Sketchily drew the topographic map of the base. However, except for being able to make out the outline and some official areas, nothing else could be seen.
Besides the map, there were also some rules and regulations.
Liu Ruoyan read through the booklet once. After having a clear idea in her mind, she quickly got out of the car with the mountaineering bag on her back.
It was nine o'clock when Liu Ruoyan left the community, but now it was already two o'clock.
The sky would brighten at four o'clock, and the sun would come out at a little after six o'clock.
Liu Ruoyan had to find a place to live before the sun came out.
Just as she walked out of the parking lot and before she could see the direction clearly, Liu Ruoyan saw a person rushing towards her from the shadows.
Seeing the person suddenly rushing towards her, Liu Ruoyan subconsciously reached for her dagger.
At this moment, she heard the person hurriedly say, "Do you need a guide?"
Liu Ruoyan, "..."
Liu Ruoyan took a closer look and saw that it was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy standing in front of her.
He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with holes on the upper body and a pair of black shorts of the same color on the lower body, also with holes on them.
His exposed limbs were slender, with blue veins showing, and he was terribly thin.
Probably seeing that Liu Ruoyan had been silent all the time, the boy's expression looked a bit awkward. "Sister, do you need a guide?"
Liu Ruoyan came to her senses upon hearing his voice. "How much do you charge?"
"A pack of biscuits! Or a bag of instant noodles... any kind of food will do!"
"Why don't you ask for water?"
The boy pursed his lips. "We have water to drink."
Hearing this, Liu Ruoyan smiled.
The Chengde Mountain Resort in Rehe is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has eight lakes inside. Naturally, there is no shortage of water.
Even though it was already June and there were only three months left of the sweltering heat, having no shortage of water was still a good thing. This way, Liu Ruoyan didn't have to be too cautious when using water.
"Are you familiar with the base?"
"Yes! There's no place in the base that I don't know!"
Liu Ruoyan nodded. "Then tell me, how do you rent a house in the base?"
"There's a housing rental center in the base. There are all kinds of houses there."
"Where is the housing rental center? Can I drive there?"
"Yes... yes. I can show you the way, sister."
Hearing this, Liu Ruoyan simply turned around and walked towards the car. Seeing that the boy didn't follow, she even urged, "Keep up."
The boy quickly followed upon hearing her words. But when he stood by the car, he was still a bit hesitant.
Liu Ruoyan urged him again, and then he got into the car shyly.
With the boy showing the way, Liu Ruoyan drove the car and arrived at the housing rental center in just over ten minutes.
This base was built on the basis of the Chengde Mountain Resort in Rehe. And the Chengde Mountain Resort used to be a tourist scenic area, originally having places like a ticket hall and a service hall.
Now this housing rental center was converted from the ticket hall.
The hall was clean and bright, and there were quite a few people inside, with a noisy atmosphere.
Looking at the scene in front of her, Liu Ruoyan was even a bit dazed, thinking that it was before the apocalypse.
"Sister, you can rent a house over there."
Hearing the boy's voice, Liu Ruoyan came to her senses and looked in the direction the boy pointed.
Liu Ruoyan walked over to queue up, and it was soon her turn.
The woman who received Liu Ruoyan was wearing work clothes and had no expression on her face. She handed a tablet computer to Liu Ruoyan. "The red dots on this are the occupied houses, and the green dots are the unoccupied ones. You can choose whichever you want to live in."
The tablet computer showed a map, and except for the dense red and green dots, nothing else could be seen.
Liu Ruoyan reached into her bag, took out a bar of Dove chocolate, and quickly stuffed it into the woman's hand. "Sister, I just arrived and don't know much about the base. Could you introduce it to me?"
The woman was even faster than Liu Ruoyan. She quickly stuffed the chocolate into her trouser pocket and put on a smile on her face. "Dear sister, what kind of house do you want to live in? Tell sister about it."
"I'd like to live in a higher place, preferably a small suite, with a better surrounding environment."
"That's easy. What do you think of this area? This used to be the palace area, and now it has been converted into residences.
You definitely can't live in the palace, but around the palace, quite a few small buildings have been built. The highest is only six floors, and each floor has small suites. Which floor do you want to live on?"
Liu Ruoyan thought for a while. "The sixth floor!"
"Okay, then I'll choose a sixth-floor one for you. Someone will take you to see the house soon. If you're sure, come back with that person. The rent needs to be paid here and recorded on the computer."
"Thank you, sister."
"You're welcome. I'll call someone to go with you right away!"
The woman made a phone call, and soon a man walked over and took Liu Ruoyan to see the house.
Liu Ruoyan was just about to follow the man when she turned around and saw the boy looking at her eagerly.
Liu Ruoyan took out a bag of instant noodles from her backpack and gave it to him. "You can go back now!"
The boy took the instant noodles with both hands, repeatedly saying thank you. After covering the instant noodles with his clothes, he ran outside.
Seeing the boy leave, Liu Ruoyan also followed the man out of the housing rental center.
"We'll take an electric vehicle there!"
The electric vehicle the man mentioned was the four-wheeled electric vehicle in the scenic area, which could carry quite a few people.
Liu Ruoyan looked at it and couldn't help but sigh. They really were making full use of local resources!
The Chengde Mountain Resort covered a vast area. The man drove the electric vehicle very fast all the way, and it still took half an hour to reach the destination.
The small building was a six-story residential building, with two units in one building and two households sharing one staircase.
Seeing the man take out a flashlight, Liu Ruoyan also took out one from her bag and then followed him upstairs.
When they reached the sixth floor, the man took out the key to open the security door, and the two of them entered the house together.
The man introduced as he walked inside, "This house has two bedrooms and a living room, with an area of more than seventy square meters. There's a kitchen and a bathroom. Water and electricity are also available, and you need to pay the water and electricity bills yourself."
Liu Ruoyan shone the flashlight around to look at the whole house.
The house was a roughcast house, with doors and windows. The walls were only smoothed with cement, and not even the putty powder was applied.
As for furniture and appliances, there were none at all.
Probably considering the current situation, the windows were not floor-to-ceiling windows but normal windows with a length and width of 1.2 meters each.
The glass should be heat-resistant glass. Otherwise, being exposed to such high temperatures, it would have shattered long ago.
There was a squat toilet and a faucet in the bathroom.
There was only a faucet in the kitchen.
There was an incandescent lamp on the ceiling of each room.
Looking at this house, Liu Ruoyan truly understood what it meant to be "bare walls at home".
Even so, Liu Ruoyan was quite satisfied. "How much is the rent for this house?"
"The common currency in the base is contribution points. The rent for this house is one hundred contribution points per month.
If you don't have contribution points, you can also use food."
Liu Ruoyan didn't ask too much about the contribution points. She only said that she would use food to rent the house.
The two of them returned to the housing rental center. Liu Ruoyan used the two bags of rice and all the dehydrated vegetables to pay the rent for two months.
This was only because the appearance of Liu Ruoyan's rice and dehydrated vegetables was good. Otherwise, it would only be enough to pay the rent for one month.