Chapter 45 Chapter 45 Find a Place to Live

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"Oh! It's easy to lie but hard to cover it up. I can't imagine how much they will cry if they can't see their parents. Can the two teachers handle it?"

In the green trees shrouded in the darkness of night, four people squatted at the foot of a tree with backpacks on their backs, looking at the ruins with flickering lights in the distance through the clean but deserted road.

There was not even a hint of cool breeze, and the lingering heat made people feel uneasy.

It was almost an hour, and Zheng Yijie, who was sweating profusely, could no longer sit still. He stood up with a half-drunk bottle of mineral water in his hand, looked at the ruins in the distance and then at the three people, asking questions from time to time.

The question fell on deaf ears; the others all stared into the distance motionlessly, and no one answered him.

Zheng Yijie didn't feel embarrassed. He tilted his head back and drank a sip of water. He walked over to Gu Mengran and squatted down. "Brother, how long are we going to wait here? Even if we are worried that they can't find the base and come back to look for us, can't we just wait in the car?"

Before Gu Mengran could say anything, the old man who was fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan beside him quickly agreed, "That's right! Can't we wait while the air conditioner is on? Why come here and get hot?"

Everyone was so hot and dazed. Gu Mengran wiped his sweat and sighed helplessly, "Who doesn't want to use air conditioning? But Xinjing is a government base. What if someone is patrolling on the ground? I'm too lazy to explain."

"That seems to make sense." Zheng Yijie sat on the ground, adjusted his black-framed glasses, and said worriedly, "I don't know if the base is easy to find. Two girls carrying large and small bags and a group of children..."

"Don't worry, the Xinjing base is not a large compound. You have to find one of the entrances. The subway station, underground shopping mall, and air-raid shelter are all taken over by the military. They are not difficult to find. Those lights are guides. Maybe you have already arrived."

Gu Mengran puffed out his cheeks and exhaled a breath of hot air, then explained slowly.

The palm-leaf fan stopped waving. The old man raised his eyebrows and looked at Gu Mengran in surprise. "You haven't been to Xinjing since the disaster, so how do you know so much?"

Gu Mengran was stunned by his grandfather's look, and was surprised that he had said too much. Before he could figure out how to explain it, Zheng Yijie slapped his thigh and said confidently: "That must be Liang Zhao predicting——"

“Cough cough cough!”

The rapid cough just interrupted Zheng Yijie's words. Liang Zhao lowered his head and covered his chest, his shoulders shaking slightly.

Seeing this, Gu Mengran hurried to Liang Zhao's side, patted his back, and asked softly: "What's wrong? Are you dizzy? Oh, then hurry up and don't get heatstroke."

Liang Zhao said nothing while Gu Mengran finished his big show alone. He turned around and called out to his grandfather and Zheng Yijie, "Let's go. No more waiting. If everything goes well, they've already arrived. We should continue on our way."

The first half of the sentence was very pleasant, and I could finally leave, but the second half...

Zheng Yi quickly got up, patted his butt and walked to Gu Mengran's side. "What time is it? Are you still in a hurry? Shouldn't you find a place to rest?"

"Let's go first. You can rest as much as you want after leaving Xinjing."

Gu Mengran shook his heavy backpack and walked forward with big strides.

The fog cleared, the children were sent to the base, and they could pack up and return to the Fengyi. However, it was not wise to take out the Fengyi under the military's nose. If they wanted to rest, they had to leave Xinjing first.

So the bus left the scene sadly, and when the night was quiet, the business car reappeared.

The four of them ate and slept in the car, taking turns driving, from the quiet late night to the scorching noon, and then to the sunset, with the afterglow of the sunset dyeing half the sky red.

As we drove into the country road, the car became increasingly bumpy, and Gu Mengran, who was dozing off in the back seat, was abruptly woken up.

Yawning, Gu Mengran raised his hand to check the time, then looked at the red sky outside through the glass covered with solar film.

The weather was hot and it got dark late. The sun just set at 7:30.

It would take some time before nightfall. Gu Mengran rubbed his empty belly, took out four soft jam-filled breads from the empty space, and gave one to each of them.

Bread is not easy to store. Zheng Yijie hadn't eaten it for a while. He tore open the package and stuffed it into his mouth in a hurry. While eating, he sighed: "It's great to have a space. I can eat it whenever I want, and most importantly, it won't go bad."

After he finished speaking, he seemed to be reminded of something because of what he said. He frowned and looked at Gu Mengran in confusion. "It is said that you had space before the disaster. In addition to bread, instant noodles, and the meat and vegetables you had before, didn't you stock up on other cooked food?"

He could understand that it was not convenient to take it out when there were outsiders around, but now that the outsiders are gone and there are only a few of our own people left, why are we still eating Dun Dun bread, eight-treasure porridge, and instant noodles?

Gu Mengran swallowed the bread with water and asked him, "For example?"

Zheng Yijie pondered for two seconds and said seriously: "If it were me, I would definitely stay at home and order a batch of takeout! Hot pot, braised chicken, fried chicken, spicy salt, milk tea... Order everything you like and eat it slowly in the space."

How could this be possible? Gu Mengran completely forgot about the takeaway.

The bread in his hand suddenly lost its fragrance. Gu Mengran stared at Zheng Yijie blankly and sighed sincerely: "I wish I had known you earlier."

"Right, I'm an expert when it comes to eating. If you had known me before the disaster, I guarantee that each of you would have gained ten pounds!" Zheng Yijie patted his chest and said arrogantly.

Zheng Yijie took a bite of bread, raised his elbow and bumped Gu Mengran, then said, "Tell me what you guys have stockpiled. We've come all the way here together, there's no need to hide it, right?"

There was no need to hide, but there was too much. Gu Mengran didn't know where to start, so he just said in a general way: "Rice, flour, oil, grain, tea, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, pots and pans, vegetables and fruits, chicken, duck, fish, meat, and so on."

Gu Mengran's approval gave Zheng Yijie confidence. He immediately shook his head and analyzed seriously with his chin in his hand: "No, the idea of ​​hoarding supplies is wrong."

"If you have a permanent residence, then there's nothing wrong with hoarding these supplies. But you know, it's extremely hot and rainy, we must be homeless and wandering around. Where can we get a place to cook? Have a picnic outside every day? In such hot weather, I'm afraid I'll cook faster than the meat."

Gu Mengran swallowed the bread in his mouth and nodded in agreement, "That makes sense. So what do you think we should do now?"

"Let me think about it."

He didn't even eat the bread. An inexplicable sense of responsibility fell on his shoulders. Zheng Yijie thought for a few seconds and said thoughtfully: "Find a safe place to live first and convert the raw food in the space into cooked food. Otherwise, when the land is gone, there will be no place to cook."

"This is a good idea. Let's do it this way and find a place to stay first." Gu Mengran lowered his head to chew on the bread. At an angle that Zheng Yijie couldn't see, the corners of his mouth were harder to suppress than AK.

"But where should we go?" Zheng Yijie looked out the window blankly, watching the gradually darkening sky and the increasingly remote mountain path, and finally realized that something was wrong.

"No, where are we going? Why are we getting further and further away?"

The old man sitting in the passenger seat chuckled and casually responded, "I'll listen to you and find a place to live."

The mountain path is full of potholes and there are dead weeds and trees on the side of the road. There are few ruins in the area. There is only a winding flood control dam lying across the mountains, and the sound of flowing water can be heard faintly.

Zheng Yijie was stunned. He frowned and asked, "Where can we stay in this wilderness? We will reach the river if we walk any further. There are no buildings around. We will be sunburned to death when the sun comes out!"

"We're going to the river." Gu Mengran kindly gave a hint.

Zheng Yijie is a smart man and understands things quickly.

When he heard the words "riverside", his eyes lit up instantly, and he chased after Gu Mengran and asked, "I understand! So you really have a boat, what kind of boat? At least it's a yacht, right?"

Gu Mengran curled his lips and said, "I can't afford that kind of luxury."

"That……"

"It's just a small boat." Liang Zhao, who was holding the steering wheel, also felt like teasing others and suddenly interjected.

Zheng Yijie sagged at a speed visible to the naked eye. He didn't know what was going on in his mind. He leaned back against the chair, sighed, and muttered softly, "It's a problem whether there is enough space for four people in a small boat, let alone cooking."

Half an hour later, the bus crossed the wilderness and stopped on the flood control dam.

The four of them ate some snacks in the car to fill their stomachs, and then curled up in their seats to take a nap until the alarm rang.

“Drip, drip, drip—”

A clear and rapid ring rang out, and a rustling sound immediately came from the extremely quiet carriage.

The joy of returning home overcame sleepiness. Gu Mengran opened his eyes drowsily, turned off the watch alarm that was disturbing his sleep, adjusted his seat, and turned to look out the window.

As night falls, there is no moon or starlight. It feels like being in an abyss. The sky and the earth are pitch black, and the car headlights become the only source of light.

The fog dissipated, and the night became the best cover. Gu Mengran raised his arms and stretched, patted his grandfather and Zheng Yijie who were not fully awake yet, and then quickly put everyone's backpack into the space.

As the car door opened, a rolling heat wave hit them in the face. Amidst the groans and complaints, four people walked out of the car one after another with empty hands.

The car turned off and thick darkness immediately surrounded everyone.

Gu Mengran took out two high-power flashlights and handed them to his grandfather and Liang Zhao. Then, under the gaze of everyone, he put the bus back into the space.

As the temperature continued to be high, the water level of the Huangjiang River dropped instead of rising. The four people used flashlights to carefully walk down the flood control dam, and then walked on the cracked mud for a long time before they successfully reached the water's edge.

The water on both sides was too shallow, and the Fengyi would definitely run aground if it was placed on the shore. Gu Mengran thought for a moment, leaned over, reached into the water, and took out a diesel boat from the space.

The water surged, creating ripples, and a dark green diesel boat suddenly appeared on the river.

The boat was small and a little dirty; when the flashlight beam shone over it, one could vaguely see the mud swaying in the cabin.

It was a small boat, so Zheng Yijie was prepared. But when a small, dirty mini boat appeared in front of him, he couldn't help but pointed at the boat swaying with the waves with a trembling finger, and said in disbelief: "That's it?"

Let alone cooking on the boat, with four people on board... you probably can't even move your body! Zheng Yijie was very disappointed, and at the same time he also felt regretful. These people were too unreliable! Why did he choose to join?

Gu Mengran guessed what he was thinking, and without further explanation, he turned around and waved to Zheng Yijie, "Don't just stand there, hurry up and get on board."

Is it necessary to go on this boat?

Zheng Yijie's whole body was filled with resistance, but when he thought about his supplies being in other people's hands, he could only grit his teeth and reluctantly boarded the diesel boat.

Everyone boarded the boat and sat down. There was a sharp buzzing sound, and the diesel boat broke through the water and slowly sailed out. In a moment, it stopped in the middle of the Huangjiang River.

What on earth was he doing? The boat stopped in the middle of the water, and Zheng Yijie was completely confused. He was about to ask, but he saw Gu Mengran half-leaning out of the cabin, with his right hand gently covering the water.

This action seemed a little familiar. Before Zheng Yijie could see clearly, there was a loud "boom" and the diesel boat stepped on the throttle to the maximum, and like a sharp arrow, it whizzed towards the other side.

At the same time, the calm river surface seemed to be thrown by a torpedo, with waves rising high and water splashing everywhere.

A partial exposure poured down, and the people on the boat were undoubtedly soaked. When Zheng Yijie wiped the water from his eyes and looked back, he saw a huge object like a mountain on the empty river.

Boat? Can't afford it?

Zheng Yijie was petrified as if struck by lightning. He stared at the huge ship in front of him in amazement. All he could say was reduced to two words: "Fuck!"