Chapter 21 Chapter 21
Although everyone looked haggard, there was no chaos in the town due to the disaster and social order was good.
Gaolin City is a densely populated area, and the ground is littered with windblown fallen leaves and branches, as well as various types of garbage and the bodies of drowned insects and rats. All of this has been soaked in water, and because defense workers were unable to clean up in time during the flood, much of it has been soaked for too long and has rotted. A foul odor permeates the ditches.
Many shops in the town were forced to close due to power outages. The few that remained open during the downpour often struggled to complete payments – people relied on online payments, cash had long been absent from their lives. The town's banks, with limited cash reserves, had been forced to close as early as a week before the disaster. This forced everyone back to the primitive practice of bartering.
The only things that remain open 24 hours a day in the town are two supermarkets and a hospital. They are directly managed by the public security department, and prices are the same as before the disaster. Generators are used to maintain normal operations, ensuring the basic living needs and health of every resident in the town.
To prevent panic buying and looting, supermarkets had already implemented purchase limits, requiring purchases with credit cards, even before the pandemic. However, to ensure the freshness of the ingredients and vegetables in the supermarkets, most were supplied by nearby farms. Continuous heavy rains flooded the vegetable fields around the town, preventing their supply. Consequently, supermarkets had no choice but to reduce residents' daily allowances.
Bai He left Zhang Yan in the town. Although traffic had not resumed in the town, many illegal taxis began to solicit passengers, although the prices were a bit outrageous.
Bai He drove onto the highway near the town. Before the rainstorm, Bai Yu had already entered the province, and after calculating his route, he was most likely in Changyuan City, over 400 miles away.
Without the ability to contact the police, Bai He felt that searching for someone in the city on his own was extremely inefficient. People were too insignificant to be easily missed. Besides, Bai Yu wasn't a child. He could handle small problems on his own, but they couldn't catch up with him on big ones. Bai He's presence was probably just to comfort his uncle and the others.
After leaving messages at service areas and intersections along the way, Bai He was forced to stop mid-road. A section of the Wuta Expressway was completely blocked by the accident. Bai He had no choice but to exit the expressway and take the national highway.
But after making the decision, Bai He realized it was a terrible decision. The city was far more severely affected than Gaolin City. It was practically half submerged in water, with many lower-level roads and houses submerged. The streets were dotted with victims and rescue troops carrying luggage. The entire city, like the sky above, was gloomy and shimmering with twilight. Forget cars, even people were a problem. The national highway was blocked, and the expressway was completely blocked. Bai He had no choice but to turn back.
Today was almost a waste of time, except for filling up some gas and diesel along the way. On the way back, Bai He saw farmers driving tractors on the roadside selling apples, watermelons and other fruits.
The heavy rain not only trapped people in the city, preventing them from leaving, but also prevented individual farmers in the countryside from entering. These farmers and farmers were no less worried than those in the city every day.
The humidity is heavy, and short-shelf-life items such as fruits and vegetables are extremely easy to rot. They can only watch their hard work go to waste every day.
To minimize losses, they dragged their goods out to sell along the road as soon as the rain stopped. Because of the large quantity, the price of these fruits was very cheap. Bai He sold dozens of baskets, filling the seats and even the roof of the car.
When he returned to Sheshui Village, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. There were unexpectedly many people in the village, especially the square at the entrance of the village, which was originally used for market and square dancing, and had become a temporary market.
Bai He arrived at his uncle's house and found that they were sorting out things, including last year's old rice and dried vegetables that Grandma Bai's aunt had dried...
When the aunt saw Bai He, she ran over anxiously to ask what happened.
Bai He shook his head.
There was obvious disappointment on my aunt's face, but she also knew that the hope of finding a needle in a haystack was very slim.
"But Auntie, on my way out, I saw that the government and the army were organizing reconstruction. I think my sister should be back soon."
"That's good." The aunt forced a smile, a little absent-minded. Raising a son for a hundred years means worrying for ninety-nine of them.
Bai He sighed, and then he saw his grandfather and uncle, each carrying an old-fashioned scale, weighing a large bag of rice. "Grandma, what are you doing?"
Grandma Bai answered as she sorted the food, her face clearly beaming with joy. "Someone from town came to buy the grain, and the price is three times higher than usual. The old grain at home isn't tasty, so it's a good opportunity to sell it all."
"They not only collect grain, they also want bacon, eggs and other things." Grandpa Bai added.
"We made too much bacon and fish at home in the first half of the year and had half a freezer full of it left. We'll buy all of it. We'll slaughter the pig whose leg was broken by the brick and eat fresh food."
"I didn't expect to make so much money selling grain this year," said Uncle Bai, his face beaming as he carried over 200 kilograms of rice, his face aglow, his mood having faded from the downpour. Uncle Bai is dedicated to his work, devoting himself to making money even when he has nothing else to do. The garage full of planters, harvesters, trucks, and other machinery shows he rarely rests 365 days a year. He's one of the few villagers who hasn't migrated for work, yet has managed to build a fortune.
When Uncle Bai was young, there was a new wave of migrant workers. Young people in the village were rushing out, saying that there was money everywhere. Bai Tiancheng ran away before he even reached adulthood.
Unlike his lively and hardworking brother, his older brother, Uncle Bai, was a steady and affectionate man. Worried about not having anyone to care for his parents, he chose to stay in the backward village of Sheshui. Later, he used his personal experience to show everyone that it's not impossible to make money in the countryside, as long as you're willing to work hard.
After a month of downturn due to the heavy rain and the epidemic, Uncle Bai felt unhappy every day. But an unexpected reward made up for his loneliness.
"Remember not to sell the chickens and ducks at home. These are for our own consumption." Grandma Bai, who was busy with her work briskly, remembered something and straightened up, then gave serious instructions to her family.
"Mom, they charge 85 yuan per pound for the local chickens and ducks we raise in the countryside." Uncle Bai couldn't help but say.
Grandma Bai has been tending to chickens and ducks since she was four years old. Now in her seventies, she's been doing this for nearly her entire life. She's a master at caring for them, and each of her chickens and ducks weighs over ten kilograms. This means each one can fetch over a thousand yuan. For a farmer working hard to earn a living, this is a staggering amount of money.
Grandma Bai hesitated for a moment and said reluctantly, "Then I can only sell four ducks at most. No more."
The Bai family raised a total of twenty chickens and twenty ducks. This might seem like a lot, but the chickens were kept for eggs. Most of the ducks were preserved by making preserved ducks or dried ducks. If the whole family could eat them for a year, it wouldn't seem like too much.
"This year has been full of disasters! The epidemic hasn't been over yet and we've had such a long period of heavy rain. Several elderly men and women living alone at home in the town starved to death. It is said that their bodies were discovered because they started to stink." Grandpa Bai said with a sigh.
Grandma Bai, who was bending over to pack her things, stopped in shock. "It's so serious! The last time I heard of someone starving to death was decades ago."
"In the town, unlike in our countryside where every household grows crops and vegetables and has no worries about food and drink, they have to buy everything. During heavy rains, trucks can't get in, so they're cut off from supplies. The situation in the town is very bad right now. My brother and sister both live in the town, so I have to go check on them tomorrow, otherwise I won't be able to rest assured."
"What are you worried about? Your brother-in-law is the most calculating person. During the epidemic, he cut two woven bags of vegetables from our house and took away two hundred kilograms of rice. Instead of worrying about them being hungry, you should worry about whether your family has enough money to subsidize them. And your sister-in-law Zhou Lanhua, that ungrateful person, lives a much better life than you do. You don't need to worry about her." Grandma Bai's face turned cold and her words were sarcastic.
Grandpa Bai frowned deeply when he heard Grandma Bai's sarcastic words, and looked at his wife unhappily. "What are you talking about? Zhou Lanhua is Zhou Lanhua. My brother is still a good person. He always brings things when he comes to our house. Besides, my little sister's parents have passed away. If I, as her brother, don't take care of her, who will help her?"
"Okay! There's no need to repair the roof, and you don't have to worry about the collapsed pigpen... You can just live with your brother and sister-in-law."
Grandma Bai had a bad temper. She immediately threw the things in her hand to the ground and spoke sarcastically in Grandpa Bai's face.
Uncle Bai and Aunt Bai looked at each other, their faces filled with helplessness. Grandpa Bai had four siblings. One brother lived in the village, and his sister married in the next village. The two younger siblings lived in town.
These two younger siblings were workers in their youth and had generous pensions in their old age. Their families were considered well-off among the other siblings. But they didn't just subsidize their older siblings, they also took advantage of Grandpa Bai's warm nature and his appreciation for his family. Whenever they came, they took advantage.
Every time she saw two families arrive with two blocks of tofu or a pound of biscuits, eat two meals here, and then take away a large bag of food as a matter of course, Grandma Bai almost vomited to death. As if her chickens and ducks fell from the sky and her rice grew on its own.
Grandma Bai, who was not a narrow-minded person, had been holding back her anger for a long time, and this time she just let it out.
Grandpa Bai's face flushed red at Grandma Bai's sarcastic remarks. He was furious, but he didn't know how to express himself. He could only stare at Grandma Bai with his big, fierce eyes.
Grandma Bai doesn't buy it. It is said that people get worse as they get older, and that's exactly the case with Grandma Bai. When she gets angry, everyone in the family has to avoid her.
"Why? When all the things in the house belong to you alone, don't you see how exhausted your son and daughter-in-law are every day? You are already in your seventies, and you still have the nerve to give your son and daughter-in-law's things away as a favor."
"Am I supposed to stay at home every day and do nothing, eating for free..." Grandpa Bai's stubborn temper came up, and he approached Grandma Bai with his neck stiff.
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I feel like I can’t apply for the list (covering my face)
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