Chapter 140 — Shoddy Construction
After Li Tie and the others returned to their room, they finally let out a long breath of relief. Their expressions relaxed, and they happily tidied up, washed, fought over the bathroom, and then each went off to rest.
On the fifteenth floor, Xu Mei and Song Lingling saw that the little girl was exhausted. They wrapped her up warmly and tucked her into the big bed before heading off to wash up themselves.
In Room 1602 on the sixteenth floor, the moment Zhang Su stepped inside, Wang Duo grabbed him and kissed him fiercely. From the doorway all the way to the bedside, clothes and shoes were scattered everywhere. Zhang Su fell back onto the bed, Wang Duo bracing himself above him, staring intently.
“Let’s not go out anymore this winter… okay?”
Zhang Su pursed his lips, looked at him for a moment, then turned his gaze aside and gave a slight nod. Only then did Wang Duo finally relax, lowering his head to bite lightly at his neck.
Compared to their neighbors, the two in 1604 were far less intense. They were both exhausted and had no intention of doing anything strenuous that night. Still, they took a proper hot bath to thaw their nearly frozen bodies.
Leaning against Yan Fei’s shoulder, Luo Xun murmured, “Let’s not go out again for now…”
“Yeah. Winter is too dangerous. With storms like that, if it happens again, we might not even make it out the door,” Yan Fei said, still shaken. Without the compass, without a fire-type user, without his versatile abilities—they might not have made it back.
“I messed up… I almost forgot how terrifying winter outside the base is…” Luo Xun felt lingering fear. He knew about snowstorms, but since he used to stay indoors all winter, he had never truly understood how dangerous they were.
“Next time, before winter comes, we’ll stock up on crystal cores and supplies. Then we’ll just stay in completely.”
Yan Fei smiled reassuringly. “It’s only the first year. We didn’t have experience. Now we do. Besides, the really bad weather only lasts a couple of months.”
Luo Xun had plenty of experience surviving winter indoors—growing food, preserving crops—but not in stockpiling crystal cores. Now, he knew better.
The snowstorm lasted three full days.
If last month’s snowfall had reached over a meter, this time it buried entire first floors. In their neighborhood, snow had piled up all the way to the second level.
Each night, Yan Fei used the metal mesh on the roof to shake off accumulated snow, causing even thicker piles around their building.
The storm shut down nearly all activity in the base. Li Tie and the others couldn’t go to work, and worse—by the second day, the communication network failed. Phones and messages stopped working entirely.
Fortunately, they had been warned earlier and stayed home peacefully.
“Hot pot again today—lamb!”
With fresh mutant goat meat and heavy snow outside, there was no better choice.
They had frozen the meat outside the shaded window on the first night. Yesterday they sliced some thinly, but it wasn’t enough. Today, they would eat their fill.
“Let’s go pick vegetables—you guys slice the meat!” Xu Mei and Song Lingling took Xiao Xinran along, happily heading off.
With the storm blocking any chance of selling produce, they might as well eat it themselves—or pickle the excess.
They brought in a chunk of lamb leg to thaw. It was still frozen solid, so slicing would take time.
Luo Xun gathered sesame paste—made from their autumn harvest—along with sesame oil, pickled chives, and preserved tofu. Soon, dipping sauces were ready.
Everyone worked together to prepare lunch.
Three copper charcoal hot pots sat on the table—rarely used, but perfect for today.
Besides lamb, the table overflowed with vegetables: leafy greens, bean sprouts, pea shoots, potato slices, winter melon, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, even lamb tripe.
“Should we try adding duck meat?” He Qiankun suggested.
“Duck? Will that even taste right?”
“Let’s try it!”
The lamb went into the pot—after just a few boils, the clear broth turned rich and fragrant. Add ginger, garlic, and vegetables, and it became irresistibly delicious.
Mushrooms were added too, boosting the aroma even further.
“Looks like the snow stopped?” Han Li suddenly said.
Everyone looked outside. The wind had died down, and sunlight began breaking through the clouds.
From above, they saw the aftermath—
Snow had buried nearly everything. First-floor entrances were completely sealed. Some lower-level residents had to dig out windows just to get air.
“Come back and eat. No one’s going anywhere anytime soon,” Luo Xun said.
They returned to the table, enjoying the warmth and food.
Even though Li Tie and the others worried about work, they could only wait until communication was restored.
As for Luo Xun, Yan Fei, and Zhang Su—they were simply glad they had quit their jobs early. Otherwise, going out in this weather would be a nightmare.
Another day passed.
They stayed indoors—tending crops, processing food, playing with the dog and Xiao Xinran, occasionally bickering with Zhang Su, and mostly watching the snowy scenery from the balcony.
Compared to his previous life, Luo Xun’s winter this time was far more comfortable.
Half-asleep during an afternoon nap, Luo Xun vaguely heard the doorbell ringing.
It took a moment for both of them to realize—
Someone was actually at the door.
The two of them threw on some clothes and went out, only to see that it was Wang Duo.
“The neighbors say they’re organizing a meeting to arrange people to clear the snow in the residential area. I came to ask about our side,” Wang Duo said, pointing toward the stairwell. Luo Xun and Yan Fei exchanged a glance and hurried over.
The people who had come upstairs hadn’t been able to enter the fifteenth-floor corridor. Back at the stairwell between the fourteenth and fifteenth floors, Yan Fei had installed two metal doors, completely blocking outsiders from seeing inside the corridor—after all, they were now even using the hallway space to grow vegetables. The fewer people who knew, the better.
So everyone was talking at the first door.
When Luo Xun and Yan Fei arrived, Li Tie, who had been speaking with the visitors, paused and said, “This is our team leader. These are neighbors from the 7th, 10th, and 12th floors.”
Those willing to go door-to-door organizing people were usually the kind who liked taking charge—or had some influence and wanted to expand it.
But in times like these, people were wary of one another. Most residents refused to let them inside and only talked in the hallway. By the time they reached this floor, they hadn’t even been allowed up to the fifteenth level.
The man from the 7th floor, apparently the main organizer, smiled and said, “Captain Luo, right? We discussed this with people from nearby buildings. Each household or floor sends a few people to take turns clearing the snow in front of the building—just a small section so everyone can get out. As for the rest of the compound, we’ll discuss that later.”
No matter what, the entrance had to be cleared. But no one wanted to do all the work themselves. Ideally, if each household sent one person, the whole area could be cleared quickly. Unfortunately, many people refused.
It was freezing outside—why should they suffer if others didn’t? Some said they’d only go if everyone else did. Others argued that the base should handle it, since residents already paid fees.
Luo Xun didn’t argue. He nodded and agreed to send people. After all, it affected their ability to go out, and it was just the entrance area—not the entire compound.
Each floor in Building 5 sent two people. Luo Xun’s team sent four: Luo Xun, Yan Fei, Li Tie, and He Qiankun. The others would join later if needed.
Sixteen floors—thirty-two people—just clearing the entrance. Even stomping a path would be enough. It wasn’t hard work.
South of Building 7 was the outer wall of the compound. Beyond it lay a road, and across that, farmland enclosed by the military.
Between the wall and the building stood a row of two-story earth houses built by earth-type ability users in autumn.
While Luo Xun’s group shoveled a path from the building entrance, residents of those houses came out to clear snow too.
But instead of digging from below, they climbed onto their rooftops and worked downward.
These houses were oddly designed—first floors about fifty or sixty square meters, square-shaped; second floors half the size, built only on one side, leaving the rest as an open terrace.
After Luo Xun’s group finally cleared a path and met the people on the rooftops, one of them laughed and mocked them for being “buried in snow” at a lower level. Then he casually stepped sideways—
“Thump!”
He fell straight into deep snow, vanishing in a spray of white.
The people below burst out laughing, getting their revenge.
But suddenly—
“Boom!”
A nearby two-story house collapsed with a loud crash, followed by screams.
These earth houses had been poorly built from the start. The earth-type builders, pressured to lower prices, had cut corners—thin walls, sometimes even hollow structures.
A few days earlier, strong winds had already hardened and weakened them. Then came three meters of snow piling on top. Now, with vibrations from snow clearing and no prior removal of rooftop snow—
Some houses simply gave way.
The collapse stunned everyone. Only when cries for help came from the rubble did people react.
Some rushed to clear snow, others ran over to rescue.
Fortunately, the roofs hadn’t been built too solidly, and there weren’t heavy objects on top. The trapped residents suffered injuries—cuts, broken limbs—but no deaths.
However, elsewhere, more collapses followed.
Some houses had already collapsed earlier during the storm, unnoticed in the wind and snow. When they were finally found, the residents inside had long frozen to death.
The residents managed to clear passable paths inside the compound in just one day. But outside roads remained untouched for five days, even after communication was restored.
Anyone going out had to carve their own path through the snow.
Many households ran out of food.
Water wasn’t an issue—snow was everywhere—but it had to be boiled multiple times or even distilled due to possible contamination.
Fuel, however, was scarce. Many people had little coal or firewood stored.
In just this one residential complex, Luo Xun heard that at least five or six households had frozen to death.
“You finished absorbing it?” Luo Xun casually asked when Zhang Su came out of his room.
Zhang Su rolled his eyes. “Does your man ‘eat’ crystal cores to absorb them?”
“Then are you done absorbing?” Luo Xun corrected himself without missing a beat.
Zhang Su narrowed his eyes. “Have your man teach you how to talk, Captain.”
Ignoring him, Luo Xun continued harvesting vegetables from the racks. Yan Fei, however, asked curiously, “Did you level up?”
The giant mutant goat they killed had yielded a crystal core—smaller than the duck’s but still far larger than normal. Since it was a level-three wind-type core, Luo Xun had given it to Zhang Su.
Zhang Su had handed over his other cores in exchange, though Luo Xun later redistributed them to the team.
Since then, Zhang Su had been staying home, slowly absorbing the core.
“Not yet, but I can feel the edge of a breakthrough,” Zhang Su said, running a hand through his now longer hair, clearly frustrated. “I think I need a level-four core to push through.”
Luo Xun sighed. “Those aren’t easy to find. But this works—once you get one, you can level up immediately. Save your cores for later.”
“Yeah, I know. Still annoying being stuck like this.” Zhang Su grabbed a basket and walked over. “Harvesting?”
“The network’s back. Some teams urgently need vegetables,” Yan Fei explained.
Indeed, messages had been pouring in. After days of heavy snow, many teams were nearly out of food. The military, however, hadn’t contacted them yet.
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