CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 83: GOING TO THE COUNTRYSIDE TOGETHER

This snow disaster hasn’t affected the city much due to the presence of several big factories. Every year, the coal and winter supplies are well-prepared. Even if the roads are blocked, they can manage for half a month easily. But the rural towns below are having some trouble. The continuous snowy and rainy weather over the past ten days has first soaked those mud houses with rain, and then crushed them with snow, causing quite a few to collapse.

In such cold weather, when houses collapse, food can’t be moved out, leaving people without food or drink. Some even get injured, definitely needing outside help and rescue.

The five major factories wanted to contribute as well. The factory committee organized some donations in money and supplies, arranged for vehicles and personnel, and was ready to head to the countryside.

Time was short, so Li Huai asked Tian Xiang, who had just started working, to go back and pack her things, inform her family, and return to the factory in the afternoon to join the team heading to the countryside.

Being told to leave as soon as starting work left Tian Xiang a bit stunned.

However, disaster relief focuses on efficiency. Getting there earlier can reduce the people’s losses, allow them to put on warm cotton clothes sooner, and have a full meal sooner.

Tian Xiang quickly rode her bike back home.

Hu Honglian was home. After transferring work to her son, she spent her days buying groceries and gossiping, feeling quite idle.

In the morning, after the family left for work, she headed to the market with her shopping basket, browsed a bit but bought nothing. While chatting with Pan Yuzhen about the market, she saw her daughter return.

"Xiangxiang, what’s up? Isn’t the factory working today?"

Tian Xiang was sweeping the snow off her pant legs with a broom.

"It’s working. I have to join the team to the countryside, came back to pack my things."

"What?"

Hu Honglian was stunned. After Tian Xiang explained the situation clearly, her expression was not very good.

In the small room inside, Hu Honglian asked her daughter softly, "Can’t you pretend to be sick and push this off?"

Tian Xiang looked at her in surprise, "Mom, this is work, disaster relief, it’s a good thing."

Hu Honglian nodded, "I know it’s a good thing; I understand what you said. But Xiangxiang, things like this are not as simple as you think. The snow is so thick outside, let alone disaster relief, just standing out there makes one shiver. It’s fine for men; you young girls can hardly do anything and will end up suffering yourselves."

Hu Honglian looked at her dainty daughter.

Her cherished girl had barely done any house chores growing up, let alone heavy work.

Listening to Hu Honglian, Tian Xiang hesitated a bit.

She mainly feared messing things up and dragging others down.

But...

"Mom, it’s okay, this might be difficult, but you should trust me, I will overcome it."

No worries, she can do it.

Moreover, this disaster relief task is under the Internal Affairs Department.

Currently, the main personnel in the Internal Affairs Department are her and Chen Yong; she couldn’t not go.

Seeing that persuasion didn’t work, Hu Honglian helped her daughter pack her bags, repeatedly reminding her not to show off under such circumstances. In physical work, men are men, women are women; don’t pretend to be a strong ox.

"Mom, I know."

After packing a bag of things, Tian Xiang hurried back to the factory.

Hu Honglian sent her daughter off with a frown.

Pan Yuzhen stepped out into the cold to check the situation. Upon learning that Tian Xiang was going with the team for disaster relief, she shook her head, advising her to be careful.

Back at the factory, while parking her bike, Tian Xiang ran into Meng Cheng’an.

Both were momentarily surprised seeing each other’s bags on their backs.

Meng Cheng’an followed and asked, "You’re going too?"

Tian Xiang didn’t turn her head, giving a faint "Hmm."

The rescue team organized by the Mechanical Factory consisted mostly of union members.

After lunch, Li Huai led the team, with Tian Xiang and Chen Yong present. Meng Cheng’an and Lu Feng were there too, along with representatives from the factory department and committee, and a driver, eight people in total.

A large truck was used to transport the supplies, with Li Huai, as the team leader, sitting in the passenger seat. Tian Xiang and a young girl from the factory committee were arranged in the back.

The remaining men sat in the rear compartment, squeezed in with the supplies.

This task was organized in a hurry, leaving everyone a bit tense. As the truck left the factory gate, the young girl named Cheng Sisi sitting next to Tian Xiang clutched her fists tightly, her fingertips turning white.

Tian Xiang comforted her, "There are so many of us, it’s okay."

The young girl flashed her an embarrassed smile, and they casually chatted for a bit.

Tian Xiang noticed she was unfamiliar and inquired, learning that she had just started working not long ago, currently a minor employee in the factory committee office, handling odds and ends.

No wonder she was arranged to be a representative for disaster relief; she was new and had no firm position in the factory.

The Mechanical Factory arranged a truck, while the four other factories together packed three vehicles. They all set out together with the city rescue team, equipped with shovels and such, digging their way through as they advanced.

Indeed, although the roads in the city were mostly cleared, outside was still a vast white expanse.

The city had arranged for engineering vehicles to clear the roads, but manual help was still needed.

Fortunately, these tasks kept the men busy, allowing the women to stay in the vehicle without having to get out.

With such stops and starts, they finally reached the first town needing rescue by nightfall. They unloaded the supplies to be distributed and stayed overnight there, planning to continue onward the next day.

There was no inn in the town, and with some old houses on the old streets having collapsed, many residents had nowhere to go and absolutely couldn’t accommodate them. Thus, the school classrooms were opened up for them to stay temporarily.

The rescue team arranged by the city prioritized road clearing and supplies distribution, so they didn’t need to help dig out buried supplies.

However, since they were already there, they certainly needed to check on the situation and provide some simple consolations.

Li Huai took a few of the male team members out, while Tian Xiang and Cheng Sisi went to the school canteen, intending to boil water and heat up the dry food prepared by the factory canteen before they set off.

There were more than a dozen women, mostly from the five major factories, with four from the district and city.

Amid the crowd, Tian Xiang spotted Tian Chuying.

Why was she here too?

She was just a regular worker at the textile factory, with no connection to the factory union, how did she end up here?

Could she be a representative from the factory department?

Tian Xiang frowned slightly.

But it didn’t matter. Recently, she and Tian Chuying had almost no interactions; even when they crossed paths, they pretended not to see each other. Whatever she did, it had nothing to do with her.

Tian Chuying also noticed her, glanced at her, but then turned her body to chat with the person next to her, playing the unseen game.

Great, mutual dislike.

Seven or eight units, lining up to boil water and heat food.

Tian Xiang saw so many people, so she let Cheng Sisi queue up while she went to find the town leader who had arranged their stay to borrow a stove.

It wasn’t just about boiling water for meals; they needed heat at night. Otherwise, who could stand such cold weather?

The town leader understood as well, knowing that normal people couldn’t bear such cold. However, there were no stoves, so after some thought, he found an iron rack used for holding boilers for Tian Xiang, and said they could take firewood freely from the canteen.

This time, everyone going on the rescue mission had anticipated spending the night outside, so they had brought pots and kettles for boiling water.

With this iron rack, they could make a fire pit in the classroom.