Lin Chu exchanged all her work points at once. The amount of supplies was too much, and the exchange center didn’t provide any bags.

For a moment, she was faced with the problem of how to carry everything back.

Luckily, Wang Rui said he had a basket he could lend to Lin Chu.

He asked Lin Chu to wait for a while, then quickly ran off.

This left Lin Chu and Aunt Zhao together.

Aunt Zhao knew that Lin Chu had caught the attention of Mayor Li, so she couldn’t help but try to build a good relationship with her. She began to introduce some things about the base to Lin Chu.

Before long, someone came to the exchange center.

A man carrying a shoulder pole entered, placed the pole down, and set the two buckets from the back in front of Lin Chu, allowing her to clearly see what was inside.

It was two buckets of sludge.

Lin Chu’s eyes lit up.

The man was exchanging 2 jin of rice and 1 jin of flour.

Aunt Zhao quickly got to work, and Lin Chu didn’t disturb her.

After the man left, Lin Chu asked, “Aunt Zhao, what was that man carrying?”

Previously, it was Aunt Zhao who had been introducing things actively. This was the first time Lin Chu had asked a question herself, so Aunt Zhao immediately smiled and began explaining.

“Those two buckets? They’re filled with sludge.”

“Have you noticed that the ground here is clean, with little sand and no standing water?”

Lin Chu nodded.

Aunt Zhao said proudly, “That’s all thanks to Mayor Li. He set the rule that every three days after a heavy rain, there will be special people to clear the sludge from the ground and drainage ditches.”

“So, after each heavy rain, the water here recedes quickly.”

“Because our drainage system is very clean.”

Listening to Aunt Zhao, Lin Chu counted the days. “But today wasn’t after a heavy rain. Why are people still carrying sludge?”

“Mayor Li had people dig a big pit. The sludge cleaned out each time is dumped into that pit, and those who need it can go to the pit and take some home for farming.”

“Did you see Zhang Laosan earlier? He never exchanges for vegetables, because he grows a lot of his own.”

When Lin Chu heard this, her eyes brightened.

Wow, Mayor Li had created a huge treasure pit!

Before Lin Chu could respond, Aunt Zhao muttered to herself:

“Though it’s strange, the sludge in that pit has been much less recently. I don’t know who has been taking it. Where did they get so much space to grow vegetables…”

Upon hearing this, Lin Chu immediately understood.

The survivors who had set up shelters on the small hill had already gotten there before her and dug the pit full.

But Lin Chu wasn’t jealous.

It was all about personal choice.

Those who chose to set up shelters on the small hill had also paid the price to settle down in the base.

Some of them might not have even successfully set up shelters but instead disguised themselves as ordinary survivors to join the base.

Lin Chu still preferred her own situation.

She had her own independent space, didn’t need to live with others, and was very free.

When Wang Rui returned with the basket to help Lin Chu carry things, Lin Chu had already borrowed two buckets from Aunt Zhao.

Finally, with Wang Rui leading the way, Lin Chu went to the big sludge pit and dug two buckets of sludge before heading back home.

“So, Dr. Lin also likes to grow vegetables,” Wang Rui said, seeing her carry two buckets of sludge, looking happier than when she exchanged supplies.

Lin Chu smiled. “In these times, everyone wants to grow a few vegetables to be self-sufficient.”

Wang Rui agreed deeply with her words.

“If you need more sludge, next time I go, I can dig some and bring it to you.”

Hearing that someone was offering to help her dig sludge, Lin Chu had no reason to refuse. “It’s not much, I still need nine more buckets.”

Actually, she needed over 90 buckets, but the number was so outrageous that Lin Chu decided to leave off the extra zero.

Wang Rui was a bit surprised at first, then remembered the large terrace at Lin Chu’s place, and understood.

With such a big terrace, it would be a waste not to grow some vegetables.

They chatted casually as they boarded the speedboat, and Wang Rui drove the boat, taking Lin Chu back to the entrance of the staircase.

The water level had dropped again.

Now, the window ledge was only half a head above the water.

With no foothold, it was difficult to climb, so they had to enter through the front door.

Lin Chu didn’t ask Wang Rui to help carry her things. She made two trips to move everything back to her room, then stored it in her space.

After a while, she took the basket and two buckets out to give to Wang Rui, reminding him:

“Remember to return the buckets to Aunt Zhao.”

Wang Rui promised, then, seeing she was about to leave, called her back.

“Dr. Lin, I hope you’ll consider joining our base. Mayor Li said that if you’re willing to work in the clinic, we can give you five work points a day.”

“If you have overtime or midnight surgeries, we’ll give you an additional two work points.”

Five work points wasn’t a small amount.

Lin Chu remembered the round-faced nurse had mentioned that they only earned two work points for a full day of duty.

Mayor Li’s offer was indeed tempting.

But Lin Chu didn’t want to tie herself down with a fixed job.

She still had daily tasks to complete.

Besides, this world wasn’t exactly peaceful—poisonous big black fish, the heavy rain every three days, and the strange hostile looks from that day all made her cautious.

She valued her life.

Her primary mission was survival.

As expected, Wang Rui was rejected by Lin Chu.

He wasn’t discouraged, however. He just said, “I still hope you’ll reconsider.”

But he didn’t press the matter further. After bidding Lin Chu farewell, he prepared to leave.

At that moment, a “th-th-th-th” roaring sound came from the sky.

Both of them looked up.

A helicopter was flying in from the south and hovered above the small hill base.

A large package was dropped from the helicopter.

After a while, a soft ladder was lowered from the helicopter, and a person slowly climbed down.

“It’s Dr. Liu returning!” Wang Rui said excitedly, pointing at the person and telling Lin Chu, “That’s Dr. Liu from our base. We’ll introduce you when there’s a chance.”

When Lin Chu nodded, Wang Rui quickly started the speedboat and waved goodbye.

“Dr. Liu is back, and the base will be busy. I’ll head back now and come again another day.”

After watching Wang Rui leave, Lin Chu turned back to her room.

Little Er came out from the bedroom holding a hoe.

“Master, two men came while you were away.”