After eating and drinking their fill, the two went to bed early.
The two got up at four o'clock the next morning, packed up the bed sheets and blankets, and then symbolically took two suitcases to the car. Shuke and Beta jumped into the car early to wait.
With Xu Lin's command of "Let's go," the car headed east. The base was located between Beijing and Tianjin, so it only took two hours to reach Tianjin.
Only a few official vehicles from the base passed by on the road, probably because the insect infestation had totaled many of them. The houses were also riddled with holes, either eaten by insects or flooded and frozen into dilapidated structures. Even the newly sprouted grass on the ground could not hide the desolate scene.
There were almost no pedestrians on the road. Jinshi was close to the base, so most people must have moved there long ago. The occasional person who appeared was probably a survivor who lived far from the base and had traveled over mountains and rivers to get there.
“At this speed, we’ll reach the beach by noon. There’s a fork in the road ahead. The one you marked requires a detour, but there’s a shorter route here. Which one should we take?” Xu Lin said, holding the map.
“Take the path I marked. That's the path the base usually uses. It's safe and flat. The other paths are all damaged and impassable,” Zhou Pin said, looking ahead.
When they reached a small mound, Shuke scratched the car and insisted on getting out, so Zhou Pin had to stop the car on the side of the road and let him out.
"Let's come down for some fresh air too," Xu Lin said.
As soon as Shuke and Beta got off the car, they ran straight to one place. Xu Lin looked at Zhou Pin.
"Could they have discovered some treasure?" Xu Lin joked.
The two followed Shuke and Beta to the vicinity of the small hill, but there was nothing there. Shuke and Beta looked puzzled.
"You've given up after reading this? Let's go, get in the car," Xu Lin said.
Shuke and Beta got into the car with Xu Lin and continued their journey.
Just after their car drove away, a wary boy peeked out from behind a rock. He was dressed in tattered clothes, his shoes had his toes sticking out, and he was carrying a bundle of bed sheets on his back, which probably contained clothes or something similar.
They only emerged from behind the rock after the car had driven far away, and continued walking in the direction of Xu Lin and Zhou Pinlai.
"You two are getting more and more out of control. What's going on? Can't you just run around like that? If you get caught, you'll have nowhere to cry..."
Xu Lin got in the car and started lecturing Shuke and Beta incessantly, while the dogs lay listlessly on the back seats.
"Maybe they really saw something; I saw footprints on the ground," Zhou Pin said, trying to justify the dogs as he drove.
"That's why we can't run around randomly, it's too dangerous." Xu Lin also saw the footprints on the ground.
"There's no need to protect them too much. They have to face the trials of this world as they live in it," Zhou Pin said earnestly.
It's clear that Zhou Pin is treating the two big ones like children, letting them experience the harshness of storms and preventing them from living in a greenhouse environment forever.
After another three hours of driving, a salty, pungent sea breeze blew in our faces, and we arrived at our destination.
"Should we head straight there now or take a break?" Zhou Pin asked.
"Let's rest and have some food before heading over later. It's 11 p.m. now and it's dark. If we go over at 9 p.m., we can take advantage of the darkness to collect more storage space."
Xu Lin had checked the space in the morning and found that the small puddle had grown to a considerable size, about two acres in size, which should be able to hold a lot of seafood.
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