Nutrient capsules, nutrient biscuits, and nutrient canned food were easy to carry and could be stored for a long time, making them excellent supplies for surviving the winter.
Su Yue thought for a moment.
The first wave of beast tides was coming soon, and during winter, desperate, starving people would inevitably turn to robbery.
She and Xingxing needed to improve their health and nutrition as soon as possible.
“Auntie, how much do nutrient capsules, nutrient biscuits, and nutrient canned food cost?”
Wang Churan pointed to a shelf on the right.
“At the moment, this is all we have left. The capsules only come in one flavor. Near-expiration ones are ten credits each, and fresh ones are twenty.”
“As for biscuits, we only have sesame and red date flavors. Near-expiration biscuits are thirty credits each, while fresh ones are fifty.”
“And we only have pork-flavored canned food left. Near-expiration cans are fifty credits, and fresh ones are a hundred. The near-expiration ones still have about a week left before they expire, so they’re perfectly fine.”
Su Yue decided to buy some near-expiration products to eat now and stock up on fresh ones for winter. Once winter arrived, prices would rise anyway.
“Auntie, I’d like ten near-expiration capsules, one hundred fresh capsules, five near-expiration sesame biscuits, five near-expiration red date biscuits, and ten fresh biscuits of each flavor.”
Besides food, she also wanted insulation panels and winter clothing.
When winter came, temperatures would plunge to minus thirty or even minus forty degrees Celsius. A quilt stuffed with reed fluff might keep them from freezing to death, but they would still get sick.
In previous winters, Aunt Wang had always taken the two sisters in for a while.
After asking about the price, Su Yue learned it would take around fifty insulation panels to line the house, costing two thousand credits. Installation would cost another hundred.
“How about this? I’ll have Liuning install them for you. Saving a hundred credits is still saving money.”
“Hehe, thank you so much, Aunt Wang!”
Su Yue happily accepted the offer.
They bought secondhand winter clothes made from mixed fabrics and reused cotton stuffing—two sets each, costing four hundred credits in total.
Altogether, the purchases came to 5,800 credits, leaving her with 1,279.5 credits.
The capsules and biscuits didn’t take up much space and fit easily into a cloth bag without attracting attention. The clothes and insulation panels would be delivered the next day by Wang Liuning.
The sisters returned home and excitedly began preparing dinner.
It would be the first proper meal they had eaten in a long time.
Su Yue unwrapped a red date nutrient biscuit.
Its texture resembled a compressed ration bar and was very filling.
However, because the weather had grown colder, she decided to crumble it into the remaining plantain leaves and cook it into porridge.
The sisters had been starving for so long that their stomachs were in poor condition.
Su Yue’s healing ability had gradually cured the hidden ailments in her own body, but Su Xing still suffered from stomach pains from time to time.
Her healing ability was only level one and couldn’t yet heal others.
For now, nourishing porridge was the best option.
After locking the door and closing the windows, Su Yue began boiling water.
Tiny pieces of red date biscuit floated among the chopped leaves, releasing a sweet aroma that mixed with the fresh scent of the plantain leaves.
The fragrance made Su Xing drool.
She crouched beside the stove, staring intently at the pot with her bright black eyes.
Whenever a crumb fell, she quickly picked it up and savored it carefully.
“Big Sister~ It’s so sweet and smells so good. I’m so happy!”
A pang of sadness struck Su Yue.
Su Xing was only six years old. Despite enduring hunger and cold, she never complained.
She was so sensible that it broke Su Yue’s heart.
“Be good. You’ll have some delicious porridge soon.”
Before long, the biscuits and leaves transformed into a thick, steaming pot of porridge.
It filled exactly two large bowls.
Unable to wait for it to cool, Su Xing eagerly scooped up a spoonful and stuffed it into her mouth.
Instantly, tears streamed down her face.
Her lips trembled, and she burst into sobs.
“Did you burn your mouth? Silly girl, you have to blow on it first. Here, drink some cool water.”
Su Yue thought the porridge had simply been too hot.
Instead, the little girl sniffled and said between sobs,
“I want… Mom and Dad… to taste such delicious porridge too…”
Su Yue immediately wrapped her arms around her.
“Mom and Dad get to eat porridge this delicious every day in heaven.”
It took quite a while to comfort her.
This was only the second time Su Yue had seen Su Xing cry so hard.
The first time had been when Su Yue had seemingly come back from the dead.
By the time Su Xing stopped crying, the porridge had cooled to the perfect temperature.
The two sisters happily slurped it down.
Perhaps drawn by the scent of the plantain leaves, the three little chicks woke up as well.
Because they were tied up with vines, they could only wriggle around helplessly on the floor.
Wang Liuning would arrive the next day to install the insulation panels.
Before he came, Su Yue planned to paralyze the chicks again and hide them away.
Mutated reed chickens were incredibly hardy, so she wasn’t worried about them dying.
Su Yue gathered a handful of weeds from the backyard and confirmed with her detector that they had high radiation levels before untying the vines around the chicks’ beaks and feeding them.
After watching them finish eating, she quickly tied their beaks shut again.
It would be dangerous if the neighbors heard clucking sounds.
And with winter approaching, she could no longer leave Su Xing home alone.
Someone needed to stay at the house.
But the Su family had no relatives, and among their parents’ old friends, only Aunt Wang remained.
Su Yue sighed.
Should I find myself a child husband to stay home and babysit?
After dinner, night fully descended.
With full stomachs and food reserves at last, the two sisters slept more soundly than ever.
Early the next morning, Su Yue tied up the little chicks again, used her toxin to knock them unconscious, and hid them in a corner of the backyard among a pile of scrap wood.
The chicks: Seriously? Who could out-hide you?
Then she began preparing breakfast.
She chopped some shepherd’s purse leaves, made vegetable soup, and added one near-expiration nutrient capsule.
After breakfast, Wang Liuning arrived with a handcart full of supplies covered by a pile of firewood.
Every year, Wang Churan had him deliver firewood to the sisters, so the neighbors thought nothing of it.
What they didn’t know was that hidden beneath the wood were insulation panels and winter clothes.
After opening the backyard gate and letting Wang Liuning inside, Su Yue locked the gate behind them and helped unload the supplies.
“Brother Liuning, thank you so much! You have to stay for lunch!”
Although Wang Liuning had grown up in a merchant family, Aunt Wang’s upbringing had made him cheerful and straightforward.
Years of physical labor had also given him strong, muscular arms.
At her invitation, he blushed and smiled awkwardly.
“No need. You and Xingxing should eat more. If my mom finds out I stayed for lunch, she’ll definitely scold me.”
Then, as though avoiding Su Yue, he quickly turned away and buried himself in his work.
Wang Liuning worked efficiently and had the insulation panels installed by noon.
Meanwhile, Su Yue prepared lunch.
She used the remaining shepherd’s purse leaves and two sesame biscuits to make a large pot of sesame shepherd’s purse porridge.
In the refugee district, this counted as an exceptionally good meal.
No matter how much she insisted, Wang Liuning refused to stay.
As soon as he finished working, he pushed his handcart away and disappeared.
“Wow, Big Sister, that’s so much food!”
It really was a huge pot.
They would have enough left over for dinner.
After eating their fill, Su Yue began preparing the ground berry.
She mixed it with rock sugar to make jam, which would store well through the winter.
As for Su Xing, Su Yue sent her into the backyard to run laps for exercise.
In this cruel world, a weak body could be fatal.
The little girl ran a lap, rested, then ran again.
After only a few rounds, she hurried back, carrying a wriggling chick bundled up like a rice dumpling.
“Big Sister, we forgot to bring the little chicks back inside!”