Chapter 013: The Invincible Fortress

Master Liu swallowed hard, and Captain Chen’s jaw almost dropped. “Tempered glass is too expensive. Why not consider composite glass or concrete walls instead?”

Safety during the apocalypse was crucial, but saving time was key. Once the framework was set up, installing tempered glass would complete the job—like putting a big cover over the villa. She couldn’t afford to waste time!

“For aesthetics,” Jing Shu thought for a moment. That reason should suffice.

“Alright then, even at cost price, the company’s unsold batch of tempered glass would still be over a hundred thousand yuan,” Captain Chen quickly jotted down the materials.

“By the way, replace all the windows with triple-glazed insulating glass. It’s high-end, plus it retains heat and provides sound insulation.” Jing Shu took out the design plans and began to share her ideas one by one.

In the fourth year of the apocalypse, frequent mountain explosions and mudslides occurred. It thundered every day without rain, with lightning exploding right next to your ears. The sounds were earth-shattering; sometimes a single thunderclap would shake the entire house. Sound insulation was necessary.

The heavy snow of the fifth year left a deep impression on Jing Shu. Countless people froze or starved to death, many succumbing while digging up tree roots.

Jing Shu was covered in frostbite, which itched and hurt. When they broke and oozed pus, scabs formed, leaving large scars. Every day, she had endless work just to exchange for some bark and rotten food, which was far from enough.

Clenching her fist, she vowed that this time she wouldn’t be covered in frostbite and become disfigured.

“I want to open up the back of the villa and add a boiler room, connecting the boiler to two stoves. This way, we can cook even in winter without using gas. Also, add a heated kang bed where we can roast meat and bake naan, and build a coal storage room at the very back,” Jing Shu said, pointing to a row of corridors behind the villa, thinking about the roasted meat from a pit… *slurp*.

In the north, people use underfloor heating. The underfloor heating in Jing Shu’s villa is powered by a personal wall-mounted boiler, and you pay for however much gas you use.

But after the second year of the apocalypse, all gas and electricity resources were diverted to the artificial sun project. The government barely grew some food, and as for cooking yourself, that was impossible—you didn’t even have food.

Therefore, it’s necessary to add a boiler room to burn fuel ourselves. We can use coal or charcoal for cooking. With both underfloor heating and air conditioning, we’ll have double insulation.

Fortress Transformation Step Two: Warm in winter and cool in summer, with water and electricity, well-fed and living well!

“That’s simple; we can just open a door at the corner of your kitchen,” Captain Chen breathed a sigh of relief, fearing Jing Shu might come up with more wild ideas.

Jing Shu led the two to the front yard of the villa. “These two sides were originally planned for flowers, but now I want to dig a small pond on the left, make it deeper. I want to raise lotus flowers and fish. Install two rows of sunlight-simulating fluorescent lamps above the pond; I’m afraid of insufficient sunlight in winter.”

“The middle pathway remains unchanged. Below the right side, I want to build a water storage and circulation system, and continue planting things on top.”

Captain Chen quickly noted down the required materials. “As long as the waterproofing is done well, there won’t be any problems. Don’t worry.”

The pond is relatively small, about 8 square meters. The water storage and circulation area is over 20 square meters, and Jing Shu plans to plant vegetables on top, also over 20 square meters.

Jing Shu then led them to the courtyard entrance. “Build a storage shed here and divide it into four enclosed sections for me.” Actually, it’s to raise chickens and pigs.

After finishing the requirements outside the villa, Jing Shu led the two inside.

Her father had used the best materials and security doors and windows when renovating the villa, including a hidden basement with a security door; these didn’t need to be changed.

On the first floor: a 40-square-meter (double-height) living room, a 15-square-meter kitchen, a 20-square-meter dining room, a 20-square-meter cloakroom, a 25-square-meter bedroom (with bathroom), a 20-square-meter bedroom (with bathroom), and a 15-square-meter main hall.

“Move the dining room to the main hall, open up the kitchen and dining room to create a large kitchen, then add a row of cabinets here. According to what you said, open a door over there to connect to the boiler room.” This way, there will be space for large freezers and storage for purchased supplies.

Thinking of an oversized kitchen filled with various foods and supplies, Jing Shu felt a sense of security.

On the second floor, there’s a large master suite including a study, storage room, cloakroom, and bathroom. There’s also a living room and a bedroom.

“Convert the second-floor living room into a flower room with constant temperature.” This requires quite a bit of work—modifying water and electricity, changing pipelines, adding insulation, building racks, installing light fixtures, etc.

Finally, Jing Shu came to the 40-square-meter terrace on the third floor. Unfortunately, it had already been reserved for various water storage tanks and solar power systems. She originally wanted to plant crops, but considering the severe water shortage in the first year, she decided to place more water tanks. In the following years, she could plant some crops appropriately.

“Install a freight elevator here. In a few days, the people installing the water storage system will arrive.”

Fortress Transformation Step Three: Be able to farm, have poultry, eat eggs, and drink milk.

After spending an hour communicating ideas with Captain Chen and Master Liu, they signed a contract. The villa’s renovation was officially handed over to Master Chen’s team.

“We guarantee completion in fifteen days!”

In the afternoon, Master Chen took Jing Shu to select various materials and sign off. They chose all the materials in one day, with an estimated total cost of over 400,000 yuan, which even startled Jing Shu herself.

At dinner that evening, Jing’s father seemed hesitant to speak. Seeing his daughter wolfing down her food, he ended up saying nothing. His daughter had been smiling less recently, talking less too. She used to love dressing up, wearing different clothes every day, but now she hadn’t changed her clothes in days. What was going on?

—

On November 7th, the quail eggs in Jing Shu’s space hatched. She fed the ten newly hatched quail chicks with diluted Spirit Spring water and numbered them. She also marked new eggs and collected another batch of chicken and duck eggs.

Unfortunately, the chicken and duck eggs hadn’t hatched, even after five days. Jing Shu wondered if she should use the eggs from chicken number 1 for hatching; it might be faster.

Hen number 1 had grown even larger and could lay an exaggerated ten eggs a day. Judging by the acceleration, number 1 should be entering a decline phase, but it hadn’t; it was still the champion among hens.

Jing Shu decided to observe for another seven days. If it remained the same, she could start consuming a small amount of Spirit Spring water herself. After using it for a while without side effects, she could give some to her parents.

The growth of the cattle, sheep, and pigs was gratifying; they were already half-grown. At this rate, in another twenty days or so, the sows, ewes, and cows would mature. The males would take another month. It seemed that growth really was related to the amount of Spirit Spring water.

These days, Jing Shu was so busy she barely had time to rest. She had just installed the central air conditioning and the solar power system. She told Captain Chen to deliver the remaining appliances after the kitchen renovation was completed.

The four super-large water storage tanks almost filled the terrace, finally relieving Jing Shu’s fear of not having water to drink in the first year of the apocalypse, when she could only lick her lips and survive by swallowing saliva.

The inverted triangular tempered glass walls that Jing Shu wanted—the steel framework was fully erected, and the retractable top layer was also designed. Tomorrow, they just needed to install the glass.

Today, having half a day free, Jing Shu was going to harvest grains.