Lao Qin checked the peephole and opened the door.
Xu San San turned her head and saw four Dawn Guard members wearing black combat suits standing outside.
Ah! These are Xie Yuan’s teammates!
Xu San San recognized the combat suits at a glance.
“Oh! You have a guest!”
The man at the front looked slightly surprised.
Lao Qin felt nervous inside, but maintained a smiling face:
“Oh my~ Qiang Zi, Ma Ji, A Lang, and Tie Chui!
Come in!
Coming so early today – are you heading out on a mission?”
The one called Qiang Zi entered first, walked up to Lao Qin, and nodded:
“That’s right! Another joint mission with Ji Feng today.”
Hearing they were going on a mission, Lao Qin knew this meant business. He closed the door and shouted upstairs: “Er Gou! Your brother Qiang Zi and the others are here! Come down quickly and help them!”
After calling for Er Gou, he turned back to the four with a smile: “Please browse around first. I’m just settling the bill with this customer. Er Gou will come down to assist you.”
Qiang Zi and the other three casually glanced at Xu San San standing nearby – dressed in ragged clothes, face obscured by a headscarf, with a prominent belly. Typical shantytown pregnant woman attire.
They nodded and began browsing the shelves on their own.
Soon, footsteps sounded from the stairs as Er Gou came down.
Sweaty Er Gou was clearly familiar with Qiang Zi and the others, greeting them cheerfully: “Brother Qiang Zi, what are you looking for? We got a new batch of parts yesterday…”
Qiang Zi and the others chuckled: “Er Gou, you know the team’s rules. All equipment is standardized. If we want modifications, we have to figure it out ourselves. We’re looking for some converters…”
Meanwhile, between Xu San San and Lao Qin, they tacitly avoided continuing the previous topic about Xie Yuan.
Lao Qin asked: “Would you like anything else?Xu San San sensed the subtle atmosphere and didn’t want to stay long. She spent 50 Contribution Points to get 5 nutrient solutions that would expire in 4 days. After packing her things and pulling her new handcart, she left.
Shortly after she left, Qiang Zi approached Lao Qin and whispered: “If there’s still no news, the team will issue Captain Xie’s death notice tonight. We came to inform you, since Captain Xie used to visit your shop most often…”
Lao Qin took a deep breath and held it in, until his eyes turned slightly red, then nodded: “Thanks…”
Meanwhile, the unaware Qin Er Gou was wiping tears nearby, sobbing continuously while hiccupping and muttering: “Wuwuwu~ Captain Xie~ Captain Xie~~ If you could survive, I Qin Er Gou would serve you forever~~ Wuwuwu~~ Wuwuwu~~~”
Lao Qin looked at him with melancholy – completely unnecessary, completely unnecessary, Er Gou!
Xu San San followed the familiar path, turning left and right, and soon reached the elevator. “Ding!” The elevator door opened. She pulled her handcart inside, pressed the 1F button, and soon exited the shabby black market building.
However, in a shop near the B3 elevator entrance, a plump woman with slightly curly hair and gold rings on her fingers was crouching and watching the passing crowd through her door’s wide-angle peephole. She muttered: “That pregnant woman again…”
After returning to her shantytown hut around 7:30 in the morning, she first unloaded the firewood in the yard, then lifted the plastic sheet to enter.
“So, what do you think?”
Xu San San proudly displayed her new handcart, outer armor, and dagger. After receiving Xie Yuan’s approval, she pulled out a pair of frogskin gloves and handed them to him, then dragged over the upgraded old handcart. “These gloves are for you, and this handcart is now yours to use!”
As she spoke, she flipped the cart board to show him the specially replaced universal wheels.
“How about it? Gloves plus handcart—a budget version of a wheelchair. It should make your trips to the public restroom more convenient!”
Xie Yuan: “…”
His heart, which had been deeply moved moments before, suddenly felt trapped in the public restroom.
Too awkward to muster any excitement, he cleared his throat and said, “Thank you. From now on, you can leave all the water-fetching tasks to me.”
Only then did Xu San San belatedly notice Xie Yuan’s discomfort. Well, since he was now fully self-sufficient, she wouldn’t need to bring up the restroom topic again. Remembering something else, she asked:
“You know how to modify machinery?”
Xie Yuan raised an eyebrow: “Lao Qin told you?”
Xu San San smacked her lips: “Not exactly. He just hinted at it. I mentioned I wanted to buy a device that isn’t an Optical Brain but can still communicate with one anytime…”
After speaking, she secretly glanced at Xie Yuan. She knew that with this hint, he would deduce she had already guessed something. But maintaining communication was something Xu San San genuinely needed right now, so she had no choice but to lay her cards on the table.
Xie Yuan pressed his lips together, clenched his fists, and hesitated before speaking: “Avoiding the Optical Brain is indeed because I don’t want others to know I’m still alive. But there are many things I haven’t fully investigated yet, so I can’t tell you too much, and I don’t want to drag you into danger…
After I finish handling these matters, I’ll give you a satisfactory reward for your help, and then I’ll leave…”
“You’re leaving?” Xu San San interrupted, latching onto the keyword.
Xie Yuan: ? Shouldn’t your focus be on what I’m investigating?
Instead, what he heard was Xu San San’s rapid-fire questions:
“Aren’t you my strategist? Don’t you still need to guard the supplies? And now you’re saying you plan to leave later?”
Wait, buddy, my rundown shack has zero security! And what about those terrifying Wind Season, Snow Season, and Rainy Season disasters you mentioned before? We can’t even imagine how deadly they’ll be. You’re not seriously thinking of ditching me, are you?
She was genuinely panicking now. She thought she’d found a seemingly decent, trustworthy local to be her long-term apocalypse survival consultant, and now… they were already discussing splitting up? They’d barely started working together!
No, no, she had to convince him to stay!
But how? A raise? Reduced workload? Extended vacations? Flexible hours, more freedom?
…Xu San San’s mind went blank. All she could subconsciously recall were trending topics from her previous life’s social platforms—articles like “How to Increase Your Value in HR’s Eyes Before Resigning,” “How HR Can Retain Key Talent During Critical Periods,” and “Labor Arbitration Secrets You Never Knew.”
Meanwhile, Xie Yuan was still reeling from the three rapid questions, his mind in a daze as he stammered, “I… I… After I finish investigating, probably… probably…”
Xu Sansan pounded her chest and stamped her feet, actively pondering countermeasures when a sudden gleam flashed in her eyes: “How about this—the main division of labor between us will still follow what we agreed on: I’ll be responsible for going out to find supplies, and you’ll handle logistics and security services. As for whatever you want to investigate, go ahead and investigate. I won’t interfere or ask questions. However, it must not affect the division of labor we’ve mutually agreed upon. How does that sound?”
Xie Yuan felt both nervous and bewildered. Sh-she… what is she saying…? Her taking charge of external affairs while I manage domestic matters… division of labor… is this the kind of pairing… pairing arrangement I think it is…?
“Y-you… what division of labor are you talking about? You’re only fifteen… this isn’t appropriate…”
Xie Yuan stammered, his thoughts tangling once again. He didn’t understand why every conversation with her ultimately left him flustered and embarrassed.