Three days after the heavy rain, Li Yu went to deal with the Salvation Army.
He rested for a week after returning and did not go out again, but his third uncle and second uncle, among others, occasionally took some workers out to collect building materials from the base.
In addition, his eldest uncle also frequently took people out to bring back usable items from the surrounding areas.
Time passed bit by bit, and the height of the wall became higher and higher. Originally, they only wanted to make the wall's railing higher, but after Li Hongyuan saw it, he directly suggested building the wall much higher.
This would make it safer to resist zombies. From the current height of about 8 meters, it was to be built up to nearly 10 meters.
A lot of cement and rebar were used; fortunately, there were enough of these materials from the surrounding factories.
This was a long-term endeavor. When the base wall had just reached 9 meters, 10 days had passed since the heavy rain.
In these 10 days, the wall had increased by one meter. However, it was halted by Li Yu on this day.
After the heavy rain, there had been 10 days of high temperatures, from 25 degrees to 35 degrees, and now frequently reaching 40 degrees, with midday temperatures even soaring to 44 degrees.
Under such temperatures, the water in the mountain pond had decreased, with the water level dropping by nearly half a meter.
It should be noted that this mountain pond had reached its highest historical water level.
This mountain pond is U-shaped, and for the water level at the very top to drop by half a meter, the consumption was already astonishing.
During this period, the daily water used in the base was still groundwater. Although a pipe was connected from the mountain pond to the base, it had rarely been used so far.
In July, the rice seedlings were growing vigorously and needed the most water. The water in the mountain pond had been released twice in the past few days to irrigate these fields.
Some sweet potatoes and corn planted earlier required less water. After connecting a pipe and watering them thoroughly twice, not much water was consumed.
On this day, Li Yu specifically called everyone for a meeting.
Li Yu stood in the center, and apart from Li Haoran and others who were on duty, most of the other people in the base were present.
“Everyone can see now that the weather has been extremely hot recently, and there has been no rain. No rain is a good thing, as it means no zombie tides. But it is also a bad thing. As you can see, the water level in the mountain pond has dropped,” Li Yu said.
“Therefore, what I want to tell everyone is that in the near future, I hope everyone will conserve water and not waste it. We don't know how long this high-temperature weather will last.”
“Understood.”
“Okay, we all need to pay attention.”
“Alright, boss.”
Everyone seemed thoughtful, especially the eldest uncle. In his recent searches, he found that some low-lying ponds formed after the heavy rain had basically dried up.
“Then let's all conserve water, don't waste water resources. We don't know how long this scorching weather will last,” the second uncle added from the side.
“Okay, second uncle.”
“Okay, Brother Li.”
“Okay.”
Under these dry and hot conditions, everyone was very susceptible to heatstroke.
So, in the last two days, outdoor activities have stopped.
Although there were fewer and fewer zombies outside, it was still very uncomfortable for people in such high temperatures.
However, there was also a benefit: the scorching sun in these days meant that solar energy was exceptionally abundant. The electricity was more than enough for daily use, and even the batteries were fully charged.
Everyone could even run the air conditioning all day long without worrying about power issues. This also allowed everyone to get better rest; despite the hot weather, they could rest well in air-conditioned rooms.
Additionally, because of the abundant electricity, everyone could freely use electronic products.
On cooler nights, movies were sometimes shown outdoors in the central area. This brought back memories for the parents and grandparents' generation.
The hot weather was extremely oppressive, making everyone feel sluggish.
In the guard room, two air conditioners were also installed in the back. In this weather, if one were to be on duty exposed to the sun, they would suffer heatstroke in no time.
Li Yu was on duty today, and in this air-conditioned room, he did not want to go out for a minute; it was simply too hot outside. It felt like he would catch fire if he stayed out for a while.
He poured a glass of lemonade, added two ice cubes, gulped down two mouthfuls, and then looked far out of the base to observe the situation outside.
Beside him was Li Hang, who was somewhat bored. He looked at the electronic device next to him, then glanced at his older brother.
Finally, he sighed and said, “Brother, I'm going to the restroom.”
Li Yu said helplessly, “Go ahead. You don't need to tell me.”
Li Hang returned shortly and then asked, “Brother, after our shift ends, can we go fishing again?”
Li Yu shook his head and said, “If you want to go, then go. I'm not going today.”
Li Yu had suffered too many setbacks while fishing; now he no longer felt like going.
Outside the base, the scorching sun hung high in the sky.
Even the cicadas had stopped chirping, and the trees outside looked somewhat wilted.
The leaves hung limply and listlessly from the branches.
After the heavy rain, the drought and scorching sun had dried out much of the soil outside the base, making it hard as a rock when stepped on.
There were also some farmlands outside the base, which had some crops growing, but these were just some of the grains left behind from previously harvested rice.
However, under the scorching sun of these days, the water in the paddy fields had completely evaporated.
These crops also withered and died, from wilting to drying up, finally turning into wisps of withered yellow stalks.
The ground also showed large patches of cracked earth; this was a natural disaster.
The heavy rain was a natural disaster, and now the drought was also a natural disaster.
The scorching sun of these days made everyone feel sluggish.
However, whether it was the second uncle or the grandfather, they were all incredibly dedicated to the crops planted in the fields. This was their future food supply, even though food was still very abundant now.
In this hot weather, some green floats appeared in the paddy fields, and at temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, the surface of the paddy fields began to bubble.
Stepping into it, one's entire foot felt like it was burning. It was too hot.
To avoid wasting water, Li Yu also planted some other crops around the paddy fields.
In this hot weather, the wind had disappeared, and the chirping of insects and birds had also vanished, leaving the entire land extraordinarily quiet.
This was an extreme contrast to the heavy rain.
