After the person left, Jiang Shu wore a bitter expression, feeling wronged. “Mom, that was my lighter!”
Ye Qingyun shot him a glare. “So what if it’s a lighter? Exchanging one lighter for connections with members of the Exploration Team is a bargain! Xiao Hu even promised to bring us so much clay, doesn’t that count for anything? How long would it take us to gather enough mud bricks on our own to build a house?”
Jiang Shu grumbled, still unwilling even though he understood. That lighter had been the first thing he saved up to buy. If his mother hadn’t confiscated it during their travels after catching him smoking, it would still be with him.
“Mom, you didn’t plan this from the start, did you?”
Of course, Ye Qingyun would never admit that she only thought of building a relationship with Hu Yang after overhearing Captain Luo chatting with his subordinates.
“You brat, watch how you talk.”
Jiang Zhi tugged at her brother’s sleeve to change the subject. “Brother, I’ll find you something good when we go scavenging tomorrow.”
Jiang Shu immediately brightened up. “As expected of my sister, she cares about me. Unlike Mom, who just treats me like I was picked up off the street.”
The family all knew about Jiang Zhi’s ability. If she said something was good, then it definitely was good.
Ye Qingyun laughed in anger and pretended to hit him. “And who do you think I’m doing all this for?”
Earlier, when they were buying the land, they had learned from Hu Yang that the Exploration Teams were not all made up of Evolvers, ordinary people with suitable physical conditions could also sign up.
Although Ye Qingyun had no intention of sending her son to the Exploration Team, maintaining good relations with people inside would likely be useful someday.
In many cases, things that were difficult for them were nothing more than trivial tasks for people like that.
Not to mention, the information those people had access to was far faster and more detailed than what ordinary civilians could obtain.
It might seem a bit pragmatic, but this was exactly the kind of social skill Ye Qingyun had refined over the years.
Jiang Zhi’s words, however, reminded Jiang Shan of what had happened on the road.
He pulled out the bone staff from his waist. “Speaking of which, we only managed to get back so smoothly today thanks to this thing.”
Ye Qingyun immediately tensed. “What happened?”
Jiang Shan said, “After we cut through the mutated vines, we found a nest of mutated mayflies under the car.”
Jiang Shu sucked in a sharp breath. “Those little bugs that release corrosive powder when startled?”
They had encountered those during their journey before, and nearly suffered a disaster because of them.
After mutation, each mayfly was about ten centimeters long, and their lifespan was also much longer than before.
In general, mutated mayflies do not actively attack. However, once startled, they secrete corrosive powder on their own.
At the time, only a small amount of spray had splashed onto Jiang Shu’s arm, yet it still took off a layer of flesh. If not for the Yunnan Baiyao they had on hand, his arm would have been ruined.
Even now, Jiang Shu still couldn’t help but shiver at the memory.
Jiang Shan responded with an “mm.” “Given the situation back then, starting the vehicle would definitely have startled the entire swarm of mayflies.”
Jiang Zhi frowned. Just hearing it made the situation sound extremely dangerous.
A whole nest of mayflies, with corrosive powder enough to reduce both the vehicle and everyone present to ash.
“At the time, I pulled this bone staff out, planning to use it as a weapon. I didn’t expect that the moment I took it out, all the adult mayflies flew away.” Jiang Shan set their luggage down and began setting up camp, continuing as he organized things. “The Exploration Team at the time didn’t know why either, but once the adult mayflies left, they collected the eggs that were attached to our vehicle and handed them over to the biologists above for research.”
Ye Qingyun said, “You mean… this bone staff drove the mayflies away?”
Jiang Shan nodded with a smile. “That’s right. There were also some other mutated insects under the car besides the mayflies. The moment I approached, they all scattered. Only after checking did we realize it was because of this thing in my hand.”
In other words, this bone staff likely had an insect-repelling effect.
Although it still hadn’t been fully verified, it was very likely.
If that was true, then the value of this bone staff was immeasurable.
Jiang Shu sucked in a sharp breath and immediately turned to Jiang Zhi. “Zhi! When you bought it, did you already know it had a special function?!”
Jiang Zhi didn’t deny it. “When I saw it in my display, it was marked in gold.”
The golden marker had only started appearing on the way to the base.
At first, it was very vague in her mind, only after eating the low-toxin heart of the tusked rabbit did it begin to become clearer.
“Gold?” Jiang Shan pondered. “A new color that only appeared recently?”
Jiang Zhi nodded. “I’m still not sure what it represents exactly.”
She thought of the two tusked-rabbit teeth as well, which were also a pale gold color.
Now she just had to wait for the results from Niu Dali’s side to confirm her hypothesis.
Jiang Shan asked, “Have you seen any other golden markers since then?”
“I’ve seen them a few times.” Jiang Zhi honestly explained the matter regarding the tusked-rabbit teeth.
Upon hearing this, both Jiang Shan and his wife grew serious.
Jiang Shan sorted through his thoughts. “There are two key points. First, gold includes both green and red marked creatures. Second, gold likely represents something with a special function.”
Everyone in the Jiang family knew about the display panel in Jiang Zhi’s mind. Red dots represented highly aggressive creatures, green represented neutral creatures that would not actively attack humans, and the base’s detection devices could almost only detect plants and animals marked in green.
At this point, everyone understood what the appearance of gold meant.
Jiang Shu was so excited his voice trembled. “We’re going to make it, we’re going to make it! Sis, when you get rich, don’t forget me!”
Ye Qingyun smacked him on the back of the head. “Keep your voice down, you idiot!”
She didn’t even bother cleaning up anymore. With a serious expression, she warned the siblings, “Listen carefully. This must absolutely not be revealed to anyone, especially you, Jiang Dashu! If you dare to go out and say a word, you’re basically handing your sister’s life to others. I’d rather not have a son than let you get her killed with your mouth!”
“I’m not that stupid!”
At this point, Jiang Shu didn’t even care about his mother’s obvious favoritism anymore. He understood the principle that possessing a treasure invites danger.
He picked up the bone staff and examined it over and over, growing fonder of it by the moment.
Who would have thought that something bought for just 50 points would now be worth a hundred times that?
More importantly, such a valuable item now belonged to him!
Jiang Shu said happily, “With this thing, we won’t have to be afraid of those annoying insects anymore.”
In fact, out in the wilderness, what was most terrifying was not only mutated giant plants and animals, but also all kinds of unpredictable insects.
Jiang Shan agreed. “Based on what happened, this bone staff has a passive insect-repelling effect, but it doesn’t work on all insects. Some special ones still need to be driven away actively. Even so, this is already a very useful ability. Captain Luo even tried to offer ten thousand points to buy our weapon at the time.”
Jiang Shu immediately clutched it tighter. “Dad, this is mine. Don’t you dare sell it without permission.”
Jiang Shan laughed. “Now that I know its value, how could I possibly sell it?”
Ye Qingyun glanced at her foolish son irritably. “Idiot, you’re holding it so tightly, aren’t you afraid of radiation?! Let go already! Go help your father set up the camp!”
Jiang Shu held onto it for a while longer before reluctantly standing up.
While laying out the moisture-proof mat, he asked, “Mom, can we use all the tents this time?”
Speaking of which, the reason their supplies were so complete was all thanks to Jiang Shu once having a sudden burst of interest and wanting to experience the kind of camping seen in viral travel videos.
At that time, he had even spent several months’ salary to buy a bunch of flashy but impractical gear.
Even things like a real wood-burning stove for heating were included, and the tents were high-end tunnel tents.
When they were out in the wild before, they only dared to use the main tent for quick escape purposes. Now that they were in the base, a tunnel tent with three rooms and a living area was just right.
The “empress dowager’s decree” from Ye Qingyun: “Approved.”
Before their house was built, they would all be living in tents, so there was no need to make themselves suffer.
Setting up camp was something the father and son were already very experienced with. In just a few quick steps, they had the tent pitched.
Ye Qingyun looked at the over-100-square-meter tent and was very satisfied.
By then it was already five in the afternoon, and residents returning from outside the city to the self-built housing area were becoming more numerous. Seeing the suddenly appearing large tent, many couldn’t help but take a few extra curious glances.
Jiang Shu noticed one middle-aged man whose backpack was filled with supplies. With his instinct for friendly social interaction, he was about to greet him, but the moment their eyes met, the man immediately covered his backpack defensively and walked away quickly.
Jiang Shu: …
What the heck?!
Jiang Shan chuckled. “Alright, things are different now. If you walk up like that, people will think you’re trying to rob them. Hurry up and get inside.”
Jiang Shu grumbled and went into the tent.
Ye Qingyun and her daughter moved all their luggage inside.
“Zhi, come help me sort out what we can actually use.”
They had lived in the wilderness for three years, and in order to survive, they hadn’t dared to use many of their supplies freely. Equipment like air pumps was still brand new.
Some items hadn’t even been unpacked yet.
Jiang Shu stood nearby, looking smug. “You should thank me. If I hadn’t spent so much money buying all this stuff back then, we wouldn’t be living this good life now.”
What he said wasn’t wrong.
Even though they still didn’t have a house yet, in terms of daily necessities, they were already far ahead of ordinary people in the base.
They might even be better off than some people in District B.
After all, many old-era items had been destroyed in the disaster three years ago.
Jiang Zhi organized and inventoried everything.
Four sleeping bags.
As for cooking and dining tools, aside from the portable stove and thermal box they had already used, there was even a charcoal stove for brewing tea around a fire.
There were three inflatable mattresses, and the sofa and table-and-chair sets were also sufficient for a whole family.
The previous day in the subsidized housing area, Jiang Shu had specifically charged the air pump, and it just came in handy now.
After inflating the mattresses and sofa, Jiang Shu even ostentatiously laid down a decorative carpet beside them.
The family sat on the sofa in the living area.
Jiang Shu let out a comfortable sigh. “Not to say anything else, but it really does feel a bit like before the disaster now.”
Ye Qingyun looked at the well-organized tent and finally let out a long breath of relief. “Our daily necessities are still enough. That’ll save us a lot of points.”
Their family only had so many points. If they had to buy everything, it would easily cost several thousand.
Even so, there were still many things they needed to buy.
For example, baskets for scavenging, although they had bags at home, they weren’t durable enough and tore easily.
They also needed to get electrical wiring done as soon as possible, otherwise, their portable power supplies would run out in just a few days.
Ye Qingyun continued, “We also need to buy a big water vat, otherwise carrying water every day is too exhausting. We should also find someone to make a few wooden cabinets. We’re going to have more and more things in the future, and we can’t just pile everything together. And we need to buy a broom…”
While listening to her mother list the urgently needed items at home, Jiang Zhi set up a pot and started preparing to cook dinner over a fire.
Ye Qingyun walked over to help. “I’ve already talked to Doctor Liang’s side. I’ll delay starting work by two days. We’ll use these two days to get things at home sorted out first.”
Then she turned to the siblings. “You two should also go around tomorrow and see if you can find suitable work.”
After finishing, Jiang Zhi said, “Mom, tomorrow my brother and I will go scavenging.”