Cave Refuge

Just as they were imagining their dominance in this refuge center, a few soldiers armed with rifles walked out.

I don't know if they were truly witless from the cold, despite the guns aimed at them, there were still people shouting that the guns the soldiers held were fake, that guns were prohibited in the summer, they were just trying to intimidate people with toy guns.

However, there were also some smart individuals among them. Upon hearing their companion's words, they instinctively dodged to the side, allowing the speaker to come forward.

The speaker, although frightened, forced a calm expression and boomed out, "What's there to fear? We have knives in our hands. Are we afraid of their toy guns?"

With these words, he started waving his knife around, making a show of preparing to attack the armed soldier.

The weapon-wielding soldier wasn't going to indulge them. Without even issuing a warning, he fired his gun directly and with precision, shooting through the knife-wielding man's forearm.

A gunshot rang out.

His vicious expression was replaced with one of pain. The bullet had pierced through his forearm. Although it didn't break his arm, it left two bloody holes.

The noisy skirmish ended somewhat anti-climactically, but the street management personnel were fearful of a repeat and therefore arranged for two people to guard the entrance.

Seeing Dong Tianyu remove his helmet voluntarily and he didn't have any weapon, they guessed that he probably didn't come here to cause trouble. So, their tense expressions relaxed and they asked Dong Tianyu cordially, "I assume you are not a member of our refuge center. What brings you here?"

When the weather wasn't so cold, members of various refuge centers would move in or out for whatever reasons.

But by now, the members of each refuge center were pretty much fixed. No one would easily switch refuge centers, hence the street management personnel wanted to know the purpose of Dong Tianyu's visit.

"My parents are in this refuge center, I'm here to see how they're doing."

Hearing this, the street management personnel looked slightly surprised. They came across such situations frequently, but most people who came to visit their relatives arrived via the subway network, not from outside which made it somewhat rare.

Even though Dong Tianyu gave a very reasonable explanation, they didn't let him enter the refuge center immediately. Instead, they said to him, "Can you tell us your parents' names? We need to confirm whether they are in here."

At this point, Mr. Thompson who was among the crowd couldn't hold back anymore, and spoke up, "Brother Wang, he's no outsider. He is my son."

Daniel was the first member entered the subway station refuge center, Mr. Thompson also moved his family in when Daniel arrived, subsequently became one of the co-operations members of the refuge center. The two gentlemen were of similar age and got along well.

So when he heard Mr. Thompson speak up, he nodded and said to the crowd, "If Dong Jun says so let's not budge here anymore. Let's disperse and don't hinder their reunion."

People dispersed hearing Daniel's words, but the soldiers stayed on, continuing to watch Dong Tianyu who standing at the entrance.

Dong Tianyu noticed their gaze on him a little later, and figured out why they were watching him. He then patted his backpack and exchanged a glance with his father.

Initially Mr. Thompson didn't understand why, despite his explanation, the soldiers still hadn't left. But when he saw Dong Tianyu pat his backpack and give him a look, he instantly understood.

Looking at Daniel who stood next to him and didn't leave, Mr. Thompson was somewhat helpless. At this moment, it was inappropriate for anyone to initiate the conversation; he had to start himself: "Son, shouldn't you be busy at work? Why have you come now?"

Seeing the opening given by his father, Dong Tianyu knew that he had no choice but to open his backpack, "We received some welfare at work, It so happened that I was on vacation. I borrowed some stuff from the others and came straight here to give it to you."

Upon hearing Dong Tianyu saying that he had borrowed things to bring them here, Mr. Thompson wasn't sure if it was true or not, but he still admonished, "How could you borrow things from others at a time like this!"

Dong Tianyu showed a wronged expression, "There are few cold-resistant clothes that we can wear outside where I work. It's a hassle to come and visit once, and I might not be able to come for several months after today.

That's why I borrowed things from others to bring to you this time. When they distribute them again, I may not be able to come, so just returned them directly. Don't worry, my colleagues also do the same."

Even though Dong Tianyu said that the items in the backpack were welfare distributed by their workplace, Daniel and the soldiers still didn't leave.

Seeing this, Dong Tianyu knew that he had to show them what's inside his backpack for them to leave.

Helpless, Dong Tianyu had no choice but to take off his backpack. Daniel, finding Dong Tianyu's action being not too over-the top, had a quiet discussion with the soldiers. All the other soldiers left to continue their patrol, leaving only the captain.

Now at the entrance, only Dong Tianyu, Mr. Thompson, street representative Daniel, and the security-in-charge soldier captain were remaining.

After opening up his backpack, Dong Tianyu first took out a few sets of vacuum-sealed compressed clothes, and then proceeded to empty out the rest of the items inside in order.

When Dong Tianyu took out two packs of cigarettes from the bag, both Daniel and the soldier captain's noses instinctively twitched. Realizing this, Dong Tianyu realized he had made the right pick with the cigarettes.

Actually, he didn't put cigarettes in his backpack when he was packing yesterday. The two packs of cigarettes that were just taken out of the bag were actually from his shadow space.

The alcohol was packed in a plain white glass bottle and looked just like pure water, so others didn't give it much attention.

What surprised Dong Tianyu was that neither Daniel nor the soldier captain reacted when he took out the chocolates. However, when he took out the hair clipper and shaver, both of them unconsciously scratched their heads.

Actually, it wasn't too surprising. At this time, chocolates were rare but not a necessity for those who were lucky to have enough food, thus it was most just a fleeting temptation for them.

However, hair clippers were another story. Now although the underground refuge center could guarantee normal drinking water, it was necessary to save as much water as possible.

Even washing their faces had turned into simply wiping with a wet cloth. Washing their hair was now a rather significant problem.

Ever since entering the underground refuge center more than two months ago, due to the difficulty in washing their hair, many people had cut their hair short with scissors.

And because there were no specific hair-cutting scissors in the refuge center, those people's hair looked ragged. A lot of them even used knives to become bald.

Due to their status and dignity, both Daniel and the Soldier Captain, even if their heads were itchy, had to find some way to wash their hair. Now with the hair clipper at hand, they could cut their hair very short, and in the future only had to wipe their heads with a towel each morning.

This would allow them to maintain both their appearances and comfort.