Chapter 11: Fresh Bamboo Shoots!
Auntie Yun looked at the two gaunt, skin-and-bones boys and sighed. “You haven’t traded for rations in several days, have you?”
From her sleeve, she produced a cleanly washed piece of cloth. Unfolding it, there lay half a portion of a ration.
“Take this and eat it first. Tomorrow, come with us to see what’s going on.”
“No need, Auntie Yun. We have rations.”
“What rations could you possibly have…?” Auntie Yun looked up at Jia Si, who was burning with fever on the cot, the boy’s face flushed a deep red.
It was hard enough for these two boys just to stay alive, let alone afford a doctor.
“Stop eating those rocks. Cramming your stomach with pebbles might trick you into not feeling hungry, but do it for long and it’ll kill you—don’t you know that?” Auntie Yun pulled Jia Wen close, whispering, “Do you want to leave your little brother starving all by himself in this room?”
If her own man hadn’t been out with Jia Wen today and noticed it, she wouldn’t even have known.
Jia Wen lowered his head. Auntie Yun’s words had struck him right where it hurt most.
Ever since their family died, the sole reason he had clung to life day after hopeless day in this apocalypse was Jia Si.
“Come on, take it.”
Auntie Yun pressed the wrapped half-ration into his hands. “Come with me tomorrow to see. Long Qian and her crew aren’t like Mad Dog’s gang; maybe they really did find a spot where we can scavenge crystals or supplies. If we can get some money… we can pool our coins together and buy some medicine for Jia Si!”
Hearing Auntie Yun say this, Jia Wen looked back at Jia Si’s flushed cheeks on the cot, then thought of the two pitiful little crystals that were all he had left.
He gritted his teeth. “…Alright. Thank you, Auntie Yun.”
“What secret?”
Inside another wooden shack, by the dim flicker of a tiny candle, a woman drinking water to stave off hunger asked.
“I don’t know, but they said there are good things out there. Long Ya said so herself,” an older woman replied. “Let’s go have a look tomorrow.”
A man was in the corner binding a wooden spear. “Fine by me. We can’t go east anyway, so going west tomorrow is as good a choice as any.”
Inside a pitch-black wooden shack:
The occupant was a frail young man.
He soaked the last tiny crumb of a rock-hard black biscuit in water, sipping it down bit by bit.
The west wall?
He remembered what he had overheard from Long Qian’s crew after returning from outside the east wall today.
His stomach ached fiercely, though he couldn’t tell if it was from starvation or from the scuffles outside the city earlier.
Either way, he was barely clinging to life.
Going to take a look wouldn’t cost him anything.
He fished an old, faded photograph from his pocket, using the faint light filtering through the cracks in the wood to gaze at the faces of his late family.
In this endless, hopeless dark, who knew when an end would finally come.
“There’s a secret south of the west wall.”
The same piece of news, cloaked in half-veiled riddles, was spreading quietly through a small circle of people.
Meanwhile, back with the instigators of the rumor:
“Sorry, Sister Qian. You must have drained all our savings trying to get a doctor for me these past few days,” Geli said.
Long Qian’s squad had solid combat strength and had managed to build up a bit of “savings” over the years.
Every last bit of it had been poured into Geli over the past few days.
Everything was expensive in the apocalypse, and calling a doctor was pricier still.
Even though everyone knew full well that medicines originated from the Three Great Cities, and whatever the local doctors held had been diluted with water who knew how many times…
Still, having a doctor was better than having none at all.
“What kind of bullshit is that? Were we supposed to just watch you die instead of finding a doctor?”
Nothing pleasant ever came out of Long Ya’s mouth. Tossing a bundled blanket onto Geli, she barked, “Now that you’re back from the dead, go the hell to sleep.”
Leaning against the wall, Long Shi chuckled. “Don’t overthink it, Geli. Running into that boss means your time wasn’t up. If you really feel guilty, just wash my clothes for me more often.”
“Quit flattering yourself. Geli, don’t listen to him.”
Old Hu took the bedding off Geli and began laying it out on the floor.
Long Qian’s crew owned two large wooden shacks: one for all the men to sleep in, and the other for the women.
“Get some rest, Geli. If you want roasted sweet potatoes tomorrow, you’ll have to earn them yourself.”
Long Qian’s voice drifted in from the adjacent room.
“You got it, Auntie Qian!”
Unlike the heavy, suffocating atmosphere of the past few days…
Though the room was just as cramped once the candles were snuffed, the conversation was sprinkled with far more laughter.
“They really were delicious, those roasted potatoes. Hey, do you think I’ll wake up tomorrow and find out it was all a hallucination?”
“It was a hallucination,” Long Shi agreed, nodding seriously. “So don’t come with us tomorrow—no roasted potatoes for you.”
“Hahaha, ever heard of a joke?”
“Idiot.”
“Sister, do you still feel bad anywhere?”
Lying on the cot, Lina snuggled closer to Lilin.
“Not anymore.”
“Hehe.” Lina reached out to touch her sister’s face.
“What are you smiling about?” Lilin asked softly.
“I’m happy we met such an amazing Boss Sister, I’m happy we got to eat roasted sweet potatoes and roasted potatoes, and I’m even happier that Sister is still by my side.”
No one understood the sheer terror Lina had felt that afternoon.
Watching the person closest to her slip away had gripped her heart so tightly she couldn’t breathe.
Thankfully, none of her worst fears had come to pass.
The heavens had granted them the greatest stroke of fortune, allowing her sister to remain with her.
Lilin murmured an “mm,” pulling Lina into her arms.
“Tomorrow, we’ll work hard to earn enough to get you a roasted sweet potato, too.”
“Okay!”
Unlike the cold, harsh nights of the past…
Though tomorrow remained an unknown, a glimmer of hope now burned in their hearts.
Surely their dreams tonight would be filled with the rich aroma of roasted potatoes.
Outside Seed City’s west wall:
After the chimes rang, Long Qian and her group had departed.
Not long after they left, Ling Jing sharply noticed that the concentration of the emerald mist seemed to rise.
The green tint in the air was slowly deepening.
Perhaps that was the purpose of the chimes—to herd everyone back inside the high walls before the mist thickened.
It looked like there would be no more customers today.
Ling Jing took stock of today’s earnings.
At first, the two sisters had bought one sweet potato and one potato, bringing in ten City Coins.
Then Long Qian’s crew arrived. The one named Long Ya had first bought a potato for four City Coins.
Next, Long Qian bought six sweet potatoes, and her companions bought two sweet potatoes and five potatoes.
After the mutated bamboo shoot monster was dealt with, the group had polished off their potatoes and sweet potatoes. Seemingly invigorated, they began scouring the surrounding area for crystals.
After searching for a good while, they found four small crystals in total, converting them into thirteen City Coins. Combining that with the fifteen unspent coins from earlier, they bought another seven roasted potatoes from her.
Aside from the unconscious man who couldn’t eat, everyone else had one each.
They had thoroughly stuffed themselves before heading back.
On her first day of business, she had sold fourteen roasted potatoes and seven roasted sweet potatoes.
There were still twenty-seven roasted potatoes and sixteen roasted sweet potatoes left.
No need to panic.
Ling Jing caught sight of the small print at the very top of the official interface.
—Official Restaurant Manager Perk: All ingredients and prepared dishes will remain in their freshly produced state until sold.
This feature was remarkably practical.
If only she had possessed something like this in her previous life.
Ling Jing sighed wistfully to herself, then checked the revenue displayed on the cash box.
[110/100]
Right beside it was a gleaming prompt: [Upgrade Available].
No rush on that; she would need to inspect the interface later to see what the exact upgrade requirements were.
Right now, something else demanded her attention.
Ling Jing turned her gaze toward the tricycle.
Earlier, when the mutated bamboo shoot monster was “pulverized” by the system’s built-in barrier, she had felt something extra appear on the cart.
With so many people around, it hadn’t been convenient to check. Now that she was alone, she could look properly.
Ling Jing moved the basket of sweet potatoes aside, revealing what had appeared on the cart bed.
It hadn’t been her imagination; it was real.
Beneath the baskets of sweet potatoes and potatoes, resting on the floor of the tricycle, was a neat pile of…
Fresh bamboo shoots!
