Three months after the flood, order is barely maintained, various temporary management regulations are in place, and the volunteer team is becoming increasingly strong.
The flood-affected areas were divided into different areas and then subdivided into households. A volunteer team with indigenous people as the core was established. Zheng Tiehui was selected as the volunteer captain of Jinyuan Community because of his hardware advantages - he had assault boats, underwater diving equipment, excellent service beliefs and competitive experience.
Originally Shao Shengan thought Qiao Qingqing would run for election, but Qiao Qingqing rolled her eyes at him and said, "I am indeed happy to destroy Zheng Tiehui's career, but as long as he doesn't bully me, I don't care what he does." She has not lived alone in this life, and all those malicious calculations in her previous life have never happened. She does not have the time to care about them one by one. If she has the free time, she might as well cook more cooked food.
The family cooked every day, and she loved to stay in the kitchen. At first, Shao's mother tried to take over her work and told her to go and have a rest, but later, seeing that she really enjoyed it, she gave up and let her do it herself.
The kitchen became Qiao Qingqing's territory. She seldom went out and locked herself in the kitchen for a long time every day.
She planned to prepare all the strong-smelling foods and take them out when she wanted to eat them without attracting attention.
The disposable lunch boxes she had stored up were enough for her to use. By piling boxes of hot food into the space, Qiao Qingqing's mood would be upbeat all day long.
"This pickled radish is delicious, sour, spicy and a little sweet. Let's pickle more. Please teach me how to make it." Shao Shengan praised the pickled radish.
Of course Qiao Qingqing agreed, and the couple worked together more efficiently, storing pickled radishes, pickled cabbage and other foods together.
"Your cooking skills have improved a lot. Those kitchen manuals you read were not in vain." Shao Shengan said with a smile.
"I bought a lot of cooking books. I will become a master chef in the future." Qiao Qingqing set a beautiful goal for her future life, and Shao Shengan expressed his support.
"I also want to learn how to make scallion oil so I can use it to mix with noodles, rice, and rice. It's convenient and delicious."
"Sure, when do you want to do it? I'll wash the onions."
Qiao Qingqing smiled and said, "Let's do it at night, so that no one can find out that it's our house by following the smell."
Everyone is working hard for a living, and the higher-ups are doing their best to regulate things, and slowly, everyone has adapted to life on the water.
"The water outside stinks so badly that I almost faint from the stench every time I go out."
"We distributed vegetable seeds today, and I want to go dig some soil. But the soil for our flower beds should have been dug up almost completely. I heard from others that there is a botanical garden over at the elementary school. Do you want to go there and dig together?"
When Zheng Tiehui came back and heard his neighbors talking, he immediately said, "You can't dig near the primary school. There is a supply ship docked there, and the management of the nearby waters is very strict. Don't let those soldiers mistake you for thieves who are stealing supplies and catch you."
Chen Binggang was not happy: "What should I do? We only get a few vegetables every day. It's not enough to eat. I can't even poop!"
"Why are you in such a hurry? There are plenty of places to dig where you are not allowed to dig. I have good news for you. There is a large area of lotus roots in the plantation in the suburbs where no one is harvesting them. Some have been drowned, and some have floated up and are swimming around. If you are lucky, you can pick up one or two. The soil there must be more fertile, and it is most suitable to dig them up and plant things. Don't blame me for not telling you, I will go to dig them this afternoon, otherwise they will be gone if you are late!"
"Can I eat it?"
Zheng Tiehui raised his eyebrows: "Just cook it, how do you think the supplies on the head are grown? The whole country, no, the whole world is flooded, where do you think we can grow vegetables? There are so many tall buildings, it's hard to live in them, how can we use them to grow vegetables? I tell you, we will definitely grow things in floods in the future, otherwise the supplies will definitely not be available, and so many people will be unemployed! Money is not working now, think about it, will supplies become more and more scarce in the future? So, it's good to have something to eat now, and people's stomachs must be strong!"
Everyone was moved by what he said.
Grandma Wang came upstairs to tell Qiao Qingqing the news and wanted to borrow a speedboat. Shao's mother was a little moved. She hadn't been out for a long time, so Shao Shengan decided to take the elders out for a walk to relax.
"I'm not going." Shao's father shook his head.
"Mom, do you want to go?" Shao Shengan asked Qiao Songzhi.
Qiao Songzhi was also a little moved. It had been a long time since she went out.
"Mom, then let's go together." Qiao Qingqing said with a smile.
In the end, Qiao Qingqing's family lent a speedboat to Grandma Wang's family, and the kayak shared by the building was given to Chen Binggang and his friends. Zheng Tiehui was very enthusiastic and said that they could tie it to the back of his speedboat, and then he could drive slower so that they could take it along and save energy.
"The walls are covered with moss. Oh, when will the water go down?" Shao's mother sighed as she looked at the marks on the exterior walls of the buildings along the road.
"I'm also hoping the water will recede soon! My shop is all under the water." Zheng Tiehui spat and looked into the distance, "If this continues, the first half of my life will be in vain."
Chen Binggang echoed: "My pig farm is gone too. There was swine fever in the past two years, and the market has only improved this year. I was thinking of making some money to buy a new house, but it's all gone down the drain!"
Everyone was grumbling and complaining, and it took two hours before they arrived at the suburbs.
There are already quite a few people here fishing for lotus roots, and looking around you can see a sea of heads.
There were noisy sounds everywhere, some people were fighting and some were taking advantage of the chaos to fish. This ownerless lotus field attracted too many eyes. In the previous life, Qiao Qingqing also came here to fish for lotus roots, which was also organized by Zheng Tiehui. She understood Zheng Tiehui's idea, which was to form a group with the neighbors in the community as the core, which would be safer.
"Hurry up and cordon off the area!" Zheng Tiehui commanded, taking out the prepared rope to tie two speedboats and a kayak together, and then tied some buckets and basins in the middle to form a circle to prevent outsiders from entering.
"Hurry up, hurry up, it will be too late to fish it out!" Zheng Tiehui shouted, put on his equipment and jumped down first.
Shao's mother told Qiao Qingqing not to move and asked her to stay on the speedboat: "My mother-in-law won't move either, I'll do it, I'll do it!"
Shao's mother is very good at swimming. Shao Shengan said with a smile: "There are many water bodies in our hometown. My parents learned to swim before they could run."
Later, Shao Shengan also went down. The mother and son picked up a basket of lotus roots and dug up two baskets of soil from the water. This was their harvest.
"Mom, that's enough, come up and rest." Shao Shengan held out his hand. Shao's mother hesitated, thinking that she still had enough physical strength to bring up some more lotus roots.
Shao Shengan understood his mother's thoughts, but it was enough. He planned to use these lotus roots to show off, so that outsiders would not think that their family had abundant supplies and would not even look down on the lotus roots picked up for free. Their family was not short of supplies, so he should leave these lotus roots to others.
Seeing Shao Shengan's insistence, Shao's mother had no choice but to hold her son's hand. After she came up, Qiao Qingqing and her daughter hurriedly helped her take off her glasses and wiped the water off her face and head with a towel.
"There are really a lot of them. It's strange that the lotus roots haven't been damaged after being soaked for such a long time." Shao's mother took the towel and wiped herself with it, saying casually with a smile.
"Even though it's raining so heavily, these lotus roots are not rare." Qiao Songzhi picked up a piece of lotus root and looked at it, hesitant about whether it could be eaten.
"It should be edible, but it must be cooked thoroughly. Fortunately, the supplies are in place now, and the supply ship has distributed alcohol stoves and gas cylinders." Qiao Qingqing said with a smile. She decided to let her family eat these things. Admittedly, there are certain risks, but she understands that the reason she was able to live for so many years in her previous life is that her physique has been strengthened through repeated "poison testing". It is true that many people have fallen ill after eating the output of the flood, but more people's bodies are trying to adapt to this new world. Now that order is still there and the upper floors of the hospital are still open, it is the best time to exercise your physique.
"Let's go, we're going back. These local dads will definitely like it." Shao Shengan said.
Wang Jiale didn't want to leave yet. He had a big family, so this little lotus root was nothing. But he came here on Qiao Qingqing's speedboat, so he had to leave.
"How about you lend me the speedboat after we get back? I'll trade it with you for lotus roots!"
Shao Shengan agreed, and he came up happily.
After returning to the community, Wang Jiale asked his family to take the lotus root back home, and set off again with his brother-in-law and cousin.
It was not until dark that the families returned.
People from other buildings saw this, some greeted them from their balconies, and some came over in kayaks to ask where the lotus roots came from. Zheng Tiehui had already enjoyed the first batch of benefits, so he was happy to be generous and told his neighbors where to pick lotus roots. He also kindly reminded them: "There are a lot of people there, and there will definitely be more tomorrow. If you want to go, go with a group, otherwise you will be bullied."
Shao's father came down to help move things, and said that dinner was ready, and asked them to eat a simple meal first before taking a bath. His voice was accidentally raised a little, and Zheng Tiehui, who had not yet closed the door, said enviously and tentatively: "Xiao Shao, your family seems to have abundant water resources, and you can even take a bath. I heard that your family just repaired the water tank a few months ago and installed several more. You are so lucky. Now many people outside can't even drink water, but your family can still supply water for bathing. It's really enviable."
Just as Qiao Qingqing was about to speak, Shao Shengan pushed back: "There's plenty of water outside. Uncle Zheng can go get it himself if he needs it."
Zheng Tiehui laughed: "How can you use the water outside? It's all smelly. Could it be that you use the stagnant water downstairs?"
"It rained so much before, doesn't Uncle Zheng have any water?"
"Haha, of course I have it, but I can't be so extravagant as to use it for a bath."
Shao Shengan smiled, "We made our own filtering equipment. Didn't the supply ship also distribute water purification effervescent tablets? We can always collect some water for bathing every few days. I remember that Uncle Zheng, your family has brought in a lot of flood water from outside these days, far more than the amount that can be purified by the water purification effervescent tablets distributed by the supply ship. I think that Uncle Zheng, you are now considered a half-public official, and your connections are far beyond what we ordinary people can compare to. I envy you in my heart. Don't you have enough water for bathing?"
Zheng Tiehui felt that the young man next door was speaking in a sarcastic tone. He was just trying to trick him. It would have been fine if he failed, but he was accused of corruption. He laughed and said that the water he brought back was for watering the vegetables, and then closed the door and went into the house.
"What's wrong?" Shao's father came out and asked.
"Nothing, just a few words with the neighbors."
"Then come inside and I'll carry it."
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