Chapter 139: What to Do, This Road Isn't Easy to Find
"We were residents here before the apocalypse." As he spoke, Meng Ci took out the property deed.
"And we had already informed Lieutenant Lu that we would be moving in directly."
Previously, when Meng Ci approached Lu Chen about moving to West Mountain Wilds, two days later, Lu Chen specially came to the 17th floor and told them they could move in at any time.
Lu Chen had already made arrangements; they just needed to show the property deed to the guards here.
Hearing this, the soldier flipped through the deed, confirmed it was correct, and then waved them through.
After the two men entered the snow cave, not ten meters in, they were stopped by another soldier.
"Is there a problem?" Meng Ci asked.
The soldier smiled kindly and explained to Meng Ci and Shen Que.
"Hello, my name is Li Wencan."
"You need to register and obtain a pass before entering the refugee settlement," Li Wencan pointed to the building behind him.
Above the door on the left side, a paper was posted, reading "West Mountain Wilds Office."
Meng Ci and Shen Que nodded and followed Li Wencan into the adjacent building.
It was more of a room dug into the snow pile, with a few tables and chairs inside, as well as some machines Meng Ci didn't recognize.
On one side of the wall, a paper was posted explaining the office's functions, mainly issuing residence permits and detailing their uses.
At the bottom of the paper, two photos were attached, one labeled Li Wencan and the other Wu Heng.
Another man wearing glasses, looking quite refined, was inside, presumably Wu Heng.
Wu Heng glanced at the two men, said nothing, and pointed to a chair in the middle, starting his work without further ado.
"Please sit there and have your photo taken."
In front of the chair stood a camera on a tripod.
Behind the camera, on the table, was a computer.
Although Meng Ci was curious how they managed to conduct business without electricity or internet, he felt it wasn't the right time to ask and, being unfamiliar with the people, he reined in his curiosity and sat down as Wu Heng instructed.
After taking their photos, Wu Heng asked for their names and ID numbers.
Li Wencan, who had brought them in, handed them a map and asked them to choose their house.
Most of the houses were six-story buildings, the only difference being that some were one-bedroom apartments and others were two-bedroom apartments.
There were also smaller units, less than twenty square meters, with shared bathrooms.
"These houses can only be occupied for one month."
"After one month, fees will start to be charged," Li Wencan said.
Hearing this, Meng Ci asked curiously, "How are the fees calculated?"
Li Wencan replied, "You can exchange food or other useful items for points at that time."
"The number of points required varies depending on the type of housing."
"As for the specific point requirements, we're still unclear."
Meng Ci asked these questions just to get a general idea and handed the property deed to Li Wencan.
"I bought a house here before, so I don't need to pay, right?"
"No, you don't."
Li Wencan examined the deed, confirmed its authenticity, and passed it to Wu Heng.
Soon, they received their passes.
These passes were essentially small pieces of paper, about seven to eight centimeters by five centimeters, with their photos, names, and addresses printed on them.
At the bottom was a line of small print:
"Please take good care of this pass. If lost, the consequences will be borne by the holder."
Li Wencan also said, "Keep your passes safe. You'll need to show them to the guards at the entrance whenever you go out."
Meng Ci nodded, "Thank you."
Then Li Wencan escorted Meng Ci and Shen Que out.
The two continued walking inward.
After half an hour, they found themselves on a concrete road.
From here, the roads branched out in all directions.
Meng Ci had only been to the villas in West Mountain Wilds a few times and was already unfamiliar with the area; now, surrounded by snow, it was even harder to navigate.
"How, how do we find our way!" Meng Ci was at a loss.
This was Shen Que's first time here, and he was equally clueless about the direction.
"Let's just pick any path. If we find someone, we can ask for directions," Shen Que said.
"Alright," Meng Ci nodded.
However, looking at the three paths leading in different directions, Meng Ci became hesitant.
Aowu, aowu!
Seeing the look on Qiezi's face, it seemed he wanted to head up the mountain.
Meng Ci decided to follow Qiezi's lead, letting him take the front while Meng Ci and Shen Que followed behind.
After ten minutes of walking, they finally saw someone.
"Damn!"
"How did wolves get in here?"
The man, upon seeing Qiezi, was so frightened that he immediately turned and ran.
"Qiezi, catch him!"
Having finally encountered someone, Meng Ci wasn't about to let him go, so he quickly called out for Qiezi to chase after the man.
Qiezi moved swiftly, barking as he caught up with the man.
Aowu, aowu.
Seeing the man not stopping, Qiezi bit down on his trouser leg.
"Help, help!"
"Don't bite me!"
The man, terrified, sat on the ground, trying to kick Qiezi with his other leg, but he was too afraid that Qiezi might bite him, so he didn't dare move.
"Don't be afraid," Meng Ci said as he approached.
Because the path up the mountain was a slope, they had run quite fast to catch the man.
Wearing multiple layers, Meng Ci was panting heavily.
"We just want to ask for directions."
Hearing a human voice, the man cried out, "Save me, save me, I don't want to die."
"Qiezi, come back."
Seeing that the man had no intention of running, Meng Ci called Qiezi back.
The man, still in shock, held his head and continued to cry for help.
Meng Ci sighed, squatted down, and patted the man's shoulder.
"Calm down, the wolf has run away."
Gradually, the man relaxed his hands from his head. Seeing that the white wolf was gone, he straightened up and patted his chest.
"Thank you, thank you!"
But as soon as he spoke, seeing Qiezi standing not far away next to Shen Que, he took two steps back and tried to run.
Meng Ci grabbed the man by the neck.
The scarf around the man's neck fell to the ground during the struggle.
Looking at the man's face, Meng Ci felt a sense of familiarity and called out uncertainly, "Zheng Yan?"
The man, hearing this, turned his head in confusion, "Do you know me?"
Meng Ci pulled down the scarf around his neck and said, "I'm the one who traded condoms with you at the exchange before."
Zheng Yan looked closely at Meng Ci's face and recognized him.
"It's you! I remember you!" Zheng Yan exclaimed happily.
"Do you have any more condoms? Can I trade with you again?"
"This time, two pounds of grain for one condom."
Seeing a potential deal, Zheng Yan forgot his fear.
"We can talk about trading condoms later," Meng Ci said.
"I have something to ask you."