"No, if anyone should be waiting, it should be me. You two..." There's also the little baby.
Shen Yanming interrupted with a smile: "Neither of us has to work tomorrow, what about you?"
Zhang Heping looked incredulous and grabbed Shen Yanming's arm, asking, "What did you say? You don't have to work? Why?"
Shen Yanming explained with a smile, "Our main business is pharmaceutical manufacturing, so after discussing with the person in charge of the agricultural zone, we decided to go there to report for duty the next day."
"Oh, I see!" Zhang Heping said with envy, then silently returned to his bedroom.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan exchanged a glance in the darkness, then continued telling the two children a story.
The apocalypse has reshaped the current landscape, and when education will be restored is still uncertain. The couple decided to use their spare time to teach their two children, hoping that while they adapt to the post-apocalyptic world, they won't remain ignorant of its realities.
The two children were exhausted after a busy day with their parents. They got sleepy after listening to only three fables.
The couple carried their two children back to the bedroom, then lay on the bed and chatted quietly.
It wasn't until 11:30 that someone knocked on the door. Shen Yanming groped his way into the living room and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Lao Shen!"
Shen Yanming opened the door and saw his brother's familiar figure. Even through the thick darkness of midnight, he could feel his exhaustion.
"Why are you up so late?"
"The base has just been established and is not perfect in many aspects. There are many disputes outside. I resolved seven cases in just one day."
Shen Yanming was surprised, yet felt it was within his expectations. He asked, "Are you going to work tomorrow?"
"We're short-staffed right now, so we'll probably have to work three shifts again in a couple of days."
"Three shifts are fine too, it's better than you working ten or more hours straight today."
Ji Kangyong forced a smile: "Our job may require us to work overtime at any time."
Shen Yanming didn't know what to say, so he nudged him and said, "Go to sleep."
"Is there any water? I want to wash up."
"Yes, but they're all cold." He hadn't found any firewood or coal yet, so he couldn't start a fire.
Ji Kangyong didn't mind and nodded directly: "This is fine. I've been busy all day and I'm filthy."
Shen Yanming pointed to the bathroom: "The water's in there, go in and wash yourself." Then he went back to his bedroom.
Hearing the lock click shut, Ji Kangyong smiled, took off his dirty clothes, wiped himself with a towel, and then rubbed the clothes with the dirty water.
"I wonder if it will be dry by tomorrow," Ji Kangyong muttered, opening the bathroom door and peeking inside.
Seeing that no one came out, she took small steps to the balcony and hung the clothes on the clothes rack.
As he passed the master bedroom, Ji Kangyong's face flushed. He didn't mean to, but now... oh dear, he'd better hurry back to his room.
The next morning, when Zhang Heping turned over, he accidentally bumped into something.
He squeezed it, and then heard Ji Kangyong's voice through gritted teeth: "Zhang Heping, what are you doing!"
Zhang Heping was so startled that he jumped. He groggily opened his eyes and found...
"When did you get back? Why are you still in my bed?" Zhang Heping sat up in alarm, looking at the naked man beside him. "What do you want? Why aren't you dressed?"
Ji Kangyong's face darkened, and he said weakly, "You were already asleep when I got back last night, so I didn't disturb you. As for the clothes, I washed them and hung them on the balcony."
Seeing Zhang Heping's disbelieving look, he became even angrier: "You don't actually think I have impure thoughts about you, do you? Dream on!"
Zhang Heping knew he had misunderstood, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it. His face flushed, he said, "Who told you to stand so close to me?"
Ji Kangyong pointed to the not-so-spacious bed beneath him: "It's only 1.2 meters wide, what more do you want?"
"Anyway, just stay away from me." Zhang Heping said somewhat guiltily.
Ji Kangyong ignored him and tugged at Zhang Heping's arm: "Go, bring my clothes in."
Zhang Heping said "Oh" and got up. But the moment he opened the door, he heard someone say, "Who's like you? You never take a shower."
Zhang Heping... I'll make you go naked for a day, you believe me?
After getting up and washing up, the two quietly left. Since they already knew that Lao Shen and his colleagues weren't working, they figured they might as well let them sleep in.
To be honest, this was the first time in months that Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan had slept in late into the night.
The two didn't get up until almost noon, and instead of eating out, they took some food from their spatial storage and ate it.
The delicious rice put everyone in a good mood. After finishing the meal, the couple began preparing medicinal pills. The recipe was given to them by the Wenmeng official, and they just needed to make the quantities according to the recipe.
An'an sat warmly on the sofa, watching educational videos that she and her husband had downloaded on their phones.
The two of them worked for more than three hours before they stopped. Then, looking at the sky and seeing that the sun wasn't so scorching anymore, they took their two children and went out.
They didn't go anywhere else, just to the mountain behind the agricultural area. There were many withered branches and leaves on the mountain, and Shen Yanming planned to collect some to store for the winter.
It sounds absurd, but the heating pipes after the tsunami really can't be used anymore. So how do we survive temperatures of minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius?
So the couple decided to put on a good show.
On the hillsides that have been swept by the sea, most of the plants have withered, with only a few resilient ones still struggling to survive.
Because of its remote location, the mountain was not under surveillance. While collecting tree branches, the couple noticed some living plants and quietly watered their roots with the sacred spring water.
The two men collected two baskets of dry branches before heading home. They met Ye Wengui at the foot of the mountain, who gave them a thumbs-up.
After returning home, I filled the yard with water and stored it in the bathroom. Then I locked the door and went into the space to wash up.
I changed into clean clothes and left the space. I went to the cafeteria for dinner, and then went home to continue making pills.
Zhang Heping and Ji Kangyong returned relatively early today. They were both stunned to see the neatly arranged dead branches and wooden stumps on the balcony.
"Old Shen, why do you bring everything home?"
Shen Yan rolled his eyes and asked, "If you don't prepare in advance, how do you plan to get through the winter?"
Zhang Heping then realized that there would be no more heating. He awkwardly touched his nose and chuckled.
"You should go and get some when you have time. This winter is going to be tough." His apartment building is fairly well-sealed, but it's still freezing without heating, let alone the newly built, drafty, and shabby bungalow.
"Oh right, we can get some yellow mud and plaster it around the house."
After Shen Yanming finished speaking, he realized, "You should be able to apply for housing in Area A, right? That way, the house won't be drafty."
Zhang Heping shook his head: "I don't know. Lao Ji and I have already registered our marriage, but we won't know the specifics until the end of the month."
At this point, Ji Kangyong asked, "What do you think is better, a single-story house or an apartment building?"
Five heads, three large and two small, were looking at him. Ji Kangyong smirked and said, "A single-story house should be able to accommodate a kang (heated brick bed)."
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