76 Chapter 76
Tong Shu and the others stayed in the forest for another three days. During this time, Tong Shu and Wang Jie went to the edge of the G River several times to check the situation. Before the natural disaster, this area should have been farmland, with flat land and few traces of cement roads being turned upside down.
"Let's drive there today. No one has come out for three days in a row, so it seems no one will be coming." Tong Shu looked out the car window at the riverbank, feeling a little excited. Finally, they would have a place to stay.
"It's a bit strange. Why can't we see a single person in such a big city?" Tong Songming was still a little worried. "We were thinking of moving here from the coast, but we don't know where they've gone."
“I’ve checked. This side of the G River is farmland, and the city is on the other side. The houses over there look crooked and crooked from a distance. The people should have been on the other side before,” Wang Jie said.
After finishing a piece of bread, Tong Shu patted the crumbs off her hands and said, "We'll deal with whatever comes our way. Let's go and grab a good spot first. Even if someone comes looking for us or comes here to take refuge like we did, we won't be afraid."
After breakfast, everyone packed their luggage and got off the bus.
This was the result they had agreed upon: to put the RV back into the island.
Grandpa Tong, Grandma Tong, and Qin Xiaoxiao hadn't left the island for a long time, and now that they were standing on the ground of the real world, it felt somewhat unreal.
Qin Xiaoxiao gazed at the sun overhead, her eyes slightly reddening. She tightened her clothes, silently took Grandma Tong's hand, and walked with the two elderly people through the crowd.
"Great! The trees here aren't tall, and it's close to the river. We can easily set up a campsite by clearing away the weeds." Wang Jie walked around with a shovel, marking out a large area of land.
"Then let's spray pesticide on the place where we're going to pitch the tents first. My brother-in-law and I will dig the trench together. Uncle and Aunt, please move to the side a little and come over when we're done here." Wang Jianye also picked up a shovel and called Qin Jiaqiang and Tong Songming to dig a fire trench around the campsite.
Tong Shu pulled out several pesticide spray bottles and distributed them to the others, even Qin Xiaoxiao took one: "Sister Xiao, follow me in a bit. It's very simple, just spray the areas I haven't sprayed yet." Tong Shu pulled Qin Xiaoxiao to start from the corner and demonstrated with the spray bottle.
Qin Xiaoxiao nodded, slowly opened the lid, and followed Tong Shu to sprinkle pesticide.
Shuya secretly watched Qin Xiaoxiao from a short distance away. Seeing that her daughter was willing to work with Tong Shu, she felt much relieved and took the rake to clear away the impurities in the field.
The Tong family had many hands, so it didn't take long to set up a temporary campsite. Soon they had cleared a large, flat area of land.
The ground had just been sprayed with pesticides, and the smell was very strong. Shu Hua ran to the riverbank, set up a pot, and started cooking lunch there.
"Let's have noodles for lunch today. It's quicker that way. We still need to set up the tents and stuff this afternoon," Shu Hua said to the group of people who had finished their work and gathered around.
Tong Songming held a bowl of noodles, slurped it down, pointed to the campsite and said, "This afternoon I'll build a fence around this area, with the fire ditch on the outside and the fence on the inside. We'll be staying here permanently, so it's better to be thorough."
Tong Shu nodded: "Besides, we can't live in tents forever. Let's set up the tents for now, and once things settle down here, we'll build a small courtyard."
Grandpa Tong's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Great! Building a small courtyard is wonderful! We can also cultivate a few vegetable plots next to it, and it will be almost the same as our old home." Grandpa Tong was quite saddened about leaving the old house, which he had built himself when he was young. He married Grandma Tong there and had a son. He had a deep affection for the old house and thought he could spend his old age peacefully there, but unexpectedly, a natural disaster struck.
The livestock piglets that were traded with Yangshan Village are now all kept in cages. The piglets are grunting and squealing inside, constantly trying to come out and root for grass.
"Stop yelling, we'll put you all in a circle later." Grandma Tong said happily, smiling at the cage.
With a goal in mind, the whole family is full of motivation when they get busy.
The trees are growing like crazy right now, so timber is the most abundant material. What's even better is that there's a bamboo grove not far away. Bamboo grows fast to begin with, and now it's impossible to cut it all down.
Tong Songming and the others returned from cutting bamboo and wood in the forest. Grandpa Tong helped split the bamboo, while the others assisted by removing splinters and other debris. Grandma Tong and Shuli worked together to build a bamboo fence. The group was busy until the sun began to set, at which point they put down their work and went into the campsite enclosed by the fire ditch.
“There’s so much wood outside, we can build a log cabin,” Wang Jie said, taking a sip of water and wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Do you think building a log cabin is that easy?” Wang Jianye glared at his son. “Houses built of wood are prone to dampness and mold. Wood cut directly from the forest can’t be used directly; it has to be dried and processed.”
"It's alright, it won't take much trouble," Tong Songming said with a smile. "It gets sunshine here, so the wood will be processed quickly. We have enough materials, and once the wood dries, we can just paint it again and it will be fine."
Tong Shu was quite looking forward to the wooden house. She looked at the empty space next to her and imagined what the wooden house would look like after it was built. She felt a little excited.
As the last rays of the evening sun faded, the leaves rustled in the wind through the woods. For safety's sake, Grandpa and Grandma Tong took Qin Xiaoxiao back to the island from the tent. The others remained outside.
"No matter how things change outside, people still have to live in this world." Shuli lay in the tent, looking at the swaying camping light above her head, and whispered to her husband beside her.
Wang Jianye, who hadn't slept with his wife in a long time, couldn't sleep well either: "Yes, I've always thought that as long as we survive, that's enough. Now that the whole family is safe and sound and we can start over in a new place, it's already a great blessing." Wang Jianye turned around and hugged Shuli: "Thanks to Ahua, their family thought of us and believed in us. They were willing to let us know such a big secret about Shushu. They are our family's benefactors."
Shuli nodded and fell asleep peacefully, resting her head on her husband's arm.
On the other side, Qin Jiaqiang and Shuya were also lying in the tent. Qin Jiaqiang held Shuya's hand tightly and said after a long silence, "I was thinking, should we take advantage of this house construction to tell my brother-in-law and the others that we should also build a small house next door? Xiaoxiao has left Z City and her condition is getting better and better. Having a space to be alone should be more conducive to her recovery."
Shuya actually had the same idea: "If things really come to a conclusion, I guess my older sister and her family will build a house together. Then the three families will be close to each other and we can take care of each other."
...
In the open space of the campsite, Tong Shu and Wang Jie were yawning as they stood guard outside. There were more people sleeping outdoors today than usual, so they dared not let their guard down.
Tong Shu rubbed some Tiger Balm on her temples to wake herself up, then casually tossed it to Wang Jie. Wang Jie's eyes were almost closed, but the rub woke him up, and he quickly grabbed some Tiger Balm and rubbed it on himself as well.
"Brother Jie, did you hear anything?" Tong Shu's ears twitched, and she felt a little uneasy.
"Huh? What's going on?" Wang Jie stood up from his chair, squinting as he looked around. The camp was quiet, with only the crackling of the firewood in the fire ditch; nothing seemed amiss.
Tong Shu calmed herself down and listened for a while longer, her keen ears picking up some muffled sounds. She frowned and moved closer to the fire ditch, squinting as she looked carefully outside.
Unfortunately, the firelight was too bright, making the outside seem even darker, and Tong Shu couldn't see anything.
Wang Jie walked over to her and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Tong Shu thought for a moment, then picked up a burning torch from the fire ditch and threw it outwards with all her might. As the burning firewood arced through the air, Tong Shu finally saw what was happening outside—the land as far as the eye could see was densely covered with mushrooms, their bright red caps opening and closing, yet emitting no poisonous fumes, looking like a wriggling red velvet blanket.
Wang Jie's hair stood on end when he saw this: "Holy crap! What is that? Poisonous mushrooms?"
These mushrooms look exactly like the poisonous mushrooms that had previously poisoned them. The only difference is that the poisonous mushrooms emit visible poisonous gas, but these mushrooms don't. They seem to have more vitality than the poisonous mushrooms, and their opening and closing caps make them look like jellyfish growing on land, eerie and terrifying.
Perhaps because of the dense mushrooms, Tong Shu didn't even find any trace of the Killer Vine. She took out a bottle of Lala Vine juice from her bag, endured the nausea and took a big gulp. Then she put on gloves, placed a steel plate flat on the fire ditch, and stepped onto the steel plate to walk outside.
"Shushu! What are you doing..." Wang Jie tried to stop him but couldn't. He didn't dare to follow, so he stood anxiously pacing around inside the fire ditch.
As if sensing someone's arrival, the mushrooms opened and closed their caps even faster. However, Tong Shu was quick as well. She reached out and plucked a small piece of mushroom from the ground. Without even looking at it closely, she put the whole thing, including a bit of ground, into a sealed bag and then walked back to the campsite without looking back.
Wang Jie yanked the steel plate back, and sparks flew up again from the gap. He complained to Tong Shu, "What are you doing! You suddenly rushed out and gave me a fright..."
"Here you go." Tong Shu didn't want to listen to Wang Jie's rambling, so she handed him the mushrooms she had collected: "Take these and have Buto test them to see if they are the same poisonous mushrooms from before."
Wang Jie's attention was immediately diverted. He took the mushroom, looked at it, and nodded, "Then wait here for a while, I'll take it to him for testing right away." After saying that, he immediately turned around and left.
Tong Shu stood there, looking at the carpet of red mushrooms outside, and vaguely understood why she hadn't seen anyone else these past few days.
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