Chapter 284: New Year
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Rundi
It was night time already when Jiang Chen finished moving the two warehouses of stuff.
The good thing was the size of the storage dimension had been expanded to twenty-something cubic meters. If the storage dimension remained one cubic meter big, he would die of exhaustion before transporting the thousand tons of supplies.
“My G.o.d, did you rob the granary?” After seeing the supplies piled mountain high in the backyard, Sun Jiao was utterly shocked.
Although the base never lacked food, it was the first time she saw so much food.
“Do I need to rob such a little amount of food? On our side, this whole pile only costs seven hundred thousand USD.” Looking at Sun Jiao’s expression, a smile emerged on Jiang Chen’s face as he used a slightly proud tone.
Out of the seven hundred thousand USD, a decent portion was spent on transportation. Pannu Islands were surrounded by agricultural powerhouses, it was cheap to export from Australia and New Zealand.
“But this is too much…” Looking at the small mountain, Sun Jiao’s mouth remained wide open as she said blankly.
Watching the rare expression on Sun Jiao’s face, Jiang Chen smiled joyfully as he patted on her waist.
“Okay, stop staring at it so blankly. Get people to move it to the warehouse.”
With a red face, Sun Jiao seemed to have realized her gaffe. She gave him a dirty look before running to the community center to find w.a.n.g Qin.
Jiang Chen watched Sun Jiao ran out before he turned to gaze into the dark night sky.
It was already February. After this month pa.s.ses, the snow will stop.
On the wasteland, spring was hunting season.
Whether it was the mutants who just finished hibernating or the bandits that stayed dormant for an entire winter, they were all hungrily waiting for the snow to melt, waiting for the two legged or four legged preys to come from under the shambles.
“A lot of things happened this winter.” Jiang Chen shook his head, tightened his coat, and walked inside the mansion.
…
1302 tons of supplies. Counting and recording of each item didn’t finish until noon of the next day. Additionally, everything had to be stored properly.
300 tons of food was left in the base as supplies and for daily consumption. The other 1002 tons were transported to the Sixth Street warehouses using the underground sewerage. Half of them would be sold locally while the other half would be transported to the nearby Su City and Hang City with the transport fleet formed by the Zhao Corporation in exchange for crystals and other limited supplies.
Although they didn’t know how the food was transported to the base, it didn’t prevent the survivors in the base from smiling at the filled warehouse. Although not everyone could eat in the cafeteria, as long as they continued to work hard, one day they will become an upper citizen and enjoy the unlimited amount of food.
It was New Year.
Because of Jiang Chen’s sudden thought, the survivors put up a row of tents on the square in front of the community center for the “New Year Dinner”.
Just this one night, regardless of status or position, as long as one is interested, anyone could request for a tent to cook their favorite food and share their food with other people.
The food in the warehouse would not be limited, the base’s administration would provide food and fuel for all tents.
The only strict rule that must be followed was no waste! Any waste of food would be strictly punished.
But the facts soon proved Jiang Chen was worrying too much.
These people who never saw this much food would never waste food! They all ate till their stomachs were about the blow-up. They only regretted they were not born with two mouths.
Considering the base had no stomach medicine, after some thought, Jiang Chen had to add in an additional rule – “No vomiting in the next 24 hours or you have to eat everything you puke out!”
This rule was to ensure people were more rationale when it came to enjoying the food.
Of course, food was not the only thing. The survivors started a bonfire in the middle of the square as people began to perform.
They might not sing great sounding songs and the dances might not be the most elegant, but it was cheerful indeed.
People held their steamy bowls and circled around the square. They drank soup while eating barbequed meat. It was a great time.
Although the radiation dust in the sky was still depressing, and the ashen white snowflake was still cold, but the flames above the bonfire burned away the gloom in people’s heart.
Standing on the top of the community center with Sun Jiao by his side was Jiang Chen smiling as he watched the joyful and happy faces.
“Are you happy?” Sun Jiao looked at the side of Jiang Chen’s face.
“Of course.”
Half a year ago, this place was a mansion area half in shambles. While there were no people here, zombies visited this place.
Who would have thought that just in half a year, this place would be transformed into such prosperity?
Looking at the smile on Jiang Chen’s face, Sun Jiao blushed as she also smiled.
Not because of the base’s growth, but because of the person she loves’ growth.
Half a year ago, she wouldn’t have thought that he who couldn’t even beat a chicken would grow to achieve many feats.
“How much food would we consume today?” Although she complained, she didn’t show any signs of bitterness on her face. It was a loving banter between couples.
“Now that we have met their basic needs, it is also important to meet their spiritual needs. Spending energy on outdoor activity is better than drinking and doing drugs.” Jiang Chen laughed.
“That’s true.” Starring at the cheerful atmosphere on the square, Sun Jiao had a reminiscent expression on her face.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Something far away.”
Sun Jiao used a reminiscent tone. “During my days in the fallout shelter, although I wouldn’t feel the temperature difference in the weather, during this special occasion every year, people would gather together to celebrate. I still faintly remember the day my father would tell us stories about what happened on the ground above. He said it would snow up there and people had firecrackers, enjoying the delicious New Year dinner… Although when the fallout shelter opened did I realize everything was false, everything was just a fairytale.
During the period of lockdown in the fallout shelter, it was like a secluded island. While it isolated the radiation, it also isolated any electromagnetic waves. No external messages could come in.
But people still firmly believed that the moment the metal gates opened, everything would be beautiful. Since the image left in these people’s eyes were the flash before the nuclear explosion and not the cruelty of the shockwave sweeping through the crowd.
“Do you think… your father lied to you?” Jiang Chen asked gently.
“I thought that way before, but then I grew to understand.” Sun Jiao shook her head. A perplexed expression appeared on her face as she gazed at the bonfire in the distance. “Human is a fragile creature, without hope, we will not survive.”