After getting off the ship, the soldiers and their families were separated.
The soldiers lined up and boarded a vehicle that was obviously intended for long-distance travel, and went directly to their assigned units.
The family members, organized by cadres sent from another regiment, boarded a covered truck.
The weather in July was extremely hot and humid. Although the truck with a canopy blocked the scorching sun, the lack of air circulation made the interior of the truck extremely stuffy, like a steamer.
But these are nothing to the family members, especially the children, who stay on the island all year round. Almost all of them crowded together near the rear of the car and looked out from the open seats.
If the leading cadres had not kept a close eye on them, those fearless little guys would have wanted to stick half of their bodies out.
In fact, the outside was not much different from the last time Yin Xiaoman came.
Except for the fields on both sides of the road which are now green and the crops seem to be growing well, the rest is just a dirt road that stretches as far as the eye can see.
But even the children had never seen such a dirt road. The roads on the island were all winding. How could they be so long?
In addition, they had just taken a nap on the boat, and thus missed their long-cherished wish of seeing the sea from the boat... The little ones had learned their lesson now, and all opened their eyes wide, not wanting to miss any new sights.
The last time he came here, Yin Xiaoman felt that the road was very long, but this time, after walking for more than two hours, it seemed like he arrived in the blink of an eye.
They were arranged to stay in a guesthouse.
Because it was like wartime at that time, everyone was busy with disaster relief, and there was not a single working group coming to investigate and conduct research. There were only less than twenty people living in the entire guesthouse, so the accommodation was extremely spacious.
Yin Xiaoman and her five friends were allocated two rooms. She and Erniu lived in one room, and Dabao and the two children lived in another room.
The group took quite a lot of care of them. Although the team leader had already gone to the disaster area with the relief team, he also made arrangements in advance.
Not only were they specifically instructed to have someone deliver meals to them every day, they were also allowed to move freely within the demilitarized zone of the regiment headquarters.
Yin Xiaoman had never dared to imagine such treatment before. You know, the last time she and Qiao Mai came, they didn't even leave the clinic for more than half a month.
As expected, lunch was delivered by Zhou Tiancheng and Lu Li.
This was the first time the children met their cousin and aunt, although they were already very familiar with them before.
After delivering the meal that day, the couple did not rush back, but stayed and talked for a while as a family.
In the middle of the meal, Lu Li even went back to the kitchen and took all the snacks she had prepared in advance. This caused four little guys to surround her, calling her "aunt" some and "aunt" some, and their little mouths were all as sweet as if they were covered in honey.
But Zhou Tiancheng told Yin Xiaoman some news which was not good.
Zhou Tiancheng told her that because the disaster situation in City E was too severe, the whole country was now mobilizing to fight against the earthquake and provide disaster relief. Everything else must give way to disaster relief.
Nowadays, both roads and railways are mainly used to transport relief supplies and disaster relief personnel, and other civilian transportation has basically stopped operating.
It’s hard to say when they will be able to go to the capital.
According to the best estimates, waiting ten days to half a month is normal, and it is possible to wait longer.
Zhou Tiancheng asked them to be prepared for a long wait.
When they were on the island, they were busy moving, so although they heard about the earthquake in City E, not only Yin Xiaoman, but also the family members didn't feel much.
At this moment, after listening to Zhou Tiancheng's words, they suddenly realized that the disaster was so serious.
"Brother, what's going on? Tell us." Since they are all family, Yin Xiaoman was not too defensive.
Hearing her question, Zhou Tiancheng told them the less tragic parts of the situation he knew.
But even this filtered information makes people feel so heavy that they cannot express it in words.
After a while, Yin Xiaoman finally spoke: "Brother, who is in charge of the group now?"
"Deputy Captain Li, what's wrong? Is there anything wrong?" Zhou Tiancheng asked with a little surprise.
"Brother, can you help us tell Deputy Captain Li that we also want to join the disaster relief efforts?
Anyway, we can't leave for a while, so if we stay here, you will have to send someone to take care of us. The group is so busy now, we are all part of it, and this is what we should do. ”
She thought for a moment and continued, "Dabao, Erniu and I have been cooking for the expert group. The leaders of the group should all know about this. I think it should be okay for us to help in the kitchen, right?
Including Li Fang, she was also in the kitchen when she was on the island, and I think she can do it too.
You just said that the people in the kitchen are busy preparing dry food for the soldiers who are providing disaster relief. We can make pancakes and steamed buns.
At the very least, picking and washing the vegetables requires people, right? ”
Zhou Tiancheng never expected that the conversation would end up with such a result. He really came this time just to visit his cousin and her family, and didn't have any other ideas.
But he could understand Yin Xiaoman's thoughts. Now, who doesn't want to contribute more to disaster relief?
Having said that, the couple didn't stay long. Lu Li went back to work, while Zhou Tiancheng went straight to the regiment headquarters.
Yin Xiaoman was not idle either. She went to the next room and held a small meeting with Li Fang and several other family members who were traveling with her.
Those who came with us this time are all family members of the military, and their ages are not much different.
After Yin Xiaoman relayed Zhou Tiancheng's words and described the disaster, everyone was as shocked and upset as she was before.
There were also two younger wives who burst into tears on the spot.
So when Yin Xiaoman proposed to go to work in the group, no one backed down and everyone was eager to take action immediately.
She and Li Fang worked together to hold these people down, and they discussed the division of labor.
After all, they came here with their families. When the adults go to work, someone has to take care of the little ones.
In the end, they decided to leave a young wife who was still breastfeeding in the guesthouse to look after the child and luggage, while the others went to the regiment headquarters with Yin Xiaoman.
Because Zhou Tiancheng had already greeted them in advance, when he heard that they were coming, Deputy Captain Li personally ran out to greet them.
And according to their personal circumstances, they were assigned to work in the cooking team and sewing group.
After all, in addition to preparing dry food, the regiment also took on the task of sewing winter clothes and quilts for the people in the disaster area.
Zhou Tiancheng said that they might stay in the group for ten days or half a month. But no one expected that this stay would last almost two months.
When Deputy Commander Li came to inform them personally that a batch of supplies would be transported to the disaster area the day after tomorrow and asked them to get ready to follow the vehicle, the family members were in a daze for a long time before they realized -
It turned out that they were only staying here temporarily and would have to leave.
At this moment, everyone became anxious.
Because it was July when they left the island. Although they knew that the climate in Beijing was different from here, it was summer anyway, so no one thought about preparing any thick clothes.
But it’s already the end of September and we have to wear long-sleeved clothes even in Ningcheng every morning and evening. So, when we get to the capital, won’t we have to wear a padded jacket or even a thin cotton-padded jacket?
But no one’s family is prepared for these people!
When Deputy Commander Li heard about this situation, he realized the seriousness of the matter. Not to mention how much work these family members have done for the regiment over the past two months, even if they were ordinary people, there would be no reason to let them suffer the cold on the road.
So he went to the textile factory in person, and after consulting with the leaders there, he specially approved some cloth and cotton, and arranged for two sewing groups of employees to work overtime with them. Only then did he rush to make cotton coats for everyone before departure.
We got in the car again and left the camp. Everyone then realized that although they had lived in the garrison for two full months, they had not even stepped out of the garrison gate.
No one can tell what Ning Cheng looks like.
Although the earthquake happened several months ago, traffic is still severely congested. The closer you get to the capital, the more congested you get. People from all over the country are doing their best to bring warmth to the disaster-stricken areas.
The disaster area and the capital are on the same road.
On the way, Yin Xiaoman had already separated from other family members one after another. Later, even Li Fang's family said goodbye to them the day before and went to the new unit they were going to.
In the end, apart from the soldiers escorting the supplies, only Yin Xiaoman's family was left on the bus.
By this time, Yin Xiaoman actually already knew that the place they were going to was not the capital.
The place they were going to was Jincheng, which was about a hundred kilometers away from the capital.
Shen Qingyun has received a transfer order and taken over the position of deputy division commander of Jincheng Military Sub-district. He is currently leading his troops to carry out disaster relief in City E.
Fortunately, the unit knew they were coming and sent someone to wait at the intersection in advance to pick them up.
"Sister-in-law, we're at the dormitory. You go in and take a rest first. I'll go to the canteen to prepare food for you."
The person who came to pick them up was a young man about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, dark and thin. He said his surname was Liu and he was a clerk in the division.
After sending them home, the young man said considerately.
"Don't bother. We still have some dry food we brought with us. Just eat something. Don't bother so late at night. Let's talk about it tomorrow." Yin Xiaoman quickly refused.
She looked at Secretary Liu and somehow always thought of her family's rice.
In fact, he is only two years older than Dami. Seeing the dark circles under the boy's eyes due to being busy and lack of sleep, she felt indescribably sad.
If you were to ask who Yin Xiaoman was most concerned about after leaving Zhongshan Island, it would definitely be rice.
As a member of the security battalion, Da Mi was among the first group of soldiers to go to the disaster area for rescue. So until they left, Yin Xiaoman and the others didn't have the chance to say goodbye to Dami.
When she thought about how when that boy finished his work and returned to the group, he would find that his home was gone... Yin Xiaoman felt extremely uneasy and couldn't help wanting to cry.
Da Mi knew how important her family was.
Although that kid always said that he was not a member of the Shen family, in everyone's heart, he was a member of the family, an indispensable member.
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