While his thoughts were racing, Village Chief Ye had already completed the household registration book and written a land deed.
"It's at the end of my alley. It's not a big place, but it's enough for your family to live in." Village Chief Ye was very calculating. He did not "sell" the occupied vacant land to Qiao Qingqing and her friends. He only started with some inconspicuous vacant land in the village. Those outsiders did not like to live too close to the locals, so the vacant land between the houses where the locals lived was generally not occupied by outsiders.
That's even better! Qiao Qingqing was extremely satisfied.
"Here, take a look." Village Chief Ye pushed the things in front of them and stared at the candle on the table. This family didn't seem to have much luggage and was quite wealthy. This candle was also provided by them, otherwise he would never be willing to light a candle to work.
With just the right amount of joy on her face, Qiao Qingqing looked through the newly issued land deeds and household registration books with her family. In her eyes, the crooked and ugly handwriting of Village Chief Ye was like a pass to change the future.
She smiled a genuine smile.
Putting a perfectly intact cigarette on the table, Shao Shengan said gratefully, "Then I'll be grateful for your care from now on, village chief."
Village Chief Ye was very pleased with their frankness and generosity. Although the candlelight was dim when he saw them off, one could still see the joy on his face.
"What should we do next?" Qiao Songzhi also put down a big stone in his heart and began to worry about practical problems.
"Maybe it's because I've been sleeping during the day and traveling at night these past two days, so I don't seem to be sleepy at this time." Shao's mother smiled bitterly.
Mr. Shao and the others also said they were not sleepy. Qiao Qingqing blinked and said, "Then let's go to our new home site and build a house now."
"Great! Let's build a house!" Shao Shengfei was the first to respond.
After Village Chief Ye closed the door and returned to the house, the candle in the living room had not yet been extinguished, and his son was sitting in his original position with the cigarette in his hand.
"Is it really a cigarette? The packaging looks really good!" Village Chief Ye's son licked his lips and turned the cigarette over and over.
Village Chief Ye took the cigarette and felt his son's covetous gaze. He snorted, "Can't open it." He touched the plastic cover of the cigarette with care, picked up the thick booklet on the table, and turned to go into the house.
His son sighed and sat sideways on the chair: "I just touched it, I didn't say I wanted to tear it down, I'm not stupid."
The village chief came out quickly and extinguished the candle.
"Dad! It's okay to give it a little longer. Don't be so stingy." Ye Changtian yelled.
"Just waste it. This is a good thing. Use it as little as possible and save it for future emergencies." The village chief sat down in the dark and asked him, "Have you found out? If it really works, I'll give the cigarette away."
Ye Changtian sighed: "I just asked around, it's hard to get into the army now, Dad. Everyone knows that the army has good treatment. Yeshan must be more strict."
"I will also go and ask around tomorrow, Changtian. Life is hard right now, and I hope you can join the army so that you can protect your family and the village in the future."
"I know. I'll try my best."
On the other side, Qiao Qingqing and her friends have found the land that Village Chief Ye sold to them.
This is the end of the alley. There is a small road next to it, and beyond the small road is another residential area.
"It's quite big, just like what's written in the title deed, 4.2 meters wide, 7.6 meters long." Father Shao put away the measuring tape, "It's big enough for our family to live in."
"First clear the debris and garbage off the ground, then we can set up the tent."
The luggage on the tricycle was piled high, and the lights were hung on the canvas, illuminating the new home.
Qiao Qingqing and the others worked together to quickly clean up the debris on the ground and temporarily piled it on the side of the road.
But this land is still too dirty. After the flood receded, the temperature rose again. The ground became dry and smelly, and cockroaches and mosquitoes were flying and crawling everywhere.
Qiao Qingqing stuffed a human calf bone into the garbage bag without changing her expression and called out to Shao Shengfei, "Brother, take the shovel off the car."
"Oh oh, I'll get it!"
Shao Shengfei took the shovel down, Qiao Qingqing took one, Shao Shengan and Shao's father also took one, and Shao Shengfei didn't give the last one to Shao's mother, wanting to use it himself, and asked Qiao Qingqing: "Sister, are we going to farm?"
"Instead of farming, we dig a layer of topsoil." Although we have to set up a tent, we can't be surrounded by black smelly mud as soon as we walk out of the tent. The smell is too unpleasant.
The four men worked together to shovel away the soil from the ground layer by layer.
Some of the neighbors next door squatted nearby and watched, discussing in low voices, saying that their family was very particular.
Shao's mother wiped her sweat and took a breath to rest: "It's already midnight, and many people are still awake."
"It's hot during the day, so we can only go out at night. This damn weather makes people's day and night reversed!" Qiao Songzhi put down the board, "Drink some water, I'm so tired."
The family sat on the wooden board and drank water. Shao Shengfei pointed to the east and said, "It's bright there. And there! It's bright there too!"
Shao Shengan took a look and said, "That's the direction of the village entrance. It should be the military checkpoint. They should start digging a deep well tomorrow morning." He looked at the second direction Shao Shengfei pointed out and was stunned for a moment. "Is that Yeshan? There are quite a lot of lights there."
Father Shao squinted his eyes and looked: "It seems that there are people living on the mountainside. There are lights everywhere. They should also have something to generate electricity, maybe a solar generator!"
"You're right! I heard that there are a lot of solar panels on Yeshan Mountain, and there's more electricity than can be used up!" The neighbor who was squatting not far away interrupted and asked where they got the electricity from.
Shao Shengan replied with a smile: "We came from Huacheng."
"Oh, that's not close. You guys are well-informed. Many people have come to our village in the past few days. I don't know where you got the news from."
Father Shao said hurriedly: "You are so lucky, there are troops here, and you also have supplies. We haven't had any relief supplies for a long time."
The man fanned himself with a cattail leaf fan, looking very proud: "We are very lucky. When there was a flood before, we went directly to the mountains to take shelter. No one in our entire village died! It's just too hot now, it's annoying! We can't even plant in the fields. Sometimes there aren't enough supplies in Yeshan, so we don't get any. We have to starve! The more outsiders come, the less things there are." At the end, there was disdain and disgust in his tone towards the refugees.
Mr. Shao didn't respond. He put the cup away, stood up and continued digging the ground.
At four o'clock in the morning, the wooden planks were laid and the tents were set up. There were two tents, a large one for the bedroom and a small one for the luggage. In addition to the two tents, there was also a small toilet.
"I saw how other people's houses in the village provide shade. They all use bamboo to build bamboo sheds to support the roofs. It seems like they have a bamboo forest here. I'll go look for it when it gets a little light," said Shao's father.
"Even if there is a bamboo forest, we probably won't be able to find a single bamboo now." Qiao Qingqing said, "I remember there are some shade cloths in the space. Let's find them and put a few layers on the tent. The sunshade effect will definitely be good."
Shao Shengan smiled and said, "Didn't you bring the curtains from home when you moved? You can use those too."
"I always feel insecure with our tent standing like this." Shao's mother looked up. The light in the tent cast their shadows on the tarpaulin. They couldn't see outside, but people outside could see them.
"This is only temporary. Let's live here first and then figure out how to build a house." Qiao Qingqing comforted.
Suddenly there was some noise outside. Shao Shengan pulled the curtain and went out. He saw a group of people approaching from not far away, making a lot of noise. They seemed to be carrying something in their hands.
There were movements in the houses nearby. Some people opened their doors, some opened their windows, and some called out, "Are you back? Where's my Dashan?" "Did you find anything good?" "Are you in any danger?"
In the early hours of the morning, the village was full of life.
Qiao Qingqing and the others observed that those who had just returned should be natives of the village. They should have gone out to search for supplies at night.
"Let's go to bed too. I'm afraid it's too hot during the day and I can't sleep." Shao Shengan suggested.
"Okay, go to bed first."
In this kind of bad weather, if you have the conditions to sleep, you should sleep more to replenish your energy. You can't force more.
In this kind of environment, it would be unwise to use the solar generator, so Qiao Qingqing and the others only relied on ice basins and fans to keep cool.
Not long after she fell asleep, Qiao Qingqing heard a rumbling noise and the ground was shaking. The voices and footsteps outside were getting louder and louder. She couldn't sleep anymore, so she opened the tent door and went out.
It was just after five o'clock, and there was some light in the east. The darkness had mostly faded away, and although the sun had not risen yet, the vision was no longer affected.
She yawned and felt uncomfortable in her eyes, so she took a mirror and saw that her eyes were bloodshot. She had no choice but to put a few drops of eye drops in. When she saw passers-by looking at her curiously, she looked back expressionlessly until the other person looked away first.
Feeling the ground shaking, she guessed that they must have started digging a well. She didn't intend to go and see, so she pretended to go into the small tent to get something, took out a large bundle of sunshade cloth, and sat in front of the tent to start sewing before the sun rose.
"Not sleeping anymore?" Shao Sheng'an also came out of the tent and said in a hoarse voice, "Are you drilling a well?"
"Well, you were woken up too?" Qiao Qingqing smiled and patted her side, "Come and sit down."
Shao Shengan sat down to help with the shade cloth and said, "I'll go out and see if there are any branches to nail a few racks to support the shade cloth."
"I think it's difficult. It was too cold before. When we came here, the forests on both sides of the highway were all bare. They had been plucked clean long ago." She whispered, "I have prepared everything and have already taken it out. You can go into the tent and get it."
As they worked, there were fewer and fewer people on the road, and when the sun rose, the sound of digging wells outside also stopped.
"Come on, let me do it!" Shao's father also got up, and seeing that his son and daughter-in-law had already started working, he hurried over to help.
Soon, they had the sunshade put up and hung curtains in the front and back of the tent to serve as door curtains.
The simple tent house was built like this. Qiao Qingqing went to make breakfast, while Shao Shengan and his father did not stop to unload the other luggage from the tricycle.
After breakfast, Qiao Qingqing took out the solar fan and solar lamp to charge. She stood in the sun, feeling the pain of the scorching sun on her skin. She did not feel uncomfortable, but felt at ease.
They finally settled down again and could live their lives again!
As the sun rose higher, the tent became hotter. Although a sunshade was used, the tent's thermal insulation effect was certainly not as good as that of a solid building made of reinforced concrete.
Mr. Shao and his friends soaked the face towel in melted ice water, then wiped their faces and necks, which made them feel much more comfortable.
"There's no one outside." Qiao Songzhi came back from using the toilet outside. After just a few steps, he was sweating all over his forehead and his back was soaked.
"Oh, I just took a look outside and my eyes are dazzled. It's too bright." Shao's mother hurriedly took a wet face towel to wipe the sweat off Qiao Songzhi.
"That's right." Qiao Songzhi thanked him and took the face towel. "I think the air has been deformed by the sun."
"The food distributed by the army yesterday was pretty good. Look at this can of meat, it's beef!" said Shao's father.
"That's right. I didn't expect that at this time, the materials distributed by Ye Shan are quite good." Shao's mother agreed.
"It seems that Yeshan is not short of supplies. We are right to come here." Shao Shengan said with a smile, "Let's have lunch. What should we eat for lunch?"
"No matter how hot the weather is, it's not good to always eat cold food. Let's have wonton noodles for lunch today and open two cans of meat." Qiao Qingqing suggested, "To celebrate our family's safe and sound arrival in Qiuye Village, how about drinking some red wine?"
"That couldn't be better!"
After eating the hot wonton noodles, the heat spread from her stomach to her whole body, and hot sweat soon appeared on the back of her neck and back. Qiao Qingqing wiped the sweat from her forehead, picked up the bowl and drank two sips of soup.
The canned meat was opened by Shao's father. Shao's mother carefully cut the canned meat into several pieces with a fruit knife, which could be picked up directly with chopsticks. Shao Shengan picked up a piece for Qiao Qingqing and said, "Try it and see if it tastes good."
"Hmm... delicious, but a little salty."
"It's a bit salty. You can use the remaining unopened food to go with white porridge or rice some other day." Shao Shengan took the can and looked through it, frowning.
"What's wrong?"
Shao's mother was nervous: "It's expired?"
Father Shao said hurriedly: "No, the can is not bad. I checked the seal when I opened it and it was good."
The packaging of these canned meats is very simple, or even no packaging at all. They are made of tin and do not have the product name, ingredient list, or product barcode, etc. The bare shell only has four words printed on it: canned beef.
Shao Shengan showed the can to Qiao Qingqing: "It doesn't look like it's produced on a normal production line."
Qiao Qingqing also took a look and knew what was going on: "It looks like emergency supplies for disasters." She had eaten this kind of thing in her previous life. Although the living conditions were not good, Yeshan always had relief supplies distributed in the early years. It was not until later that the supplies became less and less, and the intervals between distributions became longer and longer. The survivors of the base said that it was because Yeshan's reserve supplies were almost used up, or that the upper-level supply point that supplied Yeshan with relief supplies was almost exhausted.
"Our country is so powerful, we must be prepared. I saw on the news that our country has many granaries with a lot of rice, which can feed the whole country for several years." Shao's father said happily, "When the sun is not so strong in the future, we will plant crops together, and then we can all be fed."
"That's right. There's a lot of land here. Once a deep well is dug, we may be able to farm. I'm just afraid that we will have to queue up to get water." Shao's mother sighed, "I remember there was a two-year drought when I was a child. At that time, we had to queue up to get water. It was very hard and troublesome."
Qiao Songzhi smiled and said, "We have a big family, so we can just line up to get water when the time comes."
Shao's mother became happy: "What my mother-in-law said is true. Look at what I am saying--" She saw her eldest son looking at her intently, and said hurriedly, "Fei Fei, we can't be afraid of hard work. We should work hard as human beings. Don't be afraid of hard work or trouble. Only in this way can we make a lot of money and live a good life, understand?"
Shao Shengfei nodded repeatedly: "Got it! Don't worry, Mom, I'll go get some water! I'm strong!"
"Our Feifei is so good." Qiao Songzhi touched Shao Shengfei's head. Shao Shengfei lowered his head and looked at her with big eyes. "Mother Qiao, can I go fishing now?"
"Not yet. Do you see the big sun outside?"
Shao Shengfei nodded: "My brother said that I can't look at the sun, it hurts my eyes, but I know the sun is so big!"
"Right, so we can't go fishing now. It's too hot. The fish have all gone home to sleep."
"Oh, okay, then I'll wait until they wake up and then go play with them."
At this time, the family of the Ye village chief was politely entertaining the soldiers who came up from Ye Mountain.
The well digging work was temporarily stopped. The equipment that could be dismantled was carried to the home of Village Chief Ye and stored away from light. Those that could not be dismantled were also covered with thick sunshade cloth, waiting to continue work after the sun set.
The soldiers did not want to eat the food in their house. They just asked for an empty room and lay down on the floor to sleep.
There was no choice, so Village Chief Ye smiled and went out, closing the door.
He squatted at the door and looked at the scorching sun outside with worry. Ye Changtian also squatted down and raised his eyebrows at him inquiringly.
He shook his head, "No chance to bring it up." He gestured, "He didn't come on this mission. It would be better if he came. It would be easier to talk to him."
Ye Changtian patted his butt and stood up: "Then don't worry about it for now. Our village is close to the water tower. If there is a chance in the future, will it not be our turn? You are the village chief, and Ye Shan has always valued you very much."
"We're not the only village nearby... Forget it, go to sleep! We have to help dig a well later."
The father and son did not go back to their room, as they were afraid of waking up the family, so they just lay down in the living room.
I don't know how long I lay there, but someone knocked on the door, and the shouting seemed to carry the anxiety of summer: "Village chief? Village chief! Open the door!"
Village chief Ye woke up in shock and quickly got up. He didn't even have time to put on his hat before rushing out to open the door, because he recognized the voice as that of a soldier guarding the village entrance.
"Village chief, there are survivors coming. Their car broke down on the road. Please call my comrades to pick them up. I have to hurry back to the village."
"Hey hey! Got it!"
After watching the soldier who was delivering the message run away, Village Chief Ye hurried to kick his son up, and then went to the room where the soldiers were resting and knocked on the door. As soon as he knocked, the door opened from the inside.
"I heard you. I'll be right there."
Village Chief Ye quickly recommended: "I'll let my son go with me, he's familiar with the road!"
"Okay, that's troublesome."
A group of them made sun protection preparations and set out, first going to the village entrance to inquire about the specific situation, and then following the survivors who came for help to go to the rescue.
"We encountered robbers and had no choice but to drive away, but our car had a flat tire on the road. All the cars had flat tires. Now we are trapped on the road and the robbers are chasing us!..." The young man who came to report the news had a sunburned face, cracked and pale lips, and a very hoarse voice. He stopped talking after explaining the situation and continued on his way.
It took us three kilometers to reach our destination. From a distance we could see several cars overturned on the roadside, various supplies scattered on the ground, and a group of people fighting.
The young man's expression changed drastically: "The robbers have started fighting! They were still in a standoff when I went to ask for help!"
The leading soldier remained expressionless, raised his hand, pointed his gun into the air, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The sound of gunfire rang out everywhere.
"Stop it!"
In the village, Qiao Qingqing opened her eyes.
"It sounded like gunfire." Shao Shengan said softly.
"Just now I went out to the toilet and saw someone knocking on the door at the end of the alley and calling the village chief. He was wearing green clothes and looked like a soldier." Shao's father said, "Then the soldiers who were resting at the village chief's house ran out and seemed to be heading towards the village."
"Something must have happened. I hope nothing will happen." Qiao Songzhi asked worriedly.
"It's definitely okay. There's Yeshan next to us. Qiuye Village is one of the safest places." Qiao Qingqing guessed that something happened outside, which led to someone opening fire. "Aren't there soldiers guarding the well digging equipment at the entrance of the village? It's okay."
"That's good, go back to sleep." Qiao Songzhi patted Shao Shengfei, who was tossing and turning restlessly, and lay down again.
At six o'clock, Qiao Qingqing put away the ice bucket that had melted into water and did not take out a new one. Even if there was a lot of ice frozen in the cold winter, it could not be used arbitrarily. First, it was for the sake of health, and second, the ice supply was limited. If it was used up before the end of the hot summer, the family's life would be difficult.
It was still very hot outside, but the villagers who had been hiding from the sun at home all day could no longer stay indoors and went out one after another.
"Sheng An and I will go to the village entrance to take a look. Big brother, please come with us." Qiao Qingqing said.
"You guys just go - okay, Feifei, be good and don't run around. Listen to your brother and sister, okay?"
Shao Shengfei was used to his parents' instructions and just nodded with his eyes shining.
Shao Shengan smiled and held his hand: "Then let's go out."
Their residence is in the middle of the homes of the indigenous villagers. When they go out, they pass by the doors of many indigenous people's homes and meet many villagers who are traveling. Facing those curious and inquiring gazes, Qiao Qingqing and the others did not react much. The same is true for Shao Shengfei. Every time he goes out, many people will look at him, and some people will even point at him and call him "idiot". He is used to it. Being able to go out, Shao Shengfei's heart is flying, his eyes look everywhere, and the atmosphere of happiness surrounds him.
"Brother, why are their roofs all white?" Shao Shengfei asked, pointing at the house.
Shao Shengan frowned: "It feels like a sunscreen coating." It was evening when I came yesterday, but I didn't pay attention to this and forgot to ask Village Chief Ye.
He looked at Qiao Qingqing, and Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "I don't know, I didn't see it when I came here." When she came to the survivor base, the village had already become a new community.
"It's for sun protection!" A villager passing by heard their conversation and said with a smile, "Ye Shan sent someone to spray it. They said it can protect against the sun and prevent the roof from catching fire. Only our village has it. I heard the production is too low. No other places have it!"
Hearing this, Shao Shengan hurried forward to chat with the other party further, and to show his closeness, he even gave the other party a cigarette.
“You, this—” The villager’s eyes widened.
"Uncle, we just arrived yesterday and just settled down. There are many things I don't understand. If you have time, could you tell me about Akiba Village and Yeshan?"
"There's nothing much to say. Ahem, what do you want to know?"
Shao Shengan turned around and winked at Qiao Qingqing, then he put his arm around the villager's shoulder and they walked forward together.
"Come on, big brother. I'll hold your hand."
"Okay, I'll hold your hand, sister!" Shao Shengfei happily held Qiao Qingqing's hand.
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