Her main food sources now were that piece of arrowhead and the peas she had gathered today. In truth, it still was not enough to eat.
The instinct to stockpile supplies ingrained in the hearts of people from Huaxia suddenly made Ning Yu’an feel a strong sense of urgency again.
Once she found someone to repair and renovate the house, her main focus would still be on gathering food.
After arriving home, Ning Yu’an put her things away and knocked on the Hong siblings’ door.
She noticed that the part of the door damaged by that person had been repaired very neatly.
“Who is it?”
The wary voice of a young girl came from inside.
“Xiao Yue, it’s Ning Yu’an.”
“An’an-jie! Wait, I’ll open the door for you!”
“No need.” Ning Yu’an quickly stopped her. “Xiao Yue, tell me when your brother comes back. I have something to discuss with him.”
“Okay, An’an-jie! I’ll tell you as soon as he gets back!”
The obedient little girl did not open the door and answered in her clear, sweet voice.
After leaving, Ning Yu’an returned to her room and rested for a while before getting up to boil some water and cook three peas.
While they were cooking, Ning Yu’an continued with her weaving.
Each pea was about the size of a ping-pong ball.
When she took a bite, Ning Yu’an was pleasantly surprised. It had a fresh, sweet flavor with a soft, slightly starchy texture, almost like eating a pastry.
After eating the three peas, Ning Yu’an was still reluctant to stop. They had only just managed to fill her stomach.
Food was scarce now, so she could not indulge herself too much.
Seeing that it was not dark yet, Ning Yu’an went to the barren hill nearby to gather some deadwood.
Calling it a barren mountain was actually a little inaccurate. A hill would be more appropriate. After all, it was basically just a large mound of earth, and it took Ning Yu’an less than half an hour to climb to the top.
Other people occasionally came to gather firewood as well, but not many.
Most people simply picked up some along the way when returning from scavenging, which was usually enough.
Unless winter was approaching, people generally did not stockpile large amounts of firewood.
Those with better conditions would choose Mutated Charcoal or Mutated Firewood. Those even better off would use a thermostat.
Ning Yu’an piled a large amount of dead branches into her space, then filled another basket with smaller branches before carrying a small bundle home.
Before she even reached home, Ning Yu’an saw Hong Yang standing outside her door.
She quickly quickened her pace.
When Hong Yang saw her, he hurried over and reached out to take the firewood she was carrying.
“You’re back. Hong Yue said you were looking for me about something?”
Ning Yu’an avoided his hand and tossed the firewood down by the door.
“Yes, there is something.”
After setting down her basket, Ning Yu’an stood up and asked, “I wanted to ask if you know anyone who can repair and renovate a house.”
Hong Yang instinctively glanced at Ning Yu’an’s house.
“How do you want to renovate it?”
Ning Yu’an opened the door and gestured for Hong Yang to come inside.
“The roof needs to be repaired. I also need a new ceiling and waterproof rolls installed.”
Then Ning Yu’an pointed to the side.
“I want to put a door here and build another room. The door also needs to be replaced. I’ve already bought all the materials. Now I just need someone to come and renovate the place.”
Ning Yu’an looked at Hong Yang.
“I don’t know many people, so I wanted to ask if you know anyone who can do this. We can discuss the payment.”
Hong Yang thought for a moment.
“If you trust me, my friend and I can do it. My friend Yu Fei’s father used to work in construction, and his family still has the tools. He was injured later, but Yu Fei knows how to do some of the work too. Six contribution points in total would be enough for the two of us.”
Ning Yu’an looked at Hong Yang in surprise.
Six contribution points for labor was pitifully low compared to the price of the materials.
Seeing the hesitation in Ning Yu’an’s eyes, Hong Yang understood her confusion. He scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.
“You helped my sister last time, and I’ve never had a chance to properly thank you. We can finish this work in a day, while we might not necessarily get anything from gathering for an entire day. So just give my friend and me the equivalent of one nutrition drink each.”
Ning Yu’an understood what he meant.
After thinking for a moment, she realized why labor was so cheap.
“How about this? I’ll give each of you three contribution points and provide you with one meal. But you have to make sure the house is properly repaired.”
Hong Yang could not possibly agree to that and immediately refused.
Ning Yu’an, however, left no room for argument.
“Paying too little for labor makes me uncomfortable hiring people. If you won’t accept it, I’ll have to find someone else.”
Hong Yang could not say anything more and could only agree.
After arranging everything with Hong Yang, Ning Yu’an agreed that they would start construction the day after tomorrow.
She then informed Liu Yuanxiao of the delivery time.
With that, the house renovation was finally settled.
Ning Yu’an sorted the firewood and stacked it in the corner of the room.
Although it was not worth much, she still had to prevent someone from taking it simply because it was convenient.
She went to bed early that night.
The next morning, Ning Yu’an was already dressed and ready to leave by 5:30.
Food was an important resource now. The food she currently had would not last her more than a few days.
She did not have many contribution points left either, so she needed to find more food.
The blue marking for the arrowhead collection point had become darker again.
Ning Yu’an felt that the arrowheads that had not been mature last time had probably ripened.
With her basket on her back, Ning Yu’an headed straight there.
When she arrived, Ning Yu’an found that the small pool had much less water than before.
A large patch of mud was exposed around its edge, with messy footprints scattered across it.
Some of the tall, lush reeds around the outside had also been knocked down.
It looked like other people had recently been here as well.
Ning Yu’an was not disappointed.
The green resource marker on the map had not disappeared, which meant there were still resources here.
She rolled up her pant legs and simply wrapped her shoes with reed leaves before stepping into the mud.
“Beep. Mutated Arrowhead, Level 5 radiation.”
As the beep sounded, a red light flashed faintly.
The basic information of the detected species appeared on the watch face.
“Beep. Mutated Arrowhead, Level 5 radiation.”
“Beep. Mutated Arrowhead, Level 4 radiation.”
“Beep. Mutated Arrowhead, Level 3 radiation.”
Before long, Ning Yu’an dug up another enormous arrowhead, roughly enough to last her two days.
The rest were inedible.
Seeing that the blue point on the map was still there, Ning Yu’an began gathering around the area.
At this moment, Ning Yu’an noticed another man had arrived.
He was scooping something out from the other side of the pool.
Ning Yu’an was curious, but she did not go over.
She simply slipped a hedgehog spine into her sleeve.
There was a considerable distance between the two of them, and Ning Yu’an did not move from her spot.
Instead, she began testing the wild vegetables near the edge of the pool.
A large patch of four-leaf clover grew there.
The leaves were not particularly thick, but they were broad.
“Beep. Mutated Four-Leaf Clover, Level 5 radiation.”
“Beep. Mutated Four-Leaf Clover, Level 3 radiation.”
Her luck was pretty good today.
She had barely finished testing half the patch when she had already found two Level 3 leaves.
They could not serve as a staple food, but they could at least add another dish to her meals.
Ning Yu’an straightened up and stretched her back.
The man on the other side had clearly noticed her as well, occasionally glancing in her direction.
Ning Yu’an did not leave.
This was a public gathering area, and their purposes were clearly different.
Ning Yu’an stretched her arms and legs before lowering her head and continuing the testing.
But only a few minutes later, the man suddenly let out a terrified scream.
He then came running toward Ning Yu’an, stumbling and crawling as he fled.
“Help!”
Ning Yu’an focused her eyes.
A black-green toad about the size of a calf had appeared from somewhere.
It was sticking out its long tongue and attacking the man.
When Ning Yu’an saw the lumpy protrusions covering the toad’s body, she shuddered.
She had no time to collect the basket lying on the ground.
She turned and ran.
She had only taken a few steps when a stone flew past her ear.
Ning Yu’an cursed inwardly.
She did not need to look back to know what the man had done.
She ran forward with every ounce of strength she had.
Suddenly, a desperate scream came from behind.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ning Yu’an saw the man being caught and flung into the depression.
She immediately ran even harder.
Then, because she was not paying attention, Ning Yu’an stumbled after catching her foot on a tree stump.
Although she quickly regained her balance and continued running, she could clearly feel the vibrations caused by the toad’s leaps getting closer and closer behind her.
“Croak.”
“Croak.”
The sounds were coming from directly behind her.
The man had already lost the ability to move, so the toad had shifted all its attention to Ning Yu’an.
Although it was enormous, every leap allowed it to effortlessly close the distance between itself and Ning Yu’an.
I’m doomed!