It was just getting dark when we got home. Qiao Qingqing climbed up first, and Shao's father pulled her up at the end of the rope, saving her a lot of effort to climb. Then it was Shao Shengan, and finally the speedboat was lifted up.
"You're finally back. You've been out all day! Are you hungry or tired? Your mother-in-law has boiled some hot water for you. Go take a shower quickly." Shao's father greeted them with concern.
Qiao Qingqing and Shao Shengan quickly took a hot bath and ate a hot meal. During the meal, Qiao Qingqing talked about Yuan Xiaowen's situation. Qiao Songzhi sighed, "She is still pregnant. She is suffering."
"When we came up just now, we found that the water level had risen a lot. It looks like the sixth floor will be flooded by tomorrow." Shao Shengan changed the subject.
"Yes, yes, your eldest brother has been watching it for a day, and it is rising." Shao's mother was very worried. Shao's father brought up the old matter again: "Don't you really need to move out first? Our house is only on the eighth floor."
"Not for now. This is the highest place in the area. Even the tenth floor elsewhere would have been flooded long ago. We have speedboats, so we can leave when we have to."
Shao Shengfei interrupted: "It's so winding here, driving in a big circle! Climb the mountain!"
He still remembered the experience of taking the bus in Huacheng. Every time he came, he would shout excitedly on the bus, and his father would have to scold him severely before he would cover his mouth with his hands and just stare at the scenery outside the window with wide eyes.
Qiao Songzhi followed her husband to Huacheng to work hard in her early years. She has complicated feelings for this city, but she is also very familiar with it.
"Thirty years ago, there were mountains everywhere here, and you had to climb up a hill to get anywhere. Later, roads and stairs were built and houses were erected. By the way, Huacheng used to be called Shancheng, and the name was changed only twenty years ago."
"Huahua sounds nice!" Shao Shengfei said loudly.
Everyone was amused and a cheerful atmosphere lingered in the house.
Over the next two days, the accumulated water completely submerged the sixth floor. The water waves finally stopped at the stairs on the seventh floor. The broken basins caught in the flood hit the wall, causing ripples on the water. The closed doors of rooms 701 and 702 were splashed with a few drops of moisture.
After that, the water level stagnated, neither rising nor receding, and the era of floods began.
As the water level stopped fluctuating and the heavy rain stopped, people trapped in the buildings finally started to go out. Many families had kayaks, after all, they had to go to work when the water level was not that high, and they could not go out without kayaks. But kayaks are not daily necessities in normal times, and the production is limited. Even if they stepped up production later, the number of kayaks put into the inland flower city was not large due to the floods across the country, and many people still could not buy them, so they could only use tools such as basins or buckets.
When I got to the road, I looked around in a daze. There was water everywhere. The whole world seemed to be lifted up by more than ten meters. All the landmarks disappeared. The only floors of high-rise buildings that could be seen were those exposed above the water. It felt unfamiliar.
"Communication is still not working. My family has a radio, but strangely, there is no signal."
"This is too weird. Even the radio can't be used. The radio is wireless..."
In the corridor, residents gathered together to discuss, but since they were all ordinary people, they could not discuss more complicated things and were more focused on the current predicament. Soon, everyone was discussing going out to find fuel. The natural gas supply in the community had been cut off for a long time, and no one could stand eating cold food all the time.
"I remember there was a store behind the farmers' market that sold gas cylinders. I don't know if I can find them if I go there now."
"I think it's difficult. It's on the first floor and it's been flooded a long time ago."
"Because it was on the first floor, it flooded early. I thought there might be gas cylinders left in the store."
Chen Binggang looked at Zheng Tiehui and said, "Can you lend me your speedboat? If I can find a gas tank, I'll give you one."
Grandma Wang also immediately looked at Qiao Qingqing: "My house is also OK."
Qiao Qingqing nodded: "Okay."
Zheng Tiehui smiled and said, "Of course, we are all neighbors, so we should help each other."
No one from Qiao Qingqing's family went out. They just said that the alcohol fuel they bought at Furun Supermarket last time had not been used up, so there was no need to rush for the time being.
"They couldn't go down because the water was too deep. It was impossible to dive to the shops on the first floor without equipment." Shao Shengan said that when he went into the water to get Lin Mingyong's treasure chest, he dared to go down only after wearing a full set of equipment.
"Zheng Tiehui has equipment." Qiao Qingqing looked at the rippling water outside the balcony and smiled coldly, "He won't take it out this time. He will first let others feel the indispensability of diving equipment, and then take it out like a savior."
Is it interesting? There are only four families left in this building, but Zheng Tiehui treats this place as a battlefield, calculating people's hearts and "strategizing". Maybe in this closed environment, this is really interesting.
How many Zheng Tiehui are there in this apocalyptic waters?
As expected, Zheng Tiehui and his team came back empty-handed, all of them were soaked from diving, and looked heavy-hearted. At night, everyone held another meeting in the corridor, and Chen Binggang pointed out: "Without diving equipment, no one can dive so deep with bare hands."
“If you don’t work in this field, who would bring that kind of stuff home?” Grandma Wang’s grandson Wang Jiale complained. “I would say don’t bother. Even if you dive down, you may not find the gas tank. The weather is not cold now, so it’s okay to eat cold food. Now that the rain has stopped, the water level will definitely drop. If it doesn’t drop today or tomorrow, it will definitely drop in the future. Don’t worry.”
"How can I not be anxious? Although there are rescue planes delivering supplies, it is obvious that there is a shortage of supplies. What is delivered are all compressed foods. The situation is not optimistic. Look at the water level, is it normal? It is not normal! If we don't go out to find supplies now that there is no rain and the water level has temporarily stopped, I'm afraid I won't even be able to eat cold mineral water with compressed biscuits in the future." Zheng Tiehui said.
The atmosphere was solemn, and everyone looked unhappy under the candlelight.
It is always good to be prepared for danger in times of peace, especially since the current situation is not at all “peaceful”.
Seeing that the atmosphere was almost set, Qiao Qingqing sat next to Shao Shengan. She saw Zheng Tiehui wink at his son. Zheng Liangdong rolled his eyes reluctantly, coughed, and was about to speak.
She knew that Zheng Liangdong would reveal that he had secretly hidden a set of diving equipment at home, just like he did in his previous life. Then Zheng Tiehui would pretend to criticize his son for not telling her about such a big thing earlier. The father and son acted out a clumsy drama, and finally Zheng Tiehui began to use the diving equipment to control the people in the building.
"I have diving equipment at home, and I can lend one set to each of you." Qiao Qingqing said.
The candlelight flickered and there was silence. Then Chen Binggang asked excitedly, "Really? You actually have one at home, and you can lend one to each family?"
"Why didn't you say it yesterday?" Wang Jiale blurted out.
Qiao Qingqing didn't seem to feel the awkward atmosphere. "Because I feel like I'm being taken advantage of if I give too much. The world is like this now, and I have to think about my family. If your family has diving equipment, would you give it away and beg your neighbors to borrow your equipment when they don't need it? You went out to find out yesterday and know the importance of this thing. I think now is the most suitable time."
Her words were so straightforward and frank. By admitting her selfish motives, others could not blame her.
Wang Jiale patted his head and said, "You are right, Qingqing, what are the conditions for lending us the equipment?"
Zheng Tiehui said, "We are all neighbors, Xiao Qiao, you are being too polite. We will suffer a lot this time. You should have told us earlier that you had the equipment. Sigh!"
"Uncle Zheng, when you came back from moving that day, I seemed to see diving equipment in your luggage. It seems that your family doesn't need to borrow it from me." Qiao Qingqing smiled. Zheng Tiehui cursed in his heart. He felt that the way other people looked at him was not right.
Damn it, the initiative was snatched away by this girl Qiao Qingqing. What’s the point of saying that he has equipment now?
He deliberately let the others go into the water yesterday, letting them experience the hardships underwater firsthand, and then he would show his kindness. He thought clearly that they would definitely suspect that he did it on purpose, so he couldn't reveal the diving equipment. He had to let his son do it, and he would pretend to criticize his son a few times and the matter would be over. As long as he held the equipment, others would not dare to say anything even if they had doubts in their hearts. That was his power!
Who would have thought that Qiao Qingqing suddenly jumped out and directly admitted that he had waited for the neighbor to need help before stepping forward, for no other reason than to "not be a sucker". Is this reasonable? Yes, it is reasonable! As a result, the performance he and his son had agreed on was so clumsy and ridiculous!
Zheng Tiehui immediately decided to deny it and pretended to be puzzled: "I don't have any diving equipment at home, Xiao Qiao, you must have seen it wrong, haha."
"Really? I must have seen it wrong." Qiao Qingqing said with a smile, "Then let's talk about the details of renting the equipment. I have no other requirements. If you give me a gold product, the diving equipment will be yours."
"Gold products? Gold rings and gold necklaces?" Chen Binggang asked. "Is money not enough? Can I give you ten times the original price of the equipment?"
"Uncle Chen, you know whether money is enough or not. Money is useless now. Where can I spend it? Even if it is ten times more, supplies are so scarce now. I have no place to buy them even if I have money. It is meaningless to me. What I want is gold, or jade bracelets or something like that. A set of professional diving equipment was not cheap in the past. If you really calculate it, not all gold products can be exchanged. Equipment can be used, but gold can only be appreciated and collected at home with an empty stomach. Please think about it."
In the end, everyone changed, one household got a new set, and Qiao Qingqing got two rings and a gold chain.
The transaction was completed, and she put the things into the space, and felt the cheerful mood of the space again. She looked at the slightly larger space and felt happy. It was mutually beneficial. She would make full use of the space and get through this difficult time with her family.
"Zheng Tiehui's face looked very ugly. He was too proud that he even denied that he had no diving equipment at home and even wanted to exchange it with us," said Shao Shengan.
"He is such a person. From another perspective, he is also 'successful'. No matter what situation he is in, he has a strong will. I admire him as long as he does not affect my life."
"He doesn't look very generous. I'll keep an eye on him in the future."
Qiao Qingqing smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will pay attention too."
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