This meat… couldn’t just be kept all to herself.
But seeing that he seemed fairly honest, and considering he was a soldier, she had no choice but to part with it.
When Lin Yinyin made her conditions, Li Jinye didn’t hesitate to agree. “Fine.”
“But I have one more requirement.”
“Go ahead.”
“You’re not allowed to mention my business to a third person.”
“Fine.”
“Deal!”
Lin Yinyin turned and ran back inside, grabbed two sheets of old newspaper, wrapped about five jin of braised pork hocks, and hurriedly handed them over. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Li Jinye took the meat, placed the watch in her palm, and without any further ceremony, the exchange was completed cleanly and efficiently.
Watching Li Jinye stride away, Lin Yinyin didn’t dare linger. She quickly put the remaining braised hocks, along with the basin, into her space.
Space really was safe!
“Aunt Erhua!” Lin Yinyin turned and dashed into the kitchen, suddenly wrapping her arms around Wang Erhua’s waist from behind.
Wang Erhua froze for a moment, then laughed and patted her hands. “What’s this? So moved by the braised hock?”
“Not at all.”
Lin Yinyin buried her face against her back, voice muffled. “I’m going back to the back mountain. I came to say goodbye.”
“No!”
Wang Erhua immediately turned. “There are still two hocks braising in the pot. Wait until they’re done before you go!”
“No.” Lin Yinyin refused.
“Well, half of it is for you, Daniu, and Xiaozhu to eat.”
Her expression was serious and sincere. “Aunt Erhua, thank you for taking care of me all this time. You’re the kindest person to me in this village.”
She hugged Wang Erhua tightly again.
Without waiting for more protest, Lin Yinyin turned and headed toward the yard.
Wang Erhua chased her to the door, watching her receding figure, inexplicably feeling a sting in her eyes.
She didn’t know why, but she felt this child might never return.
And indeed, Lin Yinyin planned to find her sister tomorrow.
She wanted to see the person who had been the warmest in her memory.
But before she went, she had already planned the “big gift” for Lin Dayong.
At the western end of the village: the cattle shed.
The cattle shed wasn’t for cows it was for detaining and interrogating “problematic” people.
A broken shack propped up by a few blackened wooden beams, wind whistling through the cracks.
Lin Yinyin crouched, using low shrubs for cover, tiptoeing around the shed twice.
She didn’t approach recklessly, instead hiding in a corner and observing quietly.
Inside, six figures could be vaguely seen. A middle-aged couple was the most active; the other four, curled up in hay, looked half-dead.
“Cough, cough! Old Tian, have some meat, it’s so good!” The woman’s voice sounded excited.
Meat?
Lin Yinyin twitched her nose and instantly understood.
At that moment, a cold aura suddenly enveloped her from behind.
“Don’t move!”
Li Jinye’s tall body pressed against her back, the low shrubs too short to shield them. She could feel the firmness of his chest and the defined six-pack pressing near her.
Her body hairs bristled.
Damn this twisted fate!
“What are you doing here?” Li Jinye’s breath brushed past her ear.
Lin Yinyin’s back stiffened; she didn’t dare move.
“The brigade leader told me to sleep here tonight. I just wanted to observe first.”
“This isn’t a place to rest. Leave immediately.”
“Who’s there?” A sharp voice came from inside the voice of Old Tian.
“Meow~” Lin Yinyin heard a cat’s meow beside her.
Of course, it came from the big tomcat behind her.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a wild cat,” the woman’s voice said.
“Eat quickly we haven’t had meat in six months, don’t waste it.”
“Cough, cough…!”
Old Tian coughed violently. As he tried to take a piece of meat, he gagged and vomited up the meat along with stomach contents.
“Clang!” An enamel bowl hit the ground, spilling meat everywhere.
“I won’t eat! Just let me die!”
Old Tian’s voice was hoarse with fury. “I should just jump in the river and die! I’ll infect the whole village with this disease, we’ll all die together!”
“What are you doing?” The woman squatted in concern, picking up the clean pieces of meat. “Keep your voice down! If anyone outside hears, we’re done for!”
“Done for? Can it get any worse?”
Old Tian’s voice grew crazier, a total act of despair. “I want everyone to die with me! Why should they live well while I rot in this shed?”
“How long has it been since they came? My rifampicin ran out ages ago!”
He coughed again, full of malice. “This disease can’t be cured. I’ll die sooner or later! Might as well take a few others with me!”
“So you told that guy just now about this place?” the woman asked.
“Yes! I’m miserable, so everyone else must be miserable too!”
Lin Yinyin understood immediately.
Old Tian was full of hatred. Probably, Li Jinye had previously tricked him with meat, and now he deliberately betrayed his comrades, wanting everyone to suffer friend or foe didn’t matter.
She didn’t want to hear more. The more she knew, the more dangerous it became.
Just as she was about to shift slightly, Old Tian’s harsh voice rang again: “Who’s outside?!”
Instinctively, Lin Yinyin mimicked a cat’s meow: “Meow~”
Almost simultaneously, Li Jinye behind her let out a low “meow.”
“Ah, must be a pair of wild cats, probably in heat,” said Old Tian’s wife.
Lin Yinyin: “…….”
Li Jinye’s breath moved even closer. “Don’t move. Wait until they calm down.”
Lin Yinyin’s heart raced. Ahhhhh!
She had always liked men in the apocalypse, especially soldier types but back then she was busy finding food. Now one was right behind her.
No. She couldn’t stay.
“I have a way to leave!”
What way? Li Jinye hadn’t even asked when Lin Yinyin moved.
She knocked on the door. “Want to trade rice?”
Li Jinye: “…….”
Inside, the Tian couple: “…….”
“Trade rice?” Lin Yinyin repeated.
“I have rice, want to trade for something?”
“For what… trade?” Old Tian asked.
Lin Yinyin continued, “One jin of rice for one spit from you. You spit into this bowl, I give you one jin of rice.”
Li Jinye: “…….”
Inside the Tian house: “…….”
What a weirdo!
“Will you make the trade or not? If not, I’m leaving!”
Old Tian finally realized, a malicious light in his eyes.
He was dying to spread his tuberculosis. Now someone actively wanted his saliva—it was perfect!
“Trade! Of course I’ll trade!”
His voice rose. “Bring the rice. I’ll spit now!”
Lin Yinyin smirked maliciously.
The source of ten cases of tuberculosis out of nine deaths was in that saliva!
This “gift” for Lin Dayong and company would be memorable.
Li Jinye’s forehead vein twitched.
He didn’t know what rifampicin was, but it seemed it spread through saliva.
Lin Yinyin pretended to take a bag of rice and a broken bowl from a dark corner.
Li Jinye’s mouth twitched. She had really come prepared!
Through the door crack, Lin Yinyin handed in the rice: “Rice is here. Spit into the bowl.”
Rustling sounds came from the shed. Lin Yinyin didn’t fear them swapping people to spit.
Tuberculosis spread through saliva; the woman inside likely wasn’t healthy either.
Soon, half a bowl of yellow saliva came out through the crack.
Lin Yinyin looked at the sticky phlegm, stomach tightening.
Ha! This guy wasn’t afraid of choking!
She used two sticks to carry the bowl and walked away.
Li Jinye watched her retreating figure and silently sighed.
He’d better focus on the mission.