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墨書 Inktalez
A few days later, the Vice Village Chief was elected—Zhang Hong, who was regarded by the villagers as the most straightforward and helpful good person.
During this time, the village had many events, lively and bustling, a stark contrast to the past when families rarely interacted. Now, it felt as if they were truly one big family. However, this seemed to have nothing to do with the Li Family and those within their circle.
Li Yan was indifferent to this situation. His family practiced the mental techniques from the Jade Bottle in their space, and over time, they worried that others might notice. After all, regardless of whether this cultivation method would lead to immortality, living a longer life was definitely possible. The problem itself wasn't an issue; the issue lay with human hearts.
Li Yan and Li Ming often went to Zhao Di's place; children from poor families mature early. Li Yan would take the children along with Liu Tao and others to search for supplies. Even on snowy days when walking was difficult, none of the children complained about hardship. The outside world was becoming increasingly unsafe; they often saw people wrapped in indistinct clothing with greedy eyes searching for something. The elderly and children were becoming fewer; at least in the past half month, Li Yan hadn't seen a single elder or child. Women were also rarely seen, only occasionally spotted among groups of seven or eight men. This situation was very concerning; men, women, children, and elders formed a complete social system—missing any one of them would be problematic. Now that survival was difficult, men had risen to the top of humanity's survival principles.
Sometimes they could find a few pots in ruins, which delighted the children for a long time since these were already non-renewable resources. Occasionally, village men would also come out to search for supplies; the Li Family had no objections since staying in the village wasn't beneficial.
Whenever the snow stopped halfway, they would go out once; outside was becoming increasingly unstable. Not only humans but animals also began to fight fiercely for survival. Faced with former pets, those starving people could still struggle desperately, but against packs of wolves and ferocious beasts, they could only flee. Firearms had become one of the most valuable items at that moment; Bright Village didn't have to worry about this aspect as weapons were stored centrally with dedicated personnel guarding them.
Some villages began digging traps around their areas, covered with snow so they were hardly noticeable. Surprisingly, this method proved effective; it was said that a village in the east had caught three wild boars in one go, making others envious. Everyone started to imitate them and managed to gather some harvests.
As spring approached the following year without any warmth in sight, villagers began to worry. Li Yan's earlier suggestion resurfaced: if only there were Hybrid Rice Varieties available. But who would go? The villagers sought Zhang Hong for discussion, and the outcome was...
Zhang Hong and Zhang Mo came to find Li Yan with the same intention—they hoped that Li Yan along with Zhou Miao or Liu Tao could make a trip to the Safe Zone for grain seeds. Regardless of whether they could obtain anything, it would be good just to take a look.
Seeing Zhang Hong's proud face made Yu Tian feel uneasy inside. Their request seemed so reasonable... he didn't even know how to respond.
"Why don't you all go instead? I have something else to attend to."
Zhang Hong and his group never expected Li Yan would refuse outright; previously he had declined because things hadn't reached a desperate point yet, but now it was different. "Village Chief, you may not know that several households are running out of food; everyone is truly struggling to survive."
"You might not be aware of the situation over there; hybrid grains are meant to attract people." Moreover, there were capable individuals involved. "That Safe Zone plans to establish a large base; these hybrid grains are also a means of attraction as they intend to rebuild a government and military." Li Yan did not intend to hide these matters; even if he did conceal them for a while longer, eventually these villagers would find out—the exchange of information between villages sometimes happened faster than one might think.
"Really?" Zhang Mo's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Ever since his father passed away, Zhang Hong had emerged. If his father hadn't died, the position of Vice Village Chief would never have gone to Zhang Hong. If what Li Yan said was true, then it was an opportunity; after all, being stuck in this small village all day would eventually lead to starvation or becoming someone who couldn't accomplish anything.
Zhang Hong's situation was complicated; he was satisfied with his current status. However, the food in the village was dwindling day by day. His wife had told him just yesterday that their food supply would last at most six months, and they were already being frugal. Yet, the situation remained dire. The main concern was that if he went to the Safe Zone, he would be nothing. The leadership life of recent days left him feeling conflicted about whether to go or stay.
"I think this will be announced soon; I have no reason to lie to you," Li Yan said, as he had no intention of leaving. Although Bright Village was small, it might meet his needs. As for the others, those who wanted to leave could do so without any obligation.
Sure enough, after about two months, news about the Dawn Base spread like wildfire. The village was in turmoil while Li Yan's family continued their daily lives. With the New Year approaching, Li Yan had not been feeling well lately and often seemed dazed. Zhou Miao had also been staying indoors more often; everyone understood the old man's condition—at his age, it was inevitable.
Li Yan took Li Xiaoming out for a trip. Dumpling and Wonton, their two sled dogs, were quite useful; they were finally able to go out and were exceptionally excited, pulling the cart for over ten kilometers in one go. They eventually found Ash Hall next to the nearest cemetery. Inside, there wasn't a single person; lonely tombstones were buried under thick snow, neglected by all. The display case in Ash Hall had long been broken and was a mess inside; many urns were damaged. In the storeroom, Li Yan and Li Ming found several intact urns and stored them in their space. On the top shelf was a large yellow box; when Li Ming opened it layer by layer, he uncovered three boxes in total. Finally, they saw a jade urn carved in the shape of a dragon, its color bright and glossy—a truly valuable item.
On their way back, Zhou Miao sat at the door looking haggard. The old man had been dozing off frequently these past few days and occasionally reminisced about his younger days. That evening, Yu Tian specially prepared a pot of pickled fish, shrimp stir-fried with corn, West Lake beef soup, spicy stir-fried shrimp, tender chicken feet, sautéed vegetables with mushrooms, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and various other dishes—around sixteen or seventeen in total. Liu Tao and Yin Le came over too, along with Tang Zhaodi and her mother Dr. Qiu. Once the door was closed, the room filled with warmth as everyone accompanied the old man for a little drink; they finished six bottles of fifty-year-old Maotai before he fell asleep on the floor.
The next evening, the old man passed away peacefully and calmly; before leaving this world, he simply said: "Brothers should support and care for each other."
The old man's funeral was simple; after placing his ashes in the Dragon-Form Urn, they stored it directly in their space. Zhou Miao said nothing; everything remained unspoken. The ashes outside in the cemetery were merely lime to serve as a placeholder for everyone else. The food was prepared by Yu Tian: tofu stewed with wood ear mushrooms with some meat added inside; they had slaughtered a few rabbits from home—these were already rare delicacies. Everyone kept saying how blessed the old man was and that he was a good person destined for immortality.
As New Year approached, families began bustling about again. Li Yan's sugarcane in their space had matured; they made some sugar intending to prepare peanut candy but worried that the smell would be too strong for others to detect. Ultimately, they cooked it in their space instead; fortunately, they had stored plenty of gas earlier—now was its time to be used.
Later on, when Li Yan went out again and returned with some sugar claiming it came from another village's production using items he found in ruins for trade. Everyone believed him and remarked that people outside still had ways to manage things; they shared the sugar among themselves mostly for the children. Tang Zhaodi came over on behalf of the orphanage to collect a box; this child was becoming increasingly sensible and sometimes appeared almost too mature for her eleven years.
Since it was New Year’s Eve, everyone tried their best to prepare richer dishes despite some annoying individuals around. For instance, there was Dali from the east who didn’t work but spent his days mooching off others’ meals whenever he saw someone cooking—previously people could overlook it but not anymore now that times were tough. A sharp-tongued woman pointed at him angrily while he laughed it off and even lewdly sniffed around them; everyone could only avoid him.
Today he had already visited eight houses without tasting anything before finally circling back to Li Yan's home. As soon as Li Ming opened the door, Dali rushed inside exclaiming: "Village Chief! It smells so good! What delicious food are you hiding at home?"
"Oh! A rare guest! I heard you've become famous throughout the village," Zhou Miao remarked while holding an oil-fried pancake without eating it herself. Although their food supplies were still ample and as their training progressed their need for food became less intense, everyone chose to forget this fact and continued preparing nutritious meals without waste.
Dali's eyes fixated on that pancake as he swallowed hard repeatedly—it was made from white flour! Just how much oil did this golden pancake require? "I knew our Village Chief has skills! Everywhere else I've been today people are eating coarse grain porridge that tastes terrible—I wouldn't even bother looking at it! Only your family has such good conditions! You can't possibly finish that pancake—oh no! Wasting food will bring divine retribution! Let me help you eat it since I haven't had breakfast yet!"
"I'm sorry, Yutian hasn't eaten yet. This is specially set aside for him to eat cold," Zhou Miao said, idly teasing the puppy.
"Didn't Brother Tian Tian just eat?" Li Xiaoming was still the honest good child.
If it were someone else, they would have felt awkward by now, but Da Li seemed to act as if he hadn't heard anything. "Eating is good, eating is good. It's cold, and my stomach has been hurting for several days. The village chief is kind-hearted, knowing that I, Da Li, haven't eaten and specially saved this for me. I need to promote the village chief well; he's a good person." As he spoke, his hand reached out, intending to snatch it away.
Zhou Miao thought this person couldn't be easily teased; it was too unfulfilling. He quickly passed by Da Li and tossed the pancake to Li Yan. Li Yan raised an eyebrow; this guy seemed to be getting restless. Then he naturally took a bite of the pancake and ate a few more bites.
Da Li looked at the shiny empty plate and angrily ran into the kitchen. "The village chief wouldn't let the villagers starve, right? Hiding so much delicious food; even if I'm being sent off, I should at least get a pancake."
At first, Li Yan didn't take it seriously, but now his expression darkened. Li Xiaoming had been watching closely; he was starting to understand things better lately, especially since he had recently broken through the Qi Refining stage and formed his inner elixir. He felt that his body was completely different from before. He could even see the meridian pathways of himself and his older brother, which made Yu Tian quite envious.
At this moment, seeing Da Li burst into the kitchen made the child quite happy; it was finally time to show off his skills. Zhang Da Li hadn't realized what was happening when he was suddenly lifted off the ground and dropped painfully onto the floor. "Are you leaving? If not, I can help you by kicking you back home," Li Xiaoming asked very seriously.
Although Classmate Xiaoming's intention was indeed to kick him back home completely, in Da Li's eyes, it was a blatant threat. He had grown accustomed to being lazy and never going out to work; the only thing of value was choosing to stay in Bright Village. In Bright Village, when people saw him, half of them instinctively kept their distance because he was a rogue. "Li Yan, don't think you're so impressive just because you're the village chief. I don't even look up to you; what are you even worth? Bah!"
Li Ming's Little Friend was confused about why this person was cursing. He was trying to help him out of kindness, but instead of gratitude, he insulted his older brother. Was this what they called a bad person? So...
"Ah, my bones are broken! It hurts so much! Help! This Li Yan has bad intentions..." Half an hour later, someone finally ran out of energy and lowered their voice significantly. "Hmph, you think being village chief means you can be secure? I spit! After New Year's Eve, whether you can survive is still a question."
Da Li's last words weren't loud, but everyone in the room heard him cursing. So they all caught his final few sentences; Yu Tian's expression changed—what did that mean?
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