Meanwhile.
After the siblings left the city, Ye Qingyun went straight to the base store. Not only did she buy a shovel, a water vat, and rattan for weaving baskets, she also traded for twenty jin of moderate-toxin mutated buckwheat.
Watching her points pour out of her hands, Ye Qingyun’s heart ached terribly.
The shovel and water vat alone cost 220 points.
Fortunately, grain prices were still bearable, twenty jin of buckwheat only cost sixty points.
Aside from cultivating some low-yield, high-end low-toxin staples, the base also grew large quantities of moderate-toxin grain that could keep people fed.
These were mainly buckwheat and highland barley.
After mutating, these two grains had a harder texture. Once cooked, eating them not only scratched the throat but also took a lot of chewing, otherwise swallowing them down would cause bloating and constipation.
But however bad they tasted, they were the staple grain most people relied on to survive.
Ye Qingyun could only puzzle over how to make the grain in her hands a bit more palatable.
Jiang Shan hadn’t been idle either, scribbling and sketching in a notebook, discussing and planning the household layout with Ye Qingyun. “Ah Yun, I’m planning to leave fifty square meters for a courtyard, for everyday activities. As for the house, fifty square meters as the living room. For the east and west wings I want two rooms each, thirty square meters apiece. The front-facing room will be the kitchen, and we’ll build a separate outhouse behind the house.”
Ye Qingyun had no objections. “This is your area of expertise, your call.”
Hearing this, Jiang Shan felt a faint warmth inside.
He’d designed it this way with the Jiang family in mind, too.
His wife couldn’t fail to know why he was laying out so many rooms. The reason she didn’t ask was that she was willing to support him.
He just hoped… they could find the rest of the Jiang family soon.
Once the plan was set, Jiang Shan began measuring and marking lines.
Based on the house’s design dimensions, he used stones to mark out the four corners and boundaries on the ground bit by bit, outlining the foundation.
This was skilled work, it couldn’t be done carelessly.
By the time the empty plot was laid out, two hours had passed.
Feeling for her husband, Ye Qingyun gave him a foxtail-millet rice ball to eat, while she secretly ate the throat-scratching buckwheat rice herself.
After breakfast, Jiang Shan started digging the foundation, while Ye Qingyun took out a folding chair, sat to the side, and wove baskets.
Baskets were practically a household necessity for every family.
Ye Qingyun had never done this kind of rough work, but she was good with her hands. While at the base store, under the pretext of shopping, she’d taken a careful look, and then decided to do it herself.
There was no help for it, baskets at the base cost 20 points each, and she couldn’t bear to spend that.
The couple were busy at their work when they saw a man and woman hesitantly approaching from a distance.
Ye Qingyun’s heart tightened. She set down the rattan in the water and edged toward her husband without making it obvious.
Sensing his wife’s tension, Jiang Shan patted her hand and looked up.
It was a young couple, who didn’t seem to mean any harm.
Jiang Shan said, “Who are you looking for?”
Liu Xu, across from them, could see their wariness, and quickly smiled. “Auntie, we live over in House Block 10 up ahead. We wanted to ask, have you seen a young woman, around twenty, with her hair tied in a ponytail? Oh, right, she has a small mole on the tip of her nose.”
At this, the couple exchanged a glance.
Wasn’t that their Ah Zhi?
Jiang Shan stood and studied the two of them. “What’s this about?”
Niu Dali, standing behind Liu Xu, was clearly not good with words, so Liu Xu did the explaining. “It’s like this, she saved my life yesterday. My husband and I came specially to repay her.”
At this, the couple looked at each other. Ah Zhi hadn’t mentioned this to them.
But Ah Zhi had never caused trouble her whole life, and Liu Xu’s words eased the tightness in their chests a little.
Jiang Shan said, “She’s not home right now. Come back later.”
Niu Dali hesitated, then, jostled by Liu Xu, said, “Uncle, we don’t have anything good to repay you with, but I’ve got plenty of strength. I can work.”
As he spoke, he pulled a hoe and shovel out of his back basket. “I know you’re building a house. I can help.”
After a pause, he added, “I built my own house too.”
And without waiting for the two of them to refuse, he walked straight over and continued digging down from the pit Jiang Shan had dug earlier.
With that strength of his, one shovel-stroke did the work of Jiang Shan’s half hour.
At this, the couple were both dumbfounded. Ye Qingyun was about to say something when Liu Xu had already come to her side. “Auntie, are you weaving baskets? I know a bit of this too. Let me help you.”
Ye Qingyun suddenly found herself unable to refuse.
The one in her hands really wasn’t coming out right.
She glanced at her husband, then said, “Then… thank you both.”
Liu Xu smiled sincerely. “If anyone should thank anyone, it’s us thanking you. This little bit is all we’re good for, so you mustn’t refuse, or I won’t know how else to repay… well, your daughter.”
Ye Qingyun: “Her name is Jiang Zhi.”
“Then I’ll take the liberty of calling her Sister Ah Zhi.”
Liu Xu was a smooth, well-spoken sort of person. Ye Qingyun had read countless people in her time, and could of course tell whether someone was sincere.
She didn’t know how her daughter had saved this person, but just for the woman’s heart full of gratitude, she felt they were worth dealing with.
Liu Xu sat down beside Ye Qingyun and picked up the rattan from the ground. “Auntie, if you weave the rattan as is, it’s not stiff enough. It has to be sun-dried first.”
“If your family has bamboo, you can weave that too, but bamboo’s a hot commodity right now, buying it isn’t worth it. Wash this rattan once, then dry it in the sun for a few days, and it’ll harden up. The baskets you weave from it will be durable and have good give.”
Ye Qingyun suddenly understood. No wonder hers wouldn’t come out right, she’d had the method wrong.
She couldn’t help grumbling softly, “That salesclerk could’ve said something.”
Liu Xu laughed. “It’s not some rare skill, you’d find out just by asking around.”
Ye Qingyun said, “So right now we should wash all this rattan first?”
Liu Xu nodded. She was quick at her work too. Seeing the Jiangs’ newly bought water vat still empty, she said, “Auntie, there’s a well over by House 39, near your place. I’ll go fetch some water. If you’re not busy, Auntie, you can smooth out this rattan first.”
Ye Qingyun felt awkward. “How could I let you fetch water? I’ll go.”
She made to get up, but Liu Xu pressed her back down.
“Auntie, I see you don’t have a proper bucket yet. My family has a small cart. Fetching water is just a few steps’ walk. Don’t stand on ceremony with me right now.”
Ye Qingyun felt a little embarrassed, but Liu Xu’s attitude put her very much at ease.
She wasn’t a person to fuss, so she said, “All right, I’ll trouble you today.”
If they really used their own small camping water bucket, there was no telling how many trips it’d take to fill that vat.
Liu Xu made several trips, and the vat was soon full.
The two of them rubbed down all the rattan Ye Qingyun had bought.
While working, Ye Qingyun noticed that Liu Xu didn’t peek into the tent at all, and nodded inwardly.
A sensible one.
Knowing the rattan would need drying afterward, Jiang Shan set down his own work first and used the camping canopy poles to rig up a simple frame.
These things were rarities now. Ye Qingyun watched for a while, and seeing no greedy look on either Niu Dali’s or his wife’s face, finally let down her guard.
Once the rattan was nearly dry, the two of them sat resting in front of the tent. Ye Qingyun glanced at Niu Dali, toiling away up front, and asked Liu Xu, “What are your names? How many people in your family?”
At this, Liu Xu smiled even more sincerely. Ye Qingyun asking this meant she’d accepted them.
Liu Xu answered each question, and even told her about how she’d nearly died of radiation poisoning.
“If it weren’t for Sister Ah Zhi, my life would’ve been over.” Just recalling it, Liu Xu still felt some lingering fear.
Dying didn’t matter to her, but Xiao Lu was only six. She was afraid that with Niu Dali’s abilities, he wouldn’t be able to raise Xiao Lu to adulthood.
The speaker meant nothing by it, but to Ye Qingyun’s ears it set her mind turning.
—This girl Ah Zhi, where had she gotten such a good thing? She hadn’t even told them.
Ye Qingyun gnashed her teeth.
No good! When that girl got back, she absolutely had to question her properly!
＊
Jiang Shu stared in disbelief at the small, thin child before him.
If not for those familiar eyes, he really wouldn’t have recognized this as their nephew.
A nine-year-old child, his limbs so spindly they looked as if they’d snap with a light fold. His clothes hung loosely off him, like cloth draped over a bamboo pole. His ribs stood out one by one, rising and falling clearly beneath his thin chest with each breath. His skin had taken on a dull cast from lack of nutrition. The whole of him gave off a frailty that made the heart ache.
He was nine, yet right now he looked closer to six or seven.
In Jiang Shu’s memory, although his cousin Jiang Jun had divorced, Grandpa, Grandma, and Eldest Uncle’s family had all taken good care of the children. The last time they’d seen Jiang Sui, he’d still been a chubby little six-year-old.
So Jiang Shu couldn’t believe the emaciated child before him was the same person as the nephew in his memory.
He pulled up the skin-and-bones Jiang Sui and kept confirming, “Suisui?! Are you Jiang Sui?!”
Jiang Sui looked at Jiang Shu blankly. Perhaps from being too starved, his mind had gone numb.
His gaze stayed on Jiang Shu’s face, but there was no reaction. He just mumbled over and over, “Don’t take my food, don’t take my food…”
It made Jiang Shu ache inside. He lifted his eyes and glared fiercely at the two robbers.
“Where’s his food? Give back what you just took, you bastards!!”
The tall man glared back just as fiercely. “You say give it back and we give it back!? Pfft!”
Jiang Zhi gazed intently at the dull-witted Jiang Sui, and her roiling heart gradually settled.
No wonder she’d felt so uneasy just now.
It had been their Suisui.
When she looked up again, Jiang Zhi narrowed her eyes.
They dared bully their family’s Suisui?
Jiang Zhi gave the two no chance to react, raising her machete and slashing over in a flash.
The tall man jumped in fright and nimbly retreated to one side. The short man tried to ambush her from the side, only to have Jiang Zhi wound his thigh with a backhanded stroke, blood gushing out instantly.
“Aaagh—!!”
That man was a coward. Seeing Jiang Zhi about to slash again, he screamed in terror, “S-stop! Stop right now, or I’ll call the patrol over!”
At that, Jiang Shu laughed in anger. He shielded Jiang Sui behind him, his fists cracking. “Go ahead and call them. I’d love to find out whether you two get thrown out of the base after the patrol shows up.”
“And if you can’t get them here, all the better, lets me beat you both to death!”
Ancheng Base had a rule: any robber, once discovered, was expelled from the base!
At this, the tall man immediately changed his tune. “Damn! I just borrowed a piece of this kid’s grain! Is that worth all this?!”
The short man was scared too, and whined, “Big bro, why don’t we just give the stuff back?”
The tall man looked at the menacing Jiang siblings, hesitated a moment, then with a dark face gave a “hmph” and tossed over a four-jin sweet potato from his chest pocket.
“Fine, no loan! I don’t even want it!”
The two brothers were quick to admit defeat. Having returned the food, they covered their wounds and made to slip away.
Jiang Shu: “Hold on. Who said you could go?”
The tall man flew into a rage from shame. “We gave the stuff back, and you wounded us. What more do you want?”
Jiang Shu gave a hmph, crouched down, handed the food to Jiang Sui, and asked gently, “Suisui, tell your uncle, did they hit you just now?”
Jiang Sui blanked, looked at the food in his hands for a moment, then shook his head.
At this the tall man’s confidence came surging back. “See? Nothing happened to him. You lay a hand on us again and I’ll report you to the patrol!”
Jiang Shu frowned. “Get lost. Don’t let me see you again, or I’ll beat you every single time I do!”
Once the two men had left.
Jiang Shu scooped Jiang Sui up in his arms. “Suisui, you don’t recognize us?”
Jiang Sui looked at him a beat late, then looked at Jiang Zhi, and lowered his head without speaking.
The siblings exchanged a worried glance. Jiang Zhi put away her machete, walked over, and said to Jiang Sui, “Suisui, I’m your aunt. Did you forget how I used to take you out to play?”
Jiang Sui still kept his head down, clutching that sweet potato tightly.
Something stirred in Jiang Zhi, and she added, “Don’t be afraid. Auntie and Uncle will protect you. We’ve got plenty to eat, and we won’t let you go hungry anymore.”
At the mention of food, Jiang Sui finally reacted. The numbness in his eyes gradually cleared.
He called out timidly, “Auntie?”
“Mm. I’m your auntie.”
Looking at the gentle Jiang Zhi, Jiang Sui’s big eyes slowly reddened, filling little by little with tears, though he didn’t dare cry aloud. “Auntie…?”
It hurt Jiang Shu terribly. “Good Suisui, you’ve got your uncle here too.”
Perhaps finally recognizing the two of them, Jiang Sui burst into a wail and threw himself into Jiang Shu’s arms. “Uncle… boo hoo, hurry and save Dad and Grandpa, they’re… boo hoo… they’re about to die…”
The siblings were shocked. “What happened to Eldest Uncle and the others!?”
Jiang Sui tried to answer through his tears, but he was sobbing so hard that the next second he passed out cold.
The siblings were thrown into a fluster again.
Jiang Sui was young and had long been in a state of starvation, with his emotions swinging so wildly, he’d fainted.
Fortunately he had a good constitution, and he came around in no time.
The moment he opened his eyes and saw the Jiang siblings, he wanted to cry again.
“Auntie…”
Jiang Zhi let out a breath. It seemed nothing was seriously wrong.
She fed Jiang Sui a few mouthfuls of salted sugar water. This was the salt and sugar Ye Qingyun had paid a high price for at the base store the day before, worried they’d sweat too much out in the wild and lose too many electrolytes.
“Suisui, don’t cry just yet. We’re not back at the base, it’s not safe. Tell us about Dad and Grandpa on the road later, all right?”
Jiang Sui had grown much more mature since the great catastrophe.
He sniffled and nodded.
Jiang Zhi, gratified, stroked his head, and took a piece of candy from her pocket. “Good boy, Auntie’s giving you candy.”
Jiang Sui’s eyes lit up. “Watermelon candy!”
It used to be his favorite.
But after taking it, he didn’t open it, instead he carefully tucked it into his pocket.
Jiang Zhi was surprised. “Suisui, why aren’t you eating it?”
“I’ve had this kind before. My little sister hasn’t, so I’m saving it for her.”
Those words made the siblings’ hearts clench painfully.
Jiang Shu put on a show of magnanimity. “Suisui, Uncle’s got more of this candy! Go ahead and eat it!”
Jiang Sui asked happily, “Really?”
“Really. Once we’re back at the base, I’ll get more for Sisi.”
Jiang Si was Jiang Sui’s little sister, nicknamed Sisi.
Jiang Sui was overjoyed, his eyes even shining. “Thank you, Uncle and Auntie!”
Having comforted Jiang Sui, the siblings planned to pick up the pace and head back.
Jiang Shu scooped Jiang Sui up and set him atop the cart, and they set off again.
Jiang Zhi steadied the cart from the side, asking Jiang Sui as they went, “Suisui, what happened to Dad and Grandpa?”
Jiang Sui’s dad was the siblings’ cousin Jiang Jun, and his grandpa was their Eldest Uncle, Jiang Hai.
Jiang Sui’s once-happy little face dimmed at once.
“Dad and Grandpa went scavenging a year ago and got bitten by a mutated weasel. Dad’s leg was hurt, and Grandpa’s back.”
Young as he was, he managed to lay out the whole story clearly.
Before the great catastrophe, both branches of the Jiang family, including Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang, had all lived together.
After disaster struck, the remote Jiang Family Village hadn’t been much affected. Once the base was built, Grandpa Jiang had smoothly brought the whole family there. Back then, after selling off the treasures they’d brought from home, they’d even bought a sizable plot of land.
If not for that accident a year ago, they would never have ended up living like this.
After Jiang Hai and his son were injured, the Jiang family sold their house and land just to save the two men’s lives.
But that mutated weasel’s claws carried a powerful radioactive toxin. Even after their wounds healed, the two still had to go to the infirmary on a fixed schedule each week for relief injections.
Over the year, that drained the family dry.
To make matters worse, when Second Uncle Jiang He and his wife went to District B to take on private work to supplement the household, they were framed, and ever since had been saddled with no small debt.
That was how the whole family had moved from the self-built district to a suite in the low-rent housing, and then from the suite to a single room.
Now the Jiang family of twelve was crammed into a single room of less than fifty square meters. With the family down two laborers, the second cousin and his wife rose before dawn to go help the base build the city wall.
Grandpa Jiang scraped by supporting the household by treating illnesses for the low-rent housing tenants.
Eldest Aunt had to care for Jiang Hai and his son while also looking after the children, and a while back she’d fallen ill herself.
Jiang Hai and his son, feeling they were dragging the family down, had tried to end it by starving themselves. Even though Grandpa Jiang had saved them, their already toxin-ravaged bodies grew more and more broken.
Jiang Sui had sneaked out this time precisely to find low-toxin food for Jiang Hai and his son.
Piecing the story together from Jiang Sui’s mouth, the Jiang siblings felt a tangle of bittersweet emotions.
There was the relief that their relatives were all still alive, and the sorrow that they’d been living so badly.
Jiang Zhi gave Jiang Sui’s hand a squeeze.
Those little hands were covered in calluses, the nail beds packed with black grime.
“Suisui, let’s go see your great-uncle and great-aunt with us first, then you take us to find Great-Grandpa, all right?”
Jiang Sui obediently nodded, then after a moment grew a little bashful. “Will Great-Uncle and Great-Aunt mind me? I haven’t bathed in days…”
Jiang Shu laughed. “Our Suisui’s so handsome. When they see you, they’ll be over the moon, how could they mind?”
At that, Jiang Sui smiled shyly.
The rest of the road passed without incident, and the siblings safely brought Jiang Sui back to the base before six.
That cart loaded with goods drew frequent sidelong glances from passersby, but once they saw it was just ordinary wood and inedible wild grass, they all withdrew their gazes.
Back on their own turf, Jiang Shu called out from far off to Jiang Shan and his wife, who were working outside the tent: “Mom, Dad, we’re back!!”
Ye Qingyun’s face lit up with joy. She hurriedly set down her work. “Dashan, they’re back!!”
The couple had started to grow distracted as early as five o’clock.
When the siblings set off that morning, they’d told them that on this first day, the two should come back early. If they weren’t back by six, the couple had planned to go out looking for them.
Liu Xu had seen the couple’s state and found an excuse to head back early.
Helping the Jiang family wasn’t a show for appearances, so Liu Xu hadn’t insisted on seeing Jiang Zhi.
Jiang Shu pushed the cart and stopped it in front of the tent.
Looking at the whole cartload of stuff, Ye Qingyun felt a pang. “You two really, aren’t you exhausted, pushing such a heavy load back?”
Jiang Shu said dramatically, “Exhausted, how could I not be? My hands are shaking right now.”
Ye Qingyun felt for him even more, but her mouth gave no quarter. “It’s not like we’re at the point of an empty pot at home, no need to work yourself to death.”
That said, Ye Qingyun took Jiang Shu’s hand and looked it over.
Jiang Shu grinned and let her. “Mom, you’re acting a bit strange today, actually checking on me first instead of Ah Zhi.”
Seeing his hand was fine, Ye Qingyun pinched it ill-temperedly. “Don’t get a sweet deal and then act cute about it.”
She turned to look at Jiang Zhi. “Ah Zhi, you’re not hur—”
Ye Qingyun’s words cut off the moment she saw the child on Jiang Zhi’s back. Startled, she said, “Ah Zhi, where did you pick up this little kid?”
Seeing that Ye Qingyun had finally noticed Jiang Sui, Jiang Shu said, “Guess where we picked him up?”
Ye Qingyun spat at him, “Off with you. As big as you are and still no proper manners.”
Feeling for her daughter carrying the child, she went straight over and took Jiang Sui into her arms. Just as she was about to set him down, she heard the little one in her arms say softly, “Great-Aunt…”
Ye Qingyun thought she’d misheard, and looked at him in astonishment. “You’re calling me?”
Jiang Sui pressed his lips together, knowing Ye Qingyun hadn’t recognized him, his eyes reddening slightly.
Jiang Zhi smiled. “Mom, look again. Who is he?”
Jiang Shan was unloading the cargo, and at this he looked over curiously too.
Ye Qingyun couldn’t help studying him closely. After a moment, her body trembled and her words came out garbled. “Da—Dashan!! Come over here, quick, am I seeing things, why does this child look like Suisui?!”
Jiang Shan started and walked straight over.
After seeing the brows and eyes so like his eldest brother’s, he was beside himself. “It really is Suisui!?”
Jiang Sui timidly called out again, “Great-Uncle, Great-Aunt…”
Looking at the thin, small Jiang Sui before her, Ye Qingyun’s eyes reddened at once. “Great-Aunt’s Suisui, how did you get so thin?”
One look at Jiang Sui’s state said he’d been living badly, and Ye Qingyun’s heart ached terribly.
Before the great catastrophe, they’d gone back every year for the New Year. Back then Jiang Sui was a chubby little thing, and every time he saw her he’d call out “Great-Aunt, Great-Aunt.”
So Ye Qingyun had always doted on Jiang Sui.
Seeing the child like this now, Ye Qingyun’s tears fell straight down.
Jiang Shu relayed the Jiang family’s ordeal to Jiang Shan and his wife.
The more Jiang Shan listened, the darker his face grew.
By the time he heard Jiang Shu say that Jiang Hai and his son were in a very bad way, Jiang Shan couldn’t sit still at all.
He stood up and said gravely to Ye Qingyun, “Qingyun, I want to bring them over here.”
He knew full well how great a burden such a big family would place on their household, but those were his family.
To pretend nothing had happened—Jiang Shan knew he couldn’t do it.
Ye Qingyun nodded. Even if her husband hadn’t said it, she’d planned to do the same.
No one understood better than she did how important family was in this world.
What’s more, every one of the Jiang family was of good character.
You only had to look at Second Brother Jiang He’s family to know.
If they were truly selfish people, the family would have fallen apart back when Eldest Brother Jiang Hai and his son met with disaster.
But Jiang He and his wife not only didn’t shun them, they’d even tried to take on private work to shoulder the household, though the result had been less than ideal.
Ye Qingyun said to the siblings, “You two grew up in the old hometown when you were little, so you’ve surely got a sense of what your eldest and second uncles are like. They always treated you well. When we weren’t around, they raised you as their own. Now that they’re in trouble, we can’t just stand by and do nothing.”
In fact, until Jiang Shu was twelve, the siblings had both been raised in the countryside.
Back then, Jiang Shan and his wife had been clawing their way up to get a foothold in the city, and simply hadn’t been able to look after the two children.
The two families’ care for them had been not one bit less than their birth parents’.
Jiang Shu said, “Mom, you don’t have to say all this. The whole reason we came from the settlement to the base was to find Grandpa, Grandma, and the rest. There’s no way we’d find them living badly and just ignore it.”
Jiang Zhi nodded. “Mom, my brother’s right.”
Ye Qingyun looked at the two of them with gratification. “As long as you understand the principle, that’s enough.”
She turned to Jiang Shan. “Dashan, go do what you think is right. Take Dashu with you. Ah Zhi and I will get the rooms ready at home.”
Their tents now added up to a hundred and eighty square meters, more convenient any way you looked at it than that fifty-square-meter low-rent single room.
Seeing that his children and wife all supported him, Jiang Shan felt a surge of bittersweet emotion.
“Thank you, Ah Yun.”
Seeing the teasing smiles on her children’s faces, Ye Qingyun flushed with annoyance. “The kids are right here, don’t be so mushy.”
Jiang Shan smiled and picked up Jiang Sui. “Suisui, take Great-Uncle over now, and we’ll bring them all here.”
Realization dawned on Jiang Sui.
He was nine now, and over these few years he’d become fully able to stand on his own, but Great-Uncle’s family still treated him like a child.
Looking at the tent before him, Jiang Sui felt a little uneasy.
He was young and had grown up in the countryside, even before the catastrophe he’d never seen anything this high-end.
“Great-Uncle, can, can we really live together with you?”
Jiang Shan said softly, “Of course. We’re family.”
“But, but my dad and grandpa both…” Saying this, Jiang Sui wanted to cry again.
He wasn’t a crybaby by nature, even Grandma said he was the most capable child in the family.
But right now, in front of Great-Uncle’s family, he just couldn’t hold back the tears.
Jiang Shan stroked his head. “It’s all right. We’ll figure it out together when the time comes.”
Thinking of the more than ten of them, who’d surely have plenty of things, Jiang Shan had Jiang Shu push the cart along.
He himself walked holding Jiang Sui’s hand.
Before they left, Ye Qingyun, worried Jiang Hai and his son’s bodies couldn’t take it, packed a flask of sugar-salt water for them.
“We’ll be back soon,” Jiang Shan said. “If there isn’t enough grain at home… just buy some.”
Ye Qingyun: “You think I don’t know that much? Hurry up and go, the sooner you go the sooner you’re back.”
After the father and son left.
Ye Qingyun started tidying things up.
Jiang Zhi didn’t sit idle either. She knew the family was at the point of an empty pot, and with such a big family now, the pressure on Ye Qingyun as household accountant had to be enormous, so she asked, “Mom, how many points does our family have left?”
Not wanting to say much, Ye Qingyun was privately puzzling over what in the house could be sold. “Don’t you worry about it. We’ve got enough to eat for a few days, anyway.”
At a time like this, she rather regretted not having sold off that tusked rabbit’s heart.
Jiang Zhi felt a little helpless.
Her mom was good in every way, except she loved treating them like children.
“Mom, look how old I am. If you don’t tell us anything, how are we supposed to know the family’s situation?”
Ye Qingyun was indeed worried, and at this she said helplessly, “Not much. Just buying things yesterday cost five hundred points.”
Jiang Zhi knew the family had only had six hundred-some points total before, so now there was probably only a hundred or so left.
Granted, Grandpa, Grandma, and the others might not let them be supported.
But living together as one family, there was no way they could eat well and let Eldest Uncle’s family go hungry.
Bringing the people over meant shouldering the burden, and the pressure of that was easy to imagine.
Jiang Zhi was honestly impressed with her mom.
In a situation like this, she could still be so resolute.
“Mom, don’t fret just yet. My brother and I found some food today, low-toxin stuff included. We can sell it to tide things over.”
At this, Ye Qingyun stopped caring about tidying up.
“Really!? Quick, show me what you’ve got.”
So Jiang Zhi laid out everything edible one piece at a time.
For low-toxin, there was one river-snail egg and a six-jin velvetleaf fruit.
There was more moderate-toxin. For meats: half a jin of river-snail meat, one string of snail eggs. Plus two pieces of river-clam meat, six ounces in all, and two river-clam shells. Half a jin of moderate-toxin grass-carp scales, and one whole river shrimp, a full three jin.
For plants: one chunk of calamus rhizome, maybe seven or eight jin, plus a big batch of shepherd’s-purse leaves weighing four jin eight ounces, five velvetleaf fruits each weighing five or six jin, and a big handful of velvetleaf stalks.
Listening to Jiang Zhi count it all off, Ye Qingyun couldn’t help being dumbfounded.
“This, this is all what you two got today? This much?”
It actually wasn’t that much, but they’d found low-toxin food today, and selling it could earn some points.
Jiang Zhi gave a little chuckle. “How about it, pretty efficient, right?”
Ye Qingyun cleared her throat and grudgingly said, “Not bad… Wait, you two got in the water?!”
Jiang Zhi’s scalp tightened. “…No, we used a fishing net.”
She quickly pulled out the holed net, terrified that another second’s delay would bring on a reckoning.
Sure enough, Ye Qingyun’s attention was diverted by the net. Looking at the torn spot, she said with a pang, “How’d it get such a big hole? In our situation, where’s the spare material to patch it?”
Jiang Zhi pointed at the velvetleaf stalks on the ground. “Mom, this stuff’s got good give. You’ll have to help me patch it up later.”
Ye Qingyun tapped her on the forehead. “The nerve!”
Ye Qingyun didn’t pursue the subject. She estimated the family’s grain, and finally decided to sell the low-toxin food and buy some moderate-toxin highland barley at the base store, which could stretch a week.
As for the moderate-toxin meats, Ye Qingyun didn’t plan to sell them.
From the look of Jiang Sui just now, Ye Qingyun figured the Jiang family hadn’t had a proper, good meal in a long while.
Those things could count as a celebration for finding family.
With food in hand, Ye Qingyun finally let out a breath and put it all away.
She muttered as she worked, “I wonder how your grandpa and grandma’s health is. As old as they are, still having to fret over all this, it really is hard on them.”
Figuring their family of four would be sharing one room again for a while, Jiang Zhi moved her own things back into Jiang Shan and Ye Qingyun’s tent.
Hearing Ye Qingyun’s words, she said, “Don’t worry. Grandpa’s a TCM doctor, after all, he used to practice qigong, too. His body’s probably healthier than any of yours.”
At that, Ye Qingyun said no more.
After putting her own things away, Jiang Zhi went outside the tent to keep sorting the elm branches she’d brought back today. Seeing how much ground in front of the family’s tent had been dug up, she said, “Mom, you were pretty efficient today, dug up all this.”
Ye Qingyun smacked her own head. “Look at me, I forgot to tell you.”
“Did you save someone yesterday?”
Jiang Zhi blinked. “Mom, how did you know?”
Ye Qingyun said, “That couple came over specially today to thank you. Look, all this dug ground and the rattan drying over there, they helped with it.”
Jiang Zhi stared blankly for a moment, then, catching on, was overjoyed. “Mom, you mean both of them came to help out!?”
“That’s right. That couple really are quick at work. If we’d had to rely on ourselves, there’s no telling how long it’d have taken.”
Jiang Zhi’s eyes shone.
If they could come help, it meant the person was already pretty much fine.
She didn’t expect the tusked rabbit’s teeth to work so well, in just one night, the woman had actually been able to get up.
Sure enough, something marked gold was in a class of its own.
She just didn’t know what kind of special function it was.
Was it that all low-toxin items had this effect, or did the tusked rabbit’s teeth happen to have a healing property…
These questions piled up in Jiang Zhi’s heart, and the more she thought, the more excited she got.
—If it really had a healing property, then Eldest Uncle and cousin’s conditions… might just be saved!
The news of Liu Xu’s recovery was like timely rain, coming at just the right moment. Jiang Zhi decided to go see her condition for herself.
“Mom, I’m heading over there now. You know where they live, right?”
“I do, they left their address.” Ye Qingyun stopped her. “Don’t rush off just yet. I still want to ask you, where did you get the medicine that could bring a person back to life?”
Jiang Zhi told her about the tusked rabbit’s teeth.
Knowing the stuff could relieve toxins, Ye Qingyun’s thinking aligned with Jiang Zhi’s. “Then hurry and go. If it really can cure radiation poisoning, your eldest uncle and the others will be saved.”
Jiang Zhi nodded and headed straight for the address Ye Qingyun had given.
The self-built housing district took up a tenth of the base, currently divided into a hundred and fifty house blocks in all.
Each block was roughly laid out with a few dozen households.
The Jiangs’ plot was in House Block 120, while Liu Xu’s family was in House Block 10.
The two blocks were a long way apart.
It took Jiang Zhi over ten minutes to reach Niu Dali’s home. Liu Xu happened to be cleaning the yard with her son, and the moment she looked up, she met Jiang Zhi’s intent, burning gaze.
Liu Xu had never seen Jiang Zhi before, and was caught off guard for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Niu Xiaolu call out happily, “It’s the big sister who saved Mommy!”
Liu Xu’s heart jolted.
She was a little surprised that the girl who’d saved her was so young.
She set down her broom and walked over to open the gate, somewhat flustered.
Their yard wall was only a meter high, and although it was strung with thorny rattan, from outside it was still easy to see what was going on within.
“So you’re Sister Ah Zhi…” Liu Xu, usually so glib, was at a loss for words this time.
“I just came to see how you’re doing.” Jiang Zhi sized her up once more.
The woman’s condition was even better than she’d imagined.
Liu Xu said, “Come in and sit a while, Sister Ah Zhi. My Dali’s gone to fetch water.”
Jiang Zhi declined. “I only came to ask about your condition. How do you feel now? And after taking the powder, was there any other discomfort? Or any other… side effects?”
What Jiang Zhi really wanted to ask was whether she’d gained any benefit, like the special function of the bone staff.
But that question was too sensitive, and in the end Jiang Zhi didn’t ask it.
Liu Xu understood what Jiang Zhi meant. She thought a moment, then chose her words carefully. “My body was near its limit at the time. After taking the medicine, I lost consciousness for a stretch, and when I woke again I found the damage the radiation toxin had done to my body was gone, and…”
She paused. “And my old chronic ailments all healed too.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhi was excited inside, though her face showed nothing.
Getting Liu Xu’s answer confirmed two things for her.
First, all items marked gold had special functions.
Second, the tusked rabbit’s teeth did indeed have a special function, and from the look of it, it should be a healing property.
Jiang Zhi didn’t expect that a mutated beast she’d killed offhandedly would bring her such a great benefit.
She pressed down the delight in her heart and nodded. “All right, I understand. Thank you both for your help today. I’ll have to trouble you to keep this matter secret. From now on you don’t owe me anything, and you don’t need to come help anymore.”
With that, Jiang Zhi turned to leave.
Giving Niu Dali the tooth powder had been her own choice. Although they’d agreed at the time that Niu Dali would pay points.
But Jiang Zhi had changed her mind now.
This stuff was too heaven-defying. It was better to cut ties with Niu Dali’s family.
Seeing this, Liu Xu hurriedly said, “Wait, Sister Ah Zhi…”
Jiang Zhi stopped and looked at her.
Liu Xu had meant to ask whether the other had any more of that miraculous powder, but the words reached her lips and suddenly wouldn’t come out.
This young girl’s eyes seemed able to see right through her.
“No, it’s nothing… I just hadn’t thanked you yet.”
Jiang Zhi said, “No need. We each got what we needed, that’s all.”
After Jiang Zhi left, Liu Xu felt a wistful sense of loss.
Niu Xiaolu tugged at her hand. “Mommy, that big sister is so cool.”
Liu Xu couldn’t help smiling. “Yes. She’s Mommy’s savior. From now on we all have to repay her, understand?”
Niu Xiaolu: “But didn’t the big sister say we don’t need to help anymore?”
Liu Xu pinched his little face. “Mommy’s life is so precious, it can’t be paid off with just a bit of help. You just remember what Mommy said.”
Niu Xiaolu nodded, half understanding. “Okay, Mommy.”
＊
Meanwhile, Jiang Shan and his son, with Jiang Sui leading the way, arrived at Low-Rent Housing Block 35.
This place was even more run-down than the spot they’d rented before.
It was said to be first-generation low-rent housing, crude facilities, poorer building quality, though the rent was a bit cheaper.
The Jiang family lived in House 105.
Before they’d even gone in, the smell of urine hit them. The walls were blackened by the soot of tenants’ cooking, and stepping on the floor left a sticky feeling underfoot.
The sanitary conditions were worrying.
Even the easygoing Jiang Shu couldn’t help frowning at the sight.
Jiang Shan stood at the door with the nervous trepidation of a man approaching home.
Jiang Sui, by contrast, was all excitement, even knocking louder than usual. “Grandma, I’m back! Open up!”