“Auntie, this is for you.”
The woman’s tears instantly poured down.
She took the steamed buns from the boy’s hands and repeatedly thanked him.
“Thank you, little brother, thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. Auntie, hurry back and check on your daughter. Remember to hide the buns well.”
After saying that to the woman, Ah Bao turned and ran back to Sheng Ge’s side.
The woman tucked the steamed buns beneath her clothes. Following the direction the boy had run toward, she saw a woman in white with somewhat unusual clothing standing there.
The woman nodded gratefully toward Sheng Ge before hurrying home.
“In the apocalypse, casually showing kindness and saving people usually isn’t a good thing.”
Witnessing everything, Yun Yanwu could not help reminding them.
Human hearts in the apocalypse were complicated. Indifference and caution between people were the norm.
Kindness in this world would not bring good fortune.
Instead, it often brought disaster.
He could not even remember the last time he had shown kindness himself.
“So you regret that Ah Bao helped you all back then?”
Yun Yanwu: “……”
Alright then, pretend he never said anything.
Sure, he himself might not be kind, but he was still perfectly happy when other people were kind to him.
That was just how double standards worked!
……
Meanwhile—
Gu Xiaoxue and the elderly group were also eating. However, all they had were the simplest flatbreads.
“Sigh, the base is definitely safer than outside, but everything here requires crystal cores or supplies to exchange for, and the prices are expensive too. The little bit of stuff we have probably won’t last much longer.”
An old woman sighed worriedly.
“Don’t worry. We’ve already started looking for work. We won’t let you starve.”
An old man beside her comforted her.
The old woman rolled her eyes at him.
“Hmph, what kind of work could you even find?
“You used to be a teacher. Where are you supposed to find students to teach now? We’ve already gone out looking these past two days. Even sweeping jobs have people fighting over them. What other work could people like us possibly do?”
Jobs in the base were not easy to find.
Especially for a group like them—old, weak, sickly, and all ordinary people.
There were even fewer jobs they could do, and the available work was dirty, exhausting, and highly competitive.
“Stop worrying so much. Worst case, I’ll go outside and move zombie corpses. At least that’ll earn enough for a meal.”
Gu Xiaoxue had been quietly listening the entire time. Only after hearing this did she finally speak up.
“Grandpa Zhang, there’s still Big Brother Dahong and me. You don’t need to worry about crystal cores. Moving zombie corpses is very dangerous. You absolutely must not go.”
“What, you think we’re old and useless now?”
Old Man Zhang looked at Gu Xiaoxue with a stern face.
“These old bones of ours can still move. Don’t you still need to search for news about your grandfather? Go handle your own affairs. We don’t need you taking care of us.”
The other elderly people also chimed in one after another.
“That’s right, Xiaoxue. We’ve already entered the base now. We can take care of ourselves from now on.”
“Exactly. We can’t keep dragging you and Dahong down forever. You both have your own matters to handle, so go do them. Don’t worry about us.”
“But…” Gu Xiaoxue wanted to continue persuading them, but the others did not give her the chance.
“Xiaoxue, we know you’re a kind-hearted girl and can’t stop worrying about us.
“But in the apocalypse, everyone has their own road to walk. No one can rely on others forever. Now that Dahong has joined an ability-user team, his life will definitely get better and better in the future. We can’t let a bunch of old folks like us keep burdening him forever, can we?”
Gu Xiaoxue could not find any words to refute them.
Because she knew Dahong also had family members he wanted to find.
It was just that his family lived too far away, and before now, he had been unable to leave because he worried about these grandparents.
Joining the ability-user team now was also partly because he wanted to use their resources to search for news about his family.
Seeing that Gu Xiaoxue had listened, the person comforting her patted her hand with relief.
“We old bones have already lived for so many years. Even if something really happens to us, there won’t be much to regret anymore. The only thing we still worry about now is Zihan. If you truly care about us, then look after this child in the future.”
Gu Xiaoxue looked toward Wang Zihan, who sat beside her, and nodded.
“By the way, Xiaoxue, how’s your job search going? Did you find something?”
Gu Xiaoxue nodded.
“I’m planning to go to the plantation.”
Of course, Gu Xiaoxue was not going to the plantation because she had exposed her plant-type ability.
With past lessons already learned, she would never casually reveal her abilities again.
The main reason she could enter was because she had previously studied agriculture in college. Although she had only completed two years and had not yet graduated, that was already enough qualification to get in.
Moreover, even though she did not want to expose her abilities, she had already become a plant-type ability user. Now she also possessed the power of vitality and had gained the ability to control plants.
In order to make herself stronger, the plantation was naturally her best choice.
After all, for safety reasons, other than the plantation, plants could barely be found anywhere else nowadays.
Additionally, if she entered the plantation, she could continue bringing food back for these grandparents under the excuse of plantation work, just like before.
Considering all these factors together, there was no way she would not go to the plantation.
“The plantation is a great place. In the apocalypse, food is the most important thing. Going there gives you extra security.”
Everyone in the room felt happy for Gu Xiaoxue.
“Sister Xiaoxue, you’re amazing!”
Little Wang Zihan looked proudly at Gu Xiaoxue.
Gu Xiaoxue smiled as well.
It was precisely because of this rare sincerity and kindness in the apocalypse that she and Big Brother Dahong were willing to stay with them all this time.