Chapter 161: Why Not Shave the Eggplant?
"I heard that the government has already developed drought-resistant seeds and built greenhouses."
"They are now recruiting people who can grow vegetables. Do you want to go?"
Liang Xiu might have felt his words were inappropriate, so he quickly explained.
"Although you had stockpiled a lot of food before, we don't know when the apocalypse will end. It's better to prepare for the worst."
"If you work, you can earn points to exchange for food. The food you stockpiled can be eaten slowly."
Meng Ci knew Liang Xiu was being kind to them, but the thought of working in such heat was absolutely impossible, especially since his space could grow food.
"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle Liang."
"But it's too hot outside. I won't go."
Liang Xiu looked at Meng Ci's fair and tender skin, remembering that he was indeed a naive young master before the apocalypse. He gave up the idea of making him work outside.
Then he thought about finding another job to support the young master and repay Meng Wan for her past help.
"However, Uncle Liang, you said the government has developed drought-resistant seeds. Can ordinary people get them?" Meng Ci finished the rabbit soup in his bowl and asked curiously.
Liang Xiu thought for a moment; he hadn't heard about this yet.
"I'll ask tomorrow."
"Alright," Meng Ci nodded.
After that, Meng Ci started planning. The courtyard was quite large, over a hundred square meters.
And the backyard of the villa, except for the air conditioner's outdoor unit, also had plenty of space. It could be used to grow vegetables.
After dinner, Liang Xiu took the initiative to wash the dishes.
Shen Que and Meng Ci didn't idle either; they cleaned the house.
They also took the opportunity to stuff the eggplant into the bathroom and give it a bath.
"Eggplant, are you hot?"
While drying the eggplant, Meng Ci ran his fingers through its thick fur.
The temperature outside was over fifty degrees Celsius, and with its thick fur, even in the space, the eggplant must have been very hot.
Liang Xiu, sitting nearby reading a book on gardening, heard this and said, "On the way back today, it was panting with its tongue out."
"It must be hot."
Meng Ci nodded, stroking the eggplant's fur. "Why not shave its fur off?"
He then went to his room and brought out an electric hair clipper from his space.
The clipper made a buzzing sound when turned on.
The eggplant, which had been standing obediently, perked up its ears at the sound. Feeling the vibrations against its body, it was startled.
"Hey, Eggplant, don't move!"
As the eggplant struggled, the clipper accidentally cut a small wound on its body, which started bleeding.
Now, the eggplant wouldn't let Meng Ci near it with the clipper. It lay in the corner, pitifully licking its wound.
But Meng Ci saw that some of the eggplant's fur had already fallen off, forming a small bald spot, which looked uncomfortable.
Besides, enduring the short-term pain would prevent long-term discomfort. If the eggplant wasn't shaved, it would only get hotter.
So Meng Ci called Shen Que and Liang Xiu to help, and they all worked together to hold the one-and-a-half-meter-long eggplant down.
Amidst the eggplant's mournful cries, it took nearly an hour to finish shaving its fur.
After the fur was removed, the eggplant seemed to have lost its ability to walk.
Though it felt cooler, it had no privacy left.
Meng Ci had even shaved the fur under its belly.
"Surprisingly, Eggplant has quite a bit of equipment."
While cleaning up the clipper, Meng Ci saw something under the eggplant's belly and boldly poked it with his finger. The eggplant jumped and hid behind the sofa, trembling.
The two men watching Meng Ci's action couldn't help but tighten their legs.
Especially Shen Que, who feared that if he ever failed to satisfy Meng Ci in bed, he might suffer the same fate.
So Shen Que planned to exercise more, hoping to keep Meng Ci from having the strength to harm his little brother.
Meanwhile, Meng Ci, sitting on the floor, shivered suddenly, unaware that his casual action would make his own rear even less secure in the future.
During the shaving process, because the eggplant struggled, all three of them got covered in fur. They took turns to shower.
The water supply system had been damaged during the heavy rains and remained unrepaired.
Fortunately, this place was on a mountain.
When the extreme cold ended, the government sent a team of experts to find springs on the mountain, enclose them, and lay pipes.
Another simple reservoir was built to store water, which was then distributed to each household.
However, this water required accumulating points.
To use the water, one had to pay a water fee, with 150 points for half a ton of water.
The high water price was inevitable.
After all, the springs in the mountains were limited, and charging for water encouraged people to cherish it. Otherwise, like the free electricity, some people would leave their lights on all night.
At first, the residents were unwilling to pay the water fee, especially since they all worked down the mountain. As a result, many of them fetched bucket loads from the river in M City.
But for some reason, the water became murky, and they had to let it settle for two or three days before it was drinkable.
Moreover, it had a strange taste.
Later, the authorities set up a wastewater treatment facility to process the river water.
However, the treatment was only moderately effective and lacked disinfection, so the water still needed to be boiled before use.
But this water was much cheaper than the mountain spring water, costing only 150 points per ton, half the price of the spring water.
Thus, the official added a function to the points card, allowing it to be used as a water card.
However, Meng Ci found it troublesome, and since he had plenty of points, he wasn't afraid of the consumption. He continued to use spring water.
If he ran out of points, he could always pick something from his space to exchange.
If all else failed, he could go hunt some more fierce beasts. He had heard that the tigers and wolves on the mountain were thriving.
After washing up, the three went back to their rooms to sleep.
Although the air conditioner was on, Shen Que's internal heat was too strong, and he liked to sleep while hugging Meng Ci.
In extreme cold, it was sweet, but in extreme heat, it became a sweet burden.
Seeing Shen Que was about to press closer, Meng Ci pushed him away with his foot.
"There's another room available."
"If you like to hug something while sleeping, you can sleep there."
"Here!" Meng Ci took out a small dog plush from his space and handed it to Shen Que.
"You can hug this while you sleep."
With that, Meng Ci stuffed the plush into Shen Que's arms, wrapped the thin blanket around himself, and rolled over on the bed, moving away from Shen Que.
Shen Que looked at the plush in his arms with great disdain.
What's the point of this when it's far less comfortable than hugging Meng Ci?
So Shen Que threw it onto the sofa and pounced on Meng Ci, pulling him into his arms.
With his wife in his arms, hugging a plush was out of the question. And there was no way he was sleeping in a different room.
"No." Shen Que refused.