Inside the tents at night, it was pitch dark—nothing could be seen. So Wan Chuncui didn’t notice the curious looks Gu Xiaomai and the three women were giving her, especially Liu Ju and the others.
To them, Wan Chuncui gave off a feeling that she didn’t really want to live. She still worked, still did things, but there was no initiative in her actions.
So when she suddenly said she wanted to learn, how could they not be curious?
“I want to learn more so I can earn more points for my child in the future,” Wan Chuncui explained softly.
That made Liu Ju and the others immediately understand. Which mother wouldn’t want to earn more points for her child?
Liu Ju said, “Chuncui, I’ll be a bit presumptuous and say a few words. I don’t know what crime you committed to be sent here for reclamation work, but it’s only a few months—it’ll pass in the blink of an eye. It’s nothing serious. You need to pull yourself together, for your child and for yourself.”
“Yes, Sister Cui,” Wei Xiaoqin added. “Now that the base is even sending large teams out to explore and establish camps, life will only get better. Just think—if you weren’t around, how badly would your child suffer? Can you bear that?”
Meng Xue touched the scar on her left arm and said softly, “Sister Cui, children are happiest when they grow up with their biological mother.”
“Mm. I will try to face things more positively in the future,” Wan Chuncui said. “Thank you, Auntie and the three younger sisters, for not holding anything against me during this time.”
After living here for a while, she had already thought things through. After her three-month punishment ended, if she couldn’t find work in the base, she would return to the reclamation team. It wasn’t as dangerous here as she had imagined.
Liu Ju, already in her fifties, could still earn over a hundred points a day. She was much younger—if she was willing to work hard, she could definitely earn enough points too.
After finishing the topic about Wan Chuncui, the conversation shifted back to Gu Xiaomai teaching them how to identify the three medicinal plants.
Gu Xiaomai agreed readily. Conveniently, Jiao Yang had included danggui (Angelica), codonopsis, and astragalus leaves among the purified plants he gave Jiang Chen’an. If they didn’t go up the mountain tomorrow, she could borrow them for the three women to learn first.
“However, I don’t want half the reward. I want a set of clothes.”
“Okay!” All four of them quickly agreed.
Compared to giving up half of the roots, a set of clothes was nothing. Everyone had two or three sets of clothes anyway, even if they were patched and repaired—sharing one set was easy.
……
E4 Camp.
Fat Bun had Captain Jiao Yang on his left shoulder and Camp Commander Zhu Xingjie on his right as they appeared at the entrance of the cafeteria. Mi Tang and the others hadn’t arrived yet.
After putting them down, Fat Bun went to find their chef, Crazy Feng, as instructed.
Zhu Xingjie went straight to the kitchen buckets and used his ability to freeze water into ice. When Mi Tang and the others arrived, fire-type ability user Zhao Jiao carefully used his ability to melt the ice back into water.
Jiao Yang took out a bag of purified plants and led people to wash them in the front hall. The cleaned plants were sent to Crazy Feng’s chopping board.
Crazy Feng held a knife in his left hand and hacked the plants into fine pieces, then dumped them into four large pots on the stove.
All four pots were filled with water, and Zhao Jiao controlled the fire to heat them simultaneously.
When the water began to boil, Crazy Feng added seasonings, simmered for a few minutes, then turned off the fire.
The soup was poured into three gray metal barrels.
The soldiers gathered eagerly at the serving window. Zhu Xingjie and Jiao Yang sat nearby talking, but their eyes kept drifting toward the kitchen.
Soon, Crazy Feng and Zhao Jiao pushed the barrels out. The crowd immediately gathered around.
Zhu Xingjie stirred the soup in the middle barrel with a ladle, sniffed it—no pleasant aroma, but no strange smell either.
“Crazy Feng, you didn’t improvise again this time, did you? You followed the instructors’ recipe exactly?” he asked.
Shi Feng glanced at him. “If you’re worried, don’t drink it.”
Then he turned and left with his bowl.
Zhao Jiao quickly said, “Don’t worry, Commander. I watched him the whole time. He didn’t add anything extra.”
Seeing the soldiers behind urging him on, Zhu Xingjie scooped a small bowl and sat across from Shi Feng to try it first.
He didn’t want to repeat the past—forcing himself to eat terrible food just to avoid waste.
He still clearly remembered what real food tasted like before the disaster. It definitely wasn’t what Shi Feng made.
Unfortunately, most true chefs had been taken by major families. The few remaining ones were either controlled by the military or the base leader, unwilling to leave the base—only willing to teach others.
Whether they were sincere, he didn’t know. He only knew Shi Feng’s previous three meals had been nearly inedible.
Sigh.
As he was thinking this, Shi Feng suddenly pushed his bowl closer to him. Jiao Yang followed, then Mi Tang, Zhao Jiao, Fat Bun…
Zhu Xingjie’s veins bulged. “Are you using me to cool your soup?!”
Jiao Yang smiled. “Capable people do more work.”
“I just did my part,” Shi Feng said, looking at his bowl.
“Get lost—”
“Alright!” everyone immediately grabbed their bowls once the soup cooled enough and started drinking.
Zhu Xingjie took a cautious sip.
Huh?
He took another sip.
It was… acceptable today. Still bitter, but drinkable.
Maybe he should give Shi Feng more patience. Perhaps practice really did improve things.
Just as he was thinking this, beast roars suddenly echoed from outside.
The cheerful atmosphere in the cafeteria vanished instantly. Soldiers quickly finished their soup in a few gulps, dropped their bowls, and rushed out.
E4 Camp immediately went on alert.
Soon, the soldiers assembled at both ends of the silver metal bridge.
Zhu Xingjie stood at the front, staring at the dark outline of Mount 1 with a serious expression. “What did you hear?”
Beside him, He Jie concentrated on the sounds from the mountain.
“Quite a lot of animals. Still in the roaring stage—no fighting yet, and no signs of coming downhill. It’s not suitable for us to go up and investigate right now.”
“Then they’re not corrupted beasts,” Zhu Xingjie said. “But if they’re normal animals or purified creatures, what are they doing gathering on Mount 1?”
That question… was also on everyone’s mind.