Chapter 139
The air conditioner in Mu Nan's bedroom is high temperature resistant. He bought two with different appearances at that time. One was installed in the living room when he lived in the old house. Later, it was dismantled and put into the space and never taken out. After moving here, he installed another one in the bedroom because he was worried that Jian Chu and others would come into the room and see it, which would be difficult to explain.
When Qin Bing hurriedly shouted at them to evacuate, there was really no time to remove the water outlet connected to the machine outside. They did not expect that they would evacuate so quickly. That morning he told Qin Huai to remove the air conditioner in the afternoon so that if they had to run, they would not lose an air conditioner with such good high temperature resistance. In the end, they evacuated before they had time to remove it.
After returning from the mountain and cleaning the house, they replaced the air conditioner in the bedroom and installed the previous one. So when the power came back last night, the air conditioner could operate normally, but they didn't know if the one that had been soaked in water could still be used.
Hearing the neighbors say that their electrical appliances were broken, Mu Nan was too embarrassed to say that he had been using the air conditioner all night last night, and only said: "We haven't tried it yet, we will try it later. If it also breaks, we will see if we can find someone who knows about it to help. We don't know where the air conditioner is broken because water has entered it. It would be great if there are replacement parts."
Jian Chu sighed, "The main thing is that there are no electrical appliances to buy now. The entire residential area has been flooded. It's too late to save lives. We don't know how much supplies have been lost. Where can we buy air conditioners now?"
It's too hard to bear without air conditioning in such a hot day, even if people have gradually adapted to the current high temperature, after all, those who cannot adapt have been eliminated. But adaptation is one thing, comfortable adaptation and extreme adaptation are another thing. So in order to cool down, people have tried all kinds of methods. It is said that Monkey Mountain has been fenced off because too many people go there.
In addition to the caves on the Monkey Mountain, there are also small caves below that were dug out by some people before, which can accommodate a small family. After the water here receded, many people occupied a cave on the mountain early, probably because they thought that the environment at the foot of the mountain must not be very good. The losses caused by the flood are to a certain extent more serious than those caused by the earthquake. Some of the caves dug out from the earthquake can still be used, but those that were washed away by the flood may not be able to continue to be used. With water, high temperature, and mosquitoes, you can imagine how terrible the environment would be.
As more and more people went there, there were only a few existing caves. Some people began to think about finding new places to dig holes, so the people above drove everyone to the residential area and did not allow private digging of holes. There was no need to worry about other things, but the damage to the mountain might cause collapse. Due to natural environmental reasons, a lot of supplies were stored in the two large caves on Monkey Mountain. Now the military has begun to arrange people to garrison there and does not allow ordinary people to go there at all.
When people all gathered in residential areas, food shortages began to emerge, but they were not the most urgent issue. The top priority now was to prevent mosquitoes and reduce temperatures.
The population is large and the demand is huge, but these people don't have any special connections or background. Even though they currently have quite a lot of assets, which is much better than many people who have negative assets or nothing, it is not enough to get such scarce goods at this special time. Therefore, when the refrigerators and air conditioners in their homes were damaged by water, they really had no choice.
Even Mu Nan only had one spare in the space, and couldn't take out another one, so they really had no way to help improve the situation at their friends' homes.
Seeing Mu Nan also frowning, Jian Chu fanned the room and said, "I remember that your house has an air conditioner on the second and third floors. Are they all broken?"
Mu Nan shook his head: "I haven't tried it yet, I don't know if it's broken or not."
Jian Chu sighed: "Why are you so sad when you haven't even tried it? Try it first."
Mu Nan looked upstairs and said, "My brother is working on the second floor. Let's try the worst flooded area first. Is Xu Ming's house also damaged?"
Jian Chu: "I don't know. He didn't come back yesterday. I guess he will come back tonight. Let's try then. We talked about it before. Xu Ming said that if the water intrusion on the third floor is not serious and the air conditioner can still be used, then we can find a way to drill a hole in the staircase on the second floor."
Mu Nan hummed in confusion: "Dig a hole? What for?"
Jian Chu pointed at the staircase turn and said, "It would be great if both our air conditioners worked. If we have one good one, we can install it at the staircase between the second and third floors. With the doors open upstairs and downstairs, a little bit of cool air can enter the living room. Then we can close the door and live in the living room. If both our air conditioners are broken, there is really nothing we can do."
The two were talking on the first floor, and Qin Huai poked his head out from the stairs on the second floor: "Come up and talk, the air conditioning is good."
Mu Nan was immediately delighted, and Jian Chu also went upstairs happily: "That's great, at least there is something that can be used."
The one Qin Huai tried was the cabinet unit that was originally placed in the living room on the third floor. It was moved back from the ruins when he first arrived here. The cabinet unit on the second floor had just been tried. It was probably soaked in water for too long. Even after disassembling it, cleaning it, and drying it, it still couldn't be used.
Qin Huai planned to put this cabinet unit that was still usable on the second floor. After all, he would also be using it to grow crops. He would then replace the two air conditioners on the third floor at night. The cabinet unit that Jian Chu and the others had seen in the old house would still be placed in the bedroom, and the one they had not seen would be placed in the living room on the third floor.
Because the rooms on the second floor were all closed, the heat in the room dropped after a while after the air conditioner started cooling. This was like heaven to Jian Chu, who had been suffering from the heat for almost a month. "It's so comfortable."
Mu Nan said, "Just sleep here with me this afternoon. You can be comfortable for as long as you want."
Jian Chu didn't bother to be polite with Mu Nan. Yu Zibai had already gone to the farm. He left early and came back late. He would leave at dawn before the sun came out and come back after dark. Now there was no water at home. Although the electricity had come, it had just come and the electrical appliances were all broken. So he hadn't had time to grow something at home. He had nothing to do for the time being, so he came to Mu Nan to chat.
He definitely couldn't stay at someone else's house at night as it was too hot during the day. Thinking that the disturbance would only last for a day or two, he agreed.
Qin Huai went upstairs and took down the air mattress they had used in the cave. He inflated the air mattress again, but this time he used an air pump to inflate it, which was much more inflated than human power. He also brought down two small blankets: "You guys go to sleep. I'll go to the top floor to see if the air conditioner I installed before can be used. If it can be used, I'll leave the door to the top floor open. You guys decide if you want to live on the top floor."
Jian Chu nodded repeatedly: "This is also fine, I hope it's good."
Qin Huai had just gone upstairs for a while, and the nap of two people on the second floor of Mu Nan's house quickly turned into a nap of three people and a dog.
Song Jia: "My brother is repairing it, and I don't know if it can be fixed."
Jian Chu exclaimed: "Your brother can repair air conditioners?"
Song Jia shook his head: "No, but he can disassemble the machine. He said that most of the things inside the air conditioner are not afraid of water, only the mainboard is afraid of water. He took the mainboard off and brought it to the factory. Isn't it an electromechanical factory? I asked someone before. Someone used to be a repairman and knows a little bit. We'll take a look then. If he can fix it, your air conditioner might also have the problem, then we can all use it."
Jian Chu prayed before going to bed: "I hope it can be repaired. As long as the air conditioner can be fixed, we can start our own business at home."
The roof was previously installed with a wall-mounted unit. Because it was hung high, it had never been exposed to water. However, Qin Huai still took the unit down and cleaned it all. After powering it on, he tested the unit directly and it ran normally. The only difference is that the wall-mounted unit does not have as high a capacity as the cabinet unit. Although thermal insulation protection was done on the outside, I don't know if it can withstand the rising temperature.
After finishing the upstairs, Qin Huai went down to the second floor and saw three people sleeping side by side on the mat. They had fallen asleep comfortably under the cooling of the air conditioner. Niu Niu heard the footsteps and probably knew it was him, so she just opened her eyes and took a look, then continued to sleep with her tail curled up.
Qin Huai smiled, turned around and went upstairs. There happened to be air conditioning, so he rearranged the shelf on the roof. Although there was no water yet, it should be soon, so he could start breeding.
The water intrusion on the third floor should not be serious. It may have been hit by the flood, but it was not soaked in water for a long time, so the electrical appliances on the third floor are all fine. Only the cabinet unit on the second floor of Song Jia's family was broken. After dismantling the machine on the third floor, cleaning and drying, it can be started normally. Jian Chu and his family were the most unlucky because they lived on the second floor and were busy transferring food and other things to the third floor. They didn't have time to deal with the air conditioner and refrigerator, so they all broke down.
Because Xu Ming was away from home for a long time, he simply moved the refrigerator downstairs. Anyway, he ate with them at home and didn't use the refrigerator very often. If the air conditioner couldn't be repaired at that time, he could just move the air conditioner upstairs downstairs. There are always many ways to do it, and they can support each other and not get too hot.
With the help of each other, they finally managed to settle down after the flood. The air conditioner also gave a lot of money to others for repair. Fortunately, it was repaired and usable in the end. If it couldn't be repaired, they really wouldn't know where to buy a new one.
On the day Jian Chu's family installed the air conditioner, the water pipes were connected, but the water was limited in use, only one hour a day. If they needed water, they had to find something to collect water in advance.
Mu Nan looked at the not-so-clean water and said in surprise, "The rainstorm has just passed, and the amount of rainwater accumulated before was so high. There shouldn't be a water shortage for the time being. Why is there a time limit?"
Qin Huai said: "We are not short of it now, but we may be short of it soon. Maybe the higher-ups are starting to prepare for a rainy day."
Mu Nan squatted in the bathroom and sighed as he watched the water level in the container rise little by little. Large containers were placed in all places with water pipes upstairs and downstairs. This was the same as before in the city. The faucets were not turned off every day, and the water was directly collected as soon as it came. The water in the container had to be emptied every day, and the more troublesome thing was to filter and disinfect it.
But they didn't have anything else to do right now, so spending an hour or two messing around with water was nothing.
Now that there was water and electricity at home, Qin Huai and Mu Nan could no longer be lazy and started back to their old jobs.
The tomatoes and peppers they had planted before were fed to the rabbits with their roots. It was not like they had done nothing during the rest time, at least they had fertilized the soil again. This time they planned to plant cabbage, but when they were looking for cabbage seeds, Mu Nan saw watermelon seeds, so he looked at Qin Huai eagerly.
Qin Huai felt that it didn't matter what he planted, and if there would be a long period of water shortage in the future, crops like watermelon would be more valuable, so he followed Mu Nan's advice and planted watermelons on the rooftop.
The cabbages on the second floor do not need sunlight as much as watermelons. It is enough to open the curtains on the balcony every morning and afternoon to let the sun in. However, watermelons need a long period of sunshine to grow well. Now the sun is so scorching that even weeds can't withstand it, let alone this kind of watermelon.
But in order to allow Mu Nan to share the watermelon with his friends openly, Qin Huai thought of a compromise. He installed a one-way mirror on the roof to use the refraction of sunlight to increase the sunlight in the house, but without completely opening the windows to allow the indoor temperature and sunlight intensity to be exposed to the point where crops cannot grow.
They were able to buy the one-way mirror thanks to Wang Xiaoli. Although Mu Nan had it in his space, there had to be an appropriate source. They had thought before that it would be better to do like last time and not say where it came from. They just said that they got it from an acquaintance, went out with the rice and flour, and brought back the mirror. Anyway, the neighbors wouldn't ask too many questions.
However, after the Internet was connected, Qin Huai and Wang Xiaoli added each other. He originally just asked casually, thinking that Wang Xiaoli even had a boat at that time, and seemed to be living outside, so he might know some information. Unexpectedly, when he asked, Wang Xiaoli really had a connection.
Moreover, the other party can also trade with money, but the price is a bit expensive. The mirrors are all the same size, a half-length mirror with a width of 60cm and a length of 80cm, and a mirror costs thirty yuan.
This thing can neither be eaten nor drunk, and it cannot be placed casually. After all, it is a fragile item. Fortunately, this thing is not afraid of being soaked in water, so it was piled up in a room without windows. After a flood, only a few sides were broken, and there were still a pile of them left, but they were not sold well. With that money, you can buy something to eat or drink. What's the use of buying a mirror?
But we have managed to preserve so many of them after the earthquake, and we are reluctant to sell them at a low price. The main reason is that all production is now focused on the basic needs of life, and it doesn't matter whether there are mirrors or not. Naturally, no one would give up their farms and ranches to set up a mirror factory, so this is considered to be a unique one on the market today, although no one buys it.
With Wang Xiaoli as the middleman, Qin Huai finally asked for ten mirrors, and the price was set at twenty yuan per mirror. Fortunately, he had exchanged the gauze cloth for a few hundred yuan before, otherwise he would probably only be able to trade for food now.
The mirror was dragged back, but installing it was not an easy task. It was difficult to adjust the angle that could refract sunlight into the house, and the mirror had to be fixed. It took several days of hard work, and Jian Chu and Song Jia both came to help. Finally, the planting area on the rooftop could be illuminated by sunlight for a long time.
As for other places, they certainly can't plant watermelons all over there. They just plant a row of them, and when they are ready, it's enough if ten or so fruits are produced. They don't do it on such a large scale. They plant alfalfa in other places that can't get sunlight. Rabbits are still the main source of income for the family.
Every morning and evening, Qin Huai would draw open the curtains upstairs and downstairs to let the plants in the house dry when the sun was not so hot. Otherwise, the temperature could be maintained in a suitable range, but if there was no sun, the plants would not be able to grow. When it was hottest, he would draw down the curtains to block it and use a one-way mirror to dry the watermelons, hoping that this would really grow as expected.
When they relaxed from their busy schedule, they found that the Chinese New Year had already passed. They had originally planned to celebrate the New Year together and burn incense for Hu Xuan, but before the New Year even arrived, they were forced to flee for refuge due to the flood. After returning, they were busy reorganizing their home, working to earn food, and keeping mosquitoes away to cool down and avoid the heat, and they didn't even think about the Chinese New Year at all.
When Mu Nan was still playing with his phone, he suddenly wanted to check what month it was. Then he remembered that the last month of the year had already passed.
Thinking of how everyone was looking forward to the plan, Mu Nan sighed, "We agreed to have the New Year's Eve dinner together."
Qin Huai: "The rabbit can be killed now."
After eating grass every day, the little rabbits have grown a lot fatter. Each little rabbit weighs at least three pounds. They killed a few to satisfy everyone's cravings, mainly to thank Qin Bing. If Qin Bing hadn't been thinking about them and taking them to evacuate in advance, their lives would probably not have been so comfortable when they followed the main force.
Mu Nan rolled over on the bed and rolled to Qin Huai's side: "Then I'll make an appointment with Qin Bing. I'll drag Qin Bing to our compound group, so I don't have to ask everyone one by one. The girls can also call over and treat it as a New Year's dinner."
Qin Huai asked him to contact people and arrange a time by himself, and he would only need to be responsible for cooking when the time comes. When Mu Nan sent messages in the group, he was still thinking that he had not made any friends whom he could classify as friends in four years of college. This was the end of the world, but he had more friends instead.
In the past, I probably didn’t have this kind of gathering three times throughout my entire college life. Now it’s the end of the world, and we’re still gathering again and again. It’s really magical.
Qin Bing was naturally polite in the group. Life was getting harder and harder now. Although the online mall had been opened, even some daily necessities, such as towels, quilts, pots and pans, were subject to purchase restrictions. Rice, flour, grain and oil had not yet been put on the shelves. Especially since he was in the army, although many grassroots powers had been delegated, for example, each district had begun to re-establish community neighborhood committees, and when there was any problem, they would go to the government neighborhood committee instead of them.
But important supplies, such as farmland, are still in the hands of the military, so he knows much more about the current food shortage than ordinary people.
It is precisely because of this that he feels that Qin Huai's family is currently in good condition, but they cannot be so indulgent, as hard times are still ahead. Now Qin Bing wishes they could eat less and save more every day. Having a dinner together under such circumstances is really too extravagant.
But in the end, Qin Bing was persuaded by Mu Nan. The celebration of surviving the disaster and the belated New Year's Eve dinner were tense for a year, so they had to relax a little. There were too many people who were broken down, and who knew what would happen tomorrow. They had to be happy every day. The place for the dinner was set at Jian Chu's house this time, because Qin Huai's family had already placed a lot of dishes on the second floor. Mu Nan originally said to move the dishes to the third floor temporarily. Jian Chu thought it was unnecessary to be so troublesome. It didn't matter where they ate, and they lived close by, so they could go there to get whatever they needed at any time. So they decided to have the dinner at their house. Their living room was still empty, which was just right.
Although Mu Nan said he wanted to kill rabbits, for so many people, at least three rabbits had to be killed, but it was impossible for everyone else to come empty-handed. The girls provided flour and were responsible for making some staple foods, and Song Jia's family provided snacks, and the only few remaining bags of melon seeds were contributed, providing important props for the after-dinner conversation.
Jian Chu's family produced canned food because he liked to eat corn. He took the most cans of corn at the beginning, so he contributed several cans of corn and canned luncheon meat. Fortunately, these things are not afraid of being soaked in water, otherwise these cans may not be preserved.
Soon Qin Bing came over with a bag of canned eight-treasure porridge in his hand. He didn't have anything to bring. After all, he was not like Qin Huai and the others who could cook at home. They all ate in the canteen. The eight-treasure porridge they had accumulated was the comfort food given to them by their superiors for the injured. So compared to them, although he had no worries about food, he was also the poorest.
Mu Nan said: "I told you not to bring anything. We have enough to eat here."
Qin Bing smiled shyly: "It's my first time to come to a party, how can I not bring anything? I just have some eight-treasure porridge. Um, do you like eight-treasure porridge?"
Jian Chu smiled and said, "I like it, come over and cool down. Is your leg injury healed?"
Qin Bing nodded: "Okay, training has resumed."
Song Jia said: "Will the patrol be resumed soon?"
Qin Bing shook his head and said, "Probably not. The troops will withdraw back to the base soon, and the government will delegate power here. If there is anything in the future, we will still ask the community to solve it as before. The police department has also marked the reconstruction site. The closest one to you is over at the small square. Call the police directly if there is anything."
Mu Nan exclaimed: "Are you going back to the base? Then you won't come here anymore?"
Qin Bing also thought of this, so he agreed to this dinner. After all, after returning to the base, he probably wouldn't come here unless there was something important. "Although it won't be like before, as long as the communication is continuous, we can still keep in touch. If there is any special news, I will also tell you."
Song Jia asked curiously, "So what are you going to do after you return to the base?"
Qin Bing thought for a moment and said, "It's probably the same as before. I'll study and train, and I just hope that we don't have to go out on a full-scale mission. Usually, a full-scale mission is when something needs rescue, so it's good enough to be able to return to the study and training we had before. If things can get better slowly, maybe the provinces will reopen to traffic, and then I can go back to my family."
Although separation is somewhat unhappy, such separation indicates that the future may be getting better and better, which is at least a happy thing.
Everyone in the room started to get busy again, chatting while skinning and killing rabbits. When they heard a knock on the door, they thought it was Xu Ming coming back. Qin Huai walked over to take a look and said, "It's Yu Feng. I'll bring him up."
They all knew who Yu Feng was, but they had never interacted with him. They were not unwelcome, after all, he had helped their courtyard in the past, saving Mu Nan and stockpiling rice. They were just a little curious as to how it was that these two people who did not have much in common seemed to have such a good relationship all of a sudden.
Jian Chu asked Mu Nan, "Do you keep in touch often in private?" He was still wondering whether the previous gauze mesh was due to Yu Feng's relationship.
Mu Nan shook his head: "No contact, I don't know, maybe my brother contacts more often."
When Yu Feng came up, he greeted everyone openly: "Hello, friends who survived the disaster."
Everyone has a good impression of Yu Feng, who has the image of a calm and steady big brother. He is also talkative, has the cheerfulness of a soldier, and has mature social experience. It is a very pleasant thing to talk to such a person, and having more capable friends means more paths. Everyone quickly accepted Yu Feng and gradually became familiar with each other.
Yu Feng didn't come empty-handed. After going up to the second floor of Jian Chu's house, he put the sack he was carrying on the ground. "It's nothing special. I just have some acquaintances at the farm, so I got some potatoes and pork for you to eat."
When everyone heard this, they immediately swarmed over. If potatoes and pork were not good things, then what was good? What's more, potatoes were the easiest food to grow. Plant one potato and you can harvest a bunch of potatoes! This acquaintance was really powerful!
When Xu Ming got home from get off work, he heard the lively laughter and chatter upstairs, and he couldn't help but relax a lot. He never thought that one day he would have a sense of belonging to a place because of a group of friends he met halfway. However, when he went upstairs, he saw a person who shouldn't be there, and he was immediately surprised and asked: "Why are you here?"
Yu Feng smiled, showing his white teeth, and put a hand on Qin Huai's shoulder: "My friend invited me here."
People don’t know that the deeper meaning of this sentence is, if you don’t bring me along, I’ll have plenty of friends coming along!
If his character didn't allow it, Xu Ming really wanted to roll his eyes at him in front of everyone.
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