The mother and daughter exchanged a smile. After Xu An unlocked the room door, she pushed the cart in and walked in last, then closed the door.
"It's just as the rental center staff said, there are no door locks in these rooms."
"Then let's register our information first."
With that, Xu An and Xu Yan inserted their ID cards into a card slot at the entrance to complete the check-in.
The room was as empty as they had seen it downstairs, with nothing at all. The bathroom wall was equipped with a showerhead and designed with a wet and dry separation.
Xu An checked again to confirm there were no hidden cameras in the room.
Overall, she was quite satisfied.
As soon as she entered, Xu An concealed the small cart behind the wall and put it into her spatial storage.
"Let's find some bedsheets to cover the balcony first. The rooms here have very narrow dividing walls. Whatever we do, the opposite side can see it."
Fortunately, their unit only had the balcony with an open view; all other rooms were enclosed.
Xu An nodded, unbuckled the black hiking backpack she was wearing, took out bedsheets and hooks, and covered the view from the balcony.
"We'll deal with the living room last. Let's tidy up the bedrooms first."
"Okay."
The floor of the room was made of some unknown material, and it was very clean, so not much tidying was needed. Xu An took out a pile of items from her spatial storage.
Carpets, clothes racks, soundproofing wall mats, floor mats, beds, mattresses, bed sheets, quilts, pillows, tables, chairs, simple bookshelves, and an air-conditioning fan that could blow cold and hot air...
Xu An didn't know the voltage here, so she didn't take out any large furniture. As for air conditioning, the lighthouse had a central temperature control system. She figured they wouldn't freeze to death during the extreme cold period.
However, in her previous life, the extreme cold period was the longest among the natural disasters she experienced, lasting for more than three years. To be safe, she had always prepared protective measures.
If the lighthouse's heating system wasn't enough, they wouldn't have to endure the cold.
The two of them worked for two hours before finishing tidying up the two bedrooms.
They didn't make it too complicated, using mostly items that could be disassembled at any time, such as one-time adhesive wallpaper, soundproofing wall mats, and floor mats... If anything happened, Xu An could put them into her spatial storage and take them away without leaving any traces.
Xu An gave the larger master bedroom to her mother.
Xu Yan carefully placed the orchid she had been caring for all the way on the bedside table.
The leaves were a bit curled from the journey, but it wasn't a big problem.
Xu An walked into the bathroom and took out all the toiletries, placing them on the bathroom shelf. She felt it wasn't enough, so she found a simple shelving unit she had bought when purchasing furniture.
She placed all their usual skincare products and the like on it.
By the time they finished everything, they were starving.
Xu An: "I remember I should have bought braised pork. Do you want some?"
"Sure, I'm too tired to cook."
They didn't delay. The mother and daughter got up and returned to the bedroom. To prevent the aroma from escaping, they also closed the bedroom door. Gou Dan snuck in and lay down nearby, drooling.
Xu An chuckled, mixed Gou Dan's dog food, and took out a portion of braised pork. She divided half of it for Gou Dan and mixed it with some rice.
"I've noticed Gou Dan has been eating more and more lately, and he doesn't even eat his dog food properly anymore."
"Maybe he thinks the dog food tastes bad, hahahaha..."
Xu Yan laughed and served all the dishes on the small coffee table. Xu An also finished her work, washed her hands, and came to eat.
There was a portion of braised pork, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried snow peas, and seaweed soup.
The small table was packed full. The braised pork was tender, fragrant, and sweet, not greasy. Xu An ate with great appetite, eating two bowls of rice in a row.
"Mom, I don't think we need to tidy the living room. Let's just do a quick job on the kitchen, and then we can go look for some heavy curtains. The bedsheets are too light and will be blown away by the wind."
"Okay. I see other people use curtains or newspapers to cover their windows."
Xu An thought for a moment and said.
"This should last us a few months. But we can't stop our physical training. This is just the beginning, and there's still a long way to go."
"Okay."
"I'll inquire tomorrow about where the 'black market' downstairs is, transfer the trading coins from those few people's ID cards, and then start planting some vegetables and fruits."
"What can I do?"
Xu Yan's expression was a bit dazed, her gaze vacant, with a hint of sated contentment. She was like Kuafu chasing the sun, suddenly having lost her goal.
Before coming to the lighthouse, they had endured all sorts of hardships. But upon arriving, they discovered that living on the lighthouse was no easier than living on the mainland.
Yet, despite this, Xu An was already very satisfied. Compared to her memories of her previous life, they were now living in a fairy tale.
"You don't need to do anything. You can sleep at home tomorrow."
Xu An, like a salted fish, sprawled out in a starfish pose on the soft, fluffy carpet.
She wished she could stay like this forever, until the end of time. But there was still a pile of things waiting for her to handle, and she couldn't let herself sink into complacency.
Being vigilant in times of peace was important. Being at ease for too long would make her lose her alertness and lower her sensitivity to danger. Therefore, she had to keep herself on guard at all times.
While Xu Yan was daydreaming, she suddenly remembered something. "Right, do you remember that woman we argued with while queuing for the Sky Ladder?"
Xu An asked suspiciously, "I remember. What's wrong?"
"I feel like she's a bit off."
"How so?"
"When we were driving back, I saw the construction team next door was having their meal. That woman was arguing with the staff. I was planning to wait and watch the show, but then the woman saw me and stopped arguing, disappearing like a mouse seeing a cat."
"Don't you find that strange? I don't think I can make that woman so scared."
After hearing her mother's words, Xu An also fell into thought. It was true; even though her mother had had a conflict with this woman before, the woman, who dared to argue with the lighthouse staff, wouldn't be afraid of her mother.
"Now that you mention it... Mom, don't you think those three men appeared a little too quickly?"
Even if there was a verbal altercation, the three men had threatened them when they left, saying, "Don't encounter them after leaving the lighthouse..."
There wasn't much deliberate vengeful intent in those words, at least not enough to warrant chasing someone tens of kilometers to kill them in the afternoon after an argument in the morning.
As soon as Xu An finished speaking, the mother and daughter fell into deep thought. If that woman was really behind it...
Xu An thought to herself, this woman probably couldn't be kept alive!