After escaping danger, Qiao An'an and Gu Bei quickly used the ladder to return to the second floor.
After going upstairs, Qiao An'an immediately checked Chi Xiaoyu's wound and found that it was bleeding. She felt very guilty: "It's all my fault, I insisted on going to the back to plant corn..."
Chi Xiaoyu didn't speak, but stared intently at Grandpa Gu Bei with her fox-like eyes.
Just then, a thunderclap suddenly rang out outside.
Then, without warning, it started to rain.
Grandpa Gu Bei was right.
Qiao An'an found it incredible and asked doubtfully, "Grandpa, you don't actually know how to read the heavens like in fantasy novels, do you?"
"What are you looking at the weather for? I have arthritis, and it flares up whenever it's about to rain!"
Grandpa Gu Bei didn't want to be watched by Chi Xiaoyu, so he dragged his old leg, which was aggravated by arthritis, and limped towards the kitchen. He said that there was some leftover beef tripe and mushroom soup from lunch, and he heated up a few steamed buns in the pot, which should be enough for them.
Watching Grandpa Gu Bei's retreating figure, Chi Xiaoyu ultimately said nothing, but silently took out her game console and started playing a single-player game.
Grandpa Gu Bei said he was going to cook.
Ya Ya said happily, "Grandpa, please steam another rib. Mom and the others have worked all day and need to eat some meat to replenish their energy. The bones can be gnawed on by Da Hei."
When Ya Ya mentioned Da Hei, both Qiao An'an and Gu Bei fell silent.
Big Black hasn't returned yet, having tried to lure the zombies away for them; he's probably in grave danger.
But who knew that Ya Ya had just finished saying that the bone was for Big Black to gnaw on.
Big Black crawled out of the hole it had dug itself, carrying its dog bowl to beg for a bone.
Qiao An'an was overjoyed to see Dahei alive: "I'll steam two ribs today so Dahei can eat his fill!"
After dinner, Grandpa Gu Bei shared his thoughts: "While I was guarding the north courtyard today, I had a bold idea that I'd like to share with you."
Upon seeing this, Qiao An'an and the others all turned their gazes to Grandpa Gu Bei.
Grandpa Gu Bei continued, "Behind the yard where you plant corn is Xishan Park. I used to go hiking in Xishan Park often. There are many hazelnut trees, pine trees and kiwis in the park. The fruits will be ripe in a while. I want to pick some and see if I can catch a rabbit or a pheasant to give everyone a treat."
This idea is good.
However, it would not be easy to implement. Qiao An'an immediately rejected the suggestion: "Gu Bei and I almost didn't come back today. I was ready to ignore the corn behind us. Grandpa actually wants to go out hunting. Let's not even talk about how dangerous it is for you to climb ladders with your health. Even if you could climb ladders, you wouldn't be able to outrun the zombies. I think we should just forget about it."
Gu Bei also disagreed with his grandfather going out: "I think Aunt An'an is right. Grandpa, you're too old to go out."
Grandpa Gu Bei, however, felt that these were not problems at all: "Who said we can only get out by climbing ladders? Have you ever thought that we might have a safer way to get to the back mountain?"
Qiao An'an was very suspicious: "Could it be from the front door? Wouldn't that be even more dangerous?"
Grandpa Gu explained, "Of course we can't go through the front door. I'm just getting old, but I'm not senile yet. Today, when I was on the second floor, I saw that those three bungalows had back doors. My idea was to dig a tunnel from our house to those three bungalows in the back yard, and then go from the back of those three bungalows to the mountains. Wouldn't that be completely undetectable?"
Qiao An'an thought it was a good idea: "This is equivalent to having a secret passage in our courtyard. If we encounter danger in the future, we can escape through this secret passage."
When Ya Ya heard that she was going to dig a hole, she was overjoyed and took out her toy shovel and bucket.
Grandpa Gu Bei said that they used to dig air-raid shelters often. He had experience in digging tunnels. He first found a place he thought was suitable on the west side of the house, near the back wall of the courtyard. Then he used a ruler to draw a 1-meter-wide square. Then he took care of Qiao An'an and Gu Bei to start digging: "Dig straight down, first dig 4 meters deep, and then you can extend it inwards."
4 meters.
It doesn't sound that deep, but digging it out could be deadly.
Qiao An'an and Gu Bei dug until about 10 p.m., but they had only dug less than 2 meters deep, and their hands were already blistered.
Yaya, who was originally very interested, had already taken her tools and run off to play a single-player game with the little fish watching the pond: "Digging holes is too boring, little fish sister, let me play alone."
Gu Bei was also exhausted: "Let's dig again tomorrow."
Qiao An'an also felt that this kind of thing couldn't be accomplished overnight, and now there was an even more troublesome matter, which was that the excavated soil still needed to be dealt with.
Each time, Gu Bei would climb down, and Qiao An'an would lower the bucket of soil from the window with a rope. Gu Bei would then have to carry the bucket to another place to empty it.
They moved like snails for two days, finally digging a 4-meter-deep pit, and then dug a tunnel about 1.8 meters long on the side that led directly to the three bungalows behind.
They dug for about half a month.
After Chi Xiaoyu recovered, she also joined the digging team.
For the past two weeks, Qiao An'an and her family haven't been able to tend to the corn in the backyard. However, the corn has sprouted and grown more than ten centimeters taller, turning a lush green and full of life, which has brought them a lot of hope.
With this yard full of corn, they no longer need to worry about food in the winter.
Qiao An'an, Chi Xiaoyu, and Gu Bei took turns digging in pairs while one of them handled the soil. Their speed increased significantly, and after another month, they finally dug the tunnel to the top of the three bungalows.
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