For some time now, these construction workers and Li Yu and others have been eating and drinking together.
It was like the big communal meals of the past, sharing food and drink.
These construction workers were not only rescued by Li Yu and his team initially, but later they also helped them find their families.
Then, they united to build Weng City, successfully defended against zombies, and went out to kill people together!
They had been through many things together, and during this time, Li Yu had been constantly observing these people. After this period of assessment, at least so far, Li Yu felt they were relatively honest and reliable.
And in the most recent incident of killing Big Gold Tooth and others, it made them realize Li Yu's ruthlessness even more, and they willingly submitted to his leadership.
Now, they were completely integrated.
Dinner that day was good.
Pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli, stir-fried cabbage, cold sour and spicy radishes, and spicy dried fish.
Three buckets of rice.
Everyone was happy to see today's meal, especially the construction workers. Before the apocalypse, they never ate this well. After the apocalypse, following Li Yu and his team, they were living like gods, although they had to go out every time to help move things, chop zombies, and... kill people.
All these meals were thanks to Li Yu's preparations beforehand, stockpiling various supplies, and raising many animals and plants in the base: chickens, ducks, fish, geese, shrimp, pigs, cattle, sheep.
Peach trees, pear trees, orange trees, apricot trees, apple trees, watermelons, sugarcane, star fruit, grapes, plum trees, mango trees.
Thinking about the dozens of tons of salt still in the warehouse, Li Yu felt a sense of calm.
He carried his rice bowl and walked outside, seeing a paddy field in front of him.
It was March already.
In the blink of an eye, nearly five months had passed since the apocalypse broke out.
It was time to plant early rice. The number of people in the base was increasing, and although there was still a lot of rice stored in the warehouse, these four acres of land were originally calculated for 50 to 60 people.
Looking at the situation now, it might not be enough. He looked at the fields in front of him. Although this small plain was only 15 acres, the two mountains had hundreds of acres.
Terraced fields!
Having decided, he found his grandfather and discussed with him about setting aside three acres in the mountain forest for terraced fields.
Reclaiming terraced fields was a big project.
His grandfather thought it was feasible, and then discussed the matter with everyone. Everyone agreed to the arrangement.
The internal reclamation work was left to his grandfather and maternal grandfather to handle. With the increased number of people in the base, there was ample labor.
There was enough manpower to do this.
After settling this matter, Li Yu noticed Zhao Dapao next to him, seemingly lost in thought, staring blankly out the window.
Li Yu sighed inwardly, walked over, and patted his shoulder.
Then he told everyone about another matter, regarding the trip to the city.
Li Yu's father and others were worried about them, but recently, Zhao Dapao had been accompanying Li Yu on outings, solving many problems. When they were in the base, he would actively help with any issues.
He had clearly integrated into this big family, and everyone treated him as their own.
Therefore, at Li Yu's insistence, Yang Tianlong, Li Tie, and Li Gang, as his comrades, also expressed their desire to go together.
Zhao Dapao was very touched to see that no one objected to Li Yu's decision to go to the city.
After Li Yu discussed the upcoming arrangements with his second uncle and others, he, Zhao Dapao, Yang Tianlong, and others began to formulate the plan for going to the city.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered the two people who were locked in the small house when they returned.
It seemed they hadn't eaten yet...
But it didn't matter.
Li Yu looked at the empty pots and bowls on the table. There was no more food. After thinking for a moment, he took out two pieces of bread from the bread they had brought back from the convenience store today.
Then he took two cups of water and walked over with Yang Tianlong and Zhao Dapao.
Outside the house was his third uncle. His third uncle had also been eating here just now.
He fully demonstrated the conduct of a veteran, being exceptionally meticulous.
Li Yu said, "Third Uncle, I have something to ask them. You go finish your meal first."
His third uncle nodded.
Li Yu opened the iron door and went inside, seeing the two people lying on the ground, tied to a central Zhu Zi with a rope.
He stepped forward, untied the rope, removed the black cloths from the two people, and finally peeled off the tape from their mouths.
Inhale...
Exhale...
The two people on the ground took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
As if they had almost suffocated just now.
But that was unlikely, as the black cloth still had gaps, and although their mouths were sealed, their noses could still breathe.
Li Yu handed the bread to the two people and placed two cups of water.
Mr. Wen Zhong and the young man had been hungry for a long time. Moreover, his third uncle had just been eating outside, and the aroma had been constantly wafting into their noses; it was incredibly fragrant.
Spicy dried fish, pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli...
Just now, when Li Yu and the others opened the door, the aroma became even stronger, permeating the room.
At this moment, the two people looked at the bread in front of them, exchanged glances, but dared not say anything, and instead began to devour it ravenously.
Watching the two people eat the bread, Li Yu did not rush them.
He just waited quietly for the two to finish eating.
In less than two minutes, the bread was gone. Then they gulped down the water in one go.
Finally, both of them let out a long sigh of relief.
Seeing them finish, Li Yu began to inquire.
"When you go back each time, are there guards?" Li Yu asked.
Mr. Wen Zhong heard Li Yu's question and replied, "Yes, but there are only two people at the entrance."
"Do they have guns?"
"No, at the headquarters, I only saw guns in Zhang Laoda's hands."
Li Yu narrowed his eyes upon hearing this and said, "Is there an inspection every time you enter?"
"No, the management there is quite chaotic. When Police Officer Ma was there, it was relatively orderly, but now it's a bit of a mess."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Mr. Wen Zhong raised his head, looked directly into Li Yu's eyes, and said, "I've wanted to escape for a long time, but my family is in their hands, so I can't run. I want to use your strength to kill them so I can have a chance to rescue my family."
Li Yu looked at the man's eyes, which showed no evasion, and was somewhat surprised. It seemed he was telling the truth.
This man was quite honest, stating his intentions clearly.
Li Yu liked people who were sensible like this. If he had been evasive, Li Yu would never have believed his words.
Although he didn't completely believe him now, at least what Mr. Wen Zhong said sounded plausible.
So he said, "When the time comes, you'll lead us there and open the door. Understand?"
Mr. Wen Zhong said, "When do you plan to act? The headquarters isn't giving us much time. If we don't go back for a few days, they'll definitely realize something is wrong."
Li Yu looked at Zhao Dapao next to him and said, "Soon!"
Then he stopped talking, tied up the two men's hands and feet, and sealed their mouths with tape, but just as he was sealing them.
The young man next to him said, "Big Brother, can you not seal our mouths? We can barely breathe. And adding another layer of black cloth outside, it's too suffocating."
Li Yu nodded, poked a few holes in the tape to allow the two to breathe, then sealed their mouths again, and then covered them with the black cloth once more.