Chapter 1342: Building a House in Territory Three

"Patrolled half the night, didn't catch a single intruder, only two red-light rabbits." The next day, Wu Lianmin, who had come to Territory Three to help with work, brought up the previous night and sighed.

Last night, Wu Lianmin and Wang Man went to patrol the Evolution Forest outside Northern District One, but the intruders from Northern District Three never came this way at all!

Kuang Qingwei, whose facial pits burned by the acid rain were nearly gone after using the scar remover, smiled and looked much more affable. "The intruders are here to steal grain, not to seek death. They definitely wouldn't dare come to our place."

Shi Du nodded along. "Exactly. The whole Hui City knows we've got two top snipers and several hundred veterans here. Our safety rating isn't any worse than the inner city of the safe zone."

Tang Huai disagreed. "The inner city of the safe zone isn't as good as our place. Our place has more of a human touch."

Little Shiyi, who was helping out alongside Tan Qi, picked up on everyone's cheerful mood and grinned broadly along with them.

Many hands make light work, and what's more, there were seven strength-evolution users here, two of whom were professional construction workers. Everyone quickly poured the concrete cushion layer, then tied the rebar and poured the concrete columns.

After the concrete columns were poured, they had to wait two hours before pouring the beams and slabs, so the morning's construction task was done; the rest of the work would have to wait until the afternoon.

It wasn't yet noon, so Xia Qing invited everyone to her place to sit down and have some water before heading off.

Everyone who came today was an ally. Although Xia Qing had said in advance she wouldn't be serving a meal, after everyone worked half a day, she ought to at least offer them some water.

It was rare for everyone to gather like this, and they wanted to chat together a while longer, so they followed Xia Qing into her courtyard.

Xia Qing's two-story small building, the rack building on the east side of the small building, the sheep pen and chicken coop on the west side of the courtyard, and the small greenhouse set up on the east side of the courtyard were all laid out plainly before everyone's eyes.

Territory Seventeen lord Wen Nengjie remarked with feeling, "This small building looks like it was just built before the catastrophe. Sister Qing's luck is really good."

Wu Lianmin, whose sense of smell was sharp, stared at the cage in the corner under the eaves and asked curiously, "Sister Qing, what's in that cage?"

The moment Wu Lianmin spoke, everyone's attention focused on the two little monkeys huddled together and trembling in the cage in the corner of the wall—especially the two little ones, Tan Qi and Little Shiyi, whose eyes went wide.

Huo Zhun in the crowd looked at Daigua's wooden expression in the cage, his own face a little hard to read.

Unlike Wolf Lao Er, these two monkeys had been brought in through proper channels. So today, when the lords came over to help with work, Xia Qing had the boss go protect his big toon tree and little yellow cow, and Wolf Lao Er go to Territory Forty-Nine's Mountain District Three to guard the wild boar valley; the two little monkeys were locked in the cage by her.

"Those are two white-faced langur monkeys infected with the evolution fungus and currently undergoing treatment. They're pretty timid, and their combat power is very low—they can't hurt anyone." Xia Qing walked over, opened the entrance to the insect-proof net under the eaves, then swiped the door open and invited everyone inside to sit.

Lord Huo Lei directly spoke for everyone in declining. "We're all covered in dirt. Sitting here under the eaves is fine."

Everyone echoed their agreement.

Xia Qing certainly wouldn't insist, and called Hearing Xin Yu and a few others to follow her inside to move the table and stools.

Xia Qing and Yuan Yan carried the table she ate at out under the eaves; Wang Man and Hearing Zhu Li brought out a few small wooden stools and chairs for everyone to sit and rest.

When Hearing Xin Yu came out of the house carrying a thermos, Wu Lianmin, the smell-evolution user, lit up again. "Great tea!"

Xia Qing explained, "This is tea I traded with Third Brother. Everyone, have a taste."

Wen Nengjie held the disposable paper cup in both hands, his face full of emotion. "I haven't smelled such authentic tea in ten years. Today I'm riding on Sister Qing's coattails."

Tang Huai shot Wen Nengjie a look and asked, "Sister Qing, did you trade this entry door with Third Brother too?"

Xia Qing nodded. "The previous door was smashed, so I switched it for a sturdier one."

Smashed by whom? Sheep Boss? There were too many people around, so although Tang Huai was curious, he didn't ask out loud.

"This door really is sturdy enough." Qi Fuyue, who planned to build a house next spring, grew more and more pleased as he looked at it, and asked Kuang Qingwei, "Old Kuang, can you get your hands on a door like this?"

Kuang Qingwei shook his head. "This is medical equipment; I haven't dealt with supplies in this area. Sister Xin, the Heavy Alliance should be able to manufacture this kind of door, right?"

Hearing Xin Yu, who was already sitting beside Xia Qing, answered, "Manufacture, five thousand points each. I can have a helicopter deliver it directly."

Hearing that a single door cost five thousand points, Qi Fu gave up. "Too expensive. I'll just make a wooden door out of red-leaf bamboo."

Lord Huo Lei, holding a disposable paper cup of tea, spoke in a muffled voice. "This door isn't just sturdy, it's airtight. Xia Qing, you need to do a good job with the ventilation ducts in this house, and be extra careful when lighting fires for cooking."

A house that's too airtight can easily cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Xia Qing nodded and asked, "Uncle Huo, do you still have forged iron? I want to trade for ten jin of it to make an iron pot."

A new kitchen calls for a new pot. Of course Xia Qing could buy a ready-made one, but she was about to start construction on an underground room and needed the sound of forging iron as cover.

Lord Huo Lei nodded. "Yes, I'll have Watching Huo Zhun deliver it to you this afternoon."

Pouring concrete in the afternoon wouldn't need this many people, so Lord Huo Lei and the others wouldn't be coming over in the afternoon.

"Sister Qing's really something—she knows everything." Wen Nengjie once again seized the chance to make his presence felt.

Tang Huai, who had been squatting by the cage watching the monkeys with Tan Qi and Little Shiyi, turned his head. "Hearing Xin Yu, you made the little monkeys' clothes, didn't you?"

Hearing Xin Yu gave a calm nod.

Tang Huai's eyes immediately lit up. "Could you make…"

Hearing Xin Yu cut him off directly. "Can't. No time."

The familiar feeling of online exchanges came rushing back. Watching Huo Zhun, Shi Du, Hearing Zhu Li, and a few others laughed themselves silly. Tang Huai wasn't annoyed either, and cheerfully asked Xia Qing, "Sister Qing, can I take a photo of these two little monkeys?"

Tan Qi and Little Shiyi also turned their heads in unison to look at Xia Qing—they wanted to take photos of the little monkeys wearing human clothes too. They looked so cute.

Xia Qing shook her head. "I can't decide that. You have to ask Third Brother."

Tang Huai, who was on Zhang San's blacklist…

This time, everyone laughed even harder.

Hearing Zhu Li asked curiously, "Sister Qing, why does Third Brother keep the little monkeys at your place? Will they be released back into the Evolution Forest once they're cured?"

Xia Qing explained calmly, "Third Brother thinks they're ugly. Once they're cured, they'll probably be released back."

Everyone…

That reason was very Third Brother.

When everyone chatted for a while and left Territory Three, Little Shiyi asked carefully, "Before Sister Qing releases the little monkeys back into the Evolution Forest, can I come see them one more time?"

Little Shiyi didn't just want to come see the monkeys—she also wanted to see her mother, whom she hadn't seen in a very, very long time. Tan Qi also looked at Xia Qing with eager eyes; she wanted to come see the monkeys too, but was afraid of disturbing Xia Qing.

Xia Qing gave a calm nod. "Sure."

"Thank you, Sister Qing!"

Seeing Tan Qi and Little Shiyi cheering happily, Mother Shi was moved and sighed, "A territory really does need children."

Children's laughter is full of energy and infectious—it lets people see hope.