Zhou You led his entourage away in a grand procession.
"Brother You, what is this Julu Base?"
"We haven't seen any inhabited buildings along the way," Gu Yanzhi asked, voicing his doubts as they walked.
"You'll find out soon enough," Zhou You said with a proud smile, then added mysteriously.
Not far along, following the path that had been barely cleared through the ruins, after a while, we turned a corner and saw a rather secluded shop.
From the outside, it looked like a ruin filled with rubble and tiles. If Zhou You hadn't led the group through a hidden entrance, Gu Yanzhi dared to say that he definitely wouldn't have been able to find it on his own.
Upon entering, it appears at first glance to be nothing more than a dilapidated room that has been damaged by floods, freezing, and burning.
From the remaining items and decor of the room, Gu Yanzhi could tell that the room used to be a bar.
After wandering around the house for a while, we arrived at a building downstairs. Going down the stairs, the space suddenly opened up, revealing a fairly large underground space.
As soon as he entered, everyone inside greeted Zhou You, showing that he was highly respected there.
"This was converted from an air-raid shelter in Julu, wasn't it?" Chu Guodong suddenly said, noticing the familiar architectural style.
"Yes, this used to be an air-raid shelter in Julu County."
As Zhou You led the group inside, he explained, "When the flood came, Julu was severely submerged. This area is a plain, and development is not very advanced. There are only a few buildings tall enough not to be covered by the flood."
"I stumbled upon the entrance to the air-raid shelter. Despite the massive flood outside, there was hardly any water inside."
"So they led people to build the air-raid shelter, and gradually it developed into what it is today."
Chu Guodong nodded knowingly.
Despite its relatively modest development in recent years, Julu has a unique geographical location, making it a strategically important place for military strategists since ancient times.
During the War of Resistance against Japan, this place was also one of the main battlefields.
For this reason, air-raid shelters were built to be large and sturdy. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government has come to maintain and repair the air-raid shelters every few years, just in case.
Over the years, the air-raid shelter has been built up to be almost the size of the entire Julu County town, and its functions are more complete, making it capable of preventing water damage and earthquakes.
Now there are many more houses inside. As you walk along, the office area, commercial area and residential area are clearly separated, making it look like an underground city.
"What is this lamp?"
It's about 9 p.m. now. It's pitch black outside, but even after walking for quite a while, the base is still brightly lit and bustling with activity, just like daytime.
Upon reaching the residential area, the lights emanating from each house spoke volumes about the city's unusual nature. It looked remarkably similar to a city before the apocalypse.
The underground base in Julu is much larger than the underground laboratory in Liancheng, and the amount of electricity required to maintain it in this state would be considerable.
"Oh, it just started in the last few days. It's been hot these past few days, so the solar panels have plenty of stored energy, and this little bit of consumption is nothing."
"You'll see tomorrow morning, it will absolutely shock you," Zhou You said with a mysterious smile after casually explaining.
"Brother Chu, you guys can stay here for now. My house is in the building next door. Just come find me if you need anything."
Zhou You led the group to an uninhabited house, skillfully removed a brick from the wall next to the door, took out the key inside and handed it to Chu Guodong, then put the brick back in.
"Alright, thank you, Brother Zhou."
Zhou You waved his hand, then changed the subject to Gu Yanzhi and the other two:
"Come on, come to my house and have a good chat about what's happened over the years."
"I'll ask your sister-in-law to cook something; we'll eat at my place tonight."
"You're all adults now, so you can have a proper drink with me, right?"
"Sister-in-law, Brother You, you got married?" Gu Yanzhi asked in surprise.
"Yes, yes, your sister-in-law is a really nice person. You'll see when you meet her."
The voices of the three gradually faded away. Chu Guodong led the 532 team into the house. They were also exhausted from the day and needed to eat something and rest.
...
Hearing Zhou You say that he was married, Song Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid that Zhou You would take Gu Yanzhi away from him the moment he saw him.
Back then, Zhou You pretended to pursue Gu Yanzhi, and Gu Yanzhi could tell that Zhou You actually had some feelings for Gu Yanzhi, aside from teasing him. Gu Yanzhi also trusted this older brother a lot, and he was just afraid of the worst-case scenario.
Now that Zhou You is married, his rival in love has decreased by one.
The two houses were very close, and they arrived at Zhou You's house in no time. Hearing her husband's voice, Zhou You's wife, Cheng Siyun, pushed open the door from the inside without waiting for Zhou You to knock.
I could hear my husband's voice from afar.
She knows her husband well; although he has a carefree personality and many friends, he's usually quite busy and tends to restrain himself. It's been a long time since he's laughed so heartily and genuinely like he did today.
"Siyun, let me introduce you to a few people." Zhou You smiled gently when he saw his wife, his whole body radiating pink bubbles.
Song Zhao's teeth ached terribly watching this; it seems even a rough man can become as tender as steel when it comes to love.
Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao smiled at each other and intertwined their fingers.
Now it's Gu Yanlin's turn to have a toothache. Fine, very well, he's the only one being fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), they're bullying him because he doesn't have a partner.
However, he could only keep it to himself, since he couldn't afford to offend any of these people.
"These are my childhood friends whom I used to often mention to you: Yan Zhi, A Zhao, and Xiao Yan Lin."
"Hello, sister-in-law!" the three greeted in unison.
"Come in quickly."
"Is your father-in-law asleep?"
"Yes, Dad has been busy all day. He finally has some free time, so he should rest early. He's not young anymore, and his body can't take it," the couple whispered as they walked ahead.
"You all have a good chat. You haven't had dinner yet, have you? I'll go cook some dishes for you." After entering the house, the group chatted briefly before Cheng Siyun turned and went into the kitchen. Zhou You wanted to help, but Cheng Siyun pushed him out, telling him to take good care of the guests.
In the end, Gu Yanlin volunteered to go in and help. Back then, he was his sister's little shadow, and his relationship with Zhou You wasn't really that close.
At first glance, Cheng Siyun appears to be a very gentle person. She is beautiful and poised, and she is a perfect match for Zhou You.
The group chatted for a long time that night, without any awkwardness from not seeing each other for many years, as if they had only been apart for a few days.
Gu Yanzhi and Cheng Siyun also got along very well. They became fast friends at first sight and were practically sworn sisters.
In the end, the two of them drank a bit too much. If Song Zhao and Zhou You hadn't tried their best to stop them, they probably would have been spending the night alone in their rooms.
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