Chapter 17 Suicheng
Suicheng University is the university where Shu Fu studied for four years.
The West Campus of SuiDa became a temporary evacuation point for nearby residents several days ago because of its high terrain and sturdy buildings.
At the same time, Suicheng University was also listed as one of Suicheng’s official refugee shelters.
Ping'an Community is close to the south gate of SuiDa West Campus. It takes about 25 minutes to drive there without traffic jams. To get to the library, you have to cross most of the campus.
As for rowing - well, she had never tried that.
It is definitely impossible to go there on a raft. First of all, a raft can only drift with the current and cannot fix its direction at all. Moreover, the speed is too slow. It is too eye-catching when there are still a large number of people in Suicheng.
The only option left is the self-inflating boat.
The automatic inflatable boat, which is also a type of rubber lifeboat, is sturdy, safe and reliable, and is not easy to capsize even in strong winds and rains.
But the problem is that inflatable boats are hand-rowed.
Moreover, for an inland city, there are fewer people who own safety equipment such as rubber boats. Even if she has the strength to row to Suicheng University alone, she cannot completely control the accidents that may happen along the way.
Suicheng today is different from the past. Even though there is no major chaos in order, some small-scale conflicts and contradictions are completely uncontrolled.
Inflatable boats are not golden fingers and there is no absolutely safe area.
So if she wants to complete this task, she needs to make a good plan.
Shu Fu was completely awake at that moment. She first went to the bedroom window and closed the gauze curtains, blackout curtains and the outermost curtains tightly. Then she took out a charged hot water bottle from the space and stuffed it into the quilt. She turned on the rechargeable desk lamp next to her and adjusted the light to the dimmest. Finally, she took out two mobile phones, one to open the rescue real-time information network to look for information, and the other to check the cached Suicheng map.
The driving route from Ping'an Community to Suicheng University is only slightly tortuous in the first and last sections. The rest of the time it basically goes along the main road and the elevated road. Boats cannot go up the elevated road but can go under the elevated road.
These routes are straight lines and straight turns, which means that even if you row a boat, you can't take advantage of the straight-line distance after the flooding, and you still have to move forward along the original route.
But there are also advantages, because most of the routes are main roads and elevated roads, so there is a distance from shops, buildings and residential areas on both sides, and the possibility of being blocked along the way is lower.
After all, anyone who can stay in the middle of the road at such a high water level must at least have a floating tool other than a life jacket and lifebuoy, as well as the courage to soak in the water at such a temperature.
The car route from Ping'an Community to the south gate of Suicheng University is 20 kilometers long. If you switch to the water route, you can take a shortcut in the first and last sections, but you still need to row 17 to 18 kilometers.
At normal rowing speed, it would take at least three hours, assuming everything went well.
She wanted to shorten the mileage of the rowing route, and there was another way, which was to row the boat to find the urban streets where the evacuation team to Suicheng University was located, quietly blend into the evacuation team of that area, and directly take the rescue team's speedboat to go there.
This information is available on the rescue real-time information website.
Now that the plan had a direction, Shu Fu became more energetic and took a cup of hot latte in a covered glass from the shelf in the bracelet space.
It was after the first power outage that she started using a freshly ground coffee machine to make stockpiles, and she made use of all the large and small glass cups, thermos cups and tea cups in the house.
She continued checking while drinking coffee to refresh herself.
However, before she found the streets in the urban area to evacuate to the West Campus of Suicheng University, she found another useful information - the final evacuation direction after the West Campus of Suicheng University was Pincheng, northwest of Suicheng!
Pincheng, isn’t this the hometown that the Lu Zheng brothers want to return to?
Shu Fu took a big sip of coffee, put the glass on the bedside table, turned off the light beside her, wrapped herself in a thick cotton coat, got out of bed and went to the window. She opened the curtains, leaned against the glass window and looked at the residential building opposite.
The Lu Zheng brothers lived in the building at the back. Because of the power outage, the entire community was dark. There was also a flickering warm light coming through the gaps in the glass windows of some people's houses that had been temporarily repaired. It looked like it was from candles.
Just looking at it this way, she couldn't tell whether Lu Zheng and the others were asleep, but she didn't want to wait until tomorrow. She was mainly worried that they would find temporary partners who had the conditions and could go to other shelters together during this time, and she was also worried that the battery of the other party's phone would not last too long.
So, she turned on her phone and saw a text message from Lu Zheng: Have you decided to follow the rescue team to the industrial plant on the evening of the third day, or are you still looking for someone to go to Pincheng with you?
She sent the text message because she remembered that Lu Zheng had previously taken in a family living on the lower floor, and she wasn't sure if there were other people living in his house now.
Lu Zheng replied quickly. Probably because of this incident, he was still awake so late.
"We are still contacting people. There are people in our community who want to go to the shelter in the same direction, but they can't find transportation. I have a friend who is also gathering a team to go to the shelter in the northwest. He can get a rubber boat, but his community is three or four kilometers away from here. It depends on whether all the people who are traveling with us are willing to go back and take a detour to pick us up."
Lu Zheng sent a voice message, which was not loud, but he explained the matter very clearly in just a few words.
He is not stupid. Although Shu Fu had chatted with him a few times alone before, they were all private messages after communicating in the group because there were some things that were not convenient for group chat.
This time is different, it is the middle of the night and the questions asked are very specific.
Shu Fu: Is it convenient for you to talk there?
Shu Fu: If it’s not convenient, you can send a text message.
Shu Fu: That’s right…
Shu Fu was still typing. Lu Zheng sent another voice message a moment later, with a lower volume: "It's convenient. They're already asleep. I'm in my brother's room. What's wrong with you? Do you also want to go to the shelter in the northwest? I was just chatting with my friend. I asked him. It's no problem to add a girl. As long as they are willing to take a detour, we can go together."
Shu Fu looked at the long string of words that he was about to finish typing, but gave up and switched to voice: "I want to go to the shelter in the northwest, but not all shelters are available. I want to go to the west campus of Suicheng University."
When she saw that the final evacuation city of SuiDa West Campus was Pincheng, she understood who the general target of this progress bar task was.
So she didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.
After this message was sent, Lu Zheng called directly.
He said in a low and slow voice that it would be no problem for the two brothers to go to SuiDa with her, because the final evacuation city there was also Pincheng, but his friend's team had not yet been formed, so the ship route was unclear.
In the end, there were several official refuge points for evacuation to Pincheng. Although they were all in the same direction, they were several kilometers apart from each other. The other party actually wanted to go to another refuge point.
Shu Fu thought for a moment and asked, "Do their rubber boats have marine motors installed?"
If the other party has one, she can take Lu Zheng and his brother to the other party's location and meet up with them, use a floating rope on the water to connect to the other party's rubber boat, take a "downwind boat", and then untie them when they are almost at the same place, and row to SuiDa by themselves.
The boat motor was probably the only omission in her stocking list. In fact, she had considered this issue after buying the inflatable boat, but that night the "unsinkable drifting island house" was activated and her focus was on the raft. In comparison, the inflatable boat she bought before became dispensable. It was enough to have a spare, and she didn't think about upgrading the accessories.
“No.” Lu Zheng was a little embarrassed. “Because the rubber boat is larger with ten seats, and it has no power, my friend wanted to get more people to row over together…”
Shu Fu: “…”
"Do you have to go to Sui University?"
"Yes, I graduated from there, and I want to go there to find someone."
Lu Ce's voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone, and his voice was also very low: "Sister Fu Fu, my brother also studies at Suicheng University, also in the West Campus. So you are alumni... He just became a sophomore this year, and he is your junior... Brother, can we go to Suicheng University together with Sister Fu Fu? We can also evacuate back to our hometown from there, and we can also meet your classmates! No... I can also talk to Sister Fu Fu..."
There was a muffled tugging sound afterwards, and finally Lu Ce uttered a small "ouch", and the phone returned to Lu Zheng's hand: "I'm sorry about what happened just now, about the shelter--"
Shu Fu interrupted him neatly: "It's like this, I can get a rubber boat here, but it's a small one, it can only accommodate the three of us, and we have to row it by hand. If you want, we can go directly to Sui University."
The double-person automatic inflatable boat is limited to two people, but she is a girl and light in weight, and Luce is a child, plus they need to carry backpacks, so it can barely accommodate three people, and no more.
"Really?!" Lu Zheng's voice was filled with surprise. Of course, it would be great if he could start the boating trip directly from his own neighborhood.
After the surprise, the two quickly discussed the preliminary plan.
The first is the time for self-evacuation, which cannot be too early, because there are still many people in the community who want to evacuate to other shelters, but they have no means of transportation. Shu Fu’s boat is still a boat no matter how small it is. In this situation, it is better not to set off early in public.
So they tentatively set the evacuation time for the morning or afternoon of the fourth day. Firstly, according to the weather forecast, the wind and rain would be slightly smaller that day and would not cause too much hindrance to boating. Secondly, it would be more than twelve hours later than the rescue team, and the people in the community should have basically evacuated.
The second is the upper limit of the weight of the materials that can be carried. This is Shu Fu’s job, and he has to give them a rough number.
Another advantage of self-evacuation is that you don't have to stick to the 5-pound backpack limit per person, so you can bring more necessities.
Finally, Shu Fu asked them if they had enough food and whether the battery of their cell phones could last until the fourth day, because they had to rely on their cell phones to keep in touch and they couldn't shout across the building.
"There is enough food, and the phone can also last. Thanks to your reminder that day, Xiao Ce and I went to the supermarket to buy supplies that day. We took five power banks, all fully charged. The power is enough for the phone to last until we get to the official shelter."
**
The two sides communicated smoothly, and then they just had to wait for time to pass.
Because she went to bed late the day before, she didn't set the alarm clock the next day and slept until she woke up naturally.
The room temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees. She took out her cell phone and checked the weather forecast: heavy rain, with local torrential rain, wind speed of five to seven, and temperature of three to eight degrees Celsius.
The temperature has dropped, although not very significantly, but as we haven't seen the sun for many days, the temperature will definitely drop.
The water level outside had risen a little more, not as fast as the previous night, but the lampshades of the street lamps on the small road outside had basically been submerged in the water.
The windows of the second-floor house opposite were basically covered by water, and it was almost flooding to the third floor. This was when there was a garage downstairs. For a normal building without a garage, the water level would have reached the fourth floor.
She saw people standing in the windows of several houses on the third floor opposite, keeping an eye on the water level below. The rain was still falling and the water level continued to rise. Although they were reluctant, they were ready to move upstairs.
It's not very noisy outside. Currently, only the residents on the second floor of the building have moved upwards. Except for those who are staying directly with their good neighbors, the rest of the people are staying in the stairwell for the time being.
Even if someone occasionally needed to use the toilet or kitchen, most of them went in and out of the third and fourth floors. Only two households near the stairwell on the fifth floor had their doors knocked.
Except for the knocks on her door when she moved to the second floor last time, her room has been very quiet so far. The main reason is that it is too far from the stairwell, and those who stay in the stairwell probably find it inconvenient.
Of course, another reason for the quietness is that the entire community will be evacuated tomorrow evening.
Although disasters are terrible, as long as the state machinery is able to function and the people know that the suffering is only temporary, the situation will naturally not become chaotic.
Even because they have accepted the fact of the city-wide evacuation and realized that everyone, whether they live in high or low floors, will eventually be on the same starting line, the residents temporarily living in the stairwells have stopped complaining and making noise, and have started to use their brains to solve their life problems.
Some people did not bring much food with them, so they went to other people's homes to buy food. It was a bit expensive, but in special times, the requirements for three meals a day were not high. As long as they were hot and full, it was fine. When they were really hungry, rice with rice sauce could be considered a meal.
Even if most people have gone without fresh vegetables and fruits, they still have a lot of frozen meat, rice, flour and instant food at home. These things are heavy and cannot be taken away all at once during the evacuation. It is better to make some money now so that at least you can take the money with you.
Some people find it troublesome and are unwilling to help others cook, but if they have a gas stove at home, they can rent or sell it to people who bring food and let them cook it themselves.
As for going to the bathroom and simple washing, everyone does their own thing and can always make do.
Therefore, there was no major chaos, only some minor conflicts caused by daily trivial matters, which did not cause much commotion.
The garbage produced by every household every day is so huge that there is no room for it to be piled up, so we can only tie up the garbage bags tightly and throw them in a corner as far away from the accommodation area as possible.
The electricity still hadn't come back, and the light in the room was very dim. Shu Fu took out a camping lamp from the bracelet space. This camping lamp can be powered by dry batteries or charged by solar energy. By dimming the light, it can be on standby for a long time.
She washed up by the light of the camping lantern while planning what she would do that day.
She wasn't sure how many days it would take to complete the mission at Suicheng University, or whether she would be able to return safely afterwards. In short, she had to be prepared for both scenarios.
All the things in the house had to be packed up. She planned to put everything that could fit into the space on the bracelet, and then close the doors and windows tightly. In case she came back soon, she could live here for a long time.
For breakfast, she made herself a simple noodle dish. She chopped garlic and fried it in a pan until fragrant. She added a small piece of spicy beef hot pot seasoning, stir-fried it, then added salt, light soy sauce and hot water. She brought it to a boil over high heat, then added the noodles and her favorite vegetables. It was a pot of spicy noodles with a rich aroma.
Because of the stir-fried minced garlic and the addition of the all-purpose hot pot seasoning, the noodle soup is fresh, fragrant and rich in taste even without any meat.
It was nearly eleven o'clock at this time. This meal was considered breakfast and lunch. She took out some leftover hand-shredded chicken from the shelf in the space and supplemented the meat.
It was still cloudy and rainy outside the window. There had been a power outage for the past two days, so the washing machine and dryer could not be used. She had wanted to take out the camping generator yesterday, which made almost no noise, and the noise from the heavy rain completely covered it up.
Afterwards I thought about it and decided not to do it. The washing machine in the bathroom is a pulsator type, which makes a lot of noise when it is working. Although the bathroom is not next to the next door, there is no guarantee that I won't hear any noise from next door.
I don't know how other people survived the power outage. Although the water heater is gas-powered, it also needs to be connected to the power supply. She didn't take a shower yesterday and only used hot water for daily cleaning. Anyway, she still changes her underwear every day, and over time, clothes that need to be washed will accumulate.
So, after brunch and clearing away the pots and pans, she drew the living room curtains and launched the raft.
She had to move all her daily cleaning and maintenance work to the drifting house, where wastewater could be stored and there were water tanks, so cleaning and sewage could be done without any problems.
She used the space on her wristband to move the washing machine to the wall in the bathroom. There is another water outlet under the shower faucet in the shower room. As long as she uses a water pipe to connect this outlet to the water inlet of the washing machine, the problem of water source for washing clothes will be solved.
There is a floor drain in the corner of the bathroom, which can be directly connected to the drain pipe, and the sewage will automatically be discharged from the floor drain into the wastewater tank.
The dryer was also moved next to the sink, and a rechargeable plug-in desk lamp was clamped on the mirror in front of the sink, and then she took out the generator.
She turned on the usage video and followed the steps taught by the store owner: check the fuel tank, add gasoline, connect the plug, turn off the circuit breaker, turn on the generator switch... and started the generator one by one.
Just like what we saw before, this camping generator is indeed very quiet.
After a while, she observed the voltage changes, confirmed that it was normal, turned on the circuit breaker, and then started connecting the power cords of home appliances.
After confirming that the washing machine, dryer and lights were all working properly, the matter came to an end.
The bathroom in the cabin was very small, and it was basically full after putting these things in. She looked around and moved in the laundry basket and small storage rack from her own bathroom. The rack was only 30 centimeters wide and one person tall, and was just thin and narrow enough to fit all the things.
The shelf is made of metal and is of better quality than the ones she put into the space. It was originally used to store bathroom supplies, but now most of the things on it have been stored in the bracelet space.
The shelf has six layers, with the bottom grid being larger. Half of the six layers are used to store bathing and cleaning supplies, and the other half are used to store kitchen cleaning items.
After all this cleaning, there were only very few things left in the kitchen and bathroom of her own home, which felt like the amount of things she would bring when staying overnight at a B&B.
As for all the food and drinks, she had already sorted them out and stored them in the bracelet space, and the food in the refrigerator was also emptied after the power outage.
Then, she walked out of the cabin bathroom and began to put things in the living room. A folded thin quilt was added to the bed on the floor next to the floor-to-ceiling window, and a four-drawer lightweight clothing cabinet was placed against the wall at the end of the bed. Inside were some spare underwear, socks, T-shirts, and home clothes.
There is a bedside table next to the head of the floor bed, with a desk lamp on it.
Next to the bedside table is the door of the wooden house. The wall on the other side of the door is still empty, so she moved the small bar table and all the things on it that were originally against the wooden wall of the bathroom cubicle here. Fortunately, the bar table was not big and did not affect the opening of the door.
Afterwards, she moved her home refrigerator in front of the empty wooden wall. She placed it in this position so that it would be convenient to connect to the generator power supply when used in the future. There was also empty space next to it, so she placed a vertical water dispenser. The water bucket of this water dispenser was at the bottom, and the table above could heat and keep the teapot warm, which also required power.
There was still some space next to the standing water dispenser. She didn't have any other suitable table at home, so she put a wooden dining chair with a backrest and placed a freshly ground coffee machine on it.
After all the basic daily necessities were arranged, she left with satisfaction, put away the raft, and began to check and organize the remaining things in the house.
She was busy until around four in the afternoon, when she was preparing dinner, when someone knocked loudly on the door of her house.
She leaned towards the peephole through the door and saw the young couple next door standing outside the stainless steel fence.
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