Shi Yuanfei directly stationed his soldiers in the first row of townhouses at the entrance of the community. This arrangement made it easier for him and his people to find each other quickly if needed. Everyone who had chosen their residence was required to come and register. Given the current situation, having a house to escape the sun was sufficient. The planning and organization could come later. For now, Shi Yuanfei needed to visit the base to check the situation. If things were alright at the base, they would quickly return to the military camp by car.
No one knew how the situation at the camp had changed after their long absence. Although they could communicate with the military, the signal was unstable, which meant only the most important information could be sent. They hoped that the spread of the plague would slow down and that fewer people would become ill.
Shi Yuanfei's departure did not attract much attention, as there were still soldiers in the houses there. Qin Huai and the others, however, noticed it and hoped that Shi Yuanfei's mission would proceed quickly. If the military base's situation improved, the reconstruction here could also progress faster. With only a month until it would start snowing, time was of the essence.
The supplies brought by the military logistics could last for a while longer. Those who had contributed supplies and dined with the soldiers received a three-day supply of food: primarily flatbreads and biscuits, along with a bottle of water per day. These three days were meant for them to organize and rest. Given Qin Huai's and Shi Yuanfei's good rapport, Xu Ge didn't keep them in the dark: "After three days, we'll start the gradual organization of this place. The broken brick walls need to be repaired, and the condition of the water and electricity facilities needs to be assessed. We also need to check the condition of the solar power station. Therefore, we will be recruiting some workers. For now, work will be compensated with food. You can either earn these work credits by working or search for items to furnish the empty houses."
Xu Ge added a reminder: "Although there are few people here, it's not entirely empty. There are definitely bodies that haven't been cleared out from the ruins. If you plan to search the ruins, be cautious. We will inspect the area every morning before dawn. If anyone is found to have a fever or illness, they will be immediately isolated in the vocational school behind. They won't be allowed to continue staying here."
Qin Huai nodded, "Thank you for the information. We'll be careful."
The group returned to their respective homes with the distributed food, then gathered at the entrance to discuss. Most people preferred to take advantage of the low number of residents to search for items now, as it would become more challenging to find things once more people arrived.
Jian Chu pondered, "Besides food, we need to find various supplies. Even the appliances we previously found troublesome or useless should be sought out now. Otherwise, once power is restored here, we'll have no air conditioning, no fans, and not even an induction cooker. Cooking would become a challenge. We might have rice and flour, but no way to cook them."
Song Jia sat quietly, stroking Niuniu, while Wu Zheng stated directly, "I'm not familiar with this area, I've hardly been here. But Niuniu can sniff out food. As for the appliances, we'll have to search for them ourselves. It's safer to stick together."
Yu Zibai glanced at everyone, "Should we all go together, or leave some behind to guard the houses?" It wouldn't be good if the houses they had just settled into were looted while they were away. There was still some food inside.
Qin Huai shook his head, "Don't worry about that. The houses have been registered, and everyone who's moved in has already chosen their places. Those still on foot will likely be taken to the vocational school behind for temporary accommodation. The houses should be safe."
Jian Chu asked, "So where are we heading now?" It felt aimless. Although the area was sparsely populated and therefore safer, it also meant there might be fewer things to find.
Qin Huai spread out a map and pointed to a specific area, "We're here. Going this way will lead us to the solar power station, and this way is the vocational school. This area is surrounded by various universities and vocational colleges. Where there are students, there's bound to be a commercial district. The only issue now is figuring out the roads."
Xu Ming pointed to a spot on the map, "This should be the commercial district. We can start by circling around here. We might not find food, but if we can retrieve some furniture or appliances, that would be good."
Jian Chu couldn't help but ask, "How are we going to transport these things? With just our small trailer and bicycles?"
Qin Huai said, "We'll start by checking the situation. Take what we can carry, and for what we can't, we'll figure out a solution later. We'll circle back from the top on our way back."
Xu Ming asked, "Do you want to check out the power station?"
Qin Huai nodded, "We won't consider the large generators, but if we can transport some solar panels, they might come in handy later. If not, we can trade them with the government in the future."
Qin Huai folded up the map, "Let's go. The sooner we start, the more we can find."
Song Jia placed Niuniu in the front basket of Wu Zheng's bicycle. Although the basket was a bit small, and Niuniu had to squeeze in with part of her body sticking out, the dog was well-behaved and curled up to avoid falling out. Mu Nan looked on enviously, "Niuniu is so well-behaved. Such a good dog."
Song Jia patted Niuniu's head and sighed, "The ones that aren't well-behaved have become food. Animals have keen instincts; they probably sense the harshness of the world and fear being abandoned or their owners suffering."
Mu Nan mounted his bicycle and glanced at Niuniu, "It's lucky to have you as owners. With someone else, even a smart animal might not have such a good life."
With no heavy loads and the trailer empty, the group rode their bicycles toward the commercial district behind the school. This area was newly established over the past two years, featuring a large shopping mall and several office buildings under construction. However, being outside the third ring road and with the new subway line not fully utilized before the apocalypse, the mall had likely been deserted during the heat. Though it was uncertain if it had been requisitioned as a cooling center, the mall was probably closed, so it was unlikely people were trapped inside. Nonetheless, Qin Huai and his group remained cautious, equipped with masks, gloves, and protective clothing.
What could have been a ten-minute drive took them nearly an hour by bike, as they encountered little debris blocking their path. Looking at the now disorganized buildings and mall, everyone sighed heavily. Searching through these ruins for usable items was a daunting task. However, without such efforts, they would have nothing to use.
Xu Ming said, "Let's split up and search. Don't stick together, as it's more efficient to cover more ground. Just make sure to stay within shouting distance of each other."
The group agreed. Mu Nan followed Qin Huai, while Xu Ming joined Yu Zibai and the others. Seeing Xu Ming's group, Mu Nan did not raise any objections. Qin Huai headed toward a partially collapsed bakery, and Mu Nan remarked, "Even if there's still food inside, it's probably gone bad after being exposed to the sun for so long."
Qin Huai replied, "Let's check for appliances. We might find some useful kitchen tools like knives, pots, and pans."
Mu Nan looked at the others, who had already dispersed to find their targets, and quietly asked, "When should we bring out the tricycle?"
They had previously agreed to search for items and explore routes over the next few days. If the roads were passable, they would retrieve a tricycle; otherwise, without transportation, carrying large appliances back would be impossible. They had been assessing the road conditions and found them manageable. If possible, it would be best to retrieve the tricycle soon. They had purchased a second-hand tricycle, opting for an older one for now, and would cover it in dust to avoid drawing attention.
Qin Huai said, "Don't rush. Let's see what we can find first."
Mu Nan pulled an oven out from the back kitchen, "Brother, is this useful?"
Qin Huai replied, "Put it by the door for now. It could be useful. If not, it can be traded as a second-hand appliance. But we should prioritize essentials for daily life." Although they had enough for now, they needed to transport some items back home. With no government exchange or purchasing options available, items wouldn't appear at home on their own.
Mu Nan rummaged through the kitchen. While there were no edible items, he found plenty of plastic bags and small paper plates used for cakes, which could serve as makeshift bowls. He even discovered a box of candles. Although they were thin birthday candles and seemed flimsy, they were still candles, so he set them aside as well.
The two of them thoroughly searched the bakery, but unfortunately, the freezer had been damaged by debris, leaving only the oven and a few power strips that seemed salvageable. They piled the items by the door. Qin Huai instructed Mu Nan to bring out the tricycle from the store, dusted it with some broken brick debris to make it look used, and then loaded the items onto it before pushing it out.
There was no need to waste too much time on the ruins for now; they should first search through the commercial district for stores that were still standing or only partially collapsed.
As Mu Nan exited the store with the tricycle, he saw Jian Chu crawling out of a mobile phone store. The store was intact, but the main door was blocked, so Jian Chu had to climb in and out. "Did you find anything inside?"
Seeing them with the tricycle, Jian Chu was surprised. "Wow, you're so lucky! Can that thing still be used?"
Mu Nan nodded. "Yes, it can."
Jian Chu said, "Wait a moment. I found quite a few phones inside, all unopened. I was hesitant to move them because they're not immediately useful. With the tricycle, we should take some back. If communication is restored one day, we won't have to buy phones."
Mu Nan agreed, "That makes sense. I'll help you look for tablets and laptops if there are any. These might be useful for trade when communication resumes or even just to keep."
Before Qin Huai and his team arrived, Yu Zibai and Jian Chu had already searched a trendy brand store. However, it had been emptied out, probably already closed and cleared before. But the store had curtains installed, and they had managed to remove all the curtains. Now they were loading them onto the tricycle. "We won't be able to cover the entire house with these, but at least we can use them to cover the sleeping areas for now. We can get more if we find them later."
They had dismantled the film cloths installed at their homes and handed them over to the military. They weren't sure if they would be able to reclaim those sturdy cloths once the military settled in. These curtains were far less effective than the film cloths but would have to suffice for now.
Looking at the oven on the tricycle, Yu Zibai asked, "What can we cook with an oven?"
Jian Chu, who had just crawled out of the store, said, "You can cook a lot with an oven. Come help me move this box of phones. Mu Nan is still looking for tablets; I'll assist him."
Yu Zibai and Qin Huai quickly moved over to help with the boxes. "Tell Mu Nan not to search too extensively. Let's quickly sweep through the area today and not empty every store."
Jian Chu nodded and disappeared back into the store. After a while, he emerged with another box and both he and Mu Nan climbed out of the store. Mu Nan brushed off the dust from his clothes and asked, "Where's Xu Ming?"
As Mu Nan spoke, Xu Ming appeared from around a corner, dragging a piece of cloth. "Here. You found a tricycle good timing. I found an appliance store."
The group hurried over to help Xu Ming. Although the outer packaging of the boxes was covered in dust, the rice cookers and other items inside were still new. Xu Ming mentioned that the store still had plenty of goods, but many items on display had fallen and broken. Luckily, there were still some stock in the cabinets, including rice cookers, induction stoves, and cooking utensils. It was fortunate they arrived early. If they had waited another couple of days, they might not have found anything useful.
Xu Ming looked at the tricycle, now half-filled, and remarked, "It's really lucky you had a map. Without it, we would have wandered aimlessly and never reached this place. We wouldn't have found these items otherwise."
Seeing the tricycle still had space, Jian Chu suggested, "Let's continue searching. What time is it? How long until dawn?"
Qin Huai checked his watch. "It's getting late."
Xu Ming said, "We still have some time. Let's head back by three. The journey back might be lengthy, so we should alternate riding duties. Prepare for a two-hour trip to be safe."
Mu Nan asked, "What about the power station?"
Qin Huai shook his head. "It's too much effort with all this stuff. If we get back early, we might visit the power station later. We have the map, so we can avoid unnecessary detours. The area is uninhabited, so the roads should be clear. It would take about half an hour to get there. If we have time, we can do a quick check; if not, we'll at least get a rough idea of the situation."
Mu Nan nodded, "Let's hurry. Which direction should we go? Should we keep searching separately?"
Yu Zibai suggested, "Let's stick together. It's faster and more efficient with everyone helping. It will save effort."
As they discussed this, they saw Song Jia running toward them with Niuniu. They initially thought something was wrong, but Song Jia gasped, "Wow, where did you find all this? It's perfect timing! Niuniu discovered a pickled vegetable shop nearby. There are lots of sealed jars of pickled vegetables. We just opened one, and it's still good, but they're heavy. Do you want some?"
Jian Chu quickly responded, "Yes! We definitely need food!" It would be foolish to refuse food at a time like this.
The group pushed their bicycles and rode the tricycle to the pickled vegetable shop that had completely collapsed. Without Niuniu's help, they might have missed it. Seeing them arrive, Wu Zheng was surprised and said, "There's still some left, but I'm not sure if all of it is good or if some have gone bad."
The pickles were sealed with a layer of what looked like glue. They had randomly checked one jar and found it good, but they couldn't open every jar for inspection. Opened jars would need to be consumed quickly to avoid spoilage, especially in the hot weather.
Jian Chu said, "If one jar is good, most of them are probably fine. Let's load them up for today. We won't take too much, we don't want the jars to break on the way. We can come back for more tomorrow." He said somewhat strangely, "These things seem quite durable even in high temperatures. Why didn't the store owner move them? During the food shortage, pickled vegetables like these were quite valuable."
Mu Nan replied, "The owner would need to still be around. It's possible that the store ran out of supplies before the extreme heat hit, or that it ran out during the extreme heat. If the owner was still here, they definitely wouldn't leave food like this in the store."
Thinking about the people who had died over the past year, the lightheartedness of scavenging treasure turned heavier. Everyone fell silent and quickly moved the items onto the cart.
They had uncovered a total of five large jars. One of the jars was quite big, like a round-bellied wine jar, and it was likely full. It was pretty heavy to carry. These five jars took up the remaining half of the cart's empty space. Although they could still pile some items on top, the cart would be too heavy, making it hard for one person to ride.
They had expected not to find much, but in such a short time, without having searched two stores, they had already gathered so much that it couldn't all fit.
Mu Nan said, "Let's head back. We can't fit any more. Let's come back early tomorrow and try to make two trips."
Jian Chu said, "I didn't expect to find so much. Many of the stores haven't collapsed too badly. How come no one has come to search them? There must be people living in the area."
Yu Zibai packed some items into his bag to lighten the load on the tricycle. "Apart from food, people living nearby probably don't need other things. What would they do with these rice cookers? There's no water or electricity. They might not even have a place to live. What else could they look for besides food and drink?"
On the way back, carrying their heavy load of happiness and harvest, everyone felt a sense of relief. They had a house now, and they were gradually adding furniture and appliances. The anxiety of leaving their familiar place and arriving in this strange land had eased a bit. Jian Chu was still reflecting to Yu Zibai, "It's a good thing we came. Otherwise, if we had stayed there, we wouldn't know what the situation would be now."
Qin Huai said, "From now on, we shouldn't go out all together. Let's send three people. Wu Zheng, does your family need solar panels?"
Wu Zheng nodded. "If we can get some, it would be great. If we can later trade supplies for a solar generator, we won't have to worry about power outages."
Qin Huai then addressed Yu Zibai and Xu Ming. "Since you two are living together, only one of you needs to go. Who will go?"
Yu Zibai said, "I'll go. I'm relatively experienced." Compared to those who hadn't dealt with these things before, he was quite proficient.
When they got home, they didn't use the main road. Although the side gate was still locked, the side wall had collapsed, so they took a shortcut and didn't pass in front of other people's houses. They parked the cart at the door and quickly unloaded the items, placing them in Jian Chu and Mu Nan's yard. Once the cart was empty, the three of them headed straight to the solar power station, hoping to return as soon as possible.
Jian Chu said, "Let's move everything inside first. It doesn't feel very safe to be sorting things with the lights on outside."
They placed the items at the garage door of Jian Chu's house, and once the door was opened, they moved everything inside. After they had moved everything inside, Mu Nan went back home to get a portable lighting lamp.
Rice cookers took up a lot of space. Xu Ming paid special attention and only took four, exactly one for each household. Electric stoves were less bulky, so he didn't check carefully and took seven. "Let's check again tomorrow. It's best to stock up on two per household. If these look good and get damaged during an earthquake, having replacements would be useful. We can't test them now anyway since there's no power."
Mu Nan nodded. "Alright, then you take two per household. Since we can't cook for now, I'll just take one for my house."
Jian Chu looked at the three frying pans that had been gathered. "There are only three frying pans. Are there any more in the store?"
Xu Ming shook his head. "I didn't pay attention. We took a lot of stuff and didn't check thoroughly."
Mu Nan said, "You take them first. We still have a small pot we can use for cooking, so it's not urgent."
Jian Chu was worried Mu Nan would miss out, so he quickly said, "It's fine. We'll look again tomorrow. If we don't find any, you can have this one. Anyway, since Xu Ming is living with us, we can cook together." Since they had few personal belongings left and most items were salvaged from the ruins, sharing meals was not a big deal.
The curtains they had dismantled from the trendy store were numerous, around five or six pieces. They took one to cover the windows, as they needed to sleep during the day to avoid sunlight. They were sleeping in the corridor outside their room during the day.
Looking at the house that was empty yesterday, it was now successfully filled with some items. Jian Chu looked at Mu Nan and said, "It's a good thing you had your brother."
Mu Nan looked at him in surprise. "My brother? The map?"
Jian Chu shook his head. "No, I mean the team leader Shi specifically asked your brother to tell us about this. Otherwise, if we were living upstairs, we wouldn't have any news. Although we would have come eventually, the conditions wouldn't have been as good by the time we arrived."
Mu Nan smiled, lying back and fanning himself, thinking that without him and Qin Huai, Jian Chu and the others might have been among the first batch of arrivals. Without them, there would have been no electricity. So Jian Chu and the others might not have ended up living upstairs, but rather as one of the first to arrive here. As for him, he was fortunate to have Qin Huai, otherwise, life would have been too harsh.