Chapter 52
After a simple lunch, the group began discussing how to fortify the ranch.
“Right now, the ranch’s wooden fence has wide gaps and is too low. Zombies and outsiders alike could break through it easily. To avoid a repeat of what happened at Highland Shelter, we absolutely won’t use wire fencing. We’ll use the iron sheets we brought back from the ruined town as fencing instead, and we’ll fill steel pipes with concrete to make support pillars. That way, even a zombie horde won’t be able to knock the fence down so easily.”
Shen Zheng quickly sketched out a vivid row of fencing.
Guanguan couldn’t understand what the adults were talking about. Hugging the little black dog, he was drawing the Mantou Family on a piece of paper, and when he looked up, he saw the beautiful fence Uncle Shen had drawn.
His little mouth dropped open in shock. “Uncle draws so well!”
Yi Qi laughed. “Your Uncle Shen used to study drawing.”
Guanguan let go of the little black dog. “Uncle, can you draw Guanguan?”
“I can.” Shen Zheng quickly drew a chibi little Guanguan on the paper.
“There, that’s Guanguan.”
“Thank you, Uncle!”
Guanguan took the drawing and looked at it from every angle, loving it to pieces. He grinned and said, “Baby is so cute.”
Seeing the child happily hugging the puppy and the drawing as he went back to playing, the three adults withdrew their attention and returned to discussing the fence.
“Uncle Shen’s idea is very good, and we have enough steel pipes and iron sheets. But I don’t have cement,” said Wei Cheng.
To make concrete, they definitely needed cement and sand.
The hardware section had power tools, wires and cables, all kinds of steel nails, fasteners, standard parts, and some electromechanical equipment, but it did not have cement, bricks, or sand.
Yi Qi thought for a moment. “There’s sand on the mountain. Can we use dirt instead of cement?”
Shen Zheng said, “If we want no future worries, then it’s best to use cement.”
“Then we’ll use cement. I’ll go look for some after we rest a day or two.”
Wei Cheng asked again, “What else do we need to reinforce the ranch gate?”
Shen Zheng replied, “I checked it. The ranch gate is surrounded on both sides by iron mesh, which is sturdier than wire fencing. Later we’ll still need to cover it with iron sheets. The entrance frame is tall, but the actual gate is just two useless decorative wooden doors. We definitely need to replace them with a big steel gate.”
Wei Cheng thought for a moment. “Then let’s go check the building materials market in Wuqing City.”
The moment Yi Qi heard they could go out to gather supplies, he brightened up. “And we can see if we can find some little sheep or calves. If not, raising a pig would be fine too.”
Shen Zheng laughed helplessly. “You really can’t let go of your old profession.”
“Then for the next two days, let’s all think carefully about what we need and make a list. Now that we have a base, we have something to hold onto, so we should go out as little as possible.”
As he spoke, Wei Cheng did not forget to glance at Guanguan and the little black dog running wildly around outside. “That’s it for today. Go clean up your cabins. In a bit, I’ll bring you your daily supplies, food, and a generator.”
The moment Guanguan saw Uncle Shen and Uncle Yi come out, he hugged the little black dog and trotted after them.
Seeing this, Wei Cheng hurried to clean up the room.
Otherwise, Guanguan would come over and “help” again.
By the time Guanguan and Little Apricot finished playing outside and came home, they found the house transformed—clean and fragrant.
Warm yellow light made the whole room feel cozy.
The curtains were now pale yellow. The dark bed and cabinets now had thick mattresses and soft quilts, and there was a fluffy rug laid under the bed.
Every table and cabinet had a yellow floral cloth laid on top, and several paintings had appeared on the walls.
Standing in the doorway, Guanguan looked around in every direction. “Is this Guanguan’s house?”
Wei Cheng came out of the kitchen, drying his hands, and smiled. “It is. Come on in.”
Guanguan ran in with quick little steps, delighted. “Brother, our house got prettier!”
“Didn’t you say the room felt dark? Brother made it brighter.”
Wei Cheng had just finished delivering living supplies to the two uncles. Now he needed to bring them some food and water too.
The other little cabins also had kitchens, so if they wanted a late-night snack, they could cook something themselves.
Wei Cheng lifted Guanguan up to stand on a stool. “Help Brother see if anything’s still missing.”
“This is sweet water, this is bread and snacks, this is meat…”
Guanguan lifted his head. “It’s still missing yummy fruit!”
Wei Cheng laughed. “When it comes to eating, Guanguan is number one.”
Guanguan proudly crossed his arms and swung his little feet. “Brother, you have to study hard too!”
“Okay, Brother will study hard. Stand steady, don’t fall.”
Steadying him by the shoulders, Wei Cheng said, “Come on, let’s go into the safehouse and pick fruit for the two uncles.”
It had been a while since the two of them had gone shopping in the mall themselves.
Guanguan put the little black dog into the shopping cart, leaned his whole body forward, and pushed off with his chubby little feet. “Let’s gooo!”
Wei Cheng had still been thinking about what fruit to choose and hurriedly called after him, “Slow down!”
“Got iiiit!”
Not long after, Guanguan came back—but the little shopping cart was piled high with children’s and dog toys, so the little black dog had to run on the ground.
“Guanguan came back from impulse shopping!”
“You even know what impulse shopping is?”
Wei Cheng laughed. “Do you want durian?”
Guanguan nodded. “I want it!”
“What else do you want?”
Guanguan turned his little head around looking everywhere. “Brother, did you buy Guanguan strawberry-red?”
Wei Cheng pulled out a box of strawberries. “I did. Look, these strawberries are so big and red.”
“Not this, not this!”
Guanguan shook his head and tapped his lips with his little hand. “The thing you said goes on the mouth!”
Wei Cheng had not expected that in a mall full of delicious food, this child was still thinking about lipstick.
He was still just a little tasting-age baby now—who knew how beauty-conscious he’d be when he grew up?
Laughing, he said, “All right, Brother will buy it for you.”
Lipstick was out of the question. The best he could do was buy Guanguan a children’s lip balm.
“Brother, why is this not the same?”
Looking at the cat-shaped children’s lip balm in his palm, Guanguan frowned and even warned Brother, “Teacher said you’re not allowed to fool three-year-olds!”
Holding back laughter, Wei Cheng said, “I’m not fooling you. Come on, pucker up.”
Guanguan obediently puckered his lips.
Wei Cheng twisted open the balm and gently applied a ring of it around his lips. “Ah, Guanguan’s mouth has suddenly turned into little jelly. You’re not allowed to lick it or touch it, okay?”
Guanguan did not dare speak and could only nod like a pecking chick.
Then with his lips still puckered, he asked, “Brother, is Guanguan pretty now?”
“You are. Very pretty.” Wei Cheng smiled and rubbed his little head. “Come on, let’s pick some fruit for the two uncles.”
Guanguan counted on his fingers. “Durian, peaches…”
Wei Cheng quickly put two boxes of peaches and two small durians into the shopping cart.
Since the mall carts could not be pushed away, Wei Cheng also bought two large carrying baskets.
When they knocked on Uncle Shen’s door, they found Yi Qi there too.
Shen Zheng said in surprise, “Chengcheng, why did you bring us so many things!”
“Because I was worried you might get hungry at night, so I prepared some instant food and bottled water. Guanguan picked these fruits for you.”
Then Wei Cheng turned to Yi Qi. “Uncle Yi, since you’re here, you can just carry your own basket back.”
The two uncles really did care about the brothers’ safety. They had deliberately chosen the cabins on either side of theirs.
“All right, I’ll help Shen Zheng carry these in first.” Yi Qi helped move the things inside.
Only then did Shen Zheng notice little puckered-mouth Guanguan and laugh. “Guanguan, what happened to your mouth? Why are you keeping it puckered like that?”
Guanguan said happily, “I put red-red on it!”
Shen Zheng went, “Ah? Lip balm?”
Yi Qi, after moving the things in, also teased him. “So that’s why the room feels brighter—it got dazzled by how pretty Guanguan is.”
At that, Guanguan puckered even higher and folded his little hands. “Other Uncle, today you have very good taste!”
Yi Qi deliberately widened his eyes. “I have very good… I have good taste every day, okay?”
Wei Cheng chuckled. “The red-red already stayed on Guanguan’s mouth, so you don’t have to keep pouting. If you keep pouting like that, how are you going to bite into sweet, fragrant durian flesh?”
The moment he heard the word durian, Guanguan swallowed loudly and tugged on Brother’s hand. “Brother, then let’s hurry back and bite durian!”
“We’re going right now.” Wei Cheng turned to the two uncles. “Then I’ll take Guanguan back first.”
Guanguan waved his little hand. “See you tomorrow, uncles!”
“See you tomorrow. Rest early.”
After the two children had gone far enough away—
Yi Qi looked at the baskets full of food and fruit and smiled. “I really never thought I’d still be able to eat such rich and varied food and fruit in the apocalypse.”
Shen Zheng rubbed his hands together. “Hurry up and leave. I’m going to make myself a long-overdue single-man feast.”
Yi Qi raised a brow. “I can cook too. I’ll make it for you.”
“Damn it, who wants to eat the dog food you make! Get out!”
Shen Zheng shoved Yi Qi out and slammed the door shut.
Still laughing, Yi Qi rubbed his nose and walked back toward his own little cabin carrying the heavy basket.
In the quiet night, three cabins on the vast ranch glowed with warm light.
Just looking at them filled one’s heart with warmth.
How wonderful it was to have days like this.
.
“Brother! Brother!”
After his bubbly bath, Guanguan rolled back and forth on the bed with his little bare butt out, his snowy little radish legs practically qualifying as prohibited weapons.
Wei Cheng heard the commotion from the bathroom. When he came out after finishing his bath, he smiled and said, “What are you doing? Planning to tear the roof off?”
“Brother! Come here!”
Guanguan bounced up from the bed, eyes sparkling. “Baby thought of the little chicken ground’s name!”
Draping a pink elephant blanket around him, Wei Cheng raised a brow. “Really? It’s not Big Durian, is it?”
Guanguan loved durian, but Wei Cheng only let him eat it occasionally because he was afraid he’d get overheated.
It was hard not to suspect that Guanguan wanted to use that as the name.
“It’s not Big Durian! When the two uncles saw the food, they were so happy. When Guanguan sees food, Guanguan is happy too!”
Guanguan patted his protruding little belly and declared loudly, “Guanguan’s little chicken ground can make people eat till they’re full-full! So it should be called It’s So Good To Full-Belly!”
“Full-Belly…” Wei Cheng repeated it twice, amused. “Full-Belly Ranch.”
“All right, then Full-Belly it is!”
[Congratulations! Little House Owner has successfully established his first base! Reward: 10000 Twist Coins!]
Author’s Note:
Guanguan: My base is not called Big Durian. It’s called Full-Belly. I hope all children can eat until they’re full-full! [bursting into laughter]
