Chapter 698: Building for the Future

Jiang Ying’s mother and Jiang Ying were both just regular folks. Neither of them had any experience with farming, and taking a plot of land outside the iron mesh walls was simply too risky for them. That’s why they agreed to Yuan Rui’s suggestion.

Jiang Ying moved into Territory Fifteen. For now, she’d eat and work alongside everyone else until she gained some experience. Only then would she start cultivating her own plot and growing food for herself.

Jiang Ying also made it clear to Yuan Rui—when it came time to open up new land, she’d do it herself. She didn’t need anyone else’s help, she was happy to take it slow.

Tan Qi and Jiang Ying weren’t exactly close, but they did know each other. So when Tan Qi found out Jiang Ying would be her new neighbor in the territory, she was genuinely excited.

With Aunt Yan, her dad and Xia Qing all busy, Tan Qi finally had some company now that Jiang Ying had arrived.

Tan Junjie had originally gathered enough building materials for a two-story house. But with the need for three extra rooms, they were now running short.

The main things they were lacking were two materials: steel bars and cement.

Steel bars made up the skeleton of the house’s pillars, and cement was essential for mixing concrete.

Getting steel bars for construction wasn’t that hard—they could even buy them within the Hui Three Base Safe Zone. Cement, however, was a bit more of a headache.

If you wanted to build a sturdy house that could withstand the years of disaster, you’d need premium cement enhanced with a special insect-repelling formula. That stuff was much more durable but also cost a fortune, and it wasn’t even sold to outsiders.

Since Tan Junjie couldn’t get his hands on enough cement, he followed Xia Qing’s advice and tried a different approach.

He managed to get a small bag of cement as a sample and asked the all-rounder Zhang San from Section One of the North to analyze the make-up of the insect-repelling formula. After figuring it out, he gathered up the base materials and got the Compost Factory in Territory Eight to help make repellent powder. By adding it to regular cement, they could boost its quality.

But at this point, there was no time to collect materials and ask Section Three and Territory Eight to make more repellent powder. Still, Tan Junjie didn’t want the safety of his daughter’s house to take a hit just because they were adding three new rooms. That’s why he called Xia Qing and Qi Fu to help brainstorm.

After marking the foundations for two houses in white lime, Xia Qing offered a solution to Tan Junjie. “Keep the exterior walls at thirty-seven centimeters thick. For the walls between the living room and the east and west wings, use twenty-four centimeters. And then…”

Xia Qing stepped onto the white line that would split the east wing into two rooms—one north, one south. “Put two structural columns here and here for this wall. Leave the dividing wall unfinished for now; that’ll free up enough cement to finish the exterior walls for the other three rooms.”

The house’s layout came together fast in Zhao Ze’s mind. “This’ll work, Sister Qing. If it looks odd to leave the wall open, we can just use wood to divide the bedroom in the south and the storage room up north. Later on, we can swap them out for brick walls if we want.”

Once Qi Fu also signed off on the plan, they started work on Tan Qi’s house.

There were plenty of people in Territory Fifteen, and Territory One even sent extra hands. None of them really knew how to build, though, so for important steps like digging foundations, tying steel bars, and mixing concrete, Xia Qing and Qi Fu had to take the lead and show everyone what to do. Zhu Li and Tan Qi helped out with whatever they could, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

With so many hands on deck, progress was fast. They finished the foundations for two houses on the very first day and put up the steel bar columns. Tan Qi hopped and skipped between the marked-off grids of the foundation like a cheerful little antelope.

As they headed back to their own territories at dusk, Qi Fu brought up something he’d heard. “Someone in Tang Huai’s Lords’ group mentioned that Lai Mingke, the lord of Section Twenty-Nine in Section Two of the North, had fired up a kiln and made his own bricks for construction.”

“Making your own bricks will definitely save money. But he used firewood in the kiln, so I’m guessing those bricks are softer than they should be,” Zhao Ze commented, having also seen the news. “A brick wall just can’t compare to concrete for strength or earthquake resistance.”

Right now, Zhao Ze didn’t have enough credits to start a build himself, but if it came to building with bricks in the future, he’d choose concrete walls for sure.

Xia Qing nodded in agreement, sharing his opinion. The two-story house she lived in now, and the rack building next to it, had both been built with reinforced concrete right before the disasters hit. Even now, eleven years into the crisis, those houses were still holding up.

Qi Fu explained, “For a house, you definitely want concrete. But I was thinking of firing bricks to build the courtyard wall. The yellow clay we dug up last year should work just fine for that.”

Kuang Qingwei strolled over from Territory Six. “Qi, molding bricks, building a kiln, firing bricks—that’s tough, skilled work. If you don’t control the heat just right, the bricks will come out so soft, you could only use them to fool someone.”

Zhu Li was puzzled. “How can you use bricks to fool someone?”

Kuang Qingwei explained, “I’m talking about those bricks you used to see on TV or in livestreams before the disaster—ones you’d break apart with your bare hands.”

Once she got it, Zhu Li didn’t think much of the brick idea either. “Qi, if you’re just making bricks for the courtyard wall, you might as well pick up stones from the hillside.”

Qi Fu just grinned. “Back in my hometown, my folks made all the bricks for our house. I know how to do it. When I heard Section Twenty-Nine was firing bricks, I got the itch to give it a go myself.”

Once she realized Qi Fu knew how, Xia Qing was on board too. “Bricks are more uniform than stone—they’re just easier to work with. All the old houses in my territory have already been torn down, and there’s not a single decent brick left. When are you planning to start, Qi?”

Seeing Xia Qing was interested, Qi Fu got even more excited. “I’ll use the leftover yellow clay from building the greenhouse and fire a batch to test first. If it works, we’ll figure out a way to haul more yellow clay over from Mountain Fifty-Two.”

Xia Qing nodded. “If it works out, count me in. If everything turns out, share some of the bricks with me.”

Kuang Qingwei was quick on the uptake. “The two of us aren’t much good for heavy labor. Better not get in your way.”

Zhao Ze, who also wasn’t big on heavy lifting, was interested, though. “My professor actually lectured about traditional brick firing back in college. Count me in too.”

Zhu Li had just opened her mouth to chime in when sudden noises from Territory Fourteen caught her ear. Right away, she grabbed her husband’s hand with one hand and tugged Xia Qing with the other, pulling everyone back into Section Six, motioning for Zhao Ze and Qi Fu to follow fast.

Having done missions together last winter, everyone could understand the basic hand signals. Qi Fu and Zhao Ze immediately headed north with them, slipping into Section Six.

In dangerous situations, Zhao Ze instinctively wanted to hide behind Xia Qing, but Kuang Qingwei beat him to it, pushing Zhu Li behind her instead.

“Swish! Swish!”

This time, not only Zhu Li and Xia Qing but also Qi Fu and Zhao Ze heard it—the sound of a knife slashing through grass coming from inside Territory Fourteen. Zhu Li whispered, “Does this mean they’re actually going to farm properly now?”

Recently, the Territory Management Department had checked that each territory had over four acres of reclaimed and properly cultivated farmland before giving out 150 spinach seeds.

Yan Meng from Territory Fourteen hadn’t met the requirement, so he had hired people from Territory Seventeen for emergency land clearing and planting. Later, when Territory Six also hired people from Territory Seventeen, Zhu Li overheard them grumbling about the situation in Territory Fourteen.

Once everyone realized it was just someone cutting grass, they left Section Six and hurried back to their own territories.

Xia Qing kept an ear out for sounds from Territory Fourteen. The pace and strength of the person cutting grass there didn’t sound like someone recovering from a long illness. Either Yan Meng’s health had improved, or there was someone new in Territory Fourteen.

Whichever it was, neither option boded well for Xia Qing.