Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Heatstroke

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He was an alcoholic, a gambler, and an idler with all the bad habits. He never fulfilled his corresponding responsibilities. He was annoying when he was alive, but people would feel sincerely sad for him when he died. Perhaps this was the bond between bloodlines.

It wasn't Gu Mengran's malicious speculation, but the fatherly love that the siblings received was mostly unequal.

Because it had been many days since we last met, Xu Xinghe looked visibly haggard. Although he was still the funny guy, he looked like someone who had just lost a loved one and had not yet completely emerged from the shadow.

But her elder sister Xu Xingran didn't feel that way at all. She didn't feel the pain and sadness of having just lost a loved one. Instead, she felt a sense of relief, as if the dust had settled and she was free from the constraints. If Xu Xinghe hadn't mentioned it, Gu Mengran would definitely not have been able to tell that they had just lost a loved one not long ago.

Every family has its own problems, and Gu Mengran was not very interested in other people's family affairs. Seeing Xu Xinghe's red eyes and pale face, he reached out and patted Xu Xinghe on the shoulder, and said softly, "The deceased is gone, please accept my condolences."

"It's okay. I figured it out a long time ago." Xu Xinghe wiped his face randomly and forced a bitter smile. "My sister is right. For someone like him who is lazy and can't stand the slightest hardship, dying in an earthquake is also a kind of relief."

Without waiting for Gu Mengran to reply, Xu Xinghe waved his hands as if nothing had happened, "Well, let's not talk about this anymore. Let me tell you how we got the Gigantic 5. It was all due to luck..."

The sudden disaster took away countless lives and disrupted everyone's life. The house was gone, the family was gone, and after burying their father in the vegetable garden, the siblings were somewhat confused and didn't know what to do.

Gu Mengran's words were like a beacon of hope for them, so the brother and sister decisively followed the advice of their savior, walked to higher ground, and headed towards Yinan along the Huangjiang River.

The lack of transportation was a big problem. The temperature rose sharply at that time, and it was extremely difficult to survive outdoors, let alone walk.

Fortunately, their hometown is close to Pingjiang, which is a major tributary of Huangjiang in Jincheng. So after discussing, they unanimously decided to try their luck at Pingxian Wharf to see if they could find a small boat.

The result was - the boat was not found, but they hit the jackpot by finding a large oil tanker at the dock.

They thought the tanker had an owner, and they planned to talk to the captain to see if they could take a ride on a boat. However, no matter how they called from the shore, the tanker did not respond.

The unbearable high temperature prompted them to take the initiative to attack. It was not until they boarded the J-5 that they discovered that the medium and large oil tankers that were nearly full were actually empty.

"It was amazing that there was no one on such a big ship. My sister and I thought that the other person had just left for some reason, so we waited on the ship for a few days. But the weather got hotter and hotter, and we couldn't stand it anymore, so we pried the lock and entered the cockpit of the J-5."

Glancing at Gu Mengran's slightly questioning look, Xu Xinghe's voice trembled slightly, and he glanced at them unnaturally, "We didn't wait for anyone, so we drove the boat away. It may be a bit immoral, but the boat really has no owner, and we didn't steal it."

"Yeah, I know." Gu Mengran laughed softly.

Oil tankers are often more heavily crewed than ordinary cargo ships. It is impossible for two people to rob a ship alone. However, whether they waited for the ship owner to return or not...only they themselves know.

As if he had guessed what he was thinking, Xu Xinghe took a sip from his teacup, moistened his lips and explained, "Really, we waited on the boat for at least five or six days. There was not much food on the boat, and we were almost out of food. Later, we rested on the boat during the day and went out to look for food at night when the temperature was low. It must have been five or six days in total."

As if worried that Gu Mengran and the others might not believe him, Xu Xinghe pointed to the young girl sitting next to him and said confidently, "Xu Yuan can prove it to us. We found her when we went to the village to look for supplies."

"That's true." The young girl named Xu Yuan nodded and said timidly, "After I got on the ship, I waited for several days before leaving."

Gu Mengran didn't care, but couldn't resist Xu Xinghe's insistence on proving it. He said "hmm" softly and replied casually: "I understand. I trust your character."

Without waiting for Xu Xinghe to speak, Gu Mengran raised his eyebrows and glanced at Xu Yuan, then naturally changed the subject: "Your last name is also Xu, are you relatives?"

"No, we are from the same village, so we are neighbors." Xu Xinghe answered first, and then patiently explained to Gu Mengran what happened: "In the countryside, the houses built by the family usually have a granary. My family doesn't farm, and the granary is drier than our faces, so my sister and I thought about going to the neighbor's house to see if there is anyone there and if there is any food."

"We didn't find food, but we found a person first. Her house collapsed, and only half of the kitchen was left. Her grandparents were buried directly under the rubble, just like my dad. She was trapped in the kitchen for many days. When we went there, she had already suffered from heat stroke. If we had been there a day or two later, she would have been in danger."

The farmers' granaries. No wonder they have no shortage of food.

His focus had unknowingly strayed, and Gu Mengran stopped his wandering thoughts in time, looked up and smiled at Xu Xinghe, "It hasn't been easy for you along the way, but fortunately, we all survived and reunited in Huangjiang."

"This earthquake is so horrible. I don't know how many people died. We finally survived, but the temperature has soared again." Xu Xinghe cried and sighed, "I really don't know when the temperature will drop. If it continues like this, Huangjiang will burn dry."

"Soon, it shouldn't be long."

Having not slept all night, he was very sleepy and almost bored. Gu Mengran picked up the cup and took a sip of strong tea, then forced himself to ask, "How many days have you been parked here? Is the engine overheating? Can you leave today?"

Xu Xinghe nodded quickly, "Yes! It's the engine that overheated. It has been parked for two days. It should be OK today. I'll ask my sister later."

Gu Mengran put down his teacup and stood up quickly. "Okay, then let's--"

"Hey, wait a minute."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Xinghe stood up hurriedly, grabbed Gu Mengran's arm, and said with a dry smile: "Brother Gu, your family must have oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and other things in the supermarket, right? My sister didn't dare to tell me at that time, but we are actually quite short of it. Can we exchange some food for it?"

Gu Mengran pulled his hand back, yawned, and nodded lazily, "No need to change, I'll bring you a piece of tarpaulin later."

"That won't work," Xu Xinghe took a half step forward and stood in front of Gu Mengran, "How can we ask you for it for free? We have millet, wheat, corn, potatoes--"

Xu Xinghe was counting on his fingers like he was reading out the menu, but Gu Mengran interrupted him and waved his hands with a smile, "Really, that's not necessary. The Fengyi is lucky to have run into you. Your fuel has been a great help, so don't be polite with this little thing."

"Okay then." Xu Xinghe shook his head embarrassedly.

After he finished speaking, Xu Xinghe still showed no intention of giving way. Gu Mengran looked at him in confusion. Xu Xinghe chuckled, "Don't be in a hurry to leave, Brother Gu. Let's have breakfast and chat together. I'm also curious about your experiences. Didn't you leave first? Why are you running behind us?"

There was little to talk about, as questions would always come up. Whenever someone asked, "How did you escape the flood?" Gu Mengran had no idea how to answer.

It doesn’t matter if I don’t eat breakfast. Gu Mengran is too sleepy to make up a story.

Meeting Xu Xinghe's expectant gaze, he rubbed his brows and immediately shook his head to refuse: "I won't have breakfast. I'm too sleepy after not sleeping all night. Let's chat on high frequency later."

"Oh, and don't use the public channels, switch to channel 22."

"Oh, okay."

…

The river surface was as calm as a mirror, the scorching sun was hanging high overhead. Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao dragged their tired bodies back to the Fengyi. Not to mention sleeping, they didn't even have time to eat breakfast. They squatted in the living room hurriedly to pack the tarpaulin and supplies for the Juqing 5.

The J-5 is too conspicuous, and sailing with two ships together will be even more conspicuous, especially since they will pass through Lingjiang Port in a few days. Therefore, Gu Mengran still plans to wait until the J-5 is fully disguised before setting off, so as to reduce the risk as much as possible.

It takes time to erect the scaffolding, so the materials must be delivered early.

It’s the same whether you run once or twice, so it’s better to pack it up and send it over at once.

Tarpaulin, steel frame, zip ties, screws... Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao sat cross-legged on the living room floor with two large woven bags beside them. They took one bag at a time and filled the two woven bags with the stuff. It took them more than half an hour to fill them up.

In addition to the supplies needed by the Giant Engine 5, Gu Mengran specially brought them some accessories and tools that might be useful, plus a bag of flour weighing 100 kilograms and two boxes of instant noodles.

Instant noodles give them a change of taste, as for flour...

Just think of Heng Rong Sheng’s wheat ground into flour!

After not sleeping all night and going for a run outside, Gu Mengran felt dizzy. He packed up all the supplies, put the large items back into the space, and he and Liang Zhao, each carrying a woven bag, walked back to the deck under the scorching sun.

The supplies were loaded onto the ship and the diesel boat was tied to the cable. Gu Mengran was just about to get on board with his back bent when Liang Zhao, who had boarded the ship first, suddenly reached out to stop him and raised his chin slightly.

"What?" Gu Mengran didn't understand what he meant and looked at him with his head tilted.

Liang Zhao chuckled helplessly, "I almost fell asleep while standing. What are you talking about? Go back and wash up and rest. It's just delivering something. Only one person is needed."

"But--"

"Don't worry about it. If we add one more person on board, we have to put one less thing on board. Does that mean we have to make another trip?" Liang Zhao took the intercom from him and waved his hand quickly, "Go back. I'll be back soon."

His slow brain stopped working and he suddenly forgot that he could drive two boats. When Gu Mengran heard this, it seemed to be true. He said to Liang Zhao, "Then be careful," and turned around and walked back.

Gu Mengran felt dizzy and his limbs were weak. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late. The Wind Wing in his sight became two, then three. His raised right foot seemed to be stepping into the air, and then he stepped into the abyss. He suddenly lost control of his body and fell straight down.

Feeling sleepy? No, it seems like... I'm done, I have heat stroke.

Gu Mengran’s eyes went dark and he fell to the deck with a thud.