Chapter 173: Zhao Ping’an’s Home

Zhao Ping’an scratched his head a little awkwardly.

“Tomorrow’s my birthday, and it just so happens that we’re having a bumper harvest of vegetables at home. My mom’s planning to cook a few extra dishes and wants to invite you both over to celebrate.”

Chu Peipei’s eyes lit up. “Really? Happy birthday! I’ll definitely be there tomorrow.”

She’d been exhausted lately from being pestered by Li Guifen and her son, so the chance to have dinner with friends made her happier than anyone.

An Nan also accepted the invitation with a smile. “What time tomorrow?”

Zhao Ping’an thought for a moment. “How about 7 p.m.? It’ll be a bit cooler by then, and it won’t mess with your rest.”

The three quickly settled the plan.

The next day, both girls showed up with gifts.

Chu Peipei brought snacks she’d been saving for herself, reluctant to eat them.

An Nan brought some chemical reagents she’d found at the Taiyu Building. These reagents might not mean much to others, but for Zhao Ping’an, they were a real treasure. After all, he often did research, and many chemical materials were now impossible to find.

Zhao Ping’an accepted the gifts a little embarrassed. “You really shouldn’t have! I’m already happy just having you here.”

As he spoke, he hurried to usher them inside.

When the two girls entered, Hu Cuilan was busy in the kitchen. Hearing the commotion, she poked her head out right away.

“You two are here? Aunt Hu still has two dishes to finish up. You three chat for a bit!”

The girls wanted to help in the kitchen, but Zhao Ping’an quickly stopped them. “No need, no need. You’re guests! Let me show you around my place.”

Only then did An Nan and Chu Peipei start to look around Zhao Ping’an’s home.

Both apartments on the 15th floor belonged to Zhao Ping’an and his mother. The one they were in now, 1501, was their living space.

The living and dining area was originally quite spacious, but now only a small part was left for the sofa and dining table—the rest was stacked to the ceiling with supplies.

This three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment even came with an attic, making it the equivalent of four rooms.

Mother and son each had their own room. Hu Cuilan’s was neat and tidy, with extra supplies stacked inside. Zhao Ping’an’s room looked more like a study, with charts and data plastered all over the walls that the girls couldn’t make heads or tails of.

Another room had been converted into a laboratory, filled with bottles and jars of reagents and all sorts of metal parts and machinery.

It was probably here that Zhao Ping’an invented all his gadgets and concoctions.

The attic was used as a storeroom, packed to the brim with supplies.

Zhao Ping’an grinned as he introduced them. “Most of the supplies in 1501 were confiscated from those people who paid us protection grain.”

He then offered to take them to 1502.

The two girls exchanged a glance, looking a bit hesitant.

An Nan spoke up. “Maybe we’ll skip that side.”

They’d seen most of the supplies in 1501, since the three of them had moved them in together. But 1502 probably held all the things Zhao Ping’an had stockpiled before the disaster.

They were just here for a meal and a get-together—no need to poke around someone else’s base of operations.

But Zhao Ping’an didn’t mind at all. He winked and said with a smile, “You really get to know people in tough times. After all we’ve been through together, I trust you both completely.”

With that, he opened the door to 1502. “Come take a look. Maybe you’ll get some new ideas for storing supplies.”

Maybe because it was fitted with a lot of security features, the door to 1502 was extra thick and sturdy. An Nan paused to study it for a moment before following him inside.

No sooner had they entered than Chu Peipei gasped in amazement. “Wow! Zhao Ping’an, this is… seriously impressive.”

Even An Nan, who was well-prepared and had seen plenty, couldn’t help but gape.

This wasn’t a regular apartment—it was basically a mini survival base!

The moment they stepped into the living room, they were greeted by a lush, green planting area.

All kinds of vegetables were growing on multi-level racks at different heights. Except for the spot reserved for the generator, every inch from floor to ceiling was filled with thriving plants.

Chu Peipei couldn’t help but exclaim, “Auntie is amazing!”

Her own family did some planting too, but nothing on this scale—just a few pots on the balcony, and they didn’t grow nearly as well.

Zhao Ping’an smiled. “Some of these are heat-resistant varieties we improved ourselves. The survival rate is high. I’ll give you both some seeds to take home later.”

On the other side, the dining room and kitchen had been converted into an animal-raising area.

The dining room was full of chickens—six big ones and about twenty newly hatched chicks. The kitchen held around forty rabbits.

An Nan was surprised. “I remember you only bought a pair of rabbits?”

Zhao Ping’an laughed. “Rabbits breed faster than chickens. As soon as I brought them home, they had a litter—fifteen baby rabbits. Then, just a month later, another litter. They have babies every month!”

He pointed at the rabbits. “Give it a little while, and even the young ones will be old enough to breed. You know about exponential explosions, right?”

Chu Peipei nodded. “One rabbit has ten babies, those ten have a hundred, a hundred have… Oh my god!”

Zhao Ping’an said, “And the new rabbits start breeding while the old ones are still going.”

Chu Peipei laughed, “In another year, you could open a rabbit farm!”

Zhao Ping’an shook his head. “Where would I get enough feed for all of them? I’ll keep two pairs for breeding, and the rest will have to be eaten.”

An Nan grinned. “What did the person who sold you the rabbits say again?”

The three of them looked at each other and burst out laughing. “You’ll never finish eating them, never!”

Zhao Ping’an grinned. “When you go home later, take a pair each. You’ll never have to worry about running out of meat again.”

An Nan thought of her own combative pets, Fugui and Laifu, and wondered: If the rabbits drank spiritual spring water, what would happen?

She readily agreed.

Chu Peipei didn’t refuse either.

Back at the water market, she hadn’t had as many supplies and was worried she couldn’t handle raising livestock, so she hadn’t bought any rabbits. But now her chicken, Xiaobai, was thriving and even laying fresh eggs for her, so she wasn’t afraid to take on two more rabbits.

Chatting, the three of them moved on to the other rooms.

1502 was also a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment with an attic. All four rooms were used as storerooms.

The first room was filled with gasoline and diesel. Some of it was neatly packaged—probably what Zhao Ping’an had stockpiled before the apocalypse. The rest was in all sorts of random containers, clearly the loose fuel they’d scavenged from the streets with Chu Peipei not long ago.

Since the room faced away from the sun, Zhao Ping’an had sealed the windows and added fireproofing.

The other three rooms were packed with daily necessities.

Most of it was food and water, with a smaller portion for various household items, and some materials Zhao Ping’an needed for his inventions."