Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 150 Noisy

This means that she can rent the bungalow indefinitely at this price, and any renovations and investments made to it can be enjoyed by her indefinitely as long as the rental continues.

Having figured this out, Xu Xiaoyan no longer hesitated. She pushed open the back door and walked into the backyard. Manager Chen's distinctive gruff voice was directing the workers to lay out and measure the foundation. "Over there! Yes, that point, five centimeters to the left! Straighten the line!" He held a slightly crumpled drawing in his hand, sometimes checking it, sometimes looking up to speak.

Xu Xiaoyan composed herself and quickly walked over. Manager Chen noticed her approach, turned around, and seeing it was her, a look of "I knew it" appeared on his face. He put down the blueprints, dusted his hands, and asked, "So, what's your decision?"

"Manager Chen, I've made up my mind," Xu Xiaoyan said. "We'll proceed as you suggested, building a two-story stainless steel frame shed around the entire backyard, including the rooftop platform of my one-story house." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the busy workers and the nascent markings on the ground, before asking the most crucial question, "Um, I'd like to know, how long would it take to complete this whole construction?"

Manager Chen was not surprised by her decision. Having done so many projects at the base, he knew all too well what people needed now. He held up two fingers and gave two options: "Build a two-story building as a whole. The timeframe depends on the standard you choose."

He bent his first finger. "Firstly, the workmanship is meticulous. We will do basic heat insulation treatment on the interior and exterior walls, using mixed fiberboard pressed by the base workshop itself, which can effectively block heat and cold. The interior can be simply divided according to the buyer's requirements, such as dividing it into several small rooms, reserving window positions, laying simple wiring and pipe interfaces, and the walls can also be done with the most basic smoothing treatment. All of this will take about a month to complete." He observed Xu Xiaoyan's expression and added, "Of course, the cost will also be relatively higher."

Then, he bent his second finger, his tone quickening, "Secondly, it's a simplified project. All the frames, enclosures, and ceilings are made of standardized, prefabricated, thickened stainless steel plates and profiles. We're aiming for structural sturdiness and overall airtightness, ensuring it's windproof, snowproof, and privacy-protecting. However," he emphasized, "we won't do any interior decoration, no partitions, no pre-drilled windows (except for necessary ventilation openings), and no internal wiring or piping. To put it simply, once completed, it will be a pure, interconnected large space, like a sturdy metal box. The advantage is that it's extremely fast. If we bring in two shifts of workers, working day and night in shifts, with no breaks, it can be completed in about 5 days! Of course, if you want to modify the interior later, you'll have to figure it out yourself."

Five days compared to one month! What she needs is not a home, but a warehouse, a private domain that can firmly protect her existing resources. Whether the interior is rough or beautiful is not even within her consideration.

"I choose the simple work!" She made her decision almost the instant Director Chen finished speaking. "I only need to make sure that the room I'm currently living in remains the same and that I can enter and exit normally. All the other new spaces are storage areas for me. As long as they can provide shelter from the wind and rain, ensure safety and privacy, and have a sturdy enough structure, that's fine." She stated her needs very clearly to avoid any possible misunderstandings.

Manager Chen nodded. "Understood! Functionality is all that matters, comfort isn't." He pulled out a small electronic calculator from his pocket, quickly pressed a few buttons, and quoted a price: "If it's a simple two-story building, covering the backyard and rooftop terrace, using thickened standard panels and a reinforced frame, the total cost will be 65 points. Is that acceptable?"

65 points! A hint of pain inevitably flashed across her face, but thinking of the approaching cold, she quickly made a decision. "Okay! 65 points it is. Remember to send me the project contract and payment link. Once all your projects are completed, I will confirm the payment directly after on-site inspection."

"Great!" Manager Chen smiled. "Don't worry, our 'Iron Shield Engineering Team' has a good reputation at the base. We guarantee to get this done for you in the fastest speed and with the best materials! I'll send another team over right now, and they'll start taking turns tonight!" He immediately took out his communicator and began contacting people.

For the next two days, Xu Xiaoyan's life was filled with construction noise. She watched as workers came and went, and the huge stainless steel frame "grew" up from the ground at an astonishing speed. The heavy panels were hoisted, spliced, and locked, producing a dull and powerful metallic clanging sound. Her bungalow and backyard were gradually enveloped and covered by this increasingly large metal structure.

Seeing that the workers were focused on their work, and that her kitchen contained little more than a few bundles of firewood piled up in a prominent place, she felt somewhat relieved. Every morning, she would go out to various markets in the base to exchange for supplies she considered necessary, such as thick, heavy blackout cloths, durable paraffin candles, easy-to-light solid alcohol blocks, and locally made frostbite cream.

She thought the five days would pass smoothly, but little did she know that plans never keep up with changes.

On the afternoon of the third day, Xu Xiaoyan was carrying two rolls of thickened waterproof tarpaulin that she had just received. Before she even reached her doorstep, she heard a commotion. At first, she thought it was construction noise, but upon closer listening, she realized it was the noise of a large group of people gathered together, mixed with sharp arguments and shouts.

Xu Xiaoyan's heart sank, and she immediately quickened her pace. The closer she got to her home, the clearer the sound became. Sure enough, on the once spacious passageway outside her yard, a huge crowd had gathered! Three or four layers deep, people were standing on tiptoe, peering out, whispering, and the noisy arguments were coming from the center of the crowd—the entrance to her yard.

Her heart pounded, and pushing through the layers of onlookers, Xu Xiaoyan rushed breathlessly to the innermost circle.

The sight before her made her head go blank. Two groups of people stood clearly separated at her doorstep, pointing at each other and shouting insults, their spittle flying in the cold air.

One group consisted of Manager Chen and his workers, all wearing yellow hard hats and carrying tools such as wrenches and hammers. They looked resentful and impatient, and their clothes were covered in construction oil and dust, indicating that they had been brought directly from the construction site.

The other group consisted of residents from the two-story building next door. The leader was the same plump woman who had yelled at her from the second-floor window that day. Now, she stood with her hands on her hips, leaning forward, her face flushed red, and her mouth was firing off like a machine gun, shouting, "...Is there no law?! Is there no order?! This is an illegal building! It's damaging the environment! It must be demolished! Stop immediately!" Standing beside her were several men and women with equally hostile expressions, some old and some young, probably her family members, who chimed in, their voices rising higher and higher.

Between the two groups of agitated individuals stood two people dressed in the base's typical dark gray suits, with name tags bearing the base's insignia pinned to their chests. They appeared to be junior administrators or mediators, and were trying to separate the two sides by stretching out their arms, repeatedly saying, "Calm down! Calm down! Let's talk this out! Don't fight! The base will handle it!" But their persuasion sounded so weak and powerless amidst the fierce argument that it was completely drowned out.

Xu Xiaoyan was completely dumbfounded. What was going on? Illegal construction? Reporting? She had been focusing all her energy on the construction of the shed and the preparation of supplies these past few days, and she never expected such a complication to arise!

Overwhelmed with confusion, she was speechless for a moment. Fortunately, there was a commotion around her, and someone next to her, equally bewildered, was asking a middle-aged man who seemed to have been watching the whole thing, arms crossed and a sneer, "Brother, what's going on here? Why is it so noisy? And it's even gotten the management involved?"

The middle-aged man had clearly been watching for a while. He chuckled and explained in a voice just loud enough for everyone around him to hear, "What else could it be? Profit, envy, and a lack of common sense!" He gestured towards the house Xu Xiaoyan was working on, "This one. The homeowner spent a lot of money building a shed. It was originally a one-story house, but now they want to add two stories. The family next door," he glanced disdainfully at the plump woman's family, "is unhappy about it. They jumped out and said it's illegal construction! It's against the rules, they're shouting that it's encroaching on public space, it's unsafe, and they're demanding that the site management come and demolish it! Order them to stop construction!"

"An illegal structure?" The person who asked the question widened their eyes, looking at the rather large steel structure, then at their indignant neighbor. "And what was the result? Did the management department do anything about it? Were they really going to demolish it?"

"Manage? How?" The middle-aged man's sarcasm deepened, and his voice rose a few decibels, as if he wanted the noisy neighbors in the room to hear him. "Brother, you look unfamiliar. Are you new here? Haven't fully settled in yet?" He paused, as if about to offer some profound insight, which attracted the attention of many people.

"What's the situation at our base right now? Resources are tight, manpower is scarce. What the higher-ups most want to see is everyone finding their own way to survive, instead of relying on the base to bail them out! What's wrong with homeowners spending a lot of points to improve their accommodations and enhance their winter survival capabilities? This is clearly reducing the potential burden on the base!"

He lowered his voice, but made sure the key information was conveyed: "Besides, this house is publicly owned, but it's rented. Now the landlord has invested so much to 'upgrade' the house, but when the lease expires, won't all these invested fixed assets ultimately benefit the higher-ups? The government officials are shrewd; they know exactly what's going on! They'd be happy to see it happen! As long as it doesn't seriously affect public safety or obstruct key passageways, who has the time to care if it's an 'illegal construction'? What era are we living in? Still clinging to that old-fashioned 'urban planning' and 'illegal construction' system? That's like trying to find a sword by marking the boat where it fell into the water!"

He got more and more excited as he spoke, and then turned around to the larger crowd of onlookers, saying, "Isn't the logic obvious? A couple of days ago, didn't the official accounts of the Logistics Support Department and the Residents' Resettlement Office jointly issue various reminders and notices on the base's intranet forum? They urged everyone to find ways to stock up on winter supplies, encouraged residents with the means to reinforce their houses and take better insulation measures, and even allowed 'adaptive modifications' to their living spaces, provided that 'the main structure and necessary passage for neighbors' were not affected.' Can't you see the trend? Now we're encouraging 'everyone to use their own ingenuity' and 'self-reliance'!"

He finally gestured with his chin towards the residents next door who were still arguing with the building manager, his tone full of undisguised disdain and mockery. "Look at these people," he said, "I don't know if they've been kicked in the head by a donkey, or if they're just jealous. They can't stand seeing others do well, and they're still living in that 'civilized era' where a simple phone call to report someone could stop them from working and make them feel like they've upheld justice! They should take a good look at themselves in the mirror. What kind of world is this? Resources are earned through hard work, and safety is built by ourselves! What good does their fuss do besides making them look brainless? They're so clueless! When extreme weather comes, the first ones to suffer might be these people who are only concerned with arguing and have no intention of preparing!"

Among the crowd, a middle-aged man with sunken cheeks sighed heavily and said in a muffled voice, "Exactly! Who cares about that now? What's this about violations? Those are just words we used in peaceful times. Right now, having a safe place to stay, being able to store the little bit of stuff we've collected, and being able to sleep soundly at night without worrying about someone sneaking in or the roof collapsing under the weight of snow—that's the most important thing! Everything else is just nonsense!" His words resonated with many people around him, who nodded in agreement.

A woman next to him, carrying a worn canvas bag, added in a low voice, "That's right. We built our own shed using materials we found ourselves. Otherwise, the wind would blow in during the winter and the kids would be shivering. A heating plantation? Can a heating plantation install new radiators for every household? We still have to rely on ourselves."

An elderly man with gray hair shook his head. "Those two comrades in the management department still have to deal with these trivial neighborhood disputes. It's really difficult for them to deal with residents who can't read the wind and insist on old rules."

A middle-aged woman nearby sighed softly, "Sigh... In the end, some people just haven't completely woken up from their old dreams. Their bodies are in the base, but their minds are still stuck in that 'civilized society' where as long as you complain or make a fuss, 'the higher-ups' will always come to take care of you, judge the situation, and look after you. They don't understand, or rather, refuse to understand, that 'the higher-ups' priority now is to keep as many people alive as possible."

Standing in the crowd, listening to the discussions, Xu Xiaoyan's heart, which had been pounding wildly due to the unexpected situation, gradually calmed down.