Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 288 - 278 Settling Down

Chapter 288: Chapter 278 Settling Down

"We are two and a half hours from the nearest county town by the bus, and for more than two hours of that journey, the roads are within our research institute’s jurisdiction. Ordinary rural and urban buses aren’t even permitted to enter," Shitou explained to Lu Yun, always prone to saying more than necessary when he was with her. So it wasn’t surprising that he went into such detail.

He continued to ramble on, "As for the vegetable plots, every household has been allocated one. Since you’ve just arrived and transportation here is inconvenient, if you see something someone else has planted that you want to eat, it’s a good idea to barter your own belongings for it. After all, it’s the middle of winter now, and the cold weather makes plant growth very slow."

Su Qiaoling, Wen Shan, Zhan Hongtao, and Zhuang Jun, who were sitting nearby, had become used to the way Shitou and Lu Yun interacted, and were quietly listening to their conversation without interjecting.

"That’s actually a pretty good idea," Lu Yun said, sounding intrigued. "But bartering goods for vegetables isn’t a sustainable solution in the long run. Since it’s not the right time to plant outdoors, why don’t we grow some vegetables indoors instead? That would be nice."

"Sure, if you’re interested, I’ll help you bring some soil back first. When the weather gets warmer, I’ll call some people to help turn over the soil in your plot," Shitou said with a smile, giving Lu Yun a once-over.

He didn’t really think she would have the patience for gardening. But it wasn’t a big deal; at most, he would find a few people to help tend to it later on.

"I’d better start thinking about what to plant," Lu Yun mused, her eyes rolling animatedly as she considered planting some random vegetables as a front, then smuggling out goods from her space...

Unfortunately, her wishful thinking was doomed to disappointment.

"When I’m not at home, Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan will take turns being responsible for your daily meals. Just tell them what you want to eat, and they will fetch the ingredients from the cooking squad. Besides being skilled in combat, their cooking is also up to the test," Shitou assured her as a flicker of disappointment crossed Lu Yun’s eyes. "Of course, if someday you feel like cooking yourself, that’s also possible."

"Who would have thought Qiaoling and Wen Shan were so capable. Aside from fighting skills, do you also get special training in cooking?" Lu Yun expressed her amazement toward Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan.

Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan both smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

Lu Yun wasn’t dying of curiosity, and she had long since developed the good habit of not being needlessly inquisitive since Shitou had brought her into the research institute.

After this conversation, they quickly reached their destination.

They landed just before ten in the morning. Shitou, knowing the way, led Lu Yun through the research institute’s family compound. The family compound was large, and not long after entering, they could see that both sides were divided into vegetable plots, though they looked bare and devoid of any greenery.

There were several dormitory buildings, and Shitou led her straight to one of them. The building had only one staircase and was five stories high, with two apartments per floor.

On the second floor, Shitou turned to Wen Shan and Zhuang Jun, "Go back to your rooms and tidy up. Zhuang Jun, meet me at the entrance in half an hour, and Zhan Hongtao should do the same. Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan, don’t rush to find Xiaoyun; just clean up your own dormitories. Xiaoyun doesn’t need any help."

He paused as if remembering something, then added, "Oh, and Su Qiaoling and Wen Shan, don’t forget to get the rice, flour, and vegetables from the kitchen. It’s getting late, and you can buy today’s lunch directly from the cafeteria."

"Yes," the four of them responded in unison.

Reaching the third floor, Su Qiaoling and Zhan Hongtao entered their own dormitory.

Shitou took out his keys to unlock the door. After leading Lu Yun into the room and closing the door, he handed her a set of keys—for the main door and the three bedrooms.

"Have you been here before?" she asked.

"No, it’s my first time too. What makes you ask that?" he replied.

"I just noticed you walked as if you were already familiar with the place, as if you had been here before," Lu Yun laughed.

"Before coming here, I familiarized myself with the overall layout," Shitou replied with a smile, too—it wasn’t a big deal for him.

"That’s really impressive."

"What’s so impressive about it?" Shitou said as he used his spiritual power to thoroughly clean the entire room. Then he gathered all the dust into a big ball and tossed it directly into the trash can in the kitchen.

The house had three bedrooms and one living room. Lu Yun glanced at the clean rooms. The furniture was just the basics—the living room doubled as a dining room and had only a round dining table with four chairs.

One of the three bedrooms was slightly larger and contained a double bed. Besides, the master bedroom was well-equipped with a wardrobe, a desk, and an armchair. In the smaller two bedrooms, one had a single bed and a desk with a chair set; the other had two single beds.

"We shouldn’t move any other furniture, so as to avoid raising suspicion. We just need to swap out the bedsheets and that should be enough," Lu Yun said after making the rounds. Everything else was okay, but she really didn’t want to compromise on sleeping in a bed that someone else had used.

"Okay, you take the larger room, and I’ll take the one with the desk. No need to change the bedding in the other room. It has two beds, which can be used when they’re on the night shift."

Shitou looked around and felt satisfied. Naturally, he couldn’t compare it to his own home.

"Alright." Lu Yun didn’t stand on ceremony with him.

Lu Yun picked out a bed similar to the one in the room and swapped the bedding. Soon, the two had spread out mattress protectors on both beds in the two bedrooms and placed a complete set of bed linens on them.

When it came to the other room’s two single beds, Shitou stopped Lu Yun from continuing to spread the linens, "We can each get new linens. We’ll just use these beds when it’s time."

"Right, we didn’t actually bring that much with us openly. It would seem strange if we put all the quilts on the beds at once," Lu Yun nodded in agreement.

"It’s about time for me to go. I definitely can’t come back tonight, but I should be able to tomorrow night," Shitou said, knowing it was almost time without looking at a watch. "Let’s keep the doors to our two rooms closed for now so they don’t wonder why you’ve cleaned up so quickly. Hmm, the day after tomorrow, I can go with you to the town and we can buy some more things..."

"Understood, hurry up and go," Lu Yun urged Shitou while nodding impatiently. "Don’t worry; I’ll adapt just fine."

Time indeed had come. Shitou smiled helplessly, got up, opened the front door, and left. Lu Yun saw him to the door, where Su Qiaoling and Zhan Hongtao had also come out.

Watching Shitou and Zhan Hongtao descend the stairs, Su Qiaoling and Lu Yun smiled and greeted each other before returning to their own rooms.

Shitou led Zhan Hongtao and Zhuang Jun at a brisk pace towards the outside of the family compound.

The family compound was not far from the research institute.

The research institute where Shitou worked was known for its strict security measures; it was a place that required protection. In addition to the researchers, family members were equally important and also under protection, which made it convenient to have them close by.

Shitou did not initially know much about the guards tasked with protecting the research institute. However, since his recent promotion and being personally in charge of the Dragon Squad, he had learned that those originally protecting them had been withdrawn and replaced with a new group.

This time, thanks to Ji Beibei, the guards assigned to them were the elite of the elite. It was said those guards were handpicked and emerged as the best after intensive training.

It could be said that, for the absolute safety of Ji Beibei, many underneath efforts were silently made behind the scenes, unbeknownst to them.