The promise to play in the snow with his favorite pup every day was like a bone dropped in front of a Husky, which immediately made this dog, which usually looked extremely frivolous, become serious.

Seeing his owner's face filled with astonishment, looking at him as if he were an alien, Pork Belly bared his teeth in displeasure. Luckily, remembering his agreement with Xia Ruanruan, the Husky butted Huang Haichao with his big head, urging the fool in front of him to quickly return to his usual serious demeanor, lest the cubs misunderstand that he had led the poop scooper astray.

Everyone around was slightly stunned by the husky's well-behaved and sensible appearance. Fortunately, Yang Fan reacted first and coughed twice, then said to Xia Ruanruan and the others, "Don't look... This little girl is a new member of our Xinghai Shelter today. Her name is Xia Ruanruan... Everyone should get along well from now on. Just treat today as our first acquaintance."

"Go back, go back! The little girl is only four years old this year... You are all blocking here, but don't scare the child." The gatekeeper registrar helped Yang Fan persuade everyone to go back to the shelter.

"Ruanruan! Come! Come to the shelter with Uncle Yang. The snow is getting heavier and colder. You are just a little kid, so don't get frozen outside." Yang Fan was particularly welcoming to this little girl who could help Huang Haichao subdue Pork Belly as soon as she arrived and brought three mutant beasts with her.

Not to mention the girl in front of him was fair and clean, with long, curly eyelashes, looking like a doll, very adorable. Just to mention the mutant beasts that the other party brought with them, they would definitely become the main force of their shelter in the future.

"Thank you, Uncle Yang, for disturbing you during this time... I will hand over the food to the shelter on time like everyone else." Xia Ruanruan had already learned about the shelter's daily operations on the way.

It was called a refuge, but in reality it was just a small settlement for survivors. Most of the survivors were residents who originally lived near the central square. After the virus, they were led by Yang Fan and spontaneously formed into a small settlement. Over the past three years, this simple settlement has gradually become more complete, even with a clear division of labor.

The food that people in the shelter hand in every day is distributed to the people and animals who work in the shelter on a daily basis.

Xia Ruanruan led the three little ones, Egg Yolk, inside and saw a heavy iron door. The iron door looked extremely simple, without any paint or carvings on the exterior, but it was about 15 centimeters thick and had excellent sealing properties. It was obvious from its appearance that it was built to prevent some mutant animals from coming up by smelling the human scent, and the 4-meter-wide and 4-meter-wide size was to facilitate the entry and exit of small trucks and mutant animals in the shelter.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that this steel door doesn't look very good, but it was specially customized for our shelter. Even if a pack of mutant dogs wants to attack at night, they can't break through such a steel door! When you rest in the shelter at night, just rest assured. For this door, we have also specially rebuilt the ventilation equipment in the shelter." Yang Fan proudly introduced the situation in the shelter to Xia Ruanruan.

Even though the little girl was only three or four years old, Yang Fan sincerely wanted to keep her because she was accompanied by several mutant animals. Han Zhou had said that the little girl only wanted to take advantage of the winter, but if she felt comfortable, she might stay in their shelter forever. By the time the little white cat in her arms grew into a big white cat, their shelter would have at least two more combat forces, not only would they no longer have to worry about nighttime casualties, but they would also be able to avoid casualties during the day.

"The shelter used to be the underground garage of Xinghai Shopping Mall, covering an area of ​​approximately seven acres. We dragged all the cars out of the garage and re-arranged the space... Look, this is the shelter's power room, this is the restaurant storage room... Here are the public restrooms and bathrooms... And there are the dormitories that were already allocated..."

Yang Fan took Xia Runruan on a tour of the shelter, letting her take a closer look at its structure. The shelter was very simple, and aside from the common areas, it resembled a small university dormitory.

Survivors with mutant animals were assigned a separate living space for themselves and their pets based on the size of their animals. The rest of the group was separated by gender, with six people per room. There were over 60 dormitories in total. These rooms were all separated by simple wooden planks, so the space wasn't large, but if a family had enough people, they could get a separate room.

"Besides you, there are only five survivors with pets in our shelter... We all live in the east side of the shelter, which is the room closest to the shelter exit. This way, if any mutant animals from outside enter the shelter, we can discover and deal with them in the first time." After Yang Fan took Xia Runrun around the shelter, they finally went to the room closest to the shelter entrance and exit.

These rooms were also separated by wooden planks, but they were covered with a thick layer of cement, making them look more solid than the dormitory. The space was also much larger than the dormitory Xia Ruanruan had seen before, about twice the size of the previous six-person room, but upon closer inspection, it was only about 90 square meters.

In order to facilitate the entry and exit of mutant animals, the entire room no longer has any partitions, and even the door of the room is three meters high, only slightly smaller than the door of the shelter.

Xia Runrun looked up at the door that was two or three times taller than hers, and pushed it hard with an expressionless face.

The heavy wooden door didn't move at all, as if silently mocking the little girl Xia Ruanruan.

"Ahem... If Ruanruan lives alone, it would be better to let the cat open the door in the future." Yang Fan coughed twice awkwardly to hide the smile on his lips.

Xia Ruanruan: "..."

"If you are not used to it, you can also ask Uncle Yang or your brother Haichao to open the door. I live in the second room next to your left, and your brother Haichao lives diagonally opposite your room." Yang Fan added when he saw the little girl was embarrassed.

"Thank you, Uncle Yang. It's nothing unusual." The little girl thanked him politely.

Anyway, Egg Yolk can understand everything she says, so it’s not inconvenient at all…

But Xia Runrun was a little worried. Now that her body had shrunk, would she never grow up again in the future, or would she be able to return to her original appearance if time could go back and she just needed to grow again?

The empty room only had a simple wooden bed and a wooden cabinet and desk. Xia Runrun breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she brought a quilt and other supplies before coming, otherwise she might have to sleep on the cold wooden boards today.

"Brother Yang, are you guys done talking here?" Han Zhou and the other two, who had already put away their luggage and handed in their evening food, appeared at the door of Xia Runrun's room at some point.

Zhou Xia smiled at Yang Fan and said, "We just came back today and don't plan to go out again. Seeing that the child is still young, it's a good opportunity for us to help clean up the room."

…

Half an hour later.

The floor of the room was mopped clean, and the supplies were neatly placed in the desk and bookcase. Even the sheets and quilts that were originally not very clean after being mopped on the floor were replaced with new ones by Shi Yahui.

"I washed and dried these before... They're soft, you can use them first, don't dislike them. When the sun comes out, I'll wash and dry them, and then change them for you." Shi Yahui held the changed dirty bedding and sheets, and touched the little girl's soft curly hair with a smile. After hearing the little girl's thanks, Shi Yahui smiled with satisfaction.

After the three people left, Xia Runrun sat on a small stool holding the little white cat and rubbed the cat's head with satisfaction. She had finally settled down temporarily and had a place to live since yesterday.

"I hope this winter will pass quickly... It felt so weird having so many people staring at me in the restaurant just now..."

As a person with mild social anxiety, every time she is surrounded by so many people, it feels like a public execution. Instead of going to the restaurant to eat at mealtime, she would rather eat some cookies alone in her room.

Xia Ruanruan tore open the package of biscuits.

In this shelter, most people either found and cooked their own food, or exchanged the food they had for meal coupons to eat the large pot meals prepared by the shelter's chef.

It was obviously not cost-effective to exchange canned food, which were non-renewable and precious, for meal coupons. Xia Runrun wanted to take the egg yolk and go around looking for food.

only……

Having said that.

But the space in the shelter is so small, and the aroma of food follows the direction of the air flow and keeps coming towards Xia Runrun's nose.

Xia Ruanruan: "..."

The little girl pursed her lips and suddenly felt that the biscuit in her hand was no longer fragrant.

In this winter, hot meals and hot dishes are more palatable...

Just when Xia Ruanruan was thinking about whether to exchange the canned food for meal coupons, a huge dog head suddenly stretched out from the door.

Isn’t that gray and white color scheme the same as the Husky from before?

The Husky's blue eyes rolled around excitedly. When he saw Xia Ruanruan, he immediately squeezed in happily through the crack of the door, holding a small cloth bag and placing it next to Xia Ruanruan's hand.

"Is this a gift from you? What's in it?..." Xia Ruanruan opened the small cloth bag with some curiosity.

The small gray cloth bag contained dozens of white and red coupons. Some of these coupons could be exchanged for food, while others could be exchanged for hot water bath coupons...

"?" The little girl frowned slightly. These things didn't look like they were collected by Pork Belly himself.

"Woof woof woof!" (These are the ones the poop scooper asked me to give you!)

The Husky's tail wagged like a little whirlwind, instantly betraying Huang Haichao.

…

Huang Haichao, who had just finished taking a shower and was lying on the bed in his pajamas, sneezed violently.

"Huh? Did I catch a cold?... That shouldn't be the case. After the virus outbreak, human physical fitness has been enhanced. Let alone a cold, I haven't even had a cough in the past three years..." Huang Haichao scratched his head in confusion, completely unaware of what went wrong.

"Forget it, forget it. As long as that brat doesn't find out that I was the one who offered the exchange voucher, it's fine."

"Tsk! It's all because that little brat lived alone in the wild before. He looked quite pitiful. Otherwise, why would I send something to that little brat for no reason?"