It was the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Li Yu rubbed his somewhat dizzy head early in the morning. He had drunk a lot of alcohol with Da Pao and the others last night, and although he didn't black out in the end, he was about five-tenths drunk.
After waking up, he first walked towards the main gate. This had always been his habit; even when it wasn't his shift, he would go to the main gate to check after every workout.
Stepping out, the cold air hit him, and Li Yu's spirits lifted, making him much more awake.
Creak, creak~
Li Yu walked towards the main gate, stepping on the accumulated snow.
In a short while, he reached the main gate of the base. Li Yu pushed open the door of the guard room.
He saw his second uncle sitting in the guard room, looking a bit sleepy, and just letting out a yawn.
"Happy New Year, Second Uncle," Li Yu said to his second uncle with a smile.
"Happy New Year, Xiao Yu," his second uncle said, rubbing his eyes.
"You worked hard last night," Li Yu said, feeling a little embarrassed. Many times during gatherings and such, it was always his second uncle on duty, although his second uncle would occasionally get relieved to join for a while.
But last night, on New Year's Eve, it was also his second uncle who wanted to be on duty at the main gate.
Originally, Li Yu had arranged a duty roster, dividing the shifts into several time slots yesterday, but he couldn't win against his second uncle.
"What's there to it? It's always the same, isn't it? Besides, I came to join in last night anyway. Alright, since you're here, I'll go back and get some sleep," his second uncle said.
He picked up his overcoat, put it on, and then walked out of the guard room.
As soon as his second uncle left, the guard room door was pushed open again, and two people walked in.
It was Li Haoran and Lai Dongsheng's second daughter. Today, they were on day duty at the main gate.
"Big Brother. Happy New Year~"
"Big Brother, Happy New Year~"
Li Haoran looked at Li Yu with some surprise, but quickly greeted him, and Lai Dongsheng's second daughter, standing beside him, also followed suit, calling him Big Brother.
Li Yu nodded and replied, "Happy New Year."
Then he walked out of the guard room.
He planned to walk around the wall, just for a stroll. At his walking speed, it wouldn't even take 10 minutes to complete a full circle.
While walking on the wall, he encountered some other people in the base, who all wished each other Happy New Year.
After completing a circle, Li Yu returned to the residential area for breakfast.
A new year always brings something different.
Chinese people, more or less, always have such hopes: hoping for a better future, hoping for everything to be well.
It was the first day of the Lunar New Year.
There was more or less a New Year's atmosphere in the base, with newly pasted couplets and small red lanterns hung up.
And everyone he met was wearing new clothes.
"Happy New Year," Li Yu murmured, standing on the rooftop of the villa.
Time flew by, and the temperature also began to slowly rise. Although the speed was very slow, at least it was no longer the terrifying temperature of minus forty or fifty degrees Celsius.
Now it was at least minus thirty-something degrees Celsius, and people felt it particularly clearly outdoors.
The weather becoming a little warmer was like the darkness before dawn.
Everyone had been feeling somewhat cooped up and uncomfortable due to being unable to go out in such severe cold weather.
However, compared to the vast majority of survivors in other parts of this world, the people in Da Zhangshu Base were fortunate.
At least they didn't have to worry about food now, nor did they have to suffer from the cold weather, being frozen to injury or death.
As dusk approached, Li Yu returned to his room.
Safe City.
In the cold weather, the main gate duty personnel had retreated, placing the guardrails outside the main gate and locking the iron lock on the main gate.
At this time, Safe City was no longer so safe.
Every time it was late at night, Mr. Wang could always hear screams from around him, as well as some quarrels and desperate pleas for mercy.
Mr. Wang looked through the window and saw that the Patrol Team members, at first, would deal with such incidents and ensure people's safety.
But such incidents became more and more frequent, and as everyone's supplies were consumed more and more, many people were struggling on the brink of starvation.
When people are on the verge of life and death, especially when their lives hang by a thread, things like morality, shame, or face no longer matter. Since death is the only outcome anyway, it's better to fight for it, and perhaps live for a few more days.
Mr. Wang hid in his room, not daring to go out.
He even blocked his door with the only furniture he had in his home to prevent anyone from targeting him.
The dusty refrigerator was also pushed to the main door to block it.
However, what he didn't know was that the couple downstairs had already set their sights on him.
When Mr. Wang had just moved in, the thin man downstairs watched him carry his belongings up.
Mr. Wang had to move things more than a dozen times before he stopped. For these past few days, ever since the weather started to get cold, Mr. Wang hadn't left his room at all.
Only occasionally could they hear the brief sound of a window opening upstairs.
One day, Mr. Wang, who was lying in bed, suddenly heard a knock on the door.
Bang, bang, bang~
Mr. Wang mistakenly thought he was hallucinating. He didn't know anyone in this Safe City, so it was unlikely that anyone would come looking for him.
"Hello, I'm your neighbor downstairs. We don't have any fire, and we'd like to borrow a lighter. If you don't have a lighter, just a light will do," the person quickly said, seemingly afraid that Mr. Wang would misunderstand.
From the voice, it was a woman, her voice soft and weak, sounding completely unaggressive.
Mr. Wang heard the woman's voice and thought that it was indeed the voice of the woman downstairs, only before he had heard only pleas for mercy or screams.
Mr. Wang shifted his body slightly, very subtly.
The weather was terribly cold, and he didn't want to waste energy or heat doing anything.
He wouldn't get up.
Bang, bang, bang~
The person knocking at the door continued to knock persistently.
Mr. Wang remained unmoved, turned over, and continued to sleep.
The knocking continued for a few more minutes, but received no reply, and seemed to have given up.
Mr. Wang pricked up his ears and listened, confirming there was no sound, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Now all the windows, burglar bars, and the main door in his house were tightly shut.
Last night, the building opposite was noisy for a long time, preventing him from getting much sleep, so now was a good time to catch up.
Just as Mr. Wang was about to drift into dreamland.
A loud thud startled Mr. Wang.
This sound.
It came from the main door.
Damn it.
Thud!
Another loud thud.
No doubt, it was the main door.
These two scoundrels were forcefully breaking down his main door.
"Do they really think I'm easy to bully?" Mr. Wang's anger flared.
These days, he had been careful not to cause trouble, and he had no interaction with this neighbor, but that didn't mean Mr. Wang was someone who feared trouble.
Mr. Wang immediately got up from the bed. Unlike usual, when he would always get up cautiously, afraid of the warmth escaping from under the covers.
At this moment, he didn't care about anything.
After getting up, he quickly put on his overcoat, then his shoes.
At the same time, the thudding at the door continued.
Mr. Wang's anger grew. After getting dressed, he glanced to his right.
Then he pulled out a pistol from under his pillow and checked the bullets.
OK.
