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Chapter 177: Chapter 177: The Eve of Departure
The farmstead was abuzz with activity.
The courtyard was cluttered—tables and chairs, cabinets, pots and pans, grains and oils, from beds to flashlights, everything kept being carried out from the house.
Yan Xiao stood at the door of the main house, hand on his hip, bellowing energetically, "Move everything out! Don’t leave a single item behind! Sort everything, and put your personal items in boxes! Use a marker to write your name! Make it neat! Don’t make it look like chicken scratches that no one can read! Hey! ... Hey hey! Someone, you don’t have to manage the furniture, just put it against the wall! That’s right, I’m talking to you!"
Bang!—Crash!
Heizi clumsily knocked over a stack of porcelain bowls.
Yan Xiao quickly shouted, "Throw it out, throw it out! Clean it up quickly, don’t let anyone get cut! Wrap fragile items before putting them into the boxes! If you need foam or old newspapers, ask Sister Yu! ... Sister Yu! I’m running out of tape here!"
Yu Wanxi and Ye Jing, who were in charge of sorting and packing, pulled out two large rolls of thick, clear tape from nearby and handed them to Hao Tian. "Tiantian, take the tape to Uncle Xiao."
Children love to join in the fun. Tiantian took the tape and hopped and skipped over to Yan Xiao, holding it up high, "Uncle Xiao, here you go."
"Ah, good girl!" Yan Xiao grinned and pinched her little cheek.
Zhou Xiaoliang, holding a wrench and pliers, ran over and asked, "Brother Yan, all the lights have been taken down."
"Good job! Pack them up and put them in boxes. Don’t break the bulbs."
Yang Qi, along with another brother, struggled with a bed, both sweating profusely, complained, "Brother Yan, there’s too much stuff, we can’t fit it all in the car."
"Yeah, Brother Yan, we can only fit some food and oil in our rear trunk, these pieces of furniture really can’t fit."
Yan Xiao casually waved his hand, saying, "Don’t worry, everything will fit, just keep moving everything out, and throw away all the broken and useless stuff to avoid confusion and save space."
While speaking, Yan Xiao looked up towards the courtyard, and in a blink, noticed that many people had gathered outside. He couldn’t help but stop, asking, "What are they doing? Watching people move? Everyone at the base is this free, huh?"
Yang Qi responded, "Brother Yan, they’re here to pick through what we throw out. The stuff we discard, others can pick up, fix and still use."
Understanding the situation, Yan Xiao nodded, then continued his high-spirited directing.
In truth, their efforts in moving things would not have been less effective without his shouting, but he really enjoyed it. Especially seeing others working while he didn’t, hmm... an inexplicable pleasure.
Xiao Jian, carrying a bag of rice, passed Yan Xiao and hummed lightly, eyes full of disdain.
Upon seeing him, Yan Xiao squinted playfully and teased, "Yo, busy are we, Lord Xiao? Tsk tsk, look at all that sweat, want to take a break?"
Xiao Jian, face dark, walked past without engaging him.
Yan Xiao swaggered about uninhibited, waving his injured hand and said, "Ah, it’s not like I don’t want to help you, I just physically can’t. Doctor Hao said it would take at least half a year for my hand to fully recover. I guess these physical tasks are up to you guys now."
Hao Boming, responsible for sorting the medical equipment, overheard and smirked, remaining silent.
Others in the courtyard were clearly accustomed to Yan Xiao’s antics.
Unlike the clamor outside, only three people were seated in the hall—Han Yi, Han Jiaojiao, and Lu Changyuan.
Lu Changyuan slowly drew a twisted line on the map with a red marker.
"Setting out from here, the road ahead is fine, but once we reach the Taiyin Mountain Range, we’ll need to take a detour. There was an earthquake there, and the roads are definitely severely damaged. We’ll need to bypass the earthquake zone and find a way up the mountain from Baiyun Peak," Lu Changyuan paused, heavily marking the location of Baiyun Peak, then continued, "With so many people, we can’t all go into the mountains. It would be best to find a safe place to camp near Baiyun Peak. Moreover, we don’t know the situation in the mountains yet. We should scout it out before making arrangements."
"Is there really no road near the armory?" Han Jiaojiao asked puzzledly, "How were the arms transported out?"
"There is a dedicated railway," Han Yi replied. "After the earthquake, the railway tunnel leading to the armory at Taiyin Mountain most likely collapsed, so we need to cross the mountain to enter the valley."
Han Yi looked up at Lu Changyuan and asked, "What are the closest bases to Baiyun Peak?"
"There have been earthquakes there after the meteorite event; it’s a disaster zone. No one would build a base near a disaster area. The closest base is more than a four-hour drive away, a private base called Qingyang, followed by Lingchuan Base, a seven-hour drive."
Lu Changyuan drew a dashed line between Lingchuan Base and Qingyang Base and said, "Compared to privately established bases, I personally lean towards Lingchuan since it has official military protection and feels safer and more reliable. But with the situation unclear, we can’t make a hasty decision. Fortunately, the two bases are less than a three-hour drive apart. Even if something unexpected occurs, escaping shouldn’t be difficult."
Han Yi was silent for a moment then looked at Han Jiaojiao, "What do you think is best?"
Han Jiaojiao made a decisive choice, "I also think Lingchuan could be considered. A larger base would have more complete facilities, and after the Ice Age starts, private bases would have a hard time sustaining themselves."
Some private bases are barely able to provide essential services like water and electricity, and once the Ice Age arrives, their rescue measures significantly lag behind those of larger bases.
Han Yi touched her head and smiled faintly, "Alright, then we’ll tentatively settle on Lingchuan."
At that moment, Zhu Changfu led Shao Hai into the room. Shao Hai was carrying a laptop, which he placed in front of Han Yi and Lu Changyuan as soon as he entered the room, and said, "Bro Han, Bro Lu, I’ve got everything sorted. There are 200 G worth of files."
Lu Changyuan smiled, "Nice one, finding stuff from a wiped hard drive."
Shao Hai, slightly embarrassed, scratched his head and chuckled, "Heh... just did some basic recovery."
Zhu Changfu added with a laugh, "Before he started hanging out with me, this kid used to run an internet café. Although he’s not exactly a hacker, he can tackle most computer tech challenges."
Shao Hai opened the laptop, showed the folder to Han Yi and Lu Changyuan, "All video files, sorted by date, covering about twenty days, all shot at the same location."
As Shao Hai spoke, he clicked on one of the videos—
As soon as the video started, before Han Jiaojiao could see what was on the screen, she heard a piercing scream, "Aaaaaah!..."
Startled, Han Jiaojiao immediately jumped into Han Yi’s arms! Han Yi gently patted her back while glancing sideways at Shao Hai with an unamused look. 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
In a fluster, Shao Hai hurriedly turned the volume down, and said in a low, embarrassed voice, "I also got a fright the first time I saw it..."
Being easily startled, Han Jiaojiao was not okay. She especially couldn’t handle sudden loud noises and could only watch horror movies with the sound off.
Still with her heart racing, she peeked out from Han Yi’s embrace and saw that everyone had a grim and silent expression.
Perplexed, Han Jiaojiao looked at the laptop on the coffee table, only to see the screen showed a row of pigsties, and shockingly— the pigsties contained people?!
