Chapter 133: The One and Only Big Sis
Fanta, Uncle Zaozi, and the others from the team were huffing and puffing as they unloaded things into the shed.
Uncle Zaozi, who didn’t have any powers and loved to slack off, only moved the light stuff. Meanwhile, Fanta, with her metal powers, easily separated all the metal items into a neat pile…
Even though it was just some junk from three carts, unloading it was pretty easy, and in no time, the shed was packed full.
Then, looking behind the house, they saw Chen Xing with a serious face, carrying a huge basket full of bamboo shoots. Her expression was so stern, it didn’t look like she’d just been digging for shoots—it looked more like—
“Hey, Boss Chen, why do you look like you just got beat up?”
Uncle Zaozi’s scrunched-up face was full of mischief, and he started shaking with laughter again.
Huai Yu couldn’t help but glance at him, thinking, The books are right—humans really don’t learn from history at all.
The next second, a clump of mud flew up from the ground and splatted right onto Uncle Zaozi’s face, knocking him flat on his butt.
This time, Huai Yu didn’t even feel like helping him up.
She looked over at Chen Xing again—even though Big Sis Xing had tried to act cool earlier and got startled by Kuang Biao, in the end she’d still managed to collect a whole big basket of bamboo shoots, so her mood should be okay, right?
But since she’d never really hosted friends before, Huai Yu wasn’t sure if she was doing a good job with the hospitality.
Chen Xing, still wearing that stern face, put down the bamboo shoots, paced around the room twice, and when she saw no one else coming in, she quickly hugged Huai Yu tight and whispered urgently, “Little Yu!!!”
“From now on, you’re my big sis! My one and only sis!”
Huai Yu was hugged so tightly that her hoe fell to the ground. “Huh?”
Chen Xing grabbed her shoulders, eyes shining, “I should’ve realized it earlier—if you can live in the Rose Corridor, you must be amazing!”
“What’s so special about having a mutant bamboo that listens to you?”
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I’ve met someone as incredible as you in my lifetime!”
“No wonder you said the Defense Army helped you build your house—they must know how impressive you are and are totally in awe of your… connections, right?!”
“Oh no, your mutant veins!”
“Anyway!” Chen Xing said solemnly, “If you ever need help with anything, just ask! And if there’s stuff that’s not convenient for you to handle, bring it to me—I’ll definitely give you a good price.”
“And that batch of tea you gave me—no wonder its mutation value was so low! It must be something really special, right? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone where it came from!”
“And your Uncle Zaozi—I’ll make sure to knock some sense into him later.”
Chen Xing was so excited she was practically jumping up and down, completely basking in the pride of knowing such a big shot.
Huai Yu opened her mouth, struggled for a while, and finally stammered, “Actually… I really don’t have any other skills…”
“I get it, I get it,” Chen Xing said knowingly. “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word to the others.”
The sun was setting in the sky. Chen Xing, feeling totally satisfied, stood at the door holding her basket and waved, “Fanta! Bring the bamboo shoots!”
She then turned around, very seriously took the vase and rose that Huai Yu was holding, her face lighting up with joy, “Let’s hurry and leave before it gets dark. Little Yu, when I come back from the wasteland next time, I’ll definitely bring you something nice!”
After thinking for a moment, she hugged the vase tightly and grabbed Uncle Zaozi, who was still lingering around, “Come on, come on! I’ll give you your share once we get in the car. Don’t hang around here and upset our Rose.”
Uncle Zaozi struggled, “Hey—”
“Keep it down!” Everyone rushed over instantly, covering his mouth and pressing down his arms and legs, “The Rose Corridor really hates noisy people! Be quiet!”
The group quickly shoved him into the car, and Huai Yu only remembered something as the car started up. She rushed forward and called out, “Big Sis Xing, I’ll bring you those tea balls Uncle Zaozi took tomorrow!”
Chen Xing didn’t answer right away. She waited until the car was safely on the main road, then stuck her head out, “We’re heading out tomorrow, I’ll come find you when we get back!”
Huai Yu smiled and waved back, “See you next time!”
But—
“Wait!”
She ran after the car, out of breath, until Chen Xing saw her in the rearview mirror and stopped the car, “What is it? Something else?”
Huai Yu leaned on her knees, gasping: “N-no, I just wanted to ask, Big Sis Xing… if you see someone really young wearing a Sentinel uniform out in the wasteland, could you…”
She hesitated, not sure how to put it into words.
Chen Xing’s smile faded, and she got out of the car, patiently asking, “Help him out?”
“Or… bring him back?”
In this era, everyone had experienced loss or parting.
Whether they were explorers, Defense Army, or Sentinels, the brighter the glory, the closer it was to farewell.
Especially the Sentinels—they enjoyed all the glory in the city, but out in the wasteland, they were the ones who piled up the bones.
In the dangerous zones full of mutant plants, no one could survive alone and come back alive.
Chen Xing didn’t know who Huai Yu was talking about, and she didn’t want to pry. Right now, she just hugged the frail girl in front of her.
“I will.”
“Every explorer who comes across a Sentinel’s…” she struggled to say the words, “remains, tries their best to bring them back.”
Of course, there were all kinds of explorers out there. Chen Xing couldn’t guarantee that everyone had a good heart.
But as long as there’s still humanity left, if they find belongings or unclaimed remains, they’ll try to bring them back.
After all, the Sentinels give out rewards for successfully recovering remains or belongings. When human decency and interests align, it won’t let Huai Yu down.
If not them, then someone else.
Huai Yu’s eyes quietly filled with tears in her embrace.
Everyone knew that once you stepped into the wasteland, it was a dead end, but she just couldn’t accept it…
Such a powerful Lin Xuefeng…
But in the end, she held back her tears, pulled herself out of Chen Xing’s hug, and said seriously, “Thank you, Big Sis Xing.”
Chen Xing smiled at her and got back in the car.
The engine started, and the car drove off down the road again. The twilight clouds rolled in, and the evening breeze, a bit chilly, blew by once more.
Huai Yu stood there, feeling like she’d seen this scene somewhere before.
She took a deep breath, shook off all those messy thoughts, and decided to cook something nice tonight to calm herself down.
At the very least, bamboo rice in a tube sounded good!
Bamboo shoot, pork, bean sprout, and wild veggie bamboo tube rice—born of the same root, and so delicious!
If it turned out well, she could even bring a portion for Zhou Qian tomorrow!
