Rebirth in the end times: The whole family keeps a low profile

The new house has no water or electricity, and we have to go out to fetch water during the day. Now everyone works from sunrise to sunset, and they are reluctant to even use flashlights.

The base has public charging equipment, with 10 points per hour. An ordinary person cannot fully charge a mobile phone after two days of work. Only wealthy people can afford it.

Fortunately, there is an earthen stove in the kitchen, so as long as the fire is not extinguished, there is nothing to worry about. Su Zhangming misses the days when there was electricity at home. It seems that next time he goes out, he has to get some things back from the space, otherwise life in the primitive tribe will be really boring.

While eating, we chatted about the trading market which was just established at the base some time ago.

Su Zhangming: Those people use the dead people's belongings to set up stalls in the market. When you go to exchange things, be careful and don't bring back dirty things.

My little cousin: It’s already this late and you still care about cleanliness? These slippers of mine were taken off my private property.

Su Zhangming pretended to move his chair with disgust: Then stay away from me, I'm afraid of ghosts.

Wang Jie: There are also good things for sale, such as gasoline, oil, gold jewelry and bags, but they are ridiculously expensive.

Su Xiaogu: Yes, after the market opened, I don’t know where they got all these things. I heard that there were even sewing machines.

Su Ma: Tell them to bring the sewing machine back to us next time they see it.

Su Yun thinks that sewing machines are very useful. It is inconvenient to go out during the polar night, so he can use the sewing machine at home to relieve boredom.

Su Zhibang: There is a business called Jiarong inside. It is said that they can get anything. Our base is really full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

Wang Jie: There is not only Jiarong Commercial Bank, but people without points set up stalls to sell things they found, and people with points rented shops to act as intermediaries. I heard that Brother Dao also opened a department store, which accepts and sells everything. Mr. Jiang, the neighbor across the street, also opened a pharmacy inside. Although many medicines are expired, many people still buy them.

The young grandfather picked up a piece of dried bamboo shoots and went with the porridge, smacked his lips and said: There is always a shortage of capable people in the world, so this trading market is really good. Why didn't there exist trading markets before?

Wang Jie: The base used to have its own trading center, which was able to control prices very well. Now, supplies are probably in short supply, and there is no way to maintain a balance, so we came up with this idea. Many invisible bosses in the base are always trying to protect themselves, so if we want to stimulate them to take out the supplies they have, we must build a trading platform to get the goods in the market flowing.

Su Zhangming: Then I understand. No wonder small shop bases like Lao Zhang’s always turned a blind eye in the past. It turns out there is this meaning as well.

Wang Jie: Those small shops are mostly opened by locals, and they almost all have some connections behind them. I heard that their business plummeted after the trading center opened at the base, so they set up a black market, specializing in selling things that are not available at the trading center.

Su Zhangming: Not only that, I guess they also sell some shameful things. Last time, Mr. Zhang even asked me if I wanted any special services.

Wang Jie coughed tactically. There are so many elderly people and children at home, so it’s better not to mention those topics.

Dad Su also helped to change the subject: So should we open one?

Su Yun thought about the upcoming polar night and the fact that the trading center would soon be temporarily closed again.

If Su Yun didn't express his opinion, the rest of the family would know that this was unreliable. Although Su Yun didn't give the reason, they all guessed that it might have a lot to do with the future climate.

Su Yun: Let’s talk about this later. When the house is finished, let’s go buy some household items tomorrow and then we can make plans after we have settled down.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Suddenly, there was a bright light outside and a truck stopped opposite the newly built two-story building.

Eh? Isn't this Jiang Shoufu's house across the street? I never saw him once when the house was being built, and now he's suddenly moved in? Su Zhangming looked outside.

Is that Mr. Jiang who also lived in Lingyun Community before? I didn't find him special before. I don't know what he has experienced in the past few months. He has become so wealthy all of a sudden. Su Ma also likes to listen to gossip, especially gossip about Lingyun Community.

Zhang Lili: I heard that he entered the base at the same time as us.

Su Yun thought about it but couldn't figure out which one it was until a well-dressed woman in a red polka-dot dress appeared across from them. Then he remembered that it was the family that had followed them in the RV. He had even secretly peeked at them with a telescope before.

Jiang Haojie was directing the workers to unload the truck. This batch of furniture had just been brought back from outside the base, and he couldn't wait to move into the most comfortable house in the base. Zhou Dan led his son and daughter into the door of the house, and the workers behind him immediately began to unload the goods carefully.

Su Zhangming was very curious about what kind of furniture they had, so he took his bowl to the door to eat some melons: Wow, there are sofas and a 1.8-meter-tall bed. These big and small bags look like they contain clothes and bedding. Wow, there is even a generator. Come and see, brother-in-law, they are indeed rich.

The other members of the Su family exchanged glances at each other at the dinner table, secretly delighted. They had originally been worried that having all these things would be too ostentatious, but now with a comparison, it wouldn't be too much to make anything out of the space tomorrow.

The next day, the Flying Tigers went to buy household items. Su Yun and Wang Jie drove a light truck out of the base and took a circle to check the situation on the nearby hills. Several months of heavy rain had made the mountains green again. Although the original vegetation on the mountains no longer existed after the wildfire, the soil conditions were retained and even seeds or other reproductive bodies began to undergo secondary succession. After several months of heavy rain, the burned soil would become fertilizer and plants would grow faster. Su Yun saw that the continuous mountains were no longer dark and desolate. The green on the surface had new buds on the burned dead branches, and life was bursting everywhere.

Many disaster victims in the base have spontaneously gone up the mountain to start treasure hunting, but the Flying Dragon Team was busy building houses and didn't notice them at all.

Wang Jie drove the car to a blind spot and parked it, and Su Yun began to take out the things from the closed space in the light truck.

The number of vehicles on the road is almost negligible, and those who can drive out now are truly rich people.

Wang Jie was observing the movements around him from the driver's seat, while Su Yun was tinkering in the car with peace of mind. He entered the space with a ceremony and looked at the dazzling array of supplies, his heart leaping with excitement.

First, take out a three-person chair in a log style and place it in the small living room in the attic, where children can sit and read.

She took out a set of pots, pans, and utensils that were previously in Su Xiaogu's store. Most of them were worn out and showed signs of wear and tear. What's more important is that fast food restaurants basically use open flames to cook, which is more suitable for the Su family's current kitchen. If they were replaced with pots from Shenzhen, most of them would require electricity, which is very inconvenient. Moreover, the pots, pans, and bottles and jars in Su Xiaogu's store are larger than those of ordinary households.

I also bought some old-fashioned foot-operated sewing machines that I had found in the town. They were at least much better than the junk in the market. After all, I had selected them carefully. This way, Su Ma and Su Xiaogu wouldn't be too bored when they came for graduation.

I originally wanted to get a few comfortable beds, but I thought it would be too ostentatious since the beds at home are all padded. I decided to quietly buy them when the polar night comes. I’ll just sleep in the RV these days.

A gasoline generator they had used before, and 7 revolving lanterns, two for their own use, and the rest were given to each household of the other flying dragon team. My cousin lives on his own, and now he is also a household, so this is a housewarming gift for them. Polar Night has this revolving lantern, which is very convenient.

I took a few pieces of antiseptic wood back and asked Lan's father to make them into shoe cabinets, coffee tables, etc.

After all the belongings in Lingyun Community were buried, they didn't dare to use the good things they had in the past two months.

Take out a few rolls of blackout curtains and barbed wire, and wrap the wire around the wood. It will become a wind-powered weapon. At least the Flying Tigers can greatly improve their self-protection capabilities in the polar night.

Little Xingxing has grown up and needs to buy new clothes. Su Yun takes out some old clothes from the space and asks Su Xiaogu to help alter the size.

My grandfather is old and always says that his legs and feet are not in good condition. There is medicinal wine in the space. Take a pot back.

There are 5 mining lamps above my head and 5 ordinary rechargeable flashlights. I also saw boxes of candles in the space and took two packs.

There was even more food, including rice, noodles, dried vegetables, oil and salt.

If it smells good, just say you bought it on the newly established black market. It is said that as long as you have points in the black market, you can live as carefree as you did before the disaster.

After Su Yun finished, the car was halfway done, which was enough. She didn't plan to take out many small things that were not necessary to cross the open road.

When everyone came back from shopping in the afternoon, they were all stunned and petrified when they saw a pile of furniture on the Su family's light truck.

Su Yun coughed and motioned for everyone to help unload the car. Xiao Jing didn't expect that each of their families would be given a windproof carousel and a windproof lighter. It was really practical. You know, it's dark at 6 o'clock in the afternoon and we can't do anything.

Whenever they needed lighting, they would come to the Su family's earthen stove to get fire. The entire base not only had to carry water to drink and borrow fire to make a fire, but they also lacked firewood.

Now they pick up any tree branches and wood sticks they see on the roadside and take them home to store for future use.

After a week, everyone found something wrong. It was already pitch dark at 3 pm, and the whole base fell into a new panic. With the obvious change in daylight hours, Li Yimin also received the news. Because the orbits of the Earth and other planets had changed, scientists calculated and predicted that the Earth would enter eternal night in the next three to five months.

Li Yimin felt that the security of the base was worrying. The situation that had been settled with great difficulty was about to be messed up again. News could not be suppressed, and the entire base knew the news that day.

The base reminds the victims to store more food and daily necessities at home. The entire base is under martial law during the months of eternal night. To ensure your own safety, please do not go out frequently.

In fact, Li Yimin’s biggest headache is that the roads were destroyed after the earthquake, and relief supplies can only be delivered by airdrop, which is very limited. Now there is still half a month before the eternal night, and the base’s inventory may not be able to last for these few months.

Therefore, the base proposed that everyone in the base go out to find fuel or food, and especially encouraged everyone to go up the mountain to find edible animals and plants.

As the saying goes, live off the mountain, Li Yimin wishes he could take back all the nearby tens of thousands of mountains.

In just half a month, the nearby mountains were barren again, and the newly grown branches were not spared and were pulled back for burning.

However, everyone’s favorite firewood is still those half-burned trees. Even though they are always completely black, people often work in groups of three or four to carry them home.

The same was true for the Flying Dragon Team. They set out to the southern mountain before dawn every morning, giving priority to carrying the fallen dead trees. Two people worked together to carry them back, one in front and one behind. There were too many people going up the mountain, and soon paths were trampled out. The Su family then acted on their own, with four people going to a farther place, picking mushrooms and fungus while collecting dead trees.

The last time they went up the mountain, they encountered a giant python and lost a lot of mushrooms, which was a pity. This time, they saw many mushrooms and wood ears popping out of the dead trees, which they definitely couldn't miss.

We picked mushrooms and fungus in the morning, and after lunch we had to carry the wood back home. It was getting dark faster and faster, and it was always unsafe on the mountain. We were also worried that someone would steal our things along the way, so at night we basically followed the crowd and went back together.

Half a month has passed since the base was launched. Now there are only two hours of sunshine a day. It is bright from 7 to 9 o'clock every day, and it is pitch dark at other times.

The base started recruiting people, including a large number of guards. Their daily task was to patrol the base and distribute daily rations.

This was a solution Li Yimin came up with to ensure that the base could safely survive the polar night. As long as there were enough guards, crime would naturally decrease. While distributing food at regular intervals and in fixed quantities every day, they could also take the opportunity to conduct a population census at the base.

The supplies sent by the higher-ups were getting less and less. After an earthquake, the base's population continued to decline, but there were always many people drawing salaries without working, so Li Yimin recruited a large number of guards. Each person joining the guard was given an extra 20 or rice per day, while ordinary people were only given half a pound of rice per day to sustain their lives. This meant that people had a pound of rice per day as their daily ration, plus the wild vegetables and mushrooms picked in the mountains during this period, which would take at least four months.

The guard team consists of 8 people, with 2 supervising instructors leading the 6 people, which can better ensure the personal safety of the guard team themselves.

Everyone in the Flying Dragon team has signed up, but there are a bit too many people, including Lan's father, Su Zhibang, Wang Zhihui, the younger cousin and the older cousin, so the Su family will only send one person, and let Wang Jie and Su Zhangming take turns going.

There were too many people who signed up for the guard team at the base, so the areas were carefully divided. The Flying Dragon Team was in the west area, so they were responsible for patrolling their own row of houses based on the principle of proximity. They would go back and forth along this road every day, every four hours, and then other teams would come to replace them.

There were so many patrols, and everyone needed to feed their families, that the base had six shifts for 6-hour patrols and dispatches.

The Flying Dragon Team was very lucky, as they were still led by the same two instructors from last time. They were mainly responsible for distributing relief food to the row of houses opposite, and their working hours were from 12 to 4 o'clock every day.

The two instructors carried with them two rechargeable flashlights issued by the base. They were not very bright and could only illuminate a limited area, not even the entire road. Several times everyone who followed behind was about to trip. So Su Zhangming simply put on his own large mining lamp on his head and took the initiative to walk at the back to light the way for everyone.

The temporary guard team did not pursue speed. They only required every household to register and be questioned. The guiding soldier would distribute the food, and the others would follow like bodyguards, helping to carry and scoop the food.

The work was very easy. Most of the time, I would chat while shining a flashlight around the corners to prevent sneak attacks.

This method is indeed very effective. We have found many people who lied about the number of people who received food. Some people only had one person left in their family, but they falsely reported the entire household registration book.

This phenomenon is not an isolated case. The vast majority of people in the entire base do this. After a month of investigation and confirmation, they finally came to the conclusion: one-third of the people in the base were lost in the last earthquake. This number is shocking and heartbreaking.

However, no matter how reasonable the arrangement is, it cannot defeat those who always want to get something for nothing in the dark.

There are still many emergencies at the base.