Chapter 91: Chapter Ninety: Squatting Spot

For those born in a food-loving nation, often, food is the most basic and also the most intuitive perception of this world.

As long as there is something to eat, nothing else matters.

Lu Shanshan finally understood why these people's appearance and mental state seemed unchanged from before; to them, the apocalypse was merely a change of residence.

Quite obvious.

Just this mouthful of hot food was enough to put them above others.

Studies show that long-term consumption of raw meat and blood can alter a person's temperament, even their mind.

……

The four people devoured the greasy pancakes at a speed they could hardly imagine, even licking the plates clean, still not satisfied.

But Dong Junwei did not continue to provide them with food; on one hand, she feared they would overeat and harm themselves, and on the other, without a stable food source, she had to be frugal; besides, she understood the principle that kindness should not be exhausted.

"Eating this well, this won't be a last meal before execution, will it?"

The male student named Xue Xu, who has the ability to fart, obviously has an odd imagination; after eating, he looked around with a cautious expression.

"If we were really going to be executed, we wouldn't have so much grain to waste."

Dong Junwei smiled and continued, "If you have nowhere to go for now, you can stay here; we can provide food, water, and shelter, but you must exchange labor for them, after all, times are tough for everyone."

She did not directly invite them, but used this appeasing method to keep them first.

If she invited them directly and they refused, she would be in a dilemma; Qiming's charter had just been established, allowing even existing members to leave freely, let alone forcing others to join.

However, according to Chen Mu and Tang Jing, these four people would be of great help to the team, so they must be retained no matter what.

Speaking of it, it's funny.

In Chen Mu's view, it is actually Qiming that needs them more.

Put bluntly, the so-called appeasement method actually carries a hint of coercion.

Although Dong Junwei and Chen Mu dislike doing this, in this situation they have no choice but to resort to some tactics.

After all, given the current situation, special ability is the primary productive force; suddenly gaining four ability-users cannot be easily abandoned.

And Lu Shanshan and the others obviously hadn't thought that far.

After dawn, they finally saw the room's environment clearly.

In the overall layout, this is still just an ordinary storage room.

Yet, when measured by today's human standards, it is astonishing.

The two rooms that Chen Mu had repeatedly worked on and repaired now look as refined as before, hardly different from the old bungalows.

Not far to the side is the kitchen and stove.

When Du Jia Jia was just cooking, the four of them watched her skilled movements, and the various bottles and jars of oil, salt, and condiments on the stove made them feel as if they had returned to the pre-apocalypse home kitchen.

The most astonishing thing was the water diversion system.

A huge plastic water tank stood beside the door, full of clear water, giving a strong visual impact.

And the series of pipes and devices connected to it left Lu Shanshan and the others utterly bewildered.

Has industrial civilization been revived?

Finally, when Dong Junwei pointed out the location of the toilet to them, the four people could no longer speak.

The thought of clinging to a powerful thigh filled their minds.

At this point, even if they were driven away, they would cling shamelessly to stay.

"What exactly do we need to do?"

Lu Shanshan had an extra thought; after all, they were already living well, so there was obviously no need to add more useless people—if they had no utility, who would accept them?

Dong Junwei smiled and said, "Naturally, it's whatever you can do; in the team, everyone has a division of labor, and if you awaken a special ability, you will certainly be assigned tasks related to that ability first."

"But our abilities are still weak."

Lu Shanshan had some understanding of her ability, but when actually putting it into practice, she found she could do very little; the people around her seemed the same, as if God had opened the door for them but only left a crack, making them itch unbearably.

"Everyone grows from weak to strong step by step; moreover, even without ability, one can do many other things, so there's no need to worry about this at all."

"Well, if you don't despise us, I'd like to stay; uh... as long as there's food like just now, I'll do anything." Lu Shanshan finally made up her mind.

"Me too."

"Me too......"

"......"

The four people, long tormented by hunger, all expressed their willingness.

For this result, Chen Mu could somewhat anticipate it, yet he still felt relieved; these four people, especially Lu Shanshan, played a crucial role for him.

……

Although they had not formally joined Qiming in any real sense, Dong Junwei still arranged benefits for the four according to the standards of official members.

Name-engraved plates and cups; exclusive toilet squatting spots.

As for the latter, the reason they did not consider sharing it but instead made sixteen individual squatting spots was partly because there was enough space, and partly for hygiene.

In fact, with today's human physique, the feces produced are tiny; the smaller the volume, the higher the surface-area-to-volume ratio, causing rapid moisture evaporation.

Therefore, if it is just a lump of feces, it will dry quickly; in that case, both smell and visual effect become more tolerable—certain innate human tendencies make people, even knowing it's disgusting, still want to glance at it.

Under the current inability to dispose of waste, this is relatively easy to accept and also easier to clean out.

But if everyone shared the squatting spot, it is likely that feces would not dry before another lump of the same kind gets smeared on one's face, creating a vicious cycle.

Moreover, most importantly, the feeling of looking at someone else's feces versus one's own is clearly different.

For this reason, after Chen Mu's abilities grew, he further modified the toilet.

Now, each person's squatting spot is divided front and back, so as to separate urination and defecation as much as possible, also aiding moisture evaporation.

Additionally, handrails were added on both sides of the squatting spot to prevent leg numbness from prolonged squatting that would make standing up difficult.

Chen Mu even considered changing the toilet to a seated flush in the future……

This is an interesting topic, but it is very practical.

When Chen Mu and Tang Jing were discussing this issue initially, even Dong Junwei and the others had strange expressions, but only after the toilet was built did everyone understand its benefits.

Of course, drainage still needs to be considered.

After all, no matter how dry, feces remain feces; they cannot become pleasant-smelling, and constantly having people clean them out is not a long-term solution.