There was a squat toilet against the wall directly in front of the hook, but it was useless to Ningxia. Further in was the bathroom with separate wet and dry areas. Ningxia took a quick look and left without any interest.

After looking at the downstairs, she planned to go upstairs to take a look. She went up the stairs. There was no door upstairs, so she could go in directly. Ningxia discovered that it was an attic.

The roof is trapezoidal, with only the middle at a normal height, while both sides slope down. This invisibly increases the sense of oppression, while the two corners give people a sense of security.

The entire spacious attic was in full view at a glance. There was a large iron rack in one corner. Ningxia walked closer and found some tools, such as pliers, hammers, saws, sledgehammers, gloves, and some that Ningxia couldn't name. At the same time, she also found a large box of nails of different models mixed together!

This was really a pleasant surprise. There were quite a few colorful things among them and she didn’t know how they were used, but judging from the structure, they were definitely nails.

There are only two layers of shelves. The lower layer has two large iron barrels with good sealing placed side by side. Ningxia tried to shake them, but they were empty. I don’t know what they were used for before.

Another corner of the attic was set up as a bedroom, with a star-patterned cloth hanging next to it. The bed was about 1.8 meters long, and there was a small box at the foot of the bed. Ningxia pulled it out and opened it, revealing some marbles, cards, a very old-fashioned toy gun, and some plastic thumb-sized toy figures.

The foot of the bed was filled with stuffed animals, and there were cartoon posters on the wall. The bedsheets were similar in style to the children's room upstairs. Ningxia loved this place. It seemed like the original owner had set up a secret base for his children.

In the middle of the attic sat a wheelbarrow. Though covered in dust, it showed no signs of use, as if the owner had bought it on a whim and then found it useless and simply stored it in the attic. Several large boxes, a mahjong machine, and a dark, rectangular barbecue grill were piled on top of it.

Ningxia walked over and found that some boxes were still sealed, while others were already opened. Ningxia flipped through the two open boxes and found that one was filled with bundles of black plastic bags, while the other was filled with rolls of dry paper towels!

Ningxia was overjoyed. She would no longer have to wipe her butt with leaves in the short term! God knows she had been protesting against it for six years!

As Ningxia rummaged through the boxes, she discovered writing on them, written in bold marker in beautiful, elegant handwriting. It looked like the work of the hostess. There was a mixed box of laundry detergent and powder, both from the same brand, and another mixed box of shampoo and body wash, also from the same brand. But aside from the laundry powder, which I wasn't sure if it was still usable, everything else was unusable.

Even so, about half of the attic was still empty. After a quick sweep, Ningxia happily went downstairs. She'd go see what Li Gang and the others were doing, and she'd check on the small house next door later.

Li Gang and his men were making a lot of noise in the yard, and no one knew what they were doing. Ningxia went out and found that they seemed to be nailing a frame.

"Squad leader, what are you doing?"

Li Gang and the others looked up and saw Ningxia's obvious joy, and couldn't help but smile. "Your windows here are no longer usable. We can fix a few simple wooden windows for you."

Ningxia felt extremely embarrassed. She was so engrossed in watching the work in the house that she didn't realize someone was working for her outside. She didn't even know when the two little ones came out to help.

"Well, it's nothing, but we're in a hurry. This wooden window is only thicker on the outside. We nailed thinner wood inside. It's no problem to nail it densely. Anyway, the wind is not strong during the scorching sun month. After the scorching sun month is over, I'll find time to nail it firmly for you." Old Liao held a piece of grass in his mouth and his hands moved skillfully.

Ningxia nodded repeatedly and found that the nails they were using to nail the wood were all rusty and even a little bent. They had to hammer them straighten them slightly and then continue to use them, which was very difficult.

She hurried into the house, went straight upstairs, picked up the heavy box of nails on the shelf, and after thinking about it, she also took the two large barrels up.

"Brother Li Gang, use these. I found some upstairs. I'll get some tools for you."

Li Gang quickly called out to Ningxia, "No need, we have enough tools. These nails are really good, and we also have expansion screws!"

Ningxia then felt relieved and went about her own business. Several people had eaten noodles at around five in the morning. Ningxia felt extremely guilty and quickly packed up the bags in the yard to prepare to cook.

"Xiaojie, and Xiaomu, go help Ningxia cook." Li Gang instructed. It would be exhausting for a young girl to cook for several grown men in such hot weather.

The room was in a mess. Ningxia had no intention of going in to cook. She simply built a fire under the shade of a tree and put the pot on it. Xiaojie and the young man named Xiaomu each carried a large bucket that Ningxia had taken down and prepared to go to the river to fetch water.

Ningxia temporarily used the remaining water in their kettles and thermoses.

Ningxia opened her backpack and looked at the few remaining dried fish. She gritted her teeth and took out two at once. She didn't have much to offer them, so the dried fish was the only thing she could offer.

Ningxia took out some of the pots, plates, and bowls from the kitchen, washed them with water, and smelled them closely. After finding no peculiar smell, she put some grains of rice into the pot with confidence. After rinsing them with water, she added some water to the boiling pot.

In the past, we only ate soups and water, but now that we have the tools at hand, Ningxia is no longer afraid of the trouble and plans to steam some multi-grain rice.

After the steaming started, Ningxia focused on processing other ingredients. First, soak the dried rabbit and dried fish separately. Ningxia was really grateful for the stack of exquisite stainless steel basins in the kitchen. Finally, she didn't have to toss around in the same pot.

The meat doesn't need to be soaked for too long, as long as it can be cut.

At this time, the two people who had fetched water also came back, carrying water and walking straight to a corner under the eaves. Ningxia was a little curious and followed them to see what was going on.

Well, there was a large off-white light ceramic jar with two goldfish printed on it and a line of cursive script printed next to it, which Ningxia couldn't understand.

"Is this a water tank?" Ningxia was curious. Whose water tank was so artificially made and so high, almost reaching her chest, so round and clumsy.

Old Chen chuckled, "This is an ornamental tank, used to grow water plants." As he spoke, he bent down and reached in with great effort to pull out a dry and brittle leaf.

Ningxia nodded, indicating she had learned something new. "Is this... a lotus leaf?"

"It's a water lily."

Ningxia couldn't stop being happy. Such a big ornamental tank could hold much more than an ordinary water tank, so it was a good deal for her.

The two of them cleaned the large vat at the foot of the wall. Xiaojie even stood in it. It couldn't be helped; the vat was too deep. Xiaomu estimated that it could hold about 800 to 900 liters, maybe even more, perhaps even a ton.