Chapter 43: Flashlight
Huai Yu eagerly picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a small piece of pig lard, blowing on it for a while before carefully placing it into her mouth—
Wuwuwu! After all the hard work over the past few days, she finally got to eat something edible!
However, after drinking the nutrient solution for so long, she wasn’t sure if her stomach could handle the greasiness, so she only took one bite and then forced herself to stop.
But her stomach was craving and hungry, almost like it was crowing!
She hesitated in pain for a long time, torn between the nutrient solution and the flour, between satisfying her taste and protecting her stomach, before finally pouring out some flour.
There was still a thin layer of oil left in the pot from earlier, and she couldn’t bear to wash it off. She put the pot back on the stove, waited for the oil to heat up again, and then poured in the purified flour.
The white flour puffed up in front of Huai Yu, releasing a fine mist. In the mist, there were dough soups, dough skins, noodles, pancakes… even buns and dumplings.
She sighed, took a deep breath, and tried to control her growling stomach before starting to fry the noodles.
The thin layer of oil had soaked into the pot, making the new cast-iron pot feel as though it was seasoned. The small fire in the stove was kept low on purpose. As she carefully stirred, the rich smell of wheat began to waft through the air.
The fire was turned even lower.
A gentle warmth rose from the bottom of the pot, slowly baking the flour. Huai Yu carefully added a little pig lard to enhance the flavor, and after stirring for a while, the aroma of the flour became even richer.
It was done.
The lightly golden fried flour was packed into a clean bag, leaving half a bowl for later. The rest was hung back on the vine.
Now, she could finally have dinner!
The fragrant fried flour went into her mouth, rich with a wheat flavor. It was a little hard to swallow at first, but Huai Yu worked hard to chew and swallow it.
It was delicious! Even though it only had a faint, almost unnoticeable sweetness, it was still much better than the strange taste of the nutrient solution.
She boiled some hot water in the kettle, hesitated for a moment between adding salt or sugar, and immediately decided to make a sweet fried flour paste with more energy tonight!
The pale yellow fried flour turned a deeper color once sugar and hot water were added. Huai Yu stirred it with chopsticks, took a bite, and felt that life was complete.
This was the kind of food people should eat!
No more nutrient solution!
After finishing a bowl of sweet fried flour paste, even though it didn’t contain much nutrition, and lacked the trace elements added in the nutrient solution, Huai Yu still felt her body warm up and fill with strength!
Seizing the opportunity, she took out the ten pounds of soybeans and began the long purification process again.
A new day arrived.
The broadcast sounded groggily once, but the new blanket was so comfortable and relaxing that Huai Yu didn’t even open her eyes, turning over and falling back asleep.
When she finally woke up from the warm bed, the first thing she noticed was the damp, moist air in the room.
It was too damp. Really too damp.
The blanket, which had been soft yesterday, felt a bit heavy today. Huai Yu sat up, staring blankly at the dimly lit room.
After a while, she got out of bed, her feet stepping into the cold, damp slippers. The chill instantly woke her up.
Skillfully, she grabbed some dry grass with one hand and pressed the lighter with the other. Huai Yu silently reminded herself to prepare more lighters and, ideally, a lamp—
Ah, she still hadn’t returned the flashlight that Captain Zhou from the defense force had lent her!
She rummaged through her storage bag and found the flashlight. With electricity so expensive, she had only used it once when she came back in the dark, and hadn’t used it again since.
She turned it on to test it, and the whole room lit up brightly.
It was nice, but this one was rechargeable. Even if she returned it, she couldn’t use it. She wondered if there was a solar-powered version.
Huai Yu mentally noted this and then opened the door.
A cold breeze hit her face. It was already the end of March, but the temperature was likely still below 15°C.
It was already past nine, but it was still foggy outside. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining. She looked at the sky, wrapped the flashlight in a bag, and put it in her backpack.
Thinking for a moment, she also packed a bowl of the fried flour paste from yesterday into the bag.
Down jacket, sweatpants, rain boots—on they went.
She added her raincoat to the backpack just in case.
She rolled out the bike and filled the “fire pot” with more firewood, hoping to evaporate some of the moisture before she set off towards Zone 69.
The 28-inch bike was big enough, and Huai Yu pedaled quickly, feeling the damp wind hit her face. Looking around at the new green sprouts sprouting everywhere…
Even though the sky was still overcast, she couldn’t help but feel happy!
Spring had arrived.
Not long after, the 69 Zone camp came into view. However, for some reason, there was an extra group at the gate.
Huai Yu hesitated for a moment, slowed down, and then got off the bike to push it over.
Just as she approached, someone stopped her: “Who is it?”
Huai Yu was about to explain when one of the guards recognized her: “Xiao Yu, you need to register first. The mutation index has increased recently, and our defense measures have been heightened.”
Huai Yu obediently nodded: “Do I need to register if I’m not going inside?”
“Yes, the last few days…”
He quickly stopped himself and handed over the registration book.
Huai Yu had a guess by now and began filling out the form:
[Name]
[Residence]
[ID Number…]
She didn’t quite remember her ID number, but fortunately, the wristband had it. She took it out and checked, then completed the registration.
The guard, after notifying someone via the radio, smiled and said: “You’ve been filling this out for so many years and still haven’t memorized it?”
Huai Yu paused her pen, realizing it was just a casual remark, and relaxed.
However, the guard didn’t return to his post immediately. He hesitated for a moment, looking a bit unsure.
Huai Yu smiled slightly: “Brother, do you have something you want to ask?”
“Ah…” The guard’s face turned a little red. With his comrades’ confused looks, he muttered: “It’s about the jujubes you gave to Captain Zhou last time… do you know where I can get more?”
“What about it? Are they for sale?”
Huai Yu hesitated: “I got them from a relative, not sure where they’re sold.”
The jujubes she had purified last time, although she didn’t know the exact value, seemed to be within a safe range from the way the guard was acting.
They probably tasted good too. After all, he was in the defense force, so they should have good resources, or else he wouldn’t have asked.
The guard sighed silently and mumbled: “I knew it…”
He nodded at Huai Yu and then returned to his post.
Huai Yu waited patiently by her bike. Not long after, Captain Zhou came out of the camp.
