Lu Yuan recognized the voice from a distance as that of the mysterious Director Tong from the neighborhood committee.
Lu Yuan immediately jumped out of bed and went downstairs.
"Hey! Young man, I recognize you from the day you were there!" A fair-skinned young man behind Director Tong said to Lu Yuan.
Director Tong was even happier and immediately came over to take Lu Yuan's hand, saying, "Oh! Thank you so much! If it weren't for you kind residents, that fire would have caused even greater losses. On behalf of the neighborhood committee, thank you!"
Lu Yuan watched as the other person pretended to bow, but made no attempt to stop him. The other person awkwardly bowed halfway before straightening up again.
"Ahem! Young man, you must have seen the tragic state of those disaster victims back then. This time, our neighborhood committee has decided to launch a fundraising campaign. Everyone should contribute whatever they can to help them rebuild their homes. Look, your house is so big, how much can you contribute?" Director Tong looked at Lu Yuan and then glanced at Lu's mother.
Before Lu's mother could speak, Lu Yuan quickly interjected, "Director Tong, our family really doesn't have much money. You see, we built our house by borrowing money from all over the place. With this apocalypse, all our money has been used to buy food and water, and we have no money left at all!"
The other person's smiling face immediately fell.
“We’re all from the same village, so we should help each other out. You might encounter difficulties in the future, so please do us a little something!” Director Tong clearly didn’t believe Lu Yuan’s statement. “No money” was just an excuse. Anyone who could afford to build such a big villa must be well-off.
"Really, Director Tong, we really don't have any money at home. How about this, I just received my salary recently, not much, only five hundred yuan left, consider it a token of my appreciation."
After saying that, Lu Yuan took out his phone, scanned the other party's payment QR code, and transferred 500 yuan.
"We'll take our time, and we'll definitely help out when we have the money! Director Tong, you guys go ahead and get busy!" After saying that, Lu Yuan pulled his mother and closed the door directly.
Lu's mother stared at Lu Yuan in astonishment for a long while before finally speaking, "Xiao Yuan, you...didn't you just make 500,000 yuan selling water? Why does Director Tong say you didn't?"
Lu Yuan extended his hand and said, "Mom, you don't know this, have you met this Director Tong before?"
Mom shook her head and said, "I've never seen him. We've been here for months and I've never seen anyone in charge. Could he be a fraudster?"
"That's unlikely. If he were a scammer, he would have been exposed long ago."
"If he's not a scammer, why won't you give him the money?" Mom still didn't understand and continued to ask.
“Sigh, Mom, think about it. The neighborhood committee didn’t come earlier or later, but they only came when the fire started. The fire was only extinguished less than ten hours ago, and they’ve already organized a fundraising campaign. Given their previous efficiency, isn’t this strange?” Lu Yuan dragged his mother to the living room and collapsed onto the sofa.
"That's true, but they meant well. Maybe they were forced to do this because higher-ups were coming to inspect!" Mom said innocently.
Lu Yuan sighed. His mother was good in every way, but a little too good, so she never thought the worst of people. How could she know what it meant to be wicked?
"He didn't come when there was a water theft incident here before, and he still didn't come when the balding factory manager was beaten to death. The police came every time, but he never showed up. But this time he came. Why? Of course, it's for the money!"
"Think about it. The first two times the police came, they were just collecting evidence, filing cases, and finding the person in charge and the murderer. There was no money to be made from them. But this time, more than fifty people are involved. The higher-ups will definitely take it seriously. They can't let them become homeless and fend for themselves. They will definitely allocate money to rebuild their houses."
Mom immediately understood what Lu Yuan meant, and slapped her thigh, saying, "Oh! Yuan, now that you mention it, I understand! No wonder they were going door-to-door begging for donations under the scorching sun; they were thinking of embezzling two sums! Your analysis is absolutely right!"
Lu Yuan smiled. His mother was so innocent and adorable. He was really afraid that she would go out. The city was full of tricks, so it was better for her to stay at home.
"But are you really just going to use that 500,000 yuan for yourself?" Mom still felt she had to do something, after all, the disaster victims were still suffering terribly.
"Well, of course I won't keep it for myself. This money is ill-gotten gains, but I can't make a fuss about it. By the way, Mom, go and see Huang Huahua another day and find out what kind of person she is. I think she's quite pitiful. If all else fails, give her a portion of this money."
My mother immediately nodded in agreement.
The fundraising campaign in Zone 3 was in full swing, with everyone contributing two or three times, and they quickly raised over a million yuan. However, this amount was still a drop in the bucket for the fifty-odd people.
The relief arrived quickly. To ensure the safety of the refugees, a row of houses was built using prefabricated houses, and central air conditioning was installed. Food and water were delivered every day.
However, the downside is that couples can't live together anymore. Men live with men, and women live with women. Ten people share one room, sleeping in bunk beds. The central air conditioning isn't very powerful, so it's inevitable that there will be some friction when everyone lives in one place.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan's mother hadn't found a suitable opportunity to contact Huang Huahua yet, and that day, while he was delivering fruit to his girlfriend Xiao Shan, his father-in-law called him into his room.
"Uncle! We've found him?" Lu Yuan asked excitedly, after all, it had been many days and his father-in-law hadn't given him a reply.
The other person nodded, then secretly took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out and handed it to Lu Yuan, saying, "Well, luckily Master Chen hasn't moved yet. I found his address in the old files at the factory. I just went there a few days ago and told him about it."
"Oh? That's great. Did Master Chen agree? Is he willing to help?" Lu Yuan quickly took out a lighter to light a cigarette for his father-in-law.
The father-in-law took a satisfied puff of his cigarette and said, "Hmm, I agree, but there's one condition."
Lu Yuan had long anticipated that the other party wouldn't help him for no reason; there would definitely be conditions.
"He said he could help you get it, but he needs some water. His wife has pneumonia and needs a lot of water every day, but there's no water right now, and his wife is dying." The father-in-law's mood became slightly heavy as he said this.
“No problem, let’s meet him when we have time!” Lu Yuan felt it was necessary to talk to Master Chen in person.
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