Now that they have boats, even if they don't go out to salvage supplies themselves, they can still survive by renting them out.
They quickly tidied up and prepared to go out to find something to eat.
Jian Ningque brought a lot of bricks, cement, and sand, and asked Jian Anping to build a kang (heated brick bed) in the living room.
"Girl, you think too highly of your brother. If I had that ability, I'd never even slept on a kang (heated brick bed). How could I possibly do that?" Jian Anping said, looking utterly frustrated.
"Xiao Ning, why did you put a kang (heated brick bed) here? The room is perfectly fine." Uncle Li asked from the side.
“Uncle Li, the weather is changing abnormally. I’m worried that the temperature might suddenly drop that day and there might be no electricity. We can use the kang (heated brick bed) to keep warm. I’ve prepared the stove and stove pipe, and there’s enough coal.”
Uncle Li glanced at the bright sunlight streaming through the window and hesitated for a moment.
"I know how to build a kang (heated brick bed). I stayed in Northeast China for six or seven years when I was sent to the countryside. But our living room is big, so it's not suitable for the whole family to squeeze onto it."
If we have enough bricks, we can remove the bed in the bedroom and replace it with a kang (heated brick bed), and sleep on the mattress there.
The chimney can simply go out the window; burning firewood in a stove is a big no-no, you have to be careful to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
“We have enough bricks, they’re all sitting in the hallway. Shall we start now?” Jian Ning nudged Jian Anping.
"Okay, whatever you say. How come this little head of yours keeps coming up with a whole new idea every day?"
Jian Anping tapped Jian Ning's forehead with his finger, then went to Uncle Li's bedroom, moved the bed out, tidied it up a bit, and they were ready to get to work.
Setting up the kang (heated brick bed) was quick; it was all done in about half a day. However, we can't sleep on it yet; it needs to be dried in the sun for a couple of days. Luckily, the weather is hot now, so it will dry quickly.
Uncle Li's bricklaying skills are really good. The small tin stove is right next to the kang (a heated brick bed), so it will definitely be warm when it's lit.
The chimney's vent was a bit tricky to work on; there were three layers of glass. Luckily, Jian Ning pulled out a special hole cutter for cutting circles in glass, which finally solved the problem.
After a long day of work, Aunt Li cooked four delicious dishes for dinner: braised chicken with mushrooms, braised pork ribs, cold potato salad, and stir-fried chives and bean sprouts.
There's nothing I can do about it; besides chives, I can't eat anything else I grow myself. The weather's so hot that there's no leafy green vegetable left at all.
Jian Ning went home and brought back a case of Moutai and a case of beer. Uncle Li was overjoyed; Moutai! He'd never drunk that before.
"Xiao Ning, after I finish eating, I'll go over to your place and set up the kang (heated brick bed) for you."
"No rush, Uncle Li, we can do it tomorrow. You should all get some rest tonight."
Having not exercised much lately, Jian Anping felt her physique had become quite weak. Not only did she break out in a sweat after doing some work, but her arms were also a little sore. She didn't really feel like moving, so she said:
"Dad, go get one for Xiaoning tomorrow, and while you're at it, ask the neighbors if they need one too, we can build one for Aunt Wang and the others. We have plenty of bricks and cement, that's enough."
"That's fine then. Come on, let's have a drink, just the two of us."
Jian Ning also drank a bottle of beer tonight, but she didn't really like the taste. In her immortal abode, she had dozens of jars of Hundred Flowers Wine, which tasted much better.
Unfortunately, we simply can't produce it now.
"Jian Ning, Jian Ning, are you there?" Cao Xue's excited, stiff voice came through the walkie-talkie as soon as she put down her wine glass.
"Yes, what's up?"
"Could you come down here for a moment? I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay, I'll be right there." Jian Ning had finished eating, and with the walkie-talkie in hand, she went out the door without taking the stairs, and directly used a teleportation technique to get to the 15th floor. She was too lazy to use a key to open each gate.
Unexpectedly, Cao Xue was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Hearing the noise behind her, she turned around in surprise, her mouth agape as if she could swallow a big egg.
Jian Ning gave an awkward laugh and touched her nose: "Cao Xue, what's up?"
"How did you get down? Was it magic?" Cao Xue looked up at the ceiling, but there was nowhere for someone to get down.
"That's not important. I have special abilities. Just keep it to yourself, but don't tell anyone!" Jian Ning gestured for silence.
"Okay, I promise I won't tell. Jian Ning, thanks to you for giving me the boat today. Zhang Xiaoqiang and I went back to the neighborhood where we used to live. There's a convenience store there."
We salvaged a lot of food and household items. On the way back, I remembered there was a jewelry store not far away, so Zhang Xiaoqiang and I went there together.
"But we got quite a few good things, so we discussed it and divided them into three parts. This is for you." He then handed a small wooden box he was holding to Jian Ning.
When Jian Ning opened it, she found it filled with gold jewelry and many jade bracelets. What caught her eye was that one of the bracelets contained a lot of spiritual energy.
"Thank you, but this is something you've worked so hard for, I can't accept it." Although she was tempted, Jian Ning still closed the box and was about to return it to Cao Xue.
"No, Zhang Xiaoqiang and I have already divided it up. Actually, these things are useless now, not even worth a piece of bread or a steamed bun. But even if the apocalypse comes..."
I think there will be a day when we rebuild cities or bases, and these things will be useful then. I've read a lot of apocalyptic novels.
"Jian Ning, just keep it. In this world, who knows how long we'll even live? I don't want to live with debts of gratitude."
Cao Xue's voice gradually lowered. Although she had found a lot of food to eat during this trip, the situation outside made her very pessimistic.
Along the way, she encountered about twenty corpses, some gnawed to pieces by rats. It was unbearable to look at; if she hadn't been a medical student, she probably wouldn't have had the courage to go out.
"Okay, I'll accept it. Thank you, Cao Xue. Since you've already guessed that this is the end of the world, let me remind you that the weather might change soon. You'd better store up some wood, coal, or other things that you can use for heating during the winter."
After saying that, Jian Ning patted Cao Xue on the shoulder, took out a walkie-talkie and told Jian Anping to turn off the electric fence, then took out a key, opened the gate, and went straight in.
Cao Xue watched her composed figure from behind, remained silent for a moment, then turned and ran towards her room.
She needed to hurry and go out with Zhang Xiaoqiang again. She believed that what Jian Ning said was true. If the apocalypse really was coming, then extremely cold weather in the future was not impossible.
Minus 60 or 70 degrees Celsius! Just thinking about it is terrifying. I am extremely grateful to Jian Ning. This one piece of news saved both her and Zhang Xiaoqiang's lives!
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