Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 175 Seabuckthorn Garden

After trekking for nearly two hours, Xu Xiaoyan felt her body heat continuously draining away. Her thick clothes seemed to be gradually being penetrated by the cold. The most uncomfortable part was her feet. Even with heated insoles and thick socks, the prolonged low temperature gradually made her toes numb and caused a needle-like pain.

Breathing became hot and labored, fogged up inside the goggles and quickly condensed into ice, requiring frequent wiping. Wang Xiao had long lost his initial excitement, and even Xie Yingtang's steps were noticeably heavier. Only Lu Hu, who was at the front, was panting, but his steps remained steady.

Just as Xu Xiaoyan began to doubt whether there really was a sea buckthorn garden in this wasteland, the Land Rover that was walking ahead finally stopped in front of a seemingly inconspicuous small hill.

The hillside wasn't high, covered with thick snow and withered grass, indistinguishable from countless other similar hills around it. Lu Hu was panting heavily, white mist billowing from above his mask. He pointed to a section of black wire mesh with sharp barbs, half-covered by snow on the side of the hillside, and said, "We're here. Go in from here; the sea buckthorn garden is inside."

The group perked up and gathered around. Lu Hu forcefully kicked away the snow at the base of the wire mesh, revealing the frozen, hard soil and the base of the mesh posts.

"See that?" he said with a hint of pride. "This whole garden, the wire mesh around the perimeter, was originally electrified, like a thief-proof barrier. But when the cold wave warning came, the boss and workers ran faster than rabbits. When I sneaked over here before, just to be safe, I found the main switch box and turned it off." He gestured with his hand, "Don't worry."

Next, he walked to a section of the wire mesh, parted the disguised withered grass and icicles to reveal a barely noticeable gap—several wires had been cut, and the cut ends had been carefully bent to both sides to form a "door" large enough for a person to bend over and pass through. The edges had also been reinforced with rags and tape to prevent them from scratching clothing.

"I secretly cut out a 'door'," Lu Hu said, patting the snow off his hands. "If we went through the main gate, we'd have to go another forty minutes to the east, and that side is too conspicuous. There's no chance someone else would be watching. Don't think it's not far just because it only took us two hours to get here." He turned to look at the three exhausted men and explained, "This factory really went all out to prevent theft. They built a huge electric fence around it, and it's very dense! I dare say, even if someone else knows this place, they wouldn't dare to come this way without me leading the way—"

He paused, his eyes behind his goggles scanning the dark, indistinct area hidden by the hillside inside the wire mesh. His voice lowered. "Who knows which section of the mesh is still electrified? In this freezing weather, what if someone gets electrocuted or trapped? Who can they complain to? They could scream their lungs out and no one would hear them. They'd just silently die here!"

After Lu Hu finished speaking, he took the first step forward. He was obviously not doing this job for the first time. His movements were skilled and even had a kind of rough efficiency. He grabbed the two sides of the cut and disguised wire mesh gap, his arm muscles bulging under his thick cotton coat. He pulled hard to both sides, and with a "crunch", the camouflage dry grass and ice shards fell down.

The opening was torn open enough for an adult to bend over and pass through. The angle at which the Land Rover tore it open was very deliberate, ensuring both passability and consideration for "reusability" and "concealment".

"Hurry up, go in one by one, don't dawdle!" Lu Hu turned to the side, using his shoulder to brace against the pulled-open wire mesh, and shouted back, his breath condensing into a thin frost on the cold wire.

Xie Yingtang nodded to Xu Xiaoyan and Wang Xiao, and took the lead in crouching down and crawling through. Wang Xiao followed closely behind. He was carrying a bulging backpack, and his movements were a little clumsy. When he passed through the gap, his backpack was scratched by a sharp wire, making a soft "sizzle" sound.

When it was Xu Xiaoyan's turn, she followed their example, lowered her center of gravity, bent over, pushed her backpack over first, and then squeezed her whole body sideways. The steel wire, which smelled of rust and ice shavings, almost grazed her cheeks and back. She could feel the resistance of her thick clothes being scraped. Her vision went dark for a moment, and then brightened again. She was already standing inside the electric fence.

Beneath our feet lay a thick, untouched snow, fluffier and whiter than outside. Not far ahead, the outlines of several low, snow-covered factory buildings stood silently in the gray sky, their windows dark and empty. Further away, the outlines of low shrubs, half-hidden by snow, were visible; that must be the sea buckthorn forest.

Lu Hu was the last to crawl in. As soon as he came in, he immediately let go, and part of the torn wire mesh bounced back, but it did not close completely. He turned around and carefully put back the withered grass and icicle fragments that he had torn apart. He also shoveled some snow from both sides of the gap to make a final disguise. A few minutes later, the gap was almost indistinguishable from the surroundings. It was hard to tell that there was a passage here unless you looked closely.

"Let's go," Lu Hu said, patting the snow off his hands and pointing in the direction of the factory. "Go through there, and there's a sea buckthorn forest behind it."

The group silently followed Land Rover, passing several factory buildings. The factory buildings were simple corrugated steel structures, many of which were rusted and deformed, with snow pressing down on some weak points, forming dangerous curves.

Looking at the vast, desolate industrial park ahead and the seemingly endless withered protective forest belt in the distance, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but ask Lu Hu, who was walking ahead, "Brother Lu, what's the situation at the front gate...? Also, is it possible that there are still some finished sea buckthorn juice or jam left in the factory's warehouse?" She asked naturally, as if purely out of curiosity and the expectation of maximizing profits.

Upon hearing this, Lu Hu stopped in his tracks. His eyes, hidden under the brim of his hat, lingered on Xu Xiaoyan's face for a few seconds, as if weighing how much to say or assessing her true intentions in asking the question. After a few seconds, he seemed to think that this girl "from Midtown" might just lack experience, or... it wouldn't hurt for him to selectively reveal some information.

He rubbed his hands together and exhaled. "The front gate is a real pain." He shook his head, his tone a mixture of disdain and apprehension. "They've installed a pretty advanced facial recognition system and automatic access control. Anyone not registered with the factory can't get in. I turned off the main power, but it seems there's a separate backup power supply over there, so the access control system might still be running. I'm not entirely sure of the specifics, but I saw someone try to bring someone in through the front gate before, but they never succeeded. Apart from employees who had their faces recorded before, it seems like no one else can get around that system." He spat. "Pah, it's like a military base, but the boss is the first to run away."