NOVPUBChapter 89: Chapter 89: Water Shortage
Chapter 89 -89: Water Shortage
At the door, just as Squad Leader Fang came out to pick up potatoes, he heard what his daughter had said about the recent events. Knowing that Gu Pan and the others wouldn’t steal their supplies and that the potatoes must still be there, he came out.
Upon seeing Gu Pan and the others, Squad Leader Fang was the first to speak, “I’m sorry about the incident with Lanlan just now.”
Lu Ruisheng said, “Squad Leader Fang, we shouldn’t have laughed just now. It was our mistake.”
Squad Leader Fang quickly waved his hand, “No, no, it’s not like that. Although Lanlan is introverted, she knows what’s going on. She wouldn’t have come back to tell me if it was mockery. She said she likes you all, and she was particularly moved by the thing Xiao Gu gave her last time. She wanted me to thank you. She’s just afraid of meeting strangers.”
Right then, Cheng Yang saw Fang Lanlan peeking out from beneath a window sill in the house. He waved a potato at her, “I picked this up for you.”
Fang Lanlan quickly hid below the window sill again, but unexpectedly, she spoke out, “Thank you.”
Her thanks was not just for returning their supplies, but also for respecting her. Many people had laughed at her, always mockingly, and no one had come to apologize for it before. She knew these were good people, those who respected others. She was grateful for the thing Gu Pan had given her before but just didn’t know how to interact with people.
Her thank you at that moment included a lot, truly being spoken with the greatest courage she could muster, directed at everyone outside.
Squad Leader Fang was also surprised, “She’s speaking to others, this is Xiao Cheng, right? Could you speak to her again?”
At that moment, Cheng Yang was a bit nervous, not anticipating that his words would elicit a response from Fang Lanlan. He asked Fang Lanlan again, “Do you prefer rainbow candy or mint candy?”
After a while, Fang Lanlan’s voice came out, “Rainbow candy, rainbow candy is pretty.”
Squad Leader Fang was as happy as could be, “Look at this, who would have thought, she talked to Xiao Cheng. Next time you pass by our place, and if you have time, could you speak a word with her, okay?”
Cheng Yang looked at Gu Pan.
Gu Pan nodded, “It’s no big deal, just a greeting when passing by.”
Cheng Yang agreed, “Alright, then I’ll talk to her when I pass by.” Cheng Yang handed the potatoes to Squad Leader Fang and took a box of rainbow candy out of his pocket, passing it along as well.
Squad Leader Fang thanked them.
After exchanging pleasantries, Gu Pan and the others said their goodbyes and left.
On their way up the mountain, Cheng Yang hummed a song, feeling delighted because he was that special someone.
Everyone then talked about it, if they pass by the Fang family, they would say a word to Fang Lanlan. Although being introverted is not a bad thing, it would not be good if Squad Leader Fang was the only one in her life. With the unpredictability of the apocalypse, if she were left alone one day, she shouldn’t be completely unable to communicate with others.
It was a bit of meddling, but on one hand, Squad Leader Fang and Lu Ruisheng were comrades-in-arms, and on the other, it wasn’t something intentional, just a matter of saying hello when passing by.
They went to fetch water, then returned. Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng didn’t drink this water, still drinking the clean water from the Space, but they still had to bring some back, otherwise, others might become suspicious of them.
When they returned, the sky was gradually darkening. Once home, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng sat in the room with the air cooler on, feeling revived after sweating profusely from the outing.
Now they had a water source, but nobody outside their community knew about it. So fetching water had become quite a varied affair.
Most people went to a distant river to fetch water and boil it for consumption, but the water level in the river was dropping every day, and many people went there, not just them but also people from inside the city.
But Gu Pan and her group knew they couldn’t play the Holy Mother; the water source couldn’t be told to others. Otherwise, word would spread, and the place would be contaminated, potentially leaving their own without water to use.
That evening, they went out again to search for supplies, leaving Cheng Yang and Chen Lang to watch the house. The two were young, so it was even more necessary to train them comprehensively. They couldn’t always be active outside; they had to learn some techniques to guard their base too.
Today, Gu Pan and her group ventured far but didn’t acquire much, finding only some gasoline, which meant their trip hadn’t been in vain.
They returned home early and didn’t go straight to sleep. Once it was quiet outside, they sneaked out to see how a few friends in the city were doing, and to bring them some supplies.
Once they were in a deserted area, Gu Pan took a motorcycle out of the Space. Motorcycles were flexible and fuel-efficient. Besides, with the temperature, riding a motorcycle with the natural wind felt pretty good.
The two rode the motorcycle, and since they were close to Shi Liang’s place, they went there first. People were active at night these days, so the second-hand dealers at Shi Liang’s area would probably still be at the mental hospital’s gate.
The two parked the motorcycle at a distance and put it back in the Space before walking over.
From a distance, they saw the busy trading post. It was as crowded as during the extreme cold, with no lights but candles or kerosene lamps burning. From afar, it resembled something from ancient times.
The moment they walked up, Shi Liang saw them and ran over, “Sister, brother-in-law, are you guys alright? I’m so glad to see you again.” 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Gu Pan smiled, “We’re fine. We were attacked and had to move away, so we haven’t been around because of the distance.”
Shi Liang eyed them worriedly, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Lu Ruisheng also smiled, “We’re fine, no injuries. We just didn’t want to contact too many people because of the epidemic, so we stayed away.”
Relieved, Shi Liang said, “That’s good. I’m glad you told me how to protect myself against the plague, and you gave us so many masks. That’s how we survived this disaster safely.”
Afterward, Shi Liang sighed, “I thought everything would get better after the plague ended, but now it’s scorchingly hot.”
Gu Pan said, “Yeah, this apocalypse doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon, so you need to be ready for the long haul. What do you lack now?”
Shi Liang replied, “Water. I have to go to the river outside the city every day. There are a few deep wells in the city, but they’ve all been taken over. Us ordinary folks just go to the river to fetch water and boil it for use.”
Gu Pan said, “We’ve brought some supplies for you and Deng Fang. Let’s go to your house.”
Shi Liang nodded, “Okay, I’ll just let my friend know, in case a regular customer shows up.”
Gu Pan agreed, waiting for Shi Liang to finish talking to his friend before they all headed to his house together.
As they walked, Shi Liang also talked about the current scarcity of supplies and then, with a hint of intrigue, asked Gu Pan, “Sister, do you still want gold? It’s cheap these days. Everyone’s desperate for food, and these luxuries, like gold and jewelry, are getting less and less valuable.”
Gu Pan was thrilled, “Yes, yes, what’s the exchange rate now? I’ll exchange some in a bit.”
Shi Liang, happy to help Gu Pan, said, “Alright, sister.”
