Chapter 37
Zhou Ying's store was previously opened in the Antique City, and she is very familiar with this area.
When she heard that the two were going there, she asked curiously, "What are you going to see there? The building of the antique market collapsed, and the whole market is gone. All the shops are closed, and now there are ruins just like this."
As she spoke, she pointed behind her to where they had been before.
"What about the street behind? It's gone too?" Chen Cong asked.
"It's gone too." Zhou Ying's tone was heavy: "Our store was originally on the back street, and the entire street is gone."
Hearing her say this, Chen Cong and his wife paused at the same time, and Gu Kai immediately asked, "Did you fall into the crack?"
"Not really." Zhou Ying shook her head.
"All the shops on that street were built by the Antique City. In order to create an antique style, the doors, windows, and beams were all made of wood. The wood was not good, and they all collapsed when the earthquake hit."
The Antique City is a scenic spot in Bac Ninh City and it has only been built for a few years.
Its original slogan was "the fusion of modern and classical", so the building facing the road is a very modern one.
The building has six floors in total, and its architectural style is similar to that of ordinary luxury shopping malls.
It is called an antique city, but most of the items sold there are modern artworks and decorations. At most, there are a few calligraphy and painting studios that look pretty good to support the appearance.
The fourth and fifth floors were simply turned into a pet market.
But there is an antique street behind the building.
The street is designed in some Ming and Qing style, I don't know if it looks like one, but it looks like an ancient commercial street in a film and television city.
The houses are decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, with lattices and patches. The bigger the store, the more luxurious it is.
It really looks like a time-honored brand.
Such a house looks nice when nothing is wrong, but when disaster strikes, it is even more shoddy than tofu.
The real earthquake hadn't come yet, but just a bigger aftershock caused half of the house to collapse.
"Fortunately, the house collapsed early, so many people saved their lives." Zhou Ying said with a wry smile.
She told Shen Cong about the situation at home.
"My husband was in a hurry to come back to see my parents-in-law and the shop at home, but he was still too late. When he came back, the shop had collapsed.
My father-in-law broke his waist when a cabinet fell down while he was trying to save the goods in the store. My mother-in-law was so shocked and frightened that she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on the spot.
My husband came back just in time to see the old lady for the last time."
Having said this, Zhou Ying wiped the corners of her eyes.
"But the old people still bless their son in the dark. Because the two old people died of illness, my husband stayed in the hospital to deal with the funeral affairs and did not have time to take care of the situation in the store.
Many neighbors who were in a similar situation to ours, whose houses had also collapsed, stayed here, hoping to find something from the rubble. Then they encountered the subsequent earthquake.”
Zhou Ying was a little unable to continue.
As for Chen Cong and the others, there was actually no need for her to say anything more, so at this moment they had already reached the ruins of the antique city.
The previous scene of Bac Ninh no longer exists at this moment. The landmark building of Bac Ninh, the magnificent and luxurious Antique City building, was completely shattered.
Except for the ground floor where a hint of the previous structure could still be seen, the entire five floors above were completely shattered.
Most of the debris fell on the antique street behind the building.
In other words, although the street did not fall into the crack, the entire street was buried under the collapsed building in front.
Chen Cong and Gu Kai stood there, staring at the ruins before them that no longer had any trace of their former glory, and were speechless for a long time.
Gu Kai still remembers that he came here before and wanted to buy some jade, but was scared away by the prices after visiting a few shops.
How lively and prosperous it was here at that time!
And now...
Perhaps because she hangs around here every day, Zhou Ying is much calmer than them.
Seeing that they both looked serious, she asked again, "Did you come here for something? Can you tell me?"
She seemed to be afraid that the two would misunderstand her, so she explained, "Don't worry, Xiao Shen and Xiao Gu, I'm not the kind of person who asks questions randomly. I was just thinking... to see if there's anything I can do to help. After all, you're our family's benefactors, and I'm pretty familiar with this place even if I can't help with anything else."
"Don't be so polite. It was just a matter of lending a hand. Anyone would do the same if they encountered the same situation," said Gu Kai.
Zhou Ying kept shaking her head, obviously she didn't think so.
Gu Kai glanced at his wife, then said to Zhou Ying, "Actually, there's nothing to hide. My dad wanted to buy some jade. You know he's a doctor, and sometimes he needs some jade utensils to make medicine at home. In addition, jade is also needed to store and release some herbs.
Before the earthquake, my family had some, which he had accumulated over the years. But many of them were destroyed by the earthquake..."
This reason is actually quite lame, but no one will delve into it at this moment.
What's more, Zhou Ying wanted to help in the first place, and as long as she knew what she could do, she didn't want to ask about anything else.
"I know, I know." After hearing Gu Kai's words, Zhou Ying immediately nodded in understanding.
Of course she knew, because she was at the Shen family when the earthquake happened, so she naturally understood what had happened to the things in the house.
At that time, she, her son and the entire Shen family were hiding in the bathroom. The sound of the utensils breaking outside was terrifying.
Even now, she sometimes wakes up from her dreams in fright.
Not to mention fragile things like jade, even the house in the backyard of the Shen family was smashed to pieces!
She thought for a moment and then asked, "Does Uncle Gu have any requirements for the jade he wants? I think I might be able to find some smaller ones, but it's very difficult to find the big ones. Basically, no big ones have been salvaged."
"I don't care about the size. As long as I can find it, any size is fine. My dad said that big ones have big uses and small ones have small uses. It would be even better if I could find one with better quality jade."
"That's no problem."
Zhou Ying smiled and said, "If someone is willing to risk their lives to save something, it must be a good thing. No one would go out of their way to look for cheap stuff."
At this point, she sighed again: "You don't know, although the store collapsed during the aftershock, many people ran out at that time.
My parents-in-law were smashed because they were old and had difficulty walking and they wanted to rescue the two new ornaments we had bought. But many other people came out at that time.
But later, when the aftershocks passed, everyone felt sad about the losses and went back to check unwillingly, and then they were buried under the rocks.
The number of people killed by being suffocated under rocks is much greater than the number of people killed by a collapsed house!
Those people really paid for their lives with what they found!"
Having said this, Zhou Ying looked at the ruins and was speechless for a long time.
Tears rolled down silently, leaving two marks of varying depths on her face.
After a long while, she sighed very softly: "Who would have thought that the things I exchanged my life for could not even be exchanged for a bag of noodles now."
They were speechless again.
In fact, everyone was quite optimistic when the disaster first happened.
Although the disaster was severe, the entire city was almost destroyed, and so many people died, everyone's trust in the government remains.
I always feel that these disasters are temporary, and the government will sooner or later save the people from this dire straits.
At that time, not only ordinary civilians thought so, but also the heads of various agencies including the government.
So everyone organized themselves to save themselves and raise funds, and the leaders were very generous in distributing relief and disaster relief grain to the people.
Everyone is trying their best to get through this difficult time, even if it means emptying all the warehouses.
For disaster relief purposes, it is reasonable to use as much as possible.
In the later stage, supplies from the country will definitely be delivered. As long as the country takes action, everything will be there.
But as the days went by, the relief supplies were still not delivered.
More and more people are realizing that it is not the case and things are not developing as everyone thought.
There was a ground fissure in Beining, which almost destroyed the entire city.
But I heard from people with information channels that this is not even ranked among the major geological disasters in the country!
There was also an earthquake in Xishan.
Their earthquake not only destroyed a city, but the entire Xishan Mountain Range, including the four cities and five counties surrounding the mountain range, all fell into the sinkhole caused by the earthquake!
Four cities and five counties, half of the province is gone!
That’s not all, there was also an earthquake in Nan’an.
The earthquake also triggered a tsunami that submerged the entire city of Nan'an.
At the same time, the entire southern sea area was affected. Along most of the coastline, countless provinces, cities, counties and towns suffered from typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, heavy rains and other attacks.
The affected area cannot be calculated in detail now.
Others say that this disaster is global.
It is not just their own country that is affected, but countless countries and regions in the surrounding areas and even the entire planet have suffered various disasters, many of which are devastating and can completely destroy a country.
When news came out that even the capital was affected, people discovered in despair that it was now unrealistic to expect the country to send aid.
The only one we can rely on is ourselves.
At this time, everyone from the government to ordinary people realized with even greater horror that their food reserves were simply not enough!
This is also the reason why food prices have skyrocketed recently, while the government is giving workers less and less food rations.
Compared with the urban area of Bac Ninh, the community where Chen Cong and his family live is still isolated from the news.
Also, because the roads have not yet been fully opened, it is extremely difficult for people to travel in and out. If the government does not provide assistance, many people will simply not be able to survive.
So no matter how difficult the situation is, the government is still distributing relief supplies. Even if the quantity and quality are decreasing, there are still some.
This is why everyone, including Chen Cong and his friends, have not yet realized how harsh life outside has become.
When Jiashu first went there, he told Shi Lei and the others to find a way to go out and not stay in the community all the time.
I also told them that they cannot rely solely on government assistance, and even if they want to, they won’t be able to do so for long.
At that time, everyone was focused on finding a job to exchange for GPA and had no idea what he meant.
In fact, what Jiashu meant was that it was impossible to rely on the government’s relief food for too long.
Because it was an accidental encounter, Zhou Ying was not prepared and it was impossible for her to help Chen Cong and the others find the jade right away.
So they left the address of Fulin Community and made an appointment with Zhou Ying to meet the next day, asking her to find the right things and send them over.
The two of them didn't stay outside for long and went straight home.
The two of them hurried, but it was already dark when they almost got home.
But it’s better this way. At least there are no more people around, and even if someone is walking around, I can’t see their movements clearly.
The two found a secluded place. Gu Kai helped observe the surroundings while Chen Cong used his mind to unseal a 50-kilogram bag of rice in space and then divided it into different small bags.
Make it look like it was purchased from different places.
Then she took out the two large black bags that the two of them had carried before from the space, and she and Gu Kai each carried one on their shoulders.
With the bag as a cover, when she put the rice in when she was about to go upstairs, it would look like the two of them had bought it outside today, and no one would notice anything unusual.
This was the solution the two discussed on the way back.
If they hadn't gone out today, they wouldn't have known that the situation in the city had become so serious.
Jiashu probably didn't want to make them worry, so he tried hard to pretend that everything was fine in front of them and didn't tell them the real difficulties.
But now that I know it, I can't just ignore it.
Not to mention Jiashu, my cousin, but also Shichen and his sister. It would be fine if I didn't understand the situation, but now I know how difficult it is for the two children. I would feel guilty if I didn't lend a hand when I still have the ability.
Besides, the two children saved the house for them.
No matter what the reason is, without Shi Chen, it is hard to say whether Fulin’s house can still be his.
This love must be repaid.
When the two of them returned, Jiashu had already returned and was sitting at home, restlessly waiting for them anxiously.
Gu Jiashu was shocked to see that the two of them had brought back so much food.
He hurried over to help them unload the food, and then he shyly went into the inner room to take out the food he had bought, saying, "Brother, sister-in-law, I didn't buy much, not even half of what you bought, only about twenty kilograms."
Not being able to buy much food was already something Shen Cong and his wife had expected.
If it were them, they might not be able to buy as much as Jiashu did.
So they didn't show any dissatisfaction.
Instead, Jiashu himself felt a little embarrassed and explained, "There is no food for sale in the places I went to before.
I bought this little bit from a fellow patient I met in the hospital, a chef in the cafeteria of the electromechanical company. And I bought it from several people.”
The more he talked, the more curious he became, and he couldn't help asking, "Brother, sister-in-law, where did you buy this?"
"It was a coincidence that I met an acquaintance." Gu Kai answered simply.
Everyone knows that Gu Kai is not talkative, and Jia Shu has long been accustomed to it.
Seeing that his brother didn't like to talk, he didn't ask more questions, but took the initiative to change the subject: "Shi Chen came over just now and said that you guys have something to talk to him about? What's the matter? Is it urgent? Do you want me to call him over now?"
"Go ahead and call Cancan as well."
Jiashu agreed to leave, Chen Cong went to the kitchen to get the electric kettle, then took out two bottles of mineral water from the space and poured them in to start boiling water.
This kettle was the only surviving electrical appliance she found when she was cleaning the house yesterday.
The house was equipped with solar panels. Although two parts were damaged during the earthquake, with his experience in repairing solar panels in villas, this level of damage was no big deal for Gu Kai, and he repaired it quickly.
So, there is electricity at home now.
Although the house was on the 19th floor and there were not many buildings of the same height around it, turning on the lights was still a bit too conspicuous when the entire city had no electricity.
So, candles are lit in the room now, and the lights are not turned on.
But it’s no problem to boil some water.
When Shi Chen brought his sister to the Shen family, he smelled the rich aroma of braised beef noodles as soon as he entered the door.
He stopped immediately.
He stood at the door, turned around and said to Gu Jiashu who was following behind him: "Brother Gu, shall we come over later?"
Gu Jiashu rolled his eyes speechlessly. He really couldn't understand how this child's seniority was determined?
He and his sister can so naturally call their brother and sister-in-law uncle and aunt, but when it comes to me, they only insist on calling me brother?
However, as a mature adult, he couldn't argue with him.
He pushed Shi Chen's shoulder and said, "I must have something to tell you. The sooner you tell me, the sooner you'll finish it. Can't you see that Cancan is already sleepy?"
Shi Chen looked down at his sister helplessly and saw that although his sister was swallowing her saliva, she did not show any intention of eating.
He picked up his sister, patted her back soothingly, and then walked in.
After entering the room, Shi Chen saw Chen Cong and Gu Kai holding a plastic lunch box together, eating a box of instant noodles one bite at a time.
Seeing them coming in, Chen Cong stretched out his hand and called them, "Come and eat quickly. I've already made some for you. Don't let it get soaked and become unpalatable."
Only then did he realize that next to the two people, there were two bowls of instant noodles on the small wooden coffee table that served as a dining table.
One was in a disposable transparent lunch box, and the other was in a large fresh-keeping lunch box like the one they were both holding.
Seeing him holding his sister and staring at the lunch box without moving, Chen Cong explained again: "Everything in our house was smashed. I searched for a long time and only found these few things. You can make do with them. Jiashu, you eat the small box, the big box is for Shichen and Cancan."
Jiashu agreed, picked up the lunch box and sat down next to them.
Cancan swallowed quietly and looked at her brother.
Seeing that her brother had no intention of going over, the little girl buried her head in his arms, not looking at the box of noodles, and said with her back to everyone, "Thank you, auntie, thank you, uncle, we've already eaten, we're not hungry at all."
The child was extremely polite, and his voice was soft and gentle, but listening to it made one feel inexplicably sad.
Chen Cong stuffed the lunch box into her husband's hands, stood up, and took Cancan from Shi Chen's arms without saying a word.
She returned to her original seat with the child in her arms, and then, with her husband's hand, she picked up a handful of noodles from the lunch box and fed it to Cancan's mouth, saying to her, "Don't listen to your brother. You have to listen to your aunt at her house. Come on, open your mouth, and I'll feed you."
Cancan's eyes were full of desire, but she pursed her lips tightly, turned her head and looked at her brother with her bright eyes.
The author has something to say:
Sorry for being so late. There is one more chapter to be posted tomorrow, I will try to finish it as soon as possible.
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-07-09 19:03:36~2022-07-10 01:10:14~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Pangpang 18 bottles; Yangliuqingqing 10 bottles; Weiwuqingyu 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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