Su Chen did not answer the call.
After he returned to his rented place, another call came in.
Su Chen thought it was Gao Yue again.
-Sister Fan, his landlady.
Su Chen was a little puzzled.
His rent was due.
But wasn't that still half a month away?
Su Chen answered the call.
"Su, your rent is due in half a month."
"With your disabled sister in tow, finding another place won't be easy."
"I figured, since everyone else is raising the rent, I won't raise yours by much. Just five hundred!"
Su Chen frowned as he listened to Sister Fan.
Using his sister to pressure him?
Raising the rent?
The apocalypse was coming. Who would still rent a place?
"Sister Fan, I'm not renting anymore. I'll move out right now. Could you return my deposit?"
Su Chen asked about the deposit.
He had paid a fifteen-hundred deposit before, and that was money too.
"Your deposit?"
"How about I give it back once you've moved out and cleaned the place?"
Sister Fan spoke in a muffled voice.
Su Chen did not reply. He looked around at the things in the rental, weighing whether it was worth cleaning.
"Broke loser!"
"Wanting his deposit back? He must be desperate!"
"Just because you want it!"
"Doesn't mean I'll give it to you!"
A mutter suddenly came from the other end of the line.
"Beep, beep, beep~"
The call was immediately disconnected.
Su Chen realized that Sister Fan had said that because she thought she had already hung up.
He stood there, holding his phone.
His mouth opened slightly.
"Ah!"
Su Chen let out a sigh.
Was there not a single decent person around him?
Su Chen began packing, loading everything that might be useful into the refrigerated truck.
A while later.
His and his sister's clothes and bedding were all in the refrigerated truck.
Not only did he move out the table, chairs, and bed, he also removed the refrigerator and the air conditioner, outdoor unit included.
All of it went into the refrigerated truck.
He did not know whether any of it would be useful.
There was still a little room in the truck. As long as it could make Sister Fan curse him out.
It would be worth it.
Su Chen tossed the key by the door.
-[Photo]
Su Chen also sent his landlady, Sister Fan, a photo of the key.
Then.
Su Chen drove off with the load of stuff, heading to Changcheng Special Education School to pick someone up.
His younger sister, Su Xi, attended school there.
15:20.
It was past three, with two hours left.
Su Chen messaged the homeroom teacher at Changcheng Special Education School in advance.
He asked for Su Xi to wait at the school gate ahead of time.
It took Su Chen a little over ten minutes to reach the entrance of Changcheng Special Education School.
At the school gate.
A wheelchair was parked by the entrance.
Su Xi sat in the wheelchair in a white dress, her long hair draped over her shoulders.
After getting out, Su Chen gave his sister a hug.
"Are we going somewhere, big brother?"
Su Xi was very clever.
And very sensitive.
She immediately sensed that her brother seemed a little different today.
"We're going to find a field of rye beside a cliff!"
Su Chen stroked the top of his sister's head and smiled.
He did not want to tell his sister anything about the apocalypse.
Su Xi really liked a book called The Catcher in the Rye.
The protagonist in the book had dreamed of a field of rye beside a cliff.
There were many children playing in the field.
"Big brother, once we find that field of rye beside the cliff, will I be able to run?"
As Su Xi listened to him, hope shone in her eyes.
"You will!"
Su Chen carried his sister, Su Xi, into the passenger seat.
Su Xi had always wanted to stand up.
He knew that.
"I believe you, big brother!"
A smile appeared on Su Xi's face.
Su Chen started the truck again, ready to drive out of the city.
Before leaving, he also glanced at the special education school.
There were still quite a few students inside.
And teachers.
There was too little time.
He could not explain his intelligence system clearly, either.
The less power one had, the less responsibility one bore.
In the end, Su Chen did nothing and left with Su Xi.
On the way.
They passed an auto repair shop.
-Old Yang's Auto Repair Shop.
Su Chen pulled over.
While scrolling through guides earlier, he had come across some energy-related information.
Once the apocalypse came.
Oil could no longer be extracted, while electricity would be more suitable.
Some people online had mentioned solar panels and battery packs.
Su Chen thought about how the refrigerated truck was a hybrid. Adding solar panels and batteries could solve the energy problem.
"Wait here for me a moment."
After giving his sister that instruction, Su Chen got out.
He took an unopened pack of Chunghwa cigarettes from the truck.
Someone had given it to him before.
After getting out, Su Chen found the owner, took the Chunghwa cigarettes from his pocket, opened the pack, and offered him one.
"Boss, how much would it cost to cover the top of this truck's cargo box with solar charging panels and add a new battery pack?"
The owner, Yang Defa, accepted the cigarette and glanced at the refrigerated truck, puzzled. "Young man, this is a refrigerated truck. What do you need those two things for?"
"I want to convert it into an RV!"
Su Chen offered an explanation.
Yang Defa sized up the young man before him and could not help asking again, "This refrigerated truck belongs to a company, doesn't it?"
The words "Quan Jiafu Company" on the cargo box were far too conspicuous.
"It's secondhand!"
Su Chen pushed up his glasses and came up with an excuse.
Secondhand, and this new?
Yang Defa looked at the refrigerated truck before him. No matter how he looked at it, it did not seem secondhand.
Hadn't this refrigerated truck, converted from a BYD T5 hybrid, only just hit the market?
Yang Defa still remembered the advertisement for it.
Equipped with a 55.39 kWh Blade Battery and a 100 L fuel tank, it had a combined range of 1,100 kilometers with a full tank and full charge, enough to cross two provinces!
Still, he could hardly refuse a customer's request.
"Covering the entire top of the refrigerated truck with solar panels, plus a battery pack, will cost ten thousand."
"It'll take a little over an hour."
When Su Chen heard it would take another hour, he knew there was not enough time.
"Boss, just secure them on top of the truck first, and bring the batteries over and put them in the cargo box. Can I scan to pay?"
Su Chen took out his phone to scan and pay, planning to leave the city first and install them later.
He switched to a lending app and found that he still had credit available.
After receiving payment, Yang Defa immediately secured the solar panels to the cargo box with a basic fastening.
Then he brought the batteries over to the truck.
Su Chen opened the cargo door.
But Yang Defa froze when he saw the clutter inside.
A bed and a table?
An air conditioner with its outdoor unit.
They looked freshly dismantled.
It would not even be surprising if someone said they were stolen!
"Are these secondhand too?"
Yang Defa swallowed and was about to call the police.
"I'm moving!"
Su Chen took the batteries and put them in the cargo box.
Yang Defa started to speak, then stopped.
No matter how he looked at it, this looked like someone preparing to run.
Could that have been stolen money?
Yang Defa thought it over. He was conducting legitimate business.
He could just act as though nothing had happened.
Su Chen checked the space inside the cargo box and felt there was room for a few fuel cans.
"Boss, do you have any fuel cans?"
Su Chen asked the owner for a few fuel cans as well.
Figuring he had already done this much business with him, Yang Defa brought over some empty fuel cans.
At this point, he still could not help remarking, "Buddy, are you fleeing a famine?"
"A disaster!"
"If anything seems wrong tonight, run out of the city as fast as you can!"
Before getting into the truck, Su Chen saw that Yang Defa seemed like a decent person and gave him a warning.
"Huh!"
Yang Defa wanted to say something else, but Su Chen had already driven away.
"How strange."
Yang Defa muttered to himself.
Just after the refrigerated truck left, a police car pulled up in front of the repair shop.
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