Chapter 139: Becoming Neighbors
Little Tian and his wife tirelessly hauled soybeans, while Huai Yu, taking advantage of the daylight, happily rummaged through the pile of junk.
The metal items were separated out by Fenda, and what Huai Yu was picking through now was the stash of food from the old warehouse—More precisely, the food that used to be edible.
After all, there were instant noodles from 6 years ago, spicy sour noodles from 7 years ago, and soda crackers from 6 years ago…
With each pack she pulled out, Huai Yu’s face grew a shade paler.
And as she kept uncovering these old food items, it was almost like she could feel the mindset of Chen Xing and the others when they were hoarding supplies back then—
“It’s been 6 years already, surely it’s inedible now, right?
But these are instant noodles, spicy noodles, and soda crackers! What if they’re still edible? Throwing them away feels like such a waste.
Maybe we should keep them. Who knows—maybe one day our stomachs will evolve iron guts…”
But honestly, in this world, can you still eat expired food?
Yes… but not much.
If it had only expired a year ago, Huai Yu swore she’d be having a deluxe instant noodle feast tonight!
But…
Now, she was piling up these packs one by one with a miserable look, feeling like it would’ve been better not to look at all. At least then she wouldn’t be so tempted. But now, her cravings were like a cat scratching at her heart—she couldn’t hold back!
When she finally pulled out a pack of river snail noodles that was also 6 years expired, she couldn’t take it anymore. She flung the bag aside and decided not to look through the junk pile any further.
What a pile of junk!
These manufacturers were really annoying. Since they’re already adding preservatives, why not add more? What’s the point of a shelf life of just one, two, or three years?
Couldn’t they just make it last six years in one go? Seriously lacking any sense of crisis—so annoying!
Tears of frustration streamed down her face as she angrily turned to another pile of miscellaneous items. She reached in and pulled out a small plastic storage rack.
Huh?
Huai Yu held up the rack for a closer look and realized it was perfect for organizing little things around the house. Her mood lifted again.
Next, she found a cat litter box—But it wasn’t big enough for chicks, goslings, or even Keta Rō. Well, it could fit, but there wouldn’t be any extra space. Huai Yu thought about it for a while and couldn’t figure out a good use for it, so she put it aside again.
And then—Oh great, a bag of 6-year-old cat food.
If this had been at the start of the disaster, it would’ve been in high demand, because lots of people brought their beloved pets along, and many were starving too.
That cat food would’ve fed either pets or people for a while.
But now…
Huai Yu sighed.
Next up was a bottle of floor cleaner specifically for cleaning machines.
She stared at it silently for a while, but no matter how she thought about it, there was no way her concrete floor could use this stuff. So she stacked it to the side too.
Right after that, she pulled out a set of toiletries!
The packaging was all in a foreign language, looking super high-end and classy, priced at 1,098 per set. It even smelled fancy—no weird odors—obviously still usable.
Huai Yu beamed with happiness and quickly put it aside. She didn’t even notice the big cat head and the word “cat” on the box.
It felt so good to find treasures in a pile of junk!
Huai Yu was energized, her broken heart from the expired noodles fully mended. Her good luck continued as she pulled out a plastic sports water bottle!
“Ahhh!” she shouted with joy. Even though nowadays she could easily afford to buy a water bottle, finding one like this felt like discovering treasure.
Double the happiness!
…
She kept digging until night fell and even the solar lamps couldn’t light up the massive pile anymore. Only then did she reluctantly stop, carrying her newfound treasures back into the house, one trip at a time.
She hadn’t noticed it while rummaging, but now, as she stuffed everything into the house, the once-empty little room instantly felt full. Huai Yu hummed a little tune as she sorted everything neatly, and then confirmed again—
Uncle Zaozi’s connections were really something!
Even though those connections involve getting beaten up, whether you’re the one hitting or getting hit, connections are connections!
Thinking of this, early the next morning, Huai Yu went to pick a big basket of fresh string beans, then headed to Flower City Hospital again with an extra meal for the patient.
After Labor Day, there were noticeably more people at the hospital, but none of the cases were too serious. The whole lobby was filled with the smell of medicated plasters for sprains and bruises—
Laboring really has been hard work.
Today’s patient meal was minced meat with string beans. These beans, which everyone had grown tired of 6 years ago, were now a rare treat for Zhou Qian.
He had been lying in the hospital for a long time. After finishing his meal, he told Huai Yu some good news, “After today’s checkup, they’re fitting me with a prosthetic tomorrow.”
“So soon?” Huai Yu didn’t know much about medical stuff, but she’d pulled Zhou Qian back from the brink of death. Back then, with his mangled leg soaking in water, she had worried every day about infection and whether it would cost him his life…
But now, just a few days later, he was getting a prosthetic?
“It’s not that fast.”
Zhou Qian gave her a look and said, “Everyone’s physical fitness has improved a lot since before the disaster. For us in the defense forces, we’re the best of the best, so we recover quickly.
If it weren’t for the blood loss and nerve damage, we could’ve started prosthetic fitting with biomaterials as early as the third day after amputation.”
These advanced technologies were far ahead of everyday life, and Huai Yu didn’t really understand. She just asked, “After you get it, are you leaving?”
“I heard that people like you, when you get injured, get transferred to military schools in the capital to become instructors or teachers.”
Everyone who survived the disaster had tons of survival experience, and soldiers who had faced mutant animals and plants were especially valuable.
Every detail they shared could be the key to survival.
Even though the government had been broke these past years, they still did their best to compensate soldiers in this area.
That’s one of the reasons why, despite knowing the risks, people still signed up for the military without hesitation.
But Zhou Qian shook his head, “Nah, I’m not that kind of person, all patriotic and selfless. I’m not going to teach students.”
He valued personal feelings more than the big picture and had never considered himself a qualified defense soldier.
Right now, he looked at Huai Yu seriously and asked, “If I apply for a spot in the Rose Mansion, Area 2, will you help me build a house?”
“Huh?”
Huai Yu’s eyes lit up, “You want to be my neighbor? Really, really?!”
“Wow! I’ll make sure to talk to the Rose Corridor and tell it not to hit you!”
Her excitement was obvious, and the whole room was filled with her pure joy.
But—Huai Yu soon frowned, “Do you really want me to help build the house? That’s so hard… I don’t really want to build…”
She was being honest and didn’t even dare to think back to how tough it had been to build the treehouse. Doing it again—she wasn’t sure she had that kind of determination anymore.
So the girl thought for a moment and said seriously, “Why don’t you live in my old treehouse instead? It’s torn up a bit, but it hasn’t collapsed yet.”
