Chapter 289 | Chapter 290 | Chapter 291
Chapter 289: Little Yu’s Things
Zhou Qian cut off his trance, his face expressionless.
“Forget reaching the heavens. If you lie there any longer, you’ll be reaching the underworld.”
He hoisted Gao Ming up from the ground with one arm.
“Anywhere else injured? Any impact to the head? How does it feel now—nausea? dizziness?”
A string of questions, yet Gao Ming ignored all of them, still staring at the roof.
After a moment, he snapped back. Grabbing Zhou Qian’s forearm with force, the veins on his long, lean fingers bulging, his whole body trembling with excitement—
“Ginseng!”
Zhou Qian frowned.
Those bloodshot eyes locked onto him.
“Ginseng! That stuttering ginseng! My mutated cold arrow bamboo needs its whiskers—needs its energy!”
Zhou Qian fell silent for a moment. Then his arm tensed slightly, and he simply slung Gao Ming over his shoulder.
“‘Stuttering ginseng’—is that what you call it?”
“Let’s go. We promised Boss Tang we wouldn’t let you starve.”
Gao Ming immediately struggled.
“You don’t understand! You really don’t understand! This mutation induction may have failed—but that sky-reaching growth is unprecedented!”
“And all of it came from absorbing that ginseng’s root energy!”
“Do you know how important that is?”
“That talking ginseng—it can participate in the growth of all mutated plants in the future. The energy it contains is beyond anything before!”
“Look at this bamboo! Look at how it grew!”
Hanging over Zhou Qian’s shoulder, Gao Ming struggled and raved, only to have his stomach pressed painfully against the shoulder, making him gag.
Zhou Qian quickly pressed down on his waist, worried he might vomit bile all over him.
But the mad scientist’s obsession only grew stronger. Blood still dripped from his head, yet his arms clung tightly to Zhou Qian’s iron-like back.
“Did you hear me? Didn’t you notice? The bamboo stopped growing! It could have grown further—it hasn’t reached its limit! I need ginseng whiskers—two more, no, five more!”
“If I can measure its limit, I’ll know how much energy the whiskers contain, and then I can—”
Carrying him through the dense network of roots, Zhou Qian’s brows were tightly knit. Moving was extremely difficult, and he had to tear through several roots along the way.
Fortunately, the bamboo wasn’t like Kuang Biao—it had no temper. Or rather, it had mutated but had no consciousness, so it didn’t react at all.
By the time Gao Ming started rambling about his plans again, Zhou Qian had already tossed him into the back seat with a thud, slammed the door, locked it, and started the car in one smooth motion.
“Did you hear what I said?!”
Gao Ming struggled upright from his sprawled position. Blood from his forehead nearly flowed into his eyes, and he wiped it off roughly with his sleeve.
“Ginseng!”
But Zhou Qian remained unmoved, turning the steering wheel and driving off cleanly.
The distance to Huai Yu’s house was short—just a quick drive. The pot in the kitchen had only just begun to boil when they arrived. Huai Yu stood nervously at the door.
“Brother Zhou Qian, was that an earthquake just now?!”
Before Zhou Qian could answer, Gao Ming had already stumbled out of the car:
“I want ginseng!”
His hair was disheveled, his face pale, his whole body covered in dust. Blood had half-dried on his face in dark streaks, smeared messily by his sleeve, while fresh red blood still trickled down from his forehead.
Huai Yu was startled.
“That injury—!”
Gao Ming was about to rush forward, but Zhou Qian reached out with his long arm, grabbed his collar, and dragged him into the living room.
“Little Yu, make a cup of sugar-salt water first. I’ll clean his wound.”
“Oh, okay!”
With Zhou Qian speaking, Huai Yu didn’t question Gao Ming’s rambling. But the moment she left, Zhou Qian dragged him to the washbasin.
“If there’s no concussion or other injuries, then clean your face properly.”
Gao Ming stubbornly lifted his chin.
“No! I want gins—”
Before he could finish, a sudden force struck the back of his head, and his entire face was pressed into the basin.
Moments later, Gao Ming’s soaked, disheveled face was lifted out. Blood diffused into the water, turning it faintly red.
He gasped for air, staring at Zhou Qian in shock and disbelief, unable to understand what had just happened.
Zhou Qian, usually steady and tolerant, now looked grim.
“That ginseng belongs to Little Yu. It’s not your place to make demands.”
“Now either clean yourself up and eat and drink properly—or I’ll drive you straight back to Boss Tang.”
He wasn’t like Huai Yu, who trusted everyone easily.
Huai Yu even hoped that when they went to the wasteland, Gao Ming would help at home—feeding chickens and geese. But in all this time, Gao Ming had never talked about anything beyond his experiments, nor had he shown interest in any of the mutated creatures in the house.
Their only daily interaction was him coming to eat, then leaving immediately after.
Huai Yu handled everything. To her, two people or three people made no difference. And Boss Tang had treated her well, even giving contribution points generously…
But in truth, they didn’t lack those two thousand anymore. For Gao Ming to so casually demand something that belonged to Huai Yu—
That, Zhou Qian would never allow.
At that moment, Huai Yu came in with a full bowl of sugar-salt water. Seeing Gao Ming soaked from head to chest, she froze.
Zhou Qian, however, remained calm and tossed him a towel.
“Dry yourself. I’ll treat the wound later.”
The injury wasn’t serious, and the bleeding had already slowed. Gao Ming took the towel with a complicated expression and pressed it against his face.
The slight sting on his forehead gradually grounded him. His frenzy faded, and his expression returned to its usual indifference.
When he lowered the towel, Huai Yu’s fair, clean face looked at him with concern:
“Did you faint from low blood sugar? I told you not to stay up all night. Drink this—it’s a bit salty and sweet, but it’s not bad.”
Then she turned to Zhou Qian:
“Brother Zhou Qian, what was that earthquake just now? Did he get hurt from falling?”
Zhou Qian nodded.
“He was cultivating a mutated bamboo. It grew too violently and broke through the roof—probably got hit by falling debris.”
“Huh?”
Huai Yu looked at Gao Ming, suddenly interested.
“Mutated bamboo? Can it talk too? It’s not like Kuang Biao, right—always talking nonsense? If it is, you can’t plant it too close!”
Chapter 290: Forget It
Gao Ming shook his head.
He drained the bowl of sugar-salt water in one go. The gulping eased some of the weakness and emptiness in his body. The wound on his head had already formed a scab; without needing much treatment, it had stopped bleeding.
Seeing this, Zhou Qian deliberately chose to ignore it.
Huai Yu, however, was curious.
“How big did the bamboo grow? Like the yardlong beans in the field?”
It was already October. The giant, python-like yardlong bean in the field had finally begun to wither. Its leaves had yellowed, vines shriveled, leaving only a few tender branches still holding on, with scattered beans hanging from them.
Most had already aged. In a couple of days, Huai Yu planned to harvest and dry them for seeds.
Gao Ming couldn’t answer.
Aside from his experiments and related materials, he cared about nothing else. He hadn’t studied Huai Yu’s giant beans at all. The only reason he knew about them was because of his good memory—and because she and Zhou Qian often chatted casually at the dinner table, treating him as one of their own.
Now, with Zhou Qian watching him and Huai Yu full of curiosity, Gao Ming hesitated before speaking:
“The experiment isn’t finished yet. So far, it’s grown to about twenty meters. But the sheath hasn’t fully shed. If there’s enough energy…”
He stopped there.
Huai Yu grew even more curious.
“Your house has already been repaired so many times. If this keeps up, Boss Tang won’t be able to afford you anymore. What kind of bamboo are you trying to grow? If there’s a chance, I can go find one for you.”
She said it casually—and meant it casually.
After all, there were so many strange plants on the wasteland. Maybe something similar existed. Even Kuang Biao, that once-in-a-thousand-years chatterbox bamboo, she had just casually brought down from Sanqing Mountain.
Gao Ming didn’t take her words seriously.
“I want to cultivate a mutated bamboo. It doesn’t need to grow very large, but its root system must be highly developed—and it should be able to integrate information from wherever its roots spread…”
Huai Yu blinked, confused.
“So… is that eavesdropping, or a wired network?”
Gao Ming froze.
After a moment, he shook his head.
“No, no, not that complicated. I just need to identify similar types. As long as it can tell me where there are especially strong mutated bamboos, that’s enough.”
What a strange requirement.
Huai Yu frowned, realizing she couldn’t help.
“Then you’d better keep researching. Even Kuang Biao isn’t that capable.”
Gao Ming scoffed at that useless chatterbox bamboo—in his eyes, all of its mutation had gone into thinking and talking. Completely useless.
At least to him.
As for today’s mutated cold arrow bamboo—even though its mutation path was far from what he wanted, if it grew high enough, who said it couldn’t become an advantage in another way?
Thinking of this, even under Zhou Qian’s cold gaze, he spoke decisively:
“That st— that ginseng in your house, the one that can talk. Can I have five of its whiskers?”
Afraid Huai Yu would refuse, he quickly added:
“At noon, I pulled two whiskers from it. My mutated cold arrow bamboo only started its explosive growth after absorbing that ginseng water—that ginseng must contain extraordinary energy!”
Then, recalling how the tea had done nothing for him physically or mentally, he added again:
“It most likely only works on mutated organisms!”
His eyes burned with expectation.
But Huai Yu frowned. She straightened up, the anticipation on her face gradually turning cold.
“I don’t even bear to pull Da Pang’s whiskers. What makes you think you can?”
Gao Ming fell silent.
He couldn’t explain why—maybe it was because that fat ginseng had annoyed him earlier by leading him to a field mouse for food, or maybe he just wanted to bully it…
But Huai Yu clearly had no interest in hearing that.
She immediately took away the bowl, raised her wrist, and activated her communicator:
“I’m going to tell Boss Tang. From now on, we won’t cook for you anymore—you can drink nutrient solution yourself.”
Her actions were decisive, without hesitation—completely different from her usual cheerful innocence.
Zhou Qian didn’t even have time to react. Gao Ming was left stunned.
Outside the window, Kuang Biao, who had been eavesdropping all along, burst into smug laughter:
“See? What did I say? He doesn’t take you seriously—and he even looks down on me!”
Kuang Biao had been holding this in for a long time. Gao Ming spent every day studying bamboo, causing all sorts of trouble, yet dismissed it—this gifted bamboo—as useless.
Pah!
Was Kuang Biao something he could just want if he wanted?
In short, the thick-skinned bamboo had been deeply offended. Now that Gao Ming had suffered a setback, it couldn’t be happier.
Its leaves rustled loudly as it continued adding fuel to the fire:
“Someone like him—how could he be as reliable as me? Feeding chickens, watering crops—I can do everything! Guarding the house? I’m the best!”
The more it spoke, the more it felt like an indispensable part of the household, its arrogance growing:
“But you need to talk to the Rose Corridor—no more beating me casually. If you hit me again, I’ll get angry!”
“And also! Eating sunflower seeds in front of me is too much! You never consider my feelings! Huai Yu, be honest—we’re both mutated beings. Why do you get angry when that stuttering one loses a couple of whiskers? You’ve chopped off so many of my bamboo shoots—did I say anything?!”
No one in the room had even spoken yet, and Kuang Biao had already unleashed a long rant. Clearly, it had been holding this in for a long time.
Huai Yu: …
Well… she did feel a bit guilty.
Because she really did treat Da Pang and Kuang Biao differently.
But that wasn’t her fault—who told Kuang Biao to have a mouth?
“And—” she snapped back,
“You stupid bamboo! How many times have I told you—don’t eavesdrop on me!”
“And you’re so fierce! If Gao Ming plucks two of your leaves, you’d scrape off a layer of his flesh! How can you compare yourself to Da Pang? It’s so pitiful—even when its whiskers are pulled, it doesn’t complain!”
More importantly, Gao Ming couldn’t be relied on, and Kuang Biao wasn’t trustworthy. When they went to the wasteland, Da Zai and Er Zai could be taken along—but what about Ke Taro, the chickens, and Da Pang?
The wasteland was cold and dangerous. Especially if they encountered people, Huai Yu couldn’t guarantee others wouldn’t notice something unusual.
Just as she was worrying, Boss Tang called back:
“Little Yu, why did you suddenly message saying you’re done with him? What did Gao Ming do?”
Chapter 291: Can’t Bring the Whole House
If not now, then when to complain?
Huai Yu immediately said,
“Brother Zhou Qian was hosting guests, and I forgot to prepare lunch for Gao Ming. But when he came, he pulled whiskers from our Da Pang!”
To take care of Gao Ming, Boss Tang had come several times. Though he still didn’t dare visit Huai Yu’s house, Zhou Qian’s place was right by the road—he had seen it more than once and roughly knew how they hosted guests.
Hearing “Da Pang,” even if he didn’t yet know who that was, it sounded like a young one. And Gao Ming, already so old, going to pull someone’s “whiskers” or “hair”—
Too embarrassing!
Boss Tang pondered for a moment, then made a firm decision:
“Little Yu, you’ve worked hard during this time. I’ll bring him nutrient solution this afternoon.”
“Huh?”
With how decisive Boss Tang was, Huai Yu felt a bit embarrassed instead. After thinking, she added:
“He broke the roof doing his experiment. You’ll need to bring materials to fix it, otherwise when the autumn rain comes, all his equipment will get soaked.”
But Boss Tang was even more decisive.
“It’s fine.”
His tone was gentle but firm.
“He’s out of points. Because of the location, repairs always require ability users—I’ve already covered quite a lot for him.”
“He’s already in his thirties or forties. If he can’t learn his lesson, then what’s the point of doing experiments? Let the equipment get soaked.”
“I treat him as a friend, not as a father.”
The communicator’s volume was loud. Gao Ming, sitting nearby, heard everything. His expressionless face finally showed a trace of panic.
“My equipment is expensive. And this time I really had results—I was just missing one key step!”
he added quickly.
Boss Tang heard him, but his voice remained calm:
“And what does that have to do with me? Every one of your experiments is dangerous—I don’t even dare to comment. Whether it succeeds or not, what difference does it make?”
“Gao Ming, you’re no longer that carefree rich second-generation living off a trust fund. Wake up. Without me, you wouldn’t even be able to buy equipment.”
“I went to great lengths to find you a safe place to live, and neighbors to look after you—are you treating them like household staff who cook for you? Let me tell you, in times like these, someone like you couldn’t even hire reliable help.”
“I’ll bring you nutrient solution this afternoon—enough to keep you from starving for a month. After that, do whatever you want.”
He hung up immediately.
The communicator emitted a dull tone. Huai Yu lowered her wristband, then looked at Gao Ming with sympathy, her tone softening again:
“The noodles are ready. Do you want to eat?”
After a pause, she added:
“You should eat. Otherwise, for the next month, you’ll only have nutrient solution.”
Gao Ming sat there, a dark scab on his head, his clothes still damp, his expression blank and lost.
…
He finished the bowl of noodles without tasting anything.
Huai Yu sighed a little.
“If I hadn’t forgotten him…”
“It’s fine,” Zhou Qian said, not guilty at all. “Respect goes both ways. If he doesn’t give it to you, you don’t need to give it to him either.”
Then he glanced at the stove they had bought and smiled.
“Good timing—we don’t need to install one for him anymore. Let’s just set it up at my place.”
Also, Huai Yu’s place needed some planning.
Zhou Qian looked around the living room and picked a spot.
“This small stove will go here. The pipe will lead into the bedroom, so it’ll be warmer in winter.”
“Also, I bought extra coal, cement, and sand. Later we’ll clear out the storage shed, expand it, and build a large stove. We’ll put a big alloy tank on top.”
Inside the large stove, one side near the wall could be enclosed separately, creating warm little spaces for Ke Taro, the chickens, Da Zai, Er Zai, and Da Pang.
On the other side, they could run heated pipes and build a simple shower room.
The stove didn’t need intense fire—just steady warmth. As long as the pipes stayed warm and the water in the tank remained hot, that was enough.
Now that mornings and evenings were already getting cold, using cold water was becoming inconvenient. Zhou Qian’s planning was meticulous.
Huai Yu’s eyes lit up as she listened!
She practically wanted to urge the “long-term worker” to start immediately. Energized again, she said:
“Brother Zhou Qian, when you go get the permit tomorrow, also stop by the highway entrance and buy more supplies!”
Recently, Zhao Feiyan from “Bai Zhao Subsidy” had purchased a large amount of their vegetables, planning to enter the wasteland during the golden autumn period before dormancy to make a big profit.
Judging by the timing, he should be returning soon.
Now that they had a car and communicator, they had made an arrangement with a tricycle driver at the highway entrance. Whenever he received meat or produce, he would notify them and earn a small commission.
Though it wasn’t as profitable as home delivery before, it was easy work and didn’t interfere with other jobs. Their cooperation had been smooth.
If not for the fact that the meat Huai Yu bought wasn’t particularly valuable, the driver would’ve already formed a small team specializing in procurement.
During peak summer, they had gone a month or two without good meat. Now, with temperatures dropping and dormancy approaching, exploration teams were all working hard on the wasteland…
Huai Yu rubbed her hands eagerly. Then she checked their savings and decided:
“Brother Zhou Qian, should we modify the back of the truck into a semi-enclosed space?”
“Semi-enclosed?”
Zhou Qian hesitated.
“That would make it less convenient to load things.”
Huai Yu shook her head.
“But we have too much to bring!”
“I talked to the Rose Corridor—when we leave for the wasteland, it’ll give me a tree cocoon. We have to carry it with us.”
“And Da Zai and Er Zai—keeping them locked in the truck all the time would be too pitiful. If we modify it, there’ll be a roof to block wind and rain, and they can still look out and even… you know, use the toilet.”
“And the chickens… Brother Zhou Qian, they’ve just started laying eggs. I haven’t even saved many yet. If we leave, and only Kuang Biao is left at home… will they really be okay?”
“Why not bring them—and Da Pang too? Then we can still have eggs every day! And Da Pang has no self-defense ability—it’ll stay low-key in its flowerpot.”
Zhou Qian: …
After a long pause, he said numbly:
“When you awakened your wood-type ability, what was the point? You should’ve turned into a snail—carry your house wherever you go.”
“And do you really think bringing a bunch of chickens and a green potted thing to the wasteland is normal?”
Huai Yu sighed.
“But… you can’t exactly carry a house.”
