424: Chapter 2 The Tiann Street in the Storm 424: Chapter 2 The Tiann Street in the Storm In July in Tiann City, the torrential rain was incessant.
By the end of the first weekend, nearly a third of Tiann City had been subrged in a vast expanse of water.
The old city district fared slightly better, after all, it had been like this for hundreds of years, and the people of Old Tiann had long grown accustod to coexisting with the floods.
But for the newly expanded and constructed areas of the city, it was not so welcoming—in fact, it could be described as a tragedy.
The wasteland hadn’t been developed not because the ancient people lacked wisdom, but property developers, with their minds filled only with money, often overlooked the historical problems in the face of cheap land prices.
Qinghe Middle School was a pri example of this.
When the school was initially invested in, the appeal was the cheap land.
Why was it cheap?
Because it was a depression, surrounded by swamps, and even in the relatively low-lying Nantong District, it was one of the lowest grades.
No one except the desperately poor, who couldn’t even afford a single pair of trousers for the whole family, would want to settle a business in such a place.
The advantage gained from building the school cheaply now had to be paid back.
Wearing rain boots and holding an umbrella, Li Mumu walked downstairs and saw Principal Zhou standing at the doorway, hands clasped behind his back, heaving sighs of despair.
Many boarding students were using mops and large brooms to clear mud and water on the first floor.
These were kids just like Wang Yunxiao, who had lost their families in the war two years ago and ended up on the streets.
This school was their last ho.
Catching loach in the school classrooms was a joy few could experience, and one could even find foot-long carp and the foolishly behaving catfish.
It was said that decent, wealthy families wouldn’t eat catfish, because catfish would eat anything; their at was filthy and stank.
But for the children of the poor, such words were no different from a fart.
Anything that didn’t kill them was fair ga, not just catfish—even grasshoppers and earthworms could end up in their mouths.
Seeing them unworried about their hands and feet covered with sludge and wearing happy smiles on their faces, chasing and frolicking with loaches without a care in the world made Li Mumu feel sowhat out of place with her clean clothes.
The only other clean person on the scene was Principal Zhou, whose long robe was always immaculate, regardless of the occasion, and even his leather shoes shone brightly.
Just by his attire, outsiders would find it hard to associate him with this rundown school.
“Miss…
Miss…
Ah—!”
Jiang Yinyin, holding a parcel, staggered down the stairs, nearly slipping on the water at the bottom step and almost tumbling, letting out a sharp cry and desperately grabbing onto the railing beside her.
Hearing the noise, Principal Zhou turned around, saw Li Mumu, and raised an eyebrow to ask, “Going to the hospital?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Li Mumu quickly nodded and said, “I saw the sky had cleared up a bit, so I thought I’d go out for a while.
I’ll stop by the hospital first, and then chase up the bedding issue.”
The speed of logistics at that ti was worlds apart from what it would be in the future, even within the sa city, one couldn’t expect next-day delivery service.
Taking the opportunity of knowing the nuns from the Church, Li Mumu had directly ordered a batch of bedding from the cotton mill, and after waiting for several days, there was still no news.
“Won’t you go ho to check on things?”
“Not this ti, I’ll definitely go next ti!”
Li Mumu did not want to go ho.
Li Ya was now noticeably pregnant, and she feared she might lose control and kick her hard enough to cause a miscarriage.
Principal Zhou nodded and said in a somber voice, “This rain isn’t going to stop anyti soon.
Leave early and get back quickly so you don’t end up soaked through out there.
I’d prefer not to comnt on your family matters, but no matter what, having family is better than not having one.
I know you’re a sensible kid and don’t need to say much.
Just rember, if it’s not a matter of principle, there’s no need to keep at odds with your parents.”
Li Mumu thought to herself that their family issue was indeed not a matter of principle, but a matter of life and death.
From Principal Zhou’s point of view, what he said made sense.
There’s a saying that a child without a mother is like a weed, and a down-on-its-luck phoenix is less than a chicken.
The orphans at school led lives of such hardship that children from normal families couldn’t even imagine.
Nowadays, you’d see posts online every now and then about how terribly tragic soone’s original family was.
To be honest, the vast majority are just contrived, self-pitying attention-seeking acts.
Those few with particularly dramatic and sensational stories, when you look behind the curtain, turn out to be beauty bloggers.
These are all problems brought about by too comfortable a life.
If they were transported to the era of Saifu without any system to help, orphaned and without support, they wouldn’t last three days before crumbling like a cream puff.
But you have to admit, so parents really are unbearable.
Jiang Yinyin is a living example of this reality.
If her parents had been even slightly decent, she’d never have ended up in such a dire situation.
Li Mumu felt that her own family situation hadn’t reached such an extent; she simply had a fundantal disagreent in values with Li Ya.
Well, the unborn one doesn’t count as a person.
The water on the streets was deep.
If you weren’t careful, stepping into it could result in water coming up over your ankles.
Wearing rain boots was the sa as going without; after just two streets, Li Mumu felt her socks thoroughly soaked.
Jiang Yinyin, following behind, hopped and skipped happily.
The little girl didn’t have so many worries.
Now, aside from the occasional nightmare of her parents coming to take her away, she hardly had anything that troubled her.
Rainy days an little to carefree children.
Occasionally, military vehicles drove through the streets.
In fact, a battalion under the Ink Green Qilin Army had already been stationed in Nantong District since two days ago, tasked with maintaining social order and relocating disaster-stricken people.
As for the flood…
there was no real need for prevention anymore.
Half the city was subrged, and the rain showed no signs of stopping.
Even if the Heavenly King Laozi himself were to appear, it would be of no use.
Then there were the sick.
After the heavy rains, cholera spread rapidly, with the number of patients skyrocketing.
As Li Mumu walked through the streets, she saw nuns from the church going door to door handing out dicines and loudly promoting the importance of maintaining environntal hygiene and boiling water.
On the whole, social order was still relatively stable.
Tiann people were inherently laid-back and cheerful, adept at finding joy in adversity.
They had grown accustod to harsh climatic conditions over the centuries.
You could even see people squatting over latrines, having a loose stool while chatting and laughing—their conversations could be recorded as codic sketches and wouldn’t seem out of place.
A chill passed over her head, and Li Mumu looked up to see that the sun, which had been glaring just a mont before, had disappeared into the thick clouds.
She hurriedly opened an umbrella, and less than a minute later, the sky unleashed rain as if soone had overturned a footbath, pouring it all out at once.
Even without demons and evil spirits, the world was still far from wonderful.
But the good news was, at least for today, not too many people believed this disaster was brought by Lilith, nor did they expect any rcy or compassion bestowed by God.
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