Now wasn't the time to interrupt their happiness or call everyone to eat. Just watching Jing Shu eat and listening to her talk about everything she'd seen and experienced these past few months was already the family's greatest joy.
Jing An had gone out to pick her up. When Jing Shu drove the German MAN RV from the rundown airfield to the new settlement, she arrived at the back hill behind the Banana Community villas. It was the highest and flattest spot in the whole area.
Not far away was a deep trench that had split open months ago, swallowing countless people. But so what? A few days later, people still went down there for the corpses, just for 0.1 virtual coins. The shelter in Spirit Spring District where she'd stayed before leaving the country couldn't fit so many people anymore, so half a month later, the Banana Community folks moved back here.
Now the entire area was packed with makeshift housing. Around ninety thousand people from the Banana Community slept here at night, heading out to find work by day. The remaining ten thousand were, naturally, gone.
The RV drove down an open road, its headlights slicing through the darkness. Countless pairs of black eyes watched from the shadows, whispers echoing on both sides.
"Look, that's the one. 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's real?"
"Of course it is. Someone tried to sneak in a few nights ago, ended up fried by the electric grid. The officials came to collect the corpse and even warned everyone not to steal or vandalize other people's property, or they'd die for nothing."
The German MAN finally stopped behind the villa. Jing Shu's jaw dropped. She'd only been gone a few months, yet the place had completely changed.
Grandpa Jing pointed proudly at the newly expanded backyard, now over three hundred square meters. "So, what do you think of this area?"
She gave him a thumbs-up. "Amazing! Must've 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. "You know how crowded the back hill's gotten. It's not 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 couldn't help but stare at the newly expanded backyard, utterly impressed. She hadn't expected her father and grandfather to pull something like this off. More than the money, it took real guts. 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, and silently agreed.
Before the earthquakes, the villa's only entrance had been through the community's front gate. The yard wasn't big, just over sixty square meters. Besides the cement path leading to the front door, every inch had been carefully planned by her: farmland, a fish pond, and small coops for poultry. Two trees stood tall, and under the eaves near the gate, she'd built a small room for Zijin. To the left of the gate was a warehouse (used as a coal room) and the Song MAX garage, where the car could charge. The right side connected directly to Su Mali's villa.
That was the end of Villa No. 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.
The entire place had been turned into a fortress, airtight and self-sufficient. Supplies filled the basement, living room, kitchen, and bedrooms. Even Grandma Jing's room was packed with silkworm trays. The only downside was that the villa had become too cramped.
Before, the backyard had been completely sealed off, though you could still see 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. 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. "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, they wouldn't reach the courtyard.
The backyard gate remained tightly sealed. 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 it.
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 walls were finished. Just a few days ago, someone had climbed over to steal things and got electrocuted by the RV's grid.
With a heavy thud, the yard gate closed, and the RV rolled into the open courtyard. People outside watching looked a little disappointed. Some even thought about climbing the wall for a peek into the rich folks' lives, but the electric wires on top made that thought suicidal.
"Once we finish the defenses, we'll start raising cattle, sheep, and pigs here. Chickens and ducks will stay in the front yard," Grandma Jing said while feeding Xiao Dou some crab shells. "In times like these, the more poultry we raise, the better."
Jing Shu frowned. She'd 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'll only get more valuable, and we can always sell some later."
Jing Shu's gaze drifted into the distance. 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. After the droughts, floods, and earthquakes, this villa would finally be half-buried under the mud rushing down from the mountain slope.
Especially this very back hill. In her previous life, the fourth year brought violent landslides everywhere. Rivers of mud and stones mixed with water poured down toward the lowlands. 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, more frequent, more destructive. Before long, the entire first floor of their villa was swallowed by the landslide.
Her family had lived in constant fear, terrified the whole house would be buried. Luckily, only the first floor was gone, and the second floor was still livable.
But then came winter. The cold was merciless, and hunger killed countless people, including nearly Jing Shu's entire family. They'd had no choice but to sell the villa for food. Not long after, everyone began the great migration of the fifth year.
"This spot's not in a great location," Jing Shu sighed. "When the landslides hit, the back hill will be the first to go." Her temples throbbed. 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.