After lunch, Su Nian did not stop to rest.
Xingxing had fallen asleep on the bed, the blanket tucked up to his chin, his teddy bear nestled against his cheek. She stood quietly by the bedside for a while before pulling the curtains closed.
They were temporary blackout curtains she had installed that morning, nailed directly to the window frame. They blocked most of the sunlight from outside, dimming the room until Xingxing’s gentle breathing became even more distinct.
Su Nian quietly closed the door behind her and went downstairs.
The cracks in the courtyard wall needed to be repaired first.
She searched through her storage space and found bags of cement and sand that she had stocked up on before the Apocalypse, along with a trowel and a bucket.
A layer of dust had settled over the cement bag. She tore it open, poured some into the bucket, added sand and water, then mixed everything together with a shovel.
Carrying the bucket of cement, she walked over to the base of the wall.
The largest crack stretched from the top of the wall down to about waist height, and at its widest point, two fingers could fit inside.
Su Nian scooped up some cement with the trowel and pressed it into the crack.
The first layer failed to stick properly, and a small piece fell off. She immediately applied another layer, pushing it firmly into the gap.
The sharp smell of wet cement filled her nose. It was slightly choking, yet it gave her an overwhelming sense of security.
The sun gradually shifted westward, baking her back until it felt hot, while a thin layer of sweat formed at the back of her neck. After finishing one crack, she stood up to rub her aching waist before crouching down again to repair the next one.
Once all the cracks had been filled, she took rolls of wire mesh out of her storage space.
Each roll was over ten meters long, and she had bought several different widths. The cut edges were extremely sharp, and a moment of carelessness was enough to slice her hands.
She spread the wire mesh along the top of the wall, cut it to size with pliers, then tightly fastened it to the exposed steel reinforcement rods with wire.
As she twisted the wire into place, it dug into her hand and left a red mark, but she paid it no attention.
Reinforcing the front gate was much simpler than repairing the wall.
The heavy iron gate itself was still sturdy enough. The main problems were the hinges and the latch.
The hinges squealed loudly whenever the gate opened or closed because they had long since run dry. She poured on a little lubricating oil and opened and closed the gate several times until the noise became much quieter.
She replaced the old latch with a new one and added a heavy iron bolt to the inside of the gate. Once it was secured from within, no one outside would be able to force it open.
After finishing that, Su Nian turned her attention to the well in the corner of the courtyard.
She had already pried away the stone slab covering it and peered inside.
The water looked much clearer than it had the day before, but she could still see fallen leaves and gravel settled at the bottom.
It would be fine for washing clothes, but she was not comfortable drinking it.
It still needed to be cleaned.
She took a bucket from her storage space, tied a long rope to it, lowered it into the well, and drew up a full bucket of water.
After pouring it into a basin, she found that it was slightly yellowish, with a layer of fine sand settled at the bottom.
Setting the bucket aside, she took out a long handled net, tied it to a bamboo pole, and lowered it to the bottom of the well to scoop out the fallen leaves.
The leaves she pulled up had already rotted into black mush, carrying the damp smell of mud.
She scooped more than a dozen times until nothing else came up in the net.
Next, she scrubbed the walls of the well using a homemade long handled brush before rinsing everything thoroughly with clean water.
Even then, it still was not enough.
She searched through her storage space and found a bottle of alum.
She tossed two small pieces, each about the size of a fingernail, into the well. They sank without making much of a splash.
Several minutes passed, but there was no visible change on the surface.
She then took out a blister pack of chlorine dioxide effervescent tablets.
The tablets were small and white. After checking the instructions, she saw that one tablet treated one hundred liters of water.
Estimating the volume of the well, she dropped four tablets inside.
The instant they touched the water, they began fizzing.
The soft hissing sound was barely audible as countless tiny bubbles spread across the surface, resembling a pot of water just before it reached a boil.
A faint scent of disinfectant drifted up from the well.
It was noticeable without being overpowering.
Su Nian replaced the stone slab, leaving only a narrow gap for ventilation.
After waiting a few hours, the water would be safe to use.
The most time consuming task in the courtyard was clearing the weeds.
Their roots ran deep, and pulling them out required tremendous effort. Su Nian decided it was unnecessary. Instead, she cut them down with a sickle. Once dried, they could be used as kindling.
She found a sickle in her storage space, bent over, and swung it repeatedly.
The swishing sound of grass stalks being cut echoed through the courtyard as patch after patch collapsed, and she piled the cut grass neatly against the wall.
Once the courtyard had been cleared, the original concrete and bare earth beneath finally reappeared.
Cracks ran through the concrete, with small stones embedded inside them.
Su Nian swept the grass clippings into a pile, then filled a bucket with water and splashed it over the ground to keep the dust down.
She then searched through her storage space for more curtains.
In the remaining upstairs rooms, she hammered nails into the window frames and hung blackout curtains over them.
The rooms instantly became much darker, and from outside, it was impossible to see anything within.
After finishing that, she went downstairs and looked into the kitchen.
The stove was built from bricks.
It was crude, but still usable.
An old iron wok sat on top, its bottom heavily rusted. Su Nian threw it away without hesitation and replaced it with a brand new one from her storage space.
The last thing she needed to take care of was the vegetable plot inside her storage space.
She sat down on the steps, closed her eyes, and let her consciousness sink into the space.
The twenty square meters of black soil were soft and fertile.
The leafy vegetables she had planted previously had already begun sprouting.
She crouched down, pulled out a few weeds, and loosened the soil.
Then she took out several packets of seeds, bok choy, spinach, and lettuce, tore them open, and scattered the seeds over the freshly turned earth.
Only after finishing everything did she withdraw from the storage space.
The sun had already begun sinking toward the west.
Sitting on the steps, Su Nian looked across the courtyard.
After working nonstop all afternoon, her waist and back ached, tiny cuts from the wire mesh covered her fingers, and black mud had worked its way beneath her fingernails.
The walls had been repaired.
The wire mesh had been installed.
The gate had been reinforced.
The well had been cleaned.
The weeds had been cut.
The curtains had been hung.
The vegetables had been planted.
Leaning against the doorframe, she closed her eyes and rested for several minutes before going upstairs to check on Xingxing.
The moment she reached the second floor, she froze.
Someone was coming from the foot of the mountain.
Su Nian immediately hid behind the door, afraid that whoever was below might look up and spot her.
After waiting for a while, she cautiously peeked outside through the narrow gap in the doorway.
Four people were crossing the stone bridge at the entrance to the village.
Two men and two women.
All of them carried backpacks.
One of the men limped as he walked, while the other supported him.
The two women followed behind, one older and one younger.
They moved slowly, constantly looking back over their shoulders.
Su Nian remained perfectly still, her hand reaching for the machete leaning against the doorway.
They had spotted the house as well.
The younger woman raised her hand and pointed toward it while saying something.
The limping man nodded.
Then all four of them started climbing toward the house.
Su Nian quietly told Xingxing to hide inside the room and not make a sound.
About an hour later, footsteps echoed outside the courtyard.
They drew closer and closer before finally stopping in front of the iron gate.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Someone knocked on the door, neither hurried nor impatient.
“Is anyone there?”
It was a man’s voice. He sounded to be in his thirties, with a loud but polite tone.
Su Nian did not answer.
She stood behind the upstairs window, concealed by the blackout curtain.
From outside, no one could see her.
The knocking came three more times.
“We’re not bad people. We’re just passing through. It’s getting dark, and we’d like to find a place to rest for the night. We’d appreciate it if you could help us out.”
Peering through a narrow gap in the curtain, Su Nian watched the four people standing outside the gate.
They looked exhausted.
None of them appeared to be carrying weapons, at least none that she could see.
But the man who had been knocking never stopped examining the courtyard wall.
His gaze traveled from the top of the wall all the way to its base before lingering briefly on the wire mesh.
Su Nian tightened her grip on the machete.
She had no intention of opening the gate.