The second snowfall arrived.
The heavy snow fell all night and didn't stop until dawn.
Today was a gloomy day, but all the survivors received a great deal of good news.
Today is January 6th, Year 14 of the Cataclysm. Heavy snow is turning to light snow; temperatures are low. Please take precautions to stay warm...
[We have good news to announce today: the crisis involving the giant mutated python at the Peach Blossom Base has been officially declared resolved, and the base is operating normally.]
Upon receiving this news as soon as they woke up, the three members of the Meng family—mother and sons—exchanged bewildered glances, hardly believing it.
"Really?" Meng Da was the first to question the authenticity of the message.
Meng Er had already run out of the house and rushed to the next room.
It snowed all night, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fresh snow. Monkey Sister, who was making footprints in the fresh snow, was surprised to find that there were suddenly several more footprints on the originally clean and flat snow in front of her. She looked up and let out an angry growl.
Caught off guard, Meng Er thought a mutated creature was attacking from beside him and was so startled that he almost fell flat on his face.
"Second Uncle Meng?" Zhao Xiaoxiu heard the noise, put away her twin swords, and tilted her head to look at him with concern.
Meng Er quickly waved his hand to indicate that he was fine, and under Sister Monkey's 'deadly' gaze, he rushed to the door of Zhao Gang's house.
"Brother Gangzi, have you received the message from this morning?" Meng Er rushed into the tool shed with a walkie-talkie and asked excitedly.
Zhao Gang was packing up his tools, engrossed in planing wood, and barely acknowledged Meng Er's arrival, replying indifferently, "Received."
As soon as Xiaoxiu woke up in the morning, she turned on her satellite phone and received a notification text message from the base.
"Do you believe me?" Meng Er confronted the workbench, pressing his face close to hers.
Zhao Gang ruthlessly slapped the unshaven face in front of him away. "Believe it."
Meng Er rubbed his face a couple of times, his thick skin not feeling much pain. He quickly chuckled and muttered to himself, "Brother Gangzi, if you believe me, I believe you. It must be true. I didn't expect Taoyuan Base to act so quickly. It hasn't been long, and they've already dealt with such a powerful giant mutated python. It seems Taoyuan Base is quite strong..."
Zhao Gang asked sincerely, "Could you talk less?"
Meng Er choked, "Huh?"
Zhao Gang made a shushing gesture. Meng Er realized what he meant, chuckled, scratched his head, silently suppressed what he was about to say, and then looked around Zhao Gang's tool shed.
He glanced enviously at the wall full of tools, then touched the planed timber that Zhao Gang had cut down, and finally couldn't help but ask:
"Brother Gangzi, we have some wood, why don't you build a wall?"
“Look at our house, it’s all bare. From the outside, you can see right through it. There’s absolutely no privacy.”
Meng Er went to the window. The snow was white, and there wasn't a single bird in sight on the road.
Although no one would really be spying on it, from a normal human perspective, it still has some fences, walls, and other structures, making it look more like a complete home.
Moreover, the wall also represents a clear territory. With a defined area, you can plan your space, such as creating a small vegetable garden, setting up a table and chairs, and storing some tools.
Zhao Gang hadn't intended to pay any attention to Meng Er, but upon hearing what he said, he suddenly remembered that human dwellings always have walls or fences.
"Call your brother," Zhao Gang suddenly put down the plane in his hand and said to Meng Er.
Meng Er was stunned for a moment. Zhao Gang urged him again, and he hurriedly agreed and ran out to call Meng Da over.
Zhao Gang gave each of the two men an axe, and took a saw for himself. He waved and said, "Come with me."
With the idea that he might as well make use of two free laborers, he led the two out of the house and headed towards the poplar grove.
Zhao Xiaoxiu, who was doing her morning exercise, looked at the three men, who were walking with great spirits and sighed inwardly, "They really have spirit, going to cut down trees in the heavy snow."
Many hands make light work; in just half a morning, the three of them carried back a pile of poplar wood.
Zhao Gang then stayed home to process the timber, while the Meng brothers continued to travel back and forth between the poplar grove and the house, constantly providing Zhao Gang with raw materials.
The three of them had just discussed in the poplar grove that they would surround the two houses from all sides, and then open a gate on each side for easy access.
This way, they can go through their own doors without interfering with each other normally, but if something happens, they can team up to deal with it together immediately.
However, this means the area that needs to be enclosed will be quite large.
According to Zhao Xiaoxiu's estimation, if the three of them wanted to build a sturdy and solid wall, they would have to cut down a small portion of the poplar forest.
Even if it's just a simple fence wall that's two or three meters high, the workload isn't small.
Anyway, the three of them will have something to do this winter, so they won't be bored at all.
However, Zhao Xiaoxiu herself was also looking forward to the day the wall was completed. After finishing her morning exercise, she decisively led Sister Monkey to join the logging team. She felt that her beautiful backyard would soon be settled.
The snow only stopped for half a day, and then it started falling again in the afternoon.
The snow was too heavy to go into the mountains anymore, so the patrol car came and took away the mutated animals that the Jiang and Qiu families had brought. The two families exchanged some nutrient solution, and the food crisis was temporarily resolved.
The landlord wanted to cut down trees to build a wall, and Liu Chuan and Wang Xiang volunteered to help.
Zhao Gang turned a blind eye and allowed them to take some thinner branches back with them.
With the addition of the two, the support of the Meng brothers and Sister Monkey, and the encouragement from Zhao Xiaoxiu and Liu Miaomiao while they played in the snow, the team was able to get started.
A week later, a three-meter-high wooden fence was successfully erected on Territory 13.
The fence is made entirely of cut poplar wood, with the main support posts being complete half-poplar logs, and the rest being made of poplar planks ten centimeters thick.
There are some gaps in the middle of the fence, which were left intentionally according to Zhao Xiaoxiu's request. She plans to find some less aggressive climbing plants to plant under the fence when spring arrives.
Of course, Zhao Xiaoxiu did not tell the Meng brothers this idea directly, otherwise Meng Er would have risked being beaten up by Sister Monkey to weld all those gaps shut!
A mutant plant species at home?
That's absolutely terrible!
Even if you plant non-aggressive plants, their appearance will attract mutated animals that feed on them, and then everyone will be doomed.
Zhao Xiaoxiu had anticipated this, which is why she didn't say anything.
Because those bold ideas in her mind were just speculations, and she had no real experience of coexisting with mutated plants, she couldn't guarantee anything.
But Zhao Xiaoxiu still trusted her intuition.
Just like Peter Pan, isn't he very obedient?
At dusk, when the adults weren't looking, Zhao Xiaoxiu secretly poured water mixed with three drops of her own blood onto the roots of the mutated pine and the jade pearl flower.
She wanted to test whether the method used on Peter Pan would be effective on plants.
The elderly father, who was secretly observing, saw everything his cub did and was very pleased.
The cub has finally discovered its powerful control!
However, using blood to control is the most basic method, and the ability still needs to be improved. The old father felt that the task ahead was arduous and the road ahead was long.
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