Zhou Qi nodded, then asked, "Didn't your partner say they were going to make a contribution? Why aren't they out yet?"
"She, she's a girl, can't do physical labor."
"Then what is she doing here? Just here to freeload?"
Zhou Qi remained silent. At this moment, Lu Nanfang came out of the tent and said softly, "Captain Zhou, I can deliver water and watch the luggage for everyone, but I really can't do things like moving stones."
Zhou Qi knew that bringing such a girl over would only be a burden; he was merely testing her attitude.
Because when Li Gangtie went to see him, he reported the unusual behavior of the two men to the Suzhou City Guard Team.
However, everyone decided to wait and see what Tong Xianbao and Lu Nanfang were up to.
Therefore, Zhou Qi did not insist and led his team to search for supplies in the nearest ruins.
You have to understand, there's all sorts of things in the ruins. Those big stones are impossible to move by manpower alone without machines.
However, most of the machines were used for rescue operations, so only one excavator was left for them, and the rest had to be done by hand.
Of course, Zhou Qi wasn't so ruthless as to have everyone search through all the ruins. Based on the original situation in Suzhou, he roughly located the large supermarkets and small shops.
First, dig out these gathered supplies to alleviate the food crisis. After all the trapped people are freed and the machines are released, dig through the ruins again.
They decided to start with small shops to practice before venturing into large supermarkets.
But is this job so easy? Of course not!
After finally arriving at the designated location, all I could see were bricks, steel bars, and glass, and I had no idea where to start.
Zhou Qi and Li Gangtie stood by, giving instructions, "You guys start by moving these small bricks, then..."
Once everyone got to work, they realized that while it was easy to say, it was difficult to do. These people, who usually needed to rest and recuperate even after carrying a bag of flour home, were now having to carry stones continuously!
Putting aside whether you have the strength or not, just bending over for a long time makes your back feel like it doesn't belong to you anymore. What's more, the road surface is uneven, and you could easily slip and fall.
Since they were all novices and hadn't trained much, they weren't very strong. Zhou Qi and Li Gangtie didn't have high expectations for them, as long as they could finish organizing this supermarket, which was over 100 square meters in size, today.
If this were just a supermarket located in a single-story building, sorting it out wouldn't be a problem. The key issue is that there are two residential floors above it. Therefore, everyone has to clear away the bricks and stones before they can finally access the supermarket's supplies.
Of course, the damaged tables and chairs in the residents' homes still have some value and will have to be moved away. As for the dirty beds, they can be washed and reused. In short, aside from construction debris, everything else will be taken away.
Of course, construction waste can be reused, but they don't have time to process it right now. They'll leave it for now; it will still be useful when Suzhou is rebuilt.
A group of people worked under the scorching sun for more than two hours, and everyone was exhausted with aches and pains in their backs and legs.
Seeing that it was almost time, Zhou Qi called out, "Go back and eat first, then rest for half an hour before continuing."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone collapsed to the ground, fanning themselves vigorously with their hands.
They didn't move not because they weren't hungry, but because they were so hungry they were too tired to walk.
"Get up, everyone, and stretch your arms and legs. If you don't want to be unable to get out of bed tomorrow, don't sit down. Stand up and follow me to learn how to relax your muscles." Zhou Qi finished speaking and started moving, and the others followed suit.
After finishing, everyone returned to their temporary camp. As soon as they got off the bus, the enticing aroma made their stomachs rumble. They washed their hands and faces first, then grabbed their trays and lined up to get their food.
Since there weren't enough seats, Shen Yanming and the others simply sat on the ground. They were already covered in dirt from working, so they didn't care if their clothes got even dirtier.
After dinner, Zhou Qi told everyone to rest for half an hour. They all chose to sit back to back in the tent or lie down on the ground to take a nap. Shen Yanming, however, went to see his wife.
The goose diligently guarded the tent entrance, while Bi Qiaoan lay inside reading. Although it was a bit hot, it was much better than being under the blazing sun.
Upon seeing Shen Yanming return, the goose excitedly squawked twice before returning to its nest. Hearing the commotion, Bi Qiaoan peeked out and, oh dear, what had become of her husband?
His hands and face were relatively clean, but his hair, clothes, and pants were all dusty and gray, and his shirt was soaked.
"Why are you back? Is it over? Come in and rest for a while!" Bi Qiaoan said, lifting the curtain.
Shen Yanming plopped down by the door, shook his head, and said, "I'm too dirty, so I won't go in. I'll stay here and talk to you."
Bi Qiaoan didn't press the matter, only asking, "Are you tired?"
"I'm exhausted. I've been carrying things non-stop, and my arms feel like they don't belong to me anymore. If I hadn't practiced lifting heavy stones back home in the winter, I probably wouldn't have been able to keep going."
Shen Yanming shook his head with a smile, "Don't be fooled by how well they held on. They were actually just forcing themselves. They couldn't even lift their legs to walk. Just imagine how tired they must have been."
"Should I be glad that I'm pregnant? Otherwise, I might end up like you guys," Bi Qiaoan said with a smile.
"That's different. If you weren't pregnant, you would probably be assigned to take care of the wounded. The work isn't heavy, but it's not easy either. At least those bloody wounds will test your mental resilience, and if you happen to encounter someone with a bad temper, you might have to put up with their temper."
"Oh, I see."
Bi Qiaoan took out the small black fruit that she and Shen Yanming had picked on the mountain from her spatial storage, fed it to him and said, "You said that the small black fruit can quickly restore physical strength. How are you feeling now?"
"Very good!" Shen Yanming didn't know if it was just his imagination, but his arms and legs really didn't hurt as much anymore, and his drowsy head had cleared up a lot.
"It's a pity we can't share this good food with them." He looked at his colleagues lying in the restaurant tent not far away, feeling a little reluctant.
"There's still mung bean soup, right? Add some spiritual spring water to it, and each of you can have a couple of sips to help you recover."
Shen Yanming nodded. "That's the only way."
He got up, moved the pot from the fire to the ground, and while stirring it with a spoon, dripped about ten drops of spiritual spring water into it along the handle of the spoon, then stirred it well.
In fact, the spiritual spring water is very effective at relieving fatigue, but they can't make anything too miraculous, so they can only add a little bit of it.
But even this one thing can cause significant changes in everyone's body.
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