Chapter 183: Shen Que, What About Moving to the Base?
"Done!"
After more than ten minutes, Uncle Zhang inspected each solar panel individually and sorted them.
Ultimately, eight solar panels were usable, totaling 100 credits.
The other eleven panels were unusable, but being relatively new, they could still fetch 20 credits.
The credit exchange center did not force transactions. Clients could refuse the deal if they were unsatisfied.
Thus, when asked if he wanted to exchange them, Meng Ci agreed immediately.
These broken solar panels were worthless to both him and Shen Que—hardly worth scrap metal.
Now that they could be exchanged for credits, it was a no-brainer.
Furthermore, Yang Zhen managed to persuade Uncle Zhang to add 10 extra credits.
Yang Zhen had been very helpful and knew the credit exchange process well.
On their way down to the first floor, noticing no one was around, Meng Ci handed a crumpled box to Yang Zhen.
Upon seeing the item, Yang Zhen's eyes widened in surprise.
"Brother, this is a rare item. Why are you giving it to me?"
"I can't accept this." As he spoke, Yang Zhen tried to hand the box back to Meng Ci.
Meng Ci insisted, "No, keep it. Neither of us smokes, so it's of no use to us."
"You helped us a lot just now, and we don't have anything to give you in return."
"If you smoke, keep it. If not, do what you want with it."
Yang Zhen did enjoy smoking, and the sight of the cigarette box made his throat itch.
Seeing Meng Ci's sincerity, Yang Zhen reluctantly accepted the gift.
"Don't worry, if you have anything else to exchange in the future, I guarantee you won't lose out." Yang Zhen was already salivating.
In the apocalyptic world, very little preserved tobacco remained, forcing many smokers to quit.
A short time ago, a few tobacco plants were discovered outside. When the officials heard about it, they sent people to bring them back for cultivation.
Unexpectedly, by the time they arrived, someone had already uprooted the plants and impatiently dried them over a fire.
By the time the officials got there, the people had already torn the plants apart and rolled them up with paper to smoke.
What could have been a budding tobacco industry was once again snuffed out in its infancy.
For these smokers, the apocalypse was an even greater calamity.
After entering the credit exchange center, Meng Ci observed quietly and concluded that Yang Zhen was likely the head of the security team. He was straightforward and generous, so befriending him would be beneficial.
Moreover, with Liang Xiu at the exchange point and Yang Zhen at the credit exchange center, future actions would be much more convenient.
With the credits in hand, Meng Ci bid farewell to Yang Zhen and, together with Shen Que, drove back to Villa No. 8 at West Mountain Wilderness.
On the way, Meng Ci saw that several villas had already collapsed and became increasingly concerned about the condition of Villa No. 8.
Fortunately, the outer wall of Villa No. 8 had been strengthened and reconstructed by Meng Ci before the apocalypse, so there were no cracks.
However, upon entering the yard, the vegetables that had been planted earlier were already ripe, while the wheat seeds had only grown to more than ten centimeters.
Seeing these wheat seedlings, Meng Ci marveled at the drought-resistant seeds developed by the Agricultural Academy. It was astonishing that they could grow in such high temperatures.
Before entering the house, Meng Ci and Shen Que walked around the villa to inspect the exterior and found several hairline cracks in the outer wall.
Meng Ci frowned. Even though the drainage system was excellent, the situation remained worrying.
It seemed that these villas had been poorly constructed, with corners cut during their building.
Thinking about the over 100 million yuan he had invested, Meng Ci felt like a total dupe.
Meng Ci and Shen Que opened the door to the basement and went down.
It was already past eleven at night, and Liang Xiu was not home.
Thus, Meng Ci and Shen Que didn't light a fire to cook. Instead, they took out a few portions of rice from their spatial storage and chose several dishes.
After the meal, the two began planning their next steps.
"There are cracks in the villa's outer wall. If we live here for too long, there could be issues," Meng Ci said.
Before the apocalypse, when preparing this house, Meng Ci had intended to enhance the defense and drainage systems, planning to live there long-term after the snowstorm ended.
So, he had focused mainly on rebuilding the enclosures but didn't expect damage to the villa's walls.
Although he didn't know the full extent of the cracks' impact, he didn't want to live anxiously, worrying that the villa might suddenly collapse in the middle of the night.
"Perhaps we could get some cement and sand to repair the walls," Shen Que suggested.
However, Meng Ci didn't find that option reliable. He didn't want to survive the apocalypse only to die in a collapse.
Plus, he didn't know whether earthquakes or other disasters might occur.
"Let's live in the base," Meng Ci said.
Whether to stay in the base was something Meng Ci had been pondering.
Living in the base meant more people around, and they would need to be more cautious.
But living in the base also had its advantages.
For example, it would be more convenient for exchanging goods, and the base's walls were quite sturdy, able to withstand zombies during the zombie outbreak.
In case the base ran out of housing by then, what would they do if they had nowhere to live?
Shen Que naturally followed Meng Ci's lead, agreeing with whatever he said.
Besides, Shen Que wasn't concerned about where they lived, as long as Meng Ci was by his side.
With their plan in mind, they only needed to discuss this with Liang Xiu.
After spending the night in the villa, the two planned to go to the hospital to find Liang Xiu the next day.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they left the bedroom, they saw Liang Xiu sitting on the sofa.
"Uncle Liang," Meng Ci was very surprised.
"Master," "Son-in-Law."
Liang Xiu put down a book about piglet feeding, stood up, and showed no surprise upon seeing the two, as if he had probably already known they would come.
"Yesterday at the hospital, I heard a nurse say that two people from the base had driven a jeep back with a wild boar."
"So, I guessed it must have been you two, and I came back early this morning."
Meng Ci nodded and inquired about Zhao Jingyu's health, feeling relieved to hear that he was fine.
He then brought up the issue of the cracked villa wall and shared his plan to move down to the base.
Liang Xiu nodded, "On the fifth, the earthquake had already caused several villas to collapse, and a building at the refugee settlement had tilted."
"In this post-apocalyptic world, another earthquake could happen, so moving down is indeed safer."
In fact, on the day the earthquake ended, worried that Meng Ci and the others were still staying at the villa, Liang Xiu had returned under the blazing sun.
Seeing the villa was intact and that the two were not inside, he felt relieved.
While discussing the earthquake, Meng Ci remembered the crack and asked Liang Xiu if he had seen it.
Liang Xiu shook his head, confirming that they had indeed felt two earthquakes at the hospital, but the second quake was much less intense than the first. Everyone assumed it was an aftershock.
Regarding the crack, Liang Xiu had only heard about it from the staff at the exchange point.
Hearing this, the two understood—no wonder Shen Que couldn't clearly recall the earthquake; it varied in different places.