Chapter 186: Big Brother, Do You Have Water in Your Kitchen?
"Big brother!"
On the day when Meng Ci and Shen Que officially moved in, Zhang Mingtian came to congratulate them with a few items in hand.
Two jin of wheat flour, one jin of wild pork, and various types of dried vegetables.
Shen Que parked the car in the garage and closed the rolling shutter door, which he had obtained from the exchange point.
Just as he was about to enter the house, Shen Que heard Zhang Mingtian's voice and invited him in.
Although they hadn't seen each other for several months, Zhang Mingtian, with his honest and somewhat simple demeanor, didn't feel awkward at all.
Thus, he chatted with them freely.
While he expressed envy at Meng Ci and Shen Que's villa, he was still quite content with his own life.
Seeing the rabbits that Meng Ci was feeding, Zhang Mingtian even bowed deeply to them.
The pair of rabbits given by Meng Ci had been raised well and had produced two litters before Song Meixuan went into labor.
During Song Meixuan's postpartum period, they were able to eat meat daily to ensure proper nutrition.
Now that the baby was over two months old, Song Meixuan's milk was still sufficient.
And because the baby's nutrition was adequate, the baby hadn't been sick in those two months.
Meng Ci threw the green vegetables into the rabbit hutch and escorted Zhang Mingtian into the house.
Then he brought a cup of cold water from the fridge to Zhang Mingtian, who was sitting on the single sofa.
Zhang Mingtian sighed, "You really live well, with both air conditioning and a fridge."
Unlike me, after working hard for so long, I only managed to get an air conditioner for my wife and child.
But Zhang Mingtian also knew that Meng Ci and Shen Que had their share of hardships, as he had heard that the two of them had killed a wild boar a few days ago.
Zhang Mingtian now had a mother over sixty and a child over two months old. He didn't dare to get involved in these dangerous tasks anymore.
If something were to happen to me, how would my wife and child survive?
Eggplant still remembered Zhang Mingtian. After all, they had fought side by side once.
Seeing the three of them talking, Eggplant looked at his master, then at Zhang Mingtian, and cuddled up next to him.
"Big brother, do you have water in your kitchen?"
The extreme heat had lasted for more than six months without any rainfall, and the M River was almost dry.
The several springs that the authorities had developed in the mountains had since dried up.
Fortunately, after the springs dried up, the authorities released the stored snow water from the previous cold period.
This snow water was collected when the authorities had everyone dig several underground channels.
At the end of the tunnels, there was a huge pit, lined with cement on the sides, and filled with a substantial amount of snow.
Fortunately, the pit was built solidly and did not collapse during the earthquake.
Currently, water is scarce, so the authorities dispatch large trucks daily to transport water back and forth.
Water has become a scarce resource.
One liter of water costs thirty points, and the authorities have imposed a limit of one transaction per card per day.
Meng Ci can understand why the water price is set so high.
After all, water is currently a non-renewable resource.
As for food, the authorities have developed various drought-resistant seeds that require minimal water and do not need daily watering.
Thinking of this, Meng Ci sighed, deciding he would need to use the points card to get water daily.
Otherwise, if the authorities noticed they hadn't used any water, they might become suspicious.
"No, I haven't!" Meng Ci shook his head in response to Zhang Mingtian's question.
Meng Ci heard the sound of rushing water and was confused.
Could it be that the authorities have found a water source?
Looking down, Zhang Mingtian saw a yellow puddle next to his foot, some still trickling down his calf.
Due to the extreme heat, Zhang Mingtian hadn't noticed Qiezi peeing.
Since the living room was small and the coffee table close to the sofa, Zhang Mingtian hadn't moved as Qiezi squeezed between them.
Unexpectedly, Qiezi had urinated right there.
At this moment, Qiezi took two steps back, stuck out his tongue, looking proud, showing no remorse.
Seeing the urine on the floor, Meng Ci lost his temper.
He rushed forward, yanked Qiezi's ears, and, barefoot, picked up a slipper to spank Qiezi repeatedly.
"Yelp, yelp!"
Enduring the pain, Qiezi tried to resist, but with his master tightly gripping his ears, he didn't dare to move.
When the house was built, Meng Ci had specially enhanced the soundproofing, so unless the noise was very loud, outsiders wouldn't hear anything from inside.
However, today, even people working outside and passing by the wall were frightened by the series of wolf howls coming from the house.
They fled in panic, afraid of getting involved.
Seeing Qiezi being beaten so severely, despite the urine on his leg, Zhang Mingtian tried to persuade Meng Ci to calm down.
Meng Ci wouldn't listen.
"There's no need to plead for him. The weather is extremely hot, and his urine smells so strong that it will spread throughout the house in no time. How can we live here?
"This punishment is already lenient."
Inside the house, Meng Ci first went to the exchange point to trade for two air conditioners and had them installed.
However, those air conditioners had been water-damaged, and although they were repaired later, their performance was suboptimal.
This was merely to keep up appearances. Meng Ci had stored multiple air conditioners in his space and replaced them together with Shen Que.
Therefore, the house remained reasonably cool, but it could not overcome the smell of Eggplant's urine.
After cleaning up Eggplant, Meng Ci took him to the yard.
Zhang Mingtian bid farewell.
Meng Ci naturally wouldn't let him leave empty-handed, so he gave him two dried rabbits, some dried vegetables given by Yun Jingcen and others, two kilograms of white flour, and three boxes of canned crocodile meat.
"Take these."
"Consider it a gift for your children."
Zhang Mingtian hastily accepted them.
After seeing Zhang Mingtian off, Meng Ci and Shen Que cleaned up Eggplant's urine, turned on the ventilation mode of the air conditioners, and left the house.
Driving an off-road vehicle to the exchange point, upon entering, they noticed an additional window for water exchange services and saw Liang Xiu standing in the hall.
"Uncle Liang." Seeing that Liang Xiu was alone, Meng Ci went to greet him.
Liang Xiu now held a minor leadership position at the exchange point. He usually works in the office, coordinating personnel. He had come at this time to inspect the operations.
Since Zhao Jingyu was still in the hospital and needed two more days before being discharged, Liang Xiu was staying alone in the Zhao family's villa.
When it came to Zhao Jingyu, Meng Ci expressed his thoughts.
"Uncle Liang, you don't owe anyone anything now."
"The profits you've brought to the Meng Group after graduation have far exceeded the help my mother and grandfather gave you."
"As for the Zhao family, if you wish to repay them for their help before the apocalypse, you can do so with points or supplies."
"You should live for yourself, Uncle Liang."
Liang Xiu nodded, acknowledging he understood, but said he preferred to take things step by step, waiting for Zhao Jingyu to recover before making further decisions.
Seeing this, Meng Ci decided not to press further.