Cave Refuge

Since it was New Year's Eve, the dinner was exceptionally lavish, and the watermelon brought by Dong Tianyu was eagerly divided among everyone; even the watermelon rinds were made into a cold dish and served.

After dinner, the others returned to their rooms, leaving only Mr. Thompson, his second brother, and his brother-in-law at the main table.

Having spent so long in the refuge center, these three had naturally become the de facto leaders in the L-shaped area.

It goes without saying why Mr. Thompson had become one of the leaders. As for his older brother and his third and fourth brother not sitting here, it was due to their own reasons.

Mr. Thompson's older brother and fourth brother were weak-willed and easily swayed by rumors, resulting in poor judgement. While his third brother was indeed head of the household, his fiery temper and rough manner didn't make him suitable for the table.

Only Mr. Thompson's second brother was left, who was competent and well-handled in social situations, otherwise he wouldn't have been appointed as the director of logistics in school.

In fact, there were very few relatives on Mrs. Thompson's side in the L-shaped area. Both Griffin Benjamin and her second sister were on their own, and her younger brother followed her sister-in-law and left the refuge center, leaving only the six members of the eldest sister's family.

At times, it was inconvenient for Mr. Thompson to manage the conflicts among the Thompson's relatives. Having his brother-in-law around made mediation easier.

Griffin Benjamin should have occupied the main seat, but due to his old age and his open-minded attitude, he voluntarily left after dinner.

Actually, all the residents in the L-shaped area were family members, so theoretically, they didn't need to avoid discussing matters in front of others.

However, as the saying goes, important matters are discussed in small meetings, so after dinner, Dong Tianyu suggested that a few of them stay behind to discuss.

There were only three bottles of wine for three tables that evening. Although they hadn't had much alcohol recently, those who stayed behind were all seasoned drinkers. Having less than two liangs each had virtually no impact on them.

Mr. Thompson was the most appropriate to speak: "Now that everyone else has left, feel free to say what you want."

"Dad, it's snowing outside. Did you know?"

"Yes, I know. It hasn't snowed in a while, and it's normal for it to snow given the current low temperature outside. Is there a problem?"

Anticipating the disregard of the other three, Dong Tianyu knew what they were thinking—no matter how heavy the snow outside, the impact on the underground refuge center would be minimal.

This was not like when the winter disaster had just begun; Pengcheng's refuge centers had all returned to normal after several months of chaos.

"What if the snow gets heavier?"

Hearing Dong Tianyu suggest this, the other three at the table were curious: "How much heavier could it get?"

"When it's coldest in the northeast, it's only around minus forty degrees. Even then, the snow can bury cars. The temperature outside should be approaching minus eighty now. If it keeps snowing, eventually..."

Dong Tianyu didn't finish his sentence, but the others in the room got his point. They understood the potential scenario if the snow didn't stop outside.

"If roads are blocked by the snow, the refuge centers nearby…" Mr. Thompson's second brother muttered to himself, his words reaching everyone's ears.

"Tianyu, will this greatly impact our refuge center?"

Although everyone thought the refuge center would continue to operate through the underground subway network, the section of road from the granary to the subway station was still exposed to the outside environment.

Upon hearing his uncle's question, Dong Tianyu simply gave a bitter smile without replying.

Recently Dong Tianyu, who was excited about his new car, drove it around Pengcheng, which gave him a good understanding of how the officials operate in the city.

Although the distance between the granary and subway station wasn't far, it was handled by surface vehicles.

They would pull out the food from the subway station, then dismantle the disabled elevator shaft that was made free, and directly send the food underground.

Since there were no long-term food storage facilities in the subway station, the transfer quantity was only enough to meet the regular distribution needs.

Thus, while there were some reserves in the subway station near the granary, the amount wasn't substantial.

Seeing Dong Tianyu's bitter smile, the other three realized the problem with food and heating resources. The food and coal were delivered via the underground network to each subway station refuge center, from where they were distributed to community shelters by vehicle.

Once the roads became blocked by the heavy snow, not only would delivering supplies to nearby refuge centers become problematic, but even bringing food from the original source to the subway station shelter would become an issue.

Observing the solemn expressions on their faces, Dong Tianyu continued in a low voice: "If the heavy snow does block the roads, I'm not sure if our refuge center will stop delivering supplies to surrounding areas.

But the amount of daily supplies issued by our refuge center will definitely decrease. When that time comes, I hope you will consider using the food in the warehouse for emergency, so at least everyone in our family can still eat."

Dong Tianyu's suggestion puzzled everyone. If there was going to be a food shortage, why should they not save the food but consume it generously instead?

Seeing their puzzled expressions, Dong Tianyu had no choice but to explain directly: "In actual fact, I believe that even if there are transport difficulties, the officials will definitely find a way to sort it out. This is why I trust the officials.

Maybe I'm overthinking, but when things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction. After enduring the cold for so many days without snow, the temperature might rise once it starts snowing.

And if the snowfall is heavy, as soon as the temperature rises and the snow starts to melt, there might be a flood. And because the refuge centers are all built underground …"

Everyone understood that floods usually followed snow disasters. While Dong Tianyu's suggestion might seem far-fetched, it was not impossible. In addition to Dong Tianyu's accurate predictions earlier on, they believed his statement.

Everyone also understood that when they initially moved in, no one paid attention to the storage of supplies in the warehouse. If a flood disasters struck and they had to leave the refuge center, then the issue of whether or not to bring the food would pose a difficult problem.

After all, although the food stored in the warehouse wasn't a large amount, there were still tens of bags. Everyone understood that obscurity often led to security.

So rather than wasting or discarding the food when leaving, they might as well let the family eat to their heart's content now. At the very least, everyone would have a healthy body when they had to leave.

Besides, the warehouse didn't just contain food, there were also dried meats and dried fruits and vegetables. Previously they were deemed as emergency supplies and were not eaten. But now that they knew they weren't able to bring them along, they could afford to use them liberally.

Just as the three men were indulging in fantasies about their future life, Mr. Thompson's brother-in-law suddenly asked, "Tianyu, you said that if the snow melts, water will seep into the underground refuge center. Where will we live then?"