Chapter 45 Lou Yuncheng
This time, because she was in the Drifting Island House when she received the reward, she clearly felt the light and shadow in the house change for a moment.
The moment was very short, probably less than a second. When she looked up again, she was surprised to find that there was an extra floor in the house - or rather, half a floor!
It turns out that this is what the “split-level space” means, which is different from what she understood.
After the raft was upgraded to level 2, the interior height of the Drifting Island House jumped to about 3.8 meters. She once lamented that this height was somewhat like the loft apartment she bought in the original world. It was a pity that the space here was not partitioned, and the upper space was wasted.
But now, the partition really exists!
Starting from the position above the back door, the newly appeared wooden board cut off part of the space on the upper floor of the cabin, covering the entire bathroom, and then to the sofa where she was currently sitting, adding half a layer of partition.
This area is rectangular in shape, with two sides against the wall and two sides suspended in the air. It has a wooden fence more than one meter high and is a fully open upper space.
The upward wooden staircase is located in the aisle between the bathroom and the kitchen. The angle is just right and will not affect daily walking. It is like adding an extra layer of wooden hollow decoration, which is quite beautiful.
Shu Fu quickly went up the stairs. The small half floor above was about ten square meters in size. It was empty except for the fence. Because the covered area included the floor-to-ceiling windows next to the cushioned bookshelf, about one-third of the floor-to-ceiling windows more than three meters high were just stuck on the upper floor, providing good light to the upper half floor.
Shu Fu almost immediately thought of how to decorate this new space. Just like her loft, she wanted to move the mattress, bedside table, and clothing storage boxes from below up. This split-level space would be her bedroom in the future!
It's done right away. With the help of Shufu's wristband space, it only takes one second to move to the bedroom.
She put away the bed, bedside table, and storage cabinet for changing clothes in the living room, then returned to the upper floor and put out the bed first. The bed was still placed next to the French window, with the head of the bed against the wall. On the left was a half French window more than one meter high, and beyond that was a wooden fence. When sleeping here, you can see the whole living room below by turning sideways.
The upper space is only about 1.8 meters. The low and soft bed, the original wood floor and the small floor-to-ceiling windows give a feeling of a warm and comfortable little world.
There were originally two bedside tables, but before, because the bed was placed sideways against the wall, she only took out one. Now that the head of the bed is against the wall, she took out both bedside tables, one on the left and one on the right.
On one bedside table, there is a sage and sea salt scented candle, and on the other bedside table, there is a rechargeable desk lamp as usual.
The upper floor, near the stairs, was surrounded by walls on both sides. She searched the space and took out a set of assembled wardrobes and a single soft sofa that she had previously used in the living room.
The wardrobe was newly bought after she rented a house in Suicheng at that time. It was made of composite wood boards and there were three of them in total. When they were lined up in a row, they were quite large and could hold her clothes for all four seasons and bedding. After taking them out, several cubic meters of space was saved for her bracelet.
The wardrobe combination is placed against the rightmost wall and is just the right size. A single soft sofa is placed between the bedside table and the wardrobe. She also laid a soft round carpet in front of the sofa and placed a glass coffee table on it.
The coffee table has two layers. The lower storage layer is used to place power banks, room temperature drinks, another Bluetooth speaker, a few books, etc.
After a simple arrangement, the originally empty upper space has been transformed greatly, and the place where the bed was originally placed on the first floor of the wooden house is now empty. There are also floor-to-ceiling windows there, which provides good lighting. She moved the manual rowing machine, small dining table and chairs over there, and took out another matching chair.
In this way, the living room on the first floor is divided into two functional areas on the left and right, one is the dining room and fitness, and the other is the living room.
This small drifting island house is beginning to feel a bit like a split-level villa.
When they finished decorating the cabin, it was just past eight o'clock. The water supply period was from eight to nine o'clock. Shu Fu stretched, took some clean clothes, left the cabin, and went to the rental house to take a shower.
**
She had taken several showers recently in the rental house, partly to save water. After all, the raft had been out of the water for more than a month, and she had 50L less purified water every day, so she had some concerns about water usage.
The 500L of water in the wooden house's water tank today is the water saved and stored from the daily purified water in Suicheng for those two months. She uses the wooden house's purified water for washing, bathing, washing dishes and washing clothes, and uses Lou Yuncheng filtered water stored in a folding bathtub for flushing the toilet.
But in recent days she has not been able to continue taking a shower in the cabin because the wastewater tank has a capacity of only 1000L, and this 1000L capacity is almost full.
After leaving the water, she couldn't manually drain the waste water even if the tank was full. She also had to leave some space for waste water for washing and going to the toilet. Naturally, she couldn't take a shower in the cabin. After all, showers waste the most water.
Washing machines also waste water, but she didn't want to move the washing machine outside every time she washed clothes, and she didn't want every piece of clothing to be stained with the chemical smell of filtered water, so she finally decided to sacrifice herself.
Anyway, just spray some toilet water after taking a shower, and the chemical smell on your skin will dissipate quickly.
Half an hour later, Shu Fu, smelling a combination of floral water and chemical odors, walked into the wooden house a little melancholy. As soon as she entered the house, she lit the scented candle on the bar table at the entrance. She chose a strong rose scent to dilute the combined odors on her body.
However, the collision of the three smells made her expression even more melancholy.
Shu Fu lay flat on the sofa and reconsidered his previous plan to drain the waste water tank of the raft next time.
She moved to Jixing Community to complete a mission, but she did not move away because Zheng Feifei was here and the subsequent tasks were also here.
But now, Zheng Feifei's family has gone to Zhicheng, Fang Xiwen has also left, and Liu Shuang has also been transferred back to Xiangzhou Province.
It was like a story of meeting and walking together had reached a fork in the road. Everyone in the story had dispersed, and it seemed that there was no need for her to continue living here.
Could she go to the Yun River and find an old house near the water? She remembered that some old houses would be submerged in water as soon as the water level of the Yun River rose...
Or maybe just go to the suburbs and find a farmhouse with a small river to stay in? There are several shelters in the eastern suburbs of the city, and the number of refugees is too large, so the farmhouses that were originally opened there have all been closed.
If she wants to rent a house there, she can probably find an agent to help.
But the biggest problem with these two places is that the terrain is too low. Although Louyun City has a water-blocking dam, when there is a heavy rain in the city, the Yun River will rise and water will accumulate in the low-lying areas.
There is still 15% progress bar for her raft to be upgraded to level 3, and it can only be used for 12 hours. Even if she can upgrade it to level 3 now, she cannot guarantee 100% that the raft can be used for 24 hours after the upgrade.
Once the situation in Lou Yuncheng changes, she will once again face survival issues living in such low-rise buildings.
After all, she had no idea how long she would stay in Louyun City this time. The flood outside the safety wall was rising every day. The water-blocking dam could be raised, but there was no way to raise the hills between the dams.
Some people have suggested that the government connect all six dams together to build a real high wall around the city. However, the complexity of the project is unimaginable when it is built on a hill. Moreover, these six dams have already taken up half of the city's resources, so it is basically impossible to add more construction sites.
Even if all the refugees in the suburbs were recruited, there would not be enough machines and construction materials.
This means that no matter how much the dam is reinforced and raised, there is a limit. Beyond this limit, even if the rising flood cannot overflow the dam, it will bypass the dam and pass through the hilly area next to it.
By then, Louyun City will face the same flood problem as Suicheng.
However, this has not yet caused panic among the people of Louyun City, because the water level outside the dam is not rising that fast. The plains of Huaguo are vast, and the water levels in all plains must reach a critical point again before the floods outside the dam will bypass the hills and flood into Louyun City.
To reach this critical point, the water level in the plain area must now rise by at least 150 to 200 meters again.
Even if it really is the end of the world, it would take time for the water level to rise to this level.
This "not a matter of one day or one night" time issue is the key to Shu Fu's current dilemma about whether to move.
Based on previous experience, the remaining 15% progress bar may be triggered only after the flood has flooded into Louyun City. Based on the rising speed of the water level in Suicheng, it will take at least 5 to 6 months for the flood to flood into Louyun City.
This is the case when there are heavy rains every day for 5 to 6 months. In fact, this period may be extended to 7 to 8 months.
She couldn't possibly keep the raft in the water for so long; it would be such a waste.
But moving near water is indeed a bit risky.
Shu Fu thought about it and after selecting from several online rental centers, she found a new agent she didn't know, added the agent's WeChat account, and left a message to the agent saying that she wanted to rent a small house by the Yun River or near a fish pond in the suburbs.
The request was a bit strange, so she would try it first to see if it worked.
The agent quickly contacted her friend and politely said that due to weather reasons, there were few customers with such requirements and he did not have much information on hand, so he asked him to sort it out first and get back to her tomorrow.
Not knowing whether the agency didn't want to do business with her or for some other reason, Shu Fu waited for two days but received no new message from the agency. When Shu Fu was about to go online to look for another rental agency, Cheng Yu called her.
He seemed to be in a hurry. After she answered the phone, he didn't say much greetings and asked her directly if she had plans to settle down in Shacheng.
"Yes." Shu Fu had never concealed from anyone the fact that she wanted to move to Sand City, but she had not expected that after giving this answer, she would receive a very practical response from the other party.
"I will leave for Sand City in about three days. I cannot tell you the specific reason, but I can bring a team with me, and I can add an extra spot in the team. I know it may be a bit abrupt to ask this, but time is tight, so -" Cheng Yu paused before continuing, "Shu Fu, do you want to go to Sand City with me?"
"Ah?" Shu Fu's surprise was genuine.
Before the other party said the last sentence, she thought he called to say goodbye. After all, he and Liu Shuang were both her friends now, so it made sense for him to say goodbye to her before leaving Lou Yuncheng.
But she really didn't expect that he could arrange people to go to Sand City on his own and give her the spot.
Shu Fu was quite moved. Liu Shuang and Cheng Yu were just chance acquaintances in this disaster, but both Liu Shuang and Cheng Yu were very gentle people at heart.
If possible, she really wanted to tell him that she thanked him for the arrangement and that she wanted to go - she didn't think it was abrupt, nor did she feel that time was tight, she had always wanted to go to Sand City!
but--
Shu Fu sighed slowly: "I can't leave for the time being, I still have things to do here... But I really appreciate you thinking of me at this time, Captain Cheng, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
On the other end of the phone, Cheng Yu was silent for a long time before he spoke again: "Could it be the same thing as last time?"
Shu Fu didn't say anything. In fact, she didn't mean to mislead. The unfinished things she mentioned were naturally the tasks on the progress bar.
But it was probably during the Suicheng incident that she broke away from the evacuation team and resolutely jumped off the ship for "love", which left a deep impression on people.
So when she was vague again, it was easy for the other party to bring up the previous incident again.
Shu Fu was a little conflicted. On the one hand, she didn't want to lie to Cheng Yu, but on the other hand, she really felt that there was no more convenient and easier reason than this. She didn't even need to explain more, because it involved personal feelings, and she didn't want to say it, and others wouldn't ask.
So in the end she said nothing.
But to her surprise, Cheng Yu's voice rang out again: "Why can't you think more about yourself? I really want to know... what kind of person makes you do this again and again... without hesitation..."
"Captain Cheng--" Before Shu Fu could finish her next words, Cheng Yu suddenly changed the subject.
"Feel sorry."
There was some chaotic breathing in his voice. He was a little embarrassed and restrained. He probably knew that he had said something he shouldn't have said. He regretted it at the moment and was afraid that his words would hurt her, so he apologized again: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask these questions, please don't mind."
"I don't mind." Shu Fu naturally wouldn't mind. It was just an unfounded excuse anyway. "I know you care about me. If I were you, I would probably ask my friends the same question... Captain Cheng, thank you. You and Sister Liu Shuang are both very kind and gentle people. I hope you can arrive in Sand City safely this time!"
**
Before Cheng Yu left Lou Yuncheng, he took some time to meet her.
That was really a rare opportunity. They only stayed for twenty minutes. He didn't even go upstairs. After parking the car, he asked her to take the folding cart and go downstairs next time.
Shu Fu took the elevator to the first floor parking lot, opened the door for him from the inside, and let him drive the car in.
He parked the car in an empty spot at the corner, got out and opened the trunk.
He brought her two cartons containing neatly arranged bags of vacuum-packed instant rice and noodles, as well as bottled mineral water, some canned fruit, chocolate-flavored energy bars, and vacuum-packed biscuits.
The two boxes were packed full, no wonder she had to bring the folding cart downstairs.
Shu Fu looked at the two boxes of supplies and suddenly didn't know what to say to him.
"Don't rush to refuse. These are some of the supplies that were sent to me before. I left in a hurry this time and couldn't take too much with me. I left some for other team members. These two boxes are for you. Liu Shuang and I will not be in Louyun City from now on. You can only rely on yourself if you encounter any problems."
Cheng Yu said as he closed the trunk and asked her to get in first while he chatted with her.
Shu Fu put the cart aside and got into the passenger seat.
Cheng Yu did not mention the things he had asked on the phone before. He had to go to Xiangzhou Province first this time, take over another team from there, and escort a group of people to Shacheng together with the other party. The mission came very quickly, and most of the information was still confidential. Even he was not clear about the details.
But compared to his previous missions, this one was just a simple escort mission, so he thought of taking this opportunity to take Shu Fu to Sand City.
It is now early February, in March, and he originally planned to finish the rescue team mission in Louyun City and return to report to the troops.
But with this additional task in the middle of his journey, he was not sure how long he would be gone. Perhaps after the mission in Sand City was completed, he would have to return directly to Xiangzhou Province to report. So before leaving this time, he had to arrange everything he wanted to arrange.
However, he couldn't tell anyone anything about the mission. He guessed in his heart that there was little hope of returning directly after leaving Louyun City this time. The next time they met, they would probably have to wait until he returned to the team and applied for leave again, which would take at least two months.
Therefore, he came here today mainly to remind her of some safety issues.
These supplies were also meant to be a backup for her, as they were durable and easy to carry. If the situation of being trapped in the house happened again, or if the bad weather continued for a long time, these would be her guarantee of survival and could solve her urgent needs.
In addition, many people were transferred from Louyun City this time, and the order in the east of the city could not be maintained so well all the time, so the last thing he wanted to do when he came here today was to ask her if she planned to move to another place?
Shu Fu looked at Cheng Yu. There was no need to hide this matter: "I do have this plan."
"Where do you want to move to?"
"I haven't thought about it yet." Mainly because she hasn't found one yet. She has been thinking about it these past two days and perhaps she could choose a place that is both high and close to water, such as a mid-air mansion with its own swimming pool, or a homestay originally built in the southwestern mountainous area, near a lake or a pond.
However, these places are also popular for other people in Louyun City. The outrageously expensive rent is a matter of the future. The only thing is that you may not even be able to find an empty house because they are overcrowded.
She has already asked an agent from another rental company to look for one, but there has been no news yet.
Now that Cheng Yu asked, she briefly stated her requirements. After all, he had been in Louyun City longer than her and was more familiar with it.
"We need taller buildings, and a pond nearby?"
This request did sound a bit strange, but it was not the first time she acted strange in front of Cheng Yu, so she nodded calmly: "I am not very good at swimming, I have suffered losses before, and you also know that there are floods everywhere now. I want to take more time to practice swimming..."
Cheng Yu believed this reason and also realized that what she needed was not a pond, but a place to practice swimming.
He thought about it, found a number on his phone, and sent it to her via WeChat, saying that this was a good friend of his in the rescue team, who would be transferred back to Xiangzhou Province with him in March.
That person was in Louyun City until the beginning of March. If she really wanted to move, she could contact him directly and he would make it clear to the other party in the next two days. It was actually easy to find a place to move to as she had been there last time.
"Last time?"
"The time you walked us back to the dormitory."
"You mean - let me move to that hill?"
Cheng Yu nodded and told her that the hill was originally a scenic resort. The dormitory where the rescue team was currently staying was also converted from a hotel. There were other hotels and B&Bs nearby, and two of the more sturdy ones were arranged for the rescue team's families to live in after being reinforced.
The place he now proposed for her to move to was these two family buildings.
"There is a homestay diagonally behind one of the buildings. The homestay was not built very solidly and was half destroyed, but there was an indoor swimming pool inside, which was well preserved." Indoor swimming pools are much safer than ponds, at least they can block wind and rain.
Moreover, it is close to the rescue team, so the refugees dare not cause trouble there. If something really happens, the rescue team will arrive quickly to save people.
In addition, because the rescue team was stationed here, in order to deal with extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, waterspouts, thunderstorms, and hail, the original underground wine cellar of a hotel was converted into an underground shelter.
Shu Fu was a little tempted, but she was afraid that there would be too many people and she would not be able to carry out her plan.
Finally, she decided to go and take a look. She had to see the situation with her own eyes. However, if she moved there, what identity would she have? After all, it was a family building.
This time, Cheng Yu somehow avoided her gaze and coughed softly before slowly speaking: "As a family member..."
"ah?"
Cheng Yu added: "Just tell that person that you are my sister."
Shu Fu joked, "Are you sure she's my sister? At this level, shouldn't she be my niece? Otherwise, next time I meet Yao Ruoyun, Xun Huiming and the others, wouldn't I be their aunt?"
Cheng Yu: ...
"Just kidding!" Shu Fu waved her hand, showing a smile and beautiful dimples, "I was just joking, don't be angry, Captain Cheng, thank you so much for arranging all this."
Cheng Yu's eyes fell on her face and did not move away for a long time.
After a moment, he showed a slightly emotional expression: "I'm about to leave, and you still call me in such a strange way?"
Shu Fu suddenly remembered that he seemed to have mentioned the topic of address last time, and suddenly an idea came to her mind: "Thank you, Brother Cheng Yu!"
Cheng Yu...Brother?
Cheng Yu didn't expect that she would change her name so directly this time. He was not prepared at all. He reached out and touched his ear, and inexplicably felt a little itchy there.
He hummed softly, said he would go and pack her boxes, then pushed the door and got out of the car.
He moved the two cardboard boxes onto her folding cart. Cheng Yu was about to leave, so Shu Fu pulled the cart back two steps to make room, and stood aside, waving goodbye to him.
Cheng Yu had already opened the driver's door. The moment he turned back, he suddenly felt an indescribable reluctance for some reason.
Even though I have arranged everything, I still can't feel at ease.
It was as if after he left like this, she would suddenly disappear like last time...
He looked at her, suddenly took big steps towards her, then leaned down, slowly and gently reached out and hugged her.
It was a hug so slow that she had no time to refuse it.
But Shu Fu did not refuse. She reached out her hand and hugged him just like she did when she said goodbye to Liu Shuang and Zheng Feifei. She patted him on the back and said, "Take care, Brother Cheng Yu. See you next time!"
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