I can upgrade the shelter
Chapter 48: Live long and prosper

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Live long and prosper

According to Chen Xin’s estimation, if he could get the materials to upgrade the greenhouse from Mo Qingyan this month and plant vegetables in time, he would not only harvest seven times the current vegetable yield next month but also collect the carrots planted last month, which would be quite a bounty.

However, with such a large harvest of vegetables, he would need to handle them promptly, as Chen Xin couldn’t possibly consume all of them himself. The only option is to trade them for supplies.

After all, the large freezer he exchanges from Mo Qingyan can hold only a few hundred pounds of vegetables before it’s full, which is just his monthly harvest. If the yield truly increases sevenfold, he certainly wouldn’t have enough space for all the vegetables.

After careful consideration, Chen Xin decided to stick to his original plan and plant upland rice.

If he uses the materials for an upgrade, simultaneously increasing the planting area and hydroponic growing trays, Chen Xin could plant upland rice on the ground and move the vegetable planting to the hydroponic trays.

This way, he could harvest enough grain for himself while having enough fresh vegetables to trade for supplies.

After all, the upgraded greenhouse would be 200 square meters, with an equal area of hydroponic trays. Two hundred square meters of land for upland rice could yield about 600 pounds of rice annually with two harvests each year.

The vegetables on the hydroponic trays, with his current planting ratio of half carrots and half cabbage and lettuce, would yield about 600 pounds of cabbage, 600 pounds of lettuce, and roughly 300 pounds of carrots each month on average.

Among these, although carrots are harvested every three months, they are more storage-resistant and undoubtedly a premium trade material.

Calculating in this way, Chen Xin suddenly found his resources abundant, with a significant surplus of both rice and vegetables.

He could trade most of the monthly vegetable output for supplies to upgrade his shelter, improving his life conditions. He could also exchange for other things to enrich his meals, such as meat and alcohol.

These outputs could also be traded for other things Chen Xin needed, for example, small farm machinery necessary for cultivation and firearms for self-defense.

Of course, Chen Xin doesn’t necessarily have to trade for a gun. He can use vegetables to trade for supplies and then upgrade the weapons cabinet, unlock the firearm manufacturing blueprint, and make firearms himself.

He was just unsure of what kind of gun he could make. If it’s something primitive, the reliability and usability would be worse compared to traded firearms.

After all, he could get a pistol from Uncle Ding through Ding Ning, while manufacturing himself could result in a simple firearm without rifling if the upgrade level isn’t high enough.

Such guns aren’t unusable, but indeed impractical and not easy to carry around.

However, upgrading the weapons cabinet is a necessity. As the saying goes, "Do not harm others, but always be wary of others." Having a reliable weapon for self-defense is also a guarantee for surviving better in this post-apocalyptic world.

With this in mind, Chen Xin added the materials needed for the weapons cabinet upgrade to his list, deciding to use this month’s vegetable output as a deposit to contact Mo Qingyan and Uncle Ding for the supplies on his list, with the balance settled after expanding production following next month’s greenhouse upgrade.

Although this payment method might seem unreliable in the post-apocalypse, with his relationship with Mo Qingyan and Ding Ning, Chen Xin believed he could still get these items.

After listing all the items, Chen Xin prepared to set up his communication antenna to connect his shortwave radio, so he wouldn’t have to travel to the city whenever he wanted to communicate with Mo Qingyan and others.

The temperature wasn’t too low at the moment, so a trip wasn’t too problematic, but as the weather got colder, going out would be a hassle.

Thinking of this, Chen Xin took out the military shortwave antenna made in Lucia from the metal box, carrying the case out of his shelter.

The best place to set up the antenna was, of course, at the top of the mountain where his shelter was located. However, considering the maintenance and cable setup would be troublesome on the mountaintop, Chen Xin chose to set up the antenna halfway up the mountain.

There was a pre-made concrete base here, though previously burnt to a mess by a fire. After sweeping away the surface ash and residue, the concrete-cast base remained intact, albeit looking charred.

After cleaning the concrete base, Chen Xin took out the shortwave antenna from the box, set it onto the concrete base, and screwed in the bolts into the pre-drilled holes, securing the antenna in place.

After setting up the antenna, Chen Xin needed to connect it to the shortwave radio inside the shelter.

Fortunately, the cables had already been buried underground, so there was no need to lay new ones.

Chen Xin opened the grid of the ventilation outlet under the concrete base, pulled out a cable, and plugged it into the socket under the antenna.

After doing all this, Chen Xin didn’t forget to put a camouflage cover over the antenna to prevent it from being discovered and damaged.

Though hardly anyone could appear outdoors in this post-apocalyptic world, those who could are certainly not ordinary people. If someone discovered the antenna, stole it, or got ideas about his shelter, it would create trouble.

So to mitigate unnecessary trouble, Chen Xin covered the shortwave antenna with a layer of camouflage fabric, making the entire antenna look like a small black dirt mound.

Looking at his handiwork, Chen Xin dusted off his hands with satisfaction and returned to the shelter.

Inside the shelter, Chen Xin also took out the shortwave radio, placed it on the reserved table in the living room, and connected the cable’s other end to the radio.

Turning on the radio and adjusting the channels, Chen Xin made his first call: "This is Writer, calling all fellow survivors, please respond if you hear. We are still alive, Live long and prosper."

This phrase was an agreed-upon signal from before. After the disaster, everyone would say it when making contact to confirm their identity and survival status.

Chen Xin waited, but the radio remained silent, with only faint electrical currents humming, making him feel somewhat dejected.

Just as Chen Xin was about to turn off the unresponsive radio, a reply finally came through: "This is Farmer, glad to hear your voice, Writer. We are still alive, Live long and prosper."

"This is Driller, I have ample resources and can accommodate any fellow in need of refuge. We are still alive, Live long and prosper."

"This is Climber, doing well here, glad everyone made it through the disaster. We are still alive, Live long and prosper."

"This is..."

As one response after another echoed through, hearing everyone’s replies filled Chen Xin with joy and excitement, proving that all the companions in the survival group were still alive.

The last response also came at that moment: "I’m Dragon Girl, I’m doing well too, it’s great that no one is out of touch! We are still alive, Live long and prosper!"

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