Chapter 194 — Spring Outing
The two animals of unknown species frolicked near the farmland for a while. By the time everyone woke up the next morning after a deep sleep, there was no sign of them anymore. Besides, everyone had just hauled back a mountain of things that needed processing; who had the time to go out scouting for mutated animals?
Because they had returned quite late the night before, it was already around eleven in the morning by the time everyone got up. They hurriedly ate what could be considered either breakfast or lunch, wiped their mouths, and filed down into the basement.
The boxes holding the actively growing crops had already been tended to the night before after Yan Fei brought them in. They had set up a ventilation system to keep the area aired out so the plants wouldn’t suffocate.
For the next step, they still had to rely heavily on Yan Fei to manage the metal frames. He dismantled the frames one by one and loaded them onto carts, while the others pushed them into the two planting rooms.
Although the amount of grain crops grown in Luo Xun’s home was substantial, it paled in comparison to the vast space of these two planting rooms. They could easily space out the racks by temporarily placing them in the open areas. After a thorough watering, the plants would just need two days to recover their spirits before continuing to grow beautifully.
This task kept them busy for a whole afternoon. After arranging the crop racks, they proceeded to properly set up and hang the mushroom log racks they had brought from home. Finally, they could guarantee the normal growth of all their crops.
“This batch of wheat and rice will be ready for harvest in a month at most.” Having finally finished the most critical work, everyone was too exhausted to process the supplies left on the trucks. They were currently sitting in the kitchen waiting for the two ladies to finish dinner, while holding a temporary meeting.
Luo Xun thought for a moment and continued, “Let’s leave these crops to grow for now. Tomorrow and the day after, we’ll focus on sorting out our things at home and getting everything into its proper place. We’ll see what’s useful, what’s not, and what we’re still missing. Once we’ve got everything organized, we’ll focus our energy on making a few trips out to bring back all the metal, furniture, and glass we need.”
The everyday items they brought out from the base were indeed plentiful, but if they wanted to live here comfortably for the long haul, they would inevitably need a lot more variety. Back when they lived in the apartments, only Luo Xun’s place was fully furnished; the furniture in the other rooms was either scavenged from outside or fabricated out of metal by Yan Fei as placeholders. Since they intended to make this place their long-term home, they absolutely needed proper items to fill out their new space.
No matter how useful Yan Fei’s superpower was, they couldn’t possibly expect him to do everything alone. Besides, there were plenty of things made of metal that simply weren’t as practical or comfortable as genuine furniture.
Of course, although Luo Xun hadn’t been able to bring along his sofa or coffee table during this move, he had made sure to bring his king-size bed. The renovations in his previous apartment had been done by the original landlord, but he had bought the furniture himself, piece by piece. The item that brought him the most satisfaction—and the only one bought out of pure personal desire rather than convenience or camouflage—was that large bed. Therefore, no matter what, he had to bring this object of his long-held obsession back with him.
Hearing Luo Xun’s words, the others agreed completely. They all had things they needed to add to their spaces and promised to draw up a list once they regained their energy, so they could look for them during future supply runs.
He Qiankun, who had taken another opportunity to scour the military server and download a wealth of data before leaving the base, was rubbing his hands in excitement, ready to map out the nearest locations where they could source the necessary items.
“What should we target first on our first trip out?”
After washing up, the two had finally moved their large bed upstairs and into their bedroom. They were currently lying comfortably on it, snuggled together under the soft blankets as they discussed their next steps.
Luo Xun pondered for a moment. “Let’s stick to metal first. The surrounding areas are just rural towns and small counties on the outskirts of the city. Once He Qiankun and the guys find suitable spots, we also need to haul back some electrical appliances. Even though we have a good number of freezers at home, leaving appliances out in the elements for too long will ruin them. It’s better to secure them now. We also need air conditioners… The weather is already starting to warm up, and by May it’s going to get hot. Although these rooms have air conditioning units, I tested them earlier and several are broken…”
Listening to Luo Xun ramble on about the things they needed and how to renovate the house, Yan Fei—the very person who had started the conversation—suddenly changed his mind. The night was still and quiet, they were lying on a comfortable large bed, and the only other living things in the room were two sleeping, oblivious infants and a dog.
Thus, he flipped over, pinning his partner down and sealing his lips. Whatever work needed doing could wait until they woke up tomorrow; the night was meant for sleeping!
The next morning, the team of about ten people—including little Xinran and the puppy, basically everyone who could move—sprang into action. They distributed the items brought back from this trip into various rooms. Personal belongings went to their respective owners, while communal supplies were moved into the public warehouse in the first-floor lobby, since that space wasn’t being used for anything else at the moment.
It took them a full two days of hustling just to get everything properly organized. They set up the daily irrigation frequency, water volume, and sunlight duration for the basement. After settling the little quails, mealworms, and earthworms into their respective living environments and repeatedly checking and reinforcing the security of the doors and windows, the group finally piled into their vehicles. They drove majestically through the tunnel and headed toward their destination.
With many new items and crops added to the household, Luo Xun and the team had also taken the opportunity over the last two days to sprout some grain seeds in the seedling room, planning to plant them all together in a few days. Therefore, aside from metal, they still needed to bring back a lot of wood to fill up all the metal drawers beneath the racks.
There were still many areas in the home awaiting renovation, and many places requiring supplies. Creating a truly comfortable living environment demanded a massive amount of effort.
This time, Luo Xun and the team explicitly selected an area near an elevated highway with an adjacent railway line. The location wasn’t too far from their current base, and the surrounding structures were sparse, meaning they shouldn’t encounter much danger.
On their way out, the group carefully observed the surroundings to ensure they didn’t spot any of the creatures that had been howling like wolves in the middle of the night a few days ago. Only then did they drive off with peace of mind.
Because the distance was short, Luo Xun and the others could easily make a round trip. The roadsides were lined with various landscaping trees planted before the apocalypse. At least half of them had withered and died, but most of the surviving ones were currently bursting with new green buds or blooming with vibrant pinks, reds, and pale yellows.
After noting the distribution of these trees along the way, Luo Xun and the team headed straight for the elevated highway. They reached their destination in about three hours, making a same-day round trip completely effortless. The benefit of Yan Fei’s upgraded superpower level was clear—they didn’t even need to approach the structures. Standing from a safe distance, he could directly “extract” the metal out from the buildings and concrete blocks, sending it flying toward their position.
“On the way here, I noticed quite a few peach and pear trees planted by the roadside. Let’s allocate two separate trucks to load those fruit trees in a bit,” Luo Xun instructed, pointing back toward the road they had taken. These fruit trees weren’t very old—at most two or three years—and their trunks were quite slender. However, if they transplanted fruit trees like these back home, they might actually bear fruit this very year! In another year or two, these trees would start producing fruit in abundance.
“Awesome! We’re finally going to have fruit to eat!” everyone’s eyes lit up with joy.
Although Luo Xun had some saplings at home, the limited space, ceiling height, and cultivation time meant that the only plants currently producing fruit regularly were herbaceous perennials and climbing vines—like their strawberries and watermelons. The lemons from last year had also flowered and borne fruit, but the lemons were simply too sour, so they usually juiced them or sliced and dried them to steep in water to supplement their vitamin intake.
Now, if they could get a wider variety of fruits to plant in the base… Just the thought of a future filled with trees laden with abundant fruit made everyone virtually drool.
The metal was quickly taken care of. As usual, the two massive metal spheres rolled alongside them on the journey back. In addition, Yan Fei specially constructed a few separate trailers to hitch behind the trucks solely for carrying metal. The amount placed on the trailers wasn’t excessive, ensuring the trucks wouldn’t be bogged down.
Once that was sorted, the group began their return journey. With dead trees making up at least half of the vegetation along the roadside, they had more than enough to pack the empty spaces in the trucks to the brim. With little Xinran’s superpower helping to sandify the soil around the roots, pulling up the trees couldn’t have been easier.
It wasn’t until they drove to the spot Luo Xun had mentioned earlier that they realized it was actually an orchard. The outer section was split evenly between peach and pear trees, while apple and cherry trees could faintly be seen deeper inside.
Due to the climate, the blooming period for these fruit trees was generally a bit late. By the time Luo Xun and the team arrived, the colorful blossoms on the trees had only recently opened, with many still remaining as buds on the branches.
Stepping down from the vehicle, Luo Xun carefully scanned the orchard to confirm there were no aggressive mutated plants lurking inside. Only then did he pat a tree he had his eye on. “We don’t need to bring too many back, otherwise we won’t have room to plant them. Once we build the above-ground greenhouses later, we’ll allocate a dedicated space for these things. For now, bringing back about seven or eight of each variety will do.”
The fruit trees wouldn’t run away, after all. As for whether someone might discover them and chop them down for firewood… this place was a considerable distance from the main base. Even if survivors came out this far, targeting these fresh, damp fruit trees would be far less practical than gathering the withered, dead ones nearby.
Luo Xun explicitly selected fruit trees that showed no signs of mutation. He couldn’t be sure what kind of fruit a mutated tree would bear, and mutations could be either beneficial or harmful. He couldn’t guarantee that a mutated fruit tree that appeared normal would yield safe, edible fruit. He didn’t want to go through all the trouble of bringing them back, waiting for them to flower and fruit, only to find out the harvest was completely inedible.
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