Chapter 22
The apocalypse was full of sudden upheavals, and Wei Cheng did not want all the work he and Guanguan had done today to be ruined in one stroke, so before night fell, he upgraded the safe house.
[Twisty Coin Balance: 9068]
[Safe House Stockpile Amount: 100]
[Wiggle Car Upgrade Level: Basic Form 100. Multi-person escape unlocked (maximum four people)…]
[Notice: The safe house currently has an area of 95 square meters. Once the safe house area is upgraded to 200 square meters, the Cozy Little Home (70 square meters) will automatically move in!]
The balance had originally been 8600 Twisty Coins, but over the past month, he had taught Guanguan ten Chinese characters every day, and today they had also killed more than ten zombies, so the system showed that the balance had increased again.
As long as there was both spending and earning, and they were not just living off a dwindling reserve, Wei Cheng was more than willing to make life in the apocalypse more comfortable for little Guanguan.
So he searched the mall for shelves that could expand their storage capacity.
The first option was an extra-long heavy-duty storage shelf with ten levels and a length of fifty meters, which cost 1000 Twisty Coins. The second was an eight-level, ten-meter shelf that cost 300 Twisty Coins.
He thought of the nearly nine tons of coal outside, and the twenty-three drums of gasoline and diesel. Even in the real world, those were precious resources. In the apocalypse, one could never have too much of them. If they encountered more in the future, they would definitely want to take all of it.
So instead of buying a lot of small shelves, it was better to settle it once and for all and buy the biggest one.
Wei Cheng looked at Guanguan, who was squatting beside him munching on an apple, and smiled. “Should big brother buy it?”
Guanguan was completely focused on chomping away, but nodded rapidly like a pecking chick. “Buy buy buy!”
Wei Cheng laughed and rubbed his little head, then directly chose to buy the largest shelf in the mall.
The moment payment went through, the Twisty Coin balance immediately dropped by 1000 points.
The system panel also popped up six photos of cozy little homes in different styles.
[Congratulations! The safe house area has been upgraded to 250 square meters! Please choose your favorite Cozy Little Home! One out of six!]
Wei Cheng was dazzled by the options and quickly said, “Guanguan, come quick, pick our little home.”
Guanguan came over hugging the big apple, and his eyes lit up instantly. “Wow! Big brother, so many pretty houses!”
The decorating styles of the little homes were all very cozy, with colorful wallpaper. The overall space was not large, but they had everything they needed—a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
Suddenly, Guanguan tapped the last picture with his little finger. “Big brother, this house is like the welfare home. It has little stairs too! Little Apricot and Guanguan both like climbing stairs!”
The little black dog gave a soft bark, as if agreeing with its little owner.
This was the only loft-style little home among the options. Because of the high ceiling design, it also looked a bit taller than the others.
Wei Cheng liked this one too. Its warm white and light wood-yellow style made the whole place feel especially gentle. “Okay, then we’ll choose this one as our first little home!”
Guanguan tilted his head. “Does big brother like it too?”
Wei Cheng smiled. “I like it too.”
Only then did Guanguan beam, little dimples appearing. “Yay! Guanguan and big brother and Little Apricot have a home now!”
They selected the last picture and clicked confirm. The system popped up a line:
[Renovating…]
About three seconds later:
[Congratulations! Cozy Little Home successfully moved in!]
[Notice: Excess space has automatically generated a basement!]
Wei Cheng and Guanguan had changed into simple indoor clothes in the car, then hurried into the completely transformed safe house.
Even though they had already seen the pictures, actually stepping into it still made both children wildly excited.
Guanguan bounced around happily. “Wow! Such a pretty little home!”
The flooring was wood-yellow, the walls warm white, and downstairs there was a spacious living room. Since there was only the small table they had used before and the little dog’s bed, with no sofa, TV stand, or other furniture and appliances, it still looked a little empty.
“Big brother! Our big fridge is here too!”
Hearing that, Wei Cheng hurried toward the open kitchen and saw that the giant refrigerator occupied an entire wall of it, while the opposite wall was lined with a counter and cabinets of all sizes above and below. The counter held their stove and all the various appliances they had won, neatly arranged. Beneath the range hood was a small window covered by a fabric curtain.
Guanguan curiously lifted a corner of the curtain and jumped back two steps in fright. “Big brother, it’s so dark outside!”
Wei Cheng quickly set down the appliance he had been examining. He lifted the curtain and saw dark fields outside, and above them a night sky full of dimming stars.
From inside the Cozy Little Home, they could see the outside!
Before, they had never been able to hear anything outside or see anything at all.
Could it be because the old safe house had only been a blank space, with no windows? That was certainly a good thing. From now on, they could observe the outside for danger before deciding whether to leave the safe house.
Wei Cheng rubbed Guanguan’s little head. He remembered Grandma saying that children were easily frightened, especially at night. “It’s okay, don’t be scared. We can see outside, but outside can’t see us. Come on, big brother will take you upstairs to look at the little bed!”
Upstairs, against the wall, stood a cream-colored wardrobe, and their few pieces of clothing were already hanging neatly inside. Above the soft little bed was another window curtained off with cloth. This time, the two children tacitly chose not to lift the curtain. Beside the natural-wood children’s bookshelf was a bathroom with separate wet and dry areas.
Guanguan came running out of the bathroom. “Big brother! Can Guanguan make bubbles tonight?”
Wei Cheng smiled. “That’s right. Today the two of us can finally take a nice hot bath!”
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already seven-thirty in the evening.
“After we wash up, we’ll eat!”
Wei Cheng put hot water into the child-sized bathtub in the bathroom, then, once the temperature was just right, lowered one Michelin-tire baby into it.
“Is the water too hot?”
Guanguan slapped the water happily. “It’s just right!”
Wei Cheng opened the plastic box on the floor. “What scent of body wash do you want today?”
“Peach!”
Guanguan craned his neck to peer at his own little box. “And I want three little cats and two little yellow ducks to keep me company in the bath!”
Back when the safe house had been just a blank space with no bathroom, Wei Cheng could only use a plastic box to hold Guanguan’s body wash, shampoo, and some little odds and ends.
He put the little float-ring-wearing bath toys into the tub and said, “All right, your bath friends are all here. Soak a little longer, and later big brother will make bubbles for you!”
“Okay!”
Guanguan touched the little head where his curls had started growing back in a new layer. His face was flushed pink from the steam. “Big brother, it feels like grass is about to grow out of Guanguan’s head.”
“That’s not grass. Your hair is growing back.”
Wei Cheng used a little scoop to pour water over the child’s back. “The weather won’t stay this hot from now on, so big brother won’t shave your head bald anymore.”
Guanguan suddenly said, “Big brother, when Guanguan’s hair grows back, make it mango flavor!”
Wei Cheng blinked. “Mango color? Dye it yellow? Why?”
Guanguan leaned in mysteriously. “Xiaotiao said the big kids at the welfare home are all scared of people with mango-flavored hair. Guanguan and big brother have to be hard to mess with too!”
Wei Cheng thought he understood what Guanguan meant. He was saying that if they dyed their hair yellow, they would turn into scary little hoodlums?
He did not argue with the child and only laughed. “All right, in the future little yellow-haired Guanguan will protect big brother?”
Guanguan smacked the bathwater with his little fist and bared his teeth fiercely. “Guanguan will protect you!”
After washing the child and drying his hair, Wei Cheng wrapped him in a coral-fleece little elephant blanket and let him sit on the bed playing with toy cars for a while.
After Wei Cheng took his own bath, he still wanted to go downstairs to figure out where the stockpile warehouse and the basement were.
When he pushed open the door of this little house, he saw the familiar shelves again. Both kinds of shelving were packed with boxed supplies, and just looking at them made him feel steadier.
The newly purchased extra-long shelf still did not have anything on it, while the gasoline and coal they had obtained today were piled on the ground for now. Because he was afraid of dirtying the safe house, when Wei Cheng bagged the coal, he had deliberately double-wrapped it with two extra woven sacks. One sack only cost a few mao, so no matter how many he used, it did not hurt.
This was now, in the truest sense, a real stockpile warehouse.
On the wall nearest him were two large doors, one black and one white.
When Wei Cheng opened the white door, he entered the Cloud Mall. So he figured the black door must lead to the basement, created from the leftover space.
Sure enough, when he opened it, he found a staircase of more than ten steps. The basement looked like a small air-raid shelter, all concrete gray, with more than ten little hanging lamps on the ceiling.
Seeing this, Wei Cheng pulled up the system panel and moved all the gasoline and coal sacks from the warehouse into the basement.
Then he checked the Personal Information Section again, which now displayed:
[Twisty Coin Balance: 8068]
[Safe House Stockpile Amount: 125]
[Wiggle Car Upgrade Level: Intermediate Form 125…]
From now on, every point of stockpile amount meant progress toward the wiggle car’s intermediate form.
Only after finishing all of that did he finally let out a breath.
He bought a few dishes from the mall and returned to the Cozy Little Home, calling out, “Guanguan, come downstairs, it’s time to eat!”
At the sound of food, Guanguan dropped his toy car and thudded downstairs. “Big brother, what are we eating tonight!”
Guanguan was always very enthusiastic about meals. He had no need for a child’s high chair at all.
Wei Cheng set a divided plate in front of him: a bowl of shrimp and cucumber soup, two big chunks of braised beef rib, a little boiled bok choy, and one purple rice ball.
Guanguan obediently put on his little gloves, grabbed a rib, and bit off a chunk of savory meat. “Such delicious meat-meat!”
Wei Cheng was eating the same dishes, only in slightly larger portions.
Smiling, he said, “Go ahead and eat. Those few greens have to be finished too.”
Guanguan had not been dazed into submission by the deliciousness of the ribs. He pointed at the bright green bok choy, lips all shiny with grease, and asked, “Is that the poison of this meal?”
Wei Cheng picked up a piece of bok choy with his chopsticks and ate it. “That’s good greens, not poison. Green vegetables are the antidote that makes Guanguan healthier.”
Guanguan grabbed a few stalks of greens and stuffed them into his own mouth too. After swallowing, he said, “Big brother always says nice things about vegetables! Are you taking money behind Guanguan’s back?”
Wei Cheng laughed so hard. Maybe Guanguan really was growing up. Recently the child had started talking in little sets and bits like this, and it was especially funny.
He deliberately sighed. “That’s right, I took money. Poor big brother—Guanguan, please pity me and finish the rest too.”
Guanguan obediently ate the remaining greens, then shook his head like a little grown-up. “Stop while you still can, big brother. Don’t take money anymore, okay?”
Wei Cheng held back laughter. “All right, all right. Eating this much is already very good.”
Then he quickly changed the subject. “We’ll leave it like this for these next two days. Once we get home, big brother will buy some furniture.”
Guanguan instantly looked up. “Can we buy a TV that can play The Chicken Squad?”
Wei Cheng knew it had been a very long time since Guanguan had watched cartoons. “We’ll buy one, but Guanguan has to promise big brother that every day there’ll be a fixed amount of TV time. You can’t watch for too long.”
Guanguan nodded excitedly. “Guanguan is super obedient! Guanguan won’t turn into a little panda!”
Wei Cheng laughed. He had not expected Guanguan to still remember what he had once said—that watching too much TV would turn him into a bespectacled little panda.
After dinner, the two brothers also gave the little dog a bath.
Wei Cheng put the freshly cleaned little black dog back into its bed downstairs. When he returned to the room, he saw Guanguan hanging over the edge of the bed with his round little bottom in the air.
He had probably been trying to climb up onto the bed to sleep, but fallen asleep on the spot before making it up.
Presumably, fighting zombies and loading coal today had really worn Guanguan out.
Wei Cheng lifted the sleeping child onto the bed, then gently pressed the switch beside the bedside.
The room dimmed into darkness.
The two children slept soundly and peacefully in their first little home, completely unaware that far away in Huan City, the zombie hordes had already begun spreading in all directions.
—
The moment the alarm rang at five o’clock, Wei Cheng immediately turned it off.
He got dressed and tiptoed downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, the little black dog was sleeping sprawled on its back, its fuzzy fat little belly rising and falling.
Pets really did resemble their owners.
He lifted a corner of the living room curtain and watched the area outside for a while. Only after seeing nothing unusual did he leave the safe house.
The morning dew was very heavy. As soon as Wei Cheng walked out into the fields, the lower half of one trouser leg was soaked.
Seeing that the road also seemed normal, he finally felt at ease enough to pick up the shovel and get to work. They needed to bring back the rest of the coal as soon as possible.
As the sun rose, more and more woven sacks piled up near the freight truck.
“Big brother!”
Guanguan came running over with two little water cups slung at his side. “Guanguan woke up and you were gone!”
“Big brother came to work. The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can go home!”
“Drink, big brother!”
Guanguan handed him a cup. “It’s big brother’s favorite little cat cup!”
Wei Cheng drank a few mouthfuls of water straight from Guanguan’s hand. “All right. You and the puppy play nearby big brother.”
A little while later, Guanguan came running back again. “Big brother! Big brother!”
“What is it?” Wei Cheng immediately put down the shovel.
Guanguan pointed to a luxury car whose front end had been completely smashed in. “Little Apricot found this next to that car.”
He opened his tiny palm, revealing a glittering little gold watch.
Wei Cheng blinked. “A gold watch?”
He took the little watch and turned it over in his hand a few times, pleasantly surprised. “It really is gold!”
The family gold at home was buried beneath the tiled floor, and since they still wanted to keep living there for now, they did not want to dig the house up into a mess.
At that moment, the little black dog let out another soft awooo, and the two turned to see it struggling to drag over a filthy leather bag with its teeth.
Luckily, Wei Cheng still had his work gloves on, so he could rummage through the bag directly.
To his surprise, he found a pile of broken green jade bangles, along with two gold bracelets and three gold necklaces.
Wei Cheng picked out the gold jewelry and said with a smile, “Guanguan, Little Apricot, the two of you really are a pair of lucky little treasure babies.”
Little Apricot awoooed once, tail wagging happily.
Guanguan also lifted his face proudly, clearly very pleased with himself. “Is that stuff really good? Guanguan saw the auntie who served meals wearing some on her neck before!”
“In the old days it was very valuable. In the future, we can use these to trade for plenty of food.” Wei Cheng put all the jewelry into a plastic bag.
Some base leaders always believed the apocalypse would eventually end, so they hoarded gold like mad, waiting for the day they could rise again.
Guanguan’s enthusiasm for treasure hunting immediately soared. “Big brother, then let’s look through the other cars too and see if they have any!”
At first, Wei Cheng had not wanted to check the other vehicles. Most of them had at least some rotting body parts inside, and he did not want to frighten the child.
After thinking about it, he said, “How about this—big brother will go with you, but we only search the trunks. We can’t look inside the cars themselves, okay?”
Guanguan cheered. “Yay!”
These cars had all been badly crashed, so most of the trunks had already popped open.
The first vehicle they searched was naturally the same luxury car where they had found the gold jewelry. There was not much food inside, only some rotten fruit and two cases of bottled water.
This brand of bottled water sold at a high price even in the mall, and in real life it was even more expensive.
Wei Cheng smiled. “We’ll keep the bottled water. We don’t want the rest.”
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