Chapter 65 Beijing Ruins - 1 Beijing in 22...
Beijing was one of the most developed cities in the world in the 22nd century. At that time, China had surpassed the United States, and the more than twenty countries of the European Union united to maintain their economies. The world order had become dominated by Asia and Europe.
Later, war broke out in the Middle East. India, unable to defeat Pakistan, used nuclear weapons in a fit of rage. The United States, facing economic recession, secretly fueled the flames in order to sell arms. The president's son flaunted his wealth online, revealing that his family had amassed hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth during the war. Meanwhile, Mexico, already a haven for gangsters, also seized the opportunity to engage in the arms trade... The world descended into chaos.
China suffered the least impact from World War III due to its strong national power. However, Russia and Ukraine were fighting, India and Pakistan were fighting, the Middle East was fighting, and neighboring Japan shamelessly continued to discharge nuclear wastewater. The local environmental damage triggered a butterfly effect in the global atmosphere, and the end times officially arrived.
As the capital of China, Beijing held out for a very long time during the apocalypse, but unfortunately, human power was too insignificant in the face of the raging nature, and it was eventually abandoned and became a desolate city.
However, almost all the humans who were not selected to enter the underground city back then chose to go north to Beijing for refuge. The last armed forces were all in the capital, so even Lu Yi, as a member of the Western Federation, knew that it was the stronghold of the poisonous people in the Eastern Continent.
Lu Yi hesitated between avoiding it and entering it. In such a super deserted city, there are often many secret bunkers. In the past, humans liked to send orcs into such big cities, like treasure hunting, and they could always find some good things.
After all, some humans are really good at surviving; they die of old age with a large amount of supplies still in their possession.
Lu Yi thought it over and over and finally decided to wait and see how the gasoline was. If they had enough to get to Taicheng, they wouldn't go to Beijing. If they didn't have enough gasoline, they would have to go to Beijing and try their luck.
Anderson was also staring at the map, his gaze still fixed on Penglai Island, lost in thought.
The medicine pot on the induction cooker made a "popping" sound as it boiled, so Lu Yi turned around and went to the kitchen.
Tang Bufan slept until the next morning. His current routine is actually quite chaotic because he sleeps for so long. Sometimes he sleeps until noon, and sometimes he feels sleepy again after lunch. Lu Yi can't figure out his sleep schedule at all.
He clearly didn't remember getting up last night. Lu Yi carefully draped a wolfskin coat over him and led him to a folding table to eat and take his medicine.
The meal consisted of rice and fried meat. Tang Bufan sat there in a daze for a while before picking up a fork with trembling hands. The fried meat smelled quite fragrant, but Tang Bufan found it greasy. He had no choice but to eat it, so he could only force a few pieces into his mouth.
Soon, he put down his fork and looked out happily. Outside the frost-covered window was a vast snowfield.
As the RV drove away from the Greater Khingan Mountains, the environmental quality began to deteriorate. The sky gradually darkened, and the air developed a faint odor. But even so, it was still better than being buried under deep snow and never seeing the light of day.
Tang Bufan reached out and wiped the window, curling the corners of his mouth to get a better view.
"Teacher, are these lettuce seeds?" Lu Yi opened a cabinet in the kitchen and took out a small tin box, which Tang Bufan used to store seeds.
Lu Yi was very worried because Tang Bufan was eating too little, but Tang Bufan was able to eat more when there was lettuce.
"Yes." Tang Bufan replied, and seeing that Lu Yi was going to plant vegetables on the roof of the car, he excitedly offered to go with him.
Kai then stopped the RV in the snow-covered wilderness, and the two of them pulled down the folding ladder.
It snowed for a while last night, and the roof of the car is covered with snow now. Tang Bufan peeked out and wanted to go back to the car to get a broom, but when he stared at the empty back of the car, he remembered that Anderson had also thrown the broom away.
No problem. Tang Bufan then called out to Lu Yi, "Lu Yi, go over there and break off some small branches to make a broom to sweep the snow off the car roof."
“Okay.” Lu Yi then placed the small tin box on the plant cultivation box and jumped down from the high roof of the car.
Anderson sat on a camping chair, idly playing with the AI. Looking at the floating screen in front of him, Tang Bufan turned to him and instructed, "Anderson, go out hunting. There's not much meat left in the fridge."
Earlier, in order to go down the hillside, Anderson had them throw away most of the frozen meat in the refrigerator to reduce the weight of the RV.
Anderson gave him a disgruntled look. "Who are you ordering around?"
"Let's all work together," Tang Bufan coaxed him gently. "I'll share the vegetables I grow with you in the future."
“I am the Snow Leopard, madam.” Anderson looked disgusted. “You’re feeding me vegetables?”
"What's wrong with snow leopards? Lu Yi is a tiger, and he still eats vegetables." Tang Bufan said seriously, "Eating vegetables is good for your health, and it's good for any animal that eats them."
Anderson admired his ability to talk nonsense with such a straight face, but when he turned to look out the window, the vast expanse of snow covering the earth was much more pleasant than the oppressive, dark tunnel, so he thought it would be good to go out for a walk.
He then lazily got up from the camping chair and left the RV through the thick snow.
Tang Bufan, draped in a thick wolf skin, climbed the ladder to the roof of the car. It was only a short distance, but he was slightly out of breath as he climbed.
His body was weak and he ate little, so his muscles were already weak and he felt very heavy even wrapped in a wolf skin.
Thankfully, they'd reached the Northeast Plain. Tang Bufan sat on the snow-covered roof of the car, quite optimistic. They'd crossed deserts and mountains; what was a plain?
If everything goes smoothly from here on out, he might be able to reach the East District Underground City in another month or two.
Tang Bufan forcefully opened the plant cultivation box to air out the odor inside.
Lu Yi quickly returned with a bundle of branches. He climbed onto the roof of the car and began shoveling snow, starting with the area where Tang Bufan had been.
"If you're cold, go back to the car." Lu Yi wasn't entirely at ease, worried that Tang Bufan might catch a cold again.
"I just took the medicine, so I'm not cold anymore," Tang Bufan said with a smile. The Chinese medicine contained ginseng and ginger slices, both of which are warming.
Lu Yi saw that although his face was pale, his spirits were actually quite good, so he felt relieved and started sweeping the snow.
The vegetables in the plant cultivation box had rotted before. Although Lu Yi dug them out and threw them away, there was still a rotten smell. It needed to air out for a while. Tang Bufan wasn't in a hurry to plant the seeds, so he sat on the cultivation box and looked at the scenery.
Although it was cold in the Northeast, the wind was dry, quite different from the damp and cold winds of the South. Tang Bufan huddled in the furry wolf skin, his hair fluttering in the cold wind, and surprisingly felt refreshed.
He exhaled a breath of stale air and looked at the distant horizon, where he could still see the magnificent silhouette of the Greater Khingan Mountains. Thick snow covered the layers of mountains, like towering waves, so enormous that they gave people a heavy sense of oppression.
It seemed both far away and very close. Tang Bufan had never seen such a snow-covered area, like an apocalyptic tsunami, even in science fiction movies.
“The clouds over the Greater Khingan Mountains have a high water content, so when the temperature drops sharply, they accumulate such high snow.” Lu Yi held a tree branch broom and looked at the frightening sea of snow. “But the environment is really good. Maybe in another one or two hundred years, humans will be able to live there.”
“One or two hundred years...we’ll all be dead.” Tang Bufan couldn’t help but sigh.
"Don't we still have descendants?" Lu Yi smiled slightly. "That's the greatest significance of reproduction in the apocalypse. As long as there are descendants, there is still hope."
“…I wouldn’t want to have children either.” Tang Bufan said admiringly, “People who are still seriously forming families and having children in this apocalypse are really admirable.”
"...When you meet the right person, you'll think about it." Lu Yi said, glancing shyly at Tang Bufan. He had previously been a staunch advocate of remaining single and childless, but now...
He not only wanted to marry Tang Bufan, but also thought that raising a child with him would be a good idea.
Tang Bufan sat there and noticed Lu Yi's gaze. Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine and subconsciously covered his stomach with his hand.
"Don't think about anything inappropriate." Tang Bufan got goosebumps.
Although he knew that human men would be able to have children in the 22nd century, he, as a 21st-century man, still couldn't accept it mentally.
Lu Yi quickly lowered his eyes and continued sweeping the snow: "I wasn't thinking anything..."
Tang Bufan felt awkward, so he picked up a small tin box next to him, bent down, and began to bury seeds in the plant cultivation box that had lost some of its smell.
The sound of a tree branch breaking came from afar. The two people on the roof of the car turned their heads and saw that it was Anderson, who was returning with a brown bear on his shoulder.
Tang Bufan lay there staring at him. Anderson always wore that black leather jacket and pants, with just a simple vest underneath. That vest was the one Tang Bufan had prepared for Lu Yi, but he had forced Lu Yi to wear it.
Thinking about how Anderson had been helping them for the past month, preparing medicine and delivering meals, helping them down the hillside, and even exploring the tunnel together, only to have his skin and neck rot from an allergic reaction to the poisonous creature...
Tang Bufan felt a pang of sadness. After a moment's hesitation, before Anderson could get close, he turned to Lu Yidao behind him and asked, "Can I give that sweater to Anderson first?"
Lu Yi was stunned and stopped shoveling snow. Of course, he knew that the sweater Tang Bufan was talking about was the one he had been knitting.
Tang Bufan originally wove it for Lu Yi, and the length of the garment and the length of the sleeves were measured according to Lu Yi's measurements.
"..." Lu Yi remained silent, though he was not entirely willing.
Tang Bufan noticed his reluctance, so he coaxed him, "I'm almost finished knitting that one. I'll give it to Anderson first. Look, he's wearing a thin vest under his leather jacket in the middle of winter. I'll knit the other one for you, okay?"
Tang Bufan had nothing else to offer in return, and he was genuinely grateful to Anderson.
Lu Yi wasn't unaware of Tang Bufan's thoughts, but as lovers... well, they weren't lovers yet.
Lu Yi felt a lump in her throat, but in the end she obediently nodded.
Tang Bufan looked at him with guilt and beckoned him over. Lu Yi walked over and squatted down in front of him, only to see the man's thin hand touch his head.
"Lu Yi is such a good boy, so sensible." Tang Bufan gently stroked him.
Lu blushed, then suddenly became happy, her eyes filled with satisfaction.
Anderson returned and threw the brown bear he had killed heavily onto the snow, kicking up snow with a "bang." He looked up at the two people on the roof of the car and said imperiously, "You two are in charge of cooking."
"Okay." Tang Bufan readily agreed, and Lu Yi naturally didn't refuse either.
Anderson then went back to the RV. Lu Yi finished sweeping the snow off the roof and jumped out to deal with the brown bear. Tang Bufan finished burying the lettuce seeds and then slowly gathered firewood around the RV.
"Don't pile more stuff into the car," Anderson shouted out the window to the two men working outside. "The lighter the RV, the more fuel-efficient it is."
It turned out he had also noticed that there wasn't much gasoline left.
"Oh." Tang Bufan then decided to save up a bundle of firewood in advance, and to break it up whenever he needed firewood.
Lu Yi skinned the bear, drained the blood, and cut the meat into several large pieces. Tang Bufan gathered a large pile of firewood and set up a small stove in the snow. While Lu Yi was roasting the meat, he also smoked some dried meat and stored it in the kitchen.
The three of them lingered in this place for an entire afternoon before setting off again in the evening. Tang Bufan felt sleepy after working for only a short while, but he still mustered his energy and curled up in bed to knit a sweater.
Lu Yi thought for a moment and told Tang Bufan about his and Anderson's speculations about those organizations.
"You mean that organization might be on Penglai Island?" Tang Bufan asked seriously while knitting a sweater.
“Yes, but if they are really there, it’s too dangerous for us to go directly there. So I plan to take you to Taicheng first and borrow a search team from Guo Wen.” Lu Yi frowned as he spoke: “I just don’t know if we have enough gasoline to get to Taicheng. If we don’t… we’ll have to go to Beijing first.”
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