Chapter 31 Chapter 31 You are the head of the family
*
The living room could barely accommodate thirteen people if they squeezed together, but Zheng Yijie also knew the difference between men and women, so he cleaned up the study room and left it for the three grown men to live in alone.
There was no bed, so they still slept on the floor. The sound of steady breathing on the left and loud snoring on the right came one after another. Gu Mengran was sandwiched between the two of them, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes, not feeling sleepy at all.
Gu Mengran felt a little tired as he just rested and said he wanted to leave again.
Judging from the current known situation, it is right to leave as soon as possible and stay away from the disputes. He does not want his family and a group of children to wade into this unfathomable muddy water.
It is obviously not possible to just leave, they need transportation.
The continued high temperature made the zombie cars parked on the road almost unusable. In the afternoon, when Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao were looking for a place to stay, they noticed that the tires of most of the cars were flat.
Where else can I find a car?
Gu Mengran was so worried that he turned over quietly.
"Still asleep?"
Just as I turned my face to the left, Liang Zhao's deliberately lowered voice sounded in my ears.
The distance was very close, and the other party's warm breath hit his face. Gu Mengran looked at Liang Zhao's flickering black eyes and said "hmm" softly.
"Are you thinking about the car?" Liang Zhao lay on his side with his arms as a pillow, staring at Gu Mengran under the cover of night.
Gu Mengran was completely unaware and laughed out loud when he heard Liang Zhao's words, "You can read my mind, right, Liang Zhao? You can always guess what I'm thinking."
"Your thoughts are written on your face and are very obvious."
"Your eyesight is pretty good, can you see in this dark?"
Liang Zhao raised his lips slightly, and a low laugh escaped from between his lips. "We already have the ability to read minds, so it doesn't seem excessive to have more night vision glasses?"
Chatting is a good way to relax. After just a few words, most of the depression in Gu Mengran's heart was relieved. Liang Zhao's lazy and casual voice was like a hypnotic whisper. Gu Mengran covered his mouth and yawned unconsciously.
"So do you have any good suggestions? Where should we find a car?"
Liang Zhao gave the standard answer without even thinking about it: "It's not hard to find a car. Shopping malls, hotels and residences usually have supporting underground parking lots. The temperature underground is not higher than that on the ground, so there should be a lot of cars that can be driven, but..."
"Just what?" Gu Mengran asked blankly.
Liang Zhao smiled meaningfully, "No car keys."
Most of the cars parked on the roadside were abandoned by their owners when they fled, and many of them were not locked or had their keys removed. The cars in the parking lot were definitely locked tightly without a doubt.
He mentioned this specifically as if he knew something. Gu Mengran touched his nose unnaturally and said vaguely: "Well, I'll try it when the time comes. I'll tell you first, I may not be able to do it."
Liang Zhao smiled without saying a word, his deep eyes glowing in the darkness, as if he could see through everything.
Gu Mengran was frightened by his gaze and changed the subject abruptly: "Just like today, let's look in those buildings that haven't completely collapsed. We shouldn't go too far, just look nearby to avoid running into the group that Zheng Yijie mentioned."
"Are you going tomorrow? But aren't you tired from concentrating on driving for such a long time? Do you want to rest for two days?"
Gu Mengran was not very content and poked Liang Zhao's arm with his index finger.
Liang Zhao lowered his eyes to glance at the hand that was causing trouble, and shook his head gently: "It's not time to rest yet, we have to find a car and leave as soon as possible."
After saying that, Liang Zhao seemed to have thought of something again. He slowly raised his drooping eyes and met Gu Mengran's gaze again. "Have you thought about it? Zheng Yijie, do you plan to take him with you?"
Gu Mengran frowned: "You and grandpa are always like this, not caring at all, and letting me make all the decisions. Didn't we agree to be a family? Tell me, do you want to take him with you?"
"You are the head of the family, you have the final say." Liang Zhao cleverly avoided the question.
Gu Mengran insisted: "Hurry up, you make the decision this time."
"Hmm... let me think about it."
In Gu Mengran's expectant eyes, Liang Zhao thought briefly for two seconds and gave the answer in a gentle voice: "Take him with you. We don't have much supplies on the surface. If we don't take him with us, we will have to waste time collecting supplies. Moreover, he is a local and is familiar with the surroundings. He knows where there are hotels and shopping malls, which will help us find a car."
It's all about interests, not emotions. Liang Zhao added, "We should take him on the Wind Wing. We can send the kid to the regular base at the same time, so he can be taken care of on the way."
"Great minds think alike." Gu Mengran patted him on the shoulder excitedly. "See, making decisions is not difficult. You should make more decisions in the future and help me share some of the burden."
It's not that Liang Zhao has to make a decision. Gu Mengran wants Liang Zhao to take that step, not to think of himself as an outsider, not to hesitate and dare not integrate, and not to always stay on the edge.
In fact, they have exchanged identities. In his previous life, Gu Mengran was also so uneasy when he was "living under someone else's roof". It was Liang Zhao who pulled him back little by little, back to this world which is not beautiful but still has concerns.
*
It was a rare opportunity to find a place where one could stretch out one's legs and sleep, and as expected, everyone got up late the next day and slept until noon.
Gu Mengran was undoubtedly the last one to arrive. When he opened his eyes, he found it was already twelve o'clock. When he finished washing, changed his clothes and walked out of the study again, the others had already sat at the dining table enjoying a delicious lunch.
"Are you up? Come, we just finished eating, sit there."
As if knowing that Gu Mengran was the backbone of this group of people, Zheng Yijie was particularly enthusiastic. Seeing Gu Mengran coming out of the aisle, he quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks to greet Gu Mengran, and pointed to the empty seat next to Liang Zhao.
"Wow, such a sumptuous meal!" Smelling the complex aroma of food in the air, Gu Mengran walked quickly towards the dining table, which was not very big but was almost piled high with delicious food.
Fish-flavored eggplant, braised pork with preserved vegetables, curry chicken, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, seaweed egg drop soup... more than a dozen different dishes, both meat and vegetarian, full of color, aroma and taste. Compared with yesterday's two dishes and one rice porridge, it was simply a state banquet!
Gu Mengran stared blankly at the table, then turned his gaze to Zheng Yijie with difficulty. He was silent for nearly half a minute before pointing at the table and slowly speaking: "No, where did the dishes come from, where did all the meat come from?"
Did you go out to look for supplies while he was sleeping?
That's not right. With the continued high temperature, the fresh meat would have turned into a pool of rotten water long ago.
"You don't understand this."
When Gu Mengran was puzzled, Zheng Yijie smiled smugly and said mysteriously: "The advancement of technology is to help humans be lazy. I declare that the greatest invention of the 21st century has been born, and that is - pre-prepared meals."
Pre-prepared meals? Gu Mengran had heard of this.
There was a lot of controversy online some time ago, with people saying that unscrupulous merchants were selling inferior products as good ones and using pre-prepared dishes instead of freshly cooked ones for takeout.
"I ordered takeout because I was lazy, but I didn't expect the seller to be lazier than me."
There are more negative reviews than positive ones. Gu Mengran has never paid attention to this thing and didn’t even think about it when stockpiling supplies.
Now looking at the table full of hot dishes, Gu Mengran couldn't help but sigh: What a great invention.
As for whether it’s hygienic or not, and whether it’s nutritious or not…this is the end of the world!
Seeing that Gu Mengran frowned and didn't speak for a long time, Zheng Yijie really thought he was worried about health issues. He put down his chopsticks and explained hurriedly: "I stock up on pre-prepared dishes from big brands. The prices are not low. They are not made by those unscrupulous small workshops. There is no need to worry about hygiene issues. Children can eat them too."
"I know. I was just wondering why I didn't buy some at the beginning. This thing is really convenient." Gu Mengran smiled, pulled out a chair and sat next to Liang Zhao.
Zheng Yijie burst into laughter. "Really? I looked up a lot of stockpiling guides. There's still some in the refrigerator. I bought two large refrigerators to store pre-prepared meals. I can eat alone for a long time. But the generator power is not enough. With two refrigerators, I can only turn on the lights. The air conditioner is installed in vain."
It's useless to install it even if it works. In such a hot day, if you put an ordinary air conditioner outdoor unit outdoors, it will be scrapped in no time. Gu Mengran smiled but didn't say this out loud.
The delicious food made people happy. Maybe it was because they hadn’t had a real meal for a long time. The eight children squatted on the mats and ate around the coffee table with big mouthfuls.
The two teachers picked up food and poured water for them from time to time. The chewing sounds were accompanied by the children's laughter, and it somehow felt like a team-building event in a kindergarten.
Happiness is always short-lived. After adding a bowl of rice and sitting back in his seat, Gu Mengran looked at Zheng Yijie who was eating his meal and said, "Zheng Yijie, is the underground parking lot in your community still accessible?"
"Underground parking lot?" Zheng Yijie swallowed the food in his mouth. "Our community is an old one. It has been many years. There is no underground parking lot at all."
Gu Mengran picked up a piece of curry chicken and said, "Are there any shopping malls, hotels, or anything like that that haven't completely collapsed nearby?"
"Yes." Zheng Yijie nodded heavily, "Are you going out to find a car today? I know where there is an underground parking lot. Just go out of our community, there is a crossroads in front, follow that -"
"Wait wait, you don't plan to go with me?" Gu Mengran asked.
Zheng Yijie paused for a moment as he picked up the food, looking hesitant. "I, I... Hey! Well, actually I haven't decided whether I want to go with you guys."
"Don't you want to leave as soon as possible?" Meng Gaoyang looked at him in surprise.
Zheng Yijie put down his chopsticks and hung his head. "I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but, but there were too many of you. I thought about it again last night and I'm still a little conflicted."
He said it very tactfully, and others understood what he meant.
No one spoke for a while. Wei Qianlan put down her bowl and chopsticks, pursed her lips and looked at Zheng Yijie, "Don't worry, we won't fall behind. The children have been very well behaved along the way, we..."
"That's not what I meant." Zheng Yijie looked embarrassed.
That's what you mean! Gu Mengran complained silently.
Whether to go or not is entirely voluntary and cannot be forced.
After finishing the last bite of the meal, Liang Zhao put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Then think about it again and tell us the specific location. We will look for it after dinner."
"I'll go with you." Zhou Qin, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
Wei Qianlan quickly raised her hand: "I'll go too."
"Then who will take care of the child? Me?" The old man was dumbfounded.
Gu Mengran burst out laughing, "What are you doing? People have told us to be careful. Are you afraid that others will see you when you go with so many people? You all stay here and rest. Liang Zhao and I will go."
"You've been driving for so long, it's you who should take a break."
"Teacher Wei and Teacher Zhou, we don't know how to take care of children. We should deal with professional matters professionally. You are the only ones who have to bear this hardship."
Emotions are contagious. A group of survivors who had just met each other helped and supported each other and overcame difficulties together. Zheng Yijie's eyes suddenly became warm and his thoughts of retreat disappeared.
Just looking for a car! Zheng Yijie gritted his teeth and said, "I'll take you there!"
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