CHAPTER 164: SORRY FOR THE DISTURBANCE (MONTHLY TICKET EXTRA)

Li Yuetian swore he hadn’t been this excited even on his wedding night. He firmly grasped the bald man’s shoulders, his face lit with joy. "You son of a gun! Aren’t you going to get up there and help? Drag them up here!"

The Shark Submarine revved its engine, battling the floodwaters, but it couldn’t quite make it to shore. Thankfully, Li Yuetian had brought over a dozen police officers with him, and together they managed to pull it up.

As Li Yuetian helped pull the bald man up, he excitedly shook hands with Jing Shu.

"Really, I don’t know how to thank you, Jing Shu! You’ve done a tremendous service! You’re my lifesaver! From now on, if you ever need anything from me, just say the word! Also, I’ll make sure to nominate you for the top commendation for this!"

Good heavens, Li Yuetian thought, recalling his shock and thrill. When he had been busy transferring people from the oil community, his nephew, Li Bailong, had suddenly run up to report that the temporary shelter was full. Jing Shu had moved everyone from the supermarket over! Li Yuetian had been happier than if he’d won five million yuan! He’d never expected such an ordinary-looking family to be capable of such an extraordinary feat. Indeed, one couldn’t judge a book by its cover.

"Then I’ll thank you in advance, Officer Li," Jing Shu said.

Jinglai, who was standing nearby, exclaimed in surprise, "Director? What are you doing here?"

Li Yuetian shoved the bald man forward. "This guy here, calling himself a director, pushes all the work onto others. His directorship should be given to someone else! All the deaths at the supermarket this time are on his head. By the way, I heard your aunt works there as a supervisor and was also a key player in the rescue, wasn’t she?"

Jing Shu narrowed her eyes. Li Yuetian is certainly quick to read the situation, she thought. He’s immediately trying to curry favor. Third Aunt’s promotion and fortune look to be just around the corner.

"Yes, my aunt contributed a great deal," Jing Shu replied. "She was the one who organized everyone to collect wooden planks and basins and make an orderly retreat upstairs. Later, she personally arranged and supervised everything until the very last group was transferred."

"I helped a lot too!" Weiwei suddenly popped up, eager to show off.

Jinglai slapped her again. "You were more of a hindrance, weren’t you? Don’t think I don’t know about those ropes you secretly tied. I just didn’t have the time to deal with you then." Jinglai steeled herself. With such a major incident today, and so many people having drowned at the start, my position probably isn’t secure anymore, she figured.

Li Yuetian waved his hand. "Cuff him." Li Bailong efficiently handcuffed the bald director.

After making his stance clear, Li Yuetian continued, "Your aunt performed admirably. I’ll apply for her to become the Ai Family Supermarket’s director, and I’ll also nominate her for a second-class merit award."

Weiwei covered her face, her mouth agape. It finally hit her—they were divvying up the spoils! Officer Li was deliberately doing Jinglai’s niece a favor!

"S-sorry, sorry for the disturbance." Weiwei ran off crying, realizing her folly in speaking too soon and making a complete fool of herself. From today onward, Jinglai, who used to be her equal, was probably going to leap three ranks and become the boss of the Ai Family Supermarket!

Satisfied, Jing Shu took a still-bemused Jinglai home. Even after they arrived, Jinglai remained somewhat dazed. She had originally planned to work hard for six months to secure a permanent position, then strive for a managerial role within three years, and aim for the director’s seat in five. She’d never imagined she would make such a giant leap. Just one word from him, and it was done?

Watching Jing Shu drive away in the Shark Submarine, Li Yuetian waited until there were no outsiders around before gesturing his nephew over. "Tell me again, in detail, about your visit to her house last time."

Li Bailong scratched his head and began, "...then I helped her catch Wang Zhong, and she gave us a big bunch of Black Fungus. Later, weren’t we instructed to deal with Wang Zhong harshly? She gave us another bag of soybeans. I think this girl is generous. Though she’s ruthless with her enemies, she’s good to her allies. Today further proves she has a good heart..."

「 」

"Well, well, if it isn’t you two little devils! You actually decided to come back, huh?" Mrs. Jing exclaimed. "If your father hadn’t let it slip, I wouldn’t even have known the Ai Family Supermarket was flooded! You’ve got some nerve, daring to go there in that so-called yacht of yours, not a bit afraid of getting lost and not finding your way home!"

"You reckless child, you’ll worry us to death! Don’t you ever do something like this again!" Grandma Jing chimed in, her voice laced with concern.

"As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters. We’re just glad you’re alright," Mr. Jing added, relieved.

"Mom! Jing Shu! Time to eat!" someone called out.

Grandma Jing and Mrs. Jing had been so worried they had made several calls while Jing Shu was out. Only after hearing that Jing Shu had successfully picked everyone up did they finally feel at ease. The whole family was waiting at the door.

Jing Shu and Jinglai took off their raincoats and washed their hands, and then the whole family sat down to eat. They made short work of the meal, quickly polishing off a table full of food.

Mr. Jing had brought back four or five chickens and a pig earlier that day, explaining that the livestock farm was closed for a holiday.

"The Agricultural Department is also shut down," he continued after taking a sip of soup. "I heard the entire city is already flooded. Looking at the current volume of floodwater and the intensity of this rainstorm, it won’t recede anytime soon. It might even get more severe."

"I’m not going to sleep tonight," Mr. Jing declared after finishing a bowl of soup. "I’ll keep watch outside. Who knows if the water will reach this far."

Wu You’ai then said, "I’ve already notified everyone in the group chat that they’ll have to sort out their own meals for the next few days. Also, tonight I’ll get out the keys for the apartments on the upper floors so people can sleep there. Why don’t we move up to the top floor to sleep as well?"

Although Jing Shu knew the water wouldn’t reach this high, she didn’t voice any objections. After all, she understood the principle that peace of mind is priceless. Besides, if history deviated from her memories and this area did flood, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The family quickly agreed to sleep on the top floor of Building 25 that night. It wasn’t just Jingshu’s house; Wu You’ai arranged for dozens of other households to move to the top floor as well.

"The tent I bought the year before last will finally come in handy," Mrs. Jing remarked. "Let’s take the tent over tonight. It still gets quite cold at night."

They didn’t need to bring much that day, just some tents and daily necessities. If they needed anything else, they could always go back downstairs to get it, even though climbing eighteen floors had been a struggle the last time.

The staticky TV screen suddenly crackled. It was 7 p.m. sharp, and the evening news was starting!

As expected, the news reported on major floods occurring in various regions and delivered a grim message to the public:

The sea level was still rising frantically. This meant the day’s flood was merely a light shower in comparison to what was coming.

Various experts also jumped in, some claiming, "See, my previous predictions came true!" while others warned, "The rise in sea levels will inundate at least 30% of the world’s inland areas! Everyone must prepare!"

"As of 6 p.m. today, Hainan Island of our country has been completely submerged. Fortunately, there are no casualties. The entire population was successfully evacuated by the end of last December. Our Huaxia’s Hainan Island was the first to achieve zero casualties in such an island submersion event!"

This news was stunning. Back then, so many people had died during the evacuations, which had faced opposition from countless individuals and had even been carried out twice. But now? How many lives had been saved! It proved that Huaxia’s policy had been the correct one!

"Reports indicated that Japan Island and Indonesia were on the verge of being submerged, with casualties already immeasurable. Despite emergency evacuations having started when the rain began, countless people were still being swallowed by the sea."