Reborn: I Stock Up and Bully the Trash to Dominate the Apocalypse

He dispersed the crowd, arranged for the children and the elderly to spread out their bedding, and then strode over.

Zhou Shuwan gave her a thumbs up: "Very majestic!"

Meng Mingyue shook her head and smiled helplessly: "The base commander assigned it to me, so I naturally have to find a way to complete the mission."

She glanced at the people around her and said, "Are these all your relatives?"

Zhou Shuwan nodded and pointed at Uncle Zhong and Aunt Zhong: "This is my second uncle and my third aunt. I'll have to trouble you to take care of them in the future."

"Don't worry." Meng Mingyue was very cheerful. She called people over openly and they got to know each other.

When they were alone, Zhou Shuwan asked about the electricity price at the base. "I heard from my second uncle today that because the fire at Jiyun Mountain has burned out, there's a firewood shortage, so people have to use the base's electricity for cooking. Has the electricity price increased significantly in the past few days?"

Meng Mingyue nodded. "It's not just here. The entire J City is facing a firewood shortage crisis due to the burning of Cumulus Mountain. Before, although firewood also had to be exchanged for supplies, the price was much higher than before the apocalypse, but it was not as expensive as electricity. Most people would rather exchange it for firewood to pay less electricity bills. But now the whole city is short of firewood, and electricity consumption has increased dramatically. Our technology is not up to standard. Nowadays, solar energy equipment is already struggling just to keep the air conditioners running normally. Adding the additional power to induction cookers, rice cookers, etc., the pressure is too great."

Zhou Shuwan pointed outside and said, "In the past month or so, I've seen quite a few people cooking outside in the high temperatures. There are even more people outside today."

"That requires air-conditioned clothing. Right now, who among the ordinary survivors can afford one? But there are people in the base who cook and heat water for people outside. A pot of water doesn't give much, but it saves a little more than using electricity."

The temperature is over 70 degrees, and the temperature on the ground is even higher. Although you can't cook, you can soak compressed biscuits in warm water.

However, those who can afford air-conditioned clothing generally look down on this small amount of money and refuse to do it.

Others who wanted to do the same had no air conditioning.

Those who are qualified to wear the base's air-conditioned clothing when going out have a mission. It is impossible for them to just sit there and help others cook and heat water.

So, to sum up, not many people can use the high temperature outside to cook.

"But in the Tzu Chi apartments, we never had to worry about cooking," Meng Mingyue continued. "They were all elderly and children, widowed and lonely, and they couldn't even take care of themselves. We all ate from a big pot, and there was someone in charge of cooking, so we could take advantage of the high temperatures, which was pretty good."

"So, has Captain Xiao told us what to do about the meals for these newcomers?"

"We've also arranged for a dedicated cook, solely responsible for the meals for these 70 or 80 people. The cooking is simple, just a small room. But we need to keep a close watch on the food. We've had an incident at the Tzu Chi apartment where the chef passed off inferior food as good, secretly taking away the food that was supposed to be there."

Zhou Shuwan thought about it and said, "That's easy. Cooking always requires help. Arrange a chef, and assign the other helpers to be these elderly people and children. They will take turns on duty, and change people every month or so. They can keep an eye on each other, and this will minimize theft."

Meng Mingyue's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea. I'll tell Base Commander Xiao...about it later."

"Besides, those who help in the kitchen should get a bit more of their hard work fee. I'm sure the elderly and children would be happy with that."

Although single women are a vulnerable group, they are more valuable than the elderly and children. Therefore, other bases are more willing to accept women when they have no other choice. As a result, Xiao Xiao's base almost only accepts the elderly and children, and no single women.

The underground base was busy for several days before it received and arranged the people. According to Zhou Shuwan's suggestion, a room was vacated to make a small kitchen, which was specifically responsible for the food and drink for the old and the children.

The base also collected a batch of donated materials, most of which were donated by people who could make ends meet in the base.

After discussing it, Zhou and Qi's families donated 50 kilograms of compressed biscuits, 20 kilograms of fresh hydroponic vegetables, 20 kilograms of eggs, and 10 buckets of 2-liter water.

Although the supplies donated by their family were not the largest, they were the most nutritious of all the donated supplies.

These days, it's difficult for anyone to eat eggs and fresh vegetables.

Because of the excessive electricity consumption, a new batch of large-capacity batteries arrived at the base within a few days.

These batteries are different from the old ones. They are equipped with solar panels and can be placed outside to directly convert solar energy into electrical energy, which is more convenient and quick.

Although this type of battery is only enough to cook two or three times using an induction cooker, it has greatly alleviated the power pressure at the base.

Zhou Shuwan discussed it with Xiao Xiao and exchanged 6 carts of firewood for 4 large-capacity batteries.

There are two each in the Zhou and Qi families.

By slightly modifying the battery and placing the solar device on the roof, the battery can always be kept fully charged, which is very convenient for going out.

If the location of the underground safe house is not to be hidden, the batteries can also be modified and the solar panels can be placed on the ground. In this way, the batteries underground will be sufficient for daily use, and Zhou Jianghai and Qi Mingyu will not have to go home to change the batteries every few days.

When the time came to New Year's Eve, the temperature was still over 70 degrees Celsius. At this time, it had been a year and a half since the high temperature disaster began.

But in my previous life, it was already the acid rain season at this time.

Judging from the current situation, the acid rain should be delayed.

This year people are poorer than last year and supplies are scarce, but the underground base also got some firecrackers to make the occasion more lively.

Families who have the means will do their best to prepare a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner, which is also a good wish for the coming year.

The Zhou and Qi families spent New Year's Eve together in an underground safe house.

Since Grandma Pang is around, the food can’t be too rich.

A few days ago, Zhong Tiyun and Grandma Pang racked their brains to think of recipes for the New Year's Eve dinner.

A dish of spicy smoked fish, a dish of stir-fried chicken with mushrooms, a dish of steamed pork ribs, a dish of braised fish balls, a dish of stir-fried bean curd with vegetables, a dish of steamed egg with green onions, a dish of stewed tofu, a dish of spicy stir-fried bean sprouts, a dish of cold vermicelli, and a dish of canned tomatoes.

There were ten dishes in total, which was extremely rich.

The tofu and bean sprouts were made from soybeans that were taken out of the Zhou family’s refrigerator a few days ago. Grandma Pang grew the bean sprouts and made the tofu.

The remaining soy milk was eaten by everyone as breakfast. They usually drink soy milk made from soy milk powder, but compared with this homemade soy milk, it is very tasteless.

The smoked fish and frozen chicken were provided by the Qi family, as they had not yet finished eating the fish they had frozen during the flood season.

The spare ribs and fish balls were also brought out by the Zhou family.

The rest is that both families take out a portion.

Both families are generous and the portions they make are very large.

Zhou Shuwan also took out two strings of firecrackers from the space. Qi Mingyu, Zhou Jianghai and Mu Mu went to the bottom of Building 5 to set off the firecrackers, and then came back to eat.