A week after the cargo ship appeared, Zuo Ling and her family returned to Chinatown.
The excuse was that she came back to check on the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and greens. If the greens had sprouted, she wanted to pick a few.
With food available, the villagers' complexions visibly improved.
As soon as Lin Sao saw Zuo Ling, she greeted her from afar: "Why are you only coming back now? Something terrible has happened in our village..."
A cargo ship descended from the sky, carrying plenty of food, daily necessities, clothing, bedding, medicine, gasoline, diesel, heavy oil...
Not only that, but dozens of boxes of weapons and ammunition were also found.
"Was that outfit also from the cargo ship?"
Aunt Lin touched her new clothes, her face beaming:
"Looks good, right? Old Guo let each of us pick one outfit. If none of them were suitable, he gave us the fabric and asked someone in the village who knows how to make them to do it."
Whenever a disaster strikes, a lot of things are lost, and most villagers live like beggars; in their words, they're practically naked.
Seeing the clothes and fabrics on the boat, he couldn't resist and encouraged Guo Qi to give everyone in the village a new set of clothes first.
Guo Qi readily agreed to this small request, waving his hand to give each person a set of clothes. After the count was completed, he would give each person two more sets to wear in rotation, much to the villagers' delight.
"Congratulations on receiving so many supplies."
Aside from gold, jewelry, antiques, US dollars, British pounds, and other supplies on the cargo ship, Zuo Ling left almost everything untouched, and even added extra items that the villagers needed.
Aunt Lin was beaming with joy. "Congratulations! Congratulations! Oh, everyone is so happy!"
She pointed to the large object in the distance, "Look, that's the ship. Lao Guo and his team are there, making a lot of winches to secure the large ship."
He turned his hands over to show Zuo Ling: "Look, we were twisting hemp rope, and our hands are covered in splinters. It hurts so much."
"Oh dear, such a big cut! Be careful not to let it get infected."
Aunt Lin felt a warmth in her heart. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm tough and thick-skinned, I'm used to it, I'm used to it."
"There's medicine on the ship, right? Ask Lao Guo for some, and everyone can apply it. When we don't have any, there's nothing we can do. If we have some and don't apply it, we'll just let maggots grow."
Zuo Ling's words were increasingly heartwarming, bringing tears to Lin's eyes.
"Well, I'll go ask Lao Guo for two tubes later. Might as well use them. Who knows what might happen in the future if we don't use them now?"
After living in constant fear for so long, many people start to live each day as if it were their last.
It was lively down below the cliff; you could hear shouts and chants.
In just a few days, the villagers made dozens of simple winches of various sizes and hundreds of thick hemp ropes.
The villagers have changed a lot. They used to be burdened with worries, but now everyone is full of vitality from the inside out.
Before she knew it, Zuo Ling was also infected by their smiles.
"Such a large ship is not easy to secure."
"Who says otherwise? Fortunately, there are many capable people in our village. There's a mechanics professor from some school who guides everyone in their work. He talks about points and forces, which I don't understand. But Lao Guo tells everyone to listen to him and do whatever he says."
Zuo Ling smiled. Eight years have passed since the apocalypse. Anyone who has survived to this point must have some skills. The woman in front of her, Sister Lin, is no ordinary person either.
"Come on, take me to see your sweet potatoes and potatoes. How are the vegetables? Are the scallions ready to eat soon?"
"We've already harvested one crop of vegetables, and the potatoes and sweet potatoes have sprouted and grown two inches tall. Come on, come on, come on, I'll show you, they're so lovely! Oh, the weather's been bad, changing four times a day, it's so tiring. We have to take care of them 24 hours a day, covering them with shade when it's cold and ventilating them when it's hot. They're so delicate, we can't afford to mistreat them at all..."
Aunt Lin's chatter, though seemingly a complaint, was actually a sign of joy.
The six planting greenhouses clearly show that a great deal of effort was put into their construction.
Without steel pipes, they used wooden frames to build it, covered with plastic sheeting of all sizes, models, and qualities, in all sorts of colors. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a beggar's den.
Plastic sheeting is used to cover the greenhouses with rainproof cloth to increase their temperature, and some are covered with thin blankets whose color cannot be seen.
It was the hottest time of day, and the plastic sheeting and tarpaulin were all lifted up.
When Lin Sao arrived with Zuo Ling's family, the person guarding the greenhouse smiled shyly.
Aunt Lin greeted a woman:
"Old Zhang, it's your class. I brought Zuo Ling and the others to see what the seedlings look like. You guys are busy with your own things, don't worry about us."
Old Zhang smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Alright, alright, look around as you like."
The area is rocky with little arable land, so the seeds are planted in large planting boxes.
The planting box is a bit like a large trolley, 1.3 meters high and 2 meters long and wide, and is made of wood.
There are two push handles on each side, and six wooden wheels at the bottom. The axles are all made of round wood.
Zuo Ling tried to push it; it was very heavy. It would take two adult men to push it.
"Good idea, who came up with it?"
Aunt Lin replied:
“He Xiao, sigh, it’s so hard. The wood can’t withstand corrosion, I’m afraid it won’t last long. The thin stone slabs underneath, just getting those thin stone slabs ready took several days.”
She kicked the wheel and said again:
"All that effort wasn't for nothing. With this, we can push it around when we're fleeing, instead of it rotting on the ground and leaving us with no other options."
Zuo Lingxin thought to herself, "When faced with a natural disaster like a tsunami, people can't even take care of themselves, let alone the planting boxes."
However, change is the best policy, and we should do what we can. Whether it succeeds or not is up to fate.
The green vegetables are growing the best; we've already harvested a batch of bok choy, rapeseed, water spinach, romaine lettuce, and scallions.
Aunt Lin held Zuo Ling's hand and said gratefully:
"We're able to have vegetables to eat thanks to you all. Don't laugh at me, but I'd almost forgotten what vegetables tasted like. You don't know, when the first batch of vegetables came out, quite a few people were crying while they were eating..."
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