Now wasn't the time to interrupt the bubbling warmth of their happiness or call everyone to sit and eat. Just watching Jing Shu eat and listening to her voice as she talked about everything she had seen and experienced throughout these past few months was already the family's greatest joy.
Jing An had gone out into the dim evening light to pick her up. When Jing Shu drove the heavy German MAN RV from the cracked asphalt of the rundown airfield to the new settlement, she finally arrived at the back hill situated behind the Banana Community villas. It stood as the highest and flattest spot in the whole area, offering a rare sense of level ground.
Not far away, a deep trench remained; it had split open months ago, swallowing countless people into its dark maw. But so what? A few days later, people still went down into those depths for the corpses, scavenging just for 0.1 virtual coins per body. The shelter in District where she had stayed before leaving the country couldn't fit so many people anymore. Half a month later, the desperate Banana Community folks moved back here.
Now the entire area was packed tight with makeshift housing and shanties. Around ninety thousand people from the Banana Community slept here at night, huddled together in the dark, before heading out to find work by day. The remaining ten thousand were, naturally, gone forever.
The RV drove down an open road, the powerful beams of its headlights slicing through the thick darkness. Countless pairs of black eyes watched the vehicle's progress from the deep shadows, whispers echoing on both sides of the path.
"Look, that's the one. It belongs to the family in that villa. I heard they've got a bunch of BMWs and Benzes."
"Looks like they've got Ferraris too, at least two of them."
"You think that cannon on top is real?"
"Of course it's. Someone tried to sneak in a few nights ago and ended up fried by the electric grid. The officials came to collect the scorched corpse and even warned everyone not to steal or vandalize other people's property, or they would die for nothing."
The German MAN finally stopped behind the villa. Jing Shu's jaw dropped in genuine surprise as she looked around. She had only been gone a few months, yet the place had completely changed.
Grandpa Jing pointed proudly at the newly expanded backyard, which now spanned over three hundred square meters of cleared earth. "So, what do you think of this area?"
She gave him a thumbs-up. "Amazing! It must have cost a ton of virtual coins, right? This space is even bigger than our villa. We can add so much more now."
Grandpa Jing coughed and raised a hand, showing five fingers in the dim light. "You know how crowded the back hill has gotten. It isn't like before. We spent fifty thousand virtual coins to buy this land permanently. Your dad and I just finished renovating it a few days ago."
Jing Shu stared at the newly expanded backyard, her eyes sweeping over the perimeter, utterly impressed. She hadn't expected her father and grandfather to pull something like this off. More than the money, it took real guts to claim such a plot. Was this really the same soft-hearted man she called Dad? No, this kind of bold spending could only be her mother's doing.
She glanced at her mother, who looked perfectly composed and in control of the situation, and she silently agreed.
Before the earthquakes, the villa's only entrance had been through the community's front gate. The yard wasn't big, measuring just over sixty square meters. Besides the narrow cement path leading to the front door, every inch had been carefully planned by her. There was farmland, a fish pond, and small coops for poultry.
Two trees stood tall against the sky, and under the eaves near the gate, she had built a small room for Zijin. To the left of the gate was a warehouse that they used as a coal room and the Song MAX garage, where the electric car could charge. The right side connected directly to Su Mali's villa.
That was the end of Villa Number 1 in their block.
Behind it was a narrow alley, just wide enough for a boiler room, a small barbecue kiln, and another coal shed to fit.
The entire place had been turned into a fortress, airtight and self-sufficient for survival. Supplies filled the basement, the living room, the kitchen, and even the bedrooms. Even Grandma Jing's room was packed with silkworm trays. The only downside was that the interior of the villa had become too cramped.
Before, the backyard had been completely sealed off from the world, though you could still see the rise of the back hill from the second-floor window. The RV's garage had been built at the foot of that hill, but now, after a few months away, she saw that her father had opened a new gate in the backyard.
That meant they could enter and exit not just from the community's front gate but also directly from the backyard to the back hill. In the third year of frequent earthquakes, this was crucial for safety. If anything went wrong, they could immediately retreat to the spacious three-hundred-square-meter yard.
"But we don't dare sleep inside the villa at night," her father said, his voice lowering as he looked toward the house. "We all stay in the RVs parked in the back hill yard. If something happens, we can drive off right away."
Even if the buildings up front collapsed again, the debris wouldn't reach the safety of the courtyard.
The backyard gate remained tightly sealed against intruders. Beyond it lay a massive enclosed yard, twenty meters long and just as wide as the villa itself. Jing An and Grandpa Jing had built three-meter-high mud walls around its perimeter.
The villa was still a fortress, but now it had this wide open yard attached. The defense system wasn't fully set up yet; for now, only the mud walls were finished. Just a few days ago, someone had climbed over to steal things and got electrocuted by the RV's electric grid.
With a heavy thud, the yard gate closed, and the RV rolled into the open courtyard. The people outside who were watching looked a little disappointed. Some even thought about climbing the wall for a peek into the rich folks' lives, but the thin electric wires running along the top made that thought suicidal.
"Once we finish the defenses, we will start raising cattle, sheep, and pigs here. Chickens and ducks will stay in the front yard," Grandma Jing said while feeding Xiao Dou some crunchy crab shells. "In times like these, the more poultry we raise, the better it's for us."
Jing Shu's brow furrowed. She had already shared all her stories, and now it was her family's turn to talk. Still, one truth remained; a family's strength couldn't depend on just one person. Everyone had to toughen up.
Su Lanzhi nodded approvingly. "We've got plenty of red nematode patties, so it's a good idea to raise more poultry. They will only get more valuable, and we can always sell some later."
Jing Shu's gaze drifted into the distance, looking toward the dark horizon. It seemed the family hadn't just bought this land for safety but also to expand their breeding operations and grow their livestock numbers.
But she knew something they didn't. Next year, a massive landslide would hit this very ground. After the droughts, floods, and earthquakes, this villa would finally be half-buried under the heavy mud rushing down from the steep mountain slope.
Especially this very back hill would suffer. In her previous life, the fourth year brought violent landslides everywhere. Rivers of mud and stones mixed with water poured down toward the lowlands in a roar. At first, nobody paid it much attention. The next year brought nonstop rains and floods, but their high ground kept them safe. By the third year, the mudflows came slowly, trickling from the mountain, and still, no one thought much of it.
Then it got worse, becoming more frequent and more destructive. Before long, the entire first floor of their villa was swallowed by the thick landslide.
Her family had lived in constant fear back then, terrified the whole house would be buried. Luckily, only the first floor was gone, and the second floor was still livable for them.
But then came winter. The cold was merciless, biting through every layer, and hunger killed countless people, including nearly Jing Shu's entire family. They had had no choice but to sell the villa for food. Not long after, everyone began the great migration of the fifth year.
"This spot isn't in a great location," Jing Shu sighed, the sound lost in the open yard. "When the landslides hit, the back hill will be the first to go." Her temples throbbed as she considered the timing. It was already nearly the fourth year, and yet her family was still expanding their livestock?
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Author Note:
From now on, "police" will be changed to "officials." You all know why.