Chapter 293: How Qian Duoduo Died in His Past Life

Banana Community now housed 100,000 people, with each apartment packed with a dozen or so individuals. Even a whole family sharing one room was considered fortunate, not to mention those crammed into a single parking spot.

Temporary stays of a few days were manageable, but living like this for over half a year meant constant friction and petty disputes. Most conflicts arose over who used the communal areas to store salvaged items, or when someone lost a piece of clothing one day and a cup the next.

Before the apocalypse, such mundane household items were overlooked, but afterward, they became highly coveted. Many realized this too late, and by the time they went scavenging, the items were gone. So people learned to collect everything, useful or not, like junk, piling it up and finding ways to reuse it.

Survival was tough. Daily heavy rains often caused water seepage. To improve meals beyond government rations, people had to work hard. Meanwhile, they had to keep their living spaces dry. Thousands of people scooped out water daily to prevent flooding in the underground garages.

So when Jing Shu saw the neat stone houses built from huge rocks, she was truly shocked.

“Our location is on the outermost ring of the cylindrical base. This ring houses D-level employees. Each room is 5 square meters, containing a double stone bed and a storage locker. There’s a public toilet every 300 meters.”

The three entered the smallest employee room, resembling a stone cave. Using advanced cutting technology, each room had a stone bed and a stone pit for storage.

The stones were bluish, giving a fresh and comfortable feeling. The cuts were neat and square.

“Hey, there’s magma beneath this mountain. Though inactive, the temperature isn’t low,” the butler whispered. “Wu City is surrounded by dormant volcanoes. The mountains around Xishan are volcanic but have never erupted.”

Jing Shu touched the stone bed—it was warm. Laying a mat on it would be a hundred times better than the flooded underground garages. Most importantly, no rain seeped in. Though bedding was damp, it wasn’t wet.

If there really was a volcano below, this base might not leak or be damp. This one-stop base was well built.

Su Mary shook her head, “A bit small.”

“Please follow me. The second ring houses C-level managers. Each room is 15 square meters, with four rooms sharing one toilet.”

Leaving the D-level stone rooms, they entered a narrow curved corridor, reportedly a perfect circle. Running a lap would bring you back to the start.

Each employee level had dedicated passages; lower levels couldn’t enter higher-level residences.

“This feels like a standard room in an interstellar hotel. Each room has a double stone bed, stone table, sofa, and cabinet. The facilities are quite complete,” Jing Shu said, lightly lifting a stone table’s corner. She pulled hard and heard a snap—the table was uprooted.

The butler’s mouth dropped. “Wow, these furniture pieces are made from native stone, deliberately uncut. The stone is part of the mountain. You actually broke it off.”

“Uh, I thought it was made outside and brought in. Cough, let’s go to the next one.” Jing Shu was a bit embarrassed. After upgrading her Rubik’s Cube space for months, she knew her strength had increased, but she hadn’t expected to be able to handle a stone table.

The butler swallowed hard, believing the rumors about this woman disarming bombs by hand and forcibly pulling apart lit explosives.

“Please, please look. This is B-level middle management, 40 square meters, one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom.”

“This is A-level management, 70 square meters, two bedrooms, one living room, one bathroom. I’m honored to be A-level management and live here with my honey.”

Jing Shu glanced at the butler, wondering if his “honey” was male or female.

“There’s also S-level management, 100 square meters, fully equipped with electricity, free to use, and even cooking facilities. Everything is at pre-apocalypse standards.”

“The middle area is the guest room, each a 150-square-meter four-bedroom suite with electricity, natural gas, and all amenities. It’s for Mr. Qian’s VIP guests, built to the standards of Xishan’s former villas.”

“The central suite is the presidential suite, covering 500 square meters, reportedly with a swimming pool and various entertainment facilities. We don’t have access.”

Su Mary nodded repeatedly, “I really like it here.”

In the apocalypse, the environment in this Xishan base was excellent. No wonder the richest man’s investment was huge. She just wondered if the base would withstand next year’s big earthquake.

“I heard Mr. Qian recently relocated over a thousand people here?” Su Mary blinked, probing.

The butler sighed, “You can’t hide anything from a lady like you. Outside the outermost ring, there’s another ring housing non-regular workers. It’s like a train sleeper car, six people per compartment. It’s chaotic there, so we didn’t bring you.”

“You suddenly brought in so many people. Is Mr. Qian planning something big?”

The butler glanced at the guards, who stared straight ahead, then whispered, “He’s planning something huge, but I can’t say. You’ll know soon. It’s good for the country and the people. Ah, the event is starting. Let’s hurry up or we’ll be late.”

Jing Shu squinted, thinking hard. In her past life, did Qian Duoduo have some big plan? Damn, she hadn’t cared about these things before. She was slow to react and only learned about some events years later.

The group rushed from underground back upstairs. Jing Shu suddenly felt the underground stuffy and hot. The air was fresher above ground. Underground had its drawbacks and wasn’t suitable for long-term living.

“One-stop base? What’s a one-stop base? It’s the apocalypse; times have changed, and so must lifestyles. What’s most important now? Food, drink, shelter, and transportation. The Xishan one-stop base meets all these needs,” the butler began his presentation.

“The underground provides housing. The second floor is for planting and cultivating crops. The third floor is for raising poultry. The fourth floor is for agricultural processing and seasoning. The fifth floor is manufacturing. The sixth floor is for trading and auctions. And so on. Mr. Qian’s vision is to make this base a happy stone garden where everyone has a home, a job, and food!”

“Wow, wow, wow! I’m starting to remember!” The butler said the words “happy stone garden,” and Jing Shu’s mind flashed to a starving boss who died of hunger. Could that be Qian Duoduo?

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