Chapter 74
Su Jing had just finished eating the mutton stew noodles made by the housekeeping robot in the living room of the old prefabricated house. She put down the porcelain bowl, grabbed her car keys, and headed out the door.
Yesterday evening, I received a private message from the prefabricated house manufacturer: "The two customized 60㎡ insulated prefabricated houses have been delivered to the XX Logistics Park warehouse at the foot of the mountain. All components are complete. Please pick them up as soon as possible. There has been a rush to collect supplies around the park. If you are late, there may be risks."
She glanced at the time on the system panel; there were only 3 days left until the apocalypse, and she had to get the prefabricated house components back to the villa before nightfall.
Opening the garage door, the black SUV's metallic body gleamed coldly in the setting sun, and the laser gun mounted on the roof rack remained ready for immediate use.
Before setting off, Su Jing made a special check on the gun's energy core to ensure that she could respond promptly to any emergencies.
She got into the driver's seat, started the vehicle, and the SUV slowly drove out of the mountain road. As soon as it turned onto the cement road leading to the town, the chaotic scene in front of her made her subconsciously slow down.
The highway was jammed with all kinds of vehicles: private cars were parked haphazardly on the side of the road, some of them with their front ends bumped together, but the car owners didn't care about arguing and were only concerned with stuffing rice and flour they had stolen from the supermarket into their trunks.
An electric tricycle lay askew in a ditch, its load of vegetables spilling onto the ground, where they were snatched up by passersby. Further away, at the entrance of a supermarket at the town's edge, a dense crowd had gathered. Someone wielded an iron bar and smashed the glass; with a loud clang, the crowd surged in like a tide, quickly emerging with empty shelves.
Clearly, all the supplies inside had been looted, leaving only scattered plastic bags spinning on the ground in the wind.
Su Jing bypassed the congested roads and walked along an abandoned country path. As she passed a vegetable field, she saw an elderly woman with white hair sitting on the edge of the field, crying and clutching an empty bag of rice. Her thin hands were tightly clutching crumpled coins. A young man in a jacket tried to help her, but was shoved aside by a burly man carrying a can of cooking oil: "Don't block the way! Can't you see I'm busy!"
The burly man slipped, and the cooking oil drum fell to the ground. The golden oil flowed down the ridge into the vegetable garden, and the old woman's cries grew louder.
Su Jing tightened her grip on the steering wheel, but didn't stop—she knew that taking action now would only cause more trouble, so she could only speed up and get to the warehouse as soon as possible.
Half an hour later, the SUV stopped at the entrance of XX Logistics Park.
The once tidy logistics park is now a mess: the roller shutters of several warehouses have been pried open, and cardboard boxes inside are scattered all over the floor, some of them torn open to reveal the daily necessities inside.
On the road in the park, several workers in overalls were running towards the gate with backpacks on their backs. When they saw Su Jing's car, one of them stopped and waved: "You're here to pick up the prefabricated houses, right? Hurry up! The warehouse is at the very back. We just helped you move the components to the gate. If you're any later, they'll be snatched away!"
Su Jing followed the workers toward the warehouse. On the way, they encountered two thugs carrying steel pipes. When they saw Su Jing next to the workers, their eyes were filled with greed. Just as they were about to step forward, Su Jing's fingertips secretly reached for the laser gun at her waist. Seeing this, the thugs glanced at the workers running towards them in the distance, cursed "bad luck," and turned and ran away.
At the entrance of the innermost warehouse, two sets of prefabricated house components wrapped in dark blue waterproof cloth were neatly stacked. The labels on them, written in black marker, read "60㎡/set, 15cm insulation layer, including 12 aluminum alloy frames, 24 wall panels, 6 double-layer vacuum glass, 18 flooring, and 1 box of hardware." Next to them was an assembly instruction manual.
"We have to go, our families are waiting for us." The worker handed Su Jing a warehouse key and turned to run out of the park.
Su Jing closed the door, and after confirming that no one was around, she focused her mind on the prefabricated house components—a light blue prompt instantly popped up on the system panel: [Detectable storage materials: 2 prefabricated house components (60㎡ per set, including insulation layer), store them in the "tool area"? Storing them will occupy 10 cubic meters of space].
She clicked "Confirm," and two light blue light films enveloped the two sets of components respectively. The next second, the components disappeared as data streams, and the panel displayed: "[Storage complete! The current 'Tool Area' has 35 cubic meters of remaining space, and the components are intact.]".
On the return trip, it was already dark, and the chaos on the highway was even worse—the sounds of sirens, cries, and vehicle collisions were all mixed together. Su Jing turned on the high beams of her SUV, tried to avoid the crowds, and sped all the way back to the villa deep in the mountains in just 20 minutes.
In the courtyard, the ground that had been cleared earlier (near the west side of the old prefabricated house) had been paved with precast cement blocks as a foundation. She had the robot prepare it in advance before she set off, and it was just in time to assemble the new prefabricated house.
Su Jing took out a set of prefabricated house components from her spatial storage. The components automatically unfolded on the open ground, with the aluminum alloy frame, off-white wall panels, and double-glazed windows neatly arranged. She gave instructions to the two patrol robots: "Assemble according to the instructions. Secure the frame first, then install the wall panels and insulation layer. Ensure the doors and windows are properly sealed to prevent gaps. Complete within one hour."
The robot's robotic arm was activated instantly, grabbing the aluminum alloy frame and fixing it to the foundation with the bolts tightened precisely. Next came the wall panels, with 15cm thick insulation cotton attached to the inside of the wall panels. The robot used special nails to fix them in place, ensuring that the insulation cotton would not shift.
Finally, the doors and windows were installed. After the double-glazed vacuum glass was embedded in the window frame, the robot applied sealant around the edges to prevent cold wind from seeping in.
In less than an hour, a 60-square-meter prefabricated house was assembled. It was rectangular in shape, with a large door on the east side and three windows on the west side. The roof had a chimney for the heating furnace, and the wall panels felt thick and sturdy without any wobbling.
Su Jing pushed open the door and walked into the room. The floor was covered with light gray solid wood flooring, which made no sound when stepped on.
She touched the insulation cotton inside the wall panel; it was soft yet firm, and she could clearly feel its thickness. The system notification read: "[The new prefabricated house has been assembled. Its insulation performance meets the standards and can withstand extreme cold of -60℃. The indoor space is 60㎡ and can be divided into functional areas as needed.]"
"Should we install another set?" Su Jing hesitated for a few seconds, looking at the remaining set of components in the space.
The old prefabricated house is 40 square meters, and the new prefabricated house is 60 square meters. 60 square meters is enough to divide into three areas: living (20 square meters), storage (25 square meters), and cultivation (15 square meters), which is more than enough.
She shook her head and clicked "Store Remaining Components" on the panel: "Keep the spares for now. If this prefabricated house is damaged in the extreme cold, we can take them out and assemble them. Now, let's move the materials from the old prefabricated house over."
The robots immediately began moving things – the beds, sofas, and bookshelves from the old prefabricated house, some daily necessities, and the coal stove that had been used before were all moved to the corresponding area in the new prefabricated house.
Su Jing stood in the training area of the new prefabricated house, looking out the window at the scene: the fires in the distant town were brighter, and she could vaguely hear intermittent shouts. In her yard, the moat shimmered with the light of the night, the red indicator lights of the infrared alarms flashed regularly, the robots were still moving supplies in an orderly manner, and the chimneys of the heating furnaces had begun to emit wisps of white smoke, with a warm aura emanating from the furnace openings, keeping the chill out.
She walked to the door of the new prefabricated house and looked at the empty foundation piled up next to it—
Originally intended for a second set of prefabricated houses, but not needed for the time being, the robot was asked to lay down a waterproof sheet to prevent water accumulation when it rains.
"Tomorrow, pile up the spare 1000 kilograms of coal at the entrance to test the heating effect." Su Jing thought to herself, then turned and went into the new prefabricated house to start organizing the cultivation supplies that had just been moved in—
She neatly placed the manual of "Basic Cultivation Techniques", the jade bottle containing Qi Gathering Pills, and the dried leaves of spiritual herbs on the wooden table in the cultivation area.
As night deepened, only the soft sounds of robots cleaning up waste remained in the villa's courtyard. Warm light shone through the windows of the new prefabricated house, creating a world apart from the chaos of the town in the distance.
Su Jing leaned back on the sofa in the new prefabricated house, sipping hot tea brewed by the housekeeping robot, her fingertips swirling with a faint indigo aura.
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