Anyone placed in the Banana Community apartment blocks had owned at least one or two properties in the city before. Cramming a dozen people into one unit was normal. Only the wealthy or powerful could keep a whole place for a single family.
The bare-shell units were crude. Doors had long been pried off and traded for work points. Aside from a single light, there was nothing. No quilts, no clothes. Many had worn the same soaking-wet outfits for days.
This year, give up on dry laundry. Even if you keep off the water for a few days and your clothes finally dry, they'll mold anyway. Between mildewed and wet, pick your poison.
Some people had been assigned to the eighteenth floor. Climbing stairs every day wasn't just trouble, it wasted strength and food.
"Come on, let's check the basement garage."
Banana Community had only one underground level, but because the community was so large, the garage was huge. There were more than four thousand parking spaces, and four thousand families had been placed there. Just the garage beneath Banana Community now housed over ten thousand people.
In this lifetime, Jing Shu once again saw a scene she knew too well from before.
The vast, empty garage had turned into a bustling market. The basements under Buildings No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8 were already packed. With emergency lights installed, you could see shaven heads everywhere, people curled up asleep, some sitting on the ground with empty eyes, others arguing over a single plank.
There were shouters, sobbers, and constant quarrels.
Grandma Jing was frightened by the sight.
A space that used to hold a car now held a "home." In each 8-square-meter slot, six people at most, two at least. A little placard hung at each space with names written on it. For these people, this would be home from now on.
People covered every parking space, so the place felt like a jammed Spring Festival train station. No, worse than that.
Since it was the first day of placement, and most people's homes had been flooded, there were no suitcases and quilts yet, so it didn't look that crowded. Give it time. Couples would want privacy, so they'd hang sheets and prop up planks to wall off their parking spaces, turning them into real "homes." Others would copy them.
Then they'd start scavenging the floodwaters, picking up anything useful. Every slot would slowly fill with junk of every kind. By then, even walking through the garage would be hard. Only then would you feel that this life wasn't fit for humans or dogs.
"They're so pitiful. I can't imagine how anyone sleeps here. Let's go," said Grandma Jing, her interest gone in an instant.
A thousand people sleeping in a cavernous garage meant echoes for days. A single cough rolled far. Add to that all kinds of business people got up to, including the sounds of "continuing the family line" that tormented all the single dogs. With this cold, sleeping was a fantasy.
And this was only the first wave. More would pour in tomorrow. Wu City had four million people before. Even if tens of thousands died, there were still countless left to resettle. What then? With limited housing, you just stuffed them in.
Food and water could be centralized. As for toilets… keep your eyes open. It wasn't quite "gold everywhere," but close. Build as many latrines as you want, they couldn't keep up with the numbers.
Back home, Grandma Jing animatedly recounted what she'd seen. "Tsk tsk, so tragic. Good thing our house didn't flood, and we've got enough food. Otherwise… ay."
Grandpa Jing tapped his pipe. "The water's not receding in the city. It's flooded to two kilometers out already. Let's hope it doesn't creep to us."
Su Lanzhi asked Jing Shu, "Did you find the repairman for the car yet? Our unit didn't flood. I need to get back to work. With all this rain, we have to seize the chance to plant."
That afternoon, she had told Wu You'ai about the situation. Her mentor's home had flooded too, so they were busy moving. They said they'd come by when they had time.
Over dinner, she summarized the day's trouble for Wu You'ai. It scared Wu You'ai and Aunt Jing half to death. Thank goodness nothing happened at home. False alarm.
"Mom, let Dad drive the shark submarine to take you to work first. Hold off on the energy car."
…
That night, Jing Shu practiced with the Rubik's Cube Space as usual. She found she was getting used to the cube's sudden color shifts. With that hurdle cleared, she was one step closer to leveling it up.
She finally had time to work on her two snakes. She released them into the space and started feeding them Spirit Spring, using the chance to build rapport. Once the two five-pace vipers entered the space, they relaxed at once, spirits sharp and lively.
If the Cube Space's first form could simulate the optimal temperature and habitat for any creature, then its second form increased mutual perception, making it easier for her to forge friendly bonds.
The vipers' venom was potent. To strengthen her future trump cards, she decided to grant the two snakes the No. 4 Spirit Spring. Compared with poison bees suddenly buzzing out of nowhere, two snakes slipping out in the dark would go unnoticed. Perfect for ambush.
With ideal warmth and humidity, snakes bred easily. Add Spirit Spring, and a clutch of hatchlings wouldn't take long. She planned to eat a batch, brew some medicinal wine, and save snake gall as a rare tonic.
As for venom extraction, the data suggested drawing once every month or two. With Spirit Spring nourishing them, she set it to once a week and stockpiled it. It would be useful later.
So now, beside No. 1 Xiao Dou and No. 6 horned frog, Jing Shu added No. 4 five-pace viper to her roster.
Sometimes Jing Shu wondered if she should collect the Five Poisons. That would be badass.
…
These flood days dragged on endlessly. Jing Shu hadn't slept well in ages. Tonight, she still didn't sleep. She nearly lost it. Next door, Su Mali's place kept prying and drilling all night. She really wanted to punch someone.
Morning came. She got up with panda eyes. If the construction continued tonight, she wouldn't be polite.
No one had stayed in the villa for days, and without a dehumidifier it had grown damp. Grandma Jing busied herself with the livestock. After breakfast, Jing Shu started dehumidifying every corner. Jing An tossed the dirty clothes into the washer, then ran the dryer.
Su Lanzhi had already gone to work.
Wu You'ai left early too. Banana Community was slated to receive more than twenty Consolation and Counseling Specialists. They would settle everyone first, then reassign in a fresh round.
Jing Lai's workplace also shifted. The Second Unit relocated to the commercial building at Banana Community's gate, so that was where she would be from now on. Ai Jia Supermarket moved to the first floor of the same building.
The Second Unit hauled everything salvageable from the flooded Ai Jia Supermarket, but much had been washed away. They were short on cooking gear. The government had just delivered a batch of coal for meal prep.