Chapter 134
The next day, Yu Zibai and Qin Huai went down together. They had already given all the medicine they could yesterday, so there was naturally no need for Mu Nan, the robot cat, to follow them. Moreover, they planned to check on Qin Bing's condition today. If he could be moved, they would find a way to get him into the cave. It was too hot outside, so they were still in the tent. If the sun came out during the day, the temperature would not be conducive to the recovery of the wound, so Yu Zibai and Qin Huai went together, as they were both stronger.
Unfortunately, Qin Bing woke up and his fever subsided. He was no longer in danger of death, but he did not agree to move to the cave with them: "Now that the water has receded, we will first transport the injured to the hospital. It is too troublesome to move them back and forth. We can't stay here for more than two days."
Then, he looked at them a little embarrassedly and said, "Thank you for the medicine. If it weren't for the medicine, I and several of my comrades would not have survived this time. We owe you our lives."
Qin Huai said: "Since we are friends, there is no need to say such polite words. When you came to lead us to evacuate, we were not so polite to you."
Those medicines did save several people. Just that box of oral antibiotics was enough to save lives, not to mention the bottle of Yunnan Baiyao powder which is specifically used to treat trauma. However, some of the injuries were serious. Although their vital signs were stable, their consciousness was not yet fully awake. Some of those who were already awake were also expressing gratitude. The delivery of medicine at this time was truly a life-saving grace.
If Mu Nan was here, he, who is socially phobic, would definitely not be able to stand such a sensational occasion. When others thanked him, he would probably have hurriedly pulled Qin Huai away. He was not afraid of others being indifferent to him, but he was afraid of others being enthusiastic about him. However, he did not come down today, so Qin Huai continued to talk with others along the topic. Friendships are made in this way, and by the way, he also asked a lot of questions about the outside world.
Seeing that Qin Bing and the others looked exhausted and had asked almost everything they wanted to know, Qin Huai stood up and said, "You should have a good rest. When the flood is over and your injuries are healed, we can find a chance to have a meal together to celebrate your survival."
Because he knew a lot about the outside world, Yu Zibai was inevitably worried on the way back to the mountain. Qin Huai said: "The worst result is to build a house with bare hands. The most fortunate thing is that people are still alive."
The statistics of casualties from this flash flood have not come out yet, but the number of people is probably not small, mainly because there are too few places to evacuate. Fortunately, they are not in the city now, and those that are a little further away are at least surrounded by mountains. If they were in the city, they might really have no way to go. So in addition to the casualties in the residential areas, the situation of those people who have been quarantined due to the plague in the city center is still unknown.
In this comparison, the house doesn’t matter. At least the person is still alive.
The two of them returned to the cave before the sun came out, and took advantage of the few people around to collect supplies before going back into the cave. The three of them were still sleeping. Niu Niu looked up, and when she saw that it was someone she knew, she lay down again.
Hearing the noise, Mu Nan stretched and turned over, rolling to Qin Huai's side, mumbling, "What's the situation?"
They left too early in the morning, before daybreak. He wanted to follow them and got up, but Qin Huai didn't want him to go, saying that he should go with Yu Zibai. If possible, he should carry Qin Bing up on his back. They couldn't have too few people on the platform. The longer they lived in the cave, the more anxious they became. There had been fights and disturbances almost every day these days, so someone had to be on guard.
It turned out that they were gone too long and he fell asleep again.
Qin Huai rubbed his messy hair and said, "It's okay. The fever has gone down and he is awake. His comrades are also much better after taking medicine. We wanted to move them to the cave, but Qin Bing said the water outside is receding and they can be moved directly to the hospital in two days. We don't need to go back and forth to avoid breaking the wound."
Mu Nan rubbed his eyes and sat up: "The water has receded, can we go back now?"
Qin Huai said: "It's not completely retreated yet, but it's already retreating. The key is that the rain has stopped, so we can't stay here for long."
Song Jia stretched lazily and said, "If our house is washed away, we should just live here in the summer. We have nowhere else to go anyway."
Mu Nan nodded: "It's a good idea. It's cool here. The only problem is what to eat and drink."
Jian Chu said, "It would be great if we could contract the entire cave, install solar energy, generate electricity and light, enclose a place to raise rabbits, and enclose a place to grow grass and food. It wouldn't require us to interact with too many people. That would be great."
Qin Huai broke their fantasy: "This cave was dug out to store supplies. When the water recedes, no matter if there is land or not, you will not be allowed to stay in the cave. But the cave dug out by people at the bottom of the mountain may be liveable if the house is really gone."
Everyone sighed and could only pray that their house was still there.
The rain stopped and the sun outside began to shine again, but everyone was happy this time, because it meant that the flood was over and they could go home. As for whether their home was still there, they would have to wait until the water receded to check. They left in a hurry and could not take all their belongings with them. They only brought some food and drinks. They just hoped that their home was still there and the damage in the house was not too severe.
Although the weather had cleared up and they could go back home soon, they still ate as much as they could without wasting any food. Song Jia covered his stomach and muttered, "If my home was still there, I would definitely have a big meal with white rice."
He stuffed all the 100 kilograms of rice he had bought before into the cupboard. Even if the house was flooded, it would be okay because the rice had not been opened yet. Moreover, when it rained, he had already covered many things in the house with plastic bags, so as long as the house did not collapse, the things could still be saved.
Mu Nan said, "If the house doesn't collapse, I'll kill a few rabbits to celebrate after we get back. We can all eat them together. We haven't eaten meat for a long time. I saved steamed buns to raise them until now. It's time for them to contribute something to this family."
Song Jia laughed so hard that he couldn't help laughing: "The rabbit said, I tried so hard to survive the first day, but in the end I couldn't survive the fifteenth day."
Mu Nan took out his phone and asked: "How long have we lived in the cave?"
Qin Huai said: "Today is the seventh day. If we hurry, we may be able to go home in less than ten days."
As the sky cleared outside, the people in the cave also became restless. Some people even started to pack up their things, wishing they could follow the first evacuation vehicle back to the residential area. Some people were just thinking about their families, but some people wanted to take advantage of the situation. Now that most people were evacuated, the entire residential area was empty. Those houses that were not washed away by the flood would be profitable if they could just go in and steal something.
This also led to a dispute between those inside and outside the cave, who had originally lived in peace. When evacuating from the cave, the people outside would definitely leave first, and then slowly move into the cave. But those living inside the cave were unwilling to do so. What about the people living near the cave entrance? They had no homes or houses and lived in shacks. To put it bluntly, they were so poor that they had nothing and could only rely on government relief. If they were asked to leave first, the petty thieves would probably empty out all the things in the intact houses. How could those who lived in Districts 2 and 3, who had good conditions, be willing to do so?
Mu Nan and the others did not argue or make any noise, but waited quietly for the notice to evacuate. However, even if they did not make any noise, they would not be able to resist the efforts of many people to unite. After all, this was not something that could be resolved by just one person making a noise, so the first person who took the lead wanted to mobilize all the people living in the cave to make a noise together, demanding that they be sent out first when the time came.
These big boys are still very conspicuous. Although they are not noisy and live on the platform and don't interact with other people, anyone with a little insight knows that they are not easy to mess with. At this time, there are not many people who have enough food and clothing and can afford to raise a dog. Either they are capable or have a powerful background.
So seeing that everyone was asking them to leave the cave first, but they were the only ones who remained indifferent, some people couldn't help but try to persuade them. At the very least, they might have some connections and didn't worry about leaving first or last. Maybe just like them who came early, they also had the channels to leave early, so it would be good if they could establish some connections.
When they were found, Qin Huai only said: "We live in a shed. It doesn't matter if we leave early or late. We will be washed away by the water anyway."
Can you believe this? No one believes it. Look at the others. Even the family that had meat to eat when they moved in didn't have the conditions to sleep on a mat and slept directly on the ground. They even had the conditions to put an air mattress on the platform. You say they live in a shed? You are treating people like fools.
But since they had already said that, there was no way they could force them to accept the fact that you couldn't possibly live in the shack. If you didn't want to, then forget it. However, some petty-minded people did remember it. If they could get the people inside to leave first, they would definitely not let these arrogant young people get on the bus with them!
Mu Nan sat on the mat and sighed, "It's not reasonable for such a good thing to be taken by everyone. First come, first go. Although their concerns are understandable, hey, we won't get involved anyway, so just go as arranged."
Qin Huai said: "We will leave first tomorrow."
Mu Nan turned to look at Qin Huai with a question mark on his face. Just now, someone quietly asked Qin Huai if their family had any connections that allowed them to leave first, so they were so unhurried. How could he not know their family background? He was unhurried because as long as the house did not collapse, the house would be empty except for the air conditioner and solar energy. But if it was really washed away by a flood, the solar panels would probably be gone. Anyway, it would not make any difference whether they left early or late, so there was no need to rush.
And now tell him that they are leaving early?
Qin Huai said, "Qin Bing will be transferred to the hospital tomorrow and can accompany us. The water below has receded now. Although it has not completely receded, it is at least not as deep as before. He asked us to follow him and drop us off when we get down the mountain and enter the residential area. He will let us go home first, but the car that will be used to transfer the wounded cannot carry too many people, so the two of us will go first and go home to check. If the house is still there, we can stay at home to prevent anyone from breaking in."
Mu Nan said, "How about letting Yu Zibai and Jian Chu go first?" Those behind them who are scrambling to leave might cause trouble. It's okay for those of them who are strong and healthy to stay and squeeze in with them.
Yu Zibai shook his head: "It's okay to stay here, but going back might be dangerous. After all, if the house doesn't collapse, there are only two of you in the whole yard. If someone really breaks in to steal things, Jian Chu and I may not be able to handle it."
That being said, this is indeed a problem. If he goes back with Qin Huai, he has weapons in his space and is not afraid of anyone breaking in. But if it is Yu Zibai and Jian Chu, it will be dangerous. As for Song Jia, they didn't consider him from beginning to end. He and Qin Huai cannot be separated, and Yu Zibai and Jian Chu cannot be separated either. So Song Jia can only stay with the people who stay behind. It is impossible for him to act alone.
After discussion, they finally decided that Qin Huai and Mu Nan would leave first, taking Niu Niu and Rabbit with them, and then leaving the hammer behind for their self-defense.
The night before, Yu Zibai made a lot of steamed buns. They decided to leave the pots and pans in the cave because they didn't know when the cave would be evacuated and when they would be able to reunite. So he made a lot of steamed buns for Qin Huai and the others to take with them. At least if the house collapsed after they returned, they would still have the multi-grain cakes and steamed buns to last for a few days.
Early in the morning, before dawn, Qin Huai, carrying a bag, holding a rabbit cage in one hand and holding Mu Nan with Niu Niu in the other, walked out carefully avoiding the people sleeping on the ground. There were always people coming in and out every day. Some of the alert ones just took a look, and if they saw they were passing by, they would continue to sleep and didn't care at all.
The two of them breathed a sigh of relief after they carefully got out of the cave. They were afraid that someone would follow them and make a fuss. There were people like this who were throwing tantrums and making trouble. One of them was not difficult to deal with, but now that the rain had stopped and the water had receded, they were anxious to go home and were afraid of being attacked by a group of people. Fortunately, they got out of the cave safely.
The next thing was to help transfer the wounded to the car. Although the two of them took the car under the pretext of transferring the wounded, it did not mean that they did not need to do anything and just wait. They asked Mu Nan to look after the dog and the luggage, and Qin Huai also helped to carry the wounded to the car one by one. After all, there were indeed not enough people, and he had the strength, so he certainly could not just stand by and watch without helping.
They were able to move ahead of schedule thanks to the help of military doctor Hu. Otherwise, even if Qin Bing wanted to help, he would not be able to abuse his power for personal gain, not to mention that he did not have that much power.
It was Doctor Hu who thanked them for the medicine. He was a doctor, and he really couldn't bear to see such a wound, which used to only need stitches and anti-inflammatory injections or even hospitalization, now cost a life, and it was the lives of the soldiers who had worked hard to rescue. So even though he himself did not get any benefits from it, Doctor Hu was grateful in his heart.
He knew that after the flood receded, many people would take advantage of the vacant houses to do something, and he couldn't help in other ways, so he let them go home early. It would be good if they could keep some of their property. The days ahead would be difficult.
The car was going back very quickly. The closer we got to the residential area, the dirtier the ground became. The water had not completely receded, but it was not deep. Some potholes were almost up to the height of the calves. It would probably take a day or two for the water to completely recede. After all, the sun is strong now and a lot of it will evaporate if it is exposed to the sun.
There wasn't much distance between the military hospital and District 2 where they lived, so they got off the bus when they reached the fork in the road. Before leaving, Mu Nan said to Qin Bing, "Come to us when you're healed. We'll treat you to some rabbit meat."
Qin Bing responded with a "OK", reminded them to be careful on their way home, and waved at them with a smile.
After the vehicle drove away, Qin Huai saw that there was no one around, so he handed the backpack to Mu Nan: "Bring out two pairs of overshoes."
Although there was no one outside, there might be someone peeking at them when they weren't paying attention, so they still had to be careful. Anyway, their backpacks were big and could easily hold two pairs of overshoes. The person who knew what was in their bags was now in the cave, so it would be okay even if someone saw them taking shoes out of the bags.
The two men put on overshoes and protective clothing, and walked home through the water holding Niu Niu's hands.
There were too many debris on the ground, all kinds of broken furniture, floating clothes, and even piles of mosquitoes. Mu Nan also saw some unknown insects swimming in the water, and he got goose bumps immediately: "Are there any snakes in the water?"
Qin Huai said: "It's hard to say, anything is possible, so you should be careful."
Mu Nan said: "I'm fine, I'm wearing protective clothing and overshoes, but Niuniu is barefoot."
Qin Huai glanced at Niuniu and said, "There's nothing we can do about it, Niuniu. Just be careful."
Niu Niu looked at him with confused eyes and swung her tail.
It wasn't too far to walk back from that fork in the road, and it would take about half an hour to get there. However, as he walked, Mu Nan felt that something seemed to be wrong: "Brother, do you feel that something is not right?"
Qin Huai led him and said without turning his head: "The tall building is gone."
Mu Nan looked around immediately and was shocked: "Yes, I said something was wrong. The apartment building is gone. Was it collapsed by water?" I said that the view of the sky felt a bit empty for some reason, and it turned out that the building was gone!
Qin Huai: "Obviously, I just don't know if everyone inside was evacuated before the collapse."
Mu Nan felt a pang of fear when he thought about the casualties caused by the collapse of the entire building if people had not evacuated. They almost chose that apartment when they first arrived here.
The further they walked into the residential area, the more tragic scenes they saw. Dilapidated houses were considered good, as some low-rise buildings had no walls at all, and the debris from the floods could be seen inside the houses. There were even people wearing protective clothing, dragging corpses out of the water. In some places, Mu Nan could see from afar that there were still corpses floating in the water that had not been cleaned up yet. Seeing this, Mu Nan couldn't help but hold Qin Huai's hand tightly.
Qin Huai pulled him and quickened his pace: "Don't look, walk faster, the sun is coming out soon."
Mu Nan hurriedly quickened his pace and walked for most of the day. He saw the houses in District 2 from afar. Except for some damaged doors and windows, most of the houses were still in good condition. He was immediately delighted: "Brother, do you think our house will be okay?"
Qin Huai said: "It's possible. The houses here don't look too badly damaged. Even if they are not good, it doesn't matter. As long as there are still one or two rooms that can be temporarily settled, it will be fine."
The place where they lived was relatively close to the edge, at the very end of the residential area, so they entered the second district and walked for nearly half an hour. There was no other way, as many houses here had walls. The damage to the houses was not serious, but many walls had collapsed, so the road was not easy to walk on. The weather was hot, so they wore more clothes. The way back was full of ups and downs. When they saw the roof of their own building, Mu Nan was already exhausted.
But when Mu Nan saw it from a distance, he was shocked: "Our solar panels are gone." Without solar panels, there is no way to supply electricity with solar energy. Without electricity, there is no way to use air conditioning. It was so hot that he suddenly felt like crying.
Qin Huai comforted him, "It's okay. If we can't generate electricity ourselves, we can use the government's electricity. At most, we can use ice cubes before the line is running again. It won't be very hot."
Even so, Mu Nan still felt bad. Solar energy was not cheap before the end of the world, and it is even more expensive now. But compared to them, the worst off were his neighbors. They spent so much money to buy solar energy, but it was gone before they had used it for long. I am afraid they felt more pain than him.
Their house is fine, except that the windows on the first and second floors are a little broken and a portion of the courtyard wall has collapsed. The rest is fine. The damage is a little more serious on the side where the girls live because the courtyard wall is next to them, so when it collapsed, it hit the house. But most of the house is fine and can be lived in after some repairs.
After returning home, Mu Nan hurried upstairs. He wanted to check the extent of water in the solar generator. The solar panels were washed away, but the generator was still there. He just hoped that it was not too serious.
What was surprising was that there shouldn't be much water intrusion into the top floor. Of course, some water did enter, probably because it seeped in through the cracks in the door when the flood washed in. The vegetable bowls he placed on the shelf on the top floor were all still in good condition and had not fallen over. The generator was placed on a relatively high pad, so it didn't seem to have any water in it at the moment.
"Fortunately, we put the generator on the top floor. If it was on the third floor, it would have been flooded."
Their house on the third floor was flooded, and the glass that had just been repaired was broken again. The inside of the house was okay. Although it was a bit messy, most of the things were things that were rushed in from outside. The original furniture and other things had long been put away. Now in the whole house, only the windowless storage room on the second floor was in good condition. Because there were no windows, the walls were also okay. After clearing the dirty water on the ground, people could live there temporarily.
While Qin Huai was cleaning the room, Mu Nan gave Niu Niu a bath and soaked it in an insect repellent. He also fed it a pet pill. He had the medicine in his space, but he didn't have the chance to use it before. Now that Niu Niu was going to live with them temporarily, they naturally had to keep the place clean, especially since they had just come back from the water where a corpse had been soaked.
Niu Niu is quite clean when taking a bath, but she always can't help shaking her fur, which makes her whole body full of water. After bathing the dog, she becomes completely wet.
After washing Niu Niu, Qin Huai cleaned the storage room, disinfected it, and put a big ice block in it. The dog and the rabbit were locked in the room first. The dog was given a bowl of canned dog food, and the rabbit was given a cage of fresh alfalfa. They had a hard time during this period.
After settling the animals, Qin Huai and Mu Nan started cleaning upstairs. The other things could be done later, but the bedroom on the third floor had to be cleaned up early. The room was empty to begin with, so after throwing away the things that were washed in by the water, Qin Huai started changing the windows.
Mu Nan took out a lot of windows from the space, and while measuring the sizes to find the right ones, he said, "Should we take some more spare windows? I guess a lot of windows in Jian Chu and Song Jia's house are broken, so we can say that we secretly took them down from other people's houses?"
Qin Huai said, "Let's go over and check on the situation of both of their houses. If there are rooms that are still intact, then we don't need to go there. As long as there is a room to live in, that will be fine. Now go to the roof and put the vegetable bowls up there, and place them close together."
Mu Nan said, "But the window on the roof is broken. It's so hot now. If you put it up there, you'll get too hot."
Qin Huai: "Just pretend, if you want to die from the sun, then die."
They said before that they would move the soil pots upstairs and put them there to dry in the sun for a day or two. When the plants are almost dead from the sun, they can be pulled out and fed to the rabbits, and then new seeds can be planted.
Except for a nap in the storage room where ice cubes were placed during the hottest time of the day, the two of them were cleaning the house, upstairs and downstairs, throwing away things, cleaning the floor and walls, and disinfecting. After a busy whole day, they finally managed to tidy up the house inside and out. Tomorrow they will go next door to check on the situation and the extent of the damage to the furniture in their house, and then take out some furniture from the space and put it away.
At night, exhausted, Niuniu lay on the mattress in the storage room and dozed off obediently. Mu Nan rubbed his sore arm and said, "Nothing will happen again, right? Once they evacuate, we should start rebuilding again."
Qin Huai: "The food crisis is coming."
Thinking about the fact that the harvest was not much to begin with and now it was washed away by the flood, Mu Nan felt heavy-hearted: "Do you think many people will starve to death by then?"
Qin Huai turned sideways and took Mu Nan into his arms: "Who knows what will happen in the future? Go to sleep. If the sky falls, just bury us together."
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