That day, Wen Qian decided to stay at the solar power plant.
Although it was a desert, the solar panels were arranged neatly in rows and columns, and weeds had started growing underneath.
This was not surprising, for even in places unsuitable for plant growth, if such a large expanse of solar equipment were installed, lush grass would eventually grow.
Since the equipment here had not been maintained for years, it was not as bright as Wen Qian's impression, but rather dull and grayish.
Moreover, the grass had grown quite well, even covering some areas, making it seem like wild animals would come here.
Indeed, Wen Qian saw bird droppings on many of the panels, so she started setting up nets to catch birds.
Since the entire plant was vast in area, and many paths were overgrown with grass, Wen Qian did not venture too deep inside.
She took a look at the nearby office area, which had been vacated long ago, apparently after the volcanic eruption caused this place to gradually cease operations.
Later, those people had also evacuated.
Wen Qian searched around inside, but found nothing useful.
Looking at the rows of panels in the distance, Wen Qian decided to dismantle some of them.
After so many years, the panels had probably broken down and could no longer generate electricity, but she thought they would still make decent barriers or shelters, either as paneling or as frames.
The racks underneath the panels also looked usable, even though some had rusted, but they could still be used.
Wen Qian planned to stay here for another day, dismantling some panels and racks to take with her.
She had to take something along, as this was the only thing Wen Qian could think of on her journey.
She exerted all her effort to put everything she encountered into her spatial storage, as it seemed to have no limit so far, so Wen Qian didn't mind putting more things in.
Besides, she had a decent haul from bird catching here, though not a large number.
After dismantling quite a few panels and racks, Wen Qian continued onward and saw the railway line starting to merge with the highway.
The two paths ran parallel for a distance ahead.
During this time, Wen Qian was still alone, having seen no fresh traces of human activity in the places she had visited.
But then again, if it were that easy to encounter people, she wouldn't have traveled this far in the first place.
The temperature continued to rise, and Wen Qian still recorded the morning and evening temperatures in Xia Province.
She thought that at this time of year, she would have already started seedling cultivation, but now on the road, she could only put more things into her spatial storage to make up for her regrets.
The journey in between was rather dull, with no human settlements, no rivers or lakes in sight, and not many animals in the surrounding environment.
Moreover, Wen Qian could not find anything to collect into her spatial storage at the places she stopped, and it was not very convenient to even find wild vegetables here.
Therefore, when she came across a continuous stretch of forest during her journey, Wen Qian decided to cut down trees at the base of the mountain the next time she stopped overnight.
The trees here were of suitable thickness and grew straight, so she began cutting them down methodically.
Her plan was that since she would eventually need to build log cabins wherever she settled, it would be good to start cutting these suitable trees for lumber now.
Even if not used for construction, they would make excellent firewood.
More importantly, Wen Qian felt that if she did not collect things along the way, it would be a waste.
If she didn't cut down trees, there was nothing else to collect, so cutting trees seemed more appropriate.
She stayed for two days, cutting down some trees using a chainsaw.
Because sawing trees by hand with a saw would be extremely tiring, and she was alone, she preferred to use the oil on the chainsaw instead.
Therefore, in many flat and open areas, she rode a bicycle instead of a motorcycle.
When the path became narrow, she rode the motorcycle to pass through quickly, both for safety and to save fuel.
After traveling two knuckle-lengths on the map, she finally reached another place where she could collect things other than trees.
Further ahead, the highway passed a reservoir, and below the reservoir, besides the passing road and railway, there was a large expanse of farmland shown on the map.
This water conservancy project collected water sources from elsewhere into this reservoir, and then irrigation canals diverted the water to the fields for irrigation.
The satellite map showed a green grid pattern here, and when Wen Qian initially checked this place, she discovered there was a small town with a population of two thousand.
This area was primarily for agricultural production, followed by animal husbandry, with farms and cultivated land established long ago, and the cultivated area expanded even more after the reservoir and canals were built.
Wen Qian felt there was a high chance of encountering people here, as she both avoided and hoped to meet people to exchange news.
Although conflicted, she still hoped there were people here.
Therefore, she exited the highway and approached the reservoir from the side, as the view from above would be better and she could quickly determine if there were people in the town below.
The people here lived along the edges of the farmland, so the buildings were scattered throughout the fields.
The actual concentrated area might just be a short street.
Wen Qian struggled to climb up and saw many traces of wild animals, it seemed this reservoir area supported many wild animals.
Her first thought was that even if people ate fish from the reservoir, there would have to be someone down there after such a long time.
With an anxious heart, Wen Qian finally reached the high ground of the reservoir.
There were no signs of human activity on this side of the reservoir, so she looked down through her binoculars and saw green in the distance, but no traces of human activity.
In fact, even before the volcanic eruption, the population here had already fallen below two thousand.
In the years after the eruption, although there were fields and water here, making cultivation possible, the yields were definitely not as good as before.
And without fuel, the vast farmlands could not be cultivated and harvested using machinery.
Therefore, later cultivation was essentially done by manpower, and what was grown might not even be enough to survive.
When Wen Qian saw no one here, her first thought was that since there were few people originally, it was possible they had left after the natural disaster.
There was actually another reason - after the volcanic eruption in August, there was still one mechanized harvest of grain here, and at least half of the livestock was not evacuated either.
But the people living here had no ownership rights to this farmland and ranch.
So most of the output from this land was transported to more populous areas for distribution.
The people here were able to keep their own private produce, which was actually not meager. Growing some crops could sustain them in the later period.
Unfortunately, the people in the vicinity of this small town also knew of their abundant grain and meat.
Therefore, in the later period, the people of a nearby city with a population of 100,000 set their sights on this small town.
