Chapter 22
The Second People's Hospital of Z City is relatively close to the north of the city, and the residents of Tong Shujia's community who suffered food poisoning were all sent there for treatment. Lin Tao's wife and mother-in-law were in more serious condition and needed to stay in the hospital for observation, so Lin Tao, worried about the children, took the community's inflatable boat back first.
The two babies have regained some energy after emergency treatment and are babbling in their father's arms.
Wang Jie packed some spare medicine for him and said, "The child's condition has stabilized for now, but since it's pneumonia and he's so young, we need to be extra careful. We still need to take him to the hospital and he can come back when he's fully recovered." Lin Tao thanked him repeatedly and said he would register with Zhu Cheng again right away and send the two children to their mother.
The elderly residents of Building 6 came to express their gratitude again. Their building was close to the previous ornamental pond, and many people had harvested water chestnuts, lotus roots, and other things to improve their meals. Now, almost all of them had been sent to the hospital. They heard that a child was in very bad condition and they didn't know if he could be saved. The elderly couple had escaped a disaster thanks to Tong Shu and the others, and they were both very scared.
The city's drainage system was paralyzed by the flood, and the water contained almost everything. Large amounts of bacteria and mosquitoes bred in the water, and a foul stench permeated the air.
Fortunately, before the rain stopped, Zhu Cheng notified all households in the community to collect more rainwater for daily drinking or washing. The community's several backup water tanks were also filled with water, so everyone's daily water usage was sufficient if they were a little more frugal.
That day, Tong Shu's family did not go to the office to trade vegetables; they all gathered at home.
Under their family's careful care, the fruit trees on the island have blossomed and borne fruit. A batch of the faster-growing ones have already been harvested, mostly berries such as raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and berries.
Because the ripening was rather sudden and the yield was large, Tong Shu and the others did not plan to sell it at the office. After all, vegetables could be somewhat explained, but berries are notoriously difficult to grow and preserve. They planted this batch simply because they were craving the taste of berries.
The family ate non-stop while setting up a pot on the stove to make jam.
Shu Hua used Senbi to buy a lot of white sugar. Making jam requires plenty of sugar to taste good; otherwise, the jam will be too sour and unpalatable. Qin Xiaoxiao likes freshly squeezed juice, but juice can't be stored for long. She found Tong Shu's juicer and planned to make a small batch, enough for the family for a week. Anyway, crops on the island ripen quickly, and new fruits will be ripe again in less than a week.
Ever since Qin Jiaqiang acquired this magical farmland, his desire to plant has exploded. With the guidance of his grandparents, two old farmers, he's become even more successful, filling the land to the brim every day. The small warehouse next to the farm is already overflowing with harvested vegetables, and now he's started planting wheat himself.
Wheat, as a staple food, has a lot of potential. However, Z City is located in southeastern China, and people used to eat more rice. Although the farmland on the island is good, it doesn't have the conditions for growing rice. So Qin Jiaqiang chose wheat, which doesn't require as much water, as a second choice.
Tong Shu was delighted to see it. She quite liked wheat, even though she didn't particularly like pasta. Wheat could be used to make bread, and heaven knew how long it had been since she'd had freshly baked bread. Qin Xiaoxiao was also very enthusiastic, and even Shu Hua was looking forward to the wheat growing. With the island's illustrated guide slowly expanding recently, she had also received a cookbook and was preparing to show off her culinary skills.
So, amidst the eager anticipation of several people, Tong Songming began researching agricultural machinery. Fortunately, there was a blueprint book to refer to. Although Tong Songming was an engineer, he had no expertise in agricultural machinery and had no prior experience with it. Now, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and get to work. According to his grandparents, after the wheat was harvested, it needed to be dried, husked, and cleaned before it could be ground into flour. From what Tong Shu and the others said, he even had to develop an integrated machine. Tong Songming never expected that even in the apocalypse, he would encounter clients, including his wife and children. What could he do? He had to figure it out no matter what!
Similar to the busy farming season for Tong Shu's family, the supply ship was also in a similar situation. Although the country had always had a huge amount of grain reserves, the Chinese people could not accept the idea of sitting idle and running out of resources. After distributing supplies for such a long time, the Z city government ordered the reclamation of the unsubmerged mountain land to resume agricultural production.
Now, only a few troops remain on the supply ship; the rest have gone to the nearby mountains. In this situation, they can't care about the area of the forest anymore. After surveying, the trees in the relatively flat areas have all been cut down, in preparation for planting grain.
The government also conveyed the message to the leaders of various large communities, and notices were posted on the supply ships. The policy of free distribution of supplies would be completely canceled in three days, requiring people to exchange work for wages. People with the ability to work must join the production labor. Except for people without labor at home, other people who can take care of themselves, including the elderly under 70 years old, must do production assistance work, such as making agricultural tools, in exchange for supplies.
During the disaster relief efforts, the government also dispatched several teams of firefighters and armed police officers to the water to salvage production machinery in the industrial park. Most of the usable machinery has now been repaired by experts. There are many farms and processing plants in the northern and western parts of the city, which are located near the mountains. Some of the factory buildings are in good condition and still usable. The government transported the repaired machinery to the factory buildings at the foot of the mountains by boat. At the same time, recruitment information was also posted. In addition to the regular weekly distribution of supplies, the people working in the new factory area also receive fresh vegetables and fruits.
Because Tong Shu's family rented the community office space, Zhu Cheng paid special attention to them. After receiving the notice, he came to their house to convey the news and asked Tong Songming if he needed a spot in the processing plant. After all, compared to farming, working in a factory was definitely easier and the pay was much better.
After discussing it, the family decided to let Wang Jianye and Shu Li work in the factory. A lot of land behind the community was also developed for planting. Tong Songming asked Zhu Cheng for a piece of land and contracted it to Qin Jiaqiang for planting. The island already had integrated planting and harvesting machinery, so Qin Jiaqiang's life was much easier. Planting another piece of land wouldn't be a problem.
Wang Jie is currently practicing medicine at the temporary clinic in the community office. Since the mass food poisoning incident in the neighborhood, Zhu Cheng realized the importance of doctors. After hearing Lin Tao's story about how his cousin Tong Shu saved his twin daughters, he made this suggestion to Wang Jie, who agreed without much thought.
Tong Shu still occasionally travels to other cities to trade. Her little speedboat is now quite famous because of its wide variety of fresh and delicious vegetables. It has even accumulated a group of loyal customers who would wait at the trading points that Tong Shu frequents in advance. Even though each city now has its own fresh vegetables, they are still willing to exchange some of their supplies with Tong Shu.
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Time flies, and several months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Although the water level has not dropped, it has thankfully not risen either. Looking around the community, the scene is completely different now.
It must be said that people are really adaptable. In just a few months, people, either spontaneously or under the guidance of the government, collected various planks, tree trunks and so on, tied them together with ropes and made simple waterways. These waterways connected supply ships and residents' homes, and people were able to go out for a stroll occasionally.
Meanwhile, other industries also emerged. There were gold-mining organizations that specialized in salvaging underwater resources for sale, and even more free merchants who traveled to various places in small boats and dinghies to trade. The appearance of these merchants made Tong Shu no longer seem out of place. The office's warehouse had now been transformed into a small shop by Tong Shu's family. It was filled with a wide variety of goods, and Tong Songming had even installed many shelves. The goods were neatly arranged, and in addition to the fruits and vegetables they had initially sold, there were now jams, seasonings, and even some homemade snacks.
The seasonings weren't produced by the Tong family themselves, of course. Every time Tong Shu redeemed goods on the island, she would remove the original packaging, put the seasonings into disposable bags, label them, and then put them on the shelves for sale. When people asked, she would say they were made in factories in other cities. People trusted Tong Shu a lot and quickly accepted her explanation, then happily bought them and took them home.
The purchasing power of cash gradually recovered, and every time Zhu Cheng saw Tong Shu and the others, he would sigh and say that their family was farsighted and should now be considered one of the most well-off families in the neighborhood.
Tong Shu still goes to the island every day. Even though society seems to have returned to order, a faint unease still lingers in Tong Shu's heart. She asks Nini to do a divination every day, but Nini always gives the same answer.
Life went on peacefully, and everyone began to get used to life on the water.
Thanks to Zhu Cheng's efforts, the community also secured a generator, which, after a vote, was to be installed on the roof of building 12. The only challenge was wiring the power, requiring them to go door-to-door. Tong Songming, due to a shortage of manpower, also joined in setting up the community's power grid. It was at this time that they discovered Hao Dadong's family had moved out of the community sometime earlier. Zhu Cheng had initially worried that something had happened if they didn't open the door, but after several burly men broke down the door, they found the place empty.
However, this did bring a sigh of relief to everyone in the apartment building. The Hao family didn't have a good reputation in the community, and their departure was actually beneficial to the unity of the residents.
Just when everyone was living such a stable life, one night, Tong Shu returned from "buying goods" in U City and found Wen Shaocheng lying in a pool of blood at the entrance of the office warehouse.
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