Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Heatstroke
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He was an alcoholic, gambler, and idler with all the bad habits. He had never fulfilled his corresponding responsibilities. He was annoying when he was alive, but people would feel sincerely sad for him when he died. Perhaps this was the bond between blood ties.
It wasn't that Gu Mengran was making malicious speculations, the fatherly love the siblings received was mostly unequal.
Because it had been many days since we last met, Xu Xinghe looked visibly more haggard. Although he was still the same funny guy, he did look like someone who had just lost a loved one and had not yet completely come out of the shadow.
But her elder sister Xu Xingran didn't feel that way at all. She didn't feel the pain and sadness of having just lost a loved one. Instead, she felt a sense of relief that the dust had settled and she was free from the constraints. If Xu Xinghe hadn't mentioned it, Gu Mengran would definitely not have been able to tell that they had just lost a loved one not long ago.
Every family has its own problems, and Gu Mengran was not very interested in other people's family affairs. Seeing Xu Xinghe's red eyes and pale face, he reached out and patted Xu Xinghe on the shoulder, and whispered to comfort him: "The deceased is gone, please accept my condolences."
"It's okay. I figured it out a long time ago." Xu Xinghe wiped his face randomly and forced a bitter smile. "My sister is right. For someone like him who is lazy and can't endure any hardship, dying in an earthquake is also a relief."
Without waiting for Gu Mengran to reply, Xu Xinghe waved his hands as if nothing had happened, "Well, let's not talk about this anymore. Let me tell you how we picked up the J-5. It was all luck..."
The sudden disaster took away countless lives and disrupted everyone's life rhythm. The house was gone, the family was gone, and after burying their father in the vegetable garden, the siblings were somewhat at a loss, not knowing what to do.
Gu Mengran's words were like a beacon at this time, so the brother and sister decisively followed the advice of their savior, walked to higher ground, and headed towards Yinan along the Huangjiang River.
The lack of transportation was a big problem. The temperature rose sharply at that time, making it extremely difficult to survive outdoors, let alone travel on foot.
Fortunately, their hometown is close to Pingjiang, which is a major tributary of Huangjiang in Jincheng. So after discussing, they unanimously decided to try their luck at Pingxian Wharf to see if they could find a small boat.
The result was – the boat was not found, but they hit the jackpot by finding a large oil tanker at the dock.
Originally they thought the tanker had an owner, and they were planning to talk to the captain to see if they could take a ride on a down-current boat. However, no matter how they called from the shore, the tanker did not respond.
The unbearable high temperature prompted them to take the initiative to attack, and it was not until they boarded the J-5 that they discovered that the medium and large oil tankers that were nearly full were actually empty.
"It was amazing that there was no one on such a big ship. My sister and I thought they had just left for some reason, so we waited on the ship for a few days. But the weather got hotter and hotter, and we couldn't stand it anymore, so we broke into the cockpit of the J-5."
Seeing Gu Mengran's slightly questioning look from the corner of his eye, Xu Xinghe's voice trembled slightly, and he glanced at them unnaturally, "We didn't wait for anyone, so we drove the boat away. It might be a bit immoral, but the boat really had no owner, and we didn't steal it."
"Yeah, I know." Gu Mengran laughed softly.
Oil tankers often have more crew members than ordinary cargo ships. It is impossible for two people to rob a ship alone. However, whether they have waited for the ship owner to return or not...only they themselves know.
As if he had guessed what he was thinking, Xu Xinghe took a sip from the teacup, moistened his lips and explained, "Really, we waited on the boat for at least five or six days. There wasn't much food on the boat, and we were almost out of our own food. Later, we rested on the boat during the day, and went out to look for food at night when the temperature was low. It must have been five or six days in total."
As if worried that Gu Mengran and the others would not believe him, Xu Xinghe pointed to the young girl sitting next to him and said confidently: "Xu Yuan can prove it to us. We found her when we went to the village to look for supplies."
"That's true." The young girl named Xuyuan nodded and said timidly, "I waited for several days after I got on the ship before leaving."
Gu Mengran didn't care. Unable to resist Xu Xinghe's insistence on proving it, he said "hmm" softly and replied casually, "I understand. I trust your character."
Without waiting for Xu Xinghe to speak, Gu Mengran raised his eyebrows and glanced at Xu Yuan, then naturally changed the subject: "Your last name is also Xu, are you relatives?"
"No, we are from the same village, so we are neighbors." Xu Xinghe answered first, and then patiently explained to Gu Mengran what happened: "In the countryside, the houses built by the family usually have a granary. Our family does not farm, and the granary is cleaner than our faces, so my sister and I thought about going to the neighbor's house to see if there is anyone there and if there is any food."
"We didn't find any food, but we found a person first. Her house collapsed, leaving only half of the kitchen. Her grandparents were buried under the rubble, just like my dad. She was trapped in the kitchen for several days. When we went there, she had already suffered from heat stroke. If we had been there a day or two later, she would have been in danger."
The farmers' granary, no wonder they have no shortage of food.
His focus had unknowingly strayed, and Gu Mengran stopped his divergent thoughts in time, looked up and smiled at Xu Xinghe, "It hasn't been easy for you along the way, but fortunately, we all survived and reunited in Huangjiang."
"This earthquake is really terrible. I don't know how many people died. We finally survived, but the temperature has soared again." Xu Xinghe sighed with a sad face, "I really don't know when the temperature will drop. If it continues like this, the Huangjiang River will dry up."
"Soon, it shouldn't be long."
After not sleeping all night and being bored, Gu Mengran picked up the cup and took a sip of strong tea, forcing himself to ask, "How many days have you been parked here? The engine is overheating? Can you leave today?"
Xu Xinghe nodded quickly, "Yes! It's the engine that overheated. It has been parked here for two days. It should be fine today. I'll ask my sister later."
Gu Mengran put down his teacup and stood up quickly, "Okay, then we will--"
"Hey, wait a minute."
Before he finished speaking, Xu Xinghe hurriedly stood up, grabbed Gu Mengran's arm, and said with a dry smile: "Brother Gu, your family must have oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and other things since they run a supermarket? My sister didn't have the courage to say it at that time, but in fact, we are quite short of it. Can we exchange some food for it?"
Gu Mengran pulled his hand back, yawned, and nodded lazily, "No need to change, I'll bring you a tarpaulin later."
"That won't work," Xu Xinghe took a half step forward and stood in front of Gu Mengran, "How can we ask you for it for free? We have millet, wheat, corn, potatoes--"
Xu Xinghe was counting on his fingers like he was reading out the menu, but Gu Mengran interrupted him, smiled and waved his hand, "Really, that's not necessary. The Fengyi is lucky to have run into you. Your fuel has been a big help, so don't be polite with this little bit of stuff."
"Okay then." Xu Xinghe scratched his head embarrassedly.
After he finished speaking, Xu Xinghe still had no intention of giving way. Gu Mengran looked at him in confusion. Xu Xinghe chuckled, "Don't be in a hurry to leave, Brother Gu. Let's have breakfast and chat together. I'm also curious about your experiences. Didn't you leave first? Why are you running behind us?"
There was no point in chatting, as questions would always come up. Whenever someone asked, "How did you escape the flood?" Gu Mengran didn't know how to answer.
It doesn’t matter if I skip breakfast. Gu Mengran is too sleepy to make up a story.
Facing Xu Xinghe's expectant gaze, he rubbed his brows and immediately shook his head to refuse: "I won't eat breakfast. I'm too sleepy after not sleeping all night. Let's talk more frequently later."
"Oh, and don't use the public channels, switch to channel 22."
"Oh, okay."
…
The river surface was as quiet as a mirror, the scorching sun was hanging high overhead. Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao dragged their tired bodies back to the Fengyi. Not to mention sleeping, they didn't even have time to eat breakfast. They squatted in the living room hurriedly to pack the tarpaulin and supplies for the Juqing 5.
The J-5 is too conspicuous, and two ships sailing together will be even more conspicuous, especially since they will pass through Lingjiang Port in a few days, so Gu Mengran still plans to wait until the J-5 is well camouflaged before setting off, so as to reduce the risk as much as possible.
It takes time to erect the steel frame, so the materials must be delivered early.
It’s the same whether you make one trip or two trips, so it’s better to pack it up and send it over at once.
Tarpaulin, steel frame, cable ties, screws... Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao sat cross-legged on the living room floor with two large woven bags beside them. They took one at a time and filled the two woven bags. It took them more than half an hour to fill them up.
In addition to the supplies needed by Giant Engine 5, Gu Mengran specially brought them some accessories and tools that might be useful, plus a bag of flour weighing 100 kilograms and two boxes of instant noodles.
Instant noodles will give them a different taste, as for flour...
Just think of Heng Rongsheng’s wheat being ground into flour!
After not sleeping all night and running outside, Gu Mengran felt dizzy. He packed up all the supplies, put the large items back into the space, and he and Liang Zhao, each carrying a woven bag, walked back to the deck under the scorching sun.
The supplies were loaded onto the ship and the diesel boat was tied with ropes. Gu Mengran was crouching and preparing to get on board when Liang Zhao, who had boarded the ship first, suddenly reached out to stop him and raised his chin slightly.
"What?" Gu Mengran didn't understand what he meant and looked at him with his head tilted.
Liang Zhao laughed helplessly, "I almost fell asleep while standing. What are you doing? Go back and wash up and rest. It's just delivering something. Only one person is needed."
"But--"
"Don't say but. If one more person is on board, one less thing will be put on board. Does that mean we have to make another trip?" Liang Zhao snatched the intercom from him and waved his hand quickly. "Go back. I'll be back soon."
His slow brain stopped working and he completely forgot that he could sail two boats. When Gu Mengran heard this, it seemed to make sense. He said to Liang Zhao, "Then be careful," and turned around and walked back.
Gu Mengran felt dizzy and his hands and feet were weak. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late. The Wind Wing in his sight became two, then three. His raised right foot seemed to step into the air, and he suddenly lost control of his body and fell straight down.
Fainted from sleep? No, it seems like... it's over, I have heat stroke.
Gu Mengran’s eyes went dark and he fell to the deck with a thud.
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