But the surroundings were utterly chaotic.
The ball pit was filled with the cries of children, and adults and kids were crawling and pushing everywhere.
Shen Cong forced herself to stay calm and took out her phone, turning on the flashlight.
“Tongtong! Shanshan! Come out!” she shouted again.
Light always brings a sense of safety first.
Seeing Shen Cong do this, many people finally seemed to wake from a daze and turned on their own lights. Gradually, the area became somewhat visible.
At that moment, Shen Xi also rushed in.
She stood in front of her sister, calling their children’s names loudly, but the noise around them was so overwhelming that their voices were quickly drowned out by the crowd.
The two sisters had no choice but to lift their flashlights high, scanning everywhere, hoping the children could see them.
Fortunately, the mall’s emergency lights finally came on.
Dozens of solar-powered emergency lamps lit up like scattered sparks across the floor, instantly dispelling the darkness.
At the same time, staff members raised megaphones and shouted: “Attention, customers! Please remain calm and pay attention to safety! Our staff will come to guide you, please follow instructions and evacuate in an orderly manner.
There are many children on this floor, please take care of your own children. Remain calm, do not shout, do not push, and avoid trampling!”
As the announcements repeated, many floor attendants began moving in organized groups toward the crowd, guiding everyone to start evacuating via the stairs.
The emergency lights were dim and yellowish; you couldn’t even make out the faces of people a few meters away.
But with this light and the staff taking charge, people’s hearts settled, and the panic slowly began to fade.
Finally, Shen Cong found the two siblings huddled together behind the ball pit.
The little pair were clearly terrified, clinging to each other tightly, eyes shut hard, pressed against the farthest wall of the pit.
Tongtong was even shielding his sister with his body, half-standing and pressing Shanshan’s small head against his stomach.
Seeing the siblings like this made Shen Cong’s nose sting.
She and her sister went over, each picking up one child, holding them tightly and protectively in their arms.
The relief of having survived such a scare made them cling to the children’s hands, unwilling to let go for even a moment.
The children’s area was on the ninth floor of the mall, and it would take a long time to descend the stairs, especially with so many adults and children waiting in line.
Tongtong wriggled a little and, embarrassed, said from Shen Cong’s arms, “Auntie, put me down, I can walk myself.”
Shen Cong planted a firm kiss on his cheek and set him down, but she still didn’t dare release the hand she was holding.
From her backpack, she secretly retrieved two pieces of chocolate from her space and popped one into Tongtong’s mouth and one into Shanshan’s, hoping a little sugar would help calm the children’s nerves.
Then she said to her sister, “Give me Shanshan, I’ll hold her. You keep Tongtong.”
“No, I can manage.”
“Don’t argue with me, I’ve got more strength.” Shen Cong said firmly and took her niece from her sister’s arms without waiting for a response.
Shanshan was still frightened. Her lips were pale, her eyes wide, and her expression slightly dazed.
Normally, if scared, she would have resisted being held or started crying immediately, but not this time.
Shen Cong quietly took her father-in-law’s jade formation plate from the space and tucked it inside her shirt against Shanshan’s body.
She held Shanshan tightly so that the little girl’s body pressed against the formation plate.
The wooden box holding the plate was a bit hard, and Shanshan shifted slightly, but then she instinctively pressed herself closer to the plate.
Obviously, the spiritual energy emitted by the formation made her feel comforted.
From the moment the incident began until they exited the mall, forty minutes had passed.
When they finally stepped out onto the plaza, almost everyone let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.
It felt like they had narrowly escaped with their lives.
Shen Cong’s phone immediately rang, it was Gu Kai.
“Where are you?!” he shouted loudly over the phone.
Shen Cong had never heard her husband shout like this before; it was clear he had been terrified.
She quickly reassured him, “It’s okay, we’re safe. We just evacuated the mall, everything’s fine now… Didn’t pick up the call? The signal inside the mall was bad…”
Just as Shen Cong was answering the call, Shen Xi’s phone rang too, Cheng Ru had finally gotten through.
The two of them quickly explained the situation and promised to return home immediately, and only then did the call end.
Fortunately, the power outage hadn’t lasted long and hadn’t really caused any damage.
At least when they went down to the underground parking lot to get the car, everything went smoothly, the electrically controlled barriers even raised normally.
Driving onto the main road and merging with traffic, Shen Cong suddenly laughed. “We just saved on parking fees today.”
Since getting in the car, Shen Xi had been visibly shaken, probably still recalling what had just happened. Her face was even paler than it had been in the mall.
Hearing her sister’s words, Shen Cong was momentarily stunned, then couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You’re thinking about parking fees now? You’ve got a remarkable mindset.”
“What else?” Shen Cong glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “There’s going to be a lot more trouble ahead. Are we supposed to cry every time while holding the kids?”
Tongtong was old enough to understand much of what was said, so Shen Cong couldn’t be too explicit.
Shen Xi, however, understood the meaning, her sister was saying they had to be strong; otherwise, the challenges ahead would only become harder to bear.
She looked at the two children sitting beside her, huddled together, and felt her own resolve slowly harden.
“I understand,” she said solemnly.
Once calm, Shen Cong drove while Shen Xi checked the news on her phone.
They learned that there had indeed been an earthquake, but the epicenter wasn’t in Beining, it was in a small town between Beining and Qingzhou.
This quake was much stronger than the previous 5.1 magnitude tremor at Xishan reaching above magnitude 6.
“No wonder we saw wild boars on the highway yesterday, it was a sign of the earthquake!” Shen Xi exclaimed.
The reason they hadn’t gotten home until midnight the previous night was because of an accident on the highway.
Two wild boars had suddenly run onto the road, causing a chain collision involving three cars, which had held Shen Xi and the others up for several hours.
This morning, Shen Jianyi didn’t forget to nag, saying he’d lived half his life and never knew there were wild boars near Qingzhou!
Who would have thought that just a day later, an earthquake would strike there?
“Congcong, let’s hurry home. I’m getting more and more scared. I feel like disasters are following me wherever I go,” Shen Xi said, practically in shock.
“Don’t overthink it,” Shen Cong comforted her sister. “Disasters aren’t just after you. Right now, whoever goes out, it could happen to them too, because there are just so many.
It all depends on luck, whether you run fast enough. If you get ahead of it, everything’s fine. If not… well, that’s it.”
Shen Xi: “…”
Her sister’s words weren’t comforting at all; they almost made her feel worse.
Although this earthquake didn’t cause much damage in Beining, it was still felt there.
Because the two areas were so close, the government remained on high alert.
Over the next two hours, they received five “government orders” forwarded by the mobile company, all instructing people to protect themselves.
By the time the sisters and the children returned home, the people who had wandered by in the morning were long gone.
Everyone in the family was home except for the four of them.
This quake in Qingzhou was the second after the Xishan earthquake, with less than ten days between the two.
With such frequency and increasing magnitude, everyone couldn’t help but grow anxious.
The two children had been frightened, Shanshan had already fallen asleep on the way home.
Tongtong was holding on, but his little head was drooping bit by bit, clearly on the verge of giving out.
Cheng Ru had originally wanted to feed them, but seeing their state, she said, “Let them sleep first.”
Then she added, “They can sleep in the guest room on the first floor. I’ve already tidied it up.”
The earthquake had clearly scared Mrs. Cheng as well.
Even though she had confidence in the house, she still immediately prepared the only guest room on the first floor so the children could stay there for the time being.
In fact, it wasn’t just Mrs. Cheng, everyone was worried.
The whole afternoon, everyone stayed inside, not daring to go anywhere.
In the afternoon, while it was still early and the sky hadn’t darkened, the loudspeakers in Yingshui Village began blaring.
Even from this far away, the announcements could be heard clearly.
At the same time, the community property management staff walked around with megaphones, repeating the same notice over and over.
They announced that the government had issued a warning: there might be aftershocks tonight, and people were advised to rest outdoors in open spaces and avoid staying indoors unless necessary.
Gradually, people began moving to the central square of the villa area.
They brought mats, picnic blankets, some carried stools or folding chairs; one family even set up a tent, and another simply put up a mosquito net.
People spread out, looking for a spot they liked.
Fortunately, there weren’t many households in this villa area.
Even if everyone came out, they were only scattered around the square in small groups, barely filling half the space.
Shen Cong counted and realized that altogether, there were fewer than ten households.
After dinner, the whole family, eight people, young and old, grabbed the travel tents they had bought earlier and made their way to the square in a grand procession.
They found a suitable spot and set up.
At first, everything felt normal; there was no discomfort.
On the contrary, the children, having never experienced anything like this, were fascinated.
Especially since it was summer vacation, several families had already moved out here in the past few days, likely planning to stay for a while.
For once, the villa area was filled with the sound of children’s laughter and the sight of little ones running and jumping.
By now, Tongtong and Shanshan had already woken up.
At first, the two kids sat quietly next to the adults, but soon they couldn’t stay still.
Across the square, a little boy seemed interested in their tent and ran over, inviting the siblings to play together.
After a short while, the children started having fun, clamoring to play hide-and-seek.
“Don’t run too far!” Shen Xi reminded them, sprayed them with mosquito repellent, and then let them go.
They didn’t stop the children much.
The square was very open; aside from a music fountain in the center, which wasn’t running yet, there were no other buildings.
So nobody was particularly worried.
The children quickly gathered in one spot to play.
Shen Cong and Shen Xi, still tense from the morning’s events, followed them.
A few other parents also came over, standing nearby to watch the children.
With the little ones weaving between them, the adults quickly started to become familiar with each other.
Especially after today’s earthquake, everyone had a shared topic to talk about, and soon they felt very close.
Knowing that for the foreseeable future, her family and the neighbors in the villa might need to look out for each other, Shen Cong wanted everyone to be okay, at least to survive safely.
So she began subtly guiding the conversation.
She first said to Shen Xi, “Sister, I just ordered some food and a few barrels of oil. We’re far from the city, and in case something happens, we should store some supplies at home. Do you want to get some milk powder for Shanshan?”
Shen Xi glanced at her and immediately understood that she was actually speaking to the neighbors.
She nodded. “Yes, get some. Get a bit more. Besides milk powder, stock up on canned food, sausages, instant meals, things everyone can eat.
Sigh, with the situation as it is, we really need to store some supplies at home. Otherwise, I wouldn’t feel at ease. Not just earthquakes, even a power or water outage would be unbearable.”
“Exactly!” Shen Cong echoed enthusiastically.
“Today at the mall scared me to death. At that moment, I thought, I should buy enough to last three to five months, maybe half a year to a year!
I really don’t want to go out at all. If something like today happens again, I’d die of fright.”
The two sisters spoke in harmony, immediately capturing everyone’s attention.
The people who had been sitting idly around the square began to gather around.
Hearing about Shen Cong and Shen Xi’s experience being trapped in the mall, the neighbors were instantly curious.
They asked detailed questions, wanting to know everything.
Shen Cong answered every question patiently, without the slightest sign of irritation.
Of course, she also used this opportunity to subtly convey her own thoughts to the neighbors, repeatedly hinting that they should stock up on supplies and stay alert.
Shen Xi cooperated with her, talking about the volcano in Country C and sharing her own subsequent fears.
In short, after the two sisters’ dramatic recounting, everyone nodded in agreement. Some immediately took out their phones and started placing orders.
Others discussed plans to go out shopping together once daylight came.
That night, there were no aftershocks, but a heavy rain fell in the middle of the night.
People left in the square scattered in panic, running as fast as they could, though some slower ones ended up soaked through.
The rain stopped before dawn, and the long-standing heat in Beining was greatly alleviated by the downpour.
The air carried a rare, refreshing coolness.
After last night’s community gathering, the neighbors had become familiar with one another, greeting each other as they walked along the paths.
Some, just as they had said the night before, got up early and drove together to the city to purchase supplies.
Others, once the initial excitement passed, treated it all lightly and stayed home to enjoy the morning coolness, sleeping in.
The Shen family, however, was all awake, except for the children.
After breakfast, Gu Kai was the first to suggest going out to buy more gasoline.
Shen Cong disagreed.
“The situation is still uncertain. Even if it seems fine now, who knows what might happen next?
I had no idea about this earthquake beforehand.
I can’t remember if it’s because I was already in Nan’an and wasn’t paying attention here, or if it simply hadn’t happened yet.
But I lean toward the latter. After all, if I had known there was an earthquake here at home, I wouldn’t have no memory of it at all.”
Although Shen Cong appeared calm in front of her sister and the children during yesterday’s earthquake, in reality, she was quite worried.
She racked her brain to recall, but couldn’t remember anything similar happening in her previous life.
And it wasn’t just this one incident, she had no memory of the earlier earthquake near Xishan County either.
This forced her to consider whether the timing of natural disasters in this life might have shifted.
Could it be coming earlier?
The sudden uncertainty made her anxious.
At this moment, she only hoped that her whole family could stay together, safe and sound, without any mishaps.
There weren’t many days left anyway, and compared with safety, gasoline and other supplies didn’t matter.
The resources in the space were already more than enough.
Gu Kai understood his wife’s feelings, but he still wanted to insist on his own plan.
“I’m not going far, just a quick run to the nearby gas stations. We should stock up on gasoline while we can. Even if we don’t drive, the farm machines will need it.”
Because they would be growing crops later, Shen Jianyi had bought several agricultural machines, rice mills, threshers, and the like, for home use.
To be safe, some of them were dual-fuel, running on both electricity and gasoline, so gasoline was truly essential.
Seeing Shen Cong still hesitating, Shen Jianyi grew impatient.
“I’m not going far, just a quick loop nearby. Xiao Kai and I will go together, bring extra containers, fill as much as we can. If we can’t, that’s fine. Just this once, no more trips after this.”
With her father speaking so decisively, Shen Cong had nothing more to argue.
After a short while, the children woke up.
After several days of traveling, being frightened, adjusting to a new environment, and jet lag, Shanshan was the first to break down.
She barely ate before vomiting everything out, then developed a fever.
In a short time, her little face was flushed red, and she became irritable, quietly crying, clinging to her mother and refusing to let go.
The little one felt like a burning coal, Shen Xi’s clothes were soaked in sweat after only a few minutes of holding her.
Tongtong, being older, tried to act like a responsible big brother. Even though he wasn’t feeling well, he forced himself to endure.
But seeing his limp, miserable little form only made everyone’s hearts ache more.
The children’s illness scared the whole family terribly.
What time was it? They couldn’t even leave the house, how could they casually go to a hospital?
Cheng Ru quickly went upstairs to call down Old Master Gu.
Gu Zhengchu hadn’t been going out much lately and hadn’t really been involved in the family affairs.
He was fully focused on studying that book.
Especially after Shen Cong’s space upgraded twice in a row, the whole family realized just how extraordinary that book was, which also gave him a boost of encouragement.
The entire family supported Old Master Gu’s approach.
Everyone felt that as long as things were still normal, it was a good opportunity to research and figure out more techniques, just in case, having extra survival tools could be crucial.
So no one disturbed him, and they even tried to provide him with as quiet an environment as possible.
But now that the children weren’t feeling well, it was naturally his turn to step in.
Although Old Master Gu wasn’t a pediatric specialist, such minor illnesses were nothing to him.
He flipped up the children’s eyelids, checked their tongues, didn’t even check their pulses, and said, “They were frightened and have a little indigestion. I’ll just give them a push, no need for medicine.”
Everyone trusted his professional judgment.
They quickly followed his instructions, changed the children into comfortable clothes, and placed them on the bed in the bedroom.
The old man skillfully cleared Shanshan’s “[1]“Tianhe water” (天河水) is a term from traditional Chinese pediatric massage (小儿推拿). It doesn’t literally mean water. It refers to a specific line or area on a child’s arm used in … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1850054_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1850054_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Tianhe water,” then began gently massaging and kneading her head.
At first, because she wasn’t familiar with him, Shanshan was scared.
But when facing children, Old Master Gu’s demeanor was completely different from his usual sternness.
He looked kind and approachable.
His hands were gentle and warm, his voice soft and calm, and in just a few words, he had already won Shanshan over.
Even when he placed his hand on her head, she didn’t resist at all.
His technique was impeccable; after a round of massage, Shanshan’s complexion visibly improved, and her nose was starting to glisten with a slight sweat.
Feeling comfortable, she stopped fussing and soon fell asleep.
As for Tongtong, the old man glanced at him and said, “He’s overeaten and has some indigestion. Tonight, just give him some greens, skip the meat buns.”
His words made the little boy’s face instantly fall.
Last night, after meeting some new friends, Tongtong had been running around wildly outside.
After running around such a big circle, by nine o’clock Tongtong was clutching his stomach and constantly shouting that he was hungry.
At that time, everyone was still out in the square, so it wasn’t convenient to go home and heat up his food.
Shen Cong went for a quick walk and then took a box of buns from the space for him to eat.
The adults had thought he’d just nibble a few bites to tide him over, but to their surprise, the little guy ate the entire box in one go.
There were four large meat buns neatly packed in the container!
So, having indigestion was completely normal.
Old Master Gu had Tongtong lie down and first used his palms to rub his stomach clockwise and counterclockwise three hundred times each. He massaged until the little guy’s stomach gurgled, and he hummed contentedly.
Then the old man had him turn over and began doing spinal kneading.
Growing up abroad, the little boy had never experienced this before.
The moment it started, all his previously feigned composure vanished. He started grimacing, twisting his whole body, wriggling like ants crawling over him, humming and whining.
Even the adults standing nearby couldn’t help but laugh.
After a full round of massage, the old man’s forehead was dotted with sweat.
Shen Cong quickly handed him the white tea she had prepared earlier.
Old Master Gu took a sip, looked at Tongtong, and asked, “Feeling better now?”
The little boy was too shy to answer.
He quietly glanced at the old man, then climbed up to his mother’s ear and whispered, “Very comfortable. This grandpa is really amazing.”
He thought he was speaking softly, but everyone in the room heard him, and once again, laughter filled the space.
With two children in the house, the atmosphere changed completely; it suddenly felt so lively.
That lingering gloom that had weighed on everyone’s minds was lifted by these innocent words, no longer feeling oppressive.
The relaxed mood made everyone unwilling to move; they all just stayed and chatted together.
With so many adults around, the children felt secure, and before long, both of them fell asleep, even starting to snore softly.
Just then, Shen Cong’s phone suddenly rang.
She quickly picked it up, careful not to let the ringtone wake the children.
It wasn’t until the person on the other end began speaking that she realized it was Cheng Ran calling.
“Sis, did the earthquake in Qingzhou affect you at all? Is everyone at home okay?” Cheng Ran asked urgently, without any small talk.
“We’re fine, don’t worry. Everything at home is fine. We’re all okay, don’t worry about us,” Shen Cong replied quickly.
“That’s good,” Cheng Ran said, sounding like she was finally letting out a breath.
But then she called “Sis” again, and her voice was clearly trembling with tears.
She said, “Sis, Wei Yan is in Qingzhou. He just called and said it’s really bad there. He said the earthquake there is definitely stronger than a magnitude six, the previous assessment was too low. Wei Yan told me to warn you to be extremely careful. Don’t take this lightly. Stay safe!
He also said that if you can, try to get somewhere safe, because Beining is really close to Qingzhou and safety isn’t guaranteed.
He said that if it’s not safe, you shouldn’t stay in Beining at all. Experts say there could be more earthquakes afterward.”
At this point, Cheng Ran began crying. “Sis, you, Aunt, Uncle, and brother-in-law, everyone come to the capital! My dad said you should all come immediately, don’t stay at home. Our family has to be safe, we absolutely can’t have anything happen!”
The moment Shen Cong picked up the phone, everyone in the room had gone silent.
Cheng Ran didn’t lower her voice either.
So even without a speakerphone, everyone could hear clearly what she was saying.
Old Master Gu was the first to stand.
He grabbed his phone and began calling his son.
Cheng Ru’s face turned pale as she turned and ran outside, obviously to grab her phone and call her husband.
Shen Xi had already stood next to her sister.
Shen Cong knew that her cousin’s crying like this was partly out of genuine worry for their family, and partly concern for her husband.
But that also underscored just how serious the situation was.
Wei Yan works at headquarters. The fact that the military at headquarters had been mobilized for earthquake relief was enough to show that this was no minor disaster.
In such a tense and dangerous situation, Wei Yan still made time to call home, which further indicated that the earthquake was far from over, there could still be stronger aftershocks, or even a second or third major quake.
Could it be that this time, the earthquake isn’t starting from the coastal regions, but from around Beining?
Shen Cong’s heart sank to its lowest point.
But her cousin was still crying on the other end, and through the phone she could hear her uncle and aunt trying to speak over each other. Shen Cong knew she didn’t have time to dwell on thoughts.
She quickly said to her cousin, “Ranran, don’t worry. We’ll be fine here. The house was recently renovated, all reinforced, it’s really solid!
Don’t worry, we’re taking this seriously and will be careful. The government is also requiring everyone to sleep in the open square tonight, not inside. Tell your uncle and aunt not to worry.
We won’t come to the capital. The road would be rough, and who knows if the trains are even running?
Everyone at home, from the elderly to the little ones… oh, and Xixi is back with her kids too. Now there are eight of us at home; it really isn’t suitable to go out.”
Shen Cong comforted her cousin at length over the phone, then spoke briefly with the uncle who had managed to grab the phone.
She reassured them repeatedly, promised to stay safe, and only after quite a while did the call finally end.
By now, Gu Zhengchu and Cheng Ru had already told Gu Kai and the others the news.
The father and son-in-law immediately agreed to return home.
Shen Cong and Shen Xi quickly began preparing things to take outside.
It was clear they couldn’t stay in the house.
Even though they knew perfectly well how sturdy the house was, they didn’t dare take chances.
Moreover, the government would certainly insist on gathering people in open spaces again, so they had to follow the crowd and not act out of line.
Since they would be sleeping outside, they had to prepare more: bedding, mats, items to keep dry and protect against mosquitoes, plus food and drink for the whole family.
With outsiders around, none of these things could stay in the space, they had to be taken out beforehand and carried over.
After preparing all of this, Shen Cong took a large backpack from the space.
She opened it and pulled out eight foldable safety helmets of various sizes.
Shen Xi took them, flipping through them in amazement.
“Wow, what have you prepared? This is so complete! I’ve never even seen these before, they’re really delicate.”
Shen Cong didn’t share her sister’s excitement, she could tell immediately that her sister had never truly experienced a major disaster.
A little scare sent her into a panic, but when it came to a real catastrophe, she lacked vigilance.
It was probably because she hadn’t been through it before, so she couldn’t truly empathize.
Shen Cong’s heart felt heavy, but she didn’t want to let this anxiety spread to everyone else.
She let her sister continue curiously flipping through the helmets while she went outside to inspect potential safety hazards around the house.
All doors were locked, windows tightly shut, water and electricity cut off above the second floor.
Supplies were all stored in the space, and fragile furniture and appliances were put away…
After checking the whole house, aside from the first-floor living room, kept as a display area, and the bedroom they were currently using, the entire house was practically emptied.
“Wind’s picking up!” Cheng Ru suddenly said.
Everyone looked out the window and realized the wind was already howling.
Dark clouds blocked the sun, turning half the sky gray-black, and in an instant the room grew dim.
“Why is the wind so strong?”
“Quick, close the windows!”
“My clothes got blown away!”
“Mom, a tree fell outside!”
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
Even from behind the courtyard wall, they could hear neighbors shouting, objects being knocked over and slammed into buildings with loud clanging noises.
“Dad, when did Gu Kai say they’ll be back?” Shen Cong asked anxiously.
“Soon, they should be close.” Seeing the ferocious wind, Gu Zhengchu was a little flustered himself.
He couldn’t sit still inside, pacing over to the living room and peering out the window.
But with the two-meter-high courtyard wall, what could he really see?
“I’m going to bring the cars inside, the wind looks dangerous,” Shen Cong said, heading for the door.
“Come back!”
Gu Zhengchu grabbed her roughly, shouting angrily, “Why are you running out in this wind?! What’s more important, the cars or your life?! Don’t let the wind blow you away!”
Shen Cong quickly lifted the fire rope she had somehow already grabbed in her hand and showed it to her father-in-law. “Dad, I’m prepared. Before I go out, I’ll secure myself. Don’t worry, I won’t get blown away.”
Seeing that her daughter-in-law had taken precautions, Gu Zhengchu’s expression softened slightly.
Still, he wasn’t at ease. “I’ll go with you.”
Shen Cong sighed and tied one end of the fire rope around her waist, handing the other end to her father-in-law. “Dad, don’t come. Secure this end somewhere and hold it tight for me.”
She then took a fully enclosed electric bike helmet from the space and strapped it onto her head before carefully heading toward the door.
The rope was fifty meters long. Gu Zhengchu quickly fastened the other end to the window railing, picked up the slack, and held it firmly, slowly feeding it out little by little as Shen Cong advanced.
Seeing this, Cheng Ru and Shen Xi also ran over and joined them by the rope.
The wind was really strong.
Shen Cong had never seen a tornado before and had no idea what one looked like. She thought this must be close enough.
The moment she stepped outside, the wind immediately pushed her from side to side.
If she hadn’t been cautious, clinging tightly to the wall, and if her father-in-law hadn’t held the rope taut, she might have really been knocked down.
Through the helmet, she could barely see anything outside and had to feel her way forward.
Facing the wind head-on, her pace was slow.
From the moment she stepped out of the house, through the small courtyard, and out to the parking space, a distance of just twenty meters, Shen Cong felt like it took forever to get there.
Several times along the way, when the fierce wind blew at her, she had to stop and press her body tightly against the wall to shield herself.
Finally reaching the cars, she quickly moved both her own and her father-in-law’s vehicles into the space.
Outside, there wasn’t a soul in sight, not even a rat, and the overcast, darkened sky made the security cameras useless.
Besides their own cameras, the neighborhood had no surveillance at all.
So Shen Cong didn’t bother hiding; there was simply no way anyone could see her.
The rope at her waist was tugged sharply a few times, her family was probably worried because she had been outside so long.
Shen Cong tugged back on the rope twice to signal that she understood, then slowly turned to head back along the same path.
As she turned, she couldn’t help glancing toward the driveway, hoping to see the two familiar cars.
After making the round trip, her worry only grew.
With winds this strong, where exactly were Dad and Gu Kai stuck? Could they be in danger?
The more she thought about it, the more her heart fluttered with unease.
References[+]