Sweeping Natural Disasters (席卷天灾)

Chapter 9

By eight in the evening, two deliveries arrived—one truckload contained winter clothing and thick blankets, while the other was full of instant noodles and ham.

Qingqing bought lightweight and warm-down jackets for winter and both down quilts and large cotton quilts. She asked the store to vacuum-compress them, but the store warned that compressing down might damage their insulation properties, so only the cotton quilts were compressed. She placed these items on top of the existing supplies in her space, planning to layer the down items on top once she had all the necessities.

Seeing the instant noodles, Qingqing couldn't resist her mouth-watering. During the sixth year of the apocalypse, while working in a base, she once smelled instant noodles' fragrance on a certain floor. That mixture of artificial fragrances and spices, once synonymous with "unhealthy" and "junk food" before the apocalypse, at that moment, triggered Qingqing's longing and nostalgia.

The scent lingered in her mind for days, and she dreamt of eating instant noodles. At that time, she jokingly calculated their savings with her husband, translating them into instant noodles—it would buy them thirty thousand boxes, each paired with an egg and ham. Thirty thousand boxes would last them several lifetimes. Thinking about it, she amused herself, laughing and then crying.

She tore open a pack, crushed the noodles, poured in the seasoning, shook it vigorously, and quickly ate the entire bag of instant noodles, ordering a milk tea too. While drinking, she decided to stockpile some milk tea. Buying ready-made ones was too expensive, so she planned to purchase the ingredients online and make it herself.

By ten, Qingqing turned off the tap, looking content at the filled water tanks.

The factory's faucet was much faster than her home's; within three hours, she filled two large water tanks. She was certain she'd fill the rest in the coming days. She placed the filled water tanks into her space, locked the warehouse, and drove home.

Qiao Songzhi mentioned she'd checked into the hotel, so Qingqing confirmed it at the reception before heading back home. After an eventful afternoon, the house had changed significantly.

The third anti-theft door was installed at the entrance, and the living room was clean—surely her mother's doing. The underfloor heating in the master and guest rooms was completed, and cement was backfilled for solidification. She checked the house; all the window bars were installed and spotlessly clean—probably her mother's work.

Sitting in the living room, Qingqing felt a moment of confusion before taking a shower. While bathing, she looked at the drain and recalled a time when she went searching for her in-laws in a disaster zone. The flooding was severe, almost trapping her, and rescue personnel brought her back in a kayak. Returning home, the water had reached the second floor. Rainwater flowed in through the window gaps.

As the water level continued rising, sewage backflow became a daily challenge. She used various methods to block the drains, even the toilet. However, the leaks persisted, requiring her to use towels to absorb the water and pour it out of the window.

This damp and foul-smelling life continued for nearly six months until the freezing winter finally solidified the floodwaters. Though she nearly froze in the extreme cold, shivering, she wrapped herself in all the clothes and blankets, huddled in the bathroom, burning chairs for warmth. In the initial days, she didn't dare open doors or windows, fearing instant freezing. When she ran out of fuel, she cautiously ventured out to collect firewood, breaking through the ice layer covering trees.

Thinking too far back, Qingqing dressed while contemplating that sealing the drains now wouldn't work; there was still about a month until the sewage backflow. Life at home would be inconvenient during this time. She decided to buy cement, sand, and stone for home use and mix simple concrete to seal the drains when the time was right.