Chapter 35
"Sister Xu, are you here to deliver supplies today?" Qin Xiaoxiao looked through the peephole, opened the door, and greeted the person who came in.
"Yes, Xiao Duan has a fever, so I'll be distributing supplies to these buildings from now on." The community worker took out supplies from his backpack according to the number of people. The quantities were not large, and they were all packed in bags.
"Sweet potato, potato... what is this?" Qin Xiaoxiao opened a package of supplies, took out two pills from a sealed bag, and asked.
“These are water purification tablets. All the large water tanks in the community that used to store water are frozen. Unless you go in from the top of the tank and break the ice, you can’t use the water at all.” Sister Xu sighed. “Director Zhu’s idea is for each household to prepare some water purification tablets. If all else fails, we can get some ice that looks clean from outside, boil it, and then filter it with the water purification tablets. At least we can still drink water.”
"That's one solution; the community has been very thoughtful."
"Drinking water and eating, aren't those the only two things a person needs to live?" Sister Xu piled up the Tong family's supplies in a small heap at the door: "Take a look, and if I'm sure I'm right, I'll move on to the next house."
"Okay, you can go ahead and get busy. The quantity is fine."
...
Qin Xiaoxiao moved the supplies back to her room and sorted them out. Tong Shu happened to return from the convenience store and greeted Qin Xiaoxiao, who was squatting on the floor.
"I wonder if the water soaked in these water purification tablets is actually safe to drink." Qin Xiaoxiao muttered, holding up the plastic bag. "Just those water chestnuts and lotus roots made a lot of people sick. Drinking this water directly..." She put down the tablets with a heavy heart. Fortunately, her family didn't have to worry about drinking water. There was a river on the island, and the water they used came from the island and was very clean.
Tong Shu looked out the window thoughtfully after hearing what Qin Xiaoxiao said.
At the dinner table.
Wang Jie swallowed the last mouthful of chicken noodle soup: "Are you planning to sell water at the convenience store?"
Tong Shu nodded: "The water stored by each household has probably been used up in the last few days. And there's no sign of rain. Without water, a lot of people will die."
"Even if it rains, it won't help," Tong Songming sighed. "The rain freezes before it even falls, and nobody dares to go out to fetch water."
"Brother Jie, do these water purifier tablets actually work?" Qin Xiaoxiao asked Wang Jie.
"It's not very useful." Wang Jie has recently returned to his shift at the clinic: "Several people have come to me for treatment. They all ran out of water at home and tried to filter water from outside to drink. Fortunately, they were all relatively cautious and didn't drink too much, but they all developed varying degrees of fever."
"What's the water situation outside?" Qin Jiaqiang asked anxiously. If others don't have water to drink, his family won't be able to use water normally either.
"Zhang Ming seems to have mentioned that his family now goes to the back mountain to chisel ice and boils it to drink." Tong Shu recalled what Zhang Ming had casually mentioned that day.
Upon hearing this, Shu Hua also remembered: "That's right, there is a reservoir and a stream over there on the back mountain."
Qin Jiaqiang obviously remembered that when he was planting vegetables in the fields behind the mountain, he had also used water from the reservoir to irrigate them. He scratched his head sheepishly.
“The water there is clean, but the back mountain is too far from here. We have to break the ice and carry it home. In this weather of minus forty or fifty degrees Celsius, only young and strong people dare to make this trip,” Wang Jianye said.
"That's why I plan to sell water at the convenience store. It's fine if there are able-bodied people in the family, but for those orphans, widows, or two elderly people who depend on each other, going out to get ice might mean one less person in the family."
“That makes sense. So how do you plan to sell it?” Wang Jie asked.
"We'll use the same method we used to sell vegetables. You guys go up the mountain and chisel some ice to bring back, and the others and I will fill it with water at home. Then we'll put it in small bottles and sell it at the convenience store," Tong Shu said.
“Okay, it’s perfect timing since we haven’t been out for a while. Once we’re ready, Jiaqiang and I will go for the first trip!” Wang Jianye said.
...
The family got right to work and got busy with it that afternoon.
To make it look convincing and convince everyone who sees it, it's impossible to just carry a bag like Zhang Ming did; the means of transportation must be modified first.
Tong Shu asked Wang Jie to carry a bag of dried vegetables and go with her to the supply ship. There were several small wooden boats on the supply ship, but they were frozen on the ice. She came for one of them.
Tong Shu climbed onto the deck. Most of the people on the supply ship had been to Tong Shu's family's small shop and recognized her face. When they heard that she was looking for the person in charge, they all gave her directions. She walked to the door of a cabin and knocked.
"Please come in." A male voice came from behind the door.
"Hello, Mr. Li." Tong Shu had already inquired about this person in charge on the way, so she greeted him politely as she entered.
A man in his forties was sitting at a small table organizing a list. He glanced at Tong Shu and gave her a friendly smile: "I know you, the girl who's always with Director Zhu. I heard that the office's convenience store is owned by your family?"
Tong Shu nodded generously and asked Wang Jie to put the dried vegetables down: "I came to you this time because I want to exchange my family's stock for a small wooden boat that I don't need anymore. Do you think this bag of dried vegetables is enough? If not, I have some other supplies at home."
Section Chief Li stepped forward, opened the bag, and looked inside. It was a whole bag of perfectly dried plum vegetables. The unique aroma of dried vegetables filled the cold air around him, reminding him of the steaming plum vegetable pancakes sold at breakfast stalls before the disaster.
In the past, a bag of dried vegetables like this wouldn't have been enough to trade for a wooden boat, but now that the boat is frozen in the ice, even if it were dug out, it wouldn't be of much use. Section Chief Li was more curious about what they wanted the boat for: "Tell me first, what do you plan to do with this boat?"
Since Tong Shu came to exchange for the government's ship, she must have her own plans. It wouldn't be difficult for Tong Songming to build a wooden boat. Her goal was to dispel other people's doubts through official channels. If she could fool them this time, she would have official endorsement.
"Here's the thing, Li Ke. I have a lot of family members, and we've run out of water. There are two elderly people in my family, and I don't dare let them drink purified water, so I'm planning to go to the Houshang Reservoir to get ice to boil water." Tong Shu continued carefully, "Since we're already going, we might as well get more clean ice. We can sell any extra at my little shop so that those elderly people who don't have young people in their families can also have clean water to drink."
Section Chief Li understood and looked at Tong Shu approvingly: "So you want to use our wooden boat to haul ice?"
Tong Shu nodded.
“Sure, this bag of dried vegetables is a bag of dried vegetables with a touch of human touch.” Section Chief Li didn’t stand on ceremony, picking up a piece of dried plum and stuffing it into his mouth to chew: “If the boat needs to use it to haul ice, we’ll need to add a few more wheels. Do you want me to find someone to help you get it ready and send it over?”
"No, no, don't trouble yourself," Tong Shu waved her hands repeatedly. "My dad has already figured out how to fix it, and we're just waiting for me to tow the boat home. It's just that the boat has been frozen on the ice for so long, and I don't know how to dig it out..."
"That's easy. They're digging for steel over there anyway, so we can ask them to dig out the ship for you while they're at it." As he spoke, Section Chief Li called over someone and gave the order.
"Thank you so much!" Tong Shu's face broke into a genuine smile.
After saying goodbye to Section Chief Li, Tong Shu was in a good mood and went with Wang Jie to find the wooden boat.
The government officials acted quickly; the boat had already been chiseled out and placed on intact ice, next to a large cone-shaped crater where it had frozen to death.
When the soldiers saw them coming, they asked Tong Shu which building she lived in, and said they would help them move the boat downstairs when they were done with their work.
This was exactly what Tong Shu wanted. She didn't refuse. After thanking them, she took out several large-capacity thermos cups from Wang Jie's and her own backpacks and handed them to them: "This is ginger tea that I brewed myself. It's hard work working in this cold weather. Please take these and share them."
The officers and soldiers waved their hands repeatedly, refusing to accept the thermos. Tong Shu put the thermos on the ground, grabbed Wang Jie, and ran away.
"Hey! Girl—" The leading officer couldn't stop them, and could only watch as the two siblings stumbled and ran away quickly. He had no choice but to accept the offer with his thermos cup.
"Alright, let's not waste it. Everyone take a break, have a little bit each, and then we'll get back to work." The soldier unscrewed the lid, poured half a cup of ginger tea into the cup, blew on it, and drank it down.
The ginger tea had brown sugar in it, making it sweet, and there were also dates and longans floating around in it.
A junior sergeant took a few sips, and his eyes reddened. He quickly rubbed his eyes with his sleeve.
"Hey Xiao Liu, what's wrong? Are you moved by this military-civilian sentiment?" An older soldier next to him nudged him with his elbow and joked.
"No," the junior sergeant pouted. "I miss my mother. Her ginger tea tastes just like this."
The surroundings gradually fell silent. The soldiers here were almost all from the north. More than half a year had passed since the natural disaster, and they were lucky enough to have survived, but they had not received any news from their families.
"I wonder how things are at home." A sergeant stood up and looked north. "My eldest nephew was born last Mid-Autumn Festival. At the beginning of the year, I was saying that when he turned one, I would take leave to buy him a little gold lock..."
Everyone fell silent. Everyone here longed to reunite with their families during their vacation. The promises they had made to their families were now like the peaceful and beautiful days before the disaster—they didn't know when they would be able to return.
...
"Alright! Stop saying discouraging things!" The soldier who was distributing ginger tea collected the empty cups and said in a deep voice, "We are here protecting the people in the south, and our comrades in the south are back home protecting our families. We must have faith! As long as we persevere and don't give up, we will definitely get through this difficult time. Our families are also waiting for us to return home safely!"
The soldiers' blood boiled with patriotic fervor, and the sergeant named Xiao Liu, who had just been dejected, picked up his pickaxe and weighed it in his hand: "Let's get to work! Let's try to build a railway across the ice so I can take the train back to drink my mother's ginger tea!"
Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.
"Why don't you just say you want me to build you an airplane?"
"Six, don't sneak off when the road opens, take me with you..."
"Please return my nephew's gold lock to me, hahaha..."
...
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