Finally back at the base, he closed the door and locked it.
The fire in the stove had died out, and the air was cold.
"Make yourself comfortable. I'll get the stove going, and it'll warm up," Jiang Ye said, feeling a bit awkward about bringing such a beautiful woman back to spend the night.
Isabelle looked around, grabbed a small bearskin stool, and sat by the stove, helping to hold the lid.
Jiang Ye skillfully lit the fire with a lighter and corn husks, then added two shovels of coal. Thick white smoke billowed from the chimney outside, and heat radiated from the stove walls, quickly warming the base.
Isabelle held out her hands to the stove, a smile on her face. "Thank you, it's much warmer now."
"There's another stove outside. If you're still cold, I can bring another one in," Jiang Ye said, looking at her.
"This place isn't very big; one stove should be enough," Isabelle smiled. "Are there any rules I should know about staying here?"
"Let me show you around," Jiang Ye said, pointing outside the window. "That's the perimeter wall. It's mainly to keep out the blood kangaroos. They're very fierce animals, and the wall keeps them out."
"Did you build this wall?" Isabelle asked, staring at the ice on the wall.
"That's right."
"Impressive!" Isabelle gave him a thumbs-up. "What are those buildings outside?"
"The first one is the restroom, with a smart toilet. The others are warehouses, filled with all sorts of food. You're not hungry yet, are you?" Jiang Ye asked, looking at her beautiful profile.
"Not hungry. I'll eat later tonight," Isabelle replied generously.
"In my base, don't go into the cockpit. There are some guns under the seats, and a few boxes of grenades by the co-pilot's seat; they can go off easily. That base panel over there is my personal equipment, and it's not very interesting, so don't touch it. There's a subwoofer on the windowsill, but I haven't bought any music, so it can only play free radio," Jiang Ye said, scratching his head. He suddenly looked troubled. "About sleeping, I only have one bed here."
Isabelle turned to look at the bed, hesitated for two seconds, and asked, "Can two people squeeze in?"
Jiang Ye felt a little embarrassed. "It's about the size, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind," Isabelle smiled. "It's nice to have a warm place to sleep. Sleeping squeezed together is even warmer, isn't it? But you don't sleep naked, do you?"
"Of course not. I'll sleep fully clothed," Jiang Ye replied, his cheeks slightly flushed. The thought of sharing a bed with such a stunning beauty in a few hours made his blood start to race.
Isabelle suddenly stood up, unzipped her down jacket, and took it off, placing it by the bed.
Underneath the down jacket was a tight white sweater. Her waist was slender, and her chest was astonishingly large, making Jiang Ye feel a bit dizzy.
"Aren't you hot?" Isabelle sat down again and looked up at Jiang Ye.
"I was planning to go out and shovel snow," Jiang Ye said.
"Shovel snow?" Isabelle tilted her head.
"Your spaceship crash reminded me. The rotorcraft will be here in a couple of days, and with all this snow, it won't be able to fly. I plan to build a small runway outside the base," Jiang Ye explained. "If I don't shovel the snow now, the snow at the bottom will freeze solid in a couple of days, making it difficult to build a runway."
"Indeed. The small plane you bought needs at least a fifty-meter runway. I suggest you make it seventy meters long and a bit wider for easier landing," Isabelle nodded. "I'll rest for a bit, and then I'll come out and help you?"
"That's not necessary. You just rest," Jiang Ye waved his hand.
Carrying a shovel, he pushed open the door and stepped outside.
Jiang Ye crawled out of the tunnel and immediately sank into snow that was up to his waist.
He turned to the east side of the base from memory; the ground in this direction was the flattest.
Then, he began to work with his shovel.
He first shoveled the surface snow to the side, then began to widen the area.
He decided to build a runway seventy-five meters long and fifteen meters wide.
After all, he hadn't flown a plane before, so a larger runway would be safer.
After only half an hour, Isabelle came out.
She was holding a pickaxe and walked over to Jiang Ye.
"For a simple dirt runway, it's best to build a slope at the end to act as a brake," Isabelle said. She struck the ground with her pickaxe, creating a rough outline. "I'll make the basic shape, and you can smooth it out with the shovel."
Jiang Ye felt her tone was very professional and that listening to her was the right thing to do. "Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"I can't just eat and stay here for free. Doing some work for you is like paying rent," Isabelle said casually, her pickaxe moving non-stop. "Landlord, what's for dinner tonight?"
"What do you want to eat?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Is there meat?" Isabelle said. "I'm a carnivore; I can't live without meat."
"Bear meat, and some sausages," Jiang Ye replied.
"That sounds great!" Da Feng Novel Network
Isabelle worked quickly, clearly experienced in similar tasks, and soon carved out a curved slope at the end of the runway. The slope was a full meter deep.
Jiang Ye followed behind, working with his shovel, bending down and digging diligently, smoothing the slope.
Suddenly, his movements stopped.
A hint of suspicion appeared on his face.
Then, he squatted down, his face close to the ground, sniffing carefully.
A very faint, almost imperceptible scent was coming from directly below!
The smell was so faint that he couldn't identify it specifically.
Jiang Ye stood up, and the smell immediately disappeared.
But when he squatted down with his face to the ground, he could still faintly smell it.
"Isabelle, hold on a moment," Jiang Ye said.
Isabelle stepped on her pickaxe, reached up to brush her long hair out of her face, and asked, "What is it?"
"This airplane runway is probably ruined," Jiang Ye said, pointing to the ground. "There might be a mine directly below. I need to extract it."
"A mine?" Isabelle frowned, her beautiful brows furrowing. "How is that possible? How do you know?"
Jiang Ye didn't explain further. He suddenly plunged his shovel into the ground and began to dig downwards.
The end of the runway, which had taken so much effort to build, was immediately ruined.
Isabelle also stopped working, leaning on her pickaxe and watching from the side with a frown.
Her expression clearly showed disbelief.
Jiang Ye dug quickly, reaching a depth of two meters.
At this depth, he was certain: there was indeed ore in the stratum directly below, as the mineral scent was getting stronger!
Jiang Ye squatted at the bottom of the pit, now able to distinguish the components of the smell: the scent of Ejiao, a hint of jujube paste mooncake, and the aroma of black sesame paste.
But these smells were still faint; the ore might be buried more than ten meters underground!
Jiang Ye was excited. He hadn't expected there to be ore beneath his base. He hadn't discovered it for so long because the mineral scent didn't reach the surface. If he hadn't dug a little deeper while building the runway today, he might not have known about the ore even when he left by car in the spring.
It was a very hidden mine, discovered by chance!
Digging further down would be troublesome, so Jiang Ye climbed out, planning to return to the base to get some blood grenades for blasting.
Isabelle reached out and pulled him up. "How is it? No ore, right?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it. It's below ten meters, there's definitely ore," Jiang Ye said happily. "I'll go back and get some explosives to blast it."
Hearing Jiang Ye's words, Isabelle was very confused. She looked down at the deep pit that had been dug.
It clearly looked like ordinary soil. How could there be ore?
Her gaze towards Jiang Ye was filled with confusion, and she seemed to be lost in thought.
The two returned to the base together. Jiang Ye grabbed three grenades and threw them in one after another.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the blood mist dissipated, Jiang Ye sniffed the air and shook his head.
He grabbed another four grenades and threw them in, one by one.
Explosion after explosion rang out. Isabelle covered her ears with her hands and watched silently from the side.
He threw a total of sixteen grenades!
Finally, Jiang Ye nodded, picked up a sack, and left the base.
Isabelle curiously followed behind him.
The spot where the runway had been was now a large hole, blasted out by the continuous explosions of the grenades.
Both of them stood at the edge of the pit and looked down.
The walls of the pit were just ordinary soil.
But at the bottom of the pit, some dark red, blackened stones were exposed!