Cave Refuge

After hearing Mr. Thompson's words, Dong Tianyu understood his father's thoughts. His grandfather was of age, but still healthy.

Despite the ongoing natural calamity that was significantly affecting most people's lives, the robust elderly, like his grandfather, were less impacted.

Firstly, the social order in the Great Summer had not collapsed. Further, the food supply system had been accomplished. While Dong Tianyu didn't know much about other cities, at least Pengville had never seen any food shortage, providing even the non-contributing elderly with minimum livelihood protection.

Even during the winter, Officials were figuring out ways to increase edible items.

Dong Tianyu remembered that by the end of the winter, Pengville had established efficient mushroom farming, supplying fresh mushrooms to all the Refuge Centers.

As for the edible worm and cockroach products seen in movies, Dong Tianyu hadn't encountered those, unsure if those counted as meat. Either way, they never appeared in his past life until the Neverending Night phase.

Ordinarily, the elderly wouldn't maintain good health only eating coarse grains. But after winter subsided and the flood arrived, inundating all the underground shelters, it brought along various meats for the humans.

No one understood how fish survived the winter, but when the waters arrived, the variety of aquatic species was abundant, much to the joy of avid fishermen.

With a fish diet supplementing their nutrition, Griffin Benjamin's health remained satisfactory. Even until Dong Tianyu braved the perpetual night's dangers to explore, Griffin Benjamin was alive and well.

Thinking of this, Dong Tianyu knew that with Griffin's concern, his parents would not leave with him.

Nevertheless, this visit wasn't something happening once in a blue moon. His shelter wasn't too far from here, so he would be able to visit frequently.

The heartwarming conversation among the three it had been a long time since they last saw each other. However, every time Mrs. Thompson began inquiring about Dong Tianyu's life outside, Mr. Thompson interrupted her. After a few times, Mrs. Thompson understood what Mr. Thompson meant, hence she ceased bringing up the outside world.

Before they knew it, the three had been talking for a long time when Dong Tianyu's Aunt pushed the door curtain and entered the room.

"It's great that Tianyu is back, grandfather suggested that we all gather and have a meal. The food is ready, we are just waiting for you to sit at the table."

Hearing her sister's words, Mrs. Thompson immediately gathered everyone to follow their sister out of the room.

Those Thompson family members currently living in the L-District were centered around Dong Tianyu's family.

This included families of Mr. Thompson's four older brothers, their daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren.

Dong Tianyu's four aunts had siblings too, but they were scattered. Moreover, they usually adapted to their spouse's conditions, so they did not move to their maternal family's shelters.

Of the sons-in-law, beside the second eldest's who was local, the other three sisters' husbands were not from Pengcheng urban area.

The eldest and third brother-in-law were from neighboring counties, not too far with an hour's drive. The fourth brother-in-law was from out of town, originally well connected by train.

Although the second brother-in-law's parents were alive, they had moved to Pengville for work, leaving their relatives back in their hometown, their friends in Pengville being from work.

Because of this, after the elder Thompson passed away, on festive occasions for a livelier atmosphere, the second brother-in-law's parents would sometimes celebrate with Dong Tianyu's family, occasionally inviting Mr. Thompson and his second brother.

As a result, Mr. Thompson gradually became close to the second brother-in-law's parents, which was why they moved in here.

Unlike Mr. Thompson who didn't have many concerns, Mrs. Thompson's relations were rather complex, though not a major issue.

First was Mrs. Thompson's second sister, who even though she had a daughter, lived with Griffin Benjamin because of a past psychological trauma, hence she moved in with him this time.

Dong Tianyu's cousin, however, didn't come. She was already quite old and, due to family reasons, had been struggling in the outside world without getting married. Apparently, she had a boyfriend, but only Griffin Benjamin had met him.

Upon knowing that her mother had moved in with Griffin Benjamin, his cousin directly moved with her boyfriend to his Shelter.

The circumstances of Dong Tianyu's maternal uncle's family, the Clarkes, were also complex. Comparison of the brothers and sisters in the Clarke and Thompson families revealed a mirror image concerning their respective genders.

The uncle and his wife were the youngest in the family and therefore the most spoiled. However, unlike Griffin Benjamin's robust health, the uncle's parents were alive but not very healthy.

Dong Tianyu's cousin remained in the Magic City after graduation and didn't even return for a family dinner. And since Griffin Benjamin was managing everything related to the Clarke family, his uncle didn't have to worry about anything.

Uncle's wife contemplated that her brothers might not be able to take proper care of their father with their large families, and after discussing with her husband, while the weather was still mildly cold, they took a subway network to reach their parents' Shelter.

Still, to avoid any gossip, they only took their clothes and didn't take any food they had originally brought in.

The most complicated relationship was with Mrs. Thompson's eldest sister, who was in charge of electricity at Pengcheng Heavy Industries, a vital role, and had six siblings.

They all lived in Pengville's East District which for the time made it difficult to commute frequently.

However, serendipitously the elder sister's husband had just joined Pengville Heavy Industries at a time when it was still a small plant located in West District.

Dong Tianyu didn't understand how the two impossible-to-intersect lives managed to cross paths and get married.

After their marriage, Pengcheng Heavy Industries provided them with a new house located near the factory. Hence, Mrs. Thompson's eldest sister's family lived in the West District, despite the eastside dominance of her husband's family.

With Pengcheng's Development, transportation became increasingly convenient, making it easy to travel between East and West Districts. Hence, the elder sister's husband's family lived in the West District for over twenty years.

So, even when Pengcheng Heavy Industries needed a new factory and relocated to East Pengville, the elder sister's husband's family bought a new house and stayed in the western region.

This time, even though they got the information late from Mr. Thompson and failed to inform their sibling to book the Shelter in advance, they managed to stay together as they already anticipated the easy commute of the subway Shelters.

So, they didn't opt for comparatively better Community Shelters but chose the hastily transformed subway Shelters. The elder sister didn't go back but stayed with Griffin Benjamin.