sofa.
Liang Zhao understood what he meant and followed with a half-finished bottle of mineral water.
The kitchen was steaming hot, with a large antimony pot on the gas stove, emitting a steady stream of white smoke. Peppercorns, ginger, garlic and other spices were placed on the chopping board, and a basin of finely shredded potatoes was soaking in the sink.
The owner of the house sat on a small stool at the kitchen door, busy peeling cabbage leaves.
Clearly hearing footsteps, Zheng Yijie looked up at the two people coming towards him.
It was as if the argument in the evening had never happened. He threw the wilted leaves into the trash can, stood up and waved to the two of them, "You've come just in time. I've never cooked for so many people before. Come and help me see if it's enough."
After saying that, he turned and walked to the stove, reaching out to lift the lid of the pot.
A fresh scent of cereals wafted into Gu Mengran's nose. His nose twitched slightly. He quickly walked into the kitchen with Liang Zhao and stretched his neck to look into the pot.
The antimony pot is larger than an ordinary pressure cooker, comparable to a large wash basin. Zheng Yijie probably wanted to cook porridge, so he filled the pot with water, but the rice in the pot...
Gu Mengran stirred it twice with a spoon. Hmm, the resistance was very strong, almost as much as when cooking white rice.
The rice was already boiling, and it was useless to say more at this point. Gu Mengran put down the spoon, smiled at Zheng Yijie, and said vaguely, "That's about right. It's enough to eat anyway."
"That's fine. I'm thinking there are more than ten people, but I'm afraid it won't be enough."
Zheng Yijie put the lid back on the pot and glanced at the wilted cabbage in his hand. "Just stir-fry some shredded potatoes and cabbage? Children can eat them. There's no fresh meat or other fresh vegetables. I do have some dehydrated vegetables, but they're not nutritious and I won't give them to children."
Gu Mengran nodded, and looked at Zheng Yijie with a more friendly look, "Thank you. You've taken the trouble, just watch over the arrangements, the guest should follow the host's wishes."
"I won't let the kids go hungry, it's just that my cooking skills are mediocre. Don't mind." Zheng Yiji scratched his head unnaturally and laughed dryly twice.
The politeness was almost over. Gu Mengran did not respond. After a moment's silence, he stopped smiling and said solemnly, "In the evening, you said that we could stay here for a while. I want to ask, does that still count?"
Unable to find a place to stay, Gu Mengran and Zheng Yiji played a trick in the evening.
He said he would consider the other party's conditions, provided that they stayed here for a while. After Zheng Yijie agreed, he took the children here under the pretext of moving luggage and then asked for their consent.
It must be said that Zheng Yijie had a pretty good temper. Instead of getting angry, he magnanimously took them in and even cooked dinner for them. However, Gu Mengran was not sure whether he would be kicked out the next morning.
A big drama has been played out in his mind. Zheng Yijie has not responded yet. Gu Mengran frowned slightly, thought for two seconds, and apologized to him sincerely: "I'm sorry, I didn't discuss it with you at that time, and I did it without your permission-"
"That's not the reason." Zheng Yijie interrupted him and scratched his hair in annoyance. "Hey, you better tell me first. Where did you find so many children? Where are their parents? Where are you taking them?"
Worried that they might kidnap the children? Gu Mengran thought that this was a good idea, so he organized his words to tell Zheng Yijie the whole story and repeatedly assured him, "We are not bad people. We just accompany them for a while until they find a shelter provided by the government military."
After listening to this, Zheng Yijie was silent for a long time. When he raised his head again, the look in his eyes as he looked at the two people had subtly changed.
"I was too petty. You guys are really rare good people for not forgetting to help others at this time. Those two teachers are even more amazing, they are heroes who sacrifice themselves for others." Zheng Yiji sighed sincerely.
Gu Mengran smiled and said, "You are also very kind and took us in out of kindness."
"Seven or eight pairs of watery eyes were staring at me. How could I refuse?"
Zheng Yijie laughed, but the smile froze on his face as he laughed. He sighed deeply, "They are also a bunch of pitiful kids. Stay here. You can stay here. There is enough food. I have to leave sooner or later anyway, and I can't finish the supplies in a short time."
A smile wiped out all grudges, and the incident in the evening was over.
But Gu Mengran still felt a little guilty, and after thinking for a while, he apologized to the other party again: "I'm sorry, buddy, I really didn't mean to kick him this afternoon. My brother saw the machete and was worried that I would get hurt, so he kicked me out of reflex."
In fact, even if Gu Mengran stood still at that time, Zheng Yijie would not be able to cut him with the knife. He did not have the courage and could not do it. He kept the back of the knife facing the door, just to scare people.
The more he explained, the more embarrassed the other party became. Zheng Yijie smiled and waved his hand, "It's okay."
The porridge is almost cooked, but the vegetables haven't been fried yet.
The kitchen was too narrow to open, and Zheng Yijie was about to ask the two to leave first, but the tall boy who had been standing by and acting as a bodyguard without saying anything suddenly asked, "Can I ask you a question?"
Zheng Yijie nodded, "You go ahead."
Liang Zhao did not hesitate and got straight to the point: "The supplies in your warehouse don't look like they were collected after the disaster, so you prepared the basement and supplies before the disaster? What news did you get? Why did you make these preparations in advance?"
The three consecutive soul questions expressed the doubts in Gu Mengran's mind. Although it was a bit impolite, Gu Mengran still stared at Zheng Yiji, waiting for his answer.
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