After inspecting the grain depot, the village chief and Yao Lingling took Qiao Yu to see the vegetable greenhouses and the orchard. There were indeed quite a variety of fruits and vegetables here—they even had grapes and watermelons. Qiao Yu grew increasingly satisfied, feeling that Luling Village was practically a treasure trove.
The four of them trekked halfway up the mountain before arriving at a stream, where the village chief, who was leading the way, finally stopped. Pointing at the stream, he said to Qiao Yu, “Once you reach this point, you’ve arrived at the edge of our village. Follow this stream up about two li and you’ll find a waterfall called Duanshan Waterfall—it’s what splits this mountain right down the middle. Our village is on this side. The water flows down from the mountain, clean and sweet. All the village’s water is drawn from here and can be drunk directly. Little Qiao, have a taste!”
After saying this, the village chief demonstrated by cupping a handful of water from the stream and drinking it in one gulp. Yao Lingling and Ning Ning beside him had already started drinking long before. Seeing this, Qiao Yu followed suit and took a sip—it was indeed refreshing and sweet. Though the taste couldn’t quite match the “Fruit Water” from the Yushu Space, it had not the slightest off-flavor.
The village chief had been watching Qiao Yu the whole time. Seeing her expression of approval after drinking, he couldn’t help but boast, “Good, isn’t it? It’s precisely because of our fine mountains and waters that we can grow such good crops! And it’s not just our side that’s good—cross the river and head that way into the deep mountains, and while there are no crop fields there, there are plenty of good things. The mushrooms the villagers often eat are gathered from over there. There are many kinds of mushrooms—you can stir-fry them or boil them, and they’re delicious. Little Qiao, would you like some mushrooms? If you want some, I’ll find a few people to pick some for you.”
Qiao Yu had loved mushrooms since she was a child. Hearing that she could bring back some wild mushrooms, she naturally nodded eagerly. “Yes, please trouble the village chief then—help me get some mushrooms too. I think I’ve seen just about enough of the fruits and vegetables. The produce is truly excellent. If it’s convenient for the village, I’d like to take all of it. What do you think?”
Hearing this, the village chief grinned from ear to ear. “Fine, fine, fine! Why wouldn’t it be fine? We were just worrying about not being able to sell it all!”
By the time the four of them finished their tour and made their way down the mountain, it was already close to eight in the evening.
After having dinner at Yao Lingling’s house, the village chief took Qiao Yu to visit the villagers’ homes to look at their livestock. Though they didn’t visit every household, after checking several, Qiao Yu was already able to confirm that the animals here were all uncontaminated. She immediately decided to buy them as well.
Luling Village had a total of 105 households, and nearly every family raised pigs and chickens. On average, each household had three to five white pigs and several dozen chickens. Because the village population wasn’t particularly large, every year during the New Year, they would take turns selecting four or five households to slaughter pigs for the whole village to share. The pigs from other households were kept and raised continuously, which was why every pig was plump and sturdy—reportedly, the heaviest one weighed as much as 320 kilograms. Besides pigs and chickens, more than 50 households also raised cattle and sheep. The village chief stated that except for the oxen used for labor, all the others could be sold.
Qiao Yu felt it would be best to first tally up each household’s situation to see how many animals could be sold in total and roughly how much they weighed, then she could consider how many to buy. After all, pork prices were high right now, and beef and mutton weren’t cheap either. If she bought only a small amount, it might be more cost-effective to save her money and buy more grain elsewhere instead.
The village chief also felt this was the safer approach, and after agreeing to start the tally the next day, he escorted Qiao Yu back to the Yao family residence.
The village chief was highly efficient—it took him only half a day to compile the livestock situation of every household. The total number of livestock available for sale across the village was roughly over three hundred pigs, more than two thousand chickens, over fifty cattle, and more than four hundred sheep, along with over a thousand kilograms of eggs. Qiao Yu did a rough calculation and decided she wanted all of the chickens, cattle, sheep, and eggs, but only two hundred of the pigs.
Once the decision was made, the village chief quickly rallied the entire village, dividing everyone into three groups—one to pick vegetables and fruits, one to slaughter livestock and cut the meat, and one dedicated to bagging and transporting everything to the grain storage. As for the mushroom foraging, the village chief said they would send people out closer to the time of Qiao Yu’s departure, so that the mushrooms picked would be fresh and could be preserved for a longer period.
The villagers began working from early morning on the third day. Qiao Yu woke up somewhat late, and after breakfast, she strolled over to the grain storage to see if there was anything she could help with. When the villagers saw she wanted to lend a hand, they all waved her off cheerfully, saying that Qiao Yu was a guest, and guests shouldn’t have to work.
Watching them bustle about so happily, Qiao Yu felt a pang of guilt. No one understood better than she did how precious food was after the Apocalypse, and yet here she was, cleaning out all their survival provisions. Though every household in the village had its own stored grain, who in the Apocalypse would ever think they had too much food?
Qiao Yu forced down her reluctance, and remembering that she still had many PC water barrels she had bought online stored in the Spatial Dimension, she followed her memory to find the stream she had seen before.
Although she had the Jade Tree’s “Fruit Water,” its effects were extraordinary—there was no way Qiao Yu would be willing to use it for washing vegetables or bathing.
Qiao Yu had previously purchased five thousand 25-liter PC water barrels online, originally intending to use them for storing tap water, but at present, there was clearly a better option.
Qiao Yu followed the stream upward, and soon arrived at the foot of the “Cliffside Waterfall” the village chief had mentioned. She found a relatively flat rock, carefully confirmed that no one was around, and then took out five PC water barrels from the Spatial Dimension, placing them on the rock to collect water.
For the past several days, the entire village of Luling had been immersed in busy work, leaving Qiao Yu as the only idle person. The waterfall had a strong current, and since Qiao Yu spent every day by the falls, the five thousand PC barrels were soon all filled with mountain spring water.
With no more empty barrels, Qiao Yu found herself at leisure again. To avoid wasting time, she began running up the mountain every day to build up her stamina. When she grew tired from running, she would walk over to the waterfall, sit down, drink a bottle of Fruit Water, and then practice nurturing the Jade Seed.
Her soul had returned from the Apocalypse, but her body had not. Although her current body, bolstered by the Fruit Water, was healthy and agile enough, with physical strength far exceeding that of an ordinary person, it still fell far short of what she had possessed in her previous life.
Though her physical improvements were not particularly noticeable due to time constraints, what was gratifying was that she had achieved a new breakthrough in her use of the Jade Seed.
Qiao Yu discovered that the Jade Seed didn’t need to be rooted in soil to bloom its top bud—it was entirely controlled by her own will. As long as she wanted it to, it could attack even while held in her hand. Moreover, as her physical functions improved, the vines extending from the Jade Seed grew thicker, sturdier, and longer, stretching from the initial half meter or so to nearly two meters now.
Luling Village truly had an abundance of goods. The villagers went out early and returned late every day, working at a hurried pace, and only now—nearly half a month after Qiao Yu’s arrival—were they finally showing signs of wrapping up.
At noon that day, the village chief came to find Qiao Yu, saying that they estimated it would take another two or three days to finish. He added that in the afternoon, he would send a few villagers up the mountain to pick some wild mushrooms for her. He also mentioned that the mushrooms on the mountain were all wild-grown and wouldn’t cost her anything.
Hearing this, Qiao Yu couldn’t muster any joy at all. During her time in Luling Village, she had fully experienced the warmth and simplicity of these villagers. Although this was a transaction, they hadn’t haggled over every penny. When registering grain with odd weights, they would simply round down the remainder. Once or twice might not amount to much, but accumulated over such a large quantity of grain, it had saved her a considerable sum of money.
Qiao Yu had lived through the Apocalypse and had witnessed far too much of humanity’s darkness. She had thought her heart had become as hard as iron and stone, yet now it still softened just a little.
Qiao Yu opened her mouth, the words of warning already at the tip of her tongue, but in the end, all she said was “thank you,” watching helplessly as the village chief smiled and walked away…
Qiao Yu walked to the waterfall, pulled out her phone from her pocket, and opened the chat window with Yao Lingling. She slowly typed a few words, but her finger hovered over the send button, hesitating to press it.
If she told them, they might set aside more grain and survive a little longer once the Apocalypse came. But then the grain she could receive would be less… Besides, even if she did tell them, would Yao Lingling really believe her…
That message was ultimately never sent.
Qiao Yu closed her eyes and deleted the words one by one.
She was no Guanyin; she had no compassion to spare.