Cave Refuge

"Zachary, you're back."

Although Mrs. Thompson was very excited, it was Mr. Thompson who spoke first. Although his tone seemed calm, if one listened carefully, a trace of excitement could still be detected.

"Dad, what's happened to our place?"

Upon hearing his son's question, Mr. Thompson proudly said to his son, "The family next door happened to be moving out, so I bought their place outright.

I took the opportunity to renovate both properties. However, I didn't knock through to make one big house, I've kept them as two separate units. That way, if you get married and live separately, you'll still have a place of your own."

Hearing this, Dong Tianyu just smiled and said nothing. To be honest, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson used to urge Dong Tianyu to get married quite often, but as time passed, this behavior became less and less frequent, with Mr. Thompson only mentioning it occasionally.

"Now that both houses are being renovated at the same time, where are you two staying?"

"There are many new guest houses built in the New City District. We come here during the day and head to the New City District at night. Honestly, it's much livelier over there than it is here."

Mr. Thompson was right. Compared to the population of the old city district before the natural disaster, the New City District housed many more people.

No one would have guessed that the situation at Water Base would become the complete opposite, with the population of the New City District far surpassing the old city district now.

In fact, if one thinks about it, it's understandable. The survivors who originally lived in those boxy rooms at the base's lowest levels finally had the chance to move to bigger houses; certainly, no one wanted to stay in their original cramped spaces.

Things were different from before the natural disaster. Back then, although those people lived in small rooms, their properties were highly valuable. As long as they were willing to sell, they could fetch very high prices.

But now, when houses lost their financial value and only retained living value, the current housing prices were not too high.

The residents who moved out were not all unaware that living here (old city district) was safer, but the living conditions were just too poor. Moreover, with high trust in the Officials, after the government pulled back the preferential housing swap policies, many chose to move for a better living environment.

Originally in the base, the lower one went, the more densely populated each level was. So when those survivors from the bottom levels moved out, the population of the New City District naturally became much higher than that of the old city district.

After the New City District's population increased, the streets naturally became much livelier.

And here in the old city district, since many people sold their original homes and bought larger, more numerous homes lower down, the actual population per level ended up being much less than before.

Precisely because of this, the originally bustling old city district has become like a quiet villa deep in the mountains, with the living environment much improved compared to before.

Because the house was under construction, Mr. Thompson didn't invite Dong Tianyu inside for a look, planning to show him the new place once everything was finished.

"Son, how many days can you stay this time?"

"I probably can't stay for long; there are a lot of changes happening outside. I went abroad recently and found that the conditions of the survivors there differ greatly from ours."

Hearing Dong Tianyu's words, Mrs. Thompson was about to ask more questions but was directly stopped by Mr. Thompson.

Mrs. Thompson looked at Mr. Thompson puzzledly after being stopped, and without Mr. Thompson explaining, he just pointed around with his finger.

When Mrs. Thompson saw Mr. Thompson's gesture, she instantly understood his meaning: now was not the appropriate time to discuss these matters outside.

"By the way, Dad, how did you earn enough money to buy the place next door like that?"

Upon hearing Dong Tianyu's query, Mr. Thompson, somewhat annoyed, gave Dong Tianyu a pat and then feigned anger as he said, "That's because your old man is capable. Don't forget, until the natural disaster, it was your old man earning the money to support you."

Seeing Mr. Thompson's reaction, Dong Tianyu quickly begged for forgiveness, "I know you're impressive. I was just wanting to learn from you. If possible, I'd also like to earn a bit more."

Hearing Dong Tianyu say this, Mr. Thompson was at first very eager to share how he had made so much money, but just as he was about to speak, he suddenly thought of something and immediately fell silent, no longer discussing the topic.

Dong Tianyu was puzzled by Mr. Thompson's reaction. After all, from the look of things just now, it seemed that his father was about to explain, but he suddenly clammed up for some reason.

If Mr. Thompson had been secretive from the start, Dong Tianyu might not have been too concerned, but seeing his father's hesitancy piqued Dong Tianyu's curiosity even more, wanting to get to the bottom of his father's money-making methods.

Watching her husband become silent while their son wore a look of inquisition, Mrs. Thompson found it amusing and chuckled softly before slowly saying,

"Son! You're not unaware of what your dad is like when he speaks, he sounds quite authoritative and logical, but if he were to start a business himself, he'd definitely lose everything."