NOVEL NEXT Chapter 101 - 101 Hail
Chapter 101: Chapter 101 Hail
“Right, Jiang Yan, be extra careful if you go out these days.
The people living in the other four buildings of Shallow Bay are in worse conditions than us in Building A, and it’s highly likely they will band together and attack our building,” Sun Jingtao, who was sorting supplies nearby, chimed in at this moment.
Though we have guns, we can’t guard against a hidden arrow.
Jiang Yan nodded in agreement.
Shallow Bay comprises five buildings in total; aside from Building A which has 32 floors and comes with four units per elevator, the remaining Buildings B, C, D, and E all have only 24 floors, with configurations like six or eight units per two elevators.
With the flood reaching the 16th floor, it means that the residents of those sixteen flooded floors in the other four buildings have to cram into the remaining eight floors.
And that’s not even accounting for a second rise in the water level, which might suddenly reach around the 20th floor.
Despite the previous high temperatures and the Blood Mosquito reducing their numbers, a significant amount of survivors are still out there.
You can imagine what the living conditions must be like.
When one’s own area lacks the space to live, naturally people will start to cast their eyes elsewhere.
In the vicinity, there is no better place than Building A.
To say that if even Building A gets flooded, then we could only accept our fate and give up struggling.
Additionally, there’s a ticking time bomb within Building A.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ɴονǤᴑ.ᴄο
That would be Ma Longbiao and his crew, who claim to coexist peacefully with those of us on the 32nd floor, as if it were a different world.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yan asked, “By the way, has that Ma Longbiao been causing any trouble these past couple of days?”
“Not really causing big trouble, they’ve stolen a few rubber dinghies and gathered quite a haul of supplies these last two days. We ran into them last night when we were coming back, although they didn’t see you, they still seem wary of us,” Su Dai said, covering her mouth to yawn.
Jiang Yan just responded with a “Oh.”
Looking at her, with dark circles under her eyes, along with a weary-faced Ye Qing and Sun Jingtao, it was clear they had been searching for supplies night and day these past few days.
Their sense of crisis was no less than her own.
Time was about right, and she had gotten the gist of the situation, so Jiang Yan also got up to take her leave.
“Jiang Yan, wait a moment,” Su Dai began and stood up to go to the television cabinet, carrying over a big shopping bag for Jiang Yan,
“We’ve found some things these past few days, and you should find them useful, so I’m sharing some with you. I’ll help you carry the alcohol stove and the alcohol over, too.
Oh, and these two small bags of roasted rice and roasted flour, I was worried about the recent damp weather causing the rice and flour to mold, so I slow-roasted them on low heat. You can eat them directly or add a little water to avoid overheating, very convenient.”
As she spoke, Su Dai took out two bags of toasted rice and flour, sealed in plastic bags and golden brown in color.
The aroma was even detectable through the bag.
The shopping bag also contained a vacuum-packed bag of Small Rice, some garlic peanuts and red-skinned sunflower seeds, several bags of dried beef strips, a few bags of pickled chicken feet, a pile of instant noodles of various flavors, and a few packs of sanitary pads and the like.
It was clear that Su Dai had put thought into it.
“How can I accept this…” Jiang Yan felt somewhat embarrassed.
Although she didn’t lack anything, it seemed inappropriate to accept the hard-earned items of the trio.
But to refuse would seem odd as well.
After all, she and Su Dai had a rapport, but it was still necessary to maintain a guarded mindset.
“No need to feel embarrassed. We have plenty more,” Su Dai said casually with a laugh, firmly handing the shopping bag over to her.
“Then I’ll have to thank you. I also found some supplies on my recent outing, but ran into a group of people and couldn’t bring everything back, so I hid them. I’ll take you straight to them next time I can go out,” Jiang Yan finally said.
After living this life over again, she didn’t think that anyone was worth making too much of a sacrifice for.
But at the same time, she didn’t want to owe too much to others.
Of course, Su Dai giving her these supplies included a sense of personal obligation.
But from a certain perspective, Jiang Yan, with her gun, provided an absolute deterrent and security for the 32nd floor.
In some ways, the relationship between them was one of mutual cooperation.
For any cooperation, resources had to be exchanged.
Some resources were visible, while others were invisible.
Naturally, it was Su Dai and the others who needed Jiang Yan more.
Jiang Yan understood these principles very well, so she did not try to decline further.
Su Dai, carrying the alcohol and alcohol stove, and Ye Qing, who picked up the official distributed instant noodles and Sausage, helped carry everything to her doorstep before the two of them conscientiously returned to 3204.
Looking at the pile of supplies beside her, Jiang Yan opened the door and took them inside, one by one.
Back home, her whole taut mood finally relaxed.
It was that unmistakable feeling of security.
No wonder they say there’s no place like home.
Looking around the bare living room, she realized that before leaving, she had cleared all the movable supplies into Space.
She didn’t choose to take them out right away.
Looking at the torrential rain outside and the damp, cold house, Jiang Yan felt she needed to make some simple modifications to her home.
According to her memory from her last life, the rain would continue to rise, so it was probably better to live outside than confined in Space.
At least then she would be aware of the situation promptly.
Additionally, she suddenly felt the urge to light a fire in the fireplace; it would seem warmer.
Her house had insulation but felt overly spacious and chilly upon entering, unlike Su Dai’s—despite its clutter, it was much warmer.
Perhaps because 3204 was more lively with people’s presence—there was more ‘yang’ energy.
With a lit fireplace, there was life and yang energy, and the home no longer felt so dreary and damp.
This effect was something air conditioning couldn’t match.
With this in mind, Jiang Yan had a spark of inspiration and took out her bed, placing it in the living room.
She also set up a dining table and chairs and an Imperial Concubine Chair beside the fireplace.
The remaining sofa and TV cabinet were tossed into the bedroom.
Closing the bedroom door reduced the area of the house that needed to be heated, making it easier to warm up.
It wasn’t extremely cold weather yet, so Jiang Yan only used one fireplace.
By the time she had finished tidying the living room and got the fire burning, it was already around four or five in the afternoon.
The rain outside seemed to have eased up and the wind stopped, but the sky grew even more somber.
Her view was filled with thick, ink-like storm clouds.
People, scattered, were making their way back on the water.
Some wore life rings, placing supplies on foam boards.
There were a few rubber dinghies and even makeshift bamboo rafts.
Without exception, the supplies on them were quite abundant.
Two had already made their way into Shallow Bay District, looking like they were from Buildings C and B.
Just as Jiang Yan went to close the curtains, a clatter of white, crackling hail suddenly fell from the sky.
Some hit the windowsill, Jiang Yan glanced casually and suddenly held her breath.
The hailstones were as big as eggs!
Some were even the size of fists—absurdly large!
At this moment, the hailstones, thick and fast, pummeled the water like large, hard bullets.
Yells, screams, and wails came faintly from below as most people had no time to find shelter before being battered bloody by the colossal hailstones raining down from above.