Cave Refuge

Even though it seemed like his father was talking about his uncle's family leaving here, Haiyang always felt that his father was implying something else in his words.

Seeing that his son still didn't understand his implication, Mr. Hai sighed deeply, feeling that he had overprotected his son throughout these years.

"Do you know why I brought the whole family to this Refuge Center, instead of going to the East District, or even staying in the Community Shelter that we set up in our community?"

"You should know that according to tradition, my siblings are all in the East, our family should have followed me to the shelter there."

"Moreover, even if we don't go to the East, we should have stayed in the Community Shelter established in our community, we should not have stayed in the subway station shelter."

"The reason I brought the whole family here, isn't it because of your third Aunt's husband and Zachary, who might have known about this in advance, so when choosing a shelter, they specifically chose the subway station shelter?"

"Otherwise, given their family's circumstances, there must have been a Community Shelter built near where they live, and they would definitely have had the qualifications to enter."

"But they didn't go. Instead, they informed their relatives to move into the subway station shelter together. I didn't understand why at first, but now don't you understand?"

"The subway station shelter relies on the subway network to connect individual independent shelters."

"And because of this network, although we can't eat and drink without worry now, we won't starve ourselves."

"In addition to this, here, you and your wife have a room to stay in, even though it's rather basic, it can still be considered a separate space."

"Apart from our place and the control room occupied by the street, the bathrooms are the only private space left in the whole shelter."

"Everyone else is just randomly laying out blankets on the floor. You and your wife want to go to your Father-In-Law's house, how would you live there? It's not like when there were fewer people at the beginning, if you two go now, you will be invading others' territory and people are bound to dislike you."

"Moreover, we made preparations when we came in here, in case something goes wrong, we still have plenty of reserve food to handle emergencies."

"You have already reminded your father-in-law's side. Looking at them living in the Community Shelter, it shows that they didn't listen to your reminder at first. Most likely, like the other people outside, they may have some hidden food, but certainly not much."

"If you two really want to leave here, no matter how much reserve food you have stored in the warehouse, other people here will definitely not agree to let you bring it to your Father-In-Law's house."

"Even if they let you two carry it, not to look down upon you two, but how much food can you two carry away?"

"I know for sure that it was your wife who brought up the idea to go take a look. But have you considered, when you two go, should you bring Bobsy and Ava with you?"

"It's not like the past when we could drive. Adults can manage, but can the kids endure such a long walk?"

"We have such a comfortable life here, but you keep wanting to create trouble for yourself."

"I've explained my reasoning to you. Whether to go to your Father-In-Law's house or not, it's up to you."

Haiyang didn't necessarily think so much, he wasn't stupid. He was well aware of the treatment a son-in-law received at his Father-In-Law's House. Even though he hadn't experienced it, he has heard about it from other sources. Even if it wasn't as exaggerated as in dramas, it's still not comfortable.

So, after Mr. Hai left, Haiyang returned to his wife's side. He didn't directly reject his wife's proposal but told her, "My wife, I just brought this up with Dad. He didn't refuse; he said it's up to us to decide."

"I thought about it carefully. It's alright to go, but what about Bobsy and Ava? It's not like before when we had a car. It used to take less than half an hour to get there by car."

"If we depend on our own legs, we need to walk at least a whole day from West City to East City. Can the two little ones stand such suffering?"

To his surprise, his wife was prepared in advance, "Aren't there two bicycles in the warehouse? Since we don't ride them anyway and they're idle in the warehouse, we can ride them one by one. We can just take Bobsy and Ava."

Hearing his wife say this, Haiyang felt a bit helpless. Not to mention the bicycles in the warehouse were brought by Mr. Thompson, they weren't theirs to begin with. He was uncertain if they could borrow them.

Also, after listening to Mr. Hai's analysis, Haiyang realized that if they rode there, they might not be able to bring the bicycles back. Not to mention the interference from his parents-in-law and relatives, let alone the envious other people.

Moreover, the benefit of using the bicycles by the community isn't clear either. After all, their stick was borrowed just like this and until now, they couldn't tell where it is, let alone getting it back.

However, Haiyang didn't rush to argue. He continued to say to his wife, "Let's say we've solved the problem of transportation, but after we go back, how will we solve the issue of accommodation."

"We got to live here comfortably because we entered early, and we had people on the street from Aunt's family side. However, after we go to your parents' side, will we be able to get a room as we did here?"

"You've seen the situation outside. Any place with something to cover it is a bed. You should also be aware of the chaos at the beginning; a lot of things happened to many people at night."

"It was not until there were soldiers patrolling that the situation improved. Although we have soldiers patrolling here, you should have heard about the situation in the Community Shelter even if you haven't seen it. It's terrible there, what the street managers say may not even hold."

"Every time I come back from outside and have injuries, you should be aware. You should know that I went out to distribute supplies, without even going into their shelters. If we go in, and there happens to be a problem with that shelter, the consequences are unimaginable."

In fact, Haiyang's wife didn't absolutely want to leave. It was just that Mr. Hai's position had been so high before and besides festivals, they had hardly any contact with anyone else. Therefore, Haiyang's wife was not familiar with the people of Thompson's generation.

Now, besides Haiyang's family, she barely knew the rest, so a part of her going back was because she missed her parents, but also because she didn't have many familiar friends here, and she felt somewhat repressed.

But upon hearing Haiyang's analysis, as well as the adverse conditions they might encounter when they return, she thought it over. In the end, she decided to stay here for a bit longer as here, she might not have many familiar friends, but at least she won't get mistreated.

At home, because Mr. Hai and Haiyang both went out to work daily, there was no shortage of food. Although the food was not very good, they won't starve.

If they really return, and it turns out life is not so good there, they may not have the same benefits when they want to return.

After all, when Haiyang's uncle and aunt left, the room that originally belonged to them was occupied by the younger people who originally lived with their parents. If these two leave, someone else will definitely occupy this room.