At eight o’clock, Si Shen woke to the alarm and calmly called in sick for Nian Chengxiao.
Then he went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself and Nian Chengxiao. After a quick, casual meal, Si Shen grabbed his keys and headed out.
Before leaving, he kept Nian Chengxiao at home. He wasn’t sure whether anyone from the Research Institute had come to City A yet.
Taking a Mutant outside was too risky. It was safer to leave him at home.
Si Shen was also afraid something might happen to the Mutant, so before leaving, he gave him a thorough set of instructions.
He didn’t know whether Nian Chengxiao could understand him now, but he still left home with worry weighing on him and headed for the Farmers' Market.
The Farmers' Market was Si Shen’s first stop. It had a wide selection of Seeds for sale, all available immediately, with a variety of types and quality to choose from.
He could also buy plenty of Nutrient Solution and Nutrient Soil here. From what he’d observed, Nian Chengxiao had mutated into a mass of Mycelium.
He wondered whether Nian Chengxiao would grow mushrooms and produce fruiting bodies after reaching the Mature Stage.
As Si Shen thought about the direction Nian Chengxiao’s evolution might take, he drove to the market with one hand on the steering wheel.
After parking, Si Shen took his phone and went into the market.
The market was bustling. Vegetable stalls lined the outermost section. The morning rush for groceries had passed, and the vegetables on the stands had already been picked over.
Behind them were the meat and seafood stalls, and farther back were the flower shops and grain-and-oil shops.
Si Shen headed straight to the back and started with grain and oil.
Their RV was quite spacious, with forty square meters of room inside. Now that Nian Chengxiao had become so small, there was plenty of space for supplies.
Si Shen calculated as he bargained with the shopkeeper.
In the end, Si Shen bought a good amount of rice and flour at a very reasonable price. The shopkeeper kindly offered to deliver them, too.
After buying the rice and flour, he moved on to vegetarian foods, going straight to the wholesaler with the list in hand.
Seeing that Si Shen was a big customer, the shopkeeper naturally didn’t let the opportunity pass, and cheerfully fetched his order.
After buying food, he went to the flower shop to purchase vegetable Seeds, Nutrient Solution, and Nutrient Soil.
He didn’t need much Nutrient Soil. After all, he wasn’t going to farm in the RV; he was only preparing it for Nian Chengxiao.
Si Shen had never raised a Mutant before, so he didn’t know whether Fungi still needed soil after becoming Mutants.
Speaking of which, was Nian Chengxiao a wood-decaying fungus or a grass-decaying fungus?
Or was he a parasitic fungus that needed a Host?
Three huge question marks appeared in Si Shen’s mind. Unable to figure it out, he decided to buy everything.
He’d get both wood shavings and straw and see which Nian Chengxiao liked.
When the shopkeeper learned that Si Shen wanted to grow Mushrooms, he recommended a good number of Mushroom Bags.
Si Shen made a generous purchase for his boyfriend. He couldn’t let his boyfriend have any problems with his development.
Only after buying the Mushroom Bags did he turn his attention to Seeds.
He’d prepared a list before coming, so he simply asked the shopkeeper to gather everything on it.
Si Shen wanted so many Seeds that the shopkeeper didn’t have some of them in stock, so he got the rest from the neighboring shop.
The neighboring shopkeeper naturally wasn’t about to pass up a sale, either, and was quite pleased.
Si Shen was more than happy not to have to search for them himself.
Soon, all the Seeds and Mushroom Bags were ready.
There were many different kinds of things, but together they weren’t too much for Si Shen to pull to the RV on a small cart.
After putting away the Seeds, Si Shen took the cart to the butcher’s.
Besides raw meat and seafood, the meat section also had some shops selling prepared foods.
Seeing the meat that had already been braised, Si Shen bought a good amount of prepared food. The shop offered vacuum packaging, so he took it all at once.
After finishing at the Farmers' Market, Si Shen went from one large Pharmacy to another, buying up medicine.
He didn’t buy too much from any one place, just a little at each Pharmacy. Over the course of the day, he visited several districts and bought plenty of medicine.
He’d originally planned to modify the RV, but now he no longer had time for it and could only cross that plan off the list.
After a busy day, Si Shen dragged his exhausted body home.
He’d been to many places that day, and for lunch, he’d only had a simple bowl of beef noodles.
There was too much to prepare for the coming Doomsday, and he didn’t have much time to waste.
Si Shen opened the door, expecting to find the house dark and empty. To his surprise, it was brightly lit inside.
Si Shen stood in the doorway, staring at the room in a daze.
Suddenly, a pair of slippers floated over, startling him badly.
Looking closer, he saw Nian Chengxiao holding up the slippers and rushing over in a chaotic flurry of snow-white Tentacles.
Si Shen let out a breath. He’d thought the slippers in his home had turned into Mutants, too.
Si Shen closed the door, took the slippers, and put them on.
Nian Chengxiao had already scurried off, his Tentacles busy at work. Si Shen watched him curiously and realized that in just one day, this ball of yarn had grown bigger!
When Si Shen left that morning, the little ball had been only palm-sized. Now Nian Chengxiao was as big as a pair of size 42 slippers. His growth was astonishingly fast!
At the same time, it meant they had to leave City A as soon as possible. Nian Chengxiao was still small enough to take with them easily.
If Nian Chengxiao grew bigger over the next couple of days, it would be much harder for them to leave.
If someone from the Research Institute found out, Si Shen felt he couldn’t bear losing his lover. He didn’t know what he might do then.
Following the route Nian Chengxiao had taken, Si Shen came to the kitchen doorway.
He’d wanted to see what Nian Chengxiao was doing. He looked busy, but Si Shen had no idea what he was occupied with.
Now he knew: a Mutant the size of a slipper was holding a spatula and cooking at the stove!
When he saw the flame from the gas stove nearly reach Nian Chengxiao, Si Shen rushed over in a single stride.
“Niannian, what are you doing? Don’t you know this is dangerous? You nearly got burned by the fire, do you understand?” Si Shen said sternly.
He held Nian Chengxiao in his hand and turned him over and over, checking for burns.
Fortunately, the snow-white Mycelium was still as pristine as ever, without the slightest sign of being burned.
Nian Chengxiao still had the spatula curled in one of his Tentacles. When Si Shen squeezed him, he made a sound.
“Chirp, chirp!”
Si Shen took the spatula. “Niannian, this is dangerous. You’re still little, so you can’t try this, understand?”
Nian Chengxiao looked at Si Shen’s stern expression, not knowing what he’d done wrong. He had lost his brain and couldn’t understand.
As a Mycelium Mutant, he had no brain with which to think through why Si Shen was angry. But his instincts told him he needed to soothe the person before him.
“Chirp, chirp~” Nian Chengxiao curled a Tentacle around and gently touched Si Shen.
Si Shen set the Mutant on the dining table and told him not to move around. Then he went to the kitchen to finish what Nian Chengxiao had started.
When Si Shen reached the kitchen, he realized there was no point in getting angry.
He was only afraid that Nian Chengxiao would get hurt, but Nian Chengxiao was just a Mutant now. In the literal sense, he had no brain.
Nian Chengxiao couldn’t understand why Si Shen was angry, but he still couldn’t calm down.
Si Shen worked quickly, and soon dinner for the two of them was ready and on the table.
The snow-white Mutant was still in the same position as before, without moving even one Tentacle, following Si Shen’s instructions to the letter.
Si Shen watched Nian Chengxiao, his eyes reddening.
Even as a Mutant, Nian Chengxiao still followed his directions so obediently, just like before, always going along with everything he said.
“Niannian, dinner’s ready. Eat properly, and evolve into a human soon!” Si Shen said with a smile as he set the food down.
He had to stay strong. Nian Chengxiao still needed him to take care of him, and they still had to return to City C and begin their journey of survival through the Doomsday.