“Sounds good!”
The two girls met up, and before Song Zhizhi could hook her arm through Su Yue’s as usual, Su Yue deliberately offered her arm first.
“Let’s go. Which area are you planning to search today?”
Song Zhizhi thought for a moment.
“Anywhere except the sweet-potato fields. Those rats were way too dangerous. Oh, right—how’s your injury?”
“I’m fine. No infection.”
Song Zhizhi patted her chest in relief.
“Good. In that case, let’s head to South Cliff Mountain. There are orange trees, strawberries, apples, and other fruit there. Not many, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Sounds good.”
Su Yue knew South Cliff Mountain.
The mountain wasn’t very tall and wasn’t particularly far from the refugee district—about a forty-minute walk.
Its name came from the nearly vertical cliff that formed its southern face.
However, what made it famous among the refugees was the abundance of wild fruit and berry plants growing there.
The harvest wasn’t large, and most of it was wild.
But fruit was a luxury in the refugee district.
People were always willing to try their luck.
As they walked, Song Zhizhi and Su Yue chatted.
When she heard that Su Yue lived in the Second District, Song Zhizhi looked incredibly envious.
“Ahh, the Second District. I’m so jealous. It’s close to both the well and the clinic. Unlike my place—it’s way out there. Every time beast tide season comes around, I’m scared to death!”
Su Yue’s eyes lit up.
Wait a minute.
Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to persuade her?
She casually replied,
“The house next to mine has been abandoned for years. It could still be lived in if someone repaired it.”
People with money usually moved into the inner districts.
People without money lived on the outskirts.
Most couldn’t afford repairs.
Families died off from time to time.
Vacant houses appeared regularly.
That particular house had simply been left to decay.
Song Zhizhi’s eyes immediately brightened.
“Really? Nobody lives there?”
Hooked.
Su Yue quickly pressed the advantage.
“Really. It’s been abandoned for years. The roof collapsed, but the walls are still usable. Hire someone to help, get your brother to pitch in, and it’d probably only take a few days to fix.”
Song Zhizhi suddenly seemed to remember something.
Her expression darkened.
“But repairing a house takes materials. And labor. That’s money.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You know my family’s situation. We’re poor.”
“The building materials can come from your current house.”
Su Yue already had an answer prepared.
“Reuse anything that’s still good. I’ve got plenty of scrap lumber at my place too. You wouldn’t need to buy much.”
“As for labor, Aunt Wang’s son is strong and reliable. I can ask whether he’d be willing to help.”
If Song Zhizhi couldn’t afford it, Su Yue was prepared to help cover the cost herself.
After all, she had selfish reasons for wanting the family nearby.
Having trustworthy neighbors would eliminate many future worries.
Song Zhizhi looked tempted.
After a long pause, she nodded.
“Let me discuss it with my mom first.”
Truthfully, she desperately wanted to move.
Her family lived in the Fifth District.
It was far from the well, the clinic, and the Defense Corps station.
Daily life was inconvenient.
More importantly, the Fifth District sat near the outer edge of the refugee settlement.
Every year when beast tide season arrived, she was terrified.
If the hunters’ defensive lines collapsed, the outer districts would die first.
Now she had a chance to move into the Second District.
How could she not want that?
Each girl walked with her own thoughts.
Yet the possibility of becoming neighbors somehow brought them even closer.
Before long, they reached South Cliff Mountain.
After wandering around for quite some time, they failed to find a single untouched fruit tree.
Every fruit tree they encountered already had people hanging from it, picking through the branches.
Most had likely been scanned dozens of times already.
However, they did find a small berry bush.
Both girls managed to gather a few edible berries.
Not enough for a proper meal.
Continuing their search, they eventually found a mulberry tree.
There, they harvested edible mulberry leaves.
By the end of the day, Su Yue had gathered:
Song Zhizhi had gathered:
In reality, Su Yue could have found many more edible mulberry leaves using her ability.
But she deliberately held back.
If she found too many, Song Zhizhi might start wondering how she always seemed to know where everything was.
Each mulberry leaf was as large as two adult palms and two to three millimeters thick.
One leaf was enough for a meal.
The berries were dark purple, resembling wild eggplants.
They were about the size of coins and tasted pleasantly sweet and sour.
Song Zhizhi was thrilled.
She had noticed a pattern.
Every time she followed Su Yue, they found good food.
“Su Yue, you’re like my lucky goddess. Not only did you save my life, but you always help me find food!”
“It’s your luck.”
“Hehe. Maybe. Otherwise how could I have met you?”
Listening to Song Zhizhi shower her with compliments, Su Yue couldn’t help smiling.
Together, they headed home beneath the setting sun.
“Remember to message me after you discuss the move with your family.”
Su Yue reminded her before they parted.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
Su Yue assumed it would take a day or two for the family to decide.
Instead, she had barely finished installing blackout curtains and eating dinner before a message arrived.
[If everything works out, we’re planning to move!]
[Tomorrow I’ll go check the house and ask the district office whether it really has no owner.]
[Okay. I’ll send you the location.]
Halfway there already!
The next morning, Song Zhizhi arrived early.
The two girls circled the abandoned house several times like inspecting officials.
The building stood only two or three meters from Su Yue’s home.
Most refugee houses were separated by several meters to allow escape routes during beast tide attacks.
Compared to most homes, these two were unusually close together.
“This is actually pretty good.”
Song Zhizhi examined the walls.
“They’re still usable.”
Satisfied, she immediately headed to the district office.
After checking the records, they confirmed that the house truly had no owner.
At that point, she officially decided to move.
Meanwhile, Su Yue went to Huiyou Store and spoke with Aunt Wang.
“Hah, no need to pay. Liuning can help clean the place up.”
“No, Aunt Wang.”
Su Yue shook her head.
“How about fifty credits a day? Plus three meals.”
The normal rate for laborers was fifty credits per day with lunch included.
Su Yue planned for Song Zhizhi to pay the wages while she herself provided all meals.
If Song Zhizhi didn’t have enough savings, Su Yue was willing to cover that too.
After all, if the family moved nearby, she’d eventually be entrusting Su Xing to them.
Aunt Wang initially refused.
After a long discussion, she finally accepted.
And so the move was settled.
Construction began the very next morning.
Song Zhizhi no longer had time to go scavenging.
Su Yue still needed to stockpile food, so she continued going out alone.
Whenever she found useful materials, she sent the location to Song Zhizhi.
Song Zhizhi would then arrive with her brother to haul everything home.
Although her brother was mentally disabled, he was kind-hearted and incredibly strong.
For manual labor, he was invaluable.
Within only a week, the new house was finished.
The materials were old and recycled, but the home was far better than the one they had left behind.
Meanwhile, Su Yue took advantage of the situation and secretly harvested every edible leaf from the giant mulberry tree on South Cliff Mountain.
In total, she collected sixty-four leaves.
Combined with the six she already had, that made seventy leaves.
Once dried, they would provide enough soup for seventy meals during winter.
On the very first day after moving in, Song Zhizhi insisted that Su Yue and Su Xing come over for dinner.
“Absolutely no excuses,” she declared.
“You helped us get this house. Tonight, you’re eating with us!”