Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Giant 5
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Direct, straightforward and sincere, Gu Mengran's hard heart was cracked open and he softened a little politely.
The reason why it is only a few points is because the full score is 100.
He was no longer a young man experiencing the apocalypse for the first time. He might be grateful for the life-saving grace, but in the apocalypse of chaos and disorder where everyone was in danger, would he reveal his trump card just because of a word of trust? Gu Mengran absolutely did not believe it.
But it is better to speak directly than to beat around the bush. Gu Mengran did not say anything. He held his chin and looked at Xu Xingran, waiting for her next words.
Perhaps because her eyes were too direct, Xu Xingran looked a little uncomfortable, but she quickly adjusted herself, met Gu Mengran's gaze calmly, and said softly, "The world is in chaos, and now materials and fuel have become scarce resources."
"You guys should also need fuel, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have come all this way. In fact, when Xinghe and I saw the name of the Wind Wing, we decided that if it was really you on the ship, and if you were willing to travel with us, we could provide fuel for the Wind Wing along the way."
This way? Provide fuel for the entire journey?!
Gu Mengran's fingertips trembled slightly, and he looked at Xu Xingran in disbelief, "Where is your destination? What are the conditions?"
"If you haven't changed your schedule, we'll go there, because we decided to follow your advice and go to Yinan. As for the conditions," Xu Xingran paused and sighed helplessly, "I'm really sorry to ask you for conditions. The life-saving grace cannot be offset by this little bit of fuel, but..."
"Let's put things one way or the other. It's inevitable to encounter difficulties when you are away from home. Just tell me what difficulties you have." The fuel for the entire journey was so tempting that Gu Mengran took the initiative to set up a way out for her and even thought of what to use in exchange.
Xu Xingran rubbed his brows and continued, "The Giant 5 is too conspicuous. People who know the business can tell what's inside at a glance. There are two women on our ship and a weak man. If someone really wants to take advantage of us, we can be said to have no power to fight back."
Xu Xinghe's face darkened: "What do you mean by a powerless man? Sister, why are you like this——"
"Shut up!"
"oh."
Ignoring Xu Xinghe's wailing, Gu Mengran nodded thoughtfully, "So you plan to provide the fuel, and the two ships will go together. Try to help when you encounter danger or difficulties, and take care of each other along the way?"
Gu Mengran said it very decently. Xu Xingran looked at him gratefully and quickly responded, "That's what I mean. What do you think?"
I thought the other party was going to exchange fuel for supplies, but who knew they would just make such a small request, which was almost free. What did Gu Mengran think? They each drove their own boats and formed a partnership. Of course, Gu Mengran was very happy.
But free things are often the most expensive. If Gu Mengran was an ordinary person, this deal would be a win-win situation. But for Gu Mengran, who has space, he has accepted favors from others. When others are in danger, can he really stand by and watch?
The kind and harmless brother and the sister who values friendship very much, they called the Wind Wing at the first opportunity and decided to invite each other to meet in a short period of time. In addition to discussing the transaction, of course, there was also friendship.
Alas! Gu Mengran sighed secretly, met Xu Xingran's expectant eyes, and said lightly: "It's okay, but you will be at a disadvantage. There are not many people on our ship, and we are all ordinary people. If we really encounter big trouble, I'm afraid we can't do anything."
The implication is: We can help you solve small problems, but don't expect too much from you with big ones, we will prioritize protecting ourselves.
Xu Xingran understood and smiled, "I understand. To be honest, we were very nervous every day when we drove the J5, afraid of running into someone or being targeted by someone."
"You and Xiao Liang are capable people. You saved so many people at the port. You are much more reliable than my unreliable brother. The effect of one plus one is greater than two. Our two families can go together and help each other. We will feel more at ease."
"Sister!" The unreliable Xu Xinghe was quite unconvinced.
Xu Xingran didn't even look at him, his attention focused on Gu Mengran.
Now that things have come to this, there seems to be no reason to refuse.
However, a nearly fully loaded oil tanker sailing on the Huangjiang River is no less than carrying a bag of gold through the city. It’s not so bad now that the weather is hot and few people are outside. After a while, when it rains and the temperature drops, you may encounter more people.
You can't just take the benefits without doing anything. Instead of solving problems when they arise, it's better to prevent them in advance. Gu Mengran tapped the can with his fingers, pondered for a moment, and looked up at Xu Xingran. "I have no objection to going together, but the Giant Engine 5 is indeed very conspicuous. Have you considered camouflaging the deck?"
"Of course I have thought about it." Xu Xinghe answered quickly: "But you also saw that the J-5 is just a deck except for the stern. With such a large area, what can it use to camouflage?"
The cabin of an oil tanker has three layers inside and three layers outside, and is extremely waterproof and sealed. There is basically no waterproof tarpaulin or the like on board.
The two ships were about the same size, and the Wind Wing's tarpaulin Giant 5 could also be used. Gu Mengran didn't hesitate, cleared his throat and said, "Let's do this, we'll send some waterproof tarpaulins and steel frames over later, you build a frame on the deck, cover it with the tarpaulin, and try to disguise the Giant 5 as a bulk carrier."
"But the more important problem is," Xu Xinghe frowned and asked, "the cargo is heavy, the waterline is low, and a fully loaded bulk carrier is still easy to be targeted."
There was no need for Gu Mengran to explain. Xu Xingran seemed to understand. His eyes lit up for a moment as he looked at Gu Mengran. He asked tentatively, "Xiao Gu, can the Fengyi still carry some cargo? We still have a lot of empty oil drums on our ship. Can we transfer some of the diesel to your ship?"
It's easy to talk to smart people. Gu Mengran nodded gently, "If you trust us, of course you can. The Fengyi is fully loaded with 3,000 tons, and most of the cargo on board is dry goods. We can help you share some of the burden."
Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Xingran made a decision immediately: "Let's do it this way. I'll go prepare the oil barrels now."
As she was about to stand up, Gu Mengran hurriedly stopped her, "Don't worry, Sister Xu. The channel is too narrow. We should wait until we dock before transferring the large amount of diesel. It will take too long to use a diesel boat to move it. Let's talk about something else first. Do you need any supplies?"
The brother and sister were soft-hearted. They took so much fuel from others just for being a partner. There was no doubt that they were at a disadvantage. It was difficult to repay the debts owed to so many people, so Gu Mengran still wanted to get something practical in exchange.
Hearing the word "supplies", Xu Xingran leaned on the armrest of the sofa and sat down again. He smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "To be honest, we are still short of things. Xiao Gu, the Fengyi was a supermarket ship before, right?"
I met the brother and sister before the disaster. At that time, the Fengyi had the words "Floating Supermarket" printed on it. Xu Xingran was not surprised to know this. Gu Mengran did not hide it either and nodded frankly, "Yes, so we still have enough supplies."
"Well, do you, do you have that thing..."
The straightforward Xu Xingran suddenly became hesitant and uttered an unclear sentence. His fair cheeks were stained with a blush and his eyes were evasive.
What's so hard to talk about? Gu Mengran was stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to ask, Liang Zhao, who was sitting next to him, suddenly spoke up and calmly uttered three words: "Sanitary napkin?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the living room suddenly became quiet.
Gu Mengran and Xu Xinghe obviously didn't expect this and were somewhat surprised. Xu Xingran was stunned at first, and then her already flushed cheeks suddenly turned red, and even the back of her ears turned red.
This reaction seemed to be a guess. Gu Mengran put his fist against his chest and coughed lightly, then broke the strange silence: "Don't be embarrassed. These are just basic daily necessities. We just happen to have them. We'll send you a few boxes of tarpaulin later. Do you need anything else?"
After a few words, Xu Xingran calmed down and followed Gu Mengran's words, "Also, clothes and quilts, do you have any extra ones?"
"Yes." Gu Mengran felt strange and asked, "Do you only need these daily necessities? Don't you have any shortage of food?"
Xu Xinghe shrugged his shoulders and said with a bit of pride: "The food is good, I'm not that short of it for now."
If you don't explain it yourself, it would be impolite to ask again.
They had almost finished talking about the serious business, and now it was time for gossip. Gu Mengran was still very curious about their experiences along the way, so while Xu Xingran was making breakfast, he chased after the heartless Xu Xinghe and asked him a lot of questions.
Xu Xinghe was a really simple-minded person, and perhaps he had no intention of hiding anything, so he told them almost everything he knew, and spoke openly about their experiences.
After the earthquake, Xu Xinghe and his sister were always worried about their family. But at that time, the main engine of Hengrongsheng was flooded, the operating system failed, and it was stuck at the anchorage and could not move.
Their hometown was too far away, and a small diesel boat was not enough to drive them back. They could only pin their hopes on the shore and go to the port to find someone to repair Heng Rongsheng, or look for other means of transportation.
There was no need to hesitate to go ashore. The problem was that before going ashore, Xu Xinghe suddenly thought of Gu Mengran's words. The world was in chaos, order collapsed, and money could not buy supplies...
It is better to believe it than not. Although they did not plan to go far, they searched the ship for some useful supplies and took them with them just in case.
The magnitude of the earthquake was very high. When the brother and sister went ashore the next day, the port dock had become a ruin. Communications were interrupted, there was no rescue, and the dock turned into purgatory, leaving only the bewildered crew and cold bodies under the ruins.
The visibility was too low, and knowing they could do nothing, Xu Xinghe and his sister did not stay at the dock for too long. Just as they were about to leave the dock to find another way out, the river exploded like thunder, and the turbid river water gushed out, swallowing up the dock in just a few moments.
"You don't know, it was so scary! We couldn't see anything at the time. I don't know who shouted that a flood was coming, and everyone started running. We were lucky enough to follow the crowd to the approach bridge, but it was so chaotic at the time. Everyone panicked and swarmed onto the bridge, and then... Hey!"
Xu Xinghe's arms were covered with goose bumps. He patted his chest in shock and said, "It's no exaggeration to say that the bridge collapsed as soon as we stepped on the ground. The people behind us fell down like dumplings. If we were a second later, my sister and I wouldn't have met you here."
Gu Mengran patted him on the shoulder twice as a consolation, and then asked, "What happened next?"
"Realizing the severity of the disaster, we didn't dare to delay for even a second and rushed back without stopping. However, the fog was too thick at that time and the car couldn't drive at all. We still dragged two bicycles out from under a collapsed carport and rode back slowly. It was not until the fog gradually dissipated that we found a truck to drive back."
"It's too late after wasting too much time."
At this point, Xu Xinghe's shoulders slumped and he became visibly depressed.
The forgotten pain was mentioned again, and his brows furrowed, his eyes dulled, and he no longer had the spirit he had before. After being silent for nearly five minutes, Xu Xinghe took a deep breath and slowly said, "My home is gone, the house collapsed, and my dad...he is buried under the rubble."
"He was an alcoholic, a gambler, and spent his days doing nothing. I thought I wouldn't be upset even if he died. But, seeing him rotting and stinking under the ruins, I still feel a little sad."
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