Chapter 817: Red Hood (Part 8)

"I found the truck and went back to announce to them that it could indeed be used as a shelter to survive the night. They cheered and high-fived each other, but what made me feel a bit confused was that Jason didn't seem so happy. He kept frowning, feeling a bit worried..."

Flowery English appeared on the white paper. In the afternoon, the faint sunlight shone through the curtains, brushing over these words, and the scene shaped by these words became bright.

The paper was slowly put down. Schiller behind him pushed his glasses, picked up the coffee cup with his other hand, and took a sip of coffee.

Victor next to him leaned his head over and said: "What are you looking at, a thesis?"

"No, it can be considered a travelogue. Bruce wrote it. Do you want to take a look?" Schiller handed the stack of paper to Victor. Victor took it and glanced at it, read the first page carefully, and then he said with some surprise: "Is this really written by Bruce? What is written on this, the actions of 'I', look a bit unlike Bruce..."

"I said, he is much better. If it weren't for his recent pain and reflection, wanting to open up a lot, you would only see a piece of bullshit philosophical speculation, not such a travelogue with higher readability."

Victor nodded and flipped to the second page, then said: "His writing style is still quite good, concise and straightforward, but also relatively elegant, and the environment and atmosphere are shaped well..."

Schiller picked up the empty coffee cup, walked to the coffee machine, turned back and said: "Read down, you will see more surprises."

The mellow coffee liquid dripped into the cup, and the water level rose slowly, just like Cat Getan's streets that were invaded by heavy rain again after the sun set.

"Quick! Quick! Come up! You are the only one left!" Big Sister greeted another child and said: "Why did you come back so late? Did you deliver it to the wrong place?"

That child climbed onto the truck carriage in two or three steps and said: "Don't mention it, I was really unlucky today. The person who ordered the things didn't want them anymore, and I still have to find a way to sell the things out."

"Come in quickly, we boiled hot water. You can take a bottle and warm your hands." Big Sister stuffed a plastic water bottle to him. The water bottle was scalded out of shape by the hot water. The child smiled foolishly and said: "Thank you, but I'm not cold. Give it to those little guys."

The twenty-something children in the carriage squeezed tightly together, twelve on the left and eleven on the right, almost everyone wrapped in quilts, while the other few big children were sealing the gaps with extra broken blankets and cotton quilts around the truck's shed.

After a while, Bruce, holding a wrench, walked onto the car and said: "Taking advantage of the rain slowing down, I went to check the car. The engine is not broken. Not being able to start might be other problems. If it can be fixed today, we can drive to another place."

The children looked at him with widened eyes. Some of them seemed to understand something, but they didn't discuss this problem, but asked Bruce: "How is Jason, is he okay?"

"He is fine, no fever, and the wound is not infected. He is recovering very well." Bruce walked off the car again, turned back and said: "I have to go see him. If the car starts later, don't be surprised, hold on tight."

After he left, the atmosphere in the carriage fell silent. A few older children gathered together. Big Sister Six-Fingers opened her mouth and said: "I knew it, Jason would definitely do this. He must want to drive to save people..."

One of the black boys opened his mouth and said: "If I run into that guy Wes, I will definitely not save him. I will kick him into the mud pit!"

Another girl also snorted coldly and said: "Every time it's us who have the kindness, why are those losers so useless? I haven't seen them come to save us once!"

Big Sister Six-Fingers gathered her brown-red long hair and said: "Who let Jason be so powerful? And we are indeed luckier than them. Don't forget, last snow disaster, if it weren't for several gangs gathering the firewood together, quite a few would have frozen to death."

"That's just looking at the last time!" A boy pouted with dissatisfaction: "It's really rare that they are willing to contribute firewood. Forget it, if the boss wants to save them, save them. If we have too few people, the mafia on top will want more money."

"Pay attention, don't let the children from other gangs see it. If they know we have good things in our hands, they will definitely find a way to steal..."

A few children discussed for a while, then each went to their place. They hadn't communicated with Jason, but they all understood his meaning.

Actually, they were different from what Jason thought. They didn't think of any supply and demand relationship, but they all knew that if the children became fewer, it wouldn't be a good thing for anyone.

In the face of natural and man-made disasters that could lead to the loss of a large number of people, people of the same class were more inclined to unite to maintain their interests. This would make them put down their past grudges and ensure the prosperity of the group. Otherwise, if this class weakened, everyone would have to be unlucky together.

This was a very simple truth. Bruce could certainly think it through, but what he didn't expect was that these children who were only ten years old could also think it through and could very resolutely execute it to the end.

When the rain fell heavier and heavier, the sound of hitting the building no longer sounded like a lullaby, but more like the war drums of invasion. On a stormy night, it was difficult for anyone to fall asleep, and such a sound always made people unable to calm down.

Listening to such a sound, Bruce in the study put down his pen. He stood up and reached out to close the window tighter to prevent moisture from invading. Just at the moment of switching thinking, some inspiration burst out, making him think of how to describe the next scene.

"When the thunder that tore through the sky fell, I was driving a truck on a dark street. The tires rushed through the puddles, and the splashed water droplets were blown into the car window by the gale. I covered Jason's face with my coat. He couldn't be rained on anymore..."

"Suddenly, I saw lights appearing in front, and a group of short figures stood by the street, waving at me. I stepped on the brake without thinking, hearing a scream from the carriage behind. I knew that maybe a child had fallen..."

"But the noisy sound from the front was even greater. A group after a group of children rushed towards me, like a school of fish avoiding natural enemies, walking through the gale and waves..."

"The ground full of rainwater was like a mirror. I saw the light of their flashlights appearing and disappearing. If I came a little later, they might be swallowed by the darkness. But fortunately, the Noah's Ark came quite in time..."

Putting down the pen, accompanied by the sound of rain, Bruce felt noisy sounds ringing in his ears.

"Quick! Quick! Mark! Pull him up quickly, and him too. Go see that girl, her shoes are all wet. Pour out the water before coming in..."

"Sal?? Why are you here? You damn bastard! Let your people lean to the right and leave some space. And who else?! Who else?! Come up quickly! The rain will be heavier later!"

"Everyone lean in, squeeze! Squeeze again! There are still two people who haven't come up... Come! Three! Two! One! Okay, drive! Drive quickly!"

In the driver's cab, accompanied by Bruce's step on the accelerator, Jason pulled off the coat covering his face. He had just slept and was woken up. He said: "How is it? How many children were picked up?"

"The children of an entire street nearby gathered together, just got on the car..."

"Count them smart." Jason felt he had recovered some strength. He sat up slowly and then said: "This is not that simple. Can this car be fixed?"

"Yes, but what do you want to do with it? Pulling goods? But that's also a matter after tomorrow." Bruce sat in the driver's seat and said.

"No, I want to use it tonight." Jason looked at Bruce and said: "Taking advantage of the rain slowing down, you go and fix it quickly. It will definitely be useful tonight."

"Why will it be useful tonight?" Bruce asked with some confusion: "What do you want to use it for?"

Jason swallowed his saliva and said with some difficulty: "Go and save people nearby, go and save children from other child gangs. Cough cough, the storm tonight is destined to be very terrible. The basement absolutely can't stay. They will be forced out, and then rained on, but they can't die..."

Bruce's hand holding the steering wheel paused. He looked at Jason, feeling very surprised, because he knew that the poor environment like the slums could hardly raise children with extra kindness.

Just when he thought so, Jason seemed to see through his thoughts and said: "No, don't be stupid. I'm not kind. In Cat Getan's mafia, all friendly actions are for interests."

He supported his body with some difficulty and said: "It's not difficult to survive this rain, but we must consider what happens after surviving this rain."

"The drainage system won't recover so quickly. It is very likely to evolve into a flood like the snow disaster. By then, traffic will be inconvenient, and many people will rely on children to send them things."

"However, the snow disaster had a slow process. Most children anticipated the cooling and were prepared with firewood, so they could hide in the house and make a fire. As long as they didn't stay outside for too long at night, they generally wouldn't freeze to death."

"But this storm came too fast. Most people didn't prepare, and they wouldn't patch the house. Other child gangs didn't have such good luck as us to get a truck."

"The rain is heavy in the middle of the night, the basement leaks too seriously, and it definitely can't stay. They will be forced to the street, and then rained on. Although not everyone catches a cold, there will definitely be many people getting sick."

"Once they get sick, they lose the ability to work. There are many people who need children to send things, but few can send them. This will have very serious consequences."

"People's need to buy things is a rigid demand, but the number of children who can work has dropped sharply. Once the demand cannot be met, they will think of other ways instead of relying on this group of children again..." Jason swallowed his saliva again and said: "That way, the new path we finally found will collapse again."

"They spent a long time developing such a habit. Once children can't be relied on, they will establish a new system to replace us..."

Jason took a deep breath and said: "They will hire this group of children, not because of kindness, just because we are easy to use, not like adults who ask for high prices, as long as we have materials to live. But if we are not easy to use, we will be abandoned by them. They have the opportunity to find another way out, but we don't."