The roads within the base were not quite suitable for a cargo truck, so what should have taken a mere ten minutes of walking ended up taking half an hour by truck to reach the destination and continue the moving process.
The workload this time was significantly greater than before.
Previously, they had only needed to move items from the shantytown dwellings to the truck. This time, in addition to unloading those items from the truck, they also had to unload the remaining thirty thousand-plus jin of food from the truck. Even with the dozen or so bodyguards hired by Ding Yun helping, it still took them a considerable amount of time.
From the time the sky was still faintly lit, at most twilight.
They continued until well over an hour after the lamps were lit.
Only then was the task finally completed.
There was no other way; these days, no one dared to be too healthy. Bodyguards relied on various weapons, not physical fitness. Each person had to carry several thousand jin. It might have been easy at first, but after two or three trips, many of them were exhausted.
Sometimes, they would need to rest for ten minutes or so between loads.
Furthermore, Ding Yun intended to live on the first floor, with the second and third floors used as storage. All these items had to be moved to the third floor.
This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the move.
Fortunately, regardless of the challenges, they managed to move and store everything within two hours. Ding Yun paid each bodyguard an extra few jin of cured meat as compensation for the additional moving work and sent them away.
Then, she pretended to be extremely exhausted.
And slumped on the ground to rest with everyone else.
In reality, with Ding Yun's martial saint physique, she could have moved all these items herself in at most ten minutes. However, the crucial point was that the humans here had no special abilities, and she couldn't afford to stand out too much.
Therefore, she had to masquerade as a weak woman.
Exhibiting only the strength similar to her parents.
Moving two loads would make her pant and need a rest.
Ding Yun waited until everyone had rested sufficiently before starting to assign rooms. Since all the items were placed on the second and third floors, and the lower floor was only for living, four rooms were available.
Her parents would take one room, her aunt and uncle another, she would have one, and her younger cousin would have one.
The two bathrooms would be designated for men and women separately.
Meals would be communal, and everything else was up to individual preference.
Afterward, they weren't in a hurry to move their personal belongings to their respective rooms. Instead, they worked together to prepare a grand feast and ate heartily. Once their stomachs were filled, they began to arrange their rooms.
By the time this was all done, it was already eight or nine o'clock.
Next, of course, was bathing, as it was unbearable to not shower after a busy afternoon.
However, the bathing conditions now were incredibly rudimentary compared to the past. There was no shampoo, conditioner, or body wash, and not even a bar of soap to be found. They could only make do with the laundry soap that had been painstakingly acquired some time ago.
In truth, this world had only entered the apocalypse for a little over a year. Even if many daily necessities were no longer produced, with so many people turning into zombies, there should have been enough for some time, and most of it hadn't expired.
But when it was relatively easy to obtain these items, everyone was busy escaping, busy storing food, and had no time for such things.
Later, as things gradually stabilized, they realized the need for these items. However, to obtain them now, one had to venture into major cities filled with zombies or large daily chemical factories. But they had no such factories nearby, and venturing into a city with millions of zombies was not easy. Who would risk their life for a bar of soap? So, they had to make do.
However, not all bases were like this.
Some bases might have a large daily chemical factory not too far away. They could obtain a large stock of goods by simply cleaning up the factory, enough for them to use for a long time. They could even use some of the equipment inside to produce their own supplies using the raw materials.
Therefore, the resources between bases were actually unbalanced. Those who were lucky might have one or two signature products, with certain items or a few items never being in short supply, while those who were unlucky might lack everything.
The advantage of the Sunflower Planting Base was that it had a large planting base nearby, ensuring a relatively sufficient food supply. As for anything else, they had nothing.
Furthermore, there were many zombies between bases, making it impossible to transport supplies by train or other means. Only air transport was feasible, and only a select few super-large bases had the capacity for air transport.
It was difficult for ordinary bases to exchange resources.
Therefore, there was nothing that could be done about the deteriorating living conditions.
However, Ding Yun's cultivation had long reached a level where not even a speck of dust could cling to her. Thus, she merely went in for a symbolic rinse and came out.
Afterward, she sat in the living room and waited until everyone had finished bathing before calling out to them.
"Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, and Xiao Hui.
Please sit down for a moment, and let's chat. Tell me what else you are lacking. I noticed our daily necessities seem quite scarce. Please discuss it carefully and see what else you need.
I'll have some time tomorrow to go out and look for them."
Ding Yun couldn't conjure daily necessities or clothing out of thin air, but the city was full of them. The only issue was the zombies. However, Ding Yun wasn't afraid of zombies. Since she had the ability to retrieve some items, why should she deliberately pretend and make her whole family suffer?
"Xiao Yun, where are you going to look?
You're not thinking of going into the zombie hordes, are you? Don't scare me. We should honestly stay in the base and live a peaceful life. It's fine if living conditions are a bit worse; it's not like we're starving to death.
I'm telling you, you absolutely must not go out.
If you still recognize me as your mother, don't try to be a hero. Don't think that because things were fine before, they'll be fine in the future. What if you accidentally get touched by a zombie?
Pah, pah, pah, there's no 'what if.'
In short, I don't agree, and you are not allowed to go out. Stay home. We've only just reunited; at least spend some time with me and your dad. Your dad and I have been using that laundry soap for over half a year, and there's no problem. If you really want soap, we can take some cured meat to the trading market tomorrow. Perhaps someone will be willing to trade. Don't rush into the zombie horde and take risks!"
As soon as Ding Yun finished speaking, her mother, Zhao Xinya, vehemently opposed her with great emotion. In her eyes, her daughter was a delicate young girl, and getting so much food was likely due to past good karma.
A pie falling from the sky, or something similar.
But asking her to risk her life again to find things? That would be asking for her death. If anything were to happen.
How could they bear it?