Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 453 Crow’s Mouth

Yesterday's light rain did nothing to cool down Dongyang; on the contrary, the rising humidity made it even more muggy.

"Boss, how much is a bottle of Gatorade?"

The dilapidated house at the bend of the provincial highway had two reflective stripes of paint outlining its edges under the blazing sun.

The dozing old man opened his eyes and looked around, but saw no one. However, his muscles reflexively shouted out, "Four pieces."

At this moment, Meng Tao appeared from the corner with a smile: "Not bad, it seems you listened to what I said last time and corrected your mistakes."

The old man was furious: "You brat, why are you always testing me? Is it fun hiding here?"

Meng Tao waved his hand: "Just passing by, giving you a return visit."

He then hopped on his electric scooter and prepared to leave.

The old man took a bottle of Gatorade from the refrigerator and, seeing Meng Tao about to leave, asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to buy it? Are you just trying to fool me?"

Meng Tao pursed his dry lips, his saliva as sticky as glue: "No, no, I'm leaving."

The old man simply tossed the energy drink over, and Meng Tao instinctively caught it, his muscle memory making him catch it.

"Here's a bottle for you. Your idea really works."

Smiling, he pointed with his fan to the watermelons in the baskets not far away, along with several boxes of snacks and instant noodles.

"This is inappropriate."

The old man waved his hand and lay back down.

"Then I'll give you another suggestion next time I come: put the refrigerator further inside, preferably in a cool, well-ventilated place, so that it can dissipate heat and save a lot on electricity bills."

Whether the old man listened or not, he waved his hand again with his eyes closed.

Only after Meng Tao left did the old man open his eyes, still shaken.

Thank goodness they didn't ask me where the electricity came from.

A cable was just randomly strung up by the roadside.
Meng Tao drove along the provincial highway, subconsciously paying attention to the road conditions. If there were any particularly large potholes, he would secretly note their locations so he could report them to his colleagues at the transportation bureau later.

Finally, we arrived at the precision instrument factory.

There weren't many people at Wang Xue's fruit stall. One reason was that most of the trainees had gone to work in factories, and another reason was that the get out of class hadn't ended yet.

However, Wang Xue was very serious and tirelessly chased away the flies and sprayed the fruit to cool it down.

Whenever he had a spare moment, he would secretly take out a speaker and play Meng Tao's recordings over and over again.

"Wang Xue's Fruit Stand, come and have a look! Wang Xue's Fruit Stand, honest and fair to all, and also has chilled drinks."

Meng Tao suddenly appeared: "What are you doing? Don't play it during class time, it's disturbing the people inside."

Wang Xue shuddered, hurriedly stood up, and scribbled something for a long time.

Meng Tao didn't pay any attention and took out an envelope from his pocket: "I've exchanged 200 yuan for you. That should last you two days. I still need to go to Liujia Village. I'll be going now."

Go and see how those two piglets died.

If they hadn't even added chili powder, he would have definitely argued with Liu Neng's family!

Wang Xue hurriedly stood up and handed over an envelope. Meng Tao opened it and found 500 yuan and a note inside.

"Return 500 to the leader first."

Meng Tao shook his head: "Keep it for stocking up. Business is just starting to pick up, and I'll be getting paid soon, so I'm not short of money."

After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about this, I'll take you through the whole process of setting up a stall, buying goods, and exchanging money on the weekend. We can use this money to buy an electric tricycle, and everything will be smooth from now on. I won't have to come here every day."

"As for my money, just give me 100 a month."

After saying that, he rode away like the wind again, leaving the 500 yuan envelope back on the stall, leaving Wang Xue in a daze, her fingers twisting together.

This road is very long. Meng Tao has walked it countless times recently. The Liu Neng family in Sunzhuang almost gave him high blood pressure.

However, after stopping and starting, he eventually slowed down again. When he passed by the riverbank, he noticed a large pit on the dirt road along the embankment, where two boys with their hats askew were digging with shovels.

Meng Tao, who had been concerned about the road conditions, stopped the car and shouted, "Young man, where did this pothole come from?"

The two teenagers, presumably villagers from the neighborhood, said, "A truck got stuck here yesterday and crushed it."

"So what are you two doing here?"

"We're digging for crayfish. Didn't it just rain yesterday?"

Meng Tao's mind raced. He thought to himself that he seemed to have heard that this thing had become popular some time ago.
It used to be pig feed, but now a plate of it costs one or two hundred yuan in the city. I don't know if raising pigs is difficult or suitable for impoverished households.

But at least raising crayfish is difficult because they're hard to catch, unlike raising piglets. If you have a bad thought, you can just BBQ them.

Meng Tao looked around for a while, then continued on to Sunzhuang to seek justice for the piglets.

He was incredibly strong today.

------

In the evening, Zhai Da walked out of the factory again and was surprised to see the gloomy weather outside.

Thunder rumbled, as if the sky itself was about to shatter.

It's strange. When I went into the factory this morning, it was sunny and unbearably hot, but when I came out, it was like this.
Were we set up by capital?
Fortunately, the rain hadn't started yet. Zhai Da quickened his pace, got into the car, and sent a message home to let his family know that he was about to return and that they shouldn't worry.

The rain suddenly intensified during the mere 20-minute drive, with raindrops the size of soybeans pouring down. Even with the wipers on their highest setting, it was too late. Zhai Da could only silently tap his finger and use his telekinesis to block the rain from one centimeter above the windshield.

It was darker outside than midnight, and passersby couldn't see anything.

When we arrived at Jiang'an Sunshine City, there was already more than ten centimeters of water at the entrance of the community. Many pedestrians who were trying to take shelter from the rain were stuck in a rut, and there were also electric scooter riders who looked like Sun Ce unleashing his ultimate move.

Zhai Da couldn't help much; the only thing he could do was slow down to avoid splashing water.

Back home, Ms. Yu was busy in the kitchen, while Tang Xiaokui was doing her homework. Judging by the time, it shouldn't have been raining when her mother went to pick her up, otherwise the two of them would have been soaked to the bone.

In this kind of rain, using an umbrella is only for comfort. "Where's your sister?"

Tang Xiaokui looked up and said, "It looks like it's on the balcony."

Zhai Da followed the trail and found Lu Wei indeed standing on the balcony, gazing blankly at the clouds outside.

Someone, seized by a mischievous impulse, sneaked up behind her and grabbed her waist.

Unfortunately, the expected elbow strike did not occur; instead, a strange sensation came from the palm of the hand.

The little wooden thing is shaking badly.
Zhai Da hugged her from behind: "What's wrong? Are you cold?"

Little Wood shook his head: "Very similar."

"What looks like it?"

The girl's voice seemed even lower than the weather outside:

"It looks a lot like the day my mother had the accident."

Zhai Damo hugged her even tighter.

At this point, saying anything would be pointless; the only thing that would be truly helpful was letting the little wooden doll feel its body temperature.

At the dinner table, Ms. Yu glanced irritably at the torrential rain outside and said to Zhai Da, "Xiao Da, will this heavy rain affect your factory?"

Zhai Da shook his head: "The drainage system took a lot of effort, and the areas that are afraid of water are all in places where they won't get wet. Of course, this was mainly because we paid attention to it when we chose the site. The factory area and the circular headquarters are both located in the relatively high area of ​​Sunmazhuang. The air quality requirements are so strict, it's impossible not to have a rain plan. The weather forecast says it will rain for a few hours, so it's not a big problem."

I can talk to the factory management department about it later, and ask them to conduct more inspections and visits.

"Of course, everything has its limits. If it's a once-in-a-century torrential rain, it can't be solved by preparing in advance. The factory can't just build a huge dike, can it?"

As he spoke, Zhai Da recalled that nothing seemed to have happened at this point in his previous life. Yu Xiaoli was alone in Dongyang at the time, so he shouldn't have no recollection of her.

As they were talking, all three of their phones suddenly rang at the same time.

Unlock and take a look:
"Dear citizens, our city is currently under a red alert for torrential rain. Rainfall is expected to exceed 200 millimeters in the next three hours. Please stay home and pay close attention to the latest updates. This information is issued by the Qiancheng Meteorological Observatory and the Emergency Disaster Team."

Zhai Da:
Yu Xiaoli: "You really have a jinx. Maybe we shouldn't keep crows after all."

Zhai Da chuckled dryly: "Wait a moment while I make a phone call and explain something to the factory."

Things didn't seem as serious as the text message suggested. As expected, a downpour that starts too fiercely often doesn't last long. By around 11 p.m., the rain had subsided considerably.

Although it's still in the category of heavy rain, it doesn't have that oppressive feeling of dark clouds looming over the city and the sky changing color like before.

There are many rivers near Dongyang, and the water on the streets did not stay for long; the water level gradually receded.

Zhai Da's phone kept ringing. Besides the "Machine Semiconductor" factory, which was not yet fully operational, he also needed to keep an eye on the large construction site at the ring headquarters. Around midnight, the rain lessened a bit, so Zhai Da simply drove to Sunmazhuang in the dark to take a look.

Inside the factory area, dozens of people wearing raincoats were carrying sandbags for flood control. They looked a bit disheveled, but not panicked.

Almost everyone still in the factory was mobilized, and some able-bodied young men who lived nearby were also called back. Oh, and some truck drivers who were stuck waiting to unload their goods were also called back.

"Mr. Zhai, you've arrived!"

"how is the situation?"

"Fortunately, these sandbags are just a precaution; there wasn't actually much standing water. The drainage system is well done."

"That's fine"

It's already this late, so Zhai Da might as well not go back and stay here to reassure everyone.

It was almost noon, and the rain was still pouring down, but the water level had actually decreased instead of increased, so it seemed that using sandbags for flood control was indeed unnecessary.

Let's just treat it as a drill; it's fine.

Everyone gathered in a meeting room, wiping things down and chatting. When they got tired, they sat on the floor. Since they were all young people, many of them found it quite fun.

However, Zhai Da suddenly remembered something, closed his eyes slightly as if he were resting, but in reality he silently opened the system.

I found the [Revolving Coins] in the equipment list.

More than a month has passed, and the [circulating change] has indeed been unblocked, with the number of times it has circulated reaching (100/100).

Since the main function of this equipment is to slightly accelerate the local economic cycle in the natural circulation, Zhai Da rarely pays attention to it. Once it is unsealed, it is unsealed; as long as it exists in the market, that's fine.

However, today he remembered another function of it.

“Minyou: When a natural or man-made disaster is about to occur in the local area, the holder will have a vague sense of it and be guided to participate in it. If it is deliberately intercepted, it will be ineffective.”

It was a very abstract ability, and it couldn't be kept in the hands of a specific person as a trump card for predicting the future. Zhai Da glanced at it at first but didn't pay much attention to it.

Even if this ability is triggered and affects the person currently holding it, Zhai Da will not receive a notification, but he can lock the location of the equipment to make a guess.

Upon seeing the result, I had a bad feeling.

The red dot representing "circulating change" is on the embankment of the Xinyi River and has not moved.
Zhai Da frowned slightly. The Xinyi River runs through the entire Dongyang area, and its embankment area is very long. Is this a coincidence or...?
Just then, my phone rang. It was County Magistrate Li Kangda.

"Mr. Zhai, you haven't rested yet, have you?"

"No, I'm in the factory area, what's wrong?"

"I guess you haven't been getting much rest either. Here's the thing: I just received a notice that 60% of the urban area of ​​Qianshi is flooded, including the main urban area, the development zone, and the surrounding suburbs. They're in a terrible state and are planning to breach the dikes to release floodwaters urgently. When that happens, mud and garbage will be everywhere. You'd better be careful with your water treatment equipment."

The water intake was located far away, and the research institute built a small water purification station for the semiconductor factory.

The factory area has existing facilities and is not yet in operation, so problems with the water purification station are not a particularly big deal; as long as it can be repaired, it's fine.

"But rest assured, if there are any losses, the government and insurance will cover them for this emergency flood discharge."

Zhai Da opened his mouth, thinking of the strange location of the [rotating change] coin.

"Have you been patrolling the embankment?"

"Of course! Most of the downstream counties have mobilized. I called you and I'm putting on my raincoat to head there now. But don't worry, Dongyang has never had a record of a dike breach since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The city's estimated water volume is also far below the safety line. Everything is under our control!"

Zhai Da: You'd better not be like me and keep a crow as a pet!
(End of this chapter)