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墨書 Inktalez
The weather is getting colder. As September arrives, it has been snowing heavily for a week, and the villagers are doing their best to clear the snow from the village. However, despite their efforts, the snow outside has already accumulated to a foot deep, leaving everyone feeling helpless.
"This is Heavenly Father not letting people live," were Zhang Sanye's last words before he passed away. This statement nearly drove Zhang Mo to despair. Zhang Sanye was the spiritual support of the family, and now that he was gone, it felt as if the house had collapsed.
In the past, when a respected elder like him passed away, there would have been grand funeral arrangements. But now, that was impossible; not only was food scarce, but even a complete set of mourning clothes was hard to come by. Nevertheless, the villagers still came together to help. Some families even had fire paper, which is traditionally burned for the deceased. Although it wasn't much, it was the thought that counted. Surprisingly, Tian Guifang helped by making a clean set of funeral clothes from old fabric. To everyone's astonishment, her sewing skills were excellent—so good that it seemed as if they had been made by a sewing machine.
Zhang Mo bowed to her and simply said, "If you need anything in the future, feel free to come to me. I owe you one."
Li Yan brought over some chickens, while Yu Tian made some tofu from soybeans and prepared a simple tofu soup for everyone to drink. Zhang Sanye's body was kept at home for three days before everyone agreed to designate a piece of land in the corner of the southern wall as a public cemetery. Everyone knew that keeping the body outside would not be feasible; this was the best solution.
Zhang Sanye was buried with respect. Zhang Mo kept bowing and said nothing. The sight saddened everyone; life was hard enough as it was. Some people recalled their own loved ones—children who had gone off to university and never returned—and soon cries echoed throughout the village, causing even those outside to wonder if something had happened in Bright Village.
Li Yan consulted Liu Tao about whether they should go to another base to get some grain seeds. Given the current weather conditions, no one knew when it would end. They had heard on the radio that some bases had developed rice seeds that could withstand severe cold. Although these seeds wouldn't yield as much as those that produced over a thousand pounds in the past, they were said to be able to produce around five hundred pounds per mu, which was still quite good.
Everyone was thrilled at the prospect of such seeds. When Li Yan and Zhou Miao mentioned wanting to check them out, they received enthusiastic praise from everyone present. However, when Li Yan said they should take people along, an unexpected silence fell over the crowd.
Liu Tao's group was willing to go, but the villagers hesitated; venturing outside felt too dangerous with the ongoing wolf pack problem unresolved.
"Well then, Li Yan," someone spoke up, "we all know you're capable. Remember how you dealt with those refugees last time? My goodness! I still don't know how you managed it; they just went down like that! And Zhou Miao and Yu Tian are both impressive too. How about this: you guys go check it out first? If it works out, we can follow later; this way we can avoid trouble."
"Yeah, exactly! We don't know anything about this stuff anyway, and we wouldn't want to hold you back," another added. "Auntie Zhang, what do you think?"
"Right! My son just caught a cold yesterday and scared me half to death with his fever; I couldn't sleep all night! My Wife only has this one son—if something happens... oh dear, how am I supposed to live?"
Everyone looked at each other, and even Zhang Hong was pulled by his wife and remained silent in the end. Yu Tian sighed and said, "Everyone should think about this. We will vote on it in three days."
"Why don't they agree?" Yin Le couldn't understand. Given the current situation, it would be better to fight for a glimmer of hope rather than live in despair every day.
"Good child," Liu Tao said, patting Yin Le's slightly long hair, secretly pleased. His wife truly had good character.
Indeed, how could those people not understand such a simple and clear principle? It wasn't that they didn't understand; they were just afraid. The people here were different from those refugees; they had never experienced the desperation of starving to death. Their greatest hardship was the loss of loved ones, the earthquake, and the fear within their hearts. Later, with the protection of Li Yan and Zhou Miao, they became comfortable, and this comfort bred laziness. They didn't want to move; they were afraid to move.
With those thick walls and combat power, plus guns, they felt secure. Eating a little less was no problem; at least they were still alive.
Li Yan couldn't say whether he was disappointed or not; he could understand them. Just like himself, if there were no space and no cultivation secrets, he wouldn't have risen to prominence nor become the village chief because he still had Xiao Ming. If something happened to him, Xiao Ming would be the most direct victim.
The voting three days later was disappointing; only Liu Tao and a few others along with Li Yan participated. Zhang Yi spoke the truth: "We can go, but what about my son? Li Ge, you saved me and my son. If you want to go, please take my son with you. Even if we die, I want to be with him."
Li Yan patted his shoulder to reassure him that everything would be fine, but his heart still felt heavy. After all, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and such would eventually run out. The trees outside were stripped bare; from a distance, everything looked white and desolate, leaving one feeling empty inside.
The space was a mental comfort for the Li family. Looking at the white rice and golden rice ears, there was still hope deep down in their hearts. Li Ming could sense that his older brother was in a bad mood; he had been very well-behaved for several days and finally took out his treasured Teddy Bear Cookies for him: "Ge, I'm still here."
Yes, there's still you, my dear.
Early in the morning when the sky was dimly lit, there were sounds of cars outside. Someone said that there were people coming to buy vegetables. Buy vegetables? What does that mean? This term seemed like something heard a long time ago.
A dozen people got off the truck, each one tall and strong, clearly not ordinary individuals. Li Yan observed carefully; these people were likely experts, walking almost silently. Especially the petite girl who effortlessly carried a thick steel plate down from the truck, dazzling a crowd with her impressive strength.
"One pound of grain for ten pounds of cabbage, two pounds of grain for one pound of meat..."
"That's so expensive! Grain is precious these days; you must be joking with those prices..."
After haggling for quite a while, they finally settled on one pound of grain for twelve pounds of cabbage and one and a half pounds of grain for one pound of meat. Of course, other grains could substitute for the grain; everyone had been living on sweet potatoes and fried soybeans all winter, their faces pale and sallow. This exchange was significant, especially for families with children who were willing to trade some of their precious pork.
"We also have seasonings; do you want any?" The girl had a round, cheerful face that made her seem quite approachable.
"Yes, do you have salt?" Everything else was secondary; people couldn't live without salt.
"We have sea salt, which we specially brought from the seaside."
"The seaside? That salt isn't that great; it should be cheaper."
"I tell you, ma'am, you must not know the current market situation. Did you know that the salt from seawater can no longer be consumed directly? It's all because of those little Japanese devils who have discharged a large amount of chemicals, polluting not just the seawater but also making the fish inedible. The worst part is that the salt has to go through specialized machines to be processed. Salt is now in short supply all over the country; what I have here was obtained at great risk. To be honest with you, those machines that filter seawater are now controlled by the government. In the future, salt will only become scarcer."
Another person trying to pull a fast one. Li Yan held onto his small item and looked at other goods without exposing the girl. They were risking their lives to do this business; there was no need to cut off someone’s livelihood. Besides, she hadn’t stolen anything or threatened anyone; it was voluntary.
The pollution from Little Japan had been happening for quite some time now, and even if they claimed it needed machine filtration, the government would still release some; otherwise, how could there be salt for sale?
Salt was still very expensive—five pounds of grain could only be exchanged for one pound of salt. People grumbled but eventually bought some. The girl seemed quite pleased with her haul today; seeing this wall meant that the people inside were likely wealthy. It turned out they were doing well after all. Why? Well, if they weren’t doing well, how could they afford to trade food for goods when they barely had enough themselves?
After everyone left, the girl walked over to Li Yan and the others, smiling, "Thank you."
"What for?" Li Yan asked knowingly.
The girl wasn't angry and continued to smile, "Thank you for showing mercy. Of course, we're not pushovers either." Throughout their journey, there had been many attempts to rob their vehicle; it wasn't just a few hundred people who had tried. They had formed a team through their experiences.
"You are straightforward; I have nothing to do," Li Yan nodded and asked, "How's the situation outside?"
"Not good, very bad. Since the apocalypse, I've seen the population decrease by at least three-fifths. Especially this year, we've visited several Safe Zones, and they can only maintain basic sustenance. It's about the same everywhere; some places are slightly better, but not by much. As we traveled, those cities have long turned into ghost towns; in some smaller cities, you can't even see a shadow of a person."
"I heard that W Safe Zone plans to establish a large base?"
"You know about that too?" The girl genuinely laughed this time, her tone filled with admiration. "It seems like you all have been living quite well; I'm almost tempted to join you. Yes, that's true; they've developed cold-resistant rice seeds, and I've heard the experimental results are quite good. They want to use this as a starting point to expand. Their leader is a very ambitious person, not just a figurehead. But looking at your village, you probably don't need it, especially you guys—can you handle being managed by others?" She glanced at the child beside her, whose delicate face was even more vibrant and rosy than her own!
Li Yan's eyes flickered as he smiled without saying anything. If that were the case, then the rice seeds would definitely not be leaked. This was W Safe Zone's treasure to attract talented individuals.
As the girl was leaving, she said, "My name is Qin Lai; I hope we can meet again."
"Hope so."
What a beautiful wish!
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