Chapter 108 Rainy Season - 1 Tang Bufan and Wan Yiming...
Tang Bufan and Wan Yiming went down the mountain together. Wan Yiming didn't know the way very well, but fortunately the car had excellent navigation and an autopilot function. The two of them successfully drove through the winding overpasses and mountain roads and arrived at the foot of the mountain.
The poisonous creatures mainly targeted the outer city and the mountaintop, so the buildings in the inner city were almost undamaged. Occasionally, a few bat-winged poisonous creatures dropped vine-whip orcs into the inner city, but they were quickly surrounded and killed by the orcs inside.
Those who live in the inner city are either high-ranking orcs or among the best of the middle-ranking orcs.
However, since the beast tide had just passed, the buildings were covered in foul-smelling bird droppings, making the air smell bad and the sight disgusting.
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Tang Bufan couldn't help but ask Wan Yiming, "How does Taicheng deal with the two annual beast tides?"
When he and Lu Yi arrived, the buildings and streets were very clean.
"It's going to rain soon." Wan Yiming explained to Tang Bufan as he drove, "Everyone is waiting for the rain to do a big clean-up. When that day comes, everyone, from the kids to the workers, will have a day off to go home and clean. It will be very clean in two or three days."
Tang Bufan understood, and then asked, "What if it doesn't rain?"
"Artificial rainmaking." Wan Yiming said with considerable pride, "There will be blasts on the mountaintop. Only the residents of Taicheng can enjoy this blessing of guaranteed rain. Our family is now Taicheng residents too!"
Moving to Taicheng has elevated my quality of life several levels compared to other places.
The city gates leading from the inner city to the outer city were closed. A soldier stopped the carriage and asked questions. He paused for a moment when he saw Tang Bufan, but immediately let him pass. However, his eyes were still fixed on Tang Bufan through the carriage window.
"Madam is very beautiful." Wan Yiming continued driving, glancing at Tang Bufan through the rearview mirror: "Everyone from your underground city is very beautiful."
Tang Bufan has only seen sub-beastmen from the underground city so far, but he has never seen real underground city humans. However, he can distinguish between native sub-beastmen and mutated sub-beastmen by their appearance. Obviously, the latter are more refined.
Since there is no natural light in the dungeon, everyone has fair skin. And fair skin hides a hundred flaws, so the orcs from the dungeon are generally quite good-looking.
Tang Bufan smiled faintly. He knew that he was not a member of the underground city, and that Ming and the twins were unaware of this. Guo Wen had ordered it to be kept secret, and currently only a few high-ranking officials knew.
As the car drove through the tunnel, the air became increasingly unpleasant. Once it left the tunnel and officially entered the outer city, a pungent, putrid stench assaulted its nostrils.
Tang Bufan frowned, seeing many people cleaning up the street, and a garbage truck covered in blood was repeatedly broadcasting through its loudspeaker:
"The body of the poisoned person is contaminated. Please do not handle it yourself; submit it here. The body of the poisoned person is contaminated..."
The fact that the corpses of the mutated venomous beings can decompose soil pollutants has not yet been made public, but the Eastern Federation is collecting their corpses everywhere for research and to produce degrading water.
Tang Bufan had been staying on the mountaintop, and only when he arrived at the outer city did he realize that the outer city was still without power and water was only supplied on a timed basis. Many temporary medical tents had been set up on the streets to treat the residents injured in the attack.
The death toll is approaching 7,000, and how many people are injured? Many factories are currently shut down.
Tang Bufan's initial leisurely stroll suddenly sank, realizing that the Guo family's garden could be restored so quickly simply because they enjoyed special privileges.
"I wonder what the situation is like in Ang's unit." Wan Yiming was also a little worried as he drove, but he was now Tang Bufan's bodyguard and was also anxious to see his family, so he suppressed his thoughts of going back to the unit to see them.
Soon, they arrived at a very beautiful residential area. The other residential areas were filled with simple cement houses from the 1970s and 80s, while the houses in this area had painted exteriors and were relatively low, resembling small Western-style buildings.
The arrival of the car attracted a lot of attention, and people were discussing who was inside.
Wan Bing was already waiting by the roadside, chatting with a middle-aged orc. The two of them had cigarettes in their mouths and looked like old cadres. When he saw the luxury car, he was not quite sure, until Wan Yiming shouted "Uncle!" loudly at him, and he showed a very surprised expression.
"Old Wan, is this the nephew you were talking about who works in the head of state's house?" The middle-aged beastman next to him initially thought Wan Bing was bragging, but upon seeing the expensive car, he immediately believed him and developed respect for Wan Bing and his family.
Wan Bing was also cunning. Although Wan Yiming was just Tang Bufan's bodyguard, temporarily living in the mountaintop garden with Tang Bufan and Lu Yi, he deliberately made it sound like Wan Yiming was working there.
"Uncle!" Wan Yiming got out of the car first, and the middle-aged man handed him a cigarette. This cigarette was a high-end product, more valuable than a pig in this resource-scarce apocalypse.
Tang Bufan sat in the car with a half-smile. He was bored on the mountain and thought about the Wan family moving. He was also concerned about Wan Bing's broken hand, so he came to visit. He never expected that people would use it as something to brag about.
"Silly boy, hurry up and open the car door for Madam." Wan Bing patted Wan Yiming on the head, becoming even more smug as Tang Bufan got out of the car.
By this time, a crowd had gathered around, all staring at Tang Bufan. The scene was bustling and noisy. Tang Bufan hadn't become a star in the 21st century, but he had in the 33rd century. He entered the building under the escort of Wan Yiming and Wan Bing.
As he went upstairs, every household opened their windows to peek out, and the news of the First Lady of the Western Federation's visit exploded throughout the neighborhood like a bomb.
Lu Yi hadn't become the head of state yet, and Tang Bufan hadn't married him. Tang Bufan felt guilty hearing the title of "First Lady of the Western Federation," which was undoubtedly spread by Wan Bing.
He thought he and Lu Yi had repaid the favor they owed Wan Bing for that barrel of oil.
Upon entering the house, which was decorated with new couplets and red lanterns, Tang Bufan said to Wan Bing, "Close the door so no one can peek in."
"Hey! Hey!" Wan Bing responded, then smiled and went to the door to invite his neighbors, who were either rich or powerful, out.
Tang Bufan wasn't exactly unhappy, after all, he and Wan Bing were comrades who had fought together against two attacks by poisoned people. After confirming that Wan Bing's hand was almost fully healed and that he was in good spirits, Tang Bufan felt relieved.
The woman had prepared a large table of dishes and warmly invited Tang Bufan to eat. Although the five-bedroom, two-living-room apartment was not as big as their detached house in Beishan Town, it was still quite spacious. A group of people gathered in the dining room to eat.
As they were eating, a cannon shot suddenly came from the direction of Mount Tai. The woman and several children were startled. Wan Yiming lifted his head from his rice bowl and quickly reassured them, "Don't be afraid, it's just the sound of cannons used for artificial rainmaking."
Sure enough, it soon started to drizzle, cheers erupted outside, and every household began to clean up.
"Mom! The water's on!" a child called out to the woman.
"Quick! Get a bucket to catch it!" The woman left immediately, calling several children to go and busy themselves in the kitchen and bathroom.
Tang Bufan got up to go to the window to take a look, but Wan Bing mistakenly thought he wanted to help wash the window and quickly told him to sit down.
“Madam, I know you have a good heart, but since you married your superior, you have to consider his feelings when you do things.” Wan Bing poured wine for Tang Bufan with one hand, his face slightly flushed. “There are many things you have to let the servants do.”
The term "servant" was relatively unfamiliar to Tang Bufan.
He couldn't help but ask Wan Bing, "Is our society capitalist?"
“Regardless of capitalism or socialism,” Wan Bing said earnestly to Tang Bufan, slightly drunk, “servants have never disappeared since ancient times. Even humans, who boast of equality, still have slums and rich areas in the underground city, don’t they?”
After he finished speaking, he patted Tang Bufan on the shoulder, like a drunken middle-aged man earnestly educating a younger generation at a dinner table: "Madam, you just have too strong a sense of morality. As long as society is functioning, it is destined to be divided into superiors and inferiors, just like beastmen, humans, and animals. People strive to rise higher, water flows downhill. Why do people strive? Why do I strive? It's because I want to be a superior person..."
He was on the verge of tears as he spoke.
"Uncle, you're drunk. Eat your food, eat your food." Wan Yiming stood up and removed Wan Bing's hand from Tang Bufan's shoulder.
Wan Bing grabbed Wan Yiming's wrist again, his face flushed, and said to him, "Kid, you have to work hard. This neighborhood is full of either bosses or team leaders. Once Madam and the officer return to the Western Federation, our family will have to rely on you if we want to be respected again!"
"I understand, I understand." Wan Yiming nodded hurriedly, looking a bit simple-minded. Judging from his expression, Tang Bufan guessed that he was under a lot of pressure.
Tang Bufan couldn't help but smile. His maternal grandparents had passed away early, and he had almost never encountered such nagging from elders, which made him quite emotional.
Wan Bing was sent to his room to sleep by Wan Yiming. Tang Bufan took his leave after eating, not wanting to disturb the woman any longer, lest she worry that she couldn't clean properly. Now, the windows and exterior walls of every household were very dirty, covered with bird droppings and blood, and they had to be washed by the rain.
Before the two left, the woman gave Tang Bufan two jars of her homemade wine, expressing her deep gratitude. If it weren't for Tang Bufan and Lu Yi, her family wouldn't know how long it would have taken before they could move into Taicheng and enjoy the good life of having running water and electricity.
The gift was small but the sentiment was deep, and Tang Bufan accepted it. Fortunately, the heavy rain prevented him from being surrounded by onlookers when he came out of the small building, where many people were sweeping the streets with long-handled brushes.
"Madam, please don't blame Uncle." Wan Yiming apologized to Tang Bufan after returning to the car: "When he was young, he was looked down upon and the person he liked didn't want him. Because he liked playing the guitar, my grandfather scolded him for wasting his life on frivolous pursuits. Later, when he got older, he became a manager in a remote market, and that's when he regained some spirit. Now, seeing that my father has a wife and children, while he is still all alone, he is actually quite bitter inside."
"Your uncle took good care of me and Lu Yi back on the grasslands." Tang Bufan smiled gently at Wan Yiming: "Don't worry, I like him quite a bit."
Wan Yiming felt relieved after hearing this and drove Tang Bufan back in the heavy rain.
Tang Bufan looked out the car window. Not only were the adults soaking wet as they cleaned in the rain, but many children were also running around in puddles. Although the city had been severely damaged by the beast tide and the poisonous people, it was still much better than the desolate outside.
This was built by Guo Wen's family, who spent two hundred years tirelessly leading the orcs to build city walls and establish a home for the orcs on the wasteland.
Tang Bufan looked at the rain and fell into deep thought.
When the car arrived in the inner city, Tang Bufan suddenly remembered something. He had previously thought of visiting Lu Xiaofeng through Wan Bing.
The orcs, who were said to be part of the resistance faction, lived around the inner city.
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