New Year's Eve.
Safe City.
It was desolate; after the previous conflict, the relationships between the various factions were somewhat strange.
Many people basically no longer went out, locking their doors and not allowing anyone in.
This winter, it remained to be seen who could endure.
19th Building, second floor.
Mr. Wang listened to the cursing downstairs and found it a bit strange.
After that woman went out last time, she actually brought back some fuel and even a small bag of bread when she returned.
At a time like this, being able to acquire such things truly made Mr. Wang admire that woman.
However, what made Mr. Wang speechless was why that woman endured daily scolding and beatings yet still stayed by that man's side.
Perhaps that's what love is, a load of crap!
Thinking of this, Mr. Wang recalled his many years in business, then founding He Park, and still being a lonely man to this day.
A wave of sorrow washed over him.
Especially since today was New Year's Eve.
This reminded him of last year's New Year's Eve, which was his peak period; at that time, He Park was very strong, and supplies were abundant.
Having just rescued a group of people, everyone in He Park respected him, and everyone respectfully called him Mr. Wang.
At that time, he also didn't lack companionship; some young, unmarried girls in He Park looked up to him.
Mr. Wang reminisced about the good old days.
On New Year's Eve last year, he grandly waved his hand, giving everyone a bag of toffees and having everyone eat together.
He sat in a warm room, drinking a little white wine, eating fried peanuts, with some group leaders on both sides saying pleasant things.
Grrr~
A rumble in his stomach brought him back to reality.
The weather was too cold; it was so cold that he tried not to move as much as possible, as moving in bed easily let the warmth escape.
Grrr~
Another rumble from his stomach.
Mr. Wang got up, resentfully muttering, "Those people from that base, they made me fall to this! This enmity is irreconcilable! If I don't get my revenge, I swear I'm not human!"
His low words carried immense resentment.
But he looked around the room; many bags were empty, food was dwindling, and less than a third of the fuel remained.
Just like last time, he got some bread and opened the window to collect some snowflakes.
Repeating the actions from last time, half an hour later.
Mr. Wang lay in bed, beginning his path of revenge fantasies.
However, in Safe City, not everyone was as fortunate as Mr. Wang, who at least had some fuel and food.
They had none, so they began to plunder everywhere, and the forces led by Old Wu no longer intervened; in their current situation, they were like clay bodhisattvas crossing a river, barely able to protect themselves.
For a time, Safe City was in chaos!
Da Zhangshu Base.
Li Yu woke up early in the morning, still running 10 kilometers in the gym.
Then he went to find his maternal grandfather to write Spring Festival couplets.
His maternal grandfather's calligraphy was excellent, his brushwork renowned far and wide.
Leisure Hall.
Li Yu held some red paper and handed it to his maternal grandfather to write on.
His maternal grandfather dipped his brush in ink and asked, "What content do you want to write?"
Li Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Anything is fine, just something festive."
His maternal grandfather's hair was already white, but his spirit was still very good; he was usually a man of few words, but every time Li Yu saw his maternal grandfather, he felt an indescribable sense of intimacy.
His maternal grandfather rarely spoke words of care to him, but Li Yu could always sense his concern through his maternal grandfather's eyes.
Hearing Li Yu's words, his maternal grandfather wielded his brush with a flourish.
Characters were written one by one on the red paper:
Fragrant flowers fill the garden, flowers find their joy; birds sing in the forest, birds know spring.
Horizontal scroll: Auspicious and propitious.
The temperature was still so low; outdoors, one could barely hear any animal sounds, and many plants in the garden had already frozen to death.
After staying in such a desolate environment for a long time, everyone missed the warm spring.
Immediately after, his maternal grandfather continued to write several more timely couplets.
His brush flowed like dragons and snakes, and on the foundation of Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan's styles, his maternal grandfather had his own unique calligraphic style.
The characters were pleasing to the eye.
After they were written, Li Yu had Li Hang take Li Zhengping to put up the couplets.
These couplets were mainly placed in commonly frequented areas, with one pair posted at the entrance of the residential area's wall.
Time passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, it was evening.
Everyone sat in the dining hall, ten people to a table.
For this dinner, they ate hot pot.
Thanks to the underground cultivation base, they had no shortage of vegetables.
As for beef and mutton, Li Yu had stocked hundreds of slaughtered animals in the freezer before the apocalypse.
Li Yu stood in the middle; at such gatherings, he always needed to say a few words. His current role was somewhat like the head of this large family.
"Compared to last year, everyone can see that many new people, new faces, have joined us. I am very grateful to everyone for guarding this base together, and I am also very grateful for everyone's efforts over the past year."
"Furthermore, I have two more things to say: firstly, I hope everyone will protect this base together, and secondly, this base is also your home."
"Nothing else to say, let's eat! Today, we eat to our heart's content!"
This call to eat ignited the atmosphere.
One must know that for today's hot pot, each table had 5 catties of beef and mutton, and another 5 catties of vegetables.
These were all substantial goods.
Amidst the aroma of the hot pot, everyone had long been salivating.
At Li Yu's table, Li Yu raised his glass and clinked it with his family, saying some pleasant words.
The atmosphere was very lively.
His maternal grandfather, seated at the head of the table, looked at Li Yu with a relieved expression.
Seeing his maternal grandfather's expression, Li Yu's nose felt a little sore.
A person lives for one lifetime, most people only live for 70 years. In these 70 years.
Excluding 10 years of childhood and 10 years of old age and infirmity, there are still fifty years left.
Half of that time is spent sleeping, so only twenty-five years remain.
And then subtracting the three disasters and six illnesses, wind and rain, thunder and blizzards.
What good days are left in a person's life?
Therefore, one must go and do what one wants to do, and accompany the people one wants to accompany, do not wait until you lose them to regret it bitterly.
Whether it's family affection, love, or friendship, one must always be proactive. If you are not proactive, you will feel there is no affection, but as long as you are willing to act, you will gain a lot.
Accompanying family, Li Yu suddenly understood the true meaning of companionship.
"Grandpa, Grandma, Maternal Grandpa, Maternal Grandma, I wish you all good health and a Happy New Year."
Li Yu stood up and toasted the four elders.
Then he took out some small gifts from the warehouse.
These gifts were not very valuable; many of them were scavenged from outside after the apocalypse.
Among them, everyone in the base received a set of loungewear.
Additionally, Li Suxin and the children like Xuan Xuan received some classical poetry books.
Originally, Li Yu wanted to give some elementary school test questions, but because the education in the base had been reformed, some impractical things were basically eliminated, for example, when studying Chinese, there was no longer any reading comprehension.
On the other hand, Li Yu also hadn't prepared test questions.
But when they received some classical poetry books, they were actually quite happy.
After distributing the gifts, Li Yu toasted everyone.
They all shouted: Happy New Year's Eve!
