For the next few days, Xia He didn't need to go out, but she could always hear people walking back and forth in the passageway outside, as well as the noise of furniture being moved. At first, the two little ones would bark to signal Xia He to be alert, but they gradually got used to it. Until one day, there was a knocking sound at the door.
Xia He got up and looked through the peephole. The person knocking on the door was an old lady. Her silver hair was neatly combed and stuck to her head. Although her face was covered with wrinkles, she still looked like someone who had lived a life of luxury.
Xia He opened the door. "Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
The old lady smiled at Xia He when she saw that it was a young girl who opened the door. She then said, "Hello, young lady. I'm your neighbor across the street. My husband and I just arrived at the base and we're not familiar with many places yet. These are some pancakes I made. We don't have anything nice to offer you right now, so I hope you won't mind. My name is Li Chunli, and my husband's name is Wang Qifeng. Oh, you even have a dog? It's the apocalypse now, and there aren't many families left who can still keep dogs. I, this old lady, love dogs very much."
Before Xia He could speak, the old lady launched into a long, rapid-fire monologue, leaving no room for Xia He to interject. Xia He marveled at the old lady's enthusiasm while simultaneously wondering if she possessed any sense of the impending apocalypse.
The two little ones looked at Li Chunli without any aggression. Tangyuan, seeing Li Chunli, shamelessly exposed her belly to her, and Xia He didn't know what to say for a moment.
Li Chunli said, "In this apocalyptic world, it's not easy to raise dogs so well. Look at their round bellies! It's just that their fur is poorly trimmed. I happen to be bored, so if you don't mind, I can trim the dogs' fur. I used to trim the fur of all the dogs I had myself."
Just as Xia He was about to refuse, Xiao Lin returned, accompanied by a gaunt old man. Li Chunli saw the two of them and changed the direction of her grumbling.
"Old man, you're back! Hello, Commander Xiao!"
Xiao Lin greeted them with a smile, then said to Xia He, "This is Professor Wang Qifeng, who just came from the central government. This is his wife, Ms. Li Chunli."
Xia He finally had a chance to reply, "Hello, Professor Wang and Ms. Li." She then tried to slip away, but Li Chunli continued her rambling, "Oh dear, after all this talk, I still don't know your name, young lady."
"My name is Xia He, you can call me Xia Xia. I have something to do today, so I won't bother you any longer. I'll head back now. Goodbye."
Xia He finished speaking in one breath and returned to her room, dragging the unruly glutinous rice ball back with her.
Xia He felt that living here was not as good as living in her own fortress, at least no one would bother her, right?
She had barely sat down when there was another knock on the door. Xia He looked and saw it was Xiao Lin. She opened the door and asked, "What is it?"
Xiao Lin said, "Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?" He then gestured to Xia He with his eyes, noting that there were people coming and going around them.
Xia He had no choice but to let Xiao Lin in. Before he went in, she even gave him shoe covers.
"What's up?"
"You saw those two elderly people just now, right? They came from the central government. The blueprints for our base have been sent to the central government and also to other official bases in China. The central government has developed new crops and sent Professor Wang to be in charge of our base's crop research and development. In the future, the base may not only be able to grow mushrooms. Currently, we can already grow potatoes and sweet potatoes. Moreover, the base is now kept at a constant temperature, so we can grow even more crops."
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