"Okay, we'll listen to Lai Lai. The sooner the better. Let's go to the government supermarket and Qin's Group trading market today and buy some to replace our screens and window screens!"
Xu Haiguo added enthusiastically.
After the family discussed it and agreed, Xu Lai and Xu Haiguo packed up quickly and went out.
Before leaving, Xu Lai specifically instructed the three people who were staying at home: "Second Uncle, Mom, Xiao Chao, you must pay close attention to the doors, windows, and any noise coming from the doorway!"
If those poisonous ants were to sneak into the house, it would be a devastating disaster for the whole family.
Grandpa Xu, Song Qiu'e, and Xu Chao were all sensible people, and they all nodded solemnly in response to her instructions.
After Xu Lai and Xu Haiguo left, they told the Xiao and Lu families what they needed to do next.
Xiao Jia's Li Qingya and Lu Jia's patriarch Lu immediately followed Xu Lai and her father downstairs with their work point cards and gold bars.
Unfortunately, after visiting both places, I only managed to find two diamond mesh screen windows at the Qin Family Trading Market.
"What should we do? These two stainless steel mesh screens are far from enough!"
After the four members of Xu Xiaolu's family got into the van, Xu Haiguo looked anxiously at the two security screen windows placed next to him.
"Hey, I remember the windows in the sanatorium where my dad used to stay had stainless steel mesh screens. Shall we go take a look there?"
Seeing the three people in the car who were all in low spirits, Li Qingya suddenly slapped her forehead and made a suggestion.
After Li Qingya's guidance, Xu Lai, who had come to her senses, excitedly said, "Sister Qingya is right. Since we can't buy these diamond mesh window screens, we can collect them from empty houses!"
As of now, the surviving population of City C is less than one-third of what it was before the natural disaster. If we're talking about what City C has the most of right now, we have to mention empty houses.
"That's a great idea! You young people are really quick-witted!"
Sitting in the back row, Grandpa Lu sincerely praised Xu Lai and Li Qingya.
They acted immediately. The sanatorium was located in a remote suburb, and Xu Lai and the others didn't want to travel that far. So after discussing it, they chose the commercial street closest to their current location.
This commercial street is lined with neat five-story buildings.
The first floor is a shop, the second floor is a temporary residence for the business people downstairs, and the third floor and above are residential buildings.
Because the previous torrential rains and floods submerged the area below the fourth floor, the people who originally lived here escaped and found new places to live, so no one lives here at all.
After the torrential rains and floods subsided, the area was cleaned up by personnel from the military and government, so the commercial street looks relatively clean.
The ground floor of this commercial street is lined with shops, some of which are open and some are closed.
Xu Lai and the other three started searching from the first shop.
The shop door was open, and Xu Lai and his group stepped inside and began to look around.
The shop's main hall was a mess, and the half-meter-deep mud underfoot had hardened under the extreme heat.
The silt was mixed with various plastic bags and other garbage, and large areas of the wall plaster and ceiling plaster had peeled off.
Because it had been flooded, everything visible to the naked eye was filthy, covered in yellow mud.
"Let's split up and go check out the kitchen and the private rooms!"
As they spoke, the men, some carrying stun guns and others carrying daggers, cautiously entered the kitchen and the private room.
It took them about fifteen minutes to search the entire five-story building.
The first to fourth floors were dark and messy because they had been flooded, especially the wooden cabinets and other furniture, which were all rotten.
When they reached the fifth floor, which was not flooded, they didn't find the steel protective netting, but they did find some decent clothes, shoes, pots and pans, and other reusable items.
Whether you use these things yourself or sell them as secondhand goods at a stall, you can earn some work points by reselling them.
Having gained experience from searching the first building, Xu Lai and his team were much faster in the later buildings.
They gave up on the first four floors and went straight to the fifth floor to search.
After a morning of looting, the group had thoroughly raided half of the fifth floor of the commercial street.
As a result, thirty-two steel protective nets were indeed found in four of the households.
In addition, Grandpa Lu and Li Qingya also found a gold bracelet and a gold necklace in the homes of two families on the fifth floor.
This unexpected gain thrilled the two of them.
Xu Haiguo and Grandpa Lu, the two men, were responsible for removing the windows, while Xu Lai and Li Qingya assisted them.
Around 1:30 p.m., the four of them looked at the pile of supplies in the middle of the commercial street and were worried.
"We can't get them back this time either!" Old Master Lu rubbed his head.
"How about this, Uncle Lu, you and Qingya stay here. Lai Lai and I will take them back first, and then come back to make a second trip!"
Xu Haiguo made the final decision.
After the group filled the van to the brim except for the driver's seat and the passenger seat, Xu Lai and her father got into the van with ease.
After the father and daughter arrived at the apartment building, they contacted the people from the Xu, Xiao, and Lu families who were still at home to transport the goods to the Lu family's house nearby. The two then drank a bottle of water and immediately drove back.
When they were almost at the commercial street, Xu Lai took out an electric tricycle from her spatial storage, and Xu Haiguo drove it.
The father and daughter entered the commercial street one after the other.
With electric tricycles, which have large-capacity cargo boxes, they were able to load all the items on the ground onto the vehicle in one go.
"I'm so tired today, I have absolutely no energy left!"
After carrying the last piece of steel protective netting up to the seventeenth floor, Xu Lai, Xu Haiguo, Li Qingya, and Grandpa Lu, whose sun protection clothes were soaked with sweat, all plopped down in the Xu family's air-conditioned room.
Having already prepared lunch for the four of them, Song Qiu'e brought in their lunch—hand-pulled noodles with shredded chicken—after they had rested enough.
Grandpa Xu, who was helping out, gave Grandpa Lu and his nephew a can of beer each, and his eldest granddaughter and Li Qingya canned herbal tea.
After a satisfying meal, the four, who had almost collapsed from exhaustion, finally regained their strength.
"Should we install the steel safety netting first, or should we search all the remaining apartments on the fifth floor of that commercial street first and then replace the steel safety netting on our windows?"
Perhaps because Grandpa Lu had tasted the joy of "scavenging" today, he was very interested in the items on the fifth floor of the remaining half of the commercial street.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com