As for Qin Lan’s worries, Chen Xin actually didn’t care much. With the system in hand, he had the confidence to solve any problem he faced, even if he was initially unprepared; a quick upgrade could resolve it.
Take the greenhouse heating issue Qin Lan mentioned, for instance. He could easily upgrade the greenhouse a level or two, enabling it to have heating functions to maintain a certain temperature.
According to Chen Xin’s plan, he wants to upgrade the entire shelter. A complete upgrade of the shelter could include a heating system, just like when he upgraded the main gate and added a washing and preparation room.
Plus, the mountain itself offers some insulation, so Chen Xin wasn’t overly concerned about it.
Though he couldn’t tell Qin Lan this directly, he still nodded toward her and said gratefully, "I understand, Lan, thank you for the reminder. I’ll pay attention to this issue."
"It’s good that you are aware, Xin. The city office shelter has heating equipment. If it’s not enough, I can talk to the captain to get you a set with higher power," Qin Lan proactively offered a solution to Chen Xin.
Although the two had broken up, Qin Lan still didn’t have a bad impression of Chen Xin. She cared for him like she used to, though now they weren’t as close, more like just friends.
Chen Xin felt the same about Qin Lan. Their personalities simply weren’t suited to being together.
But perhaps because caring for Qin Lan had become a habit, Chen Xin still showed concern, saying, "My side is not a big issue, but Lan, you need to be careful. You’re always performing tasks outside. Now, with the shortage of materials, and without the usual hand warmers and such, you must wear more when out on duty."
"I understand, I will," Qin Lan responded with a smile to Chen Xin.
Seeing the familiar yet long-lost smile, Chen Xin felt a stir in his heart and said to Qin Lan, "Stay for lunch before you go. I got some fish from a friend. I remember Lan liked chopped pepper fish head the best, though unfortunately I don’t have peppers. Otherwise, I’d make you one."
Hearing about having fish to eat, Qin Lan’s expression turned surprised: "Xin, you actually managed to get fish? Such a rarity now! I’ve heard the city government has a fish-rearing area in the underground planting zone, but the yield is so low we can’t even taste it.
The pre-disaster caught fish are all canned now, and the SWAT team did get a batch, but the captain said it’s reserve stock; no one is allowed to touch it."
"In that case, all the more reason for you to stay for a meal, Lan," Chen Xin replied with a smile.
Faced with Chen Xin’s invitation and the lure of fish long unseen, Qin Lan hesitated but ultimately chose to stay.
Seeing Qin Lan agree to stay for lunch, Chen Xin retrieved supplies from the storage room intending to treat her well.
Though the meal still consisted mainly of canned pork, luncheon meat, and rat meat, along with home-grown cabbage, lettuce, and carrots, the addition of fish made this meal exceptionally luxurious and rare in today’s post-apocalyptic setting.
From the supplies Qin Lan brought in this exchange, he found sugar, vinegar, and oil, planning to make sweet and sour fish.
Though the fish Li Wendong brought were all carp—a variety not ideal for sweet and sour—but given the current conditions, Chen Xin decided to go ahead with sweet and sour fish.
Chen Xin remembered the first meal Qin Lan ever cooked for him was his favorite: sweet and sour carp.
As he put the frozen fish into the kitchen sink to defrost, Chen Xin simultaneously placed various condiments in the cabinet above the stove.
"Lan, is the government still supplying salt, sugar, and soy sauce? Are they all out of production now?" Chen Xin asked casually while tidying up.
"It’s not so bad; while it’s quite scarce, there’s no complete shortage. The local government is growing beets and soybeans in the underground planting zone, even rice, so producing sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar isn’t a problem, just low yield." Responding to Chen Xin’s inquiry, Qin Lan naturally shared her information.
Some of this information was what Qin Lan heard while on duty, some she saw in internal reports.
The government has built an underground planting zone near the power plant, not for planting a single crop but creating a complete ecological agricultural system that can produce diverse crops, even for further processing.
While the yield isn’t high, the variety is quite complete.
Hearing Qin Lan’s response, Chen Xin raised an eyebrow with curiosity: "Do they have peppers there?"
"Of course! How could the people from Hunan not eat peppers?" Qin Lan said with a matter-of-fact expression.
Qin Lan’s words excited Chen Xin, prompting him to ask hurriedly, "Can you get me some pepper seeds? Soybean and beet seeds would be great too."
"Okay, I’ll tell the captain when I go back, it should be possible," Qin Lan nodded, agreeing.
If Chen Xin wanted the crops themselves, it might be difficult, but if he just wanted the seeds, it wasn’t too challenging.
Despite the seeds being precious, without farmland, having seeds is useless, so relatively, the value of seeds is less than that of grown crops.
Of course, not everyone could easily access them, but the SWAT team could still manage to get some.
Thinking of seeds, Chen Xin regretted the apocalypse seed pack he purchased before the disaster.
Considering post-disaster planting, Chen Xin bought a comprehensive seed pack online, intending to combat food shortages after the catastrophe.
The pack contained eighty different types of seeds, from common vegetables like cabbage and lettuce to watermelon, strawberries, even cherry radishes, cucumbers, scallions, and cilantro.
This seed pack promised food security and even the potential to build a small ecological park, utilizing aquaponics alongside dry farming to meet all his nutritional needs.
Despite not considering aquaponics, Chen Xin planned this way, but unfortunately, he bought the seed pack online. Even the most reputable SF Express couldn’t maintain deliveries under national lockdown.
So the pack never reached him, becoming an eternally unreceived package.
Consequently, post-disaster, he could only plant three types of vegetables—cabbage, lettuce, and carrots—and one crop—dry rice.
Luckily, Qin Lan said she could help get seeds for him, or he would have had to consider asking around to see if anyone had extra seeds to trade.