Riding his bike, following the route provided by Hummingbird, it took almost 20 minutes, until the fat man's throat was hoarse, before he finally arrived at Liu Lan's yard.

Unexpectedly, there was an additional benefit.

As soon as the fat man entered the yard, he saw a familiar figure leading a child, struggling to move a piece of wood.

Without saying a word, the fat man stepped forward and grabbed the piece of wood.

The woman was startled. She turned around sharply and saw that it was the fat man. She then patted her rather ample chest with lingering fear.

Shen Xuemei said reproachfully, "Why are you here? You startled me!"

The fat man scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I found out that Liu Lan lived here, but I didn't expect you to live here too."

Shen Xuemei looked bewildered: "Huh? Sister Liu is here too. I'm sorry, the yard was so noisy, I didn't notice her."

This is no lie. Her husband has basically lost his ability to work and can't do any physical labor. In their courtyard, everyone else has already built their own sheds, but hers is the only one that hasn't been built yet.

So how could she possibly have the energy to care about other people?

The fat man sighed: "Don't bother, just wait for me here. Find Liu Lan and then we'll go to our yard together for a while. Our earthquake shelter is all set up, the stove is lit, we have everything we need."

Ignoring Shen Xuemei's objections, the fat man went to the back.

They walked all the way inside before finally finding Liu Lan next to a pile of bricks.

Her child has always been in poor health, and this time he got caught in the rain. Even though he's a 14-year-old boy, he was trembling like a quail, leaning against Liu Lan.

The fat man's appearance made Liu Lan think she was hallucinating.

She said self-deprecatingly, "I must be delirious from the fever. How could that heartless man be here..."

The fat man said irritably, "How am I heartless?"

Liu Lan suddenly looked up, glanced at the fat man in disbelief, and then struggled to stand up.

Seeing the veins bulging on the back of her hand, as if she had used all her strength, the fat man quickly pulled her up.

After Liu Lan stood up, the fat man pulled her up again.

Liu Lan didn't say anything, she just kept staring at him.

The fat man took her hand in his, patted the back of her hand, and said, "Pack your things and come with me."

"..."

The fat man led Liu Lan and her son to the front yard, only to find that Shen Xuemei not only did not stop to wait for him, but was working even harder to build the shed.

The fat man pulled her down with a headache: "What's wrong? Didn't I already tell you to come to my place?"

Shen Xuemei stubbornly shook her head: "We're not related, and these are difficult times. Everyone is trying to make a living on their own. How can we willingly become a burden to you?"

Liu Lan only recognized her then: "Shen Xuemei?"

Shen Xuemei greeted her with a smile: "Sister Liu!"

Now, the stubborn one had become two. Liu Lan insisted on building the shed with Shen Xuemei, so that they could look after each other.

When the fat man pressed her too hard, she whispered, "What would it look like if I went there? Do you dare let me spend every day with Yu Li?"

In short, he left the fat man speechless.

The fat man scratched his head and shooed the two of them aside. Having experience in building sheds, he helped Shen Xuemei set up the earthquake shelter in less than an hour.

After helping them tidy up their things, the fat man asked, "Have you eaten anything?"

Both of them shook their heads. The fat man took out a few flatbreads from his satchel and then a military water bottle; these were prepared when he was watching the surveillance in Stardew Valley. He told them, "There are plenty of flatbreads, but there's only this one bottle of water. See which family you know well and ask them to fill it with hot water when you run out."

Liu Lan and Shen Xuemei were too tired to be polite with him anymore; one was feeding their son, and the other was feeding her husband, making the fat man seem like an extra...

Once outside the courtyard, the fat man finally let out a long sigh of relief. So many things had happened this year.

※※※※※※

The days that followed were tough, but with the two chefs, Fatty and Silly Pillar, the food and drink for everyone in the front yard improved dramatically.

Having experienced the earthquake shelter incident, everyone followed the lead of the fat man.

Everyone brought out their grain and gathered it together, except for Yan Bugui, who couldn't bring any.

How should I put it? He's too calculating. He only buys enough grain for three days at a time, and he even justifies it with his own justifications...

Unfortunately, the people in the front yard don't really respect him anymore, and even Yan Jiecheng and his wife are very angry with him.

This time, at least his good son didn't tear down the shed and have to be reduced to begging for mercy in the middle and back courtyards. He should be content!

At noon, Fatty made a stew. The steamed buns soaked up all the broth and were so much better than cornbread!

Li Xianying, who also worked at the Hongxing Factory in the front yard, was eating so much that snot bubbles were coming out of her nose: "It's so delicious! If we hadn't suffered this misfortune, how would I have had the chance to taste your cooking, Fatty?"

Hearing this, Sha Zhu retorted, "So you're saying my cooking isn't good? You said the cabbage and tofu stew I made last night was incredibly delicious!"

Everyone in the shed laughed. Shi Bowen's mother whispered to her son, "Bowen, be more diligent and do more work for others. You eat better here than you do at home."

Shi Bowen nodded: "Don't worry, Mom."

After saying that, she protested softly, still somewhat unwilling, "You shouldn't have stopped me that day..."

The old lady glanced at her son with embarrassment. Now she knew that Shi Bowen had been following Chen Kang in the past.

All the nice things he brought back were gifts from others; and the money for his last surgery was borrowed from Chen Kang's second sister, which he hasn't paid back yet.

The old lady was extremely satisfied with Chen Yan.

While sitting and lost in thought, I sometimes wished that the two of them could get together.

But when she thought of Shi Bowen, who was already quite old and still couldn't find a wife, she thought it was all because of this old woman.

As a result, one day when Chen Yan was talking to her, the old lady suddenly sighed and said, "Alas, she's no longer useful. She should die, or she'll become a nuisance."

"..."

It's been raining a lot lately.

The weather didn't get cooler after the rain; instead, it became even more humid than before.

Everyone stopped going to work and spent all day sitting in the shed, which inevitably made them feel restless.

In the evenings, the men would sit under the electric lights, chatting and joking, while the women would gossip in small groups.

Fatty sat with Shi Bowen, Shazhu, Yan Jiecheng, and Yan Bugui, chatting about how Yan Jiefang and his brothers ended up like this.

The fat man didn't bother to join their conversation, but Sha Zhu suddenly asked, "By the way, where's that bastard Xu Damao?"

The fat man glanced at him sideways: "Missing him?"