Chapter 927

After the first phase of Cat Getan's renovation project was completed, the second phase started without stopping. Before the temperature dropped, the vast majority of the houses in the second phase had already been built.

But in fact, the houses were not originally intended to be handed over so quickly, but because the building conditions in the residential area included in the second phase were already not optimistic, all residents were notified to move before the typhoon arrived.

Tire, sitting beside Jason, sighed and said, "You and these younger children don't quite understand the situation in Cat Getan's East District. The area where my mom and I lived was where the first batch of fishermen who came to Cat Getan lived."

"That was a long, long time ago. Many fishermen lived on boats, and they only returned to land to sell fish; having a decent shed to live in was enough."

"At that time, it was still wasteland. They didn't build houses carefully, and they didn't even lay the foundations properly, as long as it could temporarily shelter from the wind and rain. This is why our street is called 'Old Fish Basket', because it's like a broken old fish basket, leaking wind everywhere."

"Later, Cat Getan's population grew explosively, and the original residents started adding floors to the houses to rent to outsiders. But the houses weren't built well to begin with, and when they added floors, they could only tear down the east wall to repair the west wall, causing the entire building structure to be particularly unstable."

"The building where my mom and I lived was still considered okay. A few families joined together to repair the building structure, so it was barely livable. Like those houses to our west, they were about to collapse immediately."

Jason said with some doubt, "Your mom is so capable, able to guard a gas station alone; why did you still live in such a house?"

Tire smiled and said, "Because it's close to where I work."

"Moreover, my mom specifically moved to where the original residents gathered. You have to know, in Cat Getan, gangs are connections, and neighbors are also connections. Our family's conditions are so good also because my mom, besides running the gas station business, also works part-time washing clothes, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes."

"After I grew up a bit, one of my neighbors was a chef in a wealthy person's house in the South District, and he took me to help him from a young age, and I could earn quite a bit of money too. People here are all familiar with the ropes; being able to grow up here, one can definitely make it in Cat Getan."

Jason suddenly realized and said, "No wonder, no wonder Cobblepot thinks highly of you, asking for your opinion on everything..."

Tire smiled embarrassedly, scratched his head, and said, "Actually, I'm far worse than you. I'm not a smart person, but in a certain sense, I represent the original residents of Cat Getan. I know best what the locals born and raised here are thinking, and those original residents are all over every corner of this city, occupying many important positions."

"It's a bit like a web woven by a spider. We are the web itself. No matter who wants to enter the spider's den, they can read what exactly is happening inside from the vibration of a large web."

"I find that you've really changed a lot." Jason dug out a blanket from the cabinet next to him. Tire took it, draped it over his body, and sat in the corner of the window with Jason watching the rain. Jason exclaimed, "You would never have said such a metaphor before."

"Indeed, this sounds a bit... in our previous words, it's a bit pretentious. But looking at it now, being a bit pretentious is also good. After all, before I came, I just drank hot milk, and now I'm even sweating a little."

Tire looked at the howling gale and heavy rain outside the window and said, "If it were before, I would be holding a hammer and nails to nail the windows right now, and my mom would be using a water pipe to pour the rain leaking in into a bucket..."

"Perhaps, neighbors would also call us to help because the wall in their backyard collapsed again, and water flooded to the bottom of the wall..."

Jason also smiled and said, "And we, the children of the Tail-Curl Gang, might be relaying water again, scooping out all the water that seeped into the cellar, busy until the second half of the night with nowhere to sleep, so we could only sleep on the wet ground, praying not to catch a cold in the morning."

Tire opened his mouth just wanting to speak, but seemed to remember something again. He frowned and said, "However, the typhoon came a bit earlier than we imagined. Because our family's gas station is our own, my mom's work is relatively free, so she could start packing a week in advance."

"But even so, it still took you and the children of the Tail-Curl Gang to help us move to finish moving today. Those neighbors of ours..." Tire shook his head and said, "Their work was already busy, and even the children had to be busy earning money. Many people only started packing things this morning. Who knew the typhoon would come at night."

"If they couldn't finish moving, they could only make do there for the night. My mom persuaded them to come to the new home to shelter from the rain first, but they still wanted to guard their things, afraid that their things at home would be flooded by water."

Jason frowned and said in a disapproving tone, "When moving today, I wanted to say that actually, many things don't need to be brought. Everything is here. Didn't you all see it when you came to visit before?"

"I can understand bringing some old things; after all, they were bought with money and shouldn't be wasted. But why bring things that are completely unusable? Those pots that are already leaking, bowls with a broken mouth, and clothes that are no different from rags—why bring them?"

"Actually, if there weren't these things, we wouldn't need to help at all; you two would have finished moving in half a day."

Tire also sighed and said, "You think of things too simply. I don't want to bring those things either, but you know my mom also lived through a long period of bitter days."

"After she separated from my dad, she lived with me alone. At that time, my grandmother hadn't returned from out of town, and the land of the gas station wasn't my mom's yet. Let alone pots, pans, and clothes, even if she picked up a piece of wood from outside, she couldn't bear to throw it away."

"Many people on Old Fish Basket Street are like this. They are all very frugal and want to bring everything. Even if you tell them everything is here, they will absolutely not give up those broken things."

Jason sighed, nodded, and also somewhat understood this line of thinking. When many children in the Tail-Curl Gang couldn't eat, he was the same, wanting to take back everything he saw, feeling that it could be used and could save a sum of money.

They chatted while watching the rain, but after a while, the rain and wind became heavier. Tire's expression gradually became serious, and he said, "Why is this typhoon so severe? Since I was born, I have never seen such a typhoon day."

He stood up and said, "No, I feel something is going to happen. I have to go to Boss Cobblepot's side."

He had just wanted to turn and walk out when "bang, bang, bang" knocking sounds rang out. Jason hurriedly stood up, opened the door, and Red Truck stood outside, saying with a heavy expression, "The boss is calling all the children's gangs to a meeting. Something happened!"

Jason put down the still-warm milk pot, wrapped the blanket around it to keep it warm. Tire threw the blanket onto Jason's bed and hurriedly rushed out.

In the corridor, many children were walking out, sleepy-eyed. Jason looked at Red Truck and asked, "Who is the boss looking for? Is it all the children, or the child kings?"

"I don't know, he only told me."

Jason pushed Red Truck aside, rushed into the corridor, and said, "Go back! All go back! Go back to sleep! Child kings... oh, no, what was that called? Floor leaders! Floor leaders come with me!"

Many children stood in place, somewhat blank, not understanding what was going on, but many taller children had already rushed out. He said, "Hurry up, it's estimated that the adults will also have a meeting. We have to go grab the elevator!"

After speaking, they ran onto the elevator in a puff of smoke. Some didn't even wear slippers and were still barefoot. Fortunately, the floor of the corridor was all carpet, so it didn't hurt their feet. Jason and Tire also ran over.

Sure enough, there were already some adults in the elevator. Jason saw a familiar gang member and asked, "Dapp, what happened?"

"I don't know, our boss suddenly called us over. I heard... it seems like a building collapsed? It might be that the dangerous building on our old territory had a problem, and someone was injured."

Tire's heart immediately tightened, and he said, "Where is it? Is it Old Fish Basket Street? Who was injured? Is it serious?"

The gang member named Dapp shook his head and said, "We haven't gone to the meeting yet, so I don't know either. However, the most famous dangerous buildings are in that area, right? Listening to their tone, it seems like no one died, just injured..."

The elevator door opened, and Tire rushed out instantly. Jason followed closely behind. The child kings rushed into the office. Cobblepot was drawing a topographic map on the whiteboard. Seeing someone come in, he said:

"You came quite fast. Sit down and drink some water first. I'll explain the arrangements for next."

"Boss, I heard that a dangerous building collapsed. It might be the street where my home is. We... what should we do?!" Tire said somewhat anxiously, then he stomped his feet and said somewhat annoyedly, "We should have let them move in today! What is there to guard about those broken things?! Now it's good..."

"Don't be anxious." Cobblepot drank a sip of water unhurriedly and then said, "The situation is not very serious. Only three buildings collapsed, none of which were high-rises, so no one was crushed to death. The specific injury situation is still being counted."

"Now, the typhoon hasn't passed yet, so those doing disaster relief are the adults of the gangs. The Wei En Group sent rescue vehicles and doctors, so there's nothing major."

"But tomorrow morning, it will be our battlefield." Cobblepot knocked on the blackboard and said, "You should have seen it too. Several large gangs that have already moved in are arranging manpower to organize disaster relief. After dawn, the disaster relief work should be almost finished."

"At that time, they will be hungry and cold all over. Our job is to buy good food, boil good water, and send it over as soon as the typhoon stops."

"You don't need to worry about not having rewards. The Wei En Group and the gangs that haven't moved away yet jointly funded it. I have already received a portion of the funds to guarantee the backup work."

"Now, I will first arrange a batch of people to buy food, another batch of people to pack them, and others to prepare to send them."

Just at this time, Jason raised his hand and said, "Are we buying ready-made food to heat up?"

Cobblepot glanced at him and nodded, not knowing what he wanted to ask, but Jason said, "I think we can make it ourselves."

"On one hand, the supermarket selling raw materials has a more complete range of things, and the price is also cheaper, which can save funds and leave us with sufficient profit space."

"On the other hand, the restaurant downstairs has already closed, but I can contact their boss and borrow their kitchen, as long as I give them a little money."

"Many children in the gang have helped in the kitchens of various restaurants and have experience in cooking, which is just right for practicing."

"The food made by ourselves will also taste better, at least much better than the semi-finished products bought in the supermarket to heat up. Some children's parents are chefs, and we can also give them a portion of the reward to let them participate."

As soon as Jason finished speaking, other children immediately chattered:

"That's right! That's right! I can cut vegetables. I have helped in the most famous Italian restaurant in the East District, and my tomatoes are cut very well..."

"I can too, and I can roll pizza dough!"

"I can boil water. I did this work in the kitchen before."

Cobblepot raised an eyebrow, cleared his throat, and said, "Alright, let's do it. Jason, you go contact the restaurant boss. Tire, you take a batch of people to the vegetable market downstairs to buy things. Remember to bargain..."

"You two, go find boxes to pack things, preferably find some foam that can keep warm. You go boil water, and you, count the number of people who can go run errands. Don't count wrong..."

Soon, Jason left the office. When passing through the corridor, he saw that the rain outside the window was still very heavy, but he felt a kind of flame in his chest, making him feel very warm, even sweating a thin layer of sweat from the heat.

He wiped his forehead and then walked quickly toward the elevator. All the children were the same as him. This time, what urged them was no longer a whip, but another kind of thing.

A kind of thing that grew out of the abundance of being full and well-fed, not being invaded by the typhoon, and staying in a warm house.

This made them feel blank, but at the same time, it also made them feel full of strength and light-footed.