"Everything's already done. Isn't it a bit late to bring this up now?"
"...True."
That was the end of the matter with Yao Zixin. He would only realize how thoughtful Jing Shu had been when the torrential rains came and red nematodes swarmed, and her enormous umbrella ensured no bugs seeped into the house.
Her foresight was seriously impressive; surviving this apocalypse wasn't about luck. Right then, Yao Zixin decided he would stick close to Jing Shu whenever possible.
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes slightly. Sea level rise was predictable. Scientists constantly discussed it, and related departments surely ran frequent tests to make predictions.
So why did so many places get flooded before they could evacuate?
Because Earth now held mysteries beyond the reach of current science. People called it "unscientific," but in reality, sea levels rose at a terrifying rate. From the moment it was noticed to the outbreak of massive floods and torrential storms, it had taken less than a few days.
Flooding came too fast, like a tornado. There was no escaping the storm circle, nowhere to hide, no way to withstand it.
Who could have imagined that after years of only rising five millimeters annually, sea levels would suddenly skyrocket in mere days? The scariest part was that it defied all reason, flooding even the highlands of Africa.
Newton: Physics no longer applies to Earth.
Jing Shu sighed. All she could do now was lead her family safely through the apocalypse and prepare for a year of disasters.
That evening over dinner, Jing Shu voiced her concerns. She didn't expect her entire family to agree. Thankfully, scientists' predictions had been accurate, even if the timing was off. It gave her a good excuse to justify her future actions.
Wu You'ai was the first to support her. "My mentor said this too. Extreme conditions will reverse. Heavy rain is inevitable, and floods will hit the entire country. It's only a matter of time."
"That makes sense. Scientists have data to back it up. We must prepare," Grandpa Jing agreed.
Su Lanzhi added, "I already dried all the vegetables and fruit. We won't starve, and with ten hours of light daily, the vegetables are thriving."
"We should pack food in advance and be ready to run at any moment. But what about the chickens, ducks, and pigs? We need to figure out how to keep the poultry safe," Grandma Jing said seriously.
Those animals were national treasures now.
Jing Shu nodded in agreement. Even if floods wouldn't reach them here, it was better to prepare than gamble with their lives.
But Grandma Jing treasured the animals so much that if they ever evacuated, she'd insist on bringing them along.
Everyone else would be fleeing for their lives, while their family hauled chickens, ducks, and pigs along. The image was too ridiculous for Jing Shu to picture.
Jing An gave his input on construction. "With days of heavy rain ahead, we need proper drainage. Aside from the collection tanks, we should raise the ground level. Have your grandpa pour sloped cement and dig channels to redirect excess water toward the back hill."
Everyone contributed suggestions in their own way.
Jing Shu finally "acted out her role," mentioning another stash of supplies hidden upstairs.
"Besides that, I'm planning to get umbrellas, raincoats, life vests, and inflatable boats."
Of course, her preparations were far more thorough. To prevent red nematodes from jumping onto them, she'd bought full-body rain gear: rain boots fused to pants, pants fused to a coat with a hood, and a visor for visibility. Everything else was sealed.
Ugly or not, it was better than her last life, when she had to wrap herself in plastic bags. Even then, nematodes still wriggled into her collar and every crevice. Sometimes they clung to her skin like strands of hair, itching unbearably. If they hopped, it felt like someone scratching her.
She had also stocked both old-fashioned life vests and new automatic inflatable ones.
The new ones looked like bracelets. The moment they hit water, they would inflate and lift the wearer to the surface.
Grandma Jing even asked how many of those new vests they had, insisting they put one on every bird. If a flood came, they'd tie themselves and the poultry together so none would be lost.
Jing Shu: "..."
The next day, Grandpa Jing mixed the last bags of cement and paved a sloped ring around the villa, raising the ground level for better drainage. He even elevated the small coal shed behind the villa because wet coal would be impossible to burn.
Jing Shu wasn't idle either. She dug drainage channels behind the villa to keep floodwaters from pooling around the house. Three or four days of rain could flood up to their ankles, and months of rain could submerge them entirely if they didn't manage the water.
While she was busy preparing, Niu Mou called unexpectedly. Yang Yang had sent a message: the item Jing Shu ordered had arrived. It would take about twenty days to reach a Chinese port. She should get ready to pick it up.
Jing Shu was ecstatic.
Finally, it wasn't a one-way trip for nothing!
The RV she'd been dreaming of for months was finally hers. One of the apocalypse's top three luxury items, and now Jing Shu would soon own one.
She did the math. It would arrive in early December.
Location: a port in China. The map showed it was roughly four thousand kilometers away. Before the apocalypse, she could reach it in three or four days via the Lianhuo Expressway.
But now, some highways had been buried under a year's worth of debris. There might also be roadblocks or detours. Without knowing the road conditions, she estimated at least ten days of travel.
If everything went smoothly, she could return before the end of December. If not, she might get caught in the floods.
The timing was really frustrating.
"Jing Shu, Yang Yang also asked me to apologize. The RV's... well, a bit battered. You'll probably need to repair it."
"A bit battered? How bad is 'a bit'?" Jing Shu's face darkened.
"Oh, and Yang Yang said he found a way to make it up to you. He got in touch with people from Hengda Logistics—government staff, trustworthy. They'll be hauling supplies from the port soon, and they can bring your RV back too. You'll just need to cover the cost."
Niu Mou's hesitant tone didn't help. He still didn't say how bad the damage was.
Jing Shu had a sinking feeling Yang Yang's "a bit battered" wasn't so simple.
Still, she had been worrying about wasting time traveling to the port and driving it back herself. Now that Yang Yang had arranged transport, it saved her a lot of trouble.