When Fugui the groundhog dug open the tunnel and saw the sunlight again, his first feeling was that the sunlight seemed even more dazzling and intense. So much so that his eyes watered from the light, and his fur felt like it was being sunburned. Even the soil beside the tunnel felt like a scorching hot stone, burning his paws.
He was wearing a wristwatch around his neck specifically for checking the temperature. He lowered his head and pressed the temperature button with his paw, seeing that the displayed surface temperature was 82 degrees Celsius.
Fugui the groundhog twitched his lips and quickly shrank back into the ground.
The surface is completely uninhabitable now; the temperature is only slightly better at least three meters underground.
When he retreated to a depth of three meters underground, he saw a family of groundhogs lying on the side of the tunnel. Thinking about where they had been before, he decided to dig another tunnel to the left of the tunnel, starting from three meters underground.
The underground world is located roughly on the riverbank in the western part of Changshi City, and the tunnel he and the groundhogs dug is located at a leisure corridor on the riverbank.
To the left of the cave entrance is a road, and across the road is a street full of local snacks, while to the right of the cave entrance is a river embankment planted with flowers, trees and shrubs.
If they dig another ten meters or so, they'll be able to cross the road and reach the food street.
The snack street has a variety of unique shops. In addition to most of them being food stores, there are also some shops selling clothes, toys and small commodities.
Fugui the groundhog thought he could lead his groundhog team to search through these shops again and see if they could find anything useful to throw into the passageway.
Since the tunnel was initially dug for transporting goods, it was dug almost vertically, even though it wasn't very wide.
Although he tilted and dug a little in other directions to find a foothold while digging upwards, the clever groundhog Fugui always kept a vertical rope hanging down during the digging process. Whenever the rope was blocked from falling vertically, he would lead his little mouse brothers to dig hard in that spot again.
So when this tunnel was dug through, the midday sun could shine into the cave 500 meters underground. Although the light was only the size of a watermelon, it was like a ventilation window, breaking the somewhat oppressive darkness of the underground world.
And now this channel is about to begin serving its transportation function again.
Digging burrows in flat ground is a specialty of marmots, not to mention that Fugui, a marmot, leads the way with rapid claw strikes.
It didn't take long for Rat Fugui to lead the groundhog team to dig an underground passage to the other side. Then, based on his memory of the location, he chose a fried chicken shop to dig upwards.
Although there is a relatively shallow foundation and cement concrete when going upwards, everything can be left to Fugui, the groundhog carrying an electric drill!
Twenty minutes later, the groundhog team had dug a tunnel to the fried chicken shop. Because of the roof, the temperature inside was slightly lower than outside. But this didn't make things much better inside—
The whole room was filled with a putrid smell, but the smell also carried a dry, burnt aroma.
This is probably because while high temperatures accelerate the spoilage of food, they do not provide a sufficiently warm and humid environment for bacterial growth. The high temperature causes the food to become shriveled and dry after spoilage, and in the end, the food placed outside becomes dried and dehydrated.
Sand Dune Cat Fugui jumped out of the underground passage, his thick cat paws stepping on the slightly hot floor, pondering whether he could eat something that had turned into fried chicken jerky.
Yes, he's now rich and powerful like Sand Cat.
Because the groundhog, Fugui, is so sensitive to heat that his paws get unbearably hot when he steps on the ground, he has to transform into a sand cat to get up. Clearly, the sand cat's thickened paw pads are quite effective, allowing him to leap and run lightly across the scorching earth.
However, it doesn't seem to be of much use now?
After looking at the dried fried chicken and fries in the opened refrigerator, the rich cat thought for a moment and then put two or three bags into his pocket.
Then the little rich cat cleverly climbed out of the fried chicken shop window and carefully observed the names of all the shops on the street.
There's a milk tea shop, a two-dollar store, a hot pot and spicy stew shop, a candy and snack shop, an eyeglasses shop, and a small supermarket.
Sweat was already beading on his forehead, and he felt dizzy from the sun. He quickly chose the two-dollar store and rushed inside.
He felt a little better after entering the two-dollar store. He took out a large bottle of ice water from his pocket, gulped it down, and rubbed his forehead against the cool water to cool down. Only then did the rich cat go on a shopping spree in the two-dollar store.
Let's first gather all the small tools that are urgently needed underground: nail clippers, rubber bands, ceramic bowls of poor quality, chopsticks, fruit knives, small plastic buckets, socks, and light bulbs.
Take whatever you can use, but make sure it doesn't exceed the size of the watermelon at the hole.
After getting his things from the two-dollar store, the pampered little cat rushed to the candy and snack shop.
Most of the candies had melted under the high temperature, but as long as the sealed packaging wasn't damaged, Fugui Cat packed them all up. The kids underground wouldn't pick and choose these things now.
The candy store also had some dried fruit snacks that were already sun-dried. These items were more heat-resistant, and most of them didn't spoil. This was the most rewarding spot on the trip.
After successfully visiting two stores, Fugui Cat finally set its sights on the small supermarket.
Supermarkets definitely have more stuff than dollar stores and candy stores, and you might even find some meat? You can also bring some cat and dog food home!
Thinking this, the wealthy cat flicked its tail, its pointed ears twitched and emitted heat, and it raised its paws and ran towards the supermarket.
However, just as he was only two meters away from the supermarket, the big, pointed ears on the cat's head suddenly twitched!
His round eyes widened instantly, and he flipped backward with both front and hind paws, then ran towards the fried chicken shop he had started with without looking back.
As he was climbing over the wall, a huge explosion came from the small supermarket. Then, the explosion sparked a raging fire, which quickly engulfed the shelves, various goods, and even the antique wooden doors and windows, all of which had been dried out by the scorching sun.
The explosion here acted as a fuse. After the loud bang, Fugui Cat, who had already run to the fried chicken shop, heard explosions suddenly coming from other shops around the street.
Did something reach a critical point and explode collectively?
The wealthy cat couldn't be sure, but he knew that there was a high probability that the street was in danger.
When he reached the entrance to the underground burrow, he heard the anxious chirping of a family of large groundhogs below. They were clearly worried about him and urging him to leave quickly.
When Sand Dune Cat Fugui returned to the other side of the road with his groundhog underlings, Fugui, wearing a specially trimmed sun hat, stood at the entrance of his burrow, gazing at the scene across the road—
By this time, the raging fire had spread from the supermarket to the candy store and was heading towards the fried chicken shop and the two-dollar store. Meanwhile, thick black smoke billowed from three other shops on the street, and soon, scorching flames would be visible.
The pampered cat, standing under the sun, had a solemn look in its eyes, and its pointed ears were pulled down into an airplane shape.
It was obvious that the whole street was going to be burned down. Should we say he was the last lucky one and managed to take something with him?
I just hope the fire doesn't spread to this side of the riverbank, otherwise...
The moment the idea of "Wealthy Cat" crossed her mind, she saw a piece of sparking wood explode out of a burning shop, arcing brightly across the street and landing perfectly on the lawn on this side of the riverbank.
Rich Cat: "...Fuck!"
Almost instantly, the lawn, which had been dried out by the sun, burst into flames, and the flames roared and surged like a ferocious monster, engulfing the riverside woods.
Perhaps soon, the fire will reach the cave entrance.
At this moment, the wealthy cat was on high alert. He quickly thought about what he had in his pockets. When the flames had reached around the hole and he felt his fur was starting to char, the wealthy cat gritted his teeth, stretched out his paw, and a ceramic flowerpot appeared in the sky and slammed down on the hole, leaving only the round air hole at the bottom of the pot.
Then the rich cat scurried into the underground passage of the third basement level, lying there panting like the groundhog family.
This is really bad.
Once this fire starts, the world will probably look completely different the next time it breaks out.
Life is tough, even a cat sighs.
However, after sighing, the rich cat started taking things out. When he pulled out candy and dried fruit, the groundhog family all stood up excitedly and chirped around their rich eldest brother.
The wealthy cat leader generously gave them a large bag of fresh dried fruit, making the groundhog family extremely happy.
Then, the children looking up at the underground passage noticed that the vertical rope suddenly swayed.
Nine-year-old Liu Xia, who was leading the group, was the first to stand up and shout, "Grandpa! Uncle Xie! The rope is swinging!!"
Xie Tianlang and the others, who had already turned the soil and were carefully planting potatoes, rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Xie Tianlang reached out and tugged at the rope, then told the children to move a little further away.
Soon, one item after another was thrown down from above.
"Wow, candy!! It's my favorite candy from Fook Kee!"
"And chocolate and dried sweet potatoes! My favorites are walnuts and pistachios!"
"Spicy strips! Spicy strips!!"
"Hey, you guys move over here! It's so high up, it would be bad to get hit if it fell on you! This is a fruit knife!"
"The plastic handle of the fruit knife is broken. It's okay, we can wrap it with clothes or make a wooden handle out of wood."
"And nail clippers, and a whole bunch of socks?"
"Oh, these towels are a great help. They can be sewn together and used as small blankets, but the quality isn't very good."
"Why do all these things seem so familiar to me..."
"How could I not be familiar with them? They're all from two-dollar stores! You won't lose out, you won't be cheated!"
Everyone burst into laughter. It turned out that the group of exceptionally clever and obedient groundhogs had robbed a two-dollar store.
Judging from those candies and dried fruits, there's probably a snack shop here too.
The act of throwing things down continued for fifteen minutes, during which Gou Fugui threw down everything he thought he could.
However, in order to make Song Sanchuan effective, he also threw down some stainless steel bowls.
Even the most durable stainless steel bowls will be deformed if dropped from a height of 500 meters.
This distressed everyone down below who were lacking everything. Song Sanchuan stepped forward and said, "We have ropes, right? I'll use those metal scraps to make a pulley. Then we can hang a hook on the pulley, and a bag on the hook, and send some fragile items down."
Then everyone sighed again, saying that if you master math, physics, and chemistry, you can go anywhere in the world without fear. But in reality, Song Sanchuan, this math and physics whiz, was thinking about the eternal god of portable space; he desperately wanted a portable space!
And, could those few marmots really have dug this tunnel? Was his good brother Fugui, who had disappeared for almost three days, really unrelated to these marmots?
For some reason, Song Sanchuan suddenly remembered the scene in the first apocalyptic world where his devilish Captain Xie called out "Yuanyuan" to Brother Fugui.
And during that flood, Xie Tianlang said: "Look at that guy with the high ponytail, doesn't he look like my Yuanyuan when he swims?"
Song Sanchuan's thoughts wandered for a moment, then he quickly brought them back.
His imagination wasn't nearly as wild as his captain's; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fathom that his wealthy brother could transform into animals, and not just one kind. So, although he had some doubts and felt something was off, he couldn't break through that final barrier.
However, he didn't think too much about it; the most important thing right now was to focus on construction!
Song Sanchuan spent half a day making the pulley. After coming down, he had to go back up to fix the pulley. The wealthy and beautiful woman felt that he had really endured too much.
However, with pulleys and hooks, many fragile items can be transported down.
The wealthy and beautiful woman, using her ability to command groundhogs, secretly transformed herself and brought down all sorts of light bulbs that everyone needed most.
Then, following his prompting, the groundhogs frantically showed everyone the high temperature and raging fire on the ground, indicating that they were having difficulty moving. After that, they began to move randomly, carrying things down.
But perhaps the surviving groundhogs are just exceptionally lucky? Six out of ten things these groundhogs throw down are things they need.
For example, fishing nets for small ponds, small bags of crop seeds, underwear that everyone desperately needs but is ashamed to talk about, and rolls of toilet paper...
In short, it's quite amazing. As long as there's a lack of basic necessities underground, just talk to Fugui'er or even the groundhogs, and within a few days everyone will see things being thrown down from the hole.
As a result, many people secretly regarded the groundhog family as lucky rats, and children even secretly fed the rats behind the adults' backs.
The cats and dogs that remained scoffed at this, and the chickens, ducks, and geese that laid eggs every day also expressed their disdain.
In other words, these foolish humans don't know who these things come from or who they should revolve around.
A month later, the underground survivors began their underground production and construction in an orderly manner.
First and foremost was the food. In this underground open space, roughly the size of half a football field, they cleared out nine square plots of land.
Seven of the nine plots of land were planted with crops that are easy to mature and filling, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, spinach, leeks, radishes, and Jerusalem artichokes, which are shade-loving and fast-growing.
Some grass seeds were scattered on the outermost edge, which were food for the chickens, ducks, geese, and alpacas.
The last remaining plot of land was dug beneath the passage leading directly to the surface. Song Sanchuan and Chen Lu, the bespectacled academic genius, placed a ring of small mirrors around it to reflect sunlight. This made the plot the "precious plot" with the most abundant underground light, and it was used to grow crops that required sunlight.
For example, there's some corn, tomatoes, and vegetables like peppers and lettuce. Although the quantity planted is much smaller than in other fields, the vegetables from this field are still the most popular among the locals.
A month is enough time for the fastest-growing lettuce to be harvested, and for tomatoes, peppers, and corn to sprout tender shoots.
The crops on the other eight plots were also growing well. Although the soil here was somewhat barren, there was still natural fertilizer from chickens, ducks, and geese. Grandma Hua and several other elderly men and women with farming experience discussed and quickly came up with a method for making manure.
After further disinfection and improvement by Song Sanchuan's machines, natural fertilizer is produced.
Then there's the small fishpond by the river.
This underground river is quite wide, with a diameter of over ten meters. In order to preserve the river's ecology, they chose to build a relatively long and narrow fishpond within one meter of the riverbank.
The fish farm uses fine nets and wooden planks to slow down the water flow, preventing the fish from swimming with the current and allowing them to reproduce more quickly. Then, by feeding them, the newborn fry grow faster and better.
The small fishpond also had a significant effect. Although a batch of fry died at the beginning due to lack of experience, after a month of trial and error, a new batch of fry finally grew up and will be ready to eat in about a month or two.
With the fish raised successfully, the restless elderly man turned his attention to the chickens, ducks, and geese leisurely grazing by the river.
The old man certainly didn't want to kill these great contributors who lay eggs every day; he was thinking about how to artificially incubate the eggs and then raise a batch of chicks, ducklings, and goslings that he could eat.
So, for a month underground, Gou Fugui and the more than one hundred villagers of this "subway survivor village" didn't go anywhere. They just diligently farmed, raised fish, chickens, ducks and geese, and made tools every day.
After the most arduous, often unsuccessful, and ultimately fruitless first month, this small underground "village" finally possessed the fruits of everyone's labor—
The vegetable patch was sprouting tender shoots, the fish and shrimp were about half the size of a palm, and the chirping chicks, ducklings and goslings had hatched less than half a month ago.
The once quiet underground world has gained more natural vitality here.
The wealthy and beautiful women, who initially could only afford to eat the roasted potatoes, porridge, and pickled vegetables they brought with them, now enjoy stir-fried vegetables, boiled eggs, fresh fish soup, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Their meals have finally improved to a higher level.
Everyone was overjoyed and full of confidence.
On the thirty-fifth day after they entered the underground world, Gou Fugui sat under the luminous white World Tree in the central area of the underground world and suddenly noticed that the edges of the leaves of this originally pure white giant tree seemed to be tinged with a faint emerald green light.
He was so surprised that he looked up at the leaves for a long time, and finally stood up abruptly to take a closer look at them.
Just then, a gentle breeze blew by, and the shimmering white leaves rustled again. Then, a white leaf fell from the tree and gently landed in front of Gou Fugui, in his outstretched palm.
The long-haired youth looked at the heart-shaped white leaf in his palm, its texture somewhat like soft jade. He held the leaf up to his eyes, and this time he could clearly see the new green color emanating from the edges and the veins in the center of the leaf.
He stared at the leaf for a long time, and after a silent tremor, he felt a joy and amazement that he didn't know how to express.
He carefully tucked the leaf into his pocket, then gently touched the tree trunk with his fingers, sensing the sounds that seemed to permeate all things, before softly speaking:
"So you've been sick all this time?"
"White is the color of lifelessness. Without life, even you cannot survive, right?"
"So our efforts are effective. A little more vitality, a little more life, and a little more belief in living can give you a little more strength."
"It may take a long time, but does turning all your leaves green give you the power to put the world back on track? Try to stay away from that mad sun."
The enormous, shimmering white tree did not answer him; only the sound of its leaves rustling seemed lighter and more pleasant than before.
In the deep pool not far from the giant tree, a blue dragon with a larger golden horn on its head was staring intently at the young man muttering to himself under the tree with its vertical pupils wide open.
Its gaze remained cold, but its blue tail, invisible to anyone in the deep pool, swayed somewhat happily at this moment.
Just as Gou Fugui was about to tell her eldest son and youngest son about this exciting news, a huge tremor suddenly occurred at the edge of an open space in another passage of this underground world.
Along with the tremor came dozens of horrific screams and curses cascading down the sloping passageway. Dozens of fierce-looking men, their bodies bearing severe sunburn and wielding steel knives and iron bars, rolled from the ground onto the open space.
Then, amidst their grumbling and cursing, they witnessed this new world that shocked them.
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