After Ye Qingyun had gone far, Jiang Zhi turned back.
If she hadn’t seen wrong, the man who had been begging for low-toxin food at the base store last night had just appeared in this area.
Jiang Zhi walked back for a while and soon saw Niu Dali carrying his wife in a panic toward the infirmary. Behind them, a small child with a pale face followed closely, silently crying.
Niu Dali’s eyes were red. “Ah Xu, hold on a little longer. I’m going to the infirmary to get a relief injection for you right now!”
The woman weakly tried to stop him. “D-Dali… forget it… let’s save our points for Xiao Lu instead…”
The relief injection could only delay her condition, not cure it. Rather than wasting points on her, it was better to leave hope for their child.
The small child clutched tightly at Niu Dali’s clothes and burst into loud tears at those words. “I don’t want it! I don’t want points! I only want Mom!”
At this time, most people had gone out, leaving only the elderly, women, and children at home. Hearing the child’s crying, several people poked their heads out to look, but were afraid of getting involved and quickly withdrew.
Niu Dali didn’t listen to his wife and continued rushing straight toward the infirmary.
When he passed by Jiang Zhi, she raised her right hand and blocked their path.
Startled, Niu Dali was about to speak when the girl in front of him said, “I have low-toxin items.”
Niu Dali’s face lit up for a moment, but then he immediately became cautious. “You’re willing to sell it to me?”
Jiang Zhi thought for a moment. “I can give it to you first. If it works, you can pay me the points afterward.”
Her uncertain tone made Niu Dali’s expression stiffen again, and despair rose once more in his heart.
He looked down at his wife’s almost unconscious face, and after only a moment, made up his mind.
“Alright! As long as Ah Xu gets through this, I’ll do anything for you in the future, anything that doesn’t involve murder or arson, and doesn’t harm my family!”
Jiang Zhi muttered, “That’s not necessary.”
Last night, when she saw Niu Dali, she had already formed a plan.
She had two low-toxin fangs from the tusked rabbit in her possession.
In her internal “instrument panel,” these two teeth were the same pale gold quality as the bone staff she had given Jiang Shu earlier.
—They were clearly good items, but she didn’t yet know how to use them.
The reason Jiang Zhi approached Niu Dali this time wasn’t out of sympathy, but because she wanted to run an experiment.
To see what exactly those items marked with a gold label could be used for.
She took a small medicine box out of her pocket.
Inside was tusked-rabbit tooth that had been ground into powder and then baked. She had only packed about thirty grams.
For someone like Niu Dali’s wife in her current condition, it would normally take 500 grams of low-toxin plants or 200 grams of low-toxin meat to provide relief.
Under normal circumstances, even for meat, a thirty-gram amount wouldn’t have much of an effect.
Niu Dali looked at the small amount and his expression fell. “Th-this little?”
Jiang Zhi said expressionlessly, holding out her hand. “Take it or leave it. If not, give it back.”
Niu Dali immediately pulled his hand back. “I’ll take it! I’ll take it!”
He was completely cornered now. Even if it was just a desperate attempt with minimal hope, he was willing to gamble on it, anything that could delay things by even a few days would be worth it.
After Jiang Zhi tossed the medicine box to him, she glanced at the tearful child beside him, then turned and left.
As for whether it would actually save the person, time would tell.
After that, Jiang Zhi didn’t linger in the self-built housing area. She walked around the nearby streets for a while before returning to the rental housing and swapping her brother out so he could go out and stretch his legs.
Jiang Shu was overjoyed.
He had already found out yesterday that District C wasn’t far from District D.
He had long wanted to see what Evolver fighters looked like.
Although most ability users currently only had physical enhancements, there were rumors that some had elemental abilities.
These kinds of powers that only appeared in novels were now within reach, and Jiang Shu was determined to go and see them for himself.
Jiang Zhi wasn’t interested in any of that.
It was just the right time for her to stay in the rented room and tidy things up.
If nothing unexpected happened, their family would be moving out soon.
Jiang Shu had barely left when Ye Qingyun also returned, still wearing a smile.
Seeing her mood, Jiang Zhi felt a bit better too. “Mom, what good thing happened?”
“Your mom found a part-time job,” Ye Qingyun said with a smile. “There’s a private clinic near Rental Housing Block 5. They just happen to be hiring nurses. That’s exactly my field, so I went to ask about it. Most of the work is just changing dressings for injured patients and helping the doctor decoct mutated medicinal herbs.”
It did sound pretty good. Jiang Zhi asked, “How much is the pay?”
“It’s paid daily, 25 points a day.”
That wasn’t bad at all. After all, the staple food at the base store cost only 15 points per jin.
At times like this, skilled professionals had a much easier time surviving.
Ye Qingyun felt a bit regretful. “If only your grandpa were here. From what I can see, traditional Chinese medicine doctors are more in demand than Western doctors at the base right now.”
Jiang Zhi’s grandfather, Jiang Aiguo, had been a well-known barefoot doctor when he was young. He carried many folk remedies for treating illnesses and saving lives. Later, after national policy support, in his seventies he took the qualification exam for traditional Chinese medicine specialists and obtained a medical license, finally becoming a formally recognized TCM doctor.
After the great catastrophe, without pharmaceutical equipment, Western medicine had nearly gone extinct. Many drugs became scarce, with every dose used being one less available.
In contrast, mutated medicinal herbs had developed new therapeutic properties after mutation.
Hearing this, Jiang Zhi joked, “Once we find Grandpa, you two can open a clinic together.”
Just as Ye Qingyun was about to respond, the detector suddenly rang.
It was a call from Jiang Shan.
Ye Qingyun’s expression lit up with joy.
Being able to contact him meant Jiang Shan had already returned to base territory. At the very least, he was safe.
As expected, once the call connected, Jiang Shan’s voice came through. “Qingyun, we’re back. We’re at the west gate. Bring the kids over…”
Excited, Ye Qingyun kept responding with “Okay,” and also asked a few questions about his safety. After receiving confirmation that everything was fine, she ended the call.
While the couple was speaking, Jiang Zhi very tactfully called her brother over.
Ye Qingyun was very satisfied. “As expected, daughters are more reliable. Let’s move quickly, your dad said we should try to buy the land before the sun sets.”
Hearing that they could buy land today, Jiang Zhi was also quite excited.
Fortunately, they didn’t have much luggage. The mother and daughter quickly packed up the remaining belongings, checked out, and headed straight for the west gate.
By the time they arrived, Jiang Shu was already following closely behind Jiang Shan, striking up conversations with the members of the Exploration Team.
From how familiar he looked, it was almost as if he was ready to throw an arm around their shoulders.
When Jiang Shan saw the mother and daughter arrive, he naturally took their luggage and carried it on his back.
Ye Qingyun asked, “All the larger items are still there, right?”
Earlier they had abandoned the vehicle and only taken essential supplies, things like folding chairs had all been left behind.
Jiang Shan replied, “They’re all still there.” Noticing his wife’s signal, he lowered his voice and added, “The paperwork for the vehicle has already been completed. Chen Li has promised us we can choose any plot of land we want.”
Ye Qingyun’s face lit up with joy.
“Why didn’t you bargain more?”
Jiang Shan replied helplessly, “You know I’m not cut out for that.”
What Jiang Shan didn’t say was that the vehicle had been left outside overnight. When they arrived, it was completely wrapped in mutated vines. The Exploration Team had to spend a great deal of effort to free it. If they had been even a little later, those mutated branches would likely have penetrated deep into the vehicle’s internal components, and by then it would have been unusable.
Fortunately, they had taken everything usable with them when they left yesterday, or the losses would have been severe.
Just as he finished speaking, their son Jiang Shu said proudly, “Mom, Dad’s no good at bargaining, that’s where I come in.”
He then carried over the spare tire from the off-road vehicle.
Ye Qingyun looked surprised. “This is…?”
“Brother Chen said we’re fated, so they didn’t take our spare tire.”
“Brother Chen” referred to Chen Rixin, Chen Li’s cousin.
In fact, Jiang Shu had a straightforward personality, he didn’t nitpick over small matters but was clear-headed when it came to big ones. Combined with the value of the Jiang family’s off-road vehicle, the members of the Exploration Team were also quite willing to get along with him.
Hearing this, Jiang Shan couldn’t help but smile.
His foolish son did have a bit of lucky charm about him.
That spare tire was worth quite a number of points as well.
Seeing this, Ye Qingyun immediately felt much more at ease. “When we settle down later, have your dad modify it into a flatbed cart.”
She then reminded her son, “Once our life stabilizes in a few days, we should prepare some gifts to send over.”
Reciprocity builds relationships.
The Exploration Team still had tasks to complete afterward, so they assigned a new recruit to accompany the Jiangs through the land-purchase procedures. To their pleasant surprise, because Chen Li’s wife worked in internal administration, the staff even gifted them 100 kilograms of clay and a three-month rental right for a mud-brick mold.
It may not sound like much, but when converted into points, it was actually quite valuable.
The base’s clay was currently being transported back bit by bit by Exploration Team members.
Priority was given to base construction, and only any surplus was put up for sale in the shop.
Prices had always been high.
Ye Qingyun briefly explained the plot she had chosen to Jiang Shan.
Trusting his wife’s judgment, Jiang Shan had no objections. After the couple finalized their decision, the next steps, land registration, paperwork, and processing procedures, went smoothly.
It was exactly the saying: “Things are easy when you know the right people.”
The land purchase went more smoothly than they had ever expected.
After leaving the hall, Jiang Shu still couldn’t quite believe it as he looked at the property certificate in his mother’s hand. “So… we actually have a home now?”
Ye Qingyun’s smile had never faded. “We have land. We still need to build a house!”
Jiang Shan said, “Don’t worry, we’ll have all of that in time.”
Once everything was settled, the Exploration Team member accompanying them, Hu Yang, even helped them move in.
After unloading the luggage, Hu Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Uncle Jiang, Auntie, is there anything else left to move?”
The young man still looked quite youthful, probably only eighteen or nineteen. Along the way, he had been diligent and had provided them with a lot of useful information.
Ye Qingyun handed him the still-decent Zippo-style creative kerosene lighter in her hand. “Xiao Hu, thank you for running around with us all day. We don’t really have anything good right now, don’t mind it.”
Hu Yang immediately waved his hands after seeing the lighter. “This was the captain’s instruction, it’s what I should do.”
That lighter had been a good item even before the catastrophe. Although it looked a bit worn now, it could still fetch a good price in the present. How could he possibly accept it?
Without another word, Ye Qingyun pushed it into his hands. “What your captain instructed is your captain’s business. What I give is my business. Take it. When our house is built, come over and have a meal with us.”
Hu Yang couldn’t refuse and eventually accepted it. Feeling a bit shy, he scratched his head and said, “Auntie, I happen to be going out on a mission in the next few days. There’s a swamp area over there with a lot of clay. I can bring some back for you.”
Ye Qingyun politely replied, “That’s too kind of you.”
Hu Yang smiled. “It’s fine, it’s just on the way. My family is also planning to add an extra room, so we need it anyway. The only thing is, the amount might not be much, I can probably only bring you a hundred to two hundred jin a day…”
Knowing they truly needed the material, Ye Qingyun no longer refused. “That would be wonderful. However much you can bring is fine. Auntie thanks you in advance!”
Hu Yang grinned, didn’t stay long, and after adding each other as contacts with Ye Qingyun, he left.