After being comforted by Qin Lan, Chen Xin didn’t say anything more, but he still prepared for the worst-case scenario.
Optimism is necessary, but preparing for the worst is equally important.
In other words, if you’ve prepared for the worst, you can face any situation with optimism and positivity because it can’t get any worse.
And for Chen Xin, the worst scenario right now...
Is another geological movement occurring, causing the deep groundwater layer to lose pressure, and affecting the shallow groundwater layer, causing the shallow groundwater to flow into the deep layers, ultimately leaving him without any usable groundwater.
Although this is an extremely extreme situation, in geological terms, it is not impossible for groundwater layers to run dry due to geological activities.
In Chen Xin’s current situation, if a groundwater cutoff really happens, he would face the water scarcity crisis again.
While he can exchange greenhouse-grown vegetables for drinking water, the big challenge is that crop cultivation consumes a large amount of water resources.
Moreover, the vegetables contain a lot of water that does not enter the indoor circulation system of the shelter for recycling.
So, if this situation does occur, Chen Xin must find a new water source, and moving would be a last-resort option.
Fortunately, there is quite a thick layer of snow outside, and snowfalls still happen occasionally. Collecting snow and melting it for use is a good method.
However, the snow outside is very dirty, and the collected snow needs purification and filtration.
Besides, upgrading the water circulation system to drill the well deeper and increase the pumping height, so water can be drawn from deeper layers, is a one-time solution.
After going over the countermeasures in his mind, Chen Xin felt at ease with the possible worst-case scenario, as he had enough means to handle it.
This naturally made his mood much more optimistic, and he smiled at Qin Lan: "Alright, the generator is installed, and next we’ll continue with the geothermal heat pump. Your SWAT team only has one unit, and there are five more to rush out. I don’t know if we can finish them in two days."
"Xin, with your skills, you can definitely finish on time, and I’ll help out too." Having seen the "process" of Chen Xin making these mechanical devices, Qin Lan had full confidence in him.
"Alright then, Lan, help me bring the parts we cleaned yesterday..." Chen Xin was about to ask Qin Lan to dry the washed parts from yesterday when the radio in the living room suddenly sounded with a call.
Qin Lan and Chen Xin turned to look at the living room simultaneously and couldn’t help but be surprised: "Is someone calling you?"
"Yeah, I’ll go see what’s up. Lan, take out the parts we cleaned yesterday and dry them thoroughly." Chen Xin instructed Qin Lan, then walked towards the living room.
Picking up the transceiver of the shortwave radio, Chen Xin responded to the call, and after a conversation, he realized it was another fellow coming to exchange for the geothermal heat pump equipment.
After informing Qin Lan, Chen Xin picked up a gun and walked to the entrance of the shelter, while Qin Lan hurriedly put down her work and followed him.
In the preparation room, after putting on protective gear, Chen Xin still went to the small shelter first, looking outside through the observation port to see who it was.
However, he was somewhat surprised by the vehicle parked at his shelter’s entrance.
It was an eight-wheeled truck resembling a heavy-duty truck with one-meter-tall giant tires, making it ride smoothly over the thick snow.
But unlike a truck, it had a tough armored shell, and the window lights from the inside projected a cloud-patterned dragon emblem in black and red against the darkness.
No need for a close inspection, these noticeable features were enough for Chen Xin to recognize it as a modified RV and understand who it belonged to.
"Lan, don’t go outside for now." Chen Xin nodded to Qin Lan after coming down from the small shelter and then opened the shelter’s door.
Watching Chen Xin pushing open the shelter’s door and walking out, Qin Lan became tense and grabbed her waist gun, ready to rush out at any time.
Chen Xin stepped out of the shelter; the opponent hadn’t turned off the headlights, and the lights made him a bit dazzled.
So he raised his strong flashlight and shone it directly towards the driver’s seat of the vehicle, lighting up the driver’s eyes with his flashlight.
Apparently, the other party was also blinded by Chen Xin, quickly switching the truck’s headlights to low beams and jumping off the vehicle.
However, this car’s driver’s seat was quite high, and their legs plunged straight into the snow after jumping down.
"Brother Chen, why is the snow at your door so deep!" The person extracting themselves from the snow walked unsteadily and eventually reached Chen Xin.
Looking at the figure coming to his front, Chen Xin laughed, "Didn’t you feel the snow’s depth while driving here from downtown? And how many times have I told you, don’t always jump down from the driver’s seat, aren’t you afraid of breaking your legs?"
"It’s just a habit, and besides, by driving such a high-clearance vehicle, who’s got the patience to climb down!" Though masked, the person’s cheerful voice revealed his youthfulness.
Naturally, Chen Xin knew this person well. Otherwise, they would’ve addressed him as Mister Writer rather than using the familiar nickname "Brother Chen."
"Lil’ Long, why did you come to see me? Are you also looking to exchange for a geothermal heat pump?" Every time Chen Xin called this person Lil’ Long, he felt amused because of his surname Li: "Does your shelter really need these?"
"Why wouldn’t we need them?" The person urgently replied to Chen Xin, "My shelter uses air conditioning. It was fine when we had electricity, but now without a supply and relying on self-generated power, we can’t run the air conditioner!"
Hearing this, Chen Xin understood his point and nodded, "Alright, but you know the rules, materials and barter goods, have you brought both?"
"Brother Chen, don’t you know me? When have I ever been unreliable in doing things? As you said, I brought two outside air conditioning units as materials, and I also brought a cured ham and two boxes of single-use rations for you.
I originally wanted to bring Iberian ham, but my dad didn’t allow it, so I brought a Jinhua ham for you, Brother Chen, I hope you don’t mind."