Chapter 2158: Can Fate Be Changed?

Zhou Andong looked at those dirty little faces. Each of them held a basin or bowl of various sizes and types in their hands.

Pairs of round eyes stared straight at the instant noodles boiling in the pot, their throats bobbing, and from time to time, they would smack their lips.

There was a skinny little one who had a trail of snot slowly dripping from his nose. The little guy first licked it lightly with his small tongue, then gave a fierce sniff, and the snot quickly retracted back into his nose.

However, it wasn't long before it poked its head out again like a mischievous little snake. This time, the little one didn't hesitate to lift his thin little arm and skillfully and dashingly wiped his nose hard with his sleeve, leaving a dark smudge behind.

Seeing this, Zhou Andong couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. His gaze swept gently over this group of tall, short, fat, and thin little ones. At this moment, he couldn't help but think of what his younger sister and brother looked like when they were little.

Back then, the fourth child hadn't been born yet. Every time spring arrived and the birds (qiao'er) flew to the north, his schoolbag was always filled with a slingshot and traps.

And every night, Xiao Qin and Xiao Bei would always stand obediently at the door, waiting expectantly for him to come home from school. At that time, their little faces were also always dirty.

Every time he returned home, Zhou Andong would impatiently throw the birds he caught into the stove pit to roast, and the family would sit around together to share this simple and happy delicacy.

When he got home, he would throw the birds he caught into the stove pit that still had embers. Xiao Qin and Xiao Bei would squat in front of the stove pit, their little mouths smacking from time to time. After they were roasted, the two of them would eat until their mouths were pitch black.

"Chairman Zhou, thank you so much." Cui An came to Zhou Andong's side. "If it weren't for you solving the food problem for the disaster victims in time, it wouldn't matter if I were punished, but the masses would be going hungry because of my inadequate work. I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life."

This guy spoke very nicely. Zhou Andong didn't want to investigate how much of it was sincere and how much was fluff; as long as the disaster victims could be fed, that was enough.

"It seems there aren't enough eating utensils."

Cui An said helplessly, "There's no other way. I borrowed these from several restaurants in the district, and I couldn't affect their business, so I borrowed a little from each."

"For families with many people, I gave out two small basins or bowls each; for those with few, I gave one. I wanted the children to be full first, then the elderly, and finally the adults."

Zhou Andong nodded. Eight large pots boiling instant noodles couldn't feed nearly four thousand people; they would definitely have to boil them several times. By the time the children finished eating, the second batch would be about ready.

"At noon, our group's cafeteria will send over prepared meals. When that time comes, I'll have them bring the trays along."

At this moment, Bi Haiyan returned, looking exhausted. "Chairman Zhou, I didn't expect you to be here too. Thank you so much for this time."

Zhou Andong shook hands with Bi Haiyan and said with a smile, "Secretary Cui has already thanked me several times, so you don't need to thank me again."

"He is him, and I am me." Bi Haiyan laughed, then said to Cui An, "Secretary, all the villagers of Songming Village have been safely relocated. Some went to relatives' homes voluntarily, and the remaining eleven hundred plus people have all come here."

The village director of Songming Village walked over, soaking wet. He first reported the situation to Cui An, then looked at Zhou Andong and extended his hand with a face full of smiles.

"Chairman Zhou, hello, hello."

Zhou Andong shook the village director's hand. "Don't you have a raincoat?"

"I do!" The village director still had a smile on his face. "I gave it to someone else to wear."

Bi Haiyan took over the conversation and said, "Village Director Zhang gave his raincoat to an elderly person who is a 'five-guarantee' household."

Zhou Andong's impression of this village director improved by a few notches. He then looked up at the villagers; most of them were still wearing soaking wet clothes.

Actually, this wasn't strange. The relocation order came too suddenly, and there was a power outage. It was pitch black, and few people had time to pack their clothes.

Most importantly, in this era, not everyone had a raincoat. Even if they had taken their clothes out, the rain last night was so heavy that everything was soaked.

Even the children standing around the pots didn't have many dry clothes on. Fortunately, it wasn't raining much now, just a drizzle, and it wasn't as cold as last night, but it would be easy to get sick if they stayed like this for long.

Zhou Andong couldn't do anything about this kind of thing, so he could only say to Cui An, "Secretary Cui, can we light a few bonfires in the open space so everyone can warm up and dry their clothes?"

"Yes!"

Cui An hurriedly ordered people to handle it; he had also discovered this problem, but there was no particularly good solution.

Now that he heard Zhou Andong suggest lighting a few bonfires, there was no more effective or better way for the time being.

Anyway, there was plenty of wood and branches, the venue was large enough, and this didn't take much effort.

Soon, piles of bonfires were lit, and the temperature in the nearly ten-thousand-square-meter courtyard of the grain depot rose instantly.

The soaring flames caused the drizzling rain to evaporate before it even hit the ground, and the entire courtyard was filled with mist.

The men didn't care at all; they took off their clothes, hung them on branches, and lifted them up to roast in front of the fire.

The women had no choice but to stand around the fire, roasting their fronts and then their backs, their bodies also looking like they were floating in fairy mist.

And the happiest ones were the children. Following a shout from the "master chef" boiling the instant noodles:

"The instant noodles are ready, line up!"

The children pushed and shoved, holding their rice basins up in front of the master chef.

"Don't push." The master chef said with a stern face. "Line up properly. Those who don't line up won't get any."

Once they heard that those who didn't line up wouldn't get any, the little guys all became obedient and lined up properly.

The children who got the instant noodles first held their basins or bowls, carefully lowered their heads to take a sip of the soup, and then closed their eyes with a look of enjoyment.

Watching the scenes before him, and seeing that the arrangements were mostly done, Zhou Andong didn't stay any longer. He gave a few instructions to the group's people, greeted Yao Jun, said goodbye to Cui An and Bi Haiyan, and then got in the car and returned to the group.

Having not slept all night, Zhou Andong slept in his office until dark. It was raining outside again, but it wasn't as heavy as last night.

Over the next few days, the rain in Jiangzhou never stopped. The Jiangzhou River water had already exceeded the warning line, and the rain upstream was very heavy.

The main issue was that Jiangzhou had two large reservoirs. Once there was a danger upstream and they had to release floodwater, it was hard to say whether Jiangzhou's two reservoirs could withstand it.

Therefore, the city raised the flood control level to the highest, Level 4. The whole city entered a state of emergency. Deng Zhangli was on duty in the office 24 hours a day, while Chen Wenqi went down to various counties and towns on the 10th to inspect the disaster situation.

Dongfang Yipin also entered a state of emergency for flood control. Whether it was Yuxi Real Estate or the property management, everyone participated in flood resistance and control, following the armed police officers and various municipal agencies to reinforce and raise the Jiangzhou River dam, working hard for 36 hours.

And as time passed, Zhou Andong's nerves became tighter and tighter. He wasn't afraid of problems with the Jiangzhou River. In his previous life, Jiangzhou's two reservoirs withstood the pressure of the upstream flood release, so the Jiangzhou River would be fine.

Therefore, what he was worried about was the Lingchuan River in Jinli County, and Chen Wenqi's safety. He didn't know how history would unfold, and whether his appearance could really change Chen Wenqi's fate. ===== CHAPTER 2159 =====