Chapter 162: Second entry into the sewer
The next time the Crazy Dragon Society will hold a party is the day after tomorrow.
Xia Xiaoman asked Li Yu'e and Xiao Zheyu to stay at her house for a day, and then go to find Wen Jianfeng and others together tomorrow morning.
Li Yu'e and Xiao Zeyu naturally would not refuse the opportunity to sleep on a warm kang.
"Xiaoman, your kang is very well made. It even has a stove. You can heat the kang while burning fire." Li Yu'e looked envious.
Xia Xiaoman poured the snow into the boiler and said, "Didn't you make a kang? Didn't Sun Qing tell you how to make one?"
"We did. In order to save fuel, we made a big bunk bed on the first floor and everyone slept on the same kang. However, the kang is not connected to the stove. We usually cook in the fireplace, which is not as convenient as yours." Li Yu'e explained.
Xia Xiaoman smiled and said, "It's not very convenient. The stove is right at the head of the bed. If the food you cook has a strong smell, the quilt and the kang will be covered with the smell of oil smoke." So before cooking every time, she would fold the quilt and throw it in the corner to avoid it getting stained with oil smoke.
As they were talking, Xia Xiaoman skillfully cooked a large pot of fried eggs and stewed noodles, mostly noodles, with a fried egg for each person.
Xia Xiaoman is willing to add seasonings, such as thick oil and sauce, so that the simple noodles can be made colorful, fragrant and delicious.
Xiao Zheyu took a mouthful of noodles and sighed in satisfaction, "Tsk, it would be nice if there were a handful of chopped green onions or a head of garlic in the noodles."
Li Yu'e glared at him and said, "It's good enough to have something to eat. You dare to be picky."
Although their food was not as good as Xia Xiaoman's, it was not bad either. At least they were full. They just didn't want to add so many seasonings, so they always ate light food. It was rare for them to eat such heavy noodles, and they finished the noodles in the bowl in a short while.
Fortunately, Xia Xiaoman cooked a lot of noodles, so there was no problem for the three of them to eat enough.
After a full night's rest, the three of them were ready to go to meet Wen Jianfeng early the next morning. The road was covered with snow, so if they wanted to meet up with Wen Jianfeng and others, they had to go back through the sewer.
This was Xia Xiaoman’s second time entering the sewer, and the feeling was very different from the first time.
The first time I entered the sewer, there were not many people staying there. Although the sewer was stuffy, it was not very smelly, nor was it dirty or messy. This time, as soon as I approached the sewer entrance, I was hit by a foul smell.
Xia Xiaoman frowned and followed Li Yu'e and the others into the sewer.
The soldier guarding the entrance of the sewer asked them about their purpose of entering the sewer. Upon learning that they wanted to go somewhere else through the sewer, the soldier gave them a pass.
In order to prevent people who have not rented the sewers from coming to the sewers to get some heat, soldiers are stationed at the entrances and exits of the sewers 24 hours a day. If someone comes down, they will be questioned.
If they wanted to rent a place, they would be arranged to take them there. If they wanted to sell goods, or if they wanted to go through the sewer to another place, each person would have to pay a toll of half a pound of grain.
After paying the fee, the soldiers will issue them a pass, which only allows them to stay in the sewer for 4 hours. If they exceed the time limit, they will either pay extra to extend the pass time or be driven out of the sewer.
After getting the pass, Li Yu'e and Xiao Zheyu took Xia Xiaoman in the direction they came from.
After walking through only one section of the sewer, Xia Xiaoman saw four families arguing over a palm-sized space. He also saw someone just taking a bag to go to the toilet, causing neighbors on both sides to scold him.
Seeing the indescribable expression on her face, Xiao Zheyu said, "Sister Xiaoman, you'll get used to it. Your Shuiyue Bay is relatively good. The day before yesterday, Sister Yu'e and I passed by several places that were dirtier and messier than this place. Washing pot water, coal ash and other things were thrown around randomly. There was no place to step on the road."
Xia Xiaoman frowned even more when he heard this. "Isn't there anyone who can take care of the sewer environment? Living in such a dirty and messy environment for a long time will definitely cause health problems, and may even lead to infectious diseases."
"How can we manage it? The sewer is so small." Xiao Zheyu paused and said, "But I heard that the government is still trying to build a power station. When there is electricity, they may expand the sewer."
"When we came the day before yesterday, we saw several people in uniforms writing and drawing on a wall of the sewer, apparently calculating the digging point for the sewer expansion."
Li Yu'e, who was walking in front, heard this and said, "Maybe they want to build an underground city."
The rumor about the underground city started during the smog period, and even now many people still firmly believe that the authorities are preparing to build an underground city.
Xia Xiaoman said, "Building an underground city requires a lot of building materials, and steel is definitely an indispensable and important material. In the current environment, it is not easy to make steel. Without steel support, the underground city cannot be built."
Li Yu'e shook her head. "Not necessarily. After the flood, the authorities immediately took away all the building materials. Think about it, since the flood, haven't we seen many building materials on the road?"
Although Fucheng is not rich in building materials, there are several large building materials manufacturers. Even if these building materials factories were washed away by the flood, there are still many small and medium-sized building materials factories. How can there be no building materials at all?
Xia Xiaoman thought about it and felt that what Li Yu'e said made some sense. "But even if the authorities took away all the building materials in the floating city, it would not be enough to build an underground city!"
Li Yu'e said, "We still have Yancheng. There is a steel plant in Yancheng. If we don't have enough steel here, we can go to Yancheng and bring some back."
As they were talking, they had already passed through more than a dozen sewer sections and left the Shuiyue Bay area.
As Xiao Zheyu said, the area outside Shuiyue Bay is even dirtier and messier, with garbage everywhere. Fortunately, it is winter now, if it were summer, flies and mosquitoes would have been flying everywhere.
Suddenly, there were screams and roars coming from the sewer on the right. Xia Xiaoman looked curiously and saw someone slashing around like crazy with a knife, shouting, "You bully me! Bullying an honest man... I'll kill you!"
Several soldiers heard the noise and quickly ran towards the direction of the accident.
The older brother who was watching the fun nearby shook his head sadly, "Another one has gone crazy, another one has gone crazy..."
Xia Xiaoman frowned. It seemed that living in the sewer might not be safe!
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