Chapter 51
Before they could discuss in detail whether Jian Chu and Yu Zibai were a couple, a soldier walked into the tent with a notebook. The whispers of some people in the tent stopped instantly, and some people even stood up impatiently, wanting to find the soldier who had just come in to inquire about the situation.
However, before anyone else came closer, the soldier raised his hand and signaled, holding a small loudspeaker and said, "Everyone, be quiet. Let's register now. I don't need to explain the situation outside. Everyone should know it well. Our current situation is very serious. All communications are currently disconnected. We don't know when we can get in touch with the outside world, and we don't know when we can wait for rescue. So what we can do now is to save ourselves. Regarding the distribution of supplies, the elderly over 70 years old and children under 12 years old can receive two meals a day. The amount of meals can only meet the minimum daily needs. If you want to get more food, you can only earn it through labor. People under 70 years old and over 12 years old, regardless of gender, will not be allocated food starting tonight. If you want to eat the big pot meals in the makeshift canteen, you must follow the team to participate in the rescue operation."
After the soldier finished speaking, he glanced at everyone and saw that no one objected to this decision, so he continued: "There are not many supplies now, and there are not enough rescue personnel. We can only use this forced rescue method. I hope everyone can understand. As for the rescue direction tonight, we will currently use nearby communities as rescue units. You can participate in the rescue work in your own community. This is not mandatory, but each community has a responsible soldier. Remember to find the rescue leader of each community to sign up before the action. This is to facilitate the distribution of canteen points after the end of the day's rescue operation. Now do a census and register your community."
Some people didn't care how the food was distributed at all, they just wanted to go to the rescue as soon as possible. If they waited here for a second, they would be wasting their family's lives. As soon as the soldier finished speaking, they hurried over to register, wishing they could launch the rescue operation immediately.
Jian Chu looked at Yu Zibai: "Shall we go register too?" They are in good health and have plenty of strength. More people and more strength can save more lives. What's more, if they don't eat from the same pot as the army, how can they survive?
Xu Ming on the side said: "I won't go to register. Although I'm a veterinarian, I have no problem with some basic trauma and wound suturing. Instead of going with the rescue team, it's better to stay here and join the medical team to save people."
Qin Huai said: "We won't go to register. We can go tonight to help. Anyway, we can go to the soldiers in charge of the area to register at any time. There is no need to rush."
Mu Nan naturally listened to whatever Qin Huai said, so he just stood there quietly without saying a word.
Yu Zibai said, "Then let's wait and go back today and discuss the details later." He was definitely going to participate in the rescue operation, but he had no plans to let Jian Chu join in at the moment. He felt that Jian Chu needed a process of acceptance, both in terms of physical strength and psychological endurance, and he couldn't be impatient.
Jian Chu thought about Yu Zibai's words and didn't object. Since they decided to move out today, there were many things in the house that needed to be sorted out. They didn't know what the house would look like after such a violent shaking. Moreover, the power outage last time was so long that even if the freezer had a heat preservation function, they had frozen a lot of ice cubes based on the experience of the last power outage. They didn't know if they could be lucky enough to preserve the food inside again. It was better to settle down first and then go to rescue people. However, the temperature was so high that it delayed the whole day and they didn't know how many people they could rescue.
At about six o'clock, the troops began to distribute supplies. They had said that the points exchange would start from tonight. If they didn't distribute some supplies to everyone, they would have no energy to dig the ruins at night. In order to prevent someone from taking advantage of the loophole to collect the supplies repeatedly, after all, there was no way to swipe the ID card record, so several soldiers carried baskets of steamed buns and water and distributed them to tents one by one. Regardless of gender, age or status, the first meal was two large steamed buns and a bottle of water.
This steamed bun is big enough for a person with a normal appetite. Mu Nan ate half of it and felt hungry, so he didn't want to eat anymore. It wasn't because he disliked the taste, but because it was hot. The mineral water was hot in his hand. Qin Huai didn't force him. He thought it was good to eat a little bit, so he ate the half that he didn't finish.
On the other side, Jian Chu couldn't eat any more after eating half of it. He simply hadn't recovered yet and didn't have much appetite. He was now eating only by force. So Yu Zibai ate what he hadn't finished.
Mu Nan looked at Jian Chu, then looked at the half-eaten steamed bun in Yu Zibai's hand, and his eyes were suddenly filled with profound meaning.
Jian Chu blushed, and was about to say that Qin Huai had eaten the leftovers, but before he could say anything, he remembered that Qin Huai was the elder brother, and it was normal for the elder brother to eat the leftovers of the younger brother. What was he doing to Yu Zibai? Thinking of what Xu Ming said just now, Yu Zibai did not admit it, but did not refute it either. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable all over, unable to let go, and unable to hold back. Obviously, at this time, he should not have the mind to think about those messy things, but he just couldn't control it.
Afraid that Mu Nan would say something embarrassing, Jian Chu simply turned his head away to avoid Mu Nan's gaze. When Mu Nan saw his action, he couldn't help but raised his eyebrows and smiled. Qin Huai pinched his face and asked him to turn his head to look at him. Why was he always staring at others?
Not long after everyone finished eating, someone came to inform those who were going to participate in the rescue to gather outside. It was now around 7:30, the sky outside was bright, and the sun was still very hot, but it was about to set after all, and the heat was not as strong as at noon. So many people needed to be arranged and allocated, so they went out in advance to prepare, and when they could withstand the heat outside, they would go directly to their respective rescue sites. Now every second counts, and lives are being saved.
Their tent was almost empty all of a sudden. Apart from them, there were three or five people left sitting in their seats with dazed expressions, not sure whether they hadn't recovered yet or were just alone and no one was waiting for them to rescue them.
Xu Ming handed his things to Yu Zibai and only took a bottle of water: "If you go back, please take it back for me. I will ask the medical team about the situation. Maybe I can go to work directly. If I don't come back, I will go upstairs before dawn, but I may not go upstairs. If the accommodation conditions of the medical team are good, I will not climb the stairs if I can."
It’s the 17th floor. If you climb up there, you’ll probably lose half your life.
Yu Zibai nodded, and Xu Ming went out with the water. Mu Nan looked at the empty tent. This was the first day's temporary settlement, so no one had anything with them. Apart from the steamed buns and water they had just distributed, they didn't even have a piece of cloth, so they left very quickly. After all, there was nothing that could be taken.
On their side, they had backpacks and cloth bags, and the cloth bags were filled with a lot of self-heating pots, which was considered rich. I'm afraid it will only be a day or two, and most people's focus will still be on rescue. After another two days, when people have dug out a lot of valuables in addition to the bodies from the ruins, rescue will no longer be the top priority.
After it got a little darker and there was no more violent direct sunlight, the four of them took their things and left the tent. There were many people coming in and out of the tent. Rescue work had already begun in the surrounding area. In a short while, many people were carrying the homemade stretchers made by the soldiers during the day and hurriedly transporting people who had just been dug out of the rubble. Of course, those who were sent here were still breathing, otherwise they would be placed directly in the temporary morgue.
Because it is still daytime, after a whole day of settling, the dust and smoke caused by the collapse of houses yesterday has dissipated. With a wide field of vision, they can see that the large skyscrapers of the past are only a few left. Standing in what used to be the city center, they have never felt that the surrounding environment has been so spacious, so spacious that it makes people feel a suffocating desolation.
The unrecognizable city and piles of ruins everywhere brought such a huge visual impact that just standing there and looking at it made people feel dizzy.
Qin Huai reached out and held Mu Nan's hand, holding it tightly, as if he was giving Mu Nan strength, but also as if he was gaining strength from Mu Nan.
Mu Nan also shook his hand back with a little force. He had gotten through all of this on his own. Although the process was difficult, now that Qin Huai was here, he would only adapt faster. Mentally, he was the most stable among the four of them. After all, he had rescued many people, dragged out many corpses, and accumulated a lot of supplies in such piles of ruins.
Several people followed the marks they had walked yesterday and found themselves back along the way. They saw many people moving stones with their bare hands. They asked from time to time if there was anyone below, but basically got no response. Now they could only rely on themselves to move the stones to check. The lack of a life detector, which saves time and effort, made the already difficult rescue work even more difficult.
Qin Huai didn't let Mu Nan look at it for long, and pulled him to walk quickly towards the community. The community was also busy, busy rescuing people, busy installing wires and lighting. It was getting dark, and if the lights were not turned on, it would be even harder to see if there was anyone inside the already messy ruins. While others were busy, a few people took the opportunity to walk into the building.
The inside of the building was also in a mess. It was estimated that when the earthquake occurred, some people tried to run away with some of their belongings, but they were too crowded to take care of the things in their hands, and now they were scattered all over the floor.
As Mu Nan followed Qin Huai up the stairs, he suddenly asked, "Brother, do you think there would be people who would just lie at home and wait to die without going out?"
Qin Huai said: "I think so. The older ones might be able to do so."
After a while, Mu Nan asked again: "Brother, do you think so many people running down from above will cause death by trampling? Will we see dead bodies on the way back?"
Qin Huai said: "It's possible, so be careful where you step, walk along the handrails, and don't look around."
Jian Chu, who was following behind them, could no longer bear it and said, "Mu Nan!"
Mu Nan turned around and looked at him: "What's wrong?"
Jian Chu: "Don't tell horror stories." He found that Mu Nan looked like a person who couldn't handle things, but in fact he seemed to be the most capable person. At least from what he saw when he walked back, his mentality was close to the breaking point, unlike Mu Nan, who could still ask a million questions here. Qin Huai was indeed his brother, and he could even answer questions.
However, if they all remained silent, the tense emotions might not be relieved. Being interrupted by Mu Nan's question, he felt inexplicably relieved a little, but let's not talk about the corpse in the stairwell. Just imagining it made him feel uneasy.
Mu Nan uttered an "oh", then stopped and took a breath: "I'm so tired."
As soon as he stopped, Qin Huai naturally stopped and waited for him, not forgetting to encourage him: "Not bad, we have climbed to the seventh floor. Let's rest for a while, and then climb the second seventh floor. We will be home soon."
Actually, Mu Nan had the worst physical strength among them. Even since the smog started, he had been consciously running at home every day, but Rome was not built in a day and physical fitness cannot be trained so quickly. But compared to before, he is much stronger now. At least in such a hot weather, he was just gasping for breath after climbing to the seventh floor without feeling dizzy or seeing stars.
He glanced at the two people who stopped to rest behind him and couldn't help but say, "How come you all have such good stamina?" He found that he was the one who was breathing the most heavily. Even Jian Chu, who had been vomiting uncontrollably and had gastroenteritis and had to get an injection today, was not breathing as hard as he was.
Jian Chu put his hands on his waist and said with an unsteady breath: "I trained part-time, and this guy trained by participating in marathons every year."
Mu Nan looked past Jian Chu at Yu Zibai: "Marathon, so impressive." He had been training for several months, but he couldn't even finish a half marathon, let alone a full marathon.
Jian Chu said: "Your brother has good physical strength, and he has the most stable breath."
Mu Nan smiled and said, "My brother has always been physically fit and athletic since he was young. Of course, he is also smart and always ranks among the top three in his age group in exams."
Jian Chu gave a very respectful compliment: "That's amazing."
Qin Huai stretched out his hand and pulled Mu Nan with a smile: "Okay, stop the commercial flattery, just take a break and continue to move forward, hold on, you will feel comfortable when you return home."
Mu Nan sighed, but didn't let Qin Huai pull him. Climbing the stairs was tiring enough, and pulling him would make him even more tired. What's more, he was not yet at the stage where he needed to be pulled by someone.
On the way to the 17th floor, they stopped to rest three times. Finally, they were so hot that their heads were dizzy, and finally they returned to the floor they were familiar with. On the way up, they saw a lot of debris, some of which were even whole bags dropped on the ground. They didn't know what they were, but they followed the principle of not wasting anything, so they picked up what they could. As for the things inside, they would go back and check them. Anyway, they were either for eating or for daily use. If they were thrown on the ground, they might get hot and spoiled. It was better to pick them up and use them.
When they finally climbed to the 17th floor, Mu Nan's legs were already trembling. The situation on their floor was not bad. He didn't know whether the Zhang family was there at the time. There was no other debris on the entire floor except for the fire extinguisher that fell out of the fire box and landed on the ground.
After climbing up, they naturally went back to their homes first, at least to check on the situation in their own homes. As soon as Mu Nan got home, he lay directly on the ground. There was nothing in their house. Everything was put into the space by Mu Nan before leaving. So no matter how it moved around, as long as the house didn't collapse, there would be nothing in the house that could fall to the ground and be broken.
But thinking that Jian Chu and the others might come over soon, Mu Nan still struggled to get up, and then took out the table. There were not many things in the kitchen, so he put some disposable chopsticks and bowls, and then took out the refrigerator.
Qin Huai said, "Put the solar generator on the side of the second bedroom. The master bedroom has better lighting. When the time comes, put up a few more solar panels and run the wires directly from the inside. Take out your stuff and I'll install it later."
Mu Nan did as Qin Huai said, and said as he put it away: "We can live quietly together. If we open a door to the balcony, they can come over at any time. It's so inconvenient."
Qin Huai said, "I'm worried about you being at home at night."
Mu Nan turned back to look at him, and before he could speak, Qin Huai stopped him first: "Listen to me, now our family's most important resource in the eyes of outsiders is the solar generator, but this thing is not enough to make Yu Zibai and others have bad intentions. The safe base cannot be built so quickly, and we have to live here for at least a while. Now we directly open this road just to make our future life a little better. Although the balconies are connected, our two families still close the door separately. In fact, it doesn't have much impact. The intersections in the early stage will definitely be a little more frequent, and later when life gets smoother, each family will still live separately."
Qin Huai looked at Mu Nan, who was frowning and obviously wanted to object, and smiled: "I know you don't want to stay at home, and you think you can do it yourself, and you think you have to face those things outside, but Nan Nan, I hope everything can be done slowly. At least you can let me adapt to the current situation. Otherwise, I have to face the changes outside, and I have to worry about whether you can bear it. Just think of it as for me, and stay at home, okay?"
Qin Huai said this and Mu Nan could only nod. He did overlook some things and just thought that he had experienced all of this before, so he didn't need anyone to worry about him. Even if he was a little uncomfortable at first, he would be able to adjust soon. He was worried that Qin Huai would not be able to adapt and just wanted to be by Qin Huai's side to help him adapt. However, he overlooked that Qin Huai would also worry about him and would also pay attention to his situation while trying to adapt to the current environment.
After Qin Huai said that, Mu Nan naturally stopped insisting and just said, "Okay, then you must be careful outside. It's easy to step on empty space in those ruins. You must be careful and don't go to places that are too high. It's too dangerous if you step on empty space. I'll prepare a first aid kit for you. If you accidentally scratch anywhere, you must clean it up in time. If the situation is too bad, don't force it. Let's come back and live our own lives with the door closed. There's no need to adapt to the changes outside every day. Brother, don't let me follow you? I'll be worried and scared if you're alone outside."
Qin Huai hugged him and rubbed his stubbled head: "I will be careful, very careful, I promise you."
Mu Nan hummed softly, obviously unhappy. Qin Huai smiled and asked, "Are you hungry? You only ate half a steamed bun before."
Mu Nan shook his head. After putting away the solar generator, he took out a battery and an air-conditioning fan. When he took out the doors and cement that Qin Huai had prepared before, Mu Nan realized: "Brother, have you planned this a long time ago? Otherwise, why would you prepare these in advance?" Maybe the dimensions were measured in advance. He asked why he should prepare an extra balcony door since they didn't have a balcony at home.
Qin Huai smiled: "It's just a rainy day preparation. Prepare everything you can possibly think of. It's better to have nothing when you don't need it than to have nothing when you need it."
Mu Nan felt that his brother's brain was still as useful as ever. He had already thought of the present when preparing the supplies. If it were him, he would probably only think of preparing as much food, drinks and daily necessities as possible, and would not be able to plan everything in such detail.
Qin Huai said, "Drink some mung bean soup to cool down the heat before they come over."
Mu Nan just didn't have much appetite because of the heat, but he could still drink the icy green bean soup, so he took two bowls of green bean soup with crushed ice from the space, drank the sweet and refreshing soup, and felt that his health bar rose by two bars: "I feel like I'm alive again."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "Let's put up the solar panels later. We can turn on the air conditioner tomorrow during the day. We'll use the air-conditioning fan tonight. If we knock on the wall quickly, we may be able to finish it in the first half of the night. We will still go down in the second half of the night. I'm afraid Yu Zibai won't let Jian Chu go down today. After we go down, you stay at home with Jian Chu. You can put some water in the room, take a shower, and put some snacks outside so that you don't get hungry and it's inconvenient to take food from the space. If you want to eat the self-heating pot, don't eat spicy food. Eat the tomato flavor, okay?"
Mu Nan listened to his mumbling and nodded: "I see. If you are so worried, you will feel at ease if you take me with you."
Qin Huai poked his forehead and said, "I will feel at ease only if I lock you up at home."
They hadn't taken a shower since yesterday, and their bodies were so dirty that no skin was exposed. They wanted to scrape off a layer of putty, and they planned to take a shower before Yu Zibai and the others came. Mu Nan made the bathing equipment himself. He poked a hole in the bottom of a plastic bucket, hung it on the shower head, and then placed the swimming pool at the door of the bathroom, and pulled a water pipe to suck the water from the swimming pool into the bucket to use as a shower.
Qin Huai asked Mu Nan to come over. Mu Nan took out a bath brush. Qin Huai looked at the bath tools he had prepared and said, "Do you want me to brush your back?"
Mu Nan lifted up his clothes to show Qin Huai his back: "Is it dirty?" He had indeed sweated a lot, but with his clothes on, he had no idea how much dust was stuck to his back from the earthquake and collapse. If his back was as dirty as his arms and legs, like an unearthed cultural relic, he would probably need Qin Huai's help to clean it.
Mu Nan was very thin and fair, with no fat around his waist, and still had the firmness of a teenager. Just a little bit of lifting made his waist look dazzlingly white. The movement of twisting his body to lift his clothes even revealed the entire back line. The butterfly bones on his shoulders were also printed through the clothes, like a butterfly flapping its wings, sexy and fragile. Because of the stuffiness in the room, even with the air conditioner on, the heat on his body could not be dissipated so quickly. At this moment, he was sweating from the time he was taking a bath. When Mu Nan lifted his clothes, a bead of sweat rolled down his back and slid onto the waist of his lower back.
Qin Huai's Adam's apple slid slightly uncontrollably. He swore that when he said those words, he really didn't have any romantic thoughts in his mind. At that time, he just naively treated Mu Nan as a child who needed his help to take a bath. But at this moment, when he touched Mu Nan's sweaty back under the light, Qin Huai felt that all his restraint and forbearance collapsed like an earthquake.
Without hearing Qin Huai's response, Mu Nan turned to look at him: "What's wrong? Is it dirty?"
Not dirty, in fact, not dirty at all. After all, it was through the clothes, and the little dust on it had long been washed away by sweat. But Qin Huai still heard himself say with a hoarse voice: "Dirty..."
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