After the sun rose, there were fewer people walking outside. Qiao Qingqing heard a few whistles, which were the signals from Team Leader Wu and his men announcing that the deep water well was locked.
Qiao Qingqing and the others also packed up their things and hid in the tent.
Life now is of course not as comfortable as it was at home. The place is small, there is no air conditioning, and we can't take a shower. Even if we change clothes frequently and simply wash ourselves every day, the sweat odor in the tent will still ferment and smell really bad.
"I thought there would be no shortage of water after we had a well." Shao's mother was wiping Shao Shengfei's face and neck.
"It's still so hot now, we should save water." Qiao Songzhi turned around and saw Qiao Qingqing and her husband coming in, and asked. "Have you packed your things?"
"It's packed up, in the little tent."
"I'll change the bamboo mats. Wipe these two and put them outside to dry in the sun." Qiao Qingqing said, and when she took out the new bamboo mats, she also took out two buckets of ice.
"I'll do it!" Father Shao rolled out the bamboo mat, wiped it, and hung it on a bamboo pole to dry.
Shao's mother hurriedly told him: "Don't expose it to the sun for too long, or it will go bad."
"I'll put it in right away, don't worry!"
The solar fan was whirring, bringing up the cool air in the ice bucket.
Shao's father shouted from outside: "Qingqing, the village chief is here."
"I'll clean up the bamboo mat, you go out." Shao Shengan said.
When he went out to take a look, it was indeed Village Chief Ye. He was talking to Shao's father with a smile on his face: "I just drank the honeysuckle water your son gave me. You were so polite."
Father Shao was not good at speaking, he just smiled awkwardly, and when he saw Qiao Qingqing coming out, he was like seeing a rescuer, calling out: "Qingqing, come quickly... Village chief, the honeysuckle water was made by my daughter-in-law, my Qingqing is very capable."
Village Chief Ye smiled at Qiao Qingqing and said, "I came to you to ask if you have any honeysuckle water left. I want to buy some to take home for my child. My granddaughter is only six years old."
"Yes, I'll pour it for you." Qiao Qingqing entered the tent and quickly took out a bottle.
"I cooked quite a lot. The village chief can tell others that they can come and buy if they want. Just exchange it for firewood."
Village Chief Ye was very happy: "Okay, I'll ask Changtian to bring the firewood over later."
After a while, Ye Changtian really brought firewood over. Then seven or eight villagers came to buy honeysuckle water. They brought their own bowls and paid for one small bundle of firewood with one bowl.
"No more, I'll cook it another day." Qiao Qingqing said to the villagers who came later with a smile, "Because the deep well has just been opened, I feel that the first portion of water I just received is very meaningful. My family came from outside, and I am very grateful for everyone's care and acceptance of our family, so I thought of giving this first portion of water back to the villagers. Next time, I will wait until my family has more water before selling it."
Qiao Qingqing's business of selling honeysuckle water was pretty good. She sold it every few days, and once a pot was sold out, it was gone. Because she was cheap, she had a good reputation among the villagers. Village Chief Ye was also very pleased. He left behind such a family, which brought convenience to the villagers. This was his achievement as the village chief. With this good impression, after hearing the news that Ye Shan was about to recruit skilled workers, Village Chief Ye notified the villagers and secretly told only Qiao Qingqing and her family among the refugees.
"If you want to go, you have to prepare in advance. We're going to recruit a lot of people this time!"
Shao Shengan is very confident. He has been studying relevant skills diligently in recent years. He will definitely seize the opportunity as long as he is given it.
Before the recruitment information was officially announced, the large group arrived on an ordinary night. Ye Changtian and his companions went to another place to chop firewood, and saw winding lights in the distance on the road.
Ye Changtian was a man of great skill and courage. He sent someone to notify Squad Leader Wu while taking people to find out who the visitor was. However, he was caught by the vigilant soldiers as soon as they met.
"Are you villagers from nearby?"
A haggard middle-aged man in military uniform came out: "My last name is Zhou, you can call me Captain Zhou, how far is it from here to Yeshan?"
Three hours later, Ye Changtian and his companions returned to the village and brought the news.
"Are there really a lot of people here? How many people are there?"
"There's no room in our village anymore. We should move to the next village."
"There's no room in the next village anymore. Should we move to the town?"
"I don't want to see too many people coming to our village anymore. It's a mess. Some of them are sick. I think it's contagious!"
"Didn't the village chief say that we shouldn't get too close to sick outsiders? Just don't get close."
Ye Changtian shook his head: "I don't know how many people there are, but there are a lot of them. There is no end to the team. They didn't move forward. After Ye Shan's army buddies came over, we came back. They should be discussing how to live."
At the end of the alley, Yu Manshu turned and left. After returning home, she said to Lin Mingyong, "It must be my eldest brother and his friends who have come. Mingyong, this is our chance. My brother must be very busy when he first arrived. It's not good for my sister-in-law and nephew to continue to be exposed to the wind and sun in the convoy. Although the conditions here are not good, we have set up a campsite at least. People can lie down and have a good rest. Come with me and pick them up."
Lin Mingyong took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Okay, I'll fix the car. It should be able to drive for a while longer."
Watching Lin Mingyong repair the car with a smile, Yu Manshu suddenly covered her chest, frowned and snorted.
"Mom, what's wrong with you?" Lin Weini asked with concern.
"It's okay, maybe it's a little stuffy." Yu Manshu inhaled and exhaled, and then smiled when the stuffy and palpitating feeling subsided. She said to her daughter, "When your uncle and his family come, they will demolish this place and rebuild the house. Then you can have your room again."
Lin Weini smiled and said, "I'm looking forward to it."
The next day, a car came up from Yeshan and offered to recruit a large number of workers.
"Electricians, welders, and bricklayers..." The person in charge of recruitment stood on a chair and shouted loudly with a loudspeaker, "Those with relevant experience, come and sign up! You can start work after passing the interview. I will post the salary for you to see for yourself..."
Shao Shengan immediately went to register. The staff opened the laptop and entered the information. They said, "Your name is already there. Have you filled out the form before? OK, that's good. Next."
The car left after an hour and I heard that it was going to the next village to recruit people.
"Why are you so nervous?"
"Why are you hiring so many people? Are you going to build a house on Yeshan Mountain?"
"I don't know. As long as there is work to do, why bother with so much else?"
The interview was held in the evening of the next day. Shao Shengan and his team walked up the mountain and returned late at night.
Nowadays, most people have a reversed day and night cycle. When Shao Shengan returned home, his family was still awake. Shao's father was chopping wood, Shao's mother was playing with toys with Shao Shengfei, and Qiao Qingqing and her mother were pounding medicinal herbs.
"The interview went well, I should be able to pass." Shao Shengan seemed in a good mood and told his family the details of the interview, "I was asked to repair a TV and draw some wiring diagrams... It's not difficult, I know how to do it."
"That's great!" Shao's father was very happy. "I didn't think it was a big deal at home, but I always feel uneasy when I come to other places without a job. By the way, did you ask? Is Yeshan hiring other workers? I'm strong. If they have found a bricklayer, it must be because they want to build a house, and they need labor to move things. I'm good at moving things. When I was in the factory, I often helped move things in the warehouse."
"I didn't have time to ask, I'll ask when I get a chance." Shao Sheng'an agreed, but he was determined not to let his parents and mother-in-law go out to work. Qingqing would be Doctor Qiao at home, and he would go out to work.
How could Qiao Qingqing not see that her husband was trying to coax her? She smiled and changed the subject, asking Shao Shengan if he was hungry.
I wasn't hungry, but my feet were sore from walking all the way back and forth. Shao Shengan said, "I'll just take a break."
The next day, when they had a chance to be alone, Shao Shengan told Qiao Qingqing, "I met Lin Mingyong."
Qiao Qingqing understood after a brief thought: "I heard from my mother that he used to be a contractor, and later he founded a real estate company... Did he recognize you?"
Shao Shengan shook his head.
"That's good. Don't tell mom about this and make her upset."
"I know. Didn't I tell you last night?" Shao Shengan touched her hair. "Your hair has grown longer again. Do you still want to cut it?"
Qiao Qingqing touched her hair and said, "It's a little long. Please help me cut it to the collarbone so I can tie it into a ponytail."
"Okay, wait for me to get the stuff."
Shao Shengan moved a small stool for her to sit on, spread plastic film on the ground, and also wrapped Qiao Qingqing's upper body with a piece of plastic film: "Start cutting, don't move."
For the past three years, Shao Shengan has been cutting her hair. In fact, he started cutting her bangs when she was in high school boarding school. Her bangs grew fast, and they would poke her eyes before she got them cut, so she cut them herself. She was at the top of her class, but she could never learn how to cut her bangs. Either she cut them crooked or too short, and every time her bangs looked like they were bitten by a dog. Shao Shengan was different. He cut his buzz cut himself, without even using a mirror. He lowered his head and held the clippers, and could quickly cut his hair clean. At that time, they had just been together for a short time, and Shao Shengan frowned when he saw her bangs, and offered to trim them for her. He did this for two years, until Qiao Qingqing went to college and changed her hairstyle and stopped having bangs.
Qiao Qingqing closed her eyes and listened to the crackling sound behind her as her hair slid off the plastic film.
She couldn't help but laugh: "It reminds me of the time when you cut my bangs in high school."
Shao Shengan also laughed: "Was I very handsome at that time? I remember you blushed when I cut your bangs."
"You're the one blushing. You can't even look me in the eye."
"Yes, yes, I blushed too, we all blushed..."
Qiao Songzhi came out of the bathroom and heard her daughter and son-in-law talking childishly. She smiled. She called out, "Come in after you finish your haircut. The sun is getting hotter."
Shao Shengan quickly raised his voice and said, "Okay!"
He unrolled the plastic film, shook off the hair on it, gathered up the plastic film on the ground, and dumped the hair into the trash can.
"I'll pack the things, you go into the tent first."
Qiao Qingqing touched her neck and pulled out a few strands of hair. She pulled them out a few more times, planning to wipe them with a towel later. Hearing this, she bent over and put the stool away: "It's not heavy. I'm going into the house!"
Two days later, Shao Shengan received the news that he was hired and was asked to start work immediately.
"It said I was going to town, but it didn't say how long the working hours would be. Qingqing, you have to take care of yourself when I'm not at home." Shao Sheng'an was reluctant, but he knew that there was no end in sight for the natural disaster and the apocalypse. If he wanted long-term sustainable development, he couldn't always be bound by love.
Qiao Qingqing touched his face and said softly, "Don't worry, I will take good care of the family. You should also pay attention to safety. We will wait for you to come back home."
Shao's father also made a promise: "With me here, no one can bully our family!"
Reluctant to leave his family, Shao Sheng'an and other colleagues carried their bags and lined up to leave the village and head towards the town.
"When will my brother come back?" Shao Shengfei was reluctant to leave him and tears welled up in his eyes.
"My brother will be back soon. Before he comes back, can Feifei be a good boy and protect us?"
Shao Shengfei nodded vigorously, tears falling, and said loudly: "I can protect you!"
Shao Shengfei, who was trying hard to protect his family, insisted on helping chop wood when he saw his father chopping wood.
"You, this knife is very sharp, don't cut your hand, be good Feifei, go and play."
Shao Shengfei's eyes turned red at Shao's father's words, and he was about to cry in the blink of an eye.
"Oh, child, why is he crying?" Shao's father was at a loss.
"Brother, come and help me watch the fire so I can boil some medicine." Qiao Qingqing called him.
Shao Shengfei immediately wiped away his tears, rushed to Qiao Qingqing, squatted down beside her, and looked at her eagerly.
"Brother, can you help me watch the fire?" Qiao Qingqing asked in a gentle voice.
"Um!"
Qiao Qingqing moved a chair for him and asked him to sit and watch the fire.
Today she cooked mint water. After it was done, she gave a pot to Squad Leader Wu and the others as usual, and asked Qiao Songzhi and the others to sell the rest.
She took Shao Shengfei with her to deliver the mint water. Shao Shengfei carried the kettle. He carried the kettle with a serious look as if he was carrying a bomb.
After drinking the mint water, Squad Leader Wu returned the bowl to her and asked, "Is your husband also in the work team?"
"Yes, he applied for the electrician position." Qiao Qingqing said with a smile.
Squad Leader Wu looked approvingly: "I can see that your husband is a hard-working man. That's good. Only by working hard can he take care of his family." He took out a box of mosquito coils from his pocket and handed it to Shao Shengfei.
"This is my share. I heard from Shao Shengan that you live in a tent. It's hot and there are a lot of mosquitoes. You can use it."
Shao Shengfei refused to take it and waved his hand: "You can't take other people's things."
Squad Leader Wu smiled gently: "This is given by me, take it." He looked at Shao Shengfei as if he were looking at a child.
Qiao Qingqing shook her head: "Captain Wu, sending you water is a token of our appreciation. Because of you, we can live a stable life in a foreign land. You don't have to be so polite."
Seeing that she was determined and really didn't want to collect it, Squad Leader Wu had no choice but to put the mosquito coil away.
"Then let's go to the other wells, brother, and say goodbye to Squad Leader Wu."
Shao Shengfei waved: "Goodbye."
Squad Leader Wu watched the two of them leave, and his mind couldn't help but emerge with the scene of flood rescue when he waded through the water carrying an old lady on his back, and the old lady stuffed a candy into his mouth.
"I saved this for my grandson. I'm giving it to you."
He still remembers the taste of that candy to this day.
A smile couldn't help but appear on his dark face, but it was fleeting. He kept staring at the well-drilling team in front of him with a stern face, not letting anyone do any tricks.
Shao Shengan went on a business trip and was gone for a month.
The day he came back was Qiao Songzhi's birthday. They didn't stock up on cakes when they were stockpiling supplies. In recent years, when someone in the family had a birthday, Qiao Qingqing would make longevity noodles to celebrate, and then steam a meat bun and stick a candle on it. When the candle was lit, people could make a wish. This year was no exception. At noon, she made longevity noodles for her mother.
"I'm blowing out the candles and haven't made a wish yet." Shao Shengfei asked.
"Let's do it in the evening. The atmosphere is better at night." Qiao Qingqing said with a smile.
In the evening, Qiao Songzhi blew out the candles on the buns and made a wish for the health and safety of his family.
At eleven forty-five, Shao Shengan suddenly came back.
“Have I caught up?”
Qiao Qingqing heard the noise and opened the tent door, and was greeted by Shao Shengan's smiling face. She instinctively rushed over to hug him, and shouted happily: "Why are you back!"
"It was finished tonight. The team said they would set out before the sun came up in the morning, but I couldn't wait and came back on my own. Happy birthday, Mom!"
Qiao Songzhi's eyes were sore: "Silly child, it is most important to take care of your own health. Don't rush to travel when you are so tired from work. My birthday is a small matter. I celebrate it every year-"
"I'm afraid I won't be able to make it in time." Shao Sheng'an took Qiao Qingqing's hand and walked into the tent together. He greeted Shao's father, Shao's mother and Shao Shengfei first, then smiled at Qiao Songzhi, "In the past few years, we have been together for every birthday of our family. Now that we are in Qiuye Village, of course we have to celebrate the first birthday of our family together."
He looked at his watch. It was almost twelve o'clock and Qiao Songzhi's birthday was about to pass.
"Have you blown out the candles?" he asked anxiously.
Qiao Songzhi immediately said, "Not yet!"
Mother Shao was stunned for a moment before she responded: "No, not yet."
Qiao Qingqing took out a new bun and asked Shao Shengan to light the candle.
He lit the candle, carefully inserted it into the bun, and looked at Qiao Songzhi expectantly: "Mom, make a wish."
"Okay." On his birthday, Qiao Songzhi made the same wish for the second time in front of the candle.
She blew out the candle and gave the bun to Shao Shengan: "You eat it!"
"Then I'll eat it myself. I'm hungry." Shao Shengan finished the bun in a few bites. Qiao Qingqing asked him to take a shower.
"I'll prepare a bath for you."
Shao Shengan took a careful shower, changed his clothes, and sat back in the big tent to talk to his family about his work experience over the past month. He did not talk about the hard work he had done, but only told them about the situation in the town.
"…There are still quite a lot of survivors in the town. We divided the work and cooperated with each other. Some people did cleaning and disinfection. The superiors arranged for me to go to the town government building. We were assigned to install solar energy and rebuild the lines…After that, we were asked to dismantle the old wires. That was a big job. The town was so big that we couldn't dismantle them all. Later, we were not allowed to dismantle them. It seems that they recruited people locally to dismantle them. I heard that they recycled them by the pound…"
Everyone was listening with fascination, and even when Shao Shengan spoke, everyone still felt that they had not yet heard enough.
Father Shao was very envious: "It's not difficult to remove the wires. I can do it."
"I feel like they are going to reopen the town's buildings. They have been disinfecting everywhere for the past month. Now the smell in the town is very complicated, a mixture of stench and disinfectant. The smell is simply amazing."
"Then are you going back this time?" asked Shao's mother.
"We don't have to go back for now. I heard from the team leader that someone will take over. They should be workers recruited from other places. We should be able to take a holiday now." Shao Shengan took out a notebook from his backpack. "This is my salary book. I can use this book to collect my salary in the future."
"Where can I get it? Ye Shan?"
"No, it should be when Ye Shan distributes relief supplies that I can collect my salary."
Shao Shengan was right. The next day, a supply truck came to Yeshan. Shao Shengan asked for information and took his salary back with him. It included a 20-jin bag of rice, a barrel of oil, two bags of salt and a can of honey.
"This honey seems to be spoiled." Father Shao looked through the honey jar and looked at Shao Shengan inquiringly, "Should I open it and take a look?"
"Tear it down."
Father Shao opened the honey and frowned as soon as he smelled it: "It's really bad. The weather is too hot. Good things have been ruined by the heat!"
"How can you pay Sheng An his salary with rotten honey? This is bullying. What if he gets a stomachache?" Qiao Songzhi frowned.
"Forget it, it's broken, so it's broken. We don't need it." Shao Shengan comforted.
The next night, Qiao Qingqing was woken up by the call. It turned out that a child in the village had diarrhea. He said that the pain was unbearable and he kept rolling on the bed.
"I'll go right away." Qiao Qingqing put on her shoes, picked up the medicine box and followed the child's father, with Shao Shengan following closely behind.
"Brother Pei, did you also get the honey?" Shao Shengan had worked with the child's father in the town for a month and they had become friends. On the way, he suddenly asked this question.
Pei Ge said anxiously: "Yes!"
"Did your child drink honey water?"
"How do you know? Oh, yes, you should have received some honey, too. Honey is a good thing. We couldn't bear to drink it, so we just soaked it in water for the child to drink."
Shao Shengan couldn't help but ask: "Can't you see that the honey is bad?"
"Bad?" Brother Pei was surprised, "I don't know!"
After arriving at Pei Ge's home, Qiao Qingqing confirmed that the child had indeed suffered from acute gastroenteritis due to eating spoiled honey. She immediately prescribed medicine for the child. After taking the medicine, the child's diarrhea and abdominal pain symptoms were significantly relieved.
She touched the child's head. The child was only four years old, and his face was pale because of diarrhea.
Brother Pei regretted it very much!
"My wife mentioned that the bubbles inside the honey might mean it's bad, but I didn't listen! It's all my fault! I also smelled a sour smell of alcohol. My family has never drunk honey before, and I thought honey tasted like that!" Brother Pei couldn't help crying, "My child has never drunk that stuff either. She didn't say anything when she felt something was wrong. How could she know what honey tastes like? She doesn't know! She has never eaten anything good since she was born. It's all my fault!"
Pei Ge’s wife also cried while holding the child.
Qiao Qingqing sighed, "Fortunately, she didn't drink a lot. I'll leave some medicine for her. You can feed her again tomorrow morning. Let her eat some liquid food that's easy to digest. Then give her more light salt water. Her stomach and intestines will be able to recover on their own."
Brother Pei thanked her profusely and took out a bag of salt as a reward. Qiao Qingqing accepted it without any hesitation.
After leaving Pei Ge's house, Shao Shengan said he had to go find Ye Changtian: "There are so many of us working together, I don't know how many of them have gone to collect their wages." He also didn't know how many people had received spoiled honey.
"Okay, go ahead."
"I'll take you back first."
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