9 Chapter 9
Back in the air-raid shelter, Tong Shu found that many people were missing. Only the elderly and children remained. The child who had been given a bottle of milk by Shu Hua that morning was huddled alone in a small corner, looking at them timidly.
Tong Shu looked away and walked straight towards their family's residence.
The elderly and women had already gone to bed. Tong Songming and her two uncles were playing cards around a camping lamp. When they saw them return, the elders immediately put down their cards and came over to take their things.
Tong Shu told Tong Songming about the Hao family's attempt to break down the door and steal things. Tong Songming said, "I've already modified the door to my house, so they can't break it open. But having such a neighbor, we still have to be careful."
Tong Shu deeply agreed.
As temperatures gradually rose again, many people returned to the air-raid shelters. They all carried some items with them.
The family that reaped the most benefits was the one who runs a small supermarket in the neighborhood. They even brought back a shopping cart, carrying boxes of supplies.
Many people gathered around, wanting to buy some supplies from the supermarket owner, but were refused.
"Hey, it's not that I don't want to help my neighbors, but we don't know how long this natural disaster will last. My family is also a family, and I only feel at ease if I have some food stored up."
The crowd lingered nearby for a long time, unwilling to give up. Seeing that he really didn't want to sell the supplies, they had no choice but to disperse in despair.
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Two more days passed, and the temperature still hadn't improved.
Several thefts and robberies broke out inside the air-raid shelter, and many people fainted due to lack of water and food.
Zhu Cheng, along with several remaining community workers, forcefully suppressed the individuals who had caused the conflict and took the lead in allocating a portion of their own supplies as community public resources.
"...We hope that our neighbors who are able can lend a hand. The country will not abandon us, and we must cheer up! Let's unite and help each other! We will definitely overcome this difficulty!"
Zhu Cheng shouted with all his might, his voice hoarse.
Tong Shu crawled into the tent, took out more than a dozen packs of compressed biscuits and two boxes of military chocolates from the large bags, put them in a bag, and handed them to Zhu Cheng.
It wasn't that Tong Shu was stingy, but when the three of them brought back the supplies that night, quite a few people saw that their whole family had been eating the supplies they brought back for the past few days. There were just too many eyes watching them behind their backs.
"Thank you, Xiao Tong!" Zhu Cheng gratefully accepted the supplies. "On behalf of everyone, I thank your family!"
"Don't mention it, Director Zhu, we're all neighbors." Tong Shu said, then returned to the vicinity of her own tent.
When the owner of the small supermarket saw Tong Shu and the others bring out the supplies, he couldn't sit still any longer and brought a box of instant noodles to Zhu Cheng: "Director Zhu, this is what my family is supporting the community."
"Okay, okay!" Zhu Cheng nodded repeatedly. "Thank you, Boss Gao!"
Boss Gao waved his hand and sat back down.
Zhu Cheng gradually collected a lot of supplies. After taking stock of them, he carried a bag of compressed biscuits and distributed them to the residents who had not found food along the air-raid shelter.
Most of these people were elderly people or children, or were injured on the way to escape. Many of them had been hungry for several days and would not be able to hold on if they did not eat soon.
Inside the air-raid shelter, there was a tap that still dispensed some water. The people who had received the supplies slowly moved over, not caring about getting dirty. They scooped up a handful of water with their hands and ate it with biscuits.
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Time passed by, and two more days went by in the blink of an eye.
"Sizzle... sizzle..."
"Attention all communities and subdistricts: Special task forces will be distributing supplies tonight at designated locations. Communities and subdistricts that receive this message should send representatives to collect the supplies at the nearest distribution point. Distribution points include: the basement level of Jiangxia Plaza in the north of the city, and Kaiyuan Plaza in the north of the city..."
"Relief supplies! The government has sent out relief supplies!"
Everyone who heard the broadcast looked up excitedly, as if they had suddenly seen a glimmer of hope.
"That's great!" Zhu Cheng stood up excitedly. Supplies had been dwindling these past two days, and he was almost in despair. Thankfully, the government was still there and hadn't given up on them!
"Director Zhu! Jiangxia Square is close to our community, I'll drive there to pick up the supplies!"
"Why should you go?! You even stole a child's pancake before, we don't trust you!"
"Then go ahead and do it if you dare. Do you even have a car?"
...
"Alright! Everyone, quiet down!" Zhu Cheng raised his voice, and the surroundings gradually quieted down.
"Old Tong, why don't you make the trip on behalf of everyone?" Zhu Cheng said to Tong Songming.
After thinking about it, everyone agreed that it was a good idea. Tong Songming and his entire family were all here; they certainly wouldn't run away with the supplies.
"I think it's a good idea. Master Tong seems reliable at first glance!"
"I also think it would be best for Master Tong to go!"
...
Tong Shu thought for a moment, wanting to go out and check the situation and the road conditions so she could evacuate with her family if needed. She walked to Tong Songming's side and said, "I'll go with you, Dad." In case of any danger, with Tong Shu by his side, the two of them could directly enter the island.
Tong Songming nodded and agreed.
The two set off in a small truck belonging to Mr. Gao, the owner of the small supermarket. The truck had been parked in the underground garage since the disaster struck, and the tires were still in good condition.
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Jiangxia Square is a small square in the north of the city. Ten years ago, it was a large farmers' market. With the advancement of urban renovation, it was demolished and rebuilt. Now it has become a comprehensive small commercial area with supermarkets, restaurants, clothing stores and other shops.
When the disaster struck, the Z municipal government urgently evacuated the people to nearby shelters and then dispatched troops to various commercial districts overnight to control large supermarkets and other supply points.
When Tong Shu and Tong Songming arrived at Jiangxia Plaza, the underground parking garage was already full of cars.
Guided by the soldiers on duty, they walked from the second basement level to the first basement level, where the large supermarket in Jiangxia Plaza is located.
A large group of people were sitting huddled together in front of the supermarket, probably those who had been shopping at Jiangxia Plaza when the disaster struck. These people were lucky; the ground in the north of the city hadn't collapsed, and they were in a commercial area. Although they couldn't go home, their lives were saved.
Inside the supermarket, the manager and soldiers who remained were busy packing and counting supplies. Community leaders and survivors from nearby areas had already formed a long queue to receive their relief packages.
Tong Shu and Tong Songming joined in and lined up at the very end of the queue.
"Hello, are you from the community or an individual?" the soldier in charge of registration asked.
“The community,” Tong Songming replied, “the one in the Kowloon area in the north of the city.”
The soldier nodded and wrote in his notebook: "How many people are left in your community?"
"There are probably around 200 households left."
“You have quite a lot of people,” the soldier said. “If there are 200 households, the supplies will be a bit much. We will send people to transport the supplies to you.”
"That's great, thank you so much, comrade," Tong Songming said gratefully.
"It's alright, it's what I should do. Be careful on your way back." After saying that, the soldier started registering the next person.
Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Tong Shu followed Tong Songming and turned to walk back.
Where are these two people from?
The young soldier registering the supplies looked up and recognized Major Wen from the Special Operations Team. He quickly replied, "Oh! They are representatives from the Kowloon Community who came to collect supplies. I told them that someone would deliver the supplies later, so they went back first."
Wen Shaocheng nodded, "I'll go with you later."
"Huh?!" The soldier was stunned. "Oh...oh! Then I'll have them call you when they set off."
Wen Shaocheng watched the departing figures of Tong Shu and her father, his eyes narrowing slightly.
These two people seemed a bit too composed. They looked like ordinary people, not like they had received any special training. Their demeanor and clothing were no different from before the disaster, which was quite suspicious.
Tong Shu was unaware that she had already become a suspect. Under the cover of night, she had Tong Songming drive around the north of the city to observe the situation in various places.
Along the way, many military vehicles could be seen driving into various streets and residential areas, indicating that the government has begun rescue operations.
Even with poor visibility, it was still vaguely clear that the entire city was vastly different from before. Occasionally, under the headlights, a few charred corpses could be seen.
Back in the parking lot of the residential complex, Tong Shu couldn't hold it in any longer. She jumped out of the car and leaned against the wall, retching.
Tong Songming's complexion wasn't good either. He took a big gulp of water, then went over and patted Tong Shu's back, handing her a new bottle of mineral water.
Tong Songming helped the listless Tong Shu back to the air-raid shelter, where a lively scene unlike any other.
It turned out that the troops had already delivered the supplies before them.
Among the soldiers in combat uniforms, one stood out. He stood there with his arms crossed, back straight, belt cinching his waist, and heavy combat boots encasing his sleek calves. He looked completely out of place.
"Hey, Lao Tong's back!" Zhu Cheng was helping to distribute rescue kits while keeping an eye out for anyone taking extra. He caught a glimpse of someone coming in through the cave entrance, and after recognizing who it was, he quickly looked up and greeted them.
"I didn't expect the troops to be so quick," Tong Songming said. "Shushu and I circled the area to see if there were any other survivors."
"You can't even take care of your own neighborhood, yet you're bothering others? What a nice-natured person." After collecting the supplies, someone spoke up. Tong Shu looked and saw that it was Shi Pingxiang, who had appeared out of nowhere.
"How dare you speak like that!" Zhu Cheng's expression darkened upon hearing this. "It's not easy to survive such a great disaster. We should all help each other like Old Tong!"
Shi Pingxiang saw the unfriendly looks being cast at her by the people in the air-raid shelter, and she chickened out. She shrank back and walked inside, muttering to herself, "They really are, a bunch of hypocrites."
"Sigh, this family, I hadn't seen them before. They suddenly appeared out of nowhere when the army delivered the supplies, and they even tried to take advantage of the chaos to get more!" Zhu Cheng shook his head, then turned and handed two supply packages to Tong Songming. "Old Tong, take these, for you and for Xiao Tong. The others in your family have already taken them."
After receiving the supply package and thanking Zhu Cheng, Tong Songming returned to his own camp with Tong Shu.
Tong Shu remained silent. She could sense that ever since she and her father returned to the air-raid shelter, the officer had been staring at them, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate their bodies and see straight into Tong Shu's heart.
Tong Shu felt a little uneasy, wondering if she had given herself away and let this person see through her. She had a gut feeling that this soldier was no ordinary person, so she secretly decided not to use any supplies from the island for the next few days to avoid any mishaps.
Wen Shaocheng watched the girl's departing figure, and thinking of the gaze she had been deliberately avoiding, he raised an eyebrow and smiled with interest.
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