Chapter 51 Cleaning up the sludge
The next morning, the flood receded to the third floor.
After a night of fermentation, the stench downstairs became more obvious.
The residents living on the lower floors were so choked by the smoke that they started packing up their belongings and moving upstairs at daybreak.
When Xia Xiaoman woke up, she heard some noise outside and thought someone was picking the lock. When she opened the door, she found someone was moving.
When the other party saw Xia Xiaoman coming out, he was afraid that she would misunderstand and attack someone, so he quickly explained, "It's too smelly downstairs, we moved upstairs to live for two days, and we will leave when the flood recedes."
Xia Xiaoman nodded and closed the door again.
Just as I was about to go back to the house, room 1503 next door opened the door and moved a bunch of things to the corridor.
Xia Xiaoman rubbed his eyes and asked, "Are you moving too?"
Sun Qing turned around and said, "No! Xiaojie and I want to clean up the house."
"After the floodwaters recede in a few days, we will all go back to our own homes. We moved here out of necessity, and now we have to leave, so we must do our best to restore the house!"
Everything else is fine, except that when they were smoking the duck, the roof was covered with black ash.
She sighed sadly, "I don't know if the developer will ask us to pay compensation after seeing what we have done to the house."
Xia Xiaoman didn't care. "Let's not talk about whether the developer will be compensated or not. It's still unknown whether the developer is still alive."
"Even if the developer is still alive, when he comes back to take over the property, we will be gone. Where can he get compensation from us?"
Sun Qing nodded. "That makes sense, but the house still needs to be cleaned up, ventilated, and the moisture removed."
…
The flood receded much faster than Xia Xiaoman had imagined.
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, the flood waters completely receded, revealing a thick layer of mud and garbage underneath, as well as fish bouncing, twisting and struggling in the mud.
The sludge was about five meters thick, and most of the second floor was buried in sludge and garbage.
Seeing the thick mud and garbage downstairs, it was obvious that they would be trapped in the building for a short period of time.
The mud is wet and soft, and it is impossible to walk on it.
Xia Xiaoman brought the dried clothes and quilts into the house, closed the doors and windows to block out the stench outside.
If you don't want to go out, then don't go out! Anyway, there are plenty of supplies at home, so you don't have to worry about food and drink.
The weather was hot and humid. I performed a set of boxing techniques in a vest and shorts. I was sweating all over and water was dripping from my hair.
Xia Xiaoman thought her hair was in the way, so she cut it even shorter to begin with. She only stopped when it could only be tied into a small bun.
Sometimes she really wanted to cut her hair short like Sun Qing, but she felt that short hair close to the ears would make her feel hotter, so it would be more refreshing to tie her hair up.
Just as I was admiring my new hairstyle, Xiao Zheyu's voice was heard outside the door.
She opened the door and saw Xiao Zheyu talking to someone at the entrance of the fire escape.
"Xiao Zheyu, who's here?" Xia Xiaoman walked over.
Xiao Zheyu pointed outside the door and said, "The neighbors in the building said they wanted to dig up the sludge downstairs and make a way out."
There were two or three people standing outside the door, all familiar faces whom I had seen many times in the building.
The uncle who lived in 1201 smiled politely at Xia Xiaoman and said, "Hello, my last name is Hu, you can just call me Lao Hu."
"Now the flood water outside has receded and there is mud everywhere."
"There were floods before, and our ability was limited. It was difficult to protect ourselves, so we couldn't help the country."
"But now that the flood has receded, we can spontaneously organize to help Fucheng clean up the sludge and carry out disaster relief operations so that Fucheng can complete post-disaster reconstruction as soon as possible."
"This will also be good for us. We can get out of this building as soon as possible and look for our relatives and friends..."
Lao Hu spoke eloquently, from the perspective of the country and the individual, and told everyone the various benefits of cleaning up the sludge downstairs, making people feel that cleaning up the sludge was such a great thing.
The people following behind Lao Hu occasionally chimed in and supported Lao Hu's point of view, and even said that they didn't care what happened on the 15th floor during the flood.
These people showed a picture of unity and friendship, but it inexplicably made people feel horrified.
The sun came out, and with it, people's long-lost "morality" also reappeared, as if a group of demons knew they were about to return to civilized society and couldn't wait to put on a layer of human skin.
Xia Xiaoman did not agree to go downstairs to clean up the sludge.
It's not that she doesn't want to contribute to the post-disaster reconstruction, but the downstairs is too dirty and smelly. If she goes down to clean up the sludge at this time, she will inhale all the miasma, which is very bad for her health.
If you want to clean the sludge, you need to wait at least four or five days for the sun to dry the sludge and dissipate the odor before you can clean it.
Xia Xiaoman's considerations were quite thorough, but Lao Hu from 1201 disagreed. "If we wait until the sun dries the sludge before cleaning it, the sludge will become solid after being dried. How can we clean it?"
"Little girl, you shouldn't be afraid of hardship at such a young age."
Xia Xiaoman rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, okay, I'm just afraid of hardship, okay! If you want to clean up the sludge, go ahead. You don't have to take us with you. We are all young people, and we are all afraid of hardship."
Lao Hu sighed and said, "Little girl, you can't do this. We are a team..."
"Who is in the same group with you? Didn't you just say that? A spontaneous organization is one that is voluntary. We on the 15th floor don't want to, so go find someone else!"
After Xia Xiaoman finished speaking, the door was closed and the whole world became quiet.
What a psychopath, he actually wanted to PUA her, without even considering who she was. If she was so easily PUA'd, she would have been like Sister Wang in the village, obediently listening to her parents and marrying an old man to subsidize her family.
"Sister, are we really not going to clean up the sludge?" Xiao Zheyu asked.
Xia Xiaoman asked back: "You want to go? Then go by yourself! I won't restrict your personal freedom."
Xiao Zheyu shook his head. "No, I just thought that if everyone in the building went to clean up the sludge, it would not be good if we did not go."
Look, this is PUA.
"The whole building is eating coarse food, and it's even worse for you to eat rice and duck meat at home. Do you want to share your supplies with the people in the building?"
When it comes to food, Xiao Zheyu sobers up immediately. "No, no, no, we on the 15th floor are unique. We want to be different from the others in the building. They dig their sludge, and we eat our duck legs."
1501 and 1504 refused to dig the sludge. 1502 and 1503 went downstairs and smelled the strong stench, so they gave up the idea of digging the sludge.
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