Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Giant 5

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Direct, straightforward and sincere, it cracked Gu Mengran's iron heart and softened his politeness.

The reason why it is a few points is because the full score is 100.

No longer a young man experiencing the apocalypse for the first time, he may be grateful for the life-saving grace, but in the chaotic and disorderly apocalypse where everyone is in danger, would he reveal his trump card just because of a word of trust? Gu Mengran flatly didn't believe it.

But it's better to say it directly than to beat around the bush, so Gu Mengran said nothing. He rested his chin on his hand and looked at Xu Xingran, waiting for her next words.

Perhaps it was because his gaze was too direct, Xu Xingran looked a little uncomfortable, but she quickly adjusted herself, met Gu Mengran's gaze calmly, and said softly: "The world is in chaos, and now supplies and fuel have become scarce resources."

"You guys should also need fuel, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have come all this way. In fact, when Xinghe and I saw the name of the Wind Wing, we decided that if it was really you on the ship, and if you were willing to travel with us, we could provide fuel for the Wind Wing along the way."

All this way? Provide fuel for the entire journey?!

Gu Mengran's fingertips trembled slightly, and he looked at Xu Xingran in disbelief, "Where is your destination? What are the conditions?"

"If you don't change your schedule, it's fine with us, because we've decided to follow your advice and go to Yinan. As for the conditions," Xu Xingran paused and sighed helplessly, "I'm really sorry to ask you for conditions. The life-saving grace cannot be offset by this little bit of fuel, but..."

"Let's put it this way. It's inevitable to encounter difficulties when you go out. Just tell me what difficulties you have." The fuel for the whole journey was so tempting that Gu Mengran took the initiative to set up a platform for her and even thought of what to use in exchange.

Xu Xingran rubbed his brows and continued, "The J-5 is too conspicuous. Anyone who knows what's inside can tell what's inside at a glance. There are two women on our ship, and a powerless man. If someone really wants to take advantage of us, we can say that we have no power to fight back."

Xu Xinghe's face darkened: "What do you mean by a powerless man? Sister, why are you like this——"

"Shut up!"

"oh."

Ignoring Xu Xinghe's wailing, Gu Mengran nodded thoughtfully, "So you plan to provide the fuel, and both ships will go together. When we encounter danger or difficulties, try to help each other and take care of each other along the way?"

Gu Mengran said it very politely. Xu Xingran looked at him gratefully and quickly responded, "That's what I mean. What do you think?"

I thought the other party was going to exchange fuel for supplies, but who knew they would just make such a small request, which was almost free. What did Gu Mengran think? They were just going to drive their own boats and form a partnership. Of course, Gu Mengran was very happy.

But free things are often the most expensive. If Gu Mengran were an ordinary person, this deal would be a win-win situation. But for Gu Mengran, who has a lot of space in his heart, after accepting a favor from someone else, can he really just stand by and watch when that person is in danger?

The innocent brother and the sister who values ​​friendship, they called Fengyi at the first opportunity and decided to invite each other to meet in a short time. In addition to discussing the business, of course there was also friendship.

Alas! Gu Mengran sighed secretly, met Xu Xingran's expectant gaze, and said lightly: "It's possible, but you will be at a disadvantage. There are not many people on our ship, and we are all ordinary people. If we really encounter a big trouble, I'm afraid we can't do anything."

The implication is: We can help you solve small problems, but don't expect too much from you with big ones. We will prioritize protecting ourselves.

Xu Xingran understood and smiled, "I understand. To be honest, during the days we drove the J5, we were always on tenterhooks, afraid of running into someone, afraid of being targeted by someone."

"You and Xiao Liang are capable people. You saved so many people at the port. You are much more reliable than my unreliable brother. The effect of one plus one is greater than two. Our two families should go together and help each other. It will make us feel more at ease in the end."

"Sister!" The unreliable Xu Xinghe was quite unconvinced.

Xu Xingran didn't even look at him, his attention focused on Gu Mengran.

Now that things have come to this, there seems to be no reason to refuse.

However, a nearly fully loaded oil tanker sailing on the Huangjiang River is no less than carrying a bag of gold through the city. It is not bad today because the weather is hot and few people are outdoors. After a while, when it rains and the temperature drops, you may meet more people.

You can't just take the benefits and not do anything. Instead of solving problems when they arise, it's better to prevent them in advance. Gu Mengran tapped the can with his fingers, pondered for a moment, and looked up at Xu Xingran. "I have no objection to going together, but the Giant Engine 5 is indeed very conspicuous. Have you considered making some disguises for the deck?"

"Of course I have thought about it." Xu Xinghe replied quickly: "But you can see that the J-5 is just a deck except for the stern. With such a large area, what is used to disguise it?"

The cabin of an oil tanker has three layers inside and three layers outside, and is extremely waterproof and sealed. There is basically no waterproof tarpaulin or the like on board.

The two ships were about the same size, and the tarpaulin of the Wind Wing could also be used. Gu Mengran did not hesitate, cleared his throat and said, "How about this, we will send some waterproof tarpaulins and steel frames over later, and you can build a frame on the deck, cover it with the tarpaulin, and try to turn the Giant 5 into a bulk carrier."

"But the more important problem is," Xu Xinghe frowned and asked, "the cargo is heavy, the waterline is low, and a fully loaded bulk carrier is still easy to be targeted."

Xu Xingran didn't need Gu Mengran to answer. He seemed to understand. His eyes lit up for a moment when he looked at Gu Mengran. He asked tentatively, "Xiao Gu, can the Fengyi still carry some cargo? We still have a lot of empty oil drums on our ship. Can we transfer some of the diesel to your ship?"

It's easy to talk to smart people. Gu Mengran nodded gently, "If you trust us, of course you can. The Fengyi is fully loaded with 3,000 tons, mostly dry goods, and we can help you share some of it."

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Xingran made a decision immediately: "Let's do this. I'll go prepare the oil barrels now."

As she was about to stand up, Gu Mengran hurriedly stopped her, "Don't worry, Sister Xu. The channel is too narrow. We should wait until we dock before moving the large amount of diesel. It will take too long to use a diesel boat to move it. Let's talk about something else first. Do you need any other supplies?"

The brother and sister were soft-hearted. They took so much fuel from others just for being a team. The grandmother's family was undoubtedly at a disadvantage. It was difficult to repay the debts owed to so many people, so Gu Mengran still wanted to get something practical in exchange.

Hearing the word "supplies", Xu Xingran sat back down on the sofa armrest. He smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "Come to think of it, we are still short of something. Xiao Gu, the Fengyi was a supermarket ship before, right?"

They had met the brother and sister before the disaster. At that time, the Fengyi had the words "Floating Supermarket" printed on it. Xu Xingran was not surprised to know this. Gu Mengran did not hide it either and nodded frankly, "Yes, so we have enough supplies."

"So, do you guys have that thing..."

The straightforward Xu Xingran suddenly became hesitant and uttered an unclear sentence. His fair cheeks were stained with a red color and his eyes were evasive.

What is so embarrassing? Gu Mengran was stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to ask, Liang Zhao, who was sitting next to him, suddenly spoke and uttered three words without any surprise: "Sanitary napkin?"

As soon as these words came out, the living room became quiet instantly.

Gu Mengran and Xu Xinghe obviously hadn't expected this and were somewhat surprised. Xu Xingran was stunned at first, and then her already flushed cheeks suddenly turned redder, all the way to the back of her ears.

This reaction seemed to be a guess. Gu Mengran put his fist up and coughed lightly, then broke the strange silence: "Don't be embarrassed. These are just basic daily necessities. We just happen to have them. We'll send you a few boxes of tarpaulin later. Do you need anything else?"

A few words resolved the awkwardness, Xu Xingran slowly calmed down, and followed Gu Mengran's words and said, "And what about clothes and quilts? Do you have any extra?"

"Yes." Gu Mengran found it strange and asked, "Do you only need these daily necessities? Don't you have any shortage of food?"

Xu Xinghe shrugged his shoulders and said with a bit of pride: "The food is not bad, there is no shortage of food for the time being."

If you don't explain it yourself, it would be rude to ask further.

They had almost finished talking about business, and now it was time to gossip. Gu Mengran was still very curious about their experiences along the way, so while Xu Xingran was making breakfast, he chased the heartless Xu Xinghe and asked him a lot of questions.

Xu Xinghe was a really simple-minded person, or perhaps he had no intention of hiding anything, and he told them almost everything he knew, recounting their experiences openly.

After the earthquake, Xu Xinghe and his sister were always concerned about their family. But at that time, the mainframe of Hengrongsheng was flooded, the operating system failed, and it was stuck at the anchorage and could not move.

Their hometown was too far away, and they could not go back with a diesel boat. They could only hope on the shore and go to the port to find someone to repair Heng Rong Sheng, or look for other means of transportation.

There is no need to hesitate to go ashore. The problem is that before going ashore, Xu Xinghe suddenly thought of Gu Mengran's words. The world is in chaos, order has collapsed, and money can't buy supplies...

It is better to believe it than not. Although they did not plan to go far, they searched the ship for some useful supplies and took them with them just in case.

The magnitude of the earthquake was very high. When the brother and sister went ashore the next day, the port terminal had been reduced to ruins. Communications were interrupted, there was no rescue, and the terminal had turned into a purgatory, leaving only the bewildered crew and cold corpses under the ruins.

The visibility was too low, and knowing that they could not do anything, Xu Xinghe and his sister did not stay at the pier for too long. Just as they were about to leave the pier and find another way out, the river exploded like thunder, and the turbid river water gushed out, engulfing the pier in just a few moments.

"You don't know, it was so scary! We couldn't see anything at the time. I don't know who shouted that a flood was coming, and everyone started running. We were lucky enough to follow the crowd to the approach bridge, but it was too chaotic at the time. Everyone panicked and swarmed onto the bridge like a swarm of bees, and then... oh!"

Xu Xinghe's arms were covered with goosebumps. He patted his chest in shock and said, "I'm not exaggerating. As soon as we stepped on the ground, the bridge collapsed. The people behind us fell down like dumplings. If we were a second later, my sister and I wouldn't be here to see you."

Gu Mengran patted him on the shoulder twice to comfort him, and then asked, "What happened next?"

"Realizing the severity of the disaster, we didn't dare to delay for a second and rushed back without stopping. However, the fog was too thick at that time and the car couldn't drive at all. We dragged two bicycles out from under a collapsed carport and rode back slowly. It was not until the fog gradually dissipated that we found a truck to drive back."

"It's too late after waiting so long."

Having said this, Xu Xinghe's shoulders slumped and he became visibly depressed.

The forgotten pain was mentioned again, and his brows were furrowed, his eyes were dull, and he no longer had the spirit he had before. After being silent for nearly five minutes, Xu Xinghe took a deep breath and slowly said, "My home is gone, the house collapsed, and my father...he is buried under the ruins."

"He was an alcoholic, a gambler, and a lazy man. I thought I wouldn't be upset even if he died. But seeing him rotting and stinking under the ruins, I still feel a little sad."