bookpower Chapter 96: Sorry, Not for Rent or Loan
Chapter 96: Sorry, Not for Rent or Loan
Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Sorry, Not for Rent or Loan
Jiang Yan’s rubber dinghy stopped about a kilometer away from Shallow Bay.
The raindrops grew larger, and visibility around visibly decreased significantly.
As usual, she took out her telescope for a quick look.
At the stairwell window of the 16th floor, people crowded with buckets and bags of rice in their hands.
Apparently, they had been leaning out the window for quite some time; everyone’s hair and clothes were soaking wet.
There were also two boys, around eleven or twelve years old, with dark, thin faces tinted with highland red—probably from the cold.
...
In the water outside the window and around the building, originally leaning toward the street, there were specks of people everywhere.
Only those people were wearing life jackets and tires, and some wore nothing at all, baring their arms and legs to the cold water and garbage without care.
There were those acting alone.
And groups of seven or eight, their hands beneath the water’s surface, bodies arranged in a U-shape, as if collaborating to catch something.
The other four buildings had similar scenes.
Not far in front of one U-shaped net, a hand suddenly emerged from the water, fingers clenched into a fist as a signal.
“Close the net!” someone from the U-shape formation shouted.
Hearing the command, the crowd quickly converged and started to tighten the sheet with dense tiny holes that had been sank underwater.
Jiang Yan realized in a second, it was very likely that they had found a trace of fish here, and there were plenty of them.
They had resorted to using sheets and mosquito nets, sewn together to make fishing nets, capturing fish with the most primitive methods.
It seemed that there was also quite a density of fish here.
Though the water quality near the residential area was unspeakable, compared to eating mutated leeches, fish were obviously much tastier and more acceptable to people.
If it wasn’t for the subsequent rainstorms that were to be even more terrifying, and the best plan being to return to her home on the 32nd floor, she might have even considered turning back.
After watching for a while, the rain intensified, but those people showed no signs of heading home.
A man beside her with naturally curly hair joked:
“Ah, I reckon, Old Zhang, you’re just making excuses to chat up the beauty because you can’t take your eyes off her. The official boats are coming to pick us up tomorrow, why rent a rubber dinghy! And for one thousand yuan in cash, you’re really burning money, huh?!”
“Now what’s the time, money has long become worthless! This Old Zhang is just tricking the young lady, huh!” Another person chimed in.
The man called Old Zhang did not get angry or anxious but scoffed at the curly-haired man:
“Ha, Old Niu, by your reasoning, you should be lying snugly at home waiting for the official boat tomorrow instead of competing with us over fish! Is it because the warm bed with your wife isn’t comfortable enough or the water isn’t cold or smelly enough for you?!”
Jiang Yan’s paddling paused.
The official boats have already come?
Yet they didn’t take people away—was it due to limited transport capacity?
Or was it like Qi Mengnan, who just made announcements with a loudspeaker but nothing more?
Old Niu laughed awkwardly, “Ahem, I just saw you guys catching fish and it looked fun. I couldn’t stay put at home! Darn it, staying at home every day these days feels like imprisonment!
At least in prison you get three square meals a day, but at home, it’s feast or famine! Today’s supplies from the officials were not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth!”
Someone nearby sighed, “I think whether the official boats come tomorrow or not, it’s better to be prepared for the worst.
After all, everyone thought the skies would clear for good, but who knew the rain would come again? Let’s hope it doesn’t pour like last time when it was like the heavens had opened—that would be truly disastrous!”
The man in front known as Old Zhang listened to the others’ conversation with a bitter smile and shook his head without replying, but continued to look earnestly at Jiang Yan:
“Beauty, if one thousand yuan is too little for you, why don’t you name your conditions? Anything within Zhang Dalei’s power, I can offer! If not an hour, how about half an hour, what do you say?”
Jiang Yan glanced at him, saying indifferently, “No deal.”
Being rejected again, Old Zhang chuckled awkwardly:
“Come on, young lady, there’s no need to be so stingy, right? And I’m not not paying you! If you’re afraid the rubber dinghy will get damaged, how about I pay double the deposit?”
“Big brother, would you casually rent your wife or car to a stranger?” Jiang Yan responded, having been patient enough with him.
Zhang Dalei choked, “You—”
“Hey, this young lady is really something. A grown man is lowering his face in front of his son to beg you, and yet you’re still so cold-hearted!
You’re quite tough and ruthless,” remarked another man who didn’t mind escalating the situation.