Locking the front yard, the house was now their family's private sanctuary.
Gu Qingcheng eagerly took out 10 solar panels from the storage cabinet. With her parents' help, she set them up in the backyard to absorb sunlight, anticipating the arrival of electricity.
Then, she retrieved the prepared iron wire and, with Gu Chaobei, climbed onto the top of the wall, stringing wire all around it.
The wire was not strung high, about one centimeter from the wall. This way, unless someone paid special attention, they wouldn't be able to see the wire on top of the wall.
Once the solar panels were fully charged, they would connect them to the wire at night. If any villains attempted to climb the wall, they would be met with an electric shock.
Because they had to buy a lot of things, Gu Qingcheng had converted all the 500 "Shuang Points" she had gradually obtained into silver over the past few days.
She planned to try and save Shuang Points as much as possible after this busy period, so her parents could also share the storage cabinet's functionality.
She hadn't told her parents about this feature yet, to avoid them constantly looking forward to something she couldn't immediately provide, which would put pressure on both sides.
The family busied themselves with unpacking and tidying up their new home. Just as things were starting to take shape, someone knocked on the door from outside, calling out loudly:
"Is Mr. Gu in? I'm from Xinghua Restaurant, and I'm here to deliver your dishes."
Gu Chaobei, who was drawing well water at the time, quickly opened the door upon hearing this and let the waiter bring in the food containers.
The waiter said that since the Gu family had paid a deposit, they could keep the food containers for now, and he would take them back tomorrow when he delivered the next meal.
The Gu family had ordered 20 portions of food from Xinghua Restaurant. Three waiters were needed to carry all the dishes.
Gu Chaobei casually remarked about inviting friends and relatives for the housewarming.
Seeing that the house within the walls was shut, the waiter said enviously, "Sir, you truly are wealthy and reclusive, with distant relatives seeking you out!"
In ancient times, reclusive masters took pride in their seclusion, much like how in modern society, those who talk about returning to the countryside to farm often have hidden talents they don't readily display.
Moreover, this "farming" was not the literal kind, but rather a display of a superior's detached demeanor. To those around them, it was perceived as a refined taste.
Therefore, the waiter's comment was not an offense but rather a compliment.
Gu Chaobei laughed heartily and gave each waiter a tip of five copper coins.
The waiters left with happy smiles, saying that as agreed, they would return at the same time tomorrow with another 20 portions.
Subsequently, waiters from various restaurants kept arriving with dishes. Each delivery consisted of 20 portions.
Gu Chaobei used the excuse of moving to a new residence to deflect the workers' curiosity.
Gu Chaobei also announced that he would be hosting guests for a month, ordering food from their restaurants daily, requesting twenty different dishes each day.
No restaurant would turn away business.
All these dishes went into Gu Qingcheng's storage cabinet.
On this day, they ordered from a total of 20 restaurants, receiving 400 portions of various dishes. This alone was enough for their family to feast on for half a year, as it was unlikely they would eat the same dishes every day within that period.
But that wasn't enough. Gu Qingcheng felt she had her work cut out for her to collect all the street food into the storage cabinet before the snow disaster arrived.
Wangcai was also curious, trotting after Gu Qingcheng wherever she went.
Wangcai couldn't run yet, but it could already stand and walk. The dog's nature made it impossible for it to lie in one place for too long.
Seeing that it could move and seemed energetic, the Gu family didn't restrict its actions.
Wangcai curiously watched Gu Qingcheng set up the solar panels, occasionally sniffing at them. This was a modern piece of equipment it had never seen before, and no dog in the Great Zhou dynasty had ever encountered anything like it, reaching the pinnacle of canine experience.
Although there was sunlight, its intensity was not very strong. Gu Qingcheng felt a bit regretful that charging the solar panels was taking longer than expected. However, she decided to leave them outdoors to charge as much as possible.
"Wow, it's getting colder and colder. Wangcai, do you need to wear clothes too?"
Seeing Wangcai shiver, Gu Qingcheng went to the pet store in the Mountain Cat Supermarket and bought it a Chinese-style padded jacket with the character "福" (fortune) on it.
Wangcai was a young male dog, aware that she was its savior, and was very cooperative with whatever she did.
Golden retrievers are naturally intelligent, possessing the cognitive abilities of a four-year-old child. After putting on the padded jacket, Wangcai felt much warmer. It then leaned its large head against Gu Qingcheng's knee, nuzzling her in gratitude.
Gu Qingcheng was deeply touched. She then bought a pile of dog food, vitamins, and deworming medication for Wangcai from the Mountain Cat Supermarket, planning to vaccinate it once its injuries had healed.
The Mountain Cat Supermarket's pet store was well-equipped with everything for a dog's eating, drinking, and playing needs, all available for Shuang Points.
Gu Qingcheng even muttered to herself that she should stock up on goods for Wangcai as well.
After a few days of living together, she had grown very fond of this voiceless companion. It was fluffy, felt great to touch, and was very obedient, always staying close to her, inseparable and clingy.
"Qingcheng, son, stop being busy. Let's have lunch!"
Hu Lanfang glanced at the sky. The sun was directly overhead; it was noon.
Without her phone or watch, she had now developed the habit of looking up at the sun to tell the time.
The power of environmental change on people was immense.
If it were before, she would never have imagined that she would know the time by looking up at the sun.
For lunch, they had the dishes delivered from Xinghua Restaurant.
This was also an opportunity to test if the taste had changed.
Although they had already sampled the flower tea drink last time, they hadn't consumed it yet, so this time they would experience it firsthand again.
Besides the delicious dishes, Xinghua Restaurant also included two bottles of osmanthus wine as a gift for their valued customer.
Osmanthus wine was a sweet wine, with a light and sweet taste, and a low alcohol content, suitable for Hu Lanfang and Gu Qingcheng to drink.
Gu Qingcheng took the dishes out of the storage cabinet and placed them on the dining table. The underfloor heating vent in the dining room was opened, and the room quickly warmed up, allowing them to remove their coats and eat in their thermal base layers.
"Xinghua Restaurant's cooking truly lives up to its reputation. I could finish this braised pig's trotter by myself," Gu Qingcheng said generously.
"Eat more. You're still a child and growing. Eat more to build your body, and strive to reach over 165cm in height later on," Hu Lanfang said with concern, looking at her daughter, whose height had noticeably decreased.
"Dad, Mom, we have good food and sleep, and we also need to practice some skills. After the natural disasters, when the Great Zhou dynasty loses its grip, the social order and morality will collapse, and we'll have to rely on ourselves," Gu Qingcheng said while gnawing on the pig's trotter.
"When have we ever not relied on ourselves? Tell me, in all our travels, has the Great Zhou court ever helped the common people?" Hu Lanfang pouted.
"That's true. Heh-heh, by the way, Dad, Mom, have you mastered the use of the crossbows I gave you?
We need to practice them diligently when we have time.
Also, I think we should set up a fitness plan. Mountain Cat Supermarket has fitness equipment, and we need to improve our physical condition.
Besides practicing with crossbows and bows, I found swords in the sporting goods store. They haven't been sharpened yet, so we can start practicing with them and have the blacksmith shop at the foot of the mountain forge some weapons that suit us."