Chapter 79
Regrettably, the good luck did not last forever. Although Qin Huai and his team did return empty-handed, what they brought back were not solar panels.
Yu Zibai sighed, "That place has been occupied by someone, it seems to be some villagers. Anyway, they have taken over the place and put away all the solar energy equipment. We were driven away before we even got close. There were a lot of people over there, so we had to give up. We thought we could just take a detour and come back from the business district, so we went there again, moved a few jars of pickled cabbage, looked for a few stores, and found a shoe warehouse. We didn't look at the sizes carefully, we'll check and see later."
Jian Chu frowned: "Occupied? Why would they occupy those things? They can't eat or drink them."
Qin Huai said, "They are all from villages not far away. Those villages basically have some fields or stored grain, and probably also have well water, so they don't have to worry about food and drink for the time being. They can occupy these things and generate electricity for themselves. Don't worry, someone will take care of them. When we came back, we took a detour to the front and told them about this."
Mu Nan: "Then they will give way if the soldiers go over there?"
Xu Ming laughed, "We have to give in even if we don't want to. What time is it now? Let those people occupy the solar equipment to generate electricity, and then sell electricity to make water and food. Even if the higher-ups want to kill a few of them for setting an example, they will never compromise or give in. If we give in to this one, the order will be hard to manage later. Our country is fine. During disasters, there is only one voice, and the people are used to the government supporting them when the sky falls. Think about foreign countries. Those states are probably eager to raise troops and declare independence. There are also some chaebols. At this time, they are probably also grabbing some supplies and becoming local emperors, provided that they don't die in the earthquake. So at this time, no matter where you are, it's fine if you come quietly without being discovered by the higher-ups. But occupying state supplies so blatantly and not giving in is courting death."
Mu Nan sighed, "I thought I could find two more boards. Forget it. Let's focus on moving the business district tomorrow. I'll leave early so I can make two trips back and forth. Do you want to do the reconstruction work in three days?"
Jian Chu was a little uncertain: "I still have to take it, I can earn some points. Now I can't cook, there is no water and electricity, what else can I do if I don't eat from the big pot."
Qin Huai said, "The food we have now should be enough for a few days. Let's prepare for home first. Even if there are things that are not needed at home, we can move them back and exchange them for points. When the large army arrives, the supplies will be transferred over slowly, and we can get our things back. Some points may be exchanged for other things. This reconstruction is not a one-time thing, so don't worry now. When we really can't find anything later, we can earn points to eat."
Yu Zibai nodded: "That's fine. I won't starve to death. Maybe I can even save some money before others."
Yu Zibai looked at the Wu Zheng brothers and said, "What about you guys? Are you going to earn points or join us?"
Wu Zheng: "Let's go together. Maybe we can find some more food in the ruins. Food seems to be worth more points than these supplies. Although we don't know the price of those points or how to exchange them, I feel that they are more willing to accept food."
Mu Nan touched Niuniu and said, "Niuniu, you have done a great job again. Next time I will give you some meat as a reward, okay?"
Niu Niu wagged her tail, not sure if she understood the word "Rou Rou".
When most of the things had been distributed, everyone went back home. We agreed to go out early tomorrow, but the exact time had not been decided. It would depend on how hot the sun was. Anyway, we would probably go out around seven or eight o'clock.
As soon as he got home, Mu Nan took off his protective suit. He was covered in sweat, but because he was wearing the protective suit, the dust was blocked, so only his face and hands were dirty, not his body. However, looking at the protective suit that was even dripping with sweat, Mu Nan sighed heavily: "I really want to take a shower. I think I've become white again."
Qin Huai: "If you keep sweating like this every day, your skin will naturally become white. If you want to take a shower, just take one. Put the ice cubes in the storage room to cool down the temperature first. We will eat after taking a shower."
They slept in the storage room yesterday. There were no windows so the sunlight couldn't come in. The cool air from the ice dissipated the heat in the room. The door was slightly open for ventilation, and there was enough space for a mattress on the floor. The two of them slept together with a thin blanket. It was neither cold nor hot. It was the most comfortable night's sleep they had had since leaving home.
Mu Nan rummaged around in the space and found a bottle of shower gel that didn't have a strong scent. He took a good bath from head to toe, even washing his ears. It felt like he had rubbed off several pounds of mud. He returned to the storage room lightly and refreshed, and collapsed on the mattress, not wanting to move. When Qin Huai came back from his bath, Mu Nan lay on the mattress and looked at him and smiled, "You look even more handsome after washing yourself clean."
Qin Huai sat next to Mu Nan and pinched his legs, which had become a bit muscular from riding a bike every day. "Are you tired?"
Mu Nan stretched, then stood up and took out the small low table: "Not tired, it was the most tiring at the beginning, but later I got used to it. What do you want to eat today?"
Qin Huai wiped his hair and said, "Just take what you want to eat."
Mu Nan thought for a moment and said, "Let's have a grilled fish. I haven't had fish for a long time. Let's have some pork elbow stewed with rice wine and stir-fried green beans. Do you want to have a meal or a beer?"
Qin Huai: "Let's drink some beer to cool down first."
Mu Nan took out everything from the space one by one. Thinking of Jian Chu's nose, he couldn't help laughing: "From now on, we will hide here to eat. The door is closed tightly, so Jian Chu can't smell it."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "Although they are still next door to us, the distance is far because the space is bigger. Unless you eat hot pot in the small garden outside, you probably won't be able to smell it from their house."
Mu Nan shook his head: "We still have to be careful. Besides, there is a dog living next door to us. It feels like we are surrounded by dogs. We have to be sneaky even when eating."
While eating, the two of them discussed what to do upstairs. There were two rooms upstairs. The master bedroom had a bathroom. The room was quite large, and the windows were those big bay windows with a large area. If they were to live in the house, then the protection of the windows would be very important. It didn't matter in winter, as it would be good to have the sun shining in. In summer, a lot of shading and heat-blocking materials would have to be consumed. But there was no rush. After the army moved in, they would definitely be able to exchange some supplies with them. During the rest of the time, the worst that could happen was that they would just sleep in the storage room every day.
In addition, the air conditioner also needs to be fixed. I hope to find a few more. The one in his space must be installed in the room, and one should also be installed downstairs. In case the neighbors come to visit, they have to be entertained downstairs. I was thinking about the layout of the house bit by bit in my mind, and I ate half a pot of rice wine-braised pork elbow, and soon I fell asleep with my head tilted to the side.
Qin Huai stretched out his hand and passed it under his neck, and Mu Nan automatically rolled into his arms. He had been traveling for a long time and was tired and hot. He didn't even cling to anyone when he slept. It would be better to stay cooler. It would probably be even better when winter comes.
Everyone was in a hurry, wanting to get everything in their house ready before the situation in the business district became known. They had seen home appliances in that row of shops before, and thought there must be more nearby, so that store would not be the only one. The next day, everyone looked around and finally found a store selling large appliances in the mall.
Half of the shopping mall collapsed. The electrical appliances were in a corner of the first floor. I couldn't get in through the collapsed area, so I finally crossed two shops and smashed two walls before I could get in. Most of the things fell to the ground due to the violent shaking of the earthquake. Only a few of them seemed to be still usable, at least they were still standing there and there was no damage on the outside. But whether they were usable or not could only be known after we carried them back and waited until the electricity was restored. There was no way to try it now.
It was a relief that these grown men still had some strength in their hands. Three of them worked together to lift a refrigerator. After all, the road was not easy to walk on, and there were broken bricks everywhere. If something fell because of a slight misstep, that would be a minor concern. But if someone got hit underneath, that would be the real problem. So even if one person could carry it with a little strength, it was still safer for three to carry one.
After four trips back and forth over two days, they finally moved back the things that were most needed at home, including the refrigerator, freezer, and air conditioner. Because they made a lot of noise, after all, it was impossible to move large appliances back quietly, even if they entered through the side door, they would be seen, so someone came forward to ask, but the crowd was not so secretive, so they would hurry up to move, and if they were seen and asked, they would tell the truth.
So when they went there again, there were more people searching. But it didn't matter, because they had already moved the appliances back home, and the remaining odds and ends were a reward if they could find something useful, but it didn't matter if they couldn't find anything.
They were rewarded for their good deeds. They found a pile of pots and pans and were about to move forward to look for the next store when they saw a man riding a bicycle with a roll of cloth on it. Jian Chu saw that the man was the big brother who had asked them where they got their appliances. He waved at him and asked, "Big brother, where did you find this cloth?"
When the elder brother saw that it was them, he stopped and pointed to the back: "It's behind the movie theater. There's a fried chicken shop next to it. Go around and take a look. The cloth has been pushed down. Hurry up and take advantage of it before many people notice it."
Jian Chu thanked them and asked Yu Zibai and Xu Ming to come over slowly on their tricycles. They went over to look for it first. The cloth was still in a complete roll. If they could get it back, it would be nice to have a few layers of cover.
When they passed by, they saw people rummaging around, mostly in food stores. They were not looking for food, but those food stores would have some electrical appliances, like microwave ovens and gas stoves. Those who had migrated from the city center had to buy everything for themselves except for food and clothes, so they would not miss any store that could be rummaged through.
The group soon found the fried chicken shop. Next to it was a pile of rubble. The group climbed up and rummaged down a little bit. Soon they found bundles of cloth. A roll of cloth was really heavy. One person had to drag it on the ground, and at least two people were needed to lift it. In order not to waste energy, they turned on the light and looked down, trying to find the thickest and most light-blocking ones. After rummaging for a while, someone saw that they seemed to have found something and came over. Mu Nan said, "Take a few bundles back first. I see these are quite thick. If one layer is not enough, we can just cover it with three layers inside and outside."
Jian Chu also thought that this method was feasible, so they pulled from below, and Xu Ming and Wu Zheng carried it down. As for the others, they naturally stayed beside the car. There were still a lot of small items on their tricycle, and if no one was guarding it, someone would definitely take the opportunity to take them away.
In the end, more than ten bundles of cloth were placed on the tricycle, and they also carried one bundle on their bicycles. They could only carry one roll, and if they carried more, it would be too heavy to ride.
After returning home exhausted, we started to divide things after a while. The pots, pans, and utensils were turned over a lot, so everyone just took what they needed and didn't care about dividing them equally. The cloth was unpacked in every roll, and the color and style were checked. It was really thick. I don't know if it was because of the sudden popularity that the demand for this thick cloth increased, so the store specially bought it. Anyway, it was much thicker than the ordinary curtains I bought before. There are many colors, blue, white, pink, and purple.
Mu Nan quite liked the blue one with irregular patterns, so he asked for the blue one. In order to make the colors uniform, there was another roll of blue one with a different pattern, and he also asked for that.
There was a lot of cloth. One family asked for two rolls and there were still some left. The extra rolls were temporarily placed in Jian Chu's garage and they could come back for more when needed.
After getting the cloth, of course they hurried to block out the light. Sleeping in the corridor was indeed a bit crowded. Mu Nan didn't know how Jian Chu's family got the curtains, but they had curtain rods, the kind that could be stacked and extended. Anyway, they lived on the third floor and no one would come up, so they did whatever was convenient. The only difference was that the curtain cloth was still a whole piece of cloth, without any processing, no trimming, and no iron ring. Mu Nan could only cut the hole himself to pass the curtain rod through.
"Brother, I think the hole will break by then. After all, the curtain fabric is so heavy. If it keeps falling down like this without the iron ring to hold it in place, it will tear sooner or later."
Qin Huai was installing the fixing rods on both sides: "It's okay. By the time it can't bear the tearing, there may be curtains for sale outside."
Mu Nan pulled open the cloth and cut it according to the size he had measured before, fearing that it would be cut crooked and of different lengths. Fortunately, it fit perfectly when he put it on. It dragged on the ground a few centimeters more, but it was fine. After the inside was done, Qin Huai took the cloth and went directly to the rooftop, and set a layer along the wall. Once the inside and outside were covered, the sun could be blocked. With the outside blocked, Mu Nan was busy putting a layer of sunshade film on the windows inside the house, mainly to prevent light from spilling out, so that even if the lights were on inside the house, nothing outside could see.
Blocking the view from outside, Mu Nan took the water and started mopping the floor. This house was slightly renovated, and the walls were tiled, so it was easy to clean. He wiped the inside and outside with disinfectant, and cleaned the bathroom again. This house had never been lived in before, but it should have been cleaned. Although there was a lot of dust in the house after being closed for so long, it was just dust and easy to clean. Qin Huai came over to help clean after he finished covering the outside. It took the two of them an hour to clean the bedroom.
Mu Nan hurriedly took out the bed. Since it was a place to sleep, it had to be away from the window. Seeing that there was still a lot of spacious space, he took out a set of sofas and placed them just right. There was also a cloakroom in the bedroom, which was ready. Mu Nan took out their clothes, both thin and thick, as well as quilts and other supplies, and placed them outside so that Qin Huai would not be unable to find him when he needed him.
The empty bedroom was soon filled up. Mu Nan sighed: "Every time this happens, I feel the convenience of space. It's easy to do it by putting it away."
Qin Huai said, "The air conditioner will be installed tomorrow. Let's leave it like this for today. Put the ice cubes a little further away today. Don't keep seeking cool air. It's not good for your health if you seek too much cool air. If it's really hot, take out the air conditioner fan and circulate it."
Mu Nan took out everything one by one. It was better to sleep in the big bedroom than in the small storage room which couldn't accommodate any extra things. Moreover, the bed was the same one he slept in at home before. It was familiar to him. Although he moved to a new house, all the things and items were the ones he had used before, which made him feel more secure.
When the new home was slowly taking shape, Shi Yuanfei drove back to the city overnight. The base was not seriously collapsed, but the base was short of manpower. Most of the people in the 713 base were dispatched to maintain order and distribute supplies. There was a severe shortage of manpower at the time, so only two squads were left at the base to receive new news from above at any time.
During the earthquake, the squad on duty lost seven people and seriously injured five in order to protect important military equipment. There were less than ten people left to guard the large base. The communicator was broken at that time. Because the entire dispatch room was underground, it sank directly due to the earthquake. It is still buried and cannot be turned out. There is no equipment to contact the outside world. Two people were sent to drive around to check the situation and rescued a lot of people, but they couldn't go too far away from the base. The things in the base were too important, and there were even weapons of mass destruction. They could only stay behind passively and wait for the surviving comrades to come back.
Fortunately, they finally waited, and the moment they saw Shi Yuanfei and several soldiers, those soldiers who were bleeding but not crying, cried like children who suddenly saw their relatives. They knew how difficult it was outside. Places like the fourth and fifth ring roads were like this, and they couldn't even imagine what the city center was like. But they couldn't leave. The villagers who had been rescued still relied on them. They couldn't rescue some of the people around them, only a dozen people, and some were injured. They had no way to leave.
The situation at the base was good. Shi Yuanfei rested for a whole day, and as soon as the sun went down, he drove back to the camp with his men. At this moment, the sky in the city center was gray, and the sun seemed unable to shine through the thick black smoke. Under the black smoke were piles of burning corpses.
Seeing the heavy military trucks driving into the camp, many people thought that rescue was coming from outside. Until now, some people were still unwilling to believe that this was a disaster so large that there was no rescue at all. They were waiting, hoping, and suffering. When they saw the cars coming, many people even broke down and rushed forward crying. They wanted to leave here and return to their former civilization.
There were seven military heavy trucks, two of which carried people, and the rest were for the transfer of supplies. The people who were transferred had normal body temperatures in the past few days. Because the two sides had been in contact, they knew that they were about to drive back, so the camp also made preparations in advance, first transferring some healthy strong laborers and children over there. They needed manpower to rebuild there, and children had poor resistance and were at high risk of infection if they stayed here. A special car was also arranged to take the elderly, women and children, but they would be placed in the school for isolation. As for those who were already sick, there was really no way to take them away. If possible, it would be best to prevent the plague here.
On the day Shi Yuanfei drove back, those who were walking behind him had just reached their destination. Because there were still some sick people, they were directly quarantined in the school building. They had to be quarantined for at least seven days. Only those who were confirmed to be healthy and without fever could come back here. The first group of people who arrived still had their temperature taken every day. Fortunately, no one was sick at the moment.
After taking the temperature for today, Mu Nan returned to the house and said to Qin Huai: "People can only grow in adversity."
Qin Huai smiled and wiped the sweat off his face. They were just installing the air conditioner in the room, so they were sweaty. "What's going on?"
Mu Nan: "Look at the people in the past. They were out of breath after climbing two flights of stairs. They had to find a place to sit after walking for ten minutes. They caught a cold and had a fever if they were exposed to the slightest breeze. They had no resistance. But now, they have been walking for half a month and still persisted. The environment is so bad, they don't eat enough and don't sleep well, but they haven't collapsed. They are strong and dare not get sick. So people's willpower is really strong, so strong that it can even control some of their own force majeure situations."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "The ancients said that one is born in sorrow and dies in comfort. Okay, it's almost dawn. I'm going to take a shower and go back to my room to sleep."
Mu Nan walked upstairs while saying, "Those sick people have been placed in the school, so do we still need to look for things?" After all, more and more people are coming, and more people means a worse environment. Before, there were fewer people, and they didn't come into contact with too many people when they were looking for things, so it was fine. But now that there are more people, it's not very safe.
Qin Huai: "Let's discuss it with them tomorrow. Everything is almost ready. We just have to wait and see when we can get water and electricity. Next, we should look for a brick wall. At least we have to build it before it snows."
Mu Nan sighed: "I don't know if the floor heating here can be supplied when it snows. Our house has floor heating, right?"
Qin Huai: "Yes, it doesn't matter if there is a shortage of supply. We can turn on the air conditioner and the heater. Brother Xu just said that the military's supplies will gradually arrive in the next two days. We can go and get the solar energy back, and then we will have electricity." This is also the reason why they have to hurry up and build the wall. Once the solar energy is installed, their house will be eye-catching.
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