Cave Refuge-Chapter 230 - 228: Settling Accounts After Autumn (4000 Words)_2

After all, the platform on the hillside of Nameless Mountain is very prominent, and the metal door standing on the mountain is obviously man-made. Any martial artist with decent eyesight could clearly see the cave mansion door from the foot of the mountain.

However, Dong Tianyu demonstrated his strength using his enigmatic gun skills. Killing over ten martial artists in the Inner Breath Realm was no small feat.

Days have passed over a month in a blink of an eye. During this time, everything in Pengcheng was smooth sailing. The frequent drizzles saved the survivors the trouble of fetching water for irrigation while preventing excessive rainfall from drowning the seedlings.

Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Thompson moved out of the underground refuge center and resided once again in the thirtieth floor of the office building. This time, they were the only occupants of the entire floor. Fortunately, the elevator had been repaired, so they no longer needed to toil up and down the stairs.

Perhaps, as the old saying goes, a close neighbor is better than a distant relative. In the late days of the scorching catastrophe, when the outdoor temperature soared above eighty or ninety degrees, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson simply stayed in the refuge center, not getting involved in time-consuming visits to relatives.

Probably due to the long time they had not met, when Dong Tianyu brought his parents to visit his grandfather, they also ran into his maternal aunt’s family.

When everyone met up, although the atmosphere remained quite harmonious, it became somewhat formal.

The aunt and her husband have completely stepped back from managing things, just staying home with their children. The cousin Haiyang was doing quite well at the West City District Command post, and had even become the third-in-command of a small department.

Although it seemed like a low position, considering that he only started working after the catastrophe, ascending to this rank in only a few years was quite impressive.

The uncle’s situation remained the same. Maybe because Mrs. Thompson and the aunt couldn’t visit due to the high temperatures, he had, in fact, matured a lot.

To put it bluntly, although the uncle was nearing retirement age, Dong Tianyu felt that his maturity was even lower than his own, despite having lived two lives.

But confronting the pressure alone this time did mature the uncle considerably. Given the grandfather’s overall robust physique, the uncle didn’t seem to neglect him.

With these thoughts, Dong Tianyu felt he was worrying unnecessarily. His uncle might be somewhat selfish, but he was quite filial. The grandfather was the uncle’s own father. Initially, because he had two sisters to help out, the uncle didn’t have to worry much about the grandfather.

Now that both sisters were unable to visit, the responsibility of looking after the family fell solely on his shoulders. Thankfully, this burden not only didn’t crush him, but it seemingly matured him a lot.

When the Thompson family came this time, they brought many food items. However, in order not to stir up unnecessary thoughts, they brought mostly fruits and vegetables, along with some meat.

As for the vacuum-packed foods, or processed foods, Dong Tianyu didn’t bring them.

Compared to the respectful but somewhat formal gathering on Mrs. Thompson’s side, the gathering with Mr. Thompson’s brothers was much more lively.

However, most of the ingredients for this feast were provided by Dong Tianyu. They didn’t choose to hold the meal in Mr. Thompson’s residence in the office building, but instead in the place where Dong Tianyu previously resided.

Ever since the Cold Catastrophe started, no one resided here. Luckily, it was submerged when the flood came, so no one lived there during the flood period either.

After enduring the scorching catastrophe, it was back to the state when the Thompson family had left. Although the furniture in the house had completely rotted, the house was still quite dry and suitable to host the banquet.

Regrettably, during the meal, apart from the two big families, the other families all lamented their painful experiences after splitting up, as well as the conflicts that arose from living with their in-laws.

Between the lines, everyone conveyed the idea that it was better for brothers to live together. Hence, they were pondering if they could possibly move back in together in the future.

Upon hearing the others say such, Mrs. Thompson cast a glance at Mr. Thompson who seemed oblivious, continuing his chat with his second brother.

After observing Dong Tianyu in silence, his second brother-in-law intentionally picked up the wine glass and began to make small talk with Dong Tianyu, deliberately ignoring the complaints of the others.

The second brother-in-law had joined the West City District Command Post with his cousin Haiyang. Although he didn’t become a leader as his cousin did, he had military experience and even learned some skills after joining a natural gas company, so he was doing rather well.

Despite their standard of living slightly diminishing after moving apart from Mr. Thompson, they were still considered mediocre compared to most people in West City District. Their lives weren’t extravagant, but they remained carefree.

Therefore, the suggestion of living together once again wasn’t a big deal to him.

His second brother-in-law also understood that, in reality, whether they lived together mainly depended on Dong Tianyu’s sentiments. Apart from various other reasons, the most prevalent one for wanting to live together was the idea of taking advantage of Dong Tianyu.

Dong Tianyu didn’t mind their proposition either. Living together would only mean he’d have to deliver more food each time. Considering the stockpile created before the apocalypse and the Pengville Port incident, even if the population were to double, there wouldn’t be any pressure on Dong Tianyu.

Especially considering those livestock that he kept in the cave mansion, which, after being cleansed by Spirit Energy, not only grew larger in size, but their quality of meat also contained a trace amount of Spirit Power. This not only makes the cooked meat incredibly delicious but also makes it extra filling.

Also, even if they chose to live together, Dong Tianyu would not live with them. Therefore, in this situation, Mr. Thompson was the only one who could make the final call.

However, at this time, Mr. Thompson was only chatting and drinking with his second brother, not paying any attention to the others.

Seeing that neither Mr. Thompson nor Dong Tianyu paid any attention to their proposal, Mr. Thompson’s elder brother coughed once and asked Mr. Thompson directly: "Old Five, what do you think about us moving in together?"

Since his name had been called, Mr. Thompson found himself unable to pretend not to hear anymore: "Fact is, we all know that these stable times won’t last much longer, very soon there will be a new natural disaster.

No one knows what the next disaster will look like. To put it unpleasantly, if we live together, in the occurrence of an accident, it will mean our collective end, with no one left alive to continue the family line. It would be better for each of us to live separately, at least after the next disaster strikes, it’s impossible that we will all simultaneously face danger."

What Mr. Thompson said made sense, indeed, but in reality, it was a straightforward refusal.

Upon hearing Mr. Thompson’s words, Dong Tianyu’s elder brother-in-law wanted to say something but was pulled back by Dong Tianyu’s elder sister. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The atmosphere turned somewhat silent. Dong Tianyu moved his lips, wanting to say something, but opted not to in the end. After all, no matter how capable Dong Tianyu was outside, he was still considered a junior here, and it would be impolite to interrupt the conversation between the elders.

But this awkward silence didn’t last too long. Mr. Thompson’s second brother started to talk, shifting the topic and easing the tension. Even though everyone had a full meal, their expressions weren’t very pleasant when they left.

It was only after the other relatives had left, leaving Mr. Thompson and his second brother, that Mr. Thompson’s second brother spoke up and tried to soothe him: "I know you still remember that it was them who chose to leave initially, each family has their difficulties to deal with. Don’t blame them anymore for past actions. From now on, just focus on living a good life and stop meddling in unnecessary business.

You should continue living near the office building. I haven’t informed them of where you live now. If you haven’t told them either, then don’t mention it in the future. If anything happens, I’ll come to you."

Hearing this, Mr. Thompson nodded in silence.

The room was in a chaotic state, but Dong Tianyu stopped Mrs. Thompson and the second sister’s family from cleaning it up. He told them: "Besides, we won’t live here anymore. The food is all consumed, just leave it."

Upon hearing Dong Tianyu’s words, Mrs. Thompson rolled her eyes at him and said grudgingly: "You might not live here in the future, but if the mess here is left uncleared, it’ll stink in a couple of days. How are the neighbors supposed to live? Next time they see you, they will curse you, pointing at your nose."