Chapter 39 - 39

Chapter 39: He Starts Playing the Scoundrel AgainZhao Yong patiently told his son, "I've been a security manager for so many years, and I'm very good at understanding human nature. Of those who have survived, how many are just lucky? They all lived by sheer willpower."If people can't buy anything at the supermarket now, they'll have trouble getting food and drink in the future. How can they not worry about that?I'm going out to find supplies. No matter who tells you to open the door, don't answer them. If the people downstairs rush up, we'll be the first ones to get hurt.Zhao Lei nodded as if he understood, but he felt that his father made sense. However, he still felt a little pity for his classmate.Su Xiaoyu had been listening for a while and thought the family was alright, so she coughed lightly to remind them before speaking to them."Brother Yong, I have some old blankets and clothes, do you want them?""Of course I want it." Zhao Yong immediately perked up and stood up.Su Xiaoyu turned around and waved to Lin Xiuxiu, signaling that she could move it.I just changed the blankets on the bed, and there were a bunch of old blankets, and several new blankets that I haven't unpacked yet.Then there were some of the original owner's old clothes that she didn't want anymore. It would be such a waste to throw them away, so she came over and asked Zhao Yong if he wanted them.It's impossible to give them new things, but it doesn't matter if they have old things. Su Xiaoyudoesn't have the saintly heart to give people new things, even though she has a lot in her space.She learned the proverb "a snake trying to swallow an elephant" from a TV series.In the past, Sun Lihua would not have cared about these old quilts and clothes. Even if she saw them, she would just send them to the recycling center for someone who needed them.Things are different now. Back then, we managed to salvage a few quilts from inside the house, and not many clothes were taken out either; the rest were all soaked in water.At the time, she was only thinking about taking out the food and cooking utensils. She even picked up the liquefied gas cylinder, whichstartled Zhao Yong.They have no clean clothes to change into and nowhere to wash them these days; they have run out of clothes to change into.These clean clothes will be just in time for an emergency. I quickly found a few sets and prepared to have my son and Zhao Yong change into them later.As for myself, I can only change it later.When Su Xiaoyu delivered the last bag of items,she said to Zhao Yong..."Are all the people in room 1703 dead? I saw a red cloth hanging on the door, who put it there?"Zhao Yong: "Yes, they've all passed away. There used to be an old lady and her daughter living there. The old lady died first, and her ashes are still in the funeral home."The daughter died a few days ago from the high temperature. They were worried about the smell, so they threw her and her blankets out of the house, leaving it unused.Someone suggested hanging red cloth all over the house for seven days, after which they would move in.Su Xiaoyu: "If I were you, I would rush to move in first. We've had extreme heat and torrential rain, and winter is coming soon, followed by cold weather. You can't live in the hallway forever."Zhao Yong then realized the importance of having a place to live. He thought about how his house was flooded, and if he couldn't salvage it, he would have nowhere to live. If there were any more extreme weather events and the temperature plummeted, they would freeze to death in the stairwell.Don't even think about the heating being on this year; just thinking about it makes me feel awful. It's better to go back to the countryside, but he can't bring himself to do it.At this moment, Sun Lihua suddenly realized the truth, and then said to Zhao Yong,"Otherwise, we can move in. The person who will live in 1703 is the person in 1003 downstairs. Their apartment is not as nicely decorated as 1703, so they are thinking of moving."After careful consideration, Zhao Yong said, "I'll get some things tomorrow morning and tell 1003 that I'll give them some things." They agreed, since they have a place to live."If all else fails, we can stay at his house. We can withdraw cash later, and I'll give them the money. We'll just give them 100,000, okay?"Su Xiaoyu heard Lin Xiuxiu cough and knew the food was ready, so she closed the hallway door. She had said what she needed to say. Whether she stayed or left depended on their actions.Lin Xiuxiu specially made a large pot of braised pork, steamed a large pot of rice, and made a large bucket of bok choy and pork rib soup, thinking that should be enough for them.She actually underestimated the men's appetites. The braised pork was devoured in less than 20 minutes after it was placed on the table, and they even used the remaining broth to mix with their rice.Su Xiaoyu was also eating voraciously, having already eaten four bowls of rice.Seeing them enjoying their meal made Lin Xiuxiuhappy, and she started thinking about what delicious food she could make for them tomorrow.It was already 4 a.m. when the meal was finished. Everyone went back to their rooms to get some rest, because they would have to continue working on supplies the next day.8:00 AM on the second day.Lin Xiuxiu got up very early and specially cooked two large pots of noodles so that they could eat their fill before going out to collect supplies.Then, just like yesterday, she stayed home. She'd brought back a head of pork; she'd eaten a third yesterday, leaving two-thirds. After thinking for a moment, she decided to make dumplings for them. So she poured out half a bag of flour and started kneading the dough—a big project that would take a long time.Just a few days ago, Jin Jun was muttering that it would be nice to have some dumplings.Su Xiaoyu and Gu Lingxiao led their group downstairs. Seeing Zhao Yong's expectant gaze, they waved to him just as he was about to speak, signaling him to follow.Zhao Yong immediately understood and, without saying anything more, picked up the two bags he had emptied yesterday, intending to search for more edible things today.Thanks to the old quilt and clothes Su Xiaoyugave him yesterday, he didn't have to collect bedding and clothes, he only needed to collect food.They went down to the 10th floor in one go. Because the water level had dropped, some people had already moved back home. Only a few people were still crammed into the stairwell. Those were the residents of the lower floors. Their houses were still flooded. Even if the water receded, they would be full of silt and would be uninhabitable.They were stopped by a group of people, led byWang Kai."Where did you guys gather so many supplies yesterday, from the 18th and 19th floors?"Wang Kai asked directly.When I came back yesterday, I heard from others that a lot of supplies had been collected on the rooftop, and I felt jealous. But I was too weak to do it all by myself.Before dawn, they gathered everyone together for a meeting and came up with a solution.That means they collect tolls. They definitely have to go up the stairs, and the keys to the doors in each building are basically all in their hands.In other words, they locked the doors to the stairwell, so no matter how much supplies they had, they couldn't deliver them upstairs, and they couldn't even get people up.Su Xiaoyu was about to speak when Gu Lingxiao raised her hand to stop her. She only heard him say..."none of your business!"Wang Kai: "Fine! Fine! Since you put it that way, then there's nothing more to discuss between us. We won't stop you from collecting supplies, but the doors in this building are under our jurisdiction. Don't use the hallways anymore; they're disturbing our rest."