Grandpa Jiang was starting a fire inside the house using scrap materials that his daughter and son-in-law had found.
Flames ignited the planks and woven bags, instantly illuminating the dim room with an orange glow, and the cold house slowly warmed up.
Hearing the rustling behind him, the old man pretended not to notice, spread a moisture-proof mat around the fire, and let his granddaughter sit down to warm herself by the fire.
Then he took out a bottle of nutritional supplement, bit open the packaging, poured half of the supplement into an aluminum box, heated it over a fire, and handed it to his granddaughter to eat.
"Are you starving?" Grandpa Jiang asked with concern.
Liu Miaomiao shook her head sensibly, letting her grandfather drink the nutritional fluid as well.
Grandpa Jiang did not refuse. He had been hungry all day, and if he didn't eat something, his body wouldn't be able to take it, and it wouldn't be good if he burdened his daughter and son-in-law.
The grandmother and grandson took turns eating, finishing half a bottle of nutrient solution in just a few bites each.
Liu Miaomiao felt like she was dreaming today, and asked softly, "Grandpa, will we be living here from now on?"
She dared not have too high expectations.
Only after hearing her grandfather's solemn "Mmm" response did she happily say, "I like it here."
Grandpa Jiang patted the child's thin back affectionately and hugged her tighter in his arms.
He also liked the new place.
Although the room in front of me was empty, cold air kept blowing in through the broken doors and windows.
But compared to the dark, narrow, dirty, smelly, and chaotic shantytowns outside Taoyuan Base, this place is like a luxury hotel.
The best house in the territory is where the landlord and his daughter now live.
The remaining few houses are basically in a state of disrepair.
However, even among dilapidated houses, the degree of damage varies.
The two families chose the building with the least damage and decided to live together.
Firstly, having more people means that the two families can look out for each other and take turns on night watch, which makes it safer.
Secondly, time is tight and the temperature is so low that there is not enough energy to expend. If both families pack together, everyone can move in more quickly.
Last but not least, the other houses are in worse condition than this one.
So whoever occupies the best building won't be happy.
On the way there, Qiu Bai and Wang Xiang, a married couple, kept extending goodwill to their family, wanting to form an alliance together.
After all, they arrived later, and the lords who came before them already knew each other well. If they didn't team up, they would easily be bullied by the other lords.
Jiang Ning, the daughter, was also aware of the situation. She didn't want the two families to lose their alliance over a place to live, nor did she want her own family to suffer in the cold.
So after looking at all the houses, the two families tacitly agreed to live together in the best house.
Anyway, these self-built houses are large and have many rooms, so one house is just right for each family.
The Qiu Bai couple chose the first floor, while the Jiang Ning family chose the second floor.
The stairwells are on the side of the building, so going up and down the stairs won't have much of an impact.
Grandpa Jiang looked at the drafty room in front of him and was extremely satisfied.
Even though the doors and windows are drafty, the door and window frames are still intact. Just nail up some pieces of wood or plastic sheeting in the leaky areas and it won't be cold anymore.
The second floor has two bedrooms and a living room, each room has a door, and there is some old furniture inside. It is so much better than that dark little house in the shantytown.
As darkness fell, the temperature outside grew colder and colder.
The grandmother and grandson, nestled by the fire inside the house, felt their hearts grow warmer as they watched their new home being gradually prepared.
......
All afternoon, the two new tenants were excitedly preparing for their upcoming stay.
As a landlord who lives nearby, Zhao Gang, who was at home roasting sunflower seeds for his baby as a snack, was frequently disturbed by the new tenant.
First, Wang Xiang came over wanting to borrow the plane and hammer.
Insulating the house is the top priority right now, and all the doors and windows need to be sealed as soon as possible, otherwise with the increasingly heavy wind and snow, we won't dare to sleep at night.
Zhao Gang knew how fragile humans were, and he didn't want his tenant to freeze to death on his property, so he not only lent him tools but also sold Wang Xiang a box of nails.
One of the supplies salvaged from the Jiangcheng building materials factory, Zhao Gang sells for 50 points per box, with credit options available.
Wang Xiang didn't have many points, so he transferred 30 points to Zhao Gang, leaving the remaining 20 points to be owed to him.
Before he left, Zhao Gang said, "If you can clean all the remaining houses, I'll let you off with the remaining 20 points."
Wang Xiang hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "Okay, I'll go once this house is ready."
No sooner had Wang Xiang left than Liu Chuan arrived.
This was a man of few words. He handed the half-bag of low-grade mutated wild chestnuts he had brought to Zhao Gang and said, "I want to exchange this for some charcoal."
As he spoke, he saw a brazier of charcoal burning bright red in the hall. He could feel the intense heat even without getting close to the brazier.
If Miaomiao had a brazier of charcoal burning while she slept at night, her condition probably wouldn't have worsened, and she might have recovered even faster.
Zhao Gang took the bag and weighed it in his hand; it weighed four jin and six liang in total.
Food that can be eaten is generally expensive. Zhao Gang quickly did the mental calculation and said to Liu Chuan, who looked visibly uneasy:
"I can give you 20 pounds of charcoal and 20 bullets."
Last time, he only bought 100 jin of charcoal. He has already used some of it in the past few days. Zhao Gang has to take care of his own cubs' needs first. The extra charcoal is at most 20 jin.
Liu Chuan hadn't held out much hope, but he was pleasantly surprised to hear that Zhao Gang was willing to make the exchange. He would agree to it no matter the amount.
As for the other bullets...
"What models are available?" Liu Chuan asked tentatively.
Zhao Gang invited him into the storage room and laid out all the 'spoils of war' he had acquired, including not only ammunition but also several guns, for him to choose from.
Liu Chuan was secretly taken aback. In his view, the new landlord was very mysterious and his strength was even more hidden.
He didn't dare ask any more questions. He chose the bullets he needed, took the 20 jin of charcoal that Zhao Gang had packed and handed over, and rushed back to his new home to continue tidying up.
After seeing off this group, Zhao Gang thought that was the end of the day. He closed the door, returned to the kitchen, picked up the roasted melon seeds, and was about to take them upstairs to his daughter who was watching TV.
Unexpectedly, the knocking on the door started again.
Behind Zhao Gang, a blood-red tentacle angrily thrashed its body, as if it wanted to burst through the wall and kill him.
However, he failed and was slapped away by Zhao Gang, who then put the item away.
Wrapped up like a ball, Hao Ran pounded on the door: "Brother Zhao, open the door! I'm here to charge my phone. The walkie-talkie I just got from the supply depot is dead. Honestly, I feel so unsafe..."
The rest of his rambling was silenced by Zhao Gang's cold glare.
Hao Ran chuckled ingratiatingly and squeezed into the hall.
"Brother Zhao, your house is so warm! You burn charcoal. Why doesn't my house have the same effect?" Hao Ran exclaimed enviously as he toured Zhao Gang's house and saw the changes.
This was the first time he had come to Zhao Gang's house since he heard that electricity had been connected.
Look how bright that light bulb is; it gives me a real sense of security.
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