Chapter 254
Jasper, who wanted to take his time and do a meticulous job, had no choice but to passively ept.
"Alright, we''ll cover the meals. We''ll pay you a sry in provisions when the timees."
"Let''s not spoil them," Austin warned, "They are under contract after all."
He called them over for a break and asked excitedly, "How do you n to renovate the ce?"
Ste shared her ns of reinforcing the outer walls, building a greenhouse on the rooftop and in
the backyard to grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks.
Austin nearly dropped his cigarette in surprise, "Everyone else is putting in swimming pools and
you''re nning a farm?"
"We''ve spent everything on this house, and we can''t afford any extra luxuries," Ste said bluntly, "I
can live without swimming, but I can''t live without food."
Austinughed heartily, "You''ve got the right idea. Growing your own food is way more practical.
Once you''re done, I''ll take a leaf out of your book."
They were both savvy people, especially Ste. She was not one to be taken advantage of. Despite
the struggles of the past three years, she was doing better than ever. So, following her lead was a
no-brainer.
However, Austin was a bit hesitant about the idea of installing broken ss on top of the high walls,
"Why bother? It''s not enough security. I could get you some electric fencing instead."
Ste wasn''t against simplifying things, but an electric fence around the entire property would
require a lot of materials. After three years, those were not easy toe by.
But when it came to finding supplies, there were very few things Austin couldn''t handle.
Ste smiled, "I''ll leave it to you then, Austin."
The height of the electric fence was a crucial factor. Too high and it risked copsing, too low and it
wouldn''t offer sufficient protection. They calcted the correct height and asked Austin for help,
nning to barter the materials with food.
Austin readily agreed, "Just let me know what else you need and I''ll sort it out."
They had most of what they needed, except for assembling the greenhouse which neither of them
had experience with.
"No problem," Austin assured, "Rob knows his stuff. He can help you out."
Seeing that the construction crew was still hard at work, Ste decided to start cooking, "I''ll whip up
something for dinner. Don''t expect anything fancy though."
Having tasted her cooking before, Austin was looking forward to it. He rolled up his sleeves and
joined in.
Ste started cooking with Rosie and Cooper assisting. The meal was simple: sweet potato and
rice, dried beans with bacon, dried radishes with pork belly, dried cabbage sd, and arge pot of
sweet potato leaves.
Despite the simplicity of the meal, everyone enjoyed it, including Austin.
Monkey and others brought their own bowls and forks. They were blunt peasants with no sense of
etiquette. They would scoop up a good amount of rice, grab a bunch of vegetables, and crouch
down on the ground to eat.
"Mmm, the food you made is delicious, Ste!" said Monkey, eating a lot because he was famished.
Though Monkey made good money, he had a wife and child at home to provide for. They could not
afford to eat till they were full at every meal. The food cooked by Ste was wondrously aromatic. In
comparison, his wife''s cooking, on the other hand, tasted worse than pig feed, and he still had to
compliment her for it.
The others, including Austin, were in the same situation. Austin did notck food, but he could not
cook. Most of the time, his crew cooked for him. Compared to Ste''s cooking, it was barely edible.
"Jasper, you''ve struck gold with Ste," Austinplimented.
Jasper agreed, "Indeed, I must''ve done something right in my past life."
With the hard work done for the day, the crew packed up and headed to Austin''s house to crash.
They were up and at it again in a few hours. Their efficiency astounded Ste and Jasper, and they
had to scramble to keep up with the supply of materials.
Within a day, the three-meter-high walls were up and ready.
Next up was the renovation of the house itself. The walls needed ayer of ster, which required
threeyers due to the thinness of the walls: ayer of cement mortar, ayer of mixed mortar, and
ayer of white mortar for the surface. Eachyer had to be thicker than thest, with the main aim
of soundproofing the house.
Shawn used to work in a renovation team in his early years. After the apocalypse, hetched onto
Austin''s coattails and became a middleman. He wasn''t living in luxury, butpared to most
survivors, he was doing quite well. So, here he was, going back to his old trade with confidence,
directing Monkey and others in their work.
He got carried away and started gesturing at Austin, "Boss, you''re not applying the cement evenly
enough."
Austin didn''t rush to respond. Instead, he hit the back of Shawn''s head with a trowel, "Are you
instructing me?"
Shawn immediately backed down, "No, no, no, I wouldn''t dare! Boss, take a break and have some
water. I''ll apply the cement."
Austin tossed him the tool, "Everyone needs tomit fully. If I catch anyone cking off, there''ll be
consequences."
Ste and Jasper didn''t have time to participate. This group was working so fast that the two were
constantly bringing in materials from outside.
"Where did you get all these?" Even Austin was envious, "Can you help us source some so we can
finish renovating the vi area? We''ll split the profits."
Steughed, "Austin, don''t joke. It took us over six months to find all these materials. If it were
that easy, we wouldn''t give you a chance to step in."
Austin thought about it and agreed, resources were bing increasingly scarce. And after the
devastating earthquake, it certainly wouldn''t be easy to gather this much material. However, those
ceramic tiles were quitevish.
He could find a way to get his hands on the rest, but he really liked those tiles, "Can you get me
some of those tiles?"
Property of N?)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Ste agreed, "Sure, I''ll ask around, but I don’t know if they have the same ones."
The bathroom was shiny, the floor tiles gleamed, and the garage was remodeled as well.
As for the external wall renovation, tiling was too extravagant. Applying cement was sufficient as it
could withstand the erosion of wind, rain, and smog.
Tall walls enhanced the security of the premises. The cementden walls looked humble and low-
key. If a wave of homeless people ever targeted the vi area, their first target would likely be the
glittering, luxurious vis.
Austin had his hands full managing the crew and ensuring everything was done properly. In less
than ten days, all the renovations, except for the ss house, werepleted.
The newly renovated house needed to be aired out, so all the windows were left open during the
day, and they camped on the rooftop at night.
Ste handed over the high-strength, translucent ss to Austin''s crew. "The ss house isn''t a
priority. Work on it when you have time. Focus on the pressing matters first."
Constructing a ss house required other materials, but Ste trusted that Austin would figure it
out.
In addition to the ss, Ste also provided tiles, enough to refurbish the vi, which would offset
the costs of the ss house and electrical grid.
In terms of bartering resources, Austin was quite satisfied.
As for thebor fees of Monkey and his crew, Ste had specifically inquired with the construction
team in the vi district and offered them a 10% higher wage than their current pay.
It was important to note that most ces didn''t offer meals, but Ste did. She provided corn, fresh
and aromatic. The crew craved for it, yet due to the boss'' intimidating authority, they dared not
ept it.