Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Emptying the Family
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Large furniture such as dining tables, chairs, wardrobes, sofas, beds, etc. were shipped on board first. Gu Mengran bought all of them at the same home furnishing store, negotiated the price and had them delivered on board, and also paid four boatmen to help install them.
Professional matters need to be handled by professionals. The ship shakes violently while sailing, so the furniture and appliances must be secured. In case of a storm, Gu Mengran doesn't want to chase the furniture around the house.
My grandfather is old and it is not easy for him to travel around, so Gu Mengran asked him to stay on the ship to supervise the work. At the same time, he contacted his old colleagues and used his connections to find channels to purchase a large amount of fuel.
Gu Mengran drove his Laotoule around and started a new round of purchases.
Televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, water purifiers, air purifiers, dehumidifiers, cold- and heat-resistant industrial-grade air conditioners...all those that can be used and those that cannot will be purchased according to the standards for a new house.
Next comes kitchen appliances and gas.
The kitchenware is simple and can be found at a large brand store.
Buying gas in large quantities would easily attract attention, so Gu Mengran could only do it like buying fresh food, stocking up on gas and liquefied gas cylinders in large kitchenware stores, market gas stores, and gas stations.
Gu Mengran bought 100 gas cylinders each and nearly a ton of coal, and he was very satisfied.
Ships use electricity most of the time during sailing. When the engine is running, the ship's auxiliary power unit and wind turbine generator can provide sufficient electricity. Gas fuel only plays an auxiliary role in case of emergency.
Thinking of this, Gu Mengran went to add a few more generators.
There are three high-power diesel generators and three solar generators.
There is no shortage of electricity on the ship, but living on the ship for a long time after the disaster, drifting with the waves is the norm, so an independent generator is essential.
It has been rainy for three years and solar energy is of no use at all, but what if? Gu Mengran still looks forward to seeing the sun. Anyway, the generator is not big and the solar panels do not take up space, so it doesn't matter if he buys more.
After finishing all these, the date agreed with Liang Zhao was almost here. Gu Mengran thought for a moment and spent another day buying some "shameful" things and put them into the space in advance.
Such as wood, steel decks, cement and steel bars, bricks, lime and other building materials.
Large amounts of diesel, gasoline, heavy oil and other fuels.
There was not much left of the three million, and the most expensive fuel was paid for by grandpa. In order to prevent emergencies after the disaster, Gu Mengran also spent the remaining tens of thousands of yuan on some sleeping bags, tents, 24-hour escape bags and other outdoor survival supplies.
Ten days passed in a flash, the supplies had been almost stockpiled, and all the furniture and appliances on the ship had been installed. The Fengyi was officially transferred from the shipyard dock to the Yuntian Port anchorage area.
And today, Liang Zhao is about to arrive.
At dawn, the breakfast shop near his home was occupied by a group of office workers in a hurry. Gu Mengran, carrying soy milk and fried dough sticks, finally squeezed out of the crowd, and his slippers were almost stepped on.
Two cups of soy milk, two fried dough sticks, and a basket of vegetarian buns, a total of ten yuan. If the vegetarian buns were replaced with meat buns, Gu Mengran would not have enough money in his pocket to pay the bill.
Meng Gaoyang got up early. As soon as Gu Mengran walked in with breakfast, the old man stood at the door of the bedroom and waved to him, "Come on, put away the mat and quilt in my room, as well as the pillowcases and slippers. Put them all away."
The old man spent a whole day cleaning up at home yesterday. He moved all the usable furniture, appliances, pots and pans onto the boat, and sold the unusable ones as scrap. The old house where he had lived for decades was completely emptied. From today on, the Wind Wing will be their home.
After adapting to the space, the old man treated Gu Mengran as a mobile warehouse, ready to come at any time, and stuffed all kinds of miscellaneous items into his space.
Still hungry, Gu Mengran walked into the room and placed the breakfast wrapped in a plastic bag on the cool mat. "There is not a table in the whole house. Sit here for a while and clean up after breakfast."
Meng Gaoyang thought about it and it seemed to be the case, so he took a fried dough stick and sat on the edge of the bed to eat it.
The two grown men had big appetites, so a fried dough stick was just enough to fill their teeth. Meng Gaoyang smacked his lips after finishing the fried dough stick and wanted to have some more steamed buns, but when he turned around, there were no more steamed buns. Instead, there were a few plastic bags lying alone on the mat.
Gu Mengran's cheeks were puffy as he ate and drank. The old man glanced at him with a look full of resentment, "You are a starving ghost reincarnated. You finished the whole thing in two minutes."
"I'm hungry." Gu Mengran swallowed the food with soy milk.
The old man glared at him, "You're hungry, don't you know to buy more? This is enough for everyone."
This is what I've been waiting for!
Gu Mengran lowered his eyelids, took a sip of soy milk, and muttered softly: "It's not that I don't want to buy it, but... Hey! Grandpa, I have no money. The three million yuan for stockpiling has been spent. I can't even take out ten yuan now. How about I make you some instant noodles?"
"If you don't have money, just say nothing. Why are you being so shy?" Meng Gaoyang smiled and took out a wallet from his trouser pocket on the spot.
Upon hearing this, Gu Mengran looked at his grandfather eagerly and rubbed his hands excitedly.
Grandpa had explained to Gu Mengran two days ago that after purchasing the supplies, he still had 700,000 or 800,000 yuan left. Gu Mengran thought that Grandpa would give him at least half of it, and he had already reached out to take the bank card, but the next moment, a thin stack of cash fell into his palm.
It's a very thin stack, probably no more than ten sheets.
Gu Mengran curled his lips and stopped talking.
"Why, not enough?" Meng Gaoyang held up his wallet with both hands and handed it to Gu Mengran, "Take whatever is missing, this is all we have."
Five red bills and a stack of change. Gu Mengran suddenly raised his head and asked, "Where's the money?"
The old man laughed, "You said you don't know what to buy for the time being, so you put it aside for now, but this money will be useless in the future. I thought our supermarket is still empty, so we went to buy a batch of shelves and a batch of goods.
There will be people checking us when we leave the port, we can't leave with an empty boat, right?"
Gu Mengran: “…It’s over.”
Grandpa was right. The money was useless after the disaster. But he didn't know what to buy two days ago, but he found out today! This thousand yuan is not enough.
"Is there anything else you want to buy?" The old man saw through it and asked Gu Mengran.
Gu Mengran was dejected, counting on his fingers and saying to his grandfather: "Life jackets, rafts, anchors, cables, boat repair tools... I almost lost all these boat supplies-"
"Are you stupid?" The old man interrupted Gu Mengran and laughed, "Your grandpa has been sailing for half his life, how could he not have this common sense? I asked someone to buy them when you were out a few days ago, and they are piled up on the boat."
"real?"
"Kid, can I fool you about serious matters?"
"What about the diesel boats? How many did you buy?" Gu Mengran's brows slowly relaxed and he looked at his grandfather with anticipation.
A diesel boat refers to a diesel-powered boat, which is 5-10 meters long.
The Wind Wing is safe, but the order is chaotic after the disaster. They need a few economical and practical diesel boats so that they can abandon the ship and escape at any time if they encounter any unexpected accidents.
The old man had obviously forgotten about this. Meeting Gu Mengran's burning gaze, he turned away guiltily and coughed softly, "I forgot about this. Didn't you say you would bring someone else with you? Well, you can borrow some money from him and buy a few more ships."
"Huh?" Gu Mengran just took a sip of soy milk and almost spit it out.
"Grandpa, I didn't tell him about the natural disaster. I told him to come and work on our ship. He hasn't boarded the ship yet. Boss, can you lend him some money first? Is that appropriate?"
The old man frowned, "Isn't he your good friend? You even want to deceive him, so what's wrong with borrowing some money?"
Gu Mengran was choked and fell silent.
I told my grandfather that Liang Zhao was an important friend, and I told Liang Zhao that my grandfather insisted on buying a boat. The retribution for deceiving both sides finally came.
No matter what, the diesel boat must be bought. Grandpa was right. Money after a disaster is just like waste paper, and Liang Zhao's money is no exception. It is better to borrow the money shamelessly.
Just as Gu Mengran made up his mind, there was a knock on the door.
Gu Mengran sat up with a start, hurriedly put away the messy plastic bags on the bed, straightened his clothes, then dropped the soy milk and went to open the door.
Just as he reached the bedroom door, he suddenly thought of something and turned back to warn the old man: "Grandpa, don't let it slip! You're the one who wants to buy the boat and open the supermarket. Let's fool him first and tell him the truth when the natural disaster comes."
The old man snorted coldly, "Okay, I'll take the blame for this."
It turned out that the worries were unnecessary.
Liang Zhao, a taciturn person, greeted the old man after entering the door, and then stood there without saying a word. Meng Gaoyang took the initiative and chased Liang Zhao to ask questions, as if he was checking his household registration.
"Where are you from?"
"How old are you?"
"Why do you want to sail?"
Before coming, Gu Mengran had already told his grandfather most of Liang Zhao's situation, but the old man was talkative and insisted on asking, under the pretext of chatting.
Liang Zhao was a bit cold, but he was still very polite towards his elders and his boss. Like a good student, he patiently accepted Meng Gaoyang's questioning.
Grandpa and Liang Zhao asked and answered each other, and Gu Mengran felt very uneasy, afraid that one of them would let the cat out of the bag.
Seeing that it was getting late, he winked at his grandfather calmly, turned his head and asked Liang Zhao: "Have you brought everything, Liang Zhao? Let's get on the boat first and sign the contract. We will live on the boat before leaving the port."
It is normal for crew members to live on board the ship. Liang Zhao had no objection and nodded slightly.
Gu Mengran dragged the suitcase for Liang Zhao. Worried that his grandfather would say too much and make more mistakes, he quickly pulled Liang Zhao out.
The old man followed closely behind the two of them, not giving up, and kept muttering as he walked: "Xiao Liang is a local, so he was also in Yuntian before? Which route did he fly?"
Liang Zhao answered all the trivial questions quickly, but he remained silent when asked a very simple question. His wandering eyes slowly fell on Gu Mengran's shoulder.
After being silent for too long, the three of them walked out the door one after another. Even Gu Mengran felt strange and looked back at him. At this time, Liang Zhao's throat rolled up and down, and he gently uttered two words: "Yunjing."
Yunjing Line, Yuntian-Xinjing.
After Gu Mengran left his hometown, the city where he lived for five years was Xinjing.
Gu Mengran raised his eyebrows in surprise and was about to speak when the old man spoke first, "Wow, I was wondering how you two, one from Yuntian and the other from Xinjing, can be good friends when you are so far away from each other? It seems that you often go to Xinjing. You often go to play with him when you are docked, right?"
Damn it! Gu Mengran's heart skipped a beat. He was just thinking about how to change the subject when Liang Zhao's eyebrows moved slightly and he glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally, "Good friend?"
It was unclear who he was asking this question to. Meng Gaoyang was thinking that Gu Mengran still had to borrow money from someone, so he was trying to lay the groundwork and get close to him: "That's right! The rascal has been talking about you a lot these past few days, saying that you are his best friend in this life, a close buddy, and what else? A life-long friendship?"
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Liang Zhao's shoulders trembled slightly, and a low laugh escaped from the depths of his throat, "Is that so."
Gu Mengran: …………
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