Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Eighty work points!

This far exceeded Xu Xiaoyan's expectations. She suppressed her joy and remained calm, reporting the specific area and number of the cave where she lived as required.

"Okay, we've noted it down. Once the team returns and the situation is verified, the reward will be credited to your name. You can come directly to me to collect your work point voucher," Manager Wu confirmed.

With the matter settled, Xu Xiaoyan didn't linger. She watched as the group of soldiers quickly moved in the direction she had indicated, then turned and left the exchange point, returning to her cave along the familiar path.

When Xu Xiaoyan returned to her somewhat cramped cave, it was already completely dark.

She saw Chen Yong still sitting near his cave entrance, seemingly repairing something by the light of a small fire, and thought of how he had helped look after her all day.

Xu Xiaoyan stopped and took out two green tangerines from her backpack. "Chen Yong," she said, handing the tangerines to him. "Thank you for today. Take these and have a taste."

Chen Yong was stunned for a moment. After seeing what she was holding by the light of the fire, he immediately showed a surprised and embarrassed expression. At this time of year, fresh fruit was a rare commodity.

"This...this is too valuable!" He rubbed his hands, somewhat at a loss. "I just helped watch the door, it didn't take much effort at all, how could I accept such a nice gift from you?"

"Take it," Xu Xiaoyan insisted, stuffing the orange into his hand. "A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. I might need your help in the future."

Chen Yong stopped refusing and carefully accepted the oranges, repeatedly thanking him, "Oh, thank you so much! Don't worry, Sister Xu, if there's anything I can help with in the future, just let me know!"

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, then turned and went back to her cave.

The cave was pitch black. She turned on her flashlight, and although she was exhausted, she did not rest immediately.

With a cold wave approaching, this cave must be reinforced and expanded as soon as possible!

She took out the folding entrenching tool again, unfolded it, and began to dig further inward. Soil fell in a flurry, and she carefully piled the excavated soil and rocks along the inner edge of the cave entrance.

She was thinking that if she could get some cement from the supplies exchange point tomorrow, she could mix it with some sand and build a simple reinforcement layer along the cave wall.

It not only prevents cave-ins, but also makes the inside of the cave cleaner and flatter, and provides better wind and moisture protection.

During a break from digging, she paused to catch her breath, her gaze falling on the hole that was simply covered by a few planks of wood.

Such a level of protection is far too low, almost useless, and makes people feel completely unsafe.

She frowned, adding another plan to her mind: she would have to see if she could get some sturdy pins and nails tomorrow.

Perhaps we can find an old lock, and then try to get some thick wooden planks to make a door that can actually be latched from the inside.

Xu Xiaoyan was awakened by a bone-chilling cold.

She checked the zipper of the makeshift tent, wrapped the blanket around herself tightly, but could still feel that the temperature was significantly lower than the day before; the front of the cold wave had arrived.

She quickly got up and moved her somewhat frozen hands and feet.

The first thing to do was to check if the firewood piled in the corner and the bag of pine needles and leaves used for starting the fire were damp. Fortunately, the inside of the cave was relatively dry.

She took some pine needles and chopped some small pieces of dry firewood from a bundle of firewood, skillfully piled them into a small heap in the center of the cave, and lit them with a lighter.

The orange-red flames were initially weak, but gradually grew stronger as the dry pine needles and tinder were ignited.

By the firelight, Xu Xiaoyan ate a packet of instant noodles for breakfast, pondering her plans for the day.

The primary task was to go to the exchange office, secure the eighty work points, and then exchange them for the urgently needed cement and materials to reinforce the tunnel entrance as soon as possible.

She cleared away the obstruction at the entrance of the cave. Outside, the sky was overcast, and many people had already set off to pick wild fruits or gather dry branches, their steps hurried.

Xu Xiaoyan arrived at the supplies exchange area, which was more crowded than usual, clearly indicating that many people wanted to exchange for supplies before the weather completely deteriorated.

She went directly to Manager Wu, who, upon seeing her, smiled and spoke before she could even speak.

"Comrade Xu, we've been waiting for you! The team returned in the early hours of the morning with a great harvest! Your eighty work points have been recorded. Here, this is your voucher." He handed over a stamped piece of cardboard.

Seeing the clearly marked "eighty" on the receipt, Xu Xiaoyan felt reassured and immediately asked:

"Manager Wu, I'd like to exchange some cement, and I also need some sturdy bolts, hinges, locks, and long nails. It would be even better if I could borrow a machete and a saw."

"There's still plenty of cement, and things like latches and hinges..." Supervisor Wu glanced at the supplies list. "We don't have many tools, but we happen to have a few sets left over from before. That should be enough for your work points. I'll give you a receipt."

The exchange process went smoothly. Xu Xiaoyan used some of her work points to exchange for two bags of low-grade cement, a set of somewhat old but sturdy metal latches and hinges, and a small bag of long iron nails.

She even got an extra old-fashioned padlock that looked very heavy and a small piece of thick steel plate, which she decided on a whim to use to reinforce the latch area.

Carrying the heavy materials back to the cave, Xu Xiaoyan immediately got to work.

She first went to the edge of the reservoir and filled it with some sand and water. Then she mixed the sand and cement in a rough ratio and carefully stirred it with water.

Having no experience in plastering, she simply relied on her intuition to roughly apply a layer of cement mortar along the inside of the cave wall.

Special attention was paid to reinforcing the areas above and on the sides that might be loose. Although the surface was uneven, the cave walls did appear much sturdier and smoother, effectively preventing soil from falling down.

Next, she began to work on the entrance. She selected the thickest and flattest pieces of wood she had collected the day before and painstakingly shaped them into a suitable form with an entrenching tool.

Then she nailed the wooden door together with long nails, making it rough but exceptionally sturdy. After leaving ventilation holes, she used long screws to firmly fix the thick hinges she had acquired to the cement base of the wooden door and the cave wall.

On the inside of the door, she installed the sturdy latch, and at the latch's engagement point, she used long nails to firmly drive the small steel plate deep into the wooden door frame to prevent it from being easily pried open.

Finally, she installed the heavy padlock latch on the outside of the door, put on the big lock, and by the time she finished, it was almost dusk.

Xu Xiaoyan struggled to close the heavy wooden door, inserted the thick bolt from the inside, and then locked it. Although locking it from the inside was a bit redundant, the double security made her feel more at ease.

The click of the latch locking was exceptionally clear in the narrow cave.

In an instant, most of the sounds outside the cave seemed to be shut out. The newly plastered cement walls were rough but dry, and the fire in the center burned steadily, releasing reassuring heat.