Chapter 046 Chapter 46
Ji Yang had always felt that she and the Qiao family were just ordinary relatives, even worse than the distant relatives who visited each other frequently, but she had never expected that they could give her so many things at this time.
No matter how much supplies the Qiao family had, it was surprising that they could give so much.
She was a little at a loss, having never thought of experiencing such a thing. Facing the earnest gazes of the two old men, her heart softened, and she almost forgot that they were actually very close in terms of blood relationship.
Fortunately, Ji Yang was still rational. She pushed away the things handed over by the two old men and took out a stack of points papers from her pocket and showed them: "Look, I really don't lack points. These are the points I exchanged after coming here, and I haven't used them up yet."
Grandma Qiao was anxious: "It's your business if you have it. We wouldn't worry about it if it was normal, but now is different. You should take it, otherwise we won't feel at ease."
Ji Yang laughed and explained seriously: "Grandpa and grandma, I know you have good intentions. If I really needed points, I would accept them. But I really don't need them. I would feel uneasy if I accepted them. You have a large family and many places to use the points. It is more appropriate for me to keep them with you."
She was firm in her attitude and said no.
The two old people in the Qiao family were not stupid. They could understand Ji Yang's current personality after just a short period of interaction. She was originally a cold-hearted girl, and now she was even more firm in her words and did not waver. They had no choice but to give up.
Qiao Yi watched them talking and finally couldn't help asking, "Can you stay for two more days? We haven't seen each other for a long time, can we at least spend two more days together?"
"Not enough time." Ji Yang spoke to Qiao Yi with less warmth than he did to the Qiao family elders, and was more polite: "I came here to do some work, and I will leave when I am done. Otherwise, I would not leave before I have used up all my points."
Qiao Yi's eyes dimmed completely, and he murmured, "Are you blaming me?"
Ji Yang's smile remained unchanged: "What did you say?"
Grandma Qiao quickly pinched her daughter, and Qiao Yi came back to her senses and quickly shook her head: "No, nothing."
*
Next day
It’s not even eight o’clock yet.
Ji Yang hadn't gotten up yet when there was a hurried knock on the door. Xixi noticed it the first time and ran over, but there was no alert barking. Ji Yang guessed that it was from upstairs, so he quickened his pace and changed into a coat suitable for meeting people.
Just as I walked to the door, I heard Qiao Yi's anxious voice outside the door: "Yangyang, have you seen Ayang?"
"Are you talking about Xue Yuanyang?" Ji Yang opened the door and found that Qiao Yi's face looked particularly strange. Seeing her nod, he said, "No, I haven't opened the door since I came back yesterday."
Qiao Yi's face turned pale, and he was at a loss, as if the last glimmer of hope was gone: "This child has not been seen since he went out yesterday afternoon. He didn't come back all night. We also looked for him in the places he often went, but couldn't find him! Could something have happened to him?"
She still held on to a glimmer of hope, thinking that she might be with Ji Yang. Young people nowadays, if they really like each other, can be together very quickly. But she didn't expect that her hopes were shattered again, and her legs went weak.
"Nothing serious should happen at the base." Ji Yang said uncertainly, "Let's look for it first."
Qiao Yi shook her head. It would have been safe in the past, but it was different now. The possibility of someone not coming back after one night being dead was very high, and quite a few people had disappeared from the base.
Safety is only relative. Since the natural disaster occurred and order collapsed, there is no truly safe place.
She was in tears. She had just told her husband and Ayang about her thoughts yesterday afternoon, but they disappeared. She couldn't bear to think about what might have happened.
Keep looking, you’ll definitely find it!
Qiao Yi turned around hurriedly, but suddenly his vision went dark and he staggered a few times and was about to fall to the ground.
Ji Yang quickly took two steps forward to catch her: "Are you okay?"
"Not bad." Qiao Yi nodded quickly. His head felt dizzy again and his legs were weak.
If you fall going up or down the stairs, it's no joke.
Ji Yang could only turn around and shout, "Xixi, close the door."
Xixi came out obediently, pushed the door into the room, and closed it smoothly with both paws. Ji Yang helped Qiao Yi upstairs: "You go back and rest for a while, I'll go out to see what's going on."
She wouldn't find it herself, but she still had some points left, which she had been planning to waste. Now she could just post a task, and since there was strength in numbers, there would always be someone who would provide clues.
It is impossible for a living person to disappear out of thin air.
Xixi followed closely.
When outside, you must follow your master closely.
There was a slightly solemn atmosphere in the house. Currently, only the two elders and a few young people were at home. Everyone else had gone out to look for someone. Qiao Yi suddenly remembered Ji Yang and wanted to come over to ask, but he didn't know the answer.
Seeing Ji Yang and Qiao Yi coming in, Qiao's grandparents forced a smile and asked her, "Did Yang Yang eat?"
"Don't worry about me, I've prepared breakfast." Ji Yang hurriedly refused. He helped Qiao Yi sit down and was about to go downstairs, but there were hurried footsteps downstairs, and then a girl came in. It was Ji Yang's cousin, but she didn't remember her specific name.
The little girl shouted anxiously, "There's news! I ran to my cousin's friend's place, and his family just received a note saying that his son was kidnapped, and his cousin was also kidnapped. If they want to exchange hostages, they have to hand over supplies!"
"What?!"
The rest of the people in the room were stunned: "Kidnapping?!"
Girl: "They said they wanted 2,000 kilograms of food and a yacht for each person, as well as a bunch of miscellaneous stuff. They asked us to prepare them within three days, otherwise they would kill us. I guess the note will be here soon."
"Hiss——" Grandpa Qiao covered his chest, a little overwhelmed by the stimulation.
Grandma Qiao quickly took out the intercom and asked everyone in the family to come back to discuss countermeasures. Although there were not many people around, the room was already in chaos. Ji Yang stood in the middle of it, not knowing what to do for a moment.
Now there is no need to look for anyone.
It's just that being kidnapped is a bit tricky.
Two thousand kilograms of food and a yacht... Ji Yang was not sure how many points the Qiao family had accumulated, but judging from the expressions on his grandparents' faces, he knew that this amount would be a huge blow to their family.
These kidnappers actually dared to speak!
She frowned: "Have you contacted the authorities?"
The little girl shook her head blankly: "I don't know, I ran back after asking these questions."
As she was talking, Uncle Qiao's voice rang through the intercom in my grandmother's hand: "Mom, please come to the Guo family in Building 23, District 1. The authorities are here. The note sent to our house has been taken by the authorities. They also know who the kidnappers are, and they are discussing countermeasures."
"Okay." Grandma agreed, "Let's go."
But the two old people were just stimulated, and they were not able to walk steadily, trembling with their crutches. The little girl hurried to support them. The grandmother wiped her tears and looked at Ji Yang: "Yangyang, can you help keep them safe at home? They are still young, I am afraid they can't leave them alone."
Ping Ping An An is my uncle’s grandson, a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, who are only three years old this year.
You are young, so you need someone to watch over you.
You don't need to worry about the older people living upstairs.
Ji Yang looked at his cousin and said, "Let your cousin stay at home. I'll go with you to take a look. I happen to have a speedboat, otherwise you would have to ask someone to come pick you up."
If you want to go out now but don’t have transportation, you can call someone at the window, and people with transportation will come to pick you up when they hear you. You can earn some extra money, two or three points at a time.
My cousin was panicking and immediately nodded when she heard this: "Okay, I'll stay home."
The two sides discussed it and grandparents naturally had no objection. Originally, there were only the two of them staying at home, while some of the others had gone out to work, some had gone out to look for someone, and the rest were a few half-grown children. This time, only grandparents and Qiao Yi would go, and Ji Yang followed to support grandma.
The water was still very deep. When going downstairs, Ji Yang went to get the speedboat and put Xixi in the space.
Just then, a speedboat took everyone on board and, following Qiao Yi's instructions, headed directly to Area 1.
The security booth at the entrance was also flooded. No one was guarding it for the time being. They went straight in and came to Guo's house. The first floor had been flooded, and everyone was gathered on the second floor. When they arrived, Xue Jianping was the first to come over. His face looked a little ugly, but he smiled at his grandparents, and felt a little guilty and embarrassed. He kept saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Mom and Dad."
Then he noticed Ji Yang who was fixing the speedboat and looked surprised.
Ji Yang smiled, said nothing, and followed him upstairs.
——
The reception room on the second floor was crowded with people, including the Guo family, the Qiao family, and officials. When they saw them coming, they made room for the two old men first, and then an official spoke up, "Don't worry, everyone. This incident is not as serious as you think. The perpetrators are just a small gang that does evil outside the base. They usually rob survivors outside the base for a living. It's not difficult to deal with them. We just hope that the family members can cooperate with us."
"I will cooperate!" Father Guo nodded immediately: "As long as my son is safe, I will cooperate!"
Xue Jianping nodded vigorously: "Yes, we will cooperate!"
"Okay, let's analyze this matter first. The current situation is probably that Zheng Youning, a friend of these two people, took action to take them out of the base. The Zheng family also left the base one after another last night. The building was empty. Someone noticed the route of this group of people. Combined with the direction of the two notes, we can roughly determine the location of this group of people's base camp.
There is only one powerful gang here, called the White Tiger Gang, which has now been renamed the White Tiger Base. It has less than 200 members, mostly gangsters. Excluding the old, weak, sick and disabled, there are only a little over 100 people. Therefore, this kidnapping incident must be mainly caused by these 100 people..."
The official introduced the behavioral habits of this group of people in a clear and concise manner, and their efficiency was quite high. It is estimated that they had some understanding of this group before, but just had not had time to take action against them.
This group of people are actually quite scoundrels. They have committed a lot of extortion, but the incidents they caused before were not serious. Many of them had been in and out of jail frequently before the natural disaster, so they had a better control over the official situation. The incidents they caused were minor ones outside the base, and few people reported them to the authorities. By the time they found out, the incident had already passed, and the group had retreated without any evidence.
And they rarely kill people in an open and aboveboard manner.
It stands to reason that such a big move wouldn't come out suddenly.
But from the fact that they wanted a yacht, it can be seen that this group of people want to leave. There are many lakes in Lake City, but the news of the impending extreme heat has been revealed. The lowest extreme cold temperature will be more than minus 60 degrees Celsius. How far can the extreme cold reach? Everyone probably has guesses. Can those lakes really withstand the extreme heat and not dry up?
By then, water resources will be extremely scarce.
Nowadays, many people in the base are trying to move to the northern seaside, where the temperature may be lower. The famous Heihe River is a good place in the minds of many people.
They will definitely run away after completing this deal. Once Guo Yao and Xue Yuanyang are handed over, they will lose a major threat.
It just so happened that the Guo and Qiao families were now people of some status in the base, and their control over the authorities provided just enough time for this group of people to escape.
Therefore, you must never be satisfied all at once.
When the three days are up, most of the food and a small portion of other supplies they want will be given to them first. The other two yachts and a small portion of the food will be towed away first. At the same time, they will be asked to ask to see Xue Yuanyang. The official people will watch them in secret, and after finding out the location where Xue Yuanyang is imprisoned, they will take action against them before the second transaction.
They were given so much food and they couldn't send it away, so they will definitely be safe these few days.
Naturally, the two families had no objections and discussed what to do next. Both families must cooperate with the official ideas and keep in step.
After discussing for a long time, they went home. Ji Yang listened to the whole process and felt that there should be no problem. The official action was taken and the plan was also very good. As long as it went well, the two of them would be fine and the food would be returned.
It’s just that the lost points are very painful.
Of course, those grains cannot all be coarse grains such as sweet potatoes and potatoes. They have to be fine grains such as rice and flour. The price is not cheap. Even if you only give one thousand kilograms, it will cost 20,000 to 30,000 points. Two thousand kilograms will cost 50,000 to 60,000 points.
In addition to collecting the resources they want, gasoline, diesel, various spare parts, medicines, etc., it would cost at least 10,000 or 20,000 yuan.
Finally, there are yachts, which are now very expensive. They cost more than one hundred thousand yuan. This group of people can be said to be getting them at the right time. Xue Jianping will be completely drained of his wealth, and the Qiao family will also be seriously damaged.
On the way back, Ji Yang still drove his speedboat and took other members of the Qiao family with him.
The two uncles and aunt of the Qiao family and some cousins all have official jobs. Xue Jianye and his friends arrived a little late and there was no suitable position, so they are temporarily unemployed. However, because of this matter today, they all took leave and stayed at home.
The kidnapping incident suddenly came up, and everyone was filled with worry.
Xue Jianye was also worried, so he reluctantly said on the way back: "Mom and Dad, Big Brother, Second Brother, thank you for your help, but this time it was the child who made the wrong friends. I will take care of the food and supplies myself. If I can't find the child the first time, then forget it."
Living under the same roof, Xue Jianye also knew how many things the Qiao family had. Once the yacht was bought and given away, the Qiao family would become poor. It would be fine if the house was bought outright, but they had to live frugally in their daily life. With so many people in the family, the income from Qiao Yi's two brothers' families was not enough.
Not to mention that the reason they didn't live in the villa, in addition to the panic of being almost buried in the snow when they lived in the villa, another reason was that they heard some more distant news and made plans for the future. It was said that the extreme heat would last for a long time, perhaps longer than the extreme cold. After the extreme heat, there would be plague and earthquake, and no one could escape. Without enough confidence, the whole family could only wait to die.
"Don't say such discouraging words! We are all family, why should we distinguish between you and me?" Grandpa Qiao shook his head, "Ayang is a good child. We have watched him grow up since he was a child. He is no different from our own grandson. How can we just give up on him like this?"
As if she was afraid that Ji Yang would feel disappointed, she quickly turned around and held Ji Yang's hand: "Yangyang is also our child, we are all family. No matter who gets into trouble, as long as it's our family, we must do our best to save them!"
Ji Yang was amused: "Grandpa, I'm already this old, I won't be jealous."
Grandpa Qiao felt disappointed and jealous instead. It would be better if he could make a fuss and not regard himself as an outsider.
Then I thought of this incident and sighed again. It was so hard to reunite my family and live a good life, but this incident happened again. I just hope that with official help, everything will go well.
In the next two days, Xue Jianping and Qiao Yi were busy from morning till night.
But no one asked her to help or anything like that, they just asked her to come up more often to eat. Ji Yang did not go up and stayed at home for the time being.
As usual, she went to the stall in the afternoon to see if they had the fish and shrimp she wanted.
This group of people are really capable. Ji Yang had admired the traders in his previous life. They became rich by trading these things. If you give them what you want, you will get the result soon.
For two consecutive days, Ji Yang spent a total of 6,500 points, all of which were spent one fish at a time. Most of them were spent at 50 points each, a few were spent at 100 points each, and there were also a few spent at 200 points each.
Success enriched her pond a lot more.
Maybe there were too many fish. When Ji Yang checked the pond, he found a few more green spots at the bottom.
In addition, she also bought some water plants with roots from a vendor, randomly dug up the mud and sand at the bottom of the pond, and inserted the water plants in. Whether it could survive depended on luck.
——
The transaction also ended that day. The vendor told Ji Yang that for 6,000 points, he could get two beehives. If he bought one alone, he would need 4,000 points. "I heard that the other two companies that had originally asked for the price gave up. He was also afraid of losing money. When he heard that you could offer 3,000 points, he agreed. But he got another one for himself and said he would sell it as a package, otherwise he would have to raise the price."
"No problem!" Ji Yang was also very happy. If she was in a hurry to leave, she would have planned to get 5,000 points. Unexpectedly, because of the delay, she saved 2,000 points.
Two would be even better. She should be able to afford them...right?
Try it first. If you can’t afford it, just randomly pick a lucky person and give it away.
However, she had no points and the vendor had no beehives either. They agreed to meet in an hour, and Ji Yang hurried to get things to exchange for points. She had exchanged a lot of good things at the base these days and had exchanged some of the surplus things in the space, so this time she used all medicinal materials.
Just one bag was exchanged for more than 6,000 points.
After getting the points, she couldn't wait to wait at the gate of the base.
The flower buds of the fruit trees planted in the space before have become bigger, and it won't be long before they bloom. Thinking about the upcoming bees, she found time to plant a lot of fruit trees. This time, most of them were planted in the corners of the breeding area, with a one-square-meter space separated so that she would not worry about them being damaged by poultry and livestock.
In addition, she also scattered some flower seeds with short growth cycles in the fruit area.
By next year, the planting areas will probably be filled with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, and beautiful, vibrant flowers can be seen everywhere. How wonderful that will be.
As I was thinking, the vendor came over.
In his hands were two large cardboard boxes.
In order to handle these bees, he was extra careful and wore long sleeves and long pants. The two had traded many times and were very familiar with each other. The vendor directly delivered the goods to Ji Yang's boat and said, "I checked before coming here, and I saw him put them in with my own eyes. I also checked the queen bee, and they are all alive. If you are not afraid, you can take a look now."
Ji Yang didn't hesitate. Of course she was not afraid. She knew bees well and knew that they would not harm anyone unless they were hurt. So she carefully opened the paper box and quickly found the queen bee according to the vendor's instructions.
Sure enough, the queen bee looked a little listless and lifeless, but it was indeed alive, and there were many bee eggs inside. People with claustrophobia would get their scalps tingling when they saw it. For example, the vendors would back away with a grimace at the sight of it.
The bees in the two hives were in similar conditions. Ji Yang closed the box and said, "It's OK. I'll give you the points."
She handed over the six thousand points.
How much profit the vendor makes is his own business, it is enough for her to get a satisfactory product at the price she likes.
Both parties were very happy. Ji Yang told him that he could continue collecting those rare species of fish and shrimp when he had time. She would come again before leaving and then leave the base with the box.
As soon as she stepped out of the patrol range, she couldn't wait to throw the beehive from the paper box into the space and placed it at both ends of the space. The box was still beside her, and then she quickly threw the remaining fallen bees in.
The bees were startled by the sudden change of location. They became irritable from being listless and flew around everywhere, trying to find the queen bee. The people in the hive were also panicked for a while, but soon they found that the environment here was better, the air was fresher, and the temperature was suitable, as if they had returned to the familiar environment.
They soon calmed down and began to explore the surrounding environment, searching for places where they could collect honey.
There happened to be quite a few medicinal herbs in bloom, so the bees quickly found their target, flew a few circles, and found there was no danger, so they landed on the flowers and slowly went to the stamens to collect nectar.
While Ji Yang was distractedly observing the bees, he continued to drive the speedboat away from the base, looking for a hidden place, and threw the cardboard box into the space. He had already come out here, he couldn't just go back like this.
As for the tail following her again, she was too lazy to pay attention to it.
Have you ever gone out these days without being followed?
Anyway, after following for a while, they will basically retreat, and only a very small number will continue to pursue, but there happened to be one today.
Ji Yang continued to move forward without looking back.
The people behind him were also chasing closely. The leader was in his early thirties, looked a bit plump, and was playing with a gun in his hand. The person in charge of driving the speedboat hesitated: "Second in command, do you really want to keep chasing?"
"Chase! Don't worry, this woman is definitely fat and she must have good stuff in her hands." The man licked his lips greedily and stared in the direction ahead.
Soon we arrived at a residential building.
The people behind her were still chasing her relentlessly, and had already exceeded the range where she usually hid. In that case, she had no choice but to fight. This side was sparsely populated and the water was wide, so it was easier to escape. Since she had to fight, Ji Yang liked to cut the grass and root it out, so she looked around, found a floor that looked pleasing to the eye and went in, and also took the speedboat in.
She went straight up the stairs, went up two floors, and then stopped moving.
The sound of the engine outside was getting closer, and soon there was more movement in the corridor: "Quick! The person must be upstairs!"
"Don't worry, we'll be guarding the exit and make sure she can't escape!"
Footsteps sounded one after another, and a group of people ran in quickly. Looking at the water stains on the stairs, they were very excited: "Here, here! Hurry up and follow them!"
"Dengdengdeng——" The footsteps were approaching, and the leading people turned a corner with excitement on their faces and were about to continue going up.
Their eyes suddenly met the black muzzle of the gun. The few people rushing in the front were stunned for a moment, and they braked suddenly and ran back without thinking. The people behind them hadn't noticed it yet, and the two collided, and people and horses were knocked to the ground, but soon a series of rapid "bang bang bang" noises were heard.
The sound is not loud, but a bit dull.
But after each hit, there was a shrill scream, and then he fell down and left the team.
Finally someone realized something and shouted, "Help! She has a gun! This woman has a gun!!!"
The faces of several people who were about to climb in through the window changed drastically when they heard this, and they turned around and rolled over. However, this was a window in the corridor, and the boat under their feet would shake if they moved a little. Some people fell directly into the water, gulping down a few mouthfuls of dirty water, and were extremely panicked.
Ji Yang dealt with those who climbed up, and quickly passed through the corridor and fired more shots at the group of people.
The dirty water surface was immediately dyed red, and the rolling figure quickly sank into the water.
The remaining people climbed onto the boat and left while yelling frantically: "We are following the orders of the Second In Command, don't kill us! It was the Second In Command who forced us to do this!"
"Second Master, help me! Second Master!"
"Help!"
At the farthest point of the crowd, a man had already driven his boat several dozen meters away, and at the same time turned back and fired at her, trying to interfere with her and achieve her goal of escaping, and also cursed: "Wait for me, I will go back and ask my brother to bring people here!"
However, due to the distance, his accuracy was not good, and most of the bullets hit the water, and a small part hit the wall.
Ji Yang also took the time to aim at the man and fired continuously, "Bang, bang, bang."
The distance was quite far, and she was afraid that the pistol's accuracy was not good enough, so she shot in three directions to ensure that he could not escape no matter where he went. Sure enough, the deputy gang leader was trying to move like a snake to avoid a possible attack from behind, but as soon as he turned to the left, a bullet hit his arm.
With a "plop", the man fell into the water due to the impact of being shot.
Ji Yang fired another shot at the figure tumbling in the water. Seeing another splash of blood blooming in the water, he turned his gaze to the remaining people.
At this time, the remaining three people also took the opportunity to move away, thinking they could escape. Just as they were about to rejoice, their bodies shook and they fell around.
The speedboat was not big to begin with, so when it fell over, it fell directly into the water.
Ji Yang did not make another move.
There was no need to shoot the remaining three people again, as they were shot in the back, which severely restricted their movements and made it impossible for them to get up. The water was already very dirty, and they would definitely be infected if they fell in.
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