Jiang Si said, "Auntie, when you go to the hospital later, you should bring that folk remedy with you."
"Let the doctor take a good look at it. All medicine has some toxicity—you shouldn’t just swallow anything."
Old Lady Xiang thought this meant Jiang Si was willing to help.
She nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, I’ll ask the doctor when I get there."
Then, with an ingratiating smile, she added, "As for the ginseng slices..."
Jiang Si smiled back. "The ginseng slices are available at the military hospital’s pharmacy."
"Since you’re planning to spend money anyway, buying them there is much more convenient. No need to owe anyone favors."
Old Lady Xiang’s face turned pale, then flushed with anger. Of course, she knew the hospital had a pharmacy.
But the problem was, ginseng was expensive.
Besides, the ginseng in the hospital was only about ten years old—nothing compared to what this capitalist’s daughter had.
Old Lady Xiang couldn’t understand it. Jiang Si had already given away so much—what was the harm in sharing a little more?
Unwilling to give up, she pressed again.
"Comrade Jiang, why don’t you name a price? I’d rather buy from you."
"Auntie, you shouldn’t say such things," Jiang Si replied sternly.
"The authorities are cracking down hard on private transactions these days. Throwing around words like ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ so casually—if someone overhears, it won’t just be a simple reprimand."
"It… it can’t be that serious."
Jiang Si shrugged indifferently. "Believe what you want. But we don’t have any ginseng left."
"How can that be?" Old Lady Xiang refused to believe it.
But her disbelief didn’t matter—whether there was any or not was up to Jiang Si.
Back when she had given out the ginseng slices, Jiang Si had already anticipated this scenario.
So when she handed them to Huo Tingzhou, she had instructed him to tell the military doctor clearly: "This is all we have left. Please use it sparingly."
Huo Tingzhou had relayed every word exactly as told.
Li Mei had heard it too.
But clearly, she hadn’t passed any of it on to Old Lady Xiang.
Noticing Jiang Si’s scrutinizing gaze, Li Mei grew flustered.
If she had known it would come to this, she wouldn’t have gotten involved.
In a panic, she tugged at Old Lady Xiang’s sleeve. "Mom, let’s just drop it. We can buy it at the hospital."
But what Li Mei didn’t know was that Jiang Si had one principle when dealing with people who tried to manipulate her:
Equal retaliation for all.
Thinking of running away?
Not a chance.
Jiang Si spoke deliberately. "Comrade Li Mei, this is really your fault."
"You knew we didn’t have any ginseng, yet you brought the whole family here. What exactly were you hoping to achieve?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Li Mei staggered, nearly losing her balance.
Old Lady Xiang saw it but couldn’t be bothered to steady her.
And so, Li Mei landed hard on her backside.
Old Lady Xiang didn’t even glance at her.
Right now, she only cared about one thing—what Jiang Si had meant by those words.
"Ask her yourself," Jiang Si said.
She had no interest in getting tangled up in their family drama.
After staying at the assembly hall for nearly six days, all she wanted was to go home and take a hot bath.
With that, she took Huo Tingzhou’s hand and turned to leave.
"Don’t let these people upset you. It’s not worth it."
Seeing her expression darken, Huo Tingzhou offered some comfort.
Jiang Si shook her head. "I’ve dealt with plenty like them. It doesn’t bother me."
But the state of the residential compound left her unsettled.
Looking at the shattered roof tiles and toppled utility poles scattered across the ground, she suddenly realized something.
The typhoon’s damage might have been far worse than she’d imagined.
Sure enough, when she voiced the question, Huo Tingzhou confirmed it.
"The destruction is indeed severe. According to the logistics unit’s survey, about seventy percent of the houses in both the eastern and western residential areas have suffered varying degrees of damage."
"The worst-hit area is the self-sufficient farm below."
"Out of eight factory buildings, six collapsed outright."
"And it’s not just the factories—the orchards, canning plant, pig farm, and rubber factory underneath the farm have all suffered heavy losses."
"The biggest problem is, the military district doesn’t have the funds to cover all the repairs right now."
By the time he finished explaining, they had reached home.
Huo Tingzhou had come back two days earlier to clean up.
Even so, when Jiang Si pushed open the courtyard gate, she froze for a long moment.
The yard was bare.
The vegetable garden was gone—the waterlogged plants had rotted at the roots.
There was no saving them; they’d have to replant everything.
The thatched pavilion where they used to relax in the shade had vanished.
Jiang Si scanned the surroundings. The eastern and western walls had crumbled, leaving only a third standing.
The lemon tree was still there, but it stood like a bare stick—most of its leaves had been stripped away by the wind.
It looked pitiful.
If the yard was this bad, the house couldn’t be much better.
Sure enough, the moment she stepped into the living room, a heavy, earthy stench mixed with something fermented assaulted her senses.
The walls were even worse.
A thick layer of yellow mud had splattered across them. Just a glance made Jiang Si’s stomach churn.
Thank goodness she wasn’t eating…
Huo Tingzhou quickly handed her a cup of hot water—he had boiled it early that morning and left it to cool in the pot.
"The temperature’s just right. Drink slowly."
Jiang Si took a sip—then immediately spat it out, spraying Huo Tingzhou’s face.
"I didn’t mean to!"
She frowned, licking her lips. "This… this water tastes weird. Like disinfectant."
"It has purification tablets in it," Huo Tingzhou explained, wiping his face.
"All the nearby reservoirs were contaminated. Before distributing the water, the military had to purify and disinfect it in bulk."
Normally, tap water had traces of it too, but in much smaller amounts.
Not like now, when entire crates of tablets were being used.
Jiang Si sighed, studying him for a long moment. "Hey, weren’t you supposed to go to Guangxi soon?"
The subject change was abrupt.
Huo Tingzhou paused before coughing lightly into his fist. "Don’t worry. I’ll stay home with you until after the baby is born."
Jiang Si: "…"
Never mind. Forget she asked.
With another internal sigh, she headed to her bedroom.
Everything below waist height was ruined—all of it waterlogged.
Thankfully, the clothes in the wardrobe had been wrapped in bedsheets and stored on top of the cabinet.
The ground floor was in relatively decent shape.
The worst damage was in the attic.
Especially the left attic room—it had completely caved in.
Rainwater had seeped down from there, ruining over half of the supplies Huo Tingzhou had painstakingly packed.
Just sorting through everything took Jiang Si nearly two days.
At least most of it could be salvaged with some washing.
But the residential compound’s water supply hadn’t been fully restored yet. Each household was rationed just one bucket a day—barely enough for drinking and washing up, let alone cleaning.
In comparison, the situation over at the tube-shaped apartment building was noticeably more severe, especially in Building No. 3.
Rumor had it that the entire first floor of Building No. 3 had been flooded.
However, when it came to this matter, the military dependents, led by Old Lady Xiang, didn’t seem the least bit worried.
Ever since they heard that the army would provide compensation, they had been working overtime these past few days to tally up their household losses.
Jiang Si hadn’t gone out much recently and only learned about this when she visited Teacher Hu’s place.
After listening to Teacher Hu’s vivid retelling,
Jiang Si looked surprised. "When did the army say they’d compensate for this?"
"I was wondering the same thing. Who knows where Old Lady Xiang heard it from,"
Hu Meili remarked with a click of her tongue. "But she’s really got some nerve—even listing every last needle and thread in her inventory of losses."
Jiang Si wasn’t too shocked by that.
But then Hu Meili added, "Writing down those things is one thing, but she even put cash on the list."
"At first, she claimed a hundred, but these past couple of days, she’s changed her story, saying three hundred was ruined by the water."
"At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ups it to five hundred in a few days."
As the two were talking, Xu Mingjuan arrived.
Hu Meili was quite surprised. "Huh? I thought your logistics department was swamped these days. What brings you here at this hour?"
Just as Xu Mingjuan opened her mouth to speak,
the loudspeaker in the residential compound suddenly blared to life.
Jiang Si hadn’t expected a meeting to be called at this hour—and with mandatory attendance, no less, requiring one representative from every household.
Hu Meili was equally puzzled. "Could it really be like Old Lady Xiang said? Are they actually handing out compensation?"
