Survival [End Times]

Learning to swim was harder than Yu Heng imagined. Zhang's mother used to work as a nanny and took her children to the swimming pool. She was only in the children's area. The water was shallow and she was taller than the water when she sat. Now when she actually learns to swim, she can't find the key, so Yu Heng teaches her over and over again.

A familiar middle-aged woman, Agui, is one of the administrators here. She greeted Mother Zhang familiarly: "I thought I would see you bringing your children here. Recently, many parents have brought their children to learn how to swim!"

Zhang's mother said, "I quit my job before and stopped being a nanny."

Agui said with a smile: "You enjoy the blessing of a son, why should you be a nanny! Learn from my elder sister, there is water outside now, and experts and professors say that we may have to build a floating city in the future! I won't be able to swim by then, so what? Going out? Even if you accidentally fall off the boat, at least you can save your life by throwing yourself!"

Zhang's mother also thought it made sense. Think about it, when the bicycle chain is broken, if the boat breaks and capsizes, she will be in trouble if she doesn't know how to swim. So he urged his son: "We must all study hard. Tell me what you just said again, and I will think about it again."

Seeing that she was interested in learning, Yu Heng would definitely teach her well. He had already created an image of a talented swimmer in front of Zhang's mother, so it was convenient to teach her now.

On the way home, Zhang's mother was still in high spirits: "You are just like your dad! Your dad learns everything quickly. Look, you are exactly like your dad. You learned to swim in one afternoon. You are so smart."

He chuckled and accepted Zhang's mother's praise: "So as dad's wife, mom has to work harder."

"Just watch, I will study hard. I remember when I was a child, your dad would take me to the pond to play. He would pick lotus leaves to shade me from the sun, and then go into the water to catch fish and bake them for me to eat. I could swim very smoothly... …”

In the process of learning to swim, Zhang's mother's mental state became better and better, and her body became much stronger. With the addition of supplements and supplements, she looked younger.

Except for some days when it was too windy and rainy and they didn't go out, Yu Heng rowed her to the swimming pool almost every day. Zhang's mother also learned to row, and sometimes took others with her along the way, and the new neighborhood relationship gradually became harmonious. .

According to his observations, the water level was indeed rising steadily. After half a month, the first floor was completely submerged, and drafts of building a water city began to appear in the news. This was not just a rumor, but was actually uploaded from a certain meeting. .

Various regions have also begun to implement housing inspection plans. Dangerous houses and houses that cannot withstand the erosion of stagnant water are classified as uninhabitable, and their residents are all relocated. Yu Heng's community has also been overhauled. The current quality is still good and it is livable.

Soon, all the remaining houses were sold. Although it was raining non-stop outside, there was an endless stream of people moving, and boats and rowing boats were passing through the streets. It really felt like a city on the water.

Manufacturers and sellers of water tools have rarely found a breakthrough in the current economic downturn and are vigorously occupying the market. Now it's not at all awkward for Yu Heng to take Zhang's mother out, because almost everyone goes out in a boat. As for the car - forget it, don't think about it, my heart aches when I think of the car submerged in the water. of!

We are all used to rainy days. If our clothes cannot be dried, we buy a dryer. Wear a raincoat and hold an umbrella when going out. Vendors row boats along the street selling vegetables, melons, pulp, etc. Human beings are very adaptable. Rain screens are also erected on some streets on sunny days to make it easier for pedestrians to walk.

However, the smooth days were short-lived. At the end of June, this year's No. 6 typhoon came again. This time the path was far away from Yu Heng's hometown. They were not affected much, but other places were hit by disasters. Much heavier. After the typhoon, more people flowed into the local area, but only a few stayed, and most continued to go north.

Even local residents have left their hometown to go north. Zeng Pingnian, an old colleague of Zhang Hengfu's company and his old friend for many years, and his family are going to the north. Before leaving, they went to the Zhang family's new house to say goodbye.

"You kid bought such a nice house in silence!" The person who came was called Zeng Pingnian. He punched Yu Heng on the shoulder and said hello to Zhang's mother with a smile: "Hello, aunt, I see that aunt is much younger. "

Mother Zhang smiled and said: "Why are you here? Where are Xiao Zhao and the children?" Xiao Zhao is Zeng Pingnian's wife, named Zhao Yun. They have two children, a boy and a girl, and Mother Zhang likes them very much.

"Xiaoyun is packing her things at home! Xiaoyu is still working in Zhongjing, and Xiaowen is also in school. She said she is about to graduate and is working on her thesis. When she is free, she will go to Huashan to find us."

"Xiyue?"

Zeng Pingnian said: "Go and join my father-in-law. My father-in-law is worried about death in Huashan. He is afraid that our family will be drowned if we are not careful while sleeping at night. He urges us to go there every day, saying that the house is ready."

"Very good, how do you plan to go?" Yu Heng asked.

"That's not easy. Ships leave every day from the pier. I have booked the ticket and will leave the day after tomorrow. If I delay any longer, it will be inconvenient on a rainy day." It's so touching to come home to say goodbye in such a hurry. Cheng Cheng, smiled and slapped him back: "Okay, be careful on the road, and call me when you get there." After leaving him to eat, Zeng Pingnian hesitated, nodded, and called home.

Zeng Pingnian stayed for dinner, and Zhang's mother was happy: "I'll cook! I have everything at home, and I'll cook it for you!" Zeng Pingnian and Zhang Hengfu were classmates in junior high school. They had known each other for many years and had always had a good relationship. Later, Zhang's father After his death, Zhang Hengfu and Zhang's mother suffered a great blow. Zeng Pingnian also helped organize the funeral. Since then, Zhang's mother liked Zeng Pingnian even more and was very grateful to him.

When Zhang's mother went to the kitchen, Zeng Pingnian took a quick look and then motioned Yu Heng to go to the balcony, opened the cigarette case and touched a cigarette.

"Something's not right with you lately. You just resigned when you said you wanted to. What's wrong? Did Zhang Zhi quarrel with you again?" Are you in a bad mood?

Yu Heng shook his head: "How can that be possible? He has not contacted his family since he returned to school on the eighth day of the first lunar month. How can I argue with him?"

Zeng Pingnian frowned when he heard this and asked again: "Is it Auntie——"

"No, my mother is in good health. There is nothing wrong with her at all."

Zhang Hengfu is a person who can't lie. Zeng Pingnian felt relieved when he heard: "I called you and you always said everything was fine. I still don't believe it, but I see that my aunt's face is indeed quite good. She really looks several years younger."

Yu Heng laughed: "I often take her to the swimming pool to swim, but the second floor of the swimming pool is almost flooded now, so it should be closed soon."

"It's good for the elderly to exercise more, and swimming is also good. Tell me, why did you suddenly buy a house? Didn't you say you wanted to buy it in Zhongjing?" Do you still have enough money?

"I won the lottery, so I bought a house for my mother and me first. The house at home is too old and collapsed a while ago. Don't tell my mother about this."

Zeng Pingnian looked at him in surprise: "Okay, you kid! You even learned how to buy lottery tickets, you are awesome!" After congratulations, he was a little entangled: "Look, I have moved. What do you think? This house of yours -"

He looked around and felt it was a pity, "My father-in-law told me that Hexiang, west of Huashan Mountain, has released plans and started field surveys to start construction of a floating city. Although our place is not close to the sea, it is still in the south. Maybe it will be flooded someday. I want to persuade you to come with us, but looking at your house, I can't tell you. "Oh, I just bought this house. How do you do it?" ?

Yu Heng whispered: "I'll give my father a three-year memorial ceremony first before we talk." Zeng Pingnian understood instantly and sighed: "Then I'll go over first, and you guys will come to Huashan when the time comes, and I'll find a house for you. "

"The relationship is good. Brother Zeng, can you ask my sister-in-law and father to help me look at the house first? I can pay in full." Huashan is a second-tier city in the north. It is somewhat to the west and mountainous. If Zeng Pingnian is also there, , it’s really good for two families to have someone to rely on.

Zeng Pingnian said: "I'll ask my father-in-law first to see if he has time to spare. If he doesn't have time to spare, can I help you with it after I go?"

"become."

"Hey, the lottery you won this time is amazing. The house in Huashan is so expensive." Zeng Pingnian was still very happy for him. "It's really unexpected that your fortune lies in the lottery, but that's not the right way to make money." , don’t buy it in the future, and don’t indulge in it.”

After dinner, Zeng Pingnian said goodbye: "Tell me when you and your aunt are going to Huashan Mountain, and I will pick you up."

Ever since Zeng Ping's birthday, Zhang's mother has always been thoughtful, and Yu Heng knew that she was shaken. The old lady has never been out of this place in her life. She has experienced all the ups and downs here and is unwilling to leave. Besides, she thought it was just raining. When would it stop raining? It's just raining more, so there's no need to go north to avoid disasters?

As soon as she heard about moving, she felt it was unnecessary. How nice this house is now, big, spacious, and tall! If there was a flood, it wouldn't reach the thirteenth floor, right? But now that Zeng Pingnian and his family were leaving, she hesitated.

This kind of mentality is quite normal: If other people’s children are like this, should my children also learn from it? It just changed from worrying about whether to sign up for tutoring classes to worrying about whether to move.

"Afu, look, can we move? Xiao Zeng's father-in-law always calls him to go, shouldn't he just call him casually, right?" Moving is a big deal!

Yu Heng seized this opportunity and said, "Mom, you have also seen that the water is getting higher and higher. It must be safer in the north."

Zhang's mother nodded repeatedly: "That's the truth. It's said on TV that the land in the north is higher."

"In twenty days, dad's three-year anniversary will be held. How about we do it in advance and take dad away with us to prevent him from being flooded later, which would be very uncomfortable."

Mother Zhang pursed her lips and remained silent for a long time, and finally clapped her hands together! "Do it in advance! After you finish it, take your father's ashes with you and let's go together."

Yu Heng breathed a sigh of relief, "Then I'll go tomorrow morning. I've already bought the paper money, incense, and candles. Now I'll go out and buy a pig's head and two ducks."

"Is it difficult to buy now?" There is flooding everywhere. Where can I buy pig heads?

"It's okay, I'll go look for it."

Zhang's mother asked again: "Then it will be too late tomorrow. Xiaozhi won't be able to come back in time, right?"

"I'll ask him first." Yu Heng called Zhang Zhi personally, but no one answered. He waited for another half an hour and called again, and this time Zhang Zhi answered.

"Dad, what are you doing? Didn't you agree not to call me? Do you know how busy I am?"

"You haven't had lunch after get off work yet?" It's almost twelve o'clock now.

"I'm working overtime! It's okay, I'll hang up."

Yu Heng chuckled, ignoring the girl on the other end who said coquettishly, "Peel the shrimp for me," and said, "Are you free to go home? I want to make a three-year memorial ceremony for your grandfather."

"Isn't it time yet? I remember it's July, right?"

"The water accumulation in my hometown is very serious. I want to do it in advance, otherwise it will be inconvenient to go out in the future."

Zhang Zhi said impatiently: "I can't go back, I'm too busy! Since there is water, don't do anything about it. What are you doing with those feudal superstitions..."

Yu Heng hung up the phone directly. Facing Zhang's mother's expectant gaze, he shook his head: "He can't come back."

Zhang's mother was extremely disappointed: "Xiao Zhi... forget it, let's do it tomorrow, the two of us will do it."

In the end, he really couldn't buy a pig's head, but only bought two ducks, which were very expensive and not big, so he spent 500 yuan.

The next morning, he took Zhang's mother to Nanshan to pay tribute to Zhang's father. It was drizzling that day. After the worship, Yu Heng found a staff member and took Zhang's father's urn away. On the way home, Zhang's mother hugged him tightly and occasionally reminded him: "Afu, let's row slowly, don't flip over."

"Don't worry, mom." He smiled and rowed steadily. The water waves spread out layer by layer, and the faint sunlight shattered in the waves.