Winter Hibernation

Qu Jianlei had always considered himself not a petty person, and he was willing to treat others kindly.

But his temper was not so good that he could swallow his anger after others came knocking to bully him.

No matter what, trapping them first and getting away himself took priority.

As for the nine vehicles being wiped out in the Three-Colored Marsh, he truly knew nothing about it.

He had never imagined that a nest of Venomous Snakes could be this vicious.

He and Xiao Jing ran for their lives all the way out of the Three-Colored Marsh before finally breathing a sigh of relief. "They finally stopped chasing us."

"Mm-hmm." Xiao Jing nodded repeatedly. "I can't even see their lights anymore."

He had never imagined that it was not because the lights were too far away, but because the lights... had been blocked by the snakes.

"Keep moving." Qu Jianlei was not reassured by their current situation... What if they caught up again?

The two could only continue fleeing for their lives, running until dawn, then running until nightfall.

During this time, Xiao Jing could not help asking, "Black Sky Bro, what if the Three-Colored Marsh couldn't trap them yesterday?"

Qu Jianlei gave him a strange look. "Wasn't there still the Sandworm swarm?"

Xiao Jing thought about it and felt that the Sandworm swarm seemed quite far from the Three-Colored Marsh... or was it? But he had no sense of direction and was not sure, so he did not dare ask about the specifics.

"Black Sky Bro, we should have reached Hong Four by now, right?"

"Hong Four... I don't know much about it either." Qu Jianlei replied calmly, "I heard Hong Four's Garbage Dump is rather famous."

Most people from Hong Four talked about the Mine. Not many called it the Garbage Dump.

Still, since he was passing through, Qu Jianlei did not mind taking a look under the guise of Pretense.

In truth, he was somewhat concerned about what changes had happened to the stretch of Garbage Dump where he had once made his living.

In any case, he had traded his old weapon for a new one now, so he was not afraid of being recognized. He drove straight toward Luan Shi Camp.

When they were twenty kilometers from Luan Shi Camp, he stopped.

"Xiao Jing, go keep watch from the back. Tell me immediately if you see anything."

The weather had turned cold, and there was little wind. Visibility was astonishingly good; they could actually see six or seven kilometers away.

Xiao Jing climbed onto the roof of the pickup, binoculars in hand as he looked around. "No one... Ah, I can see the Garbage Dump."

"It's my first time seeing it too." Qu Jianlei spoke without revealing anything. "Let's get closer and take a look. If you spot anyone, tell me."

"Mm." Xiao Jing responded, "I heard the Scavengers at the Garbage Dump are hard to deal with. They're all pretty overbearing."

The light truck slowly approached the Garbage Dump. Even when they came within about three kilometers, Xiao Jing still said nothing.

No one? Qu Jianlei stopped the vehicle, climbed onto the roof himself, and looked around through a pair of binoculars.

There really was no one! After reminding Xiao Jing again, he climbed down and continued driving.

They drove until they were about a kilometer from the Garbage Dump, yet still did not find anyone.

Qu Jianlei found this strange, so he drove along the edge of the Garbage Dump for over twenty kilometers. He still did not see a soul.

Xiao Jing, meanwhile, exclaimed, "There really are some useful things in the Garbage Dump...!"

Qu Jianlei shook his head, turned the wheel, and drove the open-top vehicle toward the camp where Old Cripple was.

When they were about five hundred meters from the camp, he stopped and pushed a motorcycle down.

Xiao Jing rode the motorcycle into the camp, while Qu Jianlei stood in the truck bed with both hands resting on the Vehicle-Mounted Machine Gun.

The arrival of the off-road light truck had already been noticed by the people in the camp, and some looked over curiously.

Although Xiao Jing was only a child, he was riding a motorcycle and had a short dagger at his waist, so no one dared ignore him.

More importantly, the Vehicle-Mounted Machine Gun outside the camp was watching them like a tiger. No one would try to bully the child.

Before long, Xiao Jing returned. He had bought a map and brought back some news.

"The Garbage Dumps along this whole route, spanning several hundred kilometers, have all shut down. Some important person gave the order for Winter Hibernation to begin early."

Qu Jianlei studied the map, picked a camp fifty kilometers away, and drove there.

He bought some supplies and tools in the camp, then left under cover of night.

Seeing him head toward the Garbage Dump again, Xiao Jing asked curiously, "Winter Hibernation has started. Why are you still going to the Garbage Dump?"

Qu Jianlei answered calmly, "I'm planning to spend the winter in the Garbage Dump."

The weather was getting colder and colder. It was no longer suitable for traveling, and if they encountered a sudden cold wave, the consequences would be unthinkable.

The most dangerous place was the safest place... Hopefully.

However, he did not plan to settle nearby. Instead, he chose a place one hundred and fifty kilometers away.

Besides being far from Luan Shi Camp, it had another important advantage: there was a pond more than two kilometers from the edge of the Garbage Dump.

Water in the Wasteland could not be drunk casually, but he had bought a circulating Water Purifier.

After driving there and taking a look, he found the Garbage Dump was relatively orderly. It would not be difficult to carve out a place to live.

After observing for a while, he discovered that this Winter Hibernation was no empty talk.

Vehicles patrolled at irregular intervals during the day, and drones occasionally circled above the Garbage Dump.

Over the next ten or so days, Qu Jianlei drove out during the day and dug through the Garbage Dump at night.

Most of the trash here was made of synthetic materials, along with some metal products. There was not much of a foul smell.

Besides avoiding being discovered, he also had to take care not to get close to anything with strong radiation.

After more than ten days of hard work, he finally hollowed out a large cave in the Garbage Dump.

At the very least, the off-road light truck could drive inside without getting in the way of work.

He then spent two more days camouflaging the entrance. From outside, most people would not be able to tell that there was a hidden space within.

By then, they could even work during the day, as long as they kept the noise down.

Xiao Jing mainly helped with odd jobs while keeping watch for anyone approaching.

At first, the trash dug out from the cave was scattered evenly across distant parts of the Garbage Dump.

Later, Qu Jianlei used the trash to reinforce the passageway, packing it tight to withstand the coming bitter cold.

In the blink of an eye, another twenty-odd days passed.

The cave had become a space four meters wide, six meters long, and over two meters high, with a two-meter-long passageway.

Ventilation holes and observation holes had all been made. There was even a separate partition for bathing.

As for interior wall finishing and such... that was basically not worth considering. It could wait until winter, when there was nothing else to do.

Finally, they thoroughly camouflaged the entrance. By then, the weather had become very cold.

Recently, Xiao Jing had stopped keeping watch outside. Instead, he fetched water from the pond every night.

The water was heavily polluted, but its radiation level was extremely low. To Qu Jianlei, that was already very good.

The generator had been set up. It ran on Energy Blocks, which was why he had bought more than two hundred of them.

Once the generator started, it would not only provide lighting but also power the water purification circulation system, allowing them to purify the pond water.

In theory, the water purification circulation system could purify bodily fluids discharged by its users and achieve recycled water use.

But water vapor would evaporate, and Qu Jianlei was not merely planning to store enough water for one winter. He also wanted to take baths!

It had been nearly seven years since he crossed over, and he had not taken a single bath. That sour stench... was simply unbearable!

Besides bathing, clothes needed washing too. There was no way around it.

Before, he had lacked the conditions and could only live like a savage. Now that he had the means, many things had become intolerable.

As for other items such as pots, bowls, ladles, and water tanks, Qu Jianlei made them himself using local materials.

Do not underestimate the Garbage Dump. The things inside might be a little dirty, but there were truly many items that could be reused.

During this time, two small cold waves had already passed through, causing the temperature to plunge.

On the thirty-third day after Qu Jianlei began digging the cave, he finally announced that they could seal the entrance.

Not all the work had been finished, but the remaining patchwork could be done after sealing themselves inside.

Sealing the entrance did not mean it could never be opened again. It simply meant they basically did not intend to go out anymore.

The first thing they did after sealing the entrance was take a bath! Xiao Jing wanted one even more than Qu Jianlei did. After purifying all the water he had brought back over the past few days, they had accumulated more than five cubic meters.

Before bathing, he even carefully washed a full set of clothes, including everything from his underwear to his socks.

This time, Qu Jianlei spent a full three hours bathing. He changed the water six times before finally washing himself completely clean.

Outside the Garbage Dump, the temperature was probably around twenty degrees below zero.

But inside this tiny cave, it was around eighteen or nineteen degrees. Not only was it warm as spring, there was also a misty humidity in the air.

"This is what life is supposed to be," Qu Jianlei said as he walked out wrapped in a bath towel.

Xiao Jing had been unable to wait any longer. The moment he saw Qu Jianlei emerge, he hugged his clothes and darted into the partition.

After bathing came a full cleaning. Every piece of clothing had to be washed.

Qu Jianlei even made an automatic agitator to serve in place of a washing machine.

By the time the cleaning was finished, another two days had passed. Then they made a grand meal to celebrate.

The grand meal was hotpot. Qu Jianlei truly did not know how to cook, but hotpot was simple enough, and the dipping sauce could be mixed however they liked.

Besides sliced meat for dipping, there were also vegetables—dehydrated ones, bought from the Hong Wu Settlement.

If he had not bought so many dehydrated vegetables, he would not have spent so much money.

It was Xiao Jing's first time using chopsticks. His grip was not very proper, but he quickly got used to them.

Compared to the dehydrated vegetables, which were difficult to chew, he clearly preferred the sliced meat.

As he wolfed down his food, he asked indistinctly, "Black Sky Bro, why do you like eating vegetables so much?"

"Vegetables can replenish a lot of nutrients and regulate the digestive system," Qu Jianlei answered casually. "These are proper vegetables, not wild greens."

"Replenish nutrients..." Xiao Jing replied without raising his head. "Wouldn't Nutrient Solution do that?"

Qu Jianlei was momentarily speechless. After a while, he answered.

"The nutrients in Nutrient Solution are not absolutely balanced, and every person has individual nutritional needs."

"Since we were born with stomachs and intestines, we should enjoy delicious food... That's one of life's pleasures."

That was the philosophy every gourmet should have.

Hearing this, Xiao Jing raised his head in astonishment and looked at him, then glanced at the bed beside him.

The bed was pieced together from synthetic materials, with neatly arranged bedding on top.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Black Sky Bro, you used to live in a Residential Area too, right?"