The chubby little ball, even though it spoke the leader's words like a little adult, its soft and mushy voice still made people feel very cute, especially the two mutant dogs in Wu Wenhua's team who were almost bitten.
Immediately, his eyes sparkled with stars and he wagged his tail wildly at Xia Ruanruan.
Fortunately, the powerful posture of the black and white bear and the huge number of the big black dogs brought such a huge impact that everyone, feeling safe, nodded repeatedly and followed the survivors who had just come out of the school with weapons in their hands, and stepped into the school gate.
When the new survivors walked into the school, they saw pieces of newly cultivated "fields". These were all the green belts in the school that were originally full of various mutant plants.
Tall mutant trees were cleared, cut, and dug, while other weeds and wildflowers were uprooted and piled into small hills. Some even found a wealth of wild vegetables. Over six hundred survivors, along with the mutant dogs and black and white bears, quickly cleared the land in just a few days. The reclaimed fields were plowed, piece by piece, and drifted into the fields with the falling snow, ready for spring planting.
The newly arrived survivors stared with wide eyes. They did have fields to cultivate in the shelters on a daily basis, but at most they would just carve out a small piece on the roadside green belt. There was nothing bigger than that. After all, not every shelter was located near parks and suburbs.
In contrast, the area of land that can be reclaimed in the school is much larger.
However, in addition to these fields, dozens of young people fishing in the pond attracted everyone's attention. Outside the lake, a group of survivors gathered around, their eyes shining with excitement. Even the sudden arrival of so many survivors in the school could not make them turn their heads away. The lake was very lively.
"Over there! That big fish Gangzi caught! Wow, that fish is obviously a grass carp, it's huge!"
"Wow! The silver carp over there is pretty good too!"
As big fish were pulled out of the lake, the fishing team began to collect their fishing rods and nets. The people who had been vegetarians for years and could not move their feet or eyes at the sight of meat finally turned their heads one by one and looked at the new survivors.
This is incredible!
Especially those captives who saw their relatives, their faces turned red with excitement and their eyes became moist.
Although they were prisoners, apart from the daily responsibilities of doing certain tasks to get food and the daily supervision of their work, they were free at other times and did not have to wear shackles and chains like prisoners in prison. Therefore, many of these people looked more energetic than the newly arrived survivors. When they saw their families, they ran to hug their parents and families.
"Mom! You're finally here! I've missed you so much these days!"
"Dad, Grandma! Don't cry. Although I'm a prisoner here, my living conditions have been pretty good recently. I'm well fed, warmly clothed, and safe. I just do some manual labor every day, like cleaning the campus."
"It's good that you're here, my dear. It's good that you're here. When I was arrested, I thought I would never see you again in this life."
With each sound and sentence, the whole campus became lively.
The young woman, her daughter, and the elderly couple, a family of three, stood together with their bags on their backs, looking at the lively and joyful scene before them, and then at the reclaimed green belts. They looked at each other in confusion for a moment, but the lively and noisy scene before them brought a sense of peace to their hearts.
They felt that they might actually be able to settle down at Xingyue University...
"Mom, can I play with them?" The little girl named Mingming pointed eagerly at several little girls standing not far away who were weaving straw baskets, having forgotten the reluctance and worry she had when she came here.
Global productivity has regressed by at least a century. Without textile and steel industries, people have gradually become more familiar with simple handmade products. Straw baskets, straw frames, bamboo baskets, wooden bowls and plates have become popular. Unless it's for long-distance hiking, most people wouldn't bother with a lighter backpack. The little girls, though young, were skilled at weaving straw baskets. The young woman touched her daughter's furry head and said with a smile, "Go ahead."
"Huh? Are you sick? Why are you still standing in the cold? Go find Doctor Zeng!" A man holding a piece of thatch root in his mouth suddenly saw the elderly couple and their family of three. He frowned and waved his hand, "Forget it, forget it. I'll take you there so you can find the place."
As he spoke, he called over several survivors nearby, some to help with luggage, some to support the patients, and soon they took the people to the student dormitory.
In order to save electricity and take care of each other, the first thing to be cleaned up was the newest student dormitory in the school. The entire dormitory building was divided into the first floor and above. The first floor not only had electricity at night, but also had five kang rooms that were simply cleaned up. These were specifically for the elderly, the young, the sick and the weak.
As for the others, almost everyone received leaflets and quilt covers packed from the hospital in addition to their own luggage. They just washed and dried them by the fire. It only took a few hours, and everyone could have a good dream at night.
The old woman held the herbs prescribed by the doctor in her hand and supported her son as they walked into the cafeteria. It was not until the family of three in front of them picked up the winter bamboo shoot and fish soup distributed in wooden bowls from the cafeteria, smelled the aroma of the broth from their noses, and the warmth of the bowl spread to their fingertips that the family of three came to their senses.
The last trace of worry in my heart completely disappeared at this moment.
What I felt more was sighs and joy, and I was glad that I had not taken the wrong step.
"Eat, eat... Finish your fish soup early and get some rest. I heard there's plenty of firewood now, so we can take a hot bath right after dinner... But we don't have any bathhouse coupons, so we have to help chop firewood to pay off our debts. Adults chop 10 pounds at a time, and people under 70 chop 4 pounds at a time... Our family of three only needs to chop 18 pounds. I saw an axe over there, and the firewood is ready. We just need to chop it into burnable pieces. It's easy, it won't take your mother or me 10 minutes..."
Although they had only been there for a short time, the old woman and the old man had already roughly figured out the situation of the entire shelter.
"The person in charge of the dormitory just said that if our family of three wants, we can all live in the kang room on the first floor. However, that room is quite crowded with 20 people sleeping in it at night. We can sleep upstairs with four people in one room, or we can apply for a smaller room as a family. Which room do you think is better for us?" The old woman was reluctant to drink all the fish soup at once, so she picked up a piece of fish and put it in her son's bowl. She watched her son pick up the chopsticks before she started eating.
"Let our son sleep on the first floor. Let's see if we can apply for a small single room. If we can't get a small single room, it's okay to live separately. We can stay together during the day anyway..." The skinny old man and his wife chattered for a few words, completely unaware that the young man's eyes were flashing with tears.
Free accommodation, free healing herbs, free fish ponds, even a kang (fireplace), a hot shower, and a safe place where you don't have to worry about anything...
It was clearly just a very simple living environment three years ago, but now it brings them infinite hope and expectations.
"Well! Let's finish eating early and take a shower." The young man tried hard to bury his head in the bowl and made his voice calmer to cover up his excitement at the moment.
Sometimes just taking a small step forward will reward you with a big surprise.
…
Going to the hospital to carry sewage treatment equipment, medicines and daily necessities, a large group of mutant dogs yawned early in the evening and lay drowsy in the stadium.
The stadium has changed a lot now. Not only did Egg Yolk get his own rabbit fur cat bed, but the other mutant dogs also got mattresses and bedding from the hospital to use as their doghouses. They no longer have to sleep on the hard floor.
The seats around the indoor stadium were also removed by everyone, leaving a large open space to serve as a living area for small dogs, or to store daily necessities brought back today.
As a great contributor to the Xingyue University shelter, Xia Runrun was assigned to a small room with a kang in the dormitory building. The small kang in her room was different from the kang rooms in other rooms that looked like large bunk beds. Her room could only accommodate two or three people at most. Because the floors of each dormitory were not high enough, Egg Yolk and Dahei had to live with other cats and dogs in the indoor stadium. Only 666 and Xiaobai could continue to live with her because of their size.
Sitting in the cafeteria, watching the scene where the 'singing and dancing welcome party' was about to be held, Xiaobai stood on the bench next to him with his hind legs on the ground in a human standing posture, one furry paw silently rested on the back of Xia Ruanruan's hand, and he looked up at her with his head tilted back.
“Meow~!”
Xiaobai looked at the little girl and made a serious cat cry, and his eyebrows were twisted into small knots.
Xia Ruanruan: "..."
Xia Runrun put down the small spoon in her hand, stared at Xiaobai with a resentful face, and followed Xiaobai obediently to the dormitory building.
When the little white cat turned into a human form with its soft white hair scattered vertically, the little girl walked into the room reluctantly with her two short legs.
Xia Ruanruan looked at the two books on the desk, wondering where Xiaobai had found them. First-grade Chinese and first-grade math textbooks—two were too big for her.
The little girl tilted her head back, her face full of hesitation. "Xiao, Xiaobai, are you really going to teach me to read and write? ... But Xiaobai is so tiny, wasn't he just born not long ago? Xiaobai, can you really read?..."
Ever since moving into a separate room during the day, Xiaobai has been reminding Xia Runruan from time to time about what to study tonight. This made Xia Runruan quite entangled, and even her little brows couldn't help but frown slightly.
——Isn’t it a bit too much for a three-month-old kitten to teach a four-year-old human to read?
"And how can a cat know how to read?..." The little girl scratched her head and muttered to herself subconsciously, her pretty eyebrows almost wrinkled into a frown.
Chu Hang's eyes were a little helpless. No matter how much he reminded her, the little girl refused to call him uncle, and even habitually called him Xiaobai.
The man poked the little girl's forehead with his slender white fingers and said in a cold voice, "People can read, so why can't cats?"
In the past, TV news often broadcast the story of "a stray cat who loves reading and attends classes at university."
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