novel
| ← Ch.131 | Ch.133 → |
In November, the weather had completely cooled down, fortunately Luo Xun's team had finished their busy farming season. Most of the crops have been harvested, processed and dried. Even the sunflowers on the balcony were filled with seeds.
In addition to leaving some seeds for replanting, the remainder were squeezed into cooking oil for daily use. The peanuts and soybean were also harvested and treated the same way. Peanut butter was a delicious thing spread on bread slices.
As for soybeans, it can be used to make tofu in addition to making oil.
Luo Xun used the grinder he had acquired before the apocalypse. Not large, also second hand but it worked well. The two women had dealt with the bulk of the farm matters while caring for Yu Xinran.
It was not a lot, but there was a good amount of oil - if used sparingly it would last a while. One must know that the base had no edible oil for sale, who knew whether it was because no oil crops were grown? Or were they all mutated?
In any case, after that discovery, the team became even more nervous and cherished every drop of oil they had.
Another set of satellite photos, accompanied by shocked looks.
The base leaders sat around the table in silence. Only after a long time did someone open their mouth."What... are we going... to do now?"
"What? What do you think? How are we going to defeat the things?"
"Ability users, let them go!"
"Are you sure the ability users will be able to beat them? The lost teams still have not been found!"
"That does not prove anything... don't forget that there are other things in the city!"
"Oh, then what do you think collapsed so many buildings? Teams of ability users out collecting supplies? Or were the buildings so damaged that a stray attack caused the collapsing?!"
"Calm down, everyone calm down and discuss the problem!"
The main question the leaders bickered about - how exactly were they going to deal with the monsters in the photos?!
Photographs were scattered on the table, along with reports from scouts who investigated the city.
Huge, robust three meter tall zombies with grayish skin that could easily lift and crush a car. Giant zombies were wandering the city, leaving collapsed buildings around them...
"Going to fix the outer wall again?!" The metal team members looked at the highway, which still needed some work, then looked at the tall outer walls... What was going on? Why were they working on that wall again? Weren't they done?
"This time you need to refine the metal on the wall to make it as hard as possible, similar to the current project." The messenger patiently explained to the group."This is the proportion that needs to be synthesized, you have extract the elements and then mix them..."
Captain Guo touched his chin, pondered then asked, "Have they found any new zombie types? Highly destructive kind."
The person stiffened, waved his hand with a laugh."You think to much..." With the team's unimpressed looks, he swallowed his words and whispered, "You have the right idea, you have to reinforce the wall."
Luo Xun and Yan Fei exchanged looks - must be related to the matter that day. Otherwise the timing would too coincidental.
Although they did not inquire about specific news, they could only follow the orders from the higher ups. The bridge was about to enter the last stage but the wall was more pressing, the project leaders quarreled for half a day before compromising.
The final decision - they would deal with the wall in the morning, after lunch they would repair the bridge...
Anyway, both of the jobs were similar, the metal team should be able to handle the task.
So Yan Fei and the team worked two shifts - one in the morning and one in the afternoon, they were very busy. Luckily they did not actually increase their work hours, otherwise... they would die of exhaustion.
The work each day gave points and crystal cores, otherwise the military's current rations would have been unbearable and the two of them would have left. If there had been overtime, Yan Fei would have resigned - he would rather hunt zombies for crystal cores, plus he would get to eat home cooked meals.
*Whoosh* There was a cold wind and little protective measures against the weather, everyone was miserable.
Who knew whether it was true or it was because living conditions were worse, anyway Luo Xun and the rest of the metal team agreed that the temperature was lower than previous years, the wind was stronger.
With the cold wind blowing while they worked, a few days passed.
This morning, Luo Xun and Yan Fei brought bags un uneaten vegetables all the way to the barracks for sale. Captain Li seemed to have been waiting, he even warmly welcomed the couple before doing the exchange.
"Ah, you've been here a lot less often than before!" Captain Li took out two cigarettes and handed them to the men.
Although both of them did not smoke, they accepted - this was strange, in the past they rarely dealt with the captain.
Captain Li motioned for the two to come inside - Luo Xun wondered what he wanted. As for the car... Yan Fei now had the ability to lock the car without removing his hands from his pockets.
The lower ranked soldiers dealt with the food while the three sat on some stools in the kitchen. Captain Li smiled and spoke, "Your crops are planted home, using the clean water produced by an ability user?"
The two men smiled but did not speak.
Captain Li did not have ask anything, everyone knew that polluted water had a higher chance of mutating crops. Since Luo Xun could grow so many non-mutant vegetables - the difference must be the water!
Seeing that the two were silent, Captain Li continued, "The weather is turning colder, but we still have to ensure that the canteen has enough for the army. The exchange people are saying that there have been fewer people coming to sell food..."
Captain Li finally reached the point, "If you can sell more than 10 pounds, we can raise the price!"
This matter was Yan Fei's area, so he was silent. Luo Xun finally smiled and clapped."This would depend on our harvest situation... you know that plants grow slower in the cold, we can only try our best."
With those words, at least Captain Li had some hope. The vegetables had long been weighed, the two people got up to leave after the transaction.
They parked the car at the barracks and joined the rest of the team. They disucssed the matter in quiet voices.
"Did he raise the price for us because of smaller amount of vegetables on base?" Yan Fei frowned, "Doesn't seem like it."
"Vegetables are not at the point where prices must be raised." Luo Xun smiled, "I think that there have been less non-mutant vegetables, on the other hand, there might be a team collecting food which raised prices."
"Rising prices with demand?" Yan Fei raised an eyebrow and looked at Luo Xun.
"Right, Xu Mei said that there are no fresh vegetables for sale at the base windows. They are selling pickles and other cooked meals. If someone wanted lettuce, they would either grow their own or go to the market. Plus with the number of ability teams in New Town... if some of the captains want to eat fresh produce, other teams must want the same. It would be strange if prices did not increase~" Luo Xun said with an easy smile.
When he officially started farming in another life, the price of vegetables was high enough to be profitable. Of course he had worked as a vegetable grower for the base. Although the winter harvest was slightly less, it would not cause the canteens to raise their prices. Captain Li had offered to raise prices for one reason - the value of non-mutant vegetables had risen!
Who was willing to decrease their appetite? Look at the base reaction after the new grain appeared - regular grain was gone! The higher ups ate regular rice to protect their taste buds and of course, preferred to eat non-mutant vegetables at the same time.
Of all the normal vegetables from Luo Xun and other sources, 80-90% percent were in these people's stomachs.
There were team captains raised the prices so they could get a bite. Unfortunately, although most of the ability users had moved into New Town and some scattered water users had joined teams... Not every water user was willing to farm, not every team could recruit one and not everyone was skilled at farmwork. Not every team could make a greenhouse for cultivation - especially where residential spaces were tight.
So, what would these captains, who wanted to eat well do? Buy it!
After listening to Luo Xun's analysis, Yan Fei understood the matter. He had only thought it strange because there were so many plants at home, they grew their own food, not to mention the large pile of vegetables.
Of course, he now understood that Luo Xun could fully support two (and a dog) using farming.
There was no surprise that a pair of strangers were waiting at their metal-wrapped car after a busy day of work.
The two men carefully looked at Luo Xun and Yan Fei. They quickly walked forward before the couple drove away."You two... are the ones who delivered food to the canteen this morning?"
The metal on the window melted into the car, leaving only a protective railing of sorts.
If they were not in the apocalypse with no high-tech products, they would have thought the metal was controlled by some device. Who would think that the metal was manipulated?
Then again, a metal user had to sell vegetables for a living? This was...
Yan Fei was indifferent, "What is the matter."
The two men exchanged glances, before approaching with a smile."We are from XX team, heard that you sell food especially to the military canteen? We were wondering what prices..."
The two had intercepted on behalf of their boss. They wanted to see if they would deliver to their home instead of the military, even willing to pay extra. Luo Xun knew the trends from his last life, Yan Fei was a boss before the end of the world so they got the other party's bottom line. The two only left their contact information before leaving.
"The price is okay, but the team's name... never heard of it."
Of course, Luo Xun wanted to make more money, but he would not sell to a team that does not know how to be silent. They might bring the food and then... the people are gone, who would he sell to then?
Of course, some people would be willing to buy for the time being... They had adjusted the proportion of crops in fear of having enough. If anyone really wanted to buy, they would need to readjust. Even if they wanted to sell, they would only do so after everyone in the team had enough to eat.
The two returned home and called for everyone for a discussion. The end result was that if the military canteen was willing to pay more, they were willing to bring out more vegetables.
The only issue wa that they needed to adjust their cultivated crops.
Several people were discussing, not long after Li Tie and company returned. After half an hour, Wang Duo picked up Zhang Yi and came back home.
Zhang Yi glared at Yan fei from the corner of his eye while humming.
The team turned to Yan Fei - how did he provoke His Highness?
Yan Fei was also surprised, he asked Zhang Yi, "What have been you smoking?"
Zhang Yi flipped him while leaning against the back of the chair."A few nurses came to me and said someone is targeting me. I should be more vigilant."
Someone was targeting Zhang Yi? Why was he staring at Yan Fei then?
"Someone? Is going to attack you?!" Wang Duo rolled up his sleeves, ready to settle the score."Tell me, what bad man is jealous of your talent? Or Someone lusting after you?!"
The room of the people ignored Wang Duo and instead focused on Zhang Yi's answer.
Zhang Yi swung around the chair and sneered, "I heard after asking around - two days after I refused a patient's illegal request, she asked the hospital director to fire me." He sneered again, "I don't know why she is so confident? Thinking that with a wave of her hand she can fire me, she can try!"
Hearing that Luo Xun and Yan fei exchanged helpless looks... Liu Xiangyu was really desperate to get rid of the child. Yan Fei was not a doctor and did not know how she managed to bother the hospital director about the matter. However she was obviously pregnant and looking for an abortion at the hospital, the director must be pretty strict, otherwise there must be a doctor willing to take the job in private.
But Zhang Yi only seemed to be whining, not looking to trouble Yan Fei. He was the most clear about Yan Fei's attitude for Mrs. Liu's actions... Yan Fei would not take any responsibility.
Since Zhang Yi did not continue about the matter and Wang Duo was still spitting made, the rest of the team did not ask further. Instead they spoke about vegetable growing.
After listening to Luo Xun's explanation, everyone had no objections. Why hesitate - it was just expanding the cultivation area.
However the planting space was in accordance with the previous plan, with a variety of vegetables. It would not easy to make adjustments, they could only take advantage of the space in the hallway.
Since winter was approaching, the hallway was emptier. The vegetables that did not need much sunshine had already been harvested. To increase the amount of growing space, they had to find a way to transform the corridor.
Transforming the corridor was simple, especially since the area already had the frames in place. As long some Yan Fei added some pipes for water, it was done. The only problem that some things in the hallway needed to be moved and there was little light.
No one had other comments, the solar panels on the walls created enough electricity for all the rooms. No need to increase the number - of course there never too many batteries.
As for moving things to make room... The team decided to work after dinner! Hands-on work!
Yan fei had no trouble since he manipulated metal everyday to make a variety of things. The rest of the team cleaned up the 16th floor hallway while waiting for the 15th floor to finish.
Metal floor and wall, isolate any parts that were likely to leak. When everyone moved to the 16th floor, the renovation of the 15th floor was all done.
In addition to setting aside space outside the elevator for the future, all the rest of the things were moved and put in their places.
Yan Fei also modified the iron gate between the 15th and 14th floor. Improve the insulation, of course vents and fans needed to be installed - how would the plants grow if there was no fresh air?
| ← Ch. 131 | Ch. 133 → |