Chapter 28 Plan
"After we pick up the kids from the city, we'll go straight to the base."
After a devastating flood, the road back to the village was filled with many tree branches and rocks, and we had to get off the car from time to time to clean them up, so the short journey was not smooth.
The road near the river bank was covered with a thick layer of undried mud, and swarms of flies could be seen flying from a distance.
Cars drove past one after another, leaving obvious tire tracks in the mud.
When they arrived at the village entrance, the cars separated at various intersections, and the Jiang family's bus also drove towards the familiar intersection.
The beautiful houses that originally stood along the road no longer resembled their original appearance. The white paint on the outside of the houses has been stained by sewage into an uneven brown.
The car stopped in front of their house. Looking at the changed house and the large pool of mud at the door, everyone felt uncomfortable.
Jiang Weimin stopped the car, took a shovel from the back seat and got out. The others followed and shoveled the mud at the door aside.
I unlocked the door with my key and pushed it open. The familiar courtyard had changed, covered in a thick layer of mud.
The whole family took shovels and wooden spades and started cleaning from the door. Even Jiang Mingchen dug out the small shovel he used to play with sand on the riverbank when he was a child.
Many hands make light work, and a family working together makes great strength.
The Jiang family's yard was not big to begin with, and in just half an hour, the thick layer of sludge was almost cleared.
A group of people walked in and opened the doors one by one.
Although they had sealed the doors and windows with scotch tape before evacuating, no one expected the flood to be so severe. Although they sealed it as tightly as possible, water still entered the house.
Especially in the kitchen and the room where the convenience store was located, the situation inside was even more tragic, as we only had time to close the door when we left.
Although the water has receded now, the walls that were soaked by the water have begun to peel off, and the furniture left in the house has been soaked beyond recognition. Even though the water in the house has receded for two days, the traces of the flood are still there. The house is damp everywhere and emits an unbearable rotten smell.
As for the furniture that had been moved to the roof in advance, they were washed away when the flood came, and most of them disappeared without a trace.
Jiang Dong looked at the messy roof and sighed inwardly. If he had known this would happen, he would have stopped doing this useless work.
The whole family took advantage of the good sunshine at noon and went out.
Jiang Dong and his father moved all the furniture out of the house to the yard to dry them.
After they moved out all the furniture, Ren Ru, Jiang Qian and Huang Liping took a mop and went in to clean up the remaining mud and water on the floor.
Jiang Mingchen collected water from the faucet in basins and helped to wash the floor.
It was lucky that the electricity and gas in the village were cut off, but the water pipes were still connected.
But even after mopping the house three times, there was still a bad smell in the house.
"Forget it. It's been soaking for so many days, and the smell won't go away anytime soon. I'd better stay in the car tonight."
Jiang Qian wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at her father who came out of their warehouse with a gloomy face.
Needless to say, the food in the warehouse was inedible after being soaked in water. Even if it was edible, they didn't dare eat the food because of the unknown virus.
Jiang Qian was just thinking about how to comfort her when someone came to her door.
"Red soldiers, soldiers, why are you here?"
Jiang Weimin was surprised to see them. They had only been separated for a short time, so he should have been cleaning the house like them.
Jiang Hongbing glanced around and said, "You guys cleaned up pretty quickly. You've almost finished everything so quickly."
Jiang Weimin sighed, "Well, even if we clean it up, we can't live here. It's too damp. What about you? How's your family? Maybe higher ground would be better?"
But Jiang Hongbing shook his head. "It's the same as yours. The house is covered in mud, and the furniture and appliances are unsightly. It will take at least two days to clean it up. But we don't plan to clean it up."
"What's wrong?" Jiang Weimin asked in confusion.
Jiang Weibing said, "My kid dug out a radio from the attic that he used to listen to tapes on back in school. He wanted to see if he could get a signal, and he actually succeeded. The broadcast said that the government had established several temporary bases, and the closest one to us is in City A. So we're not planning on packing up the house. After we pick up the kids in the city, we plan to go directly to the base and probably won't be back."
"Wei Bing and I just discussed this with everyone in the village. Except for Uncle Geng and Aunt Geng, everyone basically agrees with our plan."
Jiang Hongbing said.
He really wanted to go with the villagers, after all, no one knew what would happen next. But Uncle Geng and Aunt Geng had lost their children, and they were just the old couple at home. They wanted to return to their roots rather than go to a base where they were unfamiliar with the place, and he didn't want to force it.
"What about you? What do you think?" Jiang Weibing asked.
Jiang Weimin was naturally happy when he heard the news about the temporary base. It was definitely safer to go to a government-organized base than to stay in the village and rely on themselves.
Without hesitation, he said, "Of course I'm going to the base with you. When are you leaving?"
Jiang Hongbing and Jiang Weibing were not surprised by his choice, but they also knew that Jiang Weimin's family situation was different from theirs.
Then he reminded them, "There's no rush now. We just came to tell you something. You should discuss it first, because most people in the village will definitely go to the city to look for the children."
Jiang Hongbing said carefully, "If you come with us, it might be more dangerous than going alone."
When Jiang Weimin heard this, he also fell silent.
Even without seeing it with his own eyes, he could roughly guess what the situation was like in the densely populated city. The possibility of getting out safely after entering was too low.
After a moment of silence, he said, "Then let's discuss it first."
"Okay, we won't leave until tomorrow. You guys can take your time to think about it. But we're planning to go to town first to look for supplies and prepare for tomorrow's departure. Do you want to go?"
"Uncle, let's go." Jiang Dong agreed before Jiang Weimin could say anything. After so many days, their family really didn't have much supplies left.
"But the water under the railway bridge shouldn't recede that quickly, right? How are we going to get there?"
"Climb over the tracks."
…
Half an hour later, cars from the village drove out one after another, and Jiang Weimin followed in his bus.
Not long after, they arrived at the railway bridge. The water under the bridge still hadn't receded, and they could only barely see the roof of Jiang Dong's submerged car.
In the front vehicle, several old men from the village used axes and pliers to twist off the barbed wire outside the railway tracks, and explained the process to the young people next to them.
"When we were young, there was no bridge arch here. We had to take a long detour to get to town. For convenience, many people walked over the railway tracks. There were no barbed wire fences outside at that time."
"Later, as train speeds continued to increase, accidents on the tracks became more and more frequent. The railway bureau then enclosed the tracks with barbed wire, built a bridge underneath, and provided safety education to schoolchildren every winter and summer vacation."
"Although it's unlikely that the tracks will be open to traffic in this situation, everyone should be careful for a while."
The old men pulled open the barbed wire, crossed the rails, and then unscrewed the barbed wire on the other side.
As soon as Jiang Dong and Jiang Weimin got off the car, they were called over by Jiang Hongbing.
"We'll walk along the railroad tracks later. Cars definitely can't drive through, so we'll have to walk. But Jiang Bin's family has a small van parked at his aunt's house in town. If you can find it, you can drive it back, but it can only seat eight or nine people at most. So we have to split into two teams. One team will walk and look for things outside the town, and the other team can follow to his aunt's house to check. If we find a car, we can bring back more things."
"Which team finds the item gets the share. Everyone decides which team to go to. Both teams have risks. But no matter which team you go to, we are all from the village. We should help each other in critical moments. When encountering problems, discuss them with everyone first. Don't make decisions alone and hold everyone back. Got it?"
Seeing everyone nod, Jiang Hongbing said, "Then you guys discuss first and see who will go. The first trip is just to explore the route, which is quite dangerous. Only one person from each family can go at most. If there's still time after returning, everyone can go in the second round if they want."
Everyone started talking immediately.
The team looking for a car went deeper, had a greater chance of encountering danger, and had fewer people, but if they could find a car, the things they brought back would be distributed more equally to each person.
The walking team mainly operates on the outskirts of the town. The possibility of encountering danger is lower, but not impossible, and the things they can bring back are also limited.
Both teams have their own strengths and weaknesses, and everyone is very conflicted.
Unable to choose, someone asked, "Hongbing, which team are you going to?"
The person asking the question makes it very clear what they mean. They are not smart and have no ability, so just follow someone who is smart and capable.
Jiang Hongbing had no intention of hiding it. "I'm on the periphery, leading the team."
"Then I'll stay outside too. It's still too dangerous inside."
"Although the periphery may not be safe, if something happens, we can quickly run back. I also choose the periphery."
"That's right. What if we go in and can't find the car and it's all taken?"
"But if we find a car, we can bring back more things. One trip might yield as much as two trips to the outer areas. I only want to take the risk once, not a second time."
The final result showed that only seven people chose to look for the car, and the remaining twenty or so people were ready to search the outskirts of the town.
Jiang Hongbing was not surprised by this result. "Then everyone, pack up now, talk to your families, and prepare your weapons. We'll set off in fifteen minutes."
Jiang Weimin and Jiang Dong also returned to the car and told Jiang Hongbing what he had just said.
"Dad, Mom, only one person can go out from each family. I'll go first this time. Don't worry, I'll just walk around the outskirts of town. Nothing will happen."
Jiang Weimin didn't say anything. He had already argued with his son during the discussion just now.
In his opinion, it would be more reasonable for someone older like him to do such a dangerous thing, as his son is still young and has a better future.
But Jiang Dong convinced him forcefully by saying that he was younger, stronger, and had faster reaction times.
He is almost sixty years old and his energy is indeed not as good as that of his son who is only in his early thirties.
After Jiang Dong told his family that he was going, everyone else was silent for a moment and didn't say anything else. They all knew that this was the most appropriate choice.
Although the three women didn't say anything, they repeated the instructions over and over again. Jiang Mingchen also knew that his father was going to do something dangerous, and his face was full of anxiety.
It was not until fifteen minutes had passed and everyone who was going had gathered on the road that Jiang Dong got out of the car with his bag.
After calling out their names, the group crossed the railroad tracks and headed towards the town not far away.
Those who stayed where they were watched their figures gradually become smaller and disappeared among the disordered buildings in the town, and their hearts became more and more anxious.
Ren Ru hugged the child tightly. Jiang Mingchen felt uncomfortable, but looking at his mother's expression, he said nothing and just leaned quietly in her arms.
Huang Liping was worried and couldn't sit still, so she had to find something to do. She took out the things in the car one by one and put them back neatly.
Jiang Weimin felt that the crackling sound was annoying, so he asked his wife not to clean up, and the old couple started arguing.
Jiang Qian was worried at first, but when she saw her parents arguing, her worries inexplicably dissipated a little.
She clicked on the system map and found that as the vehicle moved forward, the map range closer to the town became wider, and she could even see the boundary of the urban area.
But there is still no sign of unlocking other areas.
It seems that the display range of the map is indeed related to the car's route.
After Jiang Qian completed her daily exploration of the system, she stopped paying attention and closed her eyes to take a nap.
Suddenly, there was a cry of surprise from outside.
【Author’s words】
This author has never personally seen a flooded village. Most of what I see on the news is of villages in the midst of a flood, not afterward. All I know is from descriptions by others, so I'm not entirely sure what a flooded village looks like, or how accurate my descriptions are. If there are any inaccuracies, please point them out. If you have videos, please share them with me in the comments.
In addition, I want to warn everyone that crossing the tracks is only a last resort in the circumstances described in this article. Never play or cross the tracks. Trains are very fast these days, and by the time the conductor sees you, there's no time to react or brake before the train runs over you. Even if you're not on the tracks, just standing nearby is dangerous. The airflow from the high-speed train can sweep you in. So be sure to stand outside the wire mesh and never cross it. Railways are truly dangerous. At the very least, you could end up with amputations or be crushed into a pulp. The wheels of a train are definitely faster than the blades of a meat grinder or blender at home, so never, ever, cross the tracks. Absolutely not.
In addition, the vans here are seven-seaters. If they can squeeze in eight or nine people, it is considered overloaded. However, it is also a special case and should be treated specially. Please do not overload in normal times.
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