After a night without conversation, they set off again the next day. On the road, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei earnestly discussed the problem.
Yao Wei also tried to call the mechanical dog 02, but like Lu Xi'an, she found it hard to call it smoothly.
Gou silently listened from the front for a long time and finally spoke through the RV's sound system.
Just as Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were about to continue their discussion, an electronic synthesized voice floated over from both sides of the vehicle: "Mechanical dog 02 is my self-designation. I have no objection to you using the name 'Gou.' Please don't worry."
Lu Xi'an: "…"
Yao Wei: "…"
The electronic synthesized voice had no emotion at all, but why did they both seem to faintly hear a trace of resentment?
They traveled the whole day, and apart from tending to the baby's needs or letting the she-wolf feed him, they hardly needed to stop.
Since they traveled faster than on their way there, by dusk, they had already reached the foot of Qin Mountain in Shanyang County.
But Lu Xi'an still found a place to park the car.
"It's unsafe to travel at night, and suddenly opening the base's gate might scare the people inside. We should wait for a night and head up the mountain tomorrow."
Lu Xi'an said this to Yao Wei.
"Okay."
Yao Wei nodded. She had thought the same.
Lu Xi'an had once used a term that started with "heart" or something? She couldn't remember, but she felt like this situation of thinking alike was what Lu Xi'an meant by that term.
So the two of them stayed the night at the foot of the mountain.
Taking advantage of the night, Yao Wei earnestly reviewed what she had learned over the past two days, like how to care for a child and how to burp him.
She even wanted to learn from the she-wolf how to nurse, but Lu Xi'an stopped her.
"Human nursing is different from animals, why learn from a wolf?"
Lu Xi'an quipped.
"That's true…"
Yao Wei reminisced about the women she had seen nursing before and nodded in agreement.
Then she thought seriously and asked Lu Xi'an, "How about... I try it myself?"
Lu Xi'an was a bit reluctant: "Let's not, our own child hasn't had it yet."
"Oh…"
Receiving Lu Xi'an's opinion, Yao Wei, though somewhat unwilling, had to give up.
After a night passed, early the next morning, they drove up the mountain, reaching the gate of the 923 Base. As they passed through the corridor, the upright gate immediately recognized the arrival of Lu Xi'an and Gou.
The two owners with the highest authority were in front, and the gate immediately dropped with a "clatter," startling everyone inside, who looked nervously towards the entrance.
Luo Ping and Tang Er were the first to step out, standing in front of everyone.
Meanwhile, Liu Hua was in the back, ready to provide Luo Ping and Tang Er with a "buff."
Lu Xi'an didn't see Chai Xin and Shu at first glance. There were too many people in front to notice their movements, but he knew they were certainly there, just invisible.
Only when they saw the vehicle in the natural corridor outside did Luo Ping and others finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Chai Xin and Shu suddenly appeared, indeed mingling within the crowd and positioned at the outer edge, clearly a good place for an ambush.
It seemed they had diligently learned what was in the manual!
"Big brother, big sister!"
"Older brother, older sister, you're here?!"
Luo Ping, Chai Xin, and Shu said with surprise.
Lu Xi'an picked up the microphone on the console and replied, "Yes, we're back. Make way so we can come in."
Luo Ping quickly called to the others, "Make way, make way."
The others cleared the path, allowing Lu Xi'an to drive inside. After stopping the car in the courtyard, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got out.
Shu approached and said, "Finally, we've been waiting for you to come back! You should go in to see; I've already planted those seeds from before. I'll show you later."
Lu Xi'an was surprised: "Really? Then I have to take a look later."
Shu said, "When are you leaving? If you could stay a while, you might see the vegetable garden sprout."
Lu Xi'an replied, "Let's not do that, there's no point in staying since everything is on track here. We're leaving after today's visit."
Everyone's face immediately showed disappointment.
Previously, when Lu Xi'an was here, he shared stories and taught them songs, making them feel Lu Xi'an, the Neo-Human, was very kind and friendly.
A person this great, finally back, but leaving right away, wasn't it disappointing?
Shu sighed, "What a pity…"
Chai Xin also became downcast, saying nothing.
But Luo Ping said, "Big brother, big sister, no need to rush! At least stay a day or two; I still have many things to ask you.
"Like this... Han Gou, the stuff! Bring it over quickly."
After speaking, he suddenly remembered something and awkwardly said, "It seems like it shares a name with your Gou; I hope it doesn't mind?"
Lu Xi'an replied, "No worries, its name is mechanical dog 02."
"That's good, then that's good."
While Luo Ping was talking, a young man delivered something. Seeing that he still looked youthful, he must indeed be very young.
"How do you use this? I still haven't figured it out yet."
Luo Ping picked up the device and asked. It was none other than the oil pump from Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's car.
"This is an oil pump..."
Lu Xi'an explained the name and function of his homemade device to Luo Ping and added, "The people you left in the village to the east know about this. They've seen me use it."
Luo Ping said, "You mean Dandan, right? He's not one of my people."
Lu Xi'an replied, "I don't know his name. Anyway, he's guarding the gas station in the village outside Tongzhou County and said you frequently go there for fuel, calling you Brother Luo."
Lu Xi'an wasn't surprised by the name "Dandan".
Most people in this world have quite random names, like Liu Hua, Tang Er, and Chang. Compared to them, Yang Guan, Chai Xin, and Luo Ping have relatively decent names.
This likely has to do with the regression of civilization in today's world. Illiteracy is prevalent, so how can there be good names?
Yao Wei and her mother, Ye Wenxin, probably have higher education, hence their names are far better than others.
Luo Ping said, "That's him. He's always at the gas station. Not a good person, but better than most.
"He's too shrewd, using tomorrow's advantages to throw his weight around, so he keeps calling me Brother Luo.
"I know these things. I just see it as his benefit for watching over the gas station for me.
"But I can't bring him into Shanyang County. I'm afraid he'll sell out our people here someday."
"I see."
Lu Xi'an nodded.
"Let's not talk about him."
Luo Ping said, unable to resist a sigh, "You're impressive, Brother! I didn't even know such a thing existed! But I seem to have heard that someone in the south uses pipes to pump oil, probably this.
"But they scavenged theirs. You made yours yourself, and you're much more impressive than them."
Lu Xi'an laughed, "Alright, stop flattering. Hold on, let me get your child."
He said, opening the back of the car and taking out a box.
Handing the box to Luo Ping, Luo Ping saw the child inside and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! Wow! This kid looks well-fed!
"You're amazing, Brother, you even know how to feed a child!"
Lu Xi'an laughed, "I don't really know, but I got lucky."
He said, getting into the car again and lifting out the three cubs of the mother wolf.
The mother wolf immediately looked up at him.
"Get off. From now on, you'll live here."
Lu Xi'an said, placing the wolf cubs on the ground, and the mother wolf reluctantly got up, following him out.
Seeing the crowd outside, the mother wolf was startled and instantly tucked its tail.
The people outside were also startled and hastily stepped back.
Lu Xi'an said, "I fed the child with this wolf's milk. The wolf is quite obedient, so I'm leaving it to you. It has three cubs, and when they grow up, they can help guard the place."
Shu cautiously approached, looking carefully, and said, "Brother, to be honest, this wolf really looks a bit like a dog."
Lu Xi'an: "..."
How did this old man see that? Why couldn't I see it?
"Like a shepherd dog."
Shu added.
"..."
Lu Xi'an was slightly at a loss and said, "Whatever you say, it's well-behaved, so you can try raising it."
Shu said, "Right, raising it is right. Once it gets familiar, it can work. If there's a chance, you can add some lambs, and they can help with herding in the future."
Looks like this wolf is going to be raised as a shepherd dog by the old man.
Lu Xi'an handed the wolf cubs to Shu, telling him, "First find a place to settle this wolf. Don't let it get surrounded and stressed here."
Shu took the wolf cubs and obediently led them away. He truly treated the mother wolf like a shepherd dog, showing no fear.
The mother wolf, intimidated by Lu Xi'an's presence, kept a clear gaze and never dared to bare its teeth.
Luo Ping had already found a woman to take away the child.
Lu Xi'an planned to unload some supplies from the car and hand them over to Luo Ping and the others.
Just at that moment, Tang Er suddenly spoke, "Mr. Lu, speaking of which, there's something I remembered. I can't handle it myself and was about to talk to Mr. Luo."
"What is it?"
Lu Xi'an asked.
Luo Ping just watched Tang Er quietly, not interrupting to speak over Lu Xi'an.
Tang Er said, "After exercising yesterday, I went outside just to take a look. Now that I have some ability, I tend to patrol the mountains regularly to check for any danger.
"Then I reached the hilltop on the west side and surprisingly saw many hens...
"They should be hens, according to the book Mr. Luo showed us over the past two days."
He probably meant a middle school biology textbook.
Lu Xi'an didn't interrupt Tang Er and listened as Tang Er continued, "I remembered what Mr. Shu said, that if we have hens, we'll have eggs to eat. So I wanted to catch the hens.
"But unexpectedly, those hens were guarded by a giant rooster. It was so big, even bigger than this wolf. I couldn't beat it, so I ran back."
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