New home
"Wow!" Gu Xue's eyes sparkled as she saw the new home.
"This house is so nice. I can see my brother every day!"
Gu Lin carefully locked the triple-locked door at the entrance, but his heart felt a pang of bitterness at her words.
Previously, the siblings lived in their parents' villa, which, despite its size, felt empty and desolate with very few people around.
After experiencing betrayal and mistreatment from the nanny, Gu Lin never hired another one. Instead, he chose to take care of Gu Xue himself while teaching her self-reliance.
Gu Xue prepared simple breakfasts for herself, while Gu Lin took care of dinner in advance.
Especially when Gu Lin was busy with work and Gu Xue had to go to school, their bedrooms were on different floors, and their departure times coincided, so the siblings rarely saw each other during the week.
Back then, understanding and obedient Gu Xue must have felt very lonely, right?
Gu Lin put down the suitcase and handed Gu Xue a pair of slippers.
"Xue, be good. When Brother isn't busy, we'll be able to see each other every day."
"Okay!" Gu Xue cheered, very conscientiously changing into her slippers and bouncing into the new home.
Gu Lin placed the suitcase aside, leading Gu Xue into the living room while removing her scarf and gloves.
Due to the underfloor heating being turned on before leaving, a layer of mist had formed on the windows, indicating that the weather outside was extremely cold.
Gu Lin glanced at the date, furrowing his brow.
Despite there still being half a month until the apocalypse, the current temperature had dropped to around five degrees above zero, which was not good weather at all.
"Brother? Are you unhappy?" Gu Xue looked at Gu Lin, who was frowning in thought, and shook his hand.
Children's perceptions are indeed keen," Gu Lin shook his head, leading her to her bedroom.
Gu Xue's bedroom was not large, decorated simply in a minimalist style that had just been renovated. Gu Lin didn't make any special decorations for her, knowing that after the apocalypse, Gu Xue would have plenty of time to decorate it herself.
After they finished arranging the bedding together, Gu Lin looked around the small bedroom, lost in thought.
At first, choosing this bedroom for Gu Xue was because the larger the room, the more challenging it would be to heat after the extreme cold set in.
But now, it seems that just having underfloor heating might not be enough to withstand the extreme cold temperatures of minus sixty or seventy degrees.
Gu Lin began searching online.
It seems that a new type of air conditioner has just been released, which not only provides cooling and heating but also can be charged in multiple ways.
Remembering that he already has solar panels, but he still needs to stock up on more generators so that the air conditioner can keep running in extreme cold weather when solar energy is not available.
It seems that the current supplies are not enough.
With determination, Gu Lin made a note on his phone's memo to visit the electronics mall next time.
After checking his bedroom, Gu Lin went to the storage room.
The storage room was empty except for three walls lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves used as storage cabinets.
While Gu Xue was still exploring the living room and balcony, Gu Lin closed the door to the storage room and retrieved various items from the space—boxes of instant ramen, compressed biscuits, rice, flour, cooking oil, as well as long-lasting vegetables such as potatoes, winter melon, and sweet potatoes, occupying most of the empty space in the storage room.
After arranging the basic food supplies, Gu Lin started filling the shelves on the three walls with various tools, medications, books, tablets, and hard drives containing downloaded content. It wasn't until the entire storage room was packed full, leaving only a narrow passage for one person to pass through, that Gu Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief and retrieved a fingerprint lock from the space.
The storage room is where the visible reserves are kept, and it absolutely cannot be accessed by just anyone, so Gu Lin had a theft-proof door made with ultra-thick steel plates for the interior.
After the experience of changing the locks on the three outer doors, installing the fingerprint lock was a breeze for Gu Lin.
Then adjusting his fingerprint, Gu Lin called for Gu Xue and opened the storage room in front of her.
"Xue, this is our secret base, and there are lots of delicious things inside," he said. Gu Xue's eyes lit up even more.
"Big brother is so amazing!"
Gu Lin had filled the storage with long-lasting food, neatly stacked in boxes all the way to the ceiling, so even if the siblings indulged themselves, it shouldn't be a problem for a year.
The storage room, originally the master bedroom with a small balcony, had long been sealed off by Gu Lin and converted into a huge niche. Inside were several gas tanks, as well as unopened inflatable boats and ice skates.
Gu Lin let Gu Xue explore the storage room on her own while he went to the kitchen to store some rice, noodles, and cooking oil in the cabinets.
The refrigerator was also packed to the brim, with several flavors of ice cream that Gu Xue loved.
Gu Xue was like a happy little butterfly, bouncing around the new home.
Meanwhile, Gu Lin, looking at the small living room adjacent to the storage room, suddenly had an idea.
He can use this space to grow vegetables!
The small living room connects to the balcony, with half-floor-to-ceiling windows ensuring sufficient sunlight for the vegetables.
It seems he needs to supplement his inventory list with some gardening supplies. It's not that he's lazy to grow plants in the space; on the contrary, because the space allows for planting, the siblings will have a constant supply of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout their lives.
However, when it's freezing outside and everything is covered in snow, there needs to be a reason for having fresh vegetables.
While Gu Xue is young, she's not stupid. Inheriting the brains of her scientist parents, she's very smart.
Only by placing some planters in the small living room and growing some green plants can fresh vegetables be considered a feasible option for Gu Xue. With his mind made up, Gu Lin added the needed items to his memo.
"Big brother, what are we having for dinner tonight?"
Gu Xue asked after romping around the new house, prompting Gu Lin to realize that he had been busy for so long without eating.
Despite being reborn, his habits from the apocalypse still lingered.
He would still occasionally forget to eat because in the apocalypse, there simply wasn't much to eat. Being hungry one meal and full the next was the norm, and any good food would have been taken by Bai Weiwei.
Gu Lin had long gotten used to being hungry.
But Gu Xue hadn't experienced the apocalypse yet; her lifestyle habits and routines were normal.
Gu Lin ruffled Gu Xue's head, saying, "I'll go make dinner now. Xue, go change into your pajamas."
Before heading out to pick up Gu Xue, Gu Lin had already placed her clothes in her wardrobe, all season-appropriate, including fuzzy pajamas.
...
After dinner, Gu Xue rubbed her chubby belly with a slightly worried look on her
"Big brother, I will get fat if she keeps eating like this!" Gu Lin chuckled at her, helplessly rubbing her little head.
"Don't worry, Xue. If you eat well, I'll train you afterward, okay?"
Gu Xue tilted her head. "Train for what? Is it like studying?"
"Sort of," Gu Lin said, contemplating the fitness equipment he wanted to buy while reconsidering the room layout.
"As long as Xue trains well, I will be able to protect big brother in the future." Gu Xue's eyes visibly lit up. "
Xue will definitely train hard and protect big brother when grow up!"
Gu Lin nodded and continued coaxing gently. "Xue, I want to grow vegetables at home. How does that sound?"
At eleven years old, Gu Xue was no longer unaware of things. On the contrary, she was very bright, but due to the lack of companionship in her early childhood, she was curious about everything.
"Sure! I want to grow vegetables too! Shall we do it in the small living room?" Gu Lin nodded.
Seeing that it was getting late, Gu Lin had only just arrived this morning and had been busy until now, so he urged Gu Xue to go back to her room and sleep.
However, Gu Lin didn't rush to rest after returning to his room. Instead, he flashed and entered the space.