Chapter 43
In order to prevent people from being lazy, the community divides residents into three levels: full labor force, semi-labor force, and no ability to work.
All men between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five without disabilities are classified as full labor force.
These people have to pay one or two ounces of grain to the community every day regardless of whether they go out to find work or not.
Women, teenagers between the ages of ten and eighteen, and middle-aged and elderly people between the ages of fifty-five and seventy are classified as semi-labor force.
These people can choose to pick up garbage and share the harvest with the community based on weight.
You can also choose to hand in dry food according to half of the total labor force, which is one or two taels of food every two days.
There are no elderly people over 70 years old in the community, and there are not many children under the age of six, but there are some people who were injured in the earthquake and have not yet recovered.
These people are naturally those who are unable to work.
They don't have to hand over food to the community.
On the contrary, in accordance with government requirements, the community would go to collect these people's food rations from the town once a week and then distribute them to them in full without any discounts.
For these people, not only the community but also the government will give preferential treatment. After all, everyone should have the opportunity to live.
The reason for making such a rule is to prevent some people from going out to work rather than going hungry. They have to wait until they are almost unable to walk before going out.
But by this time they often no longer have the ability to find work.
This kind of thing happened right after the earthquake. There were several cases in the community where people refused to participate in team activities and found all kinds of excuses to stay at home.
Then when they were extremely hungry, they would either steal food rations from their roommates or run to the property management or their companions to beg or make a scene.
They said this one was unkind and that one was inhumane, and they wanted to starve him to death.
The incident didn't get out of hand at first because we had just experienced an earthquake, and everyone wasn't too hungry yet and still had sympathy for their companions.
In addition, many people still had food stored at home at that time, so they just gave way to each other and got away with it.
In addition, government relief was soon distributed.
No one really takes them seriously.
But now it's different.
Every bite of food may very well be a life saver at some point in time.
It must never be used to condone evil, and certainly not to encourage bad habits in people.
Therefore, in order to prevent the problem from happening, the community made such mandatory regulations early on.
Whether to go out and find a job is a personal matter, but the food that should be handed in must be handed in.
If you fail to pay food for more than two days, without any special reason, you will be kicked out of the community and will not be allowed to live there again.
This point was also supported by everyone. After all, who wants to raise termites?
As soon as this rule came out, almost everyone in the community started to take action.
Except for those who had to stay, most of the people in the community went out the next day.
Not to mention the people who went out to find work, some half-grown children also went to the high-rise buildings to pick up garbage under the organization of the elderly at home.
Cao Hongmin found all the disposable masks he could find early on.
Mr. Gu also donated two hundred of them on the grounds that they were leftovers from his previous clinic.
The people in the property management distributed all the masks to everyone, basically one for each person.
Some families also made their own preparations, using cloth that they did not need at home to make masks, gloves, sun hats...
In addition, they also came up with all kinds of strange methods, using wooden boards, ropes, and universal wheels removed from furniture at home to make a number of flatbed trucks, wheelbarrows and other means of transportation.
After all, at this time, if you have a better tool, you may win at the starting line.
The neighborhood became bustling like never before early in the morning, but before nine o'clock it was almost completely silent.
Everyone who could go out went out.
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According to the community's statistical method, except for Gu Kai who is a full-time worker and the two children who are unable to work, everyone else in the Shen family is considered a semi-worker.
That means their family has to hand over three and a half taels of grain every day.
Before Shi Lei came back, Chen Cong had originally discussed with her sister about going to the town together to take a look.
But after the meeting, my family felt that it didn’t matter whether I went or not.
So they decided not to go out for a few days and concentrate on tidying up the backyard.
Chen Cong was entrusted with an "important task" by her family and was asked to go to the property management to deliver grain.
On the way there, she was a little worried, wondering if her family's actions would be too conspicuous.
As a result, when I arrived at the property department, I met several acquaintances, all of whom were the previous owners of the villa.
Everyone came to hand in dry food.
After meeting, none of the owners chatted with each other, at most they exchanged a tacit expression.
Seeing this situation, who doesn’t understand?
Everyone thinks the same thing -
I don’t know how long the waste collection point in town will last?
While the shop is still open, sell the things you don't need at home.
Don’t let it become less valuable as time goes by.
With so many neighbors as his companions, Chen Cong became more open-minded and generously handed over a pound of noodles and three biscuits.
At the same time, she curiously took a look at the things her neighbors handed in, and found that they really handed in all kinds of things.
Not to mention biscuits, pancakes, rice and noodles, she even saw potato chips and cola!
Chen Cong really wants to ask, how to convert between Coke and dry food?
But there were too many people at the property at that time, and no one had time to chat with her, so she could only follow the crowd and go home.
Since electricity usage is now open to the public, the Shen family no longer hides it.
After closing the door, Chen Cong first used his ability to move the steel racks to the backyard and arranged them in a position suitable for operation.
Then Gu Kai and Shen's father worked together to use a cutting machine to cut the usable parts of the steel into previously determined sizes.
At the same time, Grandpa Gu and Shen Xi picked out the wooden boards that were still usable, sawed them, and nailed them with a nail gun.
We worked together to make more seedling racks using these steel frames and wooden boards.
While everyone was making the shelves, Chen Cong was not idle either.
She walked around the yard all the way back and forth.
Gather all the stones, garbage, and broken glass on the ground together, put them in sacks, and prepare to transport them out of the community and throw them outside.
Because she has space to assist, these tasks that may be very difficult for others to do can be completed in an hour or two for her.
Several adults were busy downstairs, sweating profusely.
Tongtong and Shanshan were also helping the adults with the work in an orderly manner.
The two children followed their grandmother to water the vegetables grown in the seedling boxes on the third floor.
Because the entire third floor was arranged in advance by Grandpa Gu, the vegetable seedlings in the house sprouted very early and grew very strong.
The seeds were just sown when the tree first came home. How long has it been since then?
The first batch of Chinese cabbages planted are almost ready to be harvested.
Of course, the Shen family didn’t dare to take these dishes out for others to see for the time being, so they could only keep them for themselves and eat them slowly.
But the second and third batches of seedlings have now sprouted, and are green and lush.
These are not afraid of outsiders seeing.
On the first day of the joint cooperation, the family spent the entire day just cutting the steel frames and sawing the wooden boards.
This is just the part that can be used at home now, there is really no way to finish the rest.
The next day, the whole family worked together to carry the sawn steel frame and nailed wooden boards to the roof of the fourth floor.
They were welded on site on the platform and made in a complete circle against the wall, with a total of fifteen seedling racks.
When I was cutting in the backyard, I didn't feel anything. But once I was ready, the momentum came out immediately!
It is really neat and grand, and it makes people feel proud just by looking at it.
Although everyone was very tired, the excitement in their hearts was beyond words!
After all, not everyone has the opportunity to complete such a huge project through their own labor.
After finishing all these things, it was almost dark.
Everyone was so tired that they couldn't even move their arms or legs, and didn't even want to talk.
Even Cheng Ru, the housewife who always regarded cooking as her own responsibility and was unwilling to touch the prepared food in the space unless it was absolutely necessary, could not help but quietly walked to her daughter and asked, "Shall we have cold noodles tonight? I remember you seemed to have said that you bought cold noodles from Tianfu Restaurant before?"
Seeing that his mother actually agreed to let them eat takeout, Chen Cong suddenly perked up.
He nodded quickly and recommended non-stop: "I not only bought cold noodles, but also jelly and cold skin. In addition, I also have cold cakes, mung bean cakes, mint cakes and ice jelly..."
Seeing her daughter talking about it like a treasure with her eyes shining, Cheng Ru felt both angry and amused.
She waved her hands and said, "Alright, alright, eat whatever you like. Just don't make me cook. I'm almost exhausted. I'm going to take a shower first and lie down for a while after that."
After hearing that his mother had given up her power, Chen Cong jumped directly to his sister and grabbed her arm: "Sister, what are we having for dinner? Mom said that she doesn't care about us today, so we can eat whatever we want!"
Chen Xi stretched out a finger and poked his sister's forehead to the side: "Come on, come on, it's so hot, don't get so close. You still have an appetite in such a hot day? You are really not tired!
Just give me a cup of cold sweet tofu pudding, I won’t eat anything else.
Don’t give Tongtong and the other two too much to eat, remember to give each of them a bowl of mung bean soup…”
Before Chen Xi finished speaking, there was a sudden noise outside, and then someone shouted at their house: "Doctor Gu! Doctor Gu, please come out and take a look, someone has fainted!"
At this time, everyone in the Shen family was still walking downstairs, and no one had time to think about what to eat after hearing the sound.
Gu Zhengchu and Shen Cong ran straight downstairs, while the others simply turned around and went upstairs, lying on the railing on the rooftop to look outside.
Everyone's mood suddenly became heavy when they saw this.
I saw an old man in his sixties lying on the ground not far from the front door of their house.
Even though she had fainted, she still held a bamboo pole tightly in her hand.
There was an iron hook fixed in front of the bamboo pole, with a tattered magazine hanging on it.
Looking at the old lady, no one in the Shen family standing on the rooftop platform said a word, they just felt an indescribable discomfort in their hearts.
Because they had been working on the top floor before, they had seen the old man a long time ago.
The old man must be too old to do any heavy work, so he decided to stay in the community and pick up trash.
No one knew why she didn't go to the high-rise area but stayed in the villa area.
Maybe she thought there were few people here and no one would compete with her for it?
When the Shen family first noticed her, she was rummaging through the ruins in the east. Whenever she found something she thought could be sold, she would put it in the sack she was holding.
The old lady had no help and did not move, she just kept walking around.
I saw her in the morning, and she was still there in the afternoon. Who would have thought that it was almost evening and she was still there!
"Whose auntie is this?" Chen Xi asked.
"I don't know. He is not an old resident of our courtyard." Cheng Ru replied.
"She came from the higher-ups, and seemed to be living with Xiao Qian and the others. They said she had only one son, who used to work with Xiao Qian and the others, and broke his leg during the earthquake." Gu Kai explained.
He didn't say much.
But there is no need to say more, everyone understands the meaning behind it.
Her son was injured and it seems he hasn't recovered yet.
And she is not the kind of person who can do heavy work.
At this time, if you want to survive, you can only work hard. If you can't do heavier work than others, just work longer than others.
"Could it be possible that she didn't eat all day today?" Shen Xi suddenly remembered and asked again.
"Why do I feel like she's been hanging around here all day, and I haven't seen her leave."
No one responded to her.
At this moment, everyone felt very upset, and the little appetite that they had when they asked Chen Cong to name the dishes was gone.
Chen Cong and Mr. Gu came back very quickly.
The person who came back said that the old lady was fine, it was just that the weather was too hot and she didn't take precautions and got heat stroke.
He was given two bottles of Huoxiang Zhengqi water, and after he woke up, he was sent back to his residence.
After talking about the old lady's situation, Mr. Gu looked at the sky outside for a long time without saying anything.
The sadness between his brows could not be concealed at all.
It's almost October, and the weather is still unbelievably hot.
If this continues, many unexpected things may happen.
Chen Cong was also very silent.
Because she knew that what happened with the old lady was just the beginning, and she didn't know how many such things would happen in the future.
She was lucky today. She fainted in the yard at around six or seven o'clock when everyone was there.
What if you fainted while picking up trash in a corner of a high-rise building?
What if I faint on the way to town?
Now not only the elderly have to work, but also the children.
At the age of ten or eleven, they are still primary school students, but now they have to serve as half laborers.
Where have they ever done anything like this before?
I can’t even get enough to eat, and I have to go to a place like that to pick up trash…
Heatstroke is a minor matter, but will I get some disease?
At such a young age...
The more Chen Cong thought about it, the more upset he became.
"Old Shen, let's put up the awning on the fourth floor tomorrow, let the kids go out for a walk, and try to get some empty boxes back.
Let's move the vegetables on the third floor to the fourth floor, and use the space on the third floor to grow some herbs."
After being silent for a long time, Mr. Gu spoke.
Everyone's heart skipped a beat when they heard this.
"Brother Gu, are you sick?" Cheng Ru asked worriedly.
Mr. Gu was silent again.
Just when everyone thought he would not answer, he said in a deep voice: "Be prepared early."
There will be a great epidemic after a great disaster. This is the saying passed down by our ancestors.
Although after the earthquake, the government did a lot of work and tried its best to suppress the disaster.
I don't know how much money and resources were spent just on spraying the disinfectant powder.
Before today, everyone was full of confidence and felt that the earthquake issue was definitely over.
But now, the old man's words made everyone present feel a chill in their hearts.
A deep fear arose.
In the evening, except for the children who were given a bowl of steamed egg custard for fear that they would have difficulty digesting it, everyone else in the Shen family ate the cold noodles suggested by Cheng Ru.
The cold noodles at Tianfu Restaurant were once a specialty of Bac Ninh. The noodles were chewy, the chili oil was bright red, and the taste was just right. Everyone who had eaten it liked it.
In the calm days before the earthquake, as soon as summer came, the restaurant's takeout window would open in the morning and close at night, with a constant line of people.
This is what the Shen sisters have been eating since they were young, and it is also the taste of their childhood in their memories.
On normal days, it would be a real pleasure for the family to sit together and eat a bowl of cold noodles during the hottest days of summer.
But tonight, the Shen family had no taste for their bowl of cold noodles.
After the meal, no one mentioned chatting anymore and everyone went to bed early.
Everyone knows that tomorrow, and for a long time to come, they will have to race against time.
Do as much preparation as possible before illness strikes.
Putting up a sunshade requires climbing up high, and although the two elderly people said it was no problem, none of the three younger generations in the family were at ease.
So after discussion, they decided to keep Gu Kai to help the old man repair the awning on the fourth-floor rooftop, while the Chen Cong sisters went to the town to sell waste.
"No, Mom will go with you. Can you two do it? How can you carry so many things?"
Even though everything had been discussed, Cheng Ru was still very worried.
While eating in the morning, I couldn't help but repeat it again.
"What will happen to Tongtong and the others if you go? If I leave and you're not at home, those two will go crazy!
Mom, please stop making trouble. Just help me take care of the two little ancestors at home and provide logistical support for my dad and Uncle Gu. That will be a great help to us."
Chen Xi stood up, hugged his mother from behind, slapped her hard on the face, and then coaxed her.
"Get out of here, get some oil all over my face!"
Cheng Ru pushed her eldest daughter aside angrily.
He scolded, “Don’t think I don’t know how petty you are. You’re just bored at home and want to go out with your sister.
What time is it now? Is it so good to be outside? You don’t have the energy to gurgle…Oh, no, I’m still worried. Can I go with you guys?”
Chen Cong was really troubled by these two people.
She put down her bowl and chopsticks, wiped her mouth, then stood up and said, "You two can chat slowly while I load the things into the car. If you haven't finished chatting by the time you're done, you can continue. I'm leaving first."
After saying that, he waved at the two of them and made a goodbye gesture.
Chen Xi finished the soy milk in the bowl in two gulps, dropped the bowl and ran out with his sister.
While running, he did not forget to tell her: "Mom, go check on Shanshan at seven o'clock. I'm afraid she will cry if she wakes up and can't see me!"
Then he rushed out without waiting for his mother to come back.
No matter how old my daughter is, a mother will never feel at ease.
But in fact, with Chen Cong following them, how tired could they be?
Apart from anything else, all the large and small bags placed in the car will naturally be stored in the space once you walk out of the community gate and into a deserted place.
There's no way they'd really just push it into town like this.
I don't even realize how much less effort I save compared to others.
After two days of sorting, it turned out that there were not many things in the Shen family that could actually be sold as scrap, and most of them could still be used after being repaired.
Moreover, in order to avoid being noticed by those with ulterior motives, the family could not just sell the scrap once.
So only some scraps are placed on the top layer of the tricycle for outsiders to see, and most of the things placed underneath are actually stones collected from home and garbage that need to be taken out for disposal.
Chen Cong rode the tricycle, and Chen Xi followed behind, holding the things on the tricycle, and the two sisters left the community together.
When I walked to the gate, I found that it was indeed different from before. The gate of the community was half closed, and there were two security guards standing at the open door.
Next to them was an ancient scale, the kind that was only used in junk shops. No one knew where they got it from.
Two people were weighing the people who had picked up the garbage and were about to go out one by one.
Because the Shen sisters came out early, there were not many people selling scrap at that time. There were only two people in front of them, so it was soon their turn.
"Do we need to weigh ours too?" Chen Cong squeezed the brake and prepared to get out of the car.
"No, no, our Captain Cao said that people like you who are going to sell your own things don't need to weigh them. Sister Cong, you guys can go now."
One of the guys said to them with a smile.
After saying that, he stepped back to make room for them.
Maybe it was the affection they developed when they borrowed the tricycle when it first rained. Chen Cong herself didn’t understand what was going on, but the young men working in the property management department of the yard were all so nice to her.
Those who are willing to get close to her and can help will run as fast as they can without saying hello.
Shen Cong thanked the two guys and left the community with his sister.
While I was talking to the security guard, the two people had already walked a long way away.
Chen Cong did not chase after them, nor did he think about forming a partnership with anyone.
She and her sister first found a government-designated garbage disposal site and dumped the earth and rock garbage they brought from the car.
Then he put the heavy steel frame scraps on the car into the space, and took out some cut wood pieces from the space and put them on the car to cover people's eyes.
After doing this, the two sisters started walking towards the town.
"Shall we go directly to the scrap yard?" Chen Xi asked.
"No, let's go in the opposite direction of the crack today. I haven't been to that road yet."
There is only a small amount of garbage that can be sold at home, and if I really want to sell it, I will sell it all in one go.
They were also counting on these, so that they could have a few more trips to cover up the things that were put into the space.
Of course you can’t sell it all at once.
Moreover, the empty box that her father-in-law asked her to find had actually already existed in her space and had been prepared before the disaster struck.
During the day, the two of them can spend the day walking around the area, and when they go back at night, they can take out the things in the space and replace them in a bright place.
On the way to the town, Chen Cong and his companions met quite a few people.
However, judging from the people I met, there are not many people who sell scrap.
Regarding this point, even Chen Cong had to admire Shi Lei's good vision.
The route we found is very suitable for people in the community.
After all, judging from the current situation, among the several large population centers around, only the community is the closest to the town and has the most accessible roads.
Although the road has not been repaired yet, many people are walking on it. In addition, many construction teams, people coming from the town, and people going here all use transportation.
At the beginning, everyone expanded the road as they walked, and over time, a path was gradually formed where people could slowly walk along it on tricycles.
This greatly shortens the time it takes for community residents to travel to town.
Although the road belongs to everyone, not many people can own transportation at this time.
For example, Yingshui Village is separated from this side by a mountain. Even if there are tricycles or other means of transportation in the village, it is not easy to transport goods here!
Without any tools, transporting the waste over such a long distance to the town to sell it would be too hard for ordinary people to endure.
So at least in the short term, the people in the community have seized the initiative.
Apart from the local people living in the town, probably only people from the community went there.
Moreover, everyone obtains waste through different channels, and there is not even any competition among them.
Unless the purchasing station is closed one day, you will not be excluded.
Because the things on the cart were not heavy, when no one was passing by, Chen Xi didn't pretend and just sat on the edge of the cart.
The two sisters walked and talked, and soon they arrived at the big crack.
This was her first time leaving the community after the Chencong earthquake. Although people who had left her home had mentioned the crack many times, this was the first time she had seen it.
She stood in front of the crack and looked at it for a long time, but she still couldn't calm down. After a long time, she finally couldn't help but say, "Congong, will this disaster ever end?"
Chen Cong didn't know how to answer her sister's question.
After her rebirth, whenever she talked about these visions with her family, the word she used was always natural disaster, but in her previous life, the word everyone talked about most was - end of the world.
She also didn't know when such disasters would end. She only knew that new disasters would happen until she died.
But she didn't want to talk about these, at least not now.
Even though her heart was beating back and forth between hope and despair at any time, she still wanted her family to have more confidence in the future.
"It will definitely end. Don't you see that our lives are much better now than before the earthquake?"
She said to her sister with a smile.
Chen Xi turned around, looked into his sister's smiling eyes, and nodded heavily.
Of course she knew that her sister was just trying to comfort her, but she was willing to listen to such words.
The two people walked in the opposite direction from everyone else.
Along the way we met a few people heading towards town.
From their haggard and tired faces, it can be seen that these people must have walked a long way and may not have slept all night.
When those people passed by the two sisters, some glanced at them, while others didn't even raise their eyelids.
His expression was very numb.
Obviously, survival has overwhelmed people to the point that they have completely lost interest in everything else.
The two rode for a long time, and Chen Cong was so tired that he couldn't bear it anymore, so he stopped the bike.
She fanned herself vigorously with her palms and said to her sister breathlessly, "No, I'm so tired. I need to rest for a while."
Chen Xi did not answer immediately.
She took a few steps forward, then stopped and said to her sister, "Why do I feel like I've been here before?"
The author has something to say:
Sorry, I posted late today, sorry sorry.
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-07-13 23:01:05~2022-07-15 00:24:11~
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Serein 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Yiqiongerbai, Liangxiao 10 bottles; Yangliuqingqing 5 bottles; Fengliyuyuliwowenwenni, Suifeng, Yeanhe 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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