Chapter 45

This time, since she was inside the driftwood cabin when claiming her reward, Shu Fu could clearly feel a sudden shift in the light and shadows within the cabin.

It was fleeting, lasting less than a second. When she looked up again, she was surprised to find that the cabin now had an additional level—or rather, half a level!

So, this is what they meant by “split-level space.” It wasn’t quite what she had imagined.

After upgrading the raft to Level 2, the ceiling height of the driftwood cabin had soared to about 3.8 meters. She had once marveled at how this height resembled the loft apartment she bought in her original world. But she’d lamented that the space wasn’t divided, leaving the upper area wasted.

Now, it wasn’t wasted anymore!

Starting from above the back door, newly appeared wooden planks cut off part of the upper space of the cabin, covering the bathroom area and extending to where she was currently sitting on the sofa—creating a partial upper level.

This new area was rectangular, with two sides against the walls and two sides suspended, enclosed by a wooden railing just over a meter high. It was a completely open-concept upper space.

The wooden staircase leading up was located in the hallway between the bathroom and the kitchen. The angle was perfect—it didn’t obstruct movement and looked like an added wooden lattice decoration. It was actually quite pretty.

Shu Fu quickly climbed the stairs. The small split-level space above was about ten square meters. Aside from the railing, it was completely empty. However, since it covered the floor-to-ceiling window next to the bookshelf and cushions, about one-third of the over-three-meter-tall window now aligned perfectly with the upper level, giving this new space excellent natural light.

Shu Fu immediately knew how she wanted to arrange this new space. Just like her loft, she’d move her mattress, bedside table, and clothing storage boxes up here. This split-level area was going to be her new bedroom!

Without hesitation, and with the help of her wristband storage space, moving the bedroom upstairs took her only a second.

She stored away the bed, bedside table, and the storage cabinet for clothes from the living area downstairs, then went back up to set everything up. The bed was placed by the floor-to-ceiling window as before, with the headboard against the wall. On the left was the lower portion of the window, and beyond that, the wooden railing. Lying here, she could look down and see the entire living room below.

The upper space was only about 1.8 meters tall. The low, soft bed combined with the natural wood flooring and small floor-to-ceiling window created a cozy, intimate atmosphere.

She originally had two bedside tables but had only used one before because the bed was placed against the wall. Now, with the headboard against the wall, she took out both tables and placed one on each side.

On one bedside table, she set a sage and sea salt-scented aromatherapy candle. On the other, her rechargeable desk lamp as usual.

At the end of the upper level near the staircase, where two walls met, she rummaged through her storage and pulled out a modular wardrobe set and the single-seat soft sofa she’d used in the living room before.

The wardrobe was one she’d bought after renting her apartment in Suicheng. Made of composite wood, it consisted of three sections. Lined up, it was quite spacious and could hold all her seasonal clothes and extra bedding. After taking it out, she freed up several cubic meters in her wristband storage space.

The wardrobe fit perfectly against the far-right wall. She placed the single-seat sofa between the wardrobe and the bedside table, laying a soft round rug in front of the sofa and setting a glass coffee table on top.

The coffee table had two tiers. In the lower storage area, she placed a power bank, room-temperature drinks, another Bluetooth speaker, some books, and more.

With just a simple arrangement, the previously empty upper space had been completely transformed. The spot where her bed had been downstairs was now free, too. Since that area also had floor-to-ceiling windows and good lighting, she moved her rowing machine, small dining table, and chairs there, adding an extra chair from the set.

Now, the first-floor living area was divided into two functional zones—a dining and fitness area on one side, and the living room on the other.

This little driftwood cabin was starting to feel like a split-level mini-villa.

By the time she finished decorating the cabin, it was just past eight. Between eight and nine was the water supply period. Shu Fu stretched, grabbed her change of clothes, and stepped out of the cabin to shower in the rental house.

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Recently, she’d been showering in the rental house for a couple of reasons. First, it saved water. After all, the raft had been off the water for over a month now, meaning she was losing 50 liters of purified water daily. Naturally, she’d become more cautious about her water usage.

The 500 liters of water currently in the cabin’s tank were leftovers from the two months she’d spent in Suicheng, saved up from her daily purification. She used this purified water for washing up, bathing, cleaning dishes, and doing laundry. For flushing the toilet, she used filtered water from Lou Yuncheng, stored in a collapsible tub.

But over the past few days, she’d been unable to continue showering inside the cabin. The wastewater tank only had a 1,000-liter capacity, and it was almost full.

Since the raft was now off the water, she couldn’t manually discharge the full tank. She needed to reserve some space for washing up and using the toilet. Naturally, she couldn’t afford to waste more on showers, which used the most water.

The washing machine also consumed a lot of water, but she didn’t want to move it outside every time she did laundry, nor did she want her clothes to reek of the chemical smell from filtered water. In the end, she decided to sacrifice herself.

Anyway, after a shower, she could always spray some floral water on herself, and the chemical smell would quickly fade from her skin.

Half an hour later, carrying the combined scent of floral water and chemicals, Shu Fu walked gloomily back into the cabin. The moment she stepped inside, she lit the aromatherapy candle on the bar table by the door. She’d chosen a strong rose scent specifically to mask the weird mix of smells on her body.

However, the clash of these three scents made her expression even more melancholic.

Shu Fu lay flat on the sofa, reconsidering her earlier idea of letting the raft drain the wastewater tank the next time it touched water.

She had moved to Jixing Community to complete a mission, and later stayed because Zheng Feifei was there, along with subsequent tasks.

But now, Zheng Feifei’s family had moved to Zhicheng, Fang Xiwen had left, and Liu Shuang had been reassigned back to Xizhou Province.

It felt like the story of their meeting and journey together had reached a fork in the road, and with everyone gone, it seemed she no longer had a reason to stay.

Could she find an old house near the Yun River? She remembered that some old homes would get partially flooded on the first floor when the river rose…

Or maybe she could just move to a farmhouse with a small pond in the suburbs? The eastern outskirts of the city had several shelters, and the influx of refugees had forced many of the farmhouses to close.

If she wanted to rent a place there, she could probably find an agent to help.

But both options had a major issue—the low terrain. Even though Lou Yuncheng had a flood barrier, heavy rains would still cause the Yun River to rise, and lower areas would flood.

Her raft still had 15% left before leveling up to Level 3, and she could currently only use it for 12 hours. Even if it leveled up now, there was no guarantee the usage time would extend to 24 hours.

If conditions in Lou Yuncheng changed, living in a low-lying building could put her survival at risk again.

After all, she had no idea how long she would need to stay in Lou Yuncheng this time. The floodwaters outside the safety walls were rising daily. While the flood barriers could be raised, the hills between them couldn’t be altered.

Some people online had suggested connecting all six dams into a continuous high wall around the city. But constructing on the hills was unimaginably complex, and these dams had already strained half the city’s resources. Adding more construction sites was nearly impossible.

Even if all the suburban refugees were conscripted, there wouldn’t be enough machinery or building materials.

This meant that no matter how much the dams were reinforced or raised, there was a limit. Once floodwaters exceeded that limit, even if they didn’t overflow the dams, they could bypass them through the hills.

At that point, Lou Yuncheng would face the same flooding problems as Suicheng.

But for now, this hadn’t caused panic among the citizens of Lou Yuncheng because the water level outside the dams wasn’t rising too fast. The Huaguo plains were vast, and it would take a significant rise in water levels across the entire region before the floodwaters could breach the hills and enter the city.

To reach that critical point, the plains’ water levels would need to rise another 150 to 200 meters.

Even if it were the end of the world, that kind of rise wouldn’t happen overnight.

And this “not overnight” timeline was the key to Shu Fu’s current dilemma about whether to move.

Based on her previous experience, the remaining 15% progress might not trigger until after the floods reached Lou Yuncheng. If the water rose at the same pace as in Suicheng, it would take at least 5 to 6 months for the floods to breach Lou Yuncheng.

And that was assuming heavy rain every day for those 5 to 6 months. Realistically, it could take 7 to 8 months.

She couldn’t leave the raft out of water for that long—it would be a waste.

But moving closer to water was definitely risky.

As she pondered, Shu Fu browsed a few rental websites and found a new agent she didn’t know. She added them on WeChat and left a message saying she wanted to rent a small house by the Yun River or near a pond in the suburbs.

Her request was a bit unusual, but she decided to try and see what happened.

The agent quickly accepted her friend request and politely explained that due to the weather, there weren’t many clients with such needs, so they didn’t have much information on hand. They promised to sort through their listings and get back to her the next day.

Shu Fu wasn’t sure if the agent was just unwilling to take on her request or if there was another reason, but two days passed without any updates. Just as she was about to look for another rental agency online, Cheng Yu called her.

He seemed to be in a hurry, skipping the usual pleasantries once she answered. He got straight to the point, asking if she had plans to settle in Shacheng.

“Yes.” Shu Fu had never hidden her intention to move to Shacheng from anyone, but she hadn’t expected his response to carry such practical weight.

“In about three days, I’ll be heading to Shacheng. I can’t say exactly why, but I’m allowed to bring a team. I can arrange for one more person to come along. I know this is sudden, but time is tight, so—” Cheng Yu paused for a moment before continuing, “Shu Fu, do you want to come with me to Shacheng?”

“Huh?” Shu Fu’s surprise was genuine.

Before he said that last sentence, she’d thought he was calling to say goodbye. After all, like Liu Shuang, he was now her friend, and it made sense to let her know before leaving Lou Yuncheng.

But she hadn’t expected that he could arrange for someone to go with him—and that he’d offer that spot to her.

Shu Fu felt quite touched. Both Liu Shuang and Cheng Yu were people she had met by chance in this disaster, yet they both had gentle hearts.

If possible, she really wanted to tell him, Thank you for arranging this. I want to go— She didn’t find it abrupt or rushed; she had always wanted to go to Shacheng!

But—

Shu Fu let out a slow sigh. “I can’t leave just yet. I still have unfinished business here… But I’m really grateful that you thought of me at this time, Captain Cheng. I sincerely thank you.”

On the other end of the line, Cheng Yu was silent for a long moment before speaking again. “It’s not still about that last thing, is it?”

Shu Fu didn’t respond. She hadn’t meant to mislead him, but the unfinished business she referred to was, of course, the progress bar task.

However, it seemed that what happened in Suicheng had left too strong an impression—her bold “heroic” act of jumping ship for “love” during the mass evacuation.

So when she spoke vaguely again, it was easy for him to assume it was the same issue.

Shu Fu felt conflicted. On one hand, she didn’t want to lie to Cheng Yu. On the other, this really was the most convenient and simple excuse. She didn’t even need to explain much—since it involved personal feelings, people wouldn’t pry.

In the end, she said nothing.

But to her surprise, Cheng Yu’s voice came through again. “Why can’t you think more for yourself? I really want to know… What kind of person makes you do this, again and again… without hesitation…”

“Captain Cheng—” Before Shu Fu could say anything more, Cheng Yu abruptly changed the topic.

“Sorry.”

She could hear his uneven breathing through the phone. He sounded a bit flustered, as if he was holding himself back. Maybe he realized he had said something he shouldn’t have and now regretted it, worried his words might hurt her. He apologized again, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that. Don’t take it to heart.”

“I don’t mind.” Shu Fu genuinely didn’t care—it was just an imaginary excuse after all. “I know you’re concerned about me. If I were you, I might ask the same thing of a friend… Captain Cheng, thank you. You and Sister Liu Shuang are both wonderful and kind people. I hope you have a safe and smooth journey to Shacheng!”

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Before Cheng Yu left Lou Yuncheng, he made time to meet her.

It really was just a quick meeting—he stayed for only twenty minutes. He didn’t even come upstairs. After parking his car, he asked her to bring a folding cart downstairs.

Shu Fu took the elevator to the first-floor parking lot, opened the gate for him, and let him drive inside.

He parked in a corner spot and got out to open the trunk.

He brought her two boxes of supplies: vacuum-packed instant rice and noodles, bottled mineral water, canned fruits, chocolate-flavored energy bars, and vacuum-compressed biscuits.

The boxes were packed to the brim—no wonder he insisted she bring a folding cart.

Looking at the two boxes of supplies, Shu Fu suddenly didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t rush to refuse. These are just some supplies we were issued before. I’m leaving in a hurry this time and can’t take much with me. I left some for other team members, and these two boxes are for you. After Liu Shuang and I leave Lou Yuncheng, you’ll have to rely on yourself if anything happens.”

As Cheng Yu spoke, he closed the trunk and told her to get in the car so they could chat for a bit.

Shu Fu placed the cart aside and got into the passenger seat.

Cheng Yu didn’t bring up the things he had asked about over the phone. He explained that he would first head to Xizhou Province to take over another team and escort a group of people to Shacheng. The mission came suddenly, and most of the information was still classified—even he didn’t know the details.

But compared to his past missions, this was a simple escort assignment, which was why he had thought of bringing Shu Fu along.

It was now early February, and he had originally planned to wrap up his rescue mission in Lou Yuncheng and report back to his unit in March.

But with this new mission, he wasn’t sure how long he’d be gone. He suspected that once it was over, he might have to report directly back to Xizhou Province. So before leaving, he wanted to settle everything he could.

However, he couldn’t disclose anything related to the mission. He guessed that once he left Lou Yuncheng, it would be unlikely for him to return soon. The next time they met might be after he applied for leave again, at least two months later.

So, today he mainly wanted to remind her about safety issues.

These supplies were meant as a backup, all long-lasting and easy to carry. If she ever found herself trapped in her home again or if bad weather persisted, they would be her lifeline.

Moreover, many people were being transferred from Lou Yuncheng. The order in the eastern part of the city wouldn’t hold as well as before. So the last thing he wanted to ask her today was whether she planned to move somewhere else.

Shu Fu looked at Cheng Yu. There was no need to hide this. “I do plan to move.”

“Where to?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Mainly because she hadn’t found a place yet. Over the past couple of days, she’d been thinking about it. Maybe she could choose a place that was both elevated and near water, like a luxury apartment with a pool or a guesthouse in the southwestern mountains near a lake or pond.

However, these places were just as desirable to other people in Lou Yuncheng. Exorbitant rent was one thing, but the real concern was whether she could even find a vacant house, as they were all overcrowded.

She had already commissioned another rental agency to search for a place, but there hadn’t been any news yet.

Since Cheng Yu brought it up now, she briefly described her requirements, considering he had been in Lou Yuncheng longer and was more familiar with the area.

“You want a building that’s higher up and also near a pond?”

The request did sound a bit odd, but she had been peculiar in front of Cheng Yu before, so she nodded without changing her expression. “I’m not very good at swimming. I’ve suffered because of it before, and with all the flooding going on now, I want to practice more and get better…”

Cheng Yu believed this reason and also realized that what she really needed wasn’t a pond but a place where she could practice swimming.

He thought for a moment, found a number on his phone, and sent it to her via WeChat, explaining that it belonged to a good friend from his rescue team who would be reassigned to Xizhou Province with him in March.

The friend would still be in Lou Yuncheng until early March. If she really wanted to move, she could contact him directly. Cheng Yu would explain everything to him in the next couple of days. Finding a place that met her requirements wasn’t difficult—she’d already been there once.

“Once?”

“The time you dropped us off at the dormitory.”

“You mean… you want me to move to that hill?”

Cheng Yu nodded, explaining that the hill was originally a scenic resort area. The dormitory where the rescue team was staying had been converted from a hotel. There were other hotels and guesthouses nearby, two of which were sturdy enough to be reinforced and allocated to house the families of rescue team members.

The place he was suggesting for her to move to was one of those family buildings.

“Behind one of those buildings, diagonally, there’s a guesthouse. It’s not very sturdy and was half-destroyed, but it has an indoor swimming pool that’s still in good condition.” An indoor pool was much safer than a pond, at least it provided shelter from the wind and rain.

Plus, being close to the rescue team meant that refugees wouldn’t dare cause trouble there, and if anything happened, the rescue team could respond quickly.

Additionally, since the rescue team was stationed there, one of the hotel’s original wine cellars had been converted into an underground shelter to deal with extreme weather like hurricanes, tornadoes, waterspouts, thunderstorms, and hail.

Shu Fu was tempted but worried that too many people might make it impossible to carry out her plans.

In the end, she decided to go have a look. She needed to see the situation for herself. But if she moved there, what identity would she use? After all, it was a family residence.

This time, for some reason, Cheng Yu avoided her gaze and coughed lightly before slowly saying, “As my family…”

“Huh?”

Cheng Yu added, “Just tell him you’re my sister.”

Shu Fu teased, “Are you sure it’s ‘sister’? With that title, wouldn’t it make more sense if I were your niece? Otherwise, next time we meet Yao Ruoyun and Xun Hui, wouldn’t that make me their aunt?”

Cheng Yu: …

“I’m kidding!” Shu Fu waved her hand, flashing a smile with her charming dimples. “I’m just joking, don’t be mad, Captain Cheng. I really appreciate all the effort you’ve put into this.”

Cheng Yu’s gaze lingered on her face for a while before he finally looked away.

After a moment, he spoke with a touch of emotion, “I’m about to leave, and you’re still calling me by such a formal title?”

Shu Fu suddenly remembered that he had mentioned the topic of how she addressed him before. A light bulb went off in her head. “Thank you, Brother Cheng Yu!”

Cheng Yu… Brother?

Cheng Yu hadn’t expected her to change how she addressed him so quickly and directly—he wasn’t prepared for it at all. He reached up and touched his ear, feeling an inexplicable itch.

He gave a low “hmm,” said he was going to load her boxes, and then opened the car door and got out.

He moved the two boxes onto her foldable cart. As Cheng Yu was about to leave, Shu Fu pulled the cart back a couple of steps to make room, standing aside and waving goodbye.

Cheng Yu had already opened the driver’s side door, but at the last moment, he felt an unexpected wave of reluctance.

Even though he had arranged everything, he still couldn’t feel at ease.

It felt like if he left like this, she might suddenly disappear again, just like last time…

He looked at her, then suddenly strode toward her, bent down, and gently, slowly pulled her into a hug.

It was such a slow movement that if she wanted to refuse, she would have had plenty of time.

But Shu Fu didn’t refuse. She reached out and hugged him back, just like she had when saying goodbye to Liu Shuang and Zheng Feifei, giving him a light pat on the back. “Take care, Brother Cheng Yu. See you next time!”