Chapter 384: Binding the Birth System to Become a Life Winner Chapter 385: Wasteland Gathering Daily (13)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

"Cherries are fruit, tasty but not filling," not as important as sweet potatoes.

Picking a big, red cherry from those they brought and feeding it to Shen Yao, Cheng Qi explained that the Patrol Team didn't care about the Cherry Garden as much as imagined.

"More and more people are going to the Sweet Potato Garden, and many on the Patrol Team have been taking leave to go out lately."

"There's also a small Sweet Melon Field around the Cherry Garden; let's harvest them all together."

Afraid Shen Yao would feel awkward, Cheng Qi explained that the Sweet Melon Field was his own discovery, originally counted as a personal resource point, and had nothing to do with the Patrol Team.

Shen Yao:...

"You Patrol Team members don't get many chances to go out, so how do you know about these places?"

"Isn't the Patrol Team's duty mainly responsible for safety inside the base? How do they know more about what's outside than someone like me who goes out every day?"

Cheng Qi grabbed Shen Yao's wrist and led her inside, placing the basket of cherries by the table.

"The Patrol Team has maps. Although there have been mutations for many years and the maps are somewhat inaccurate, the general locations are all there. If the Patrol Team searches according to the map's positions, it can't be said to be a hundred percent accurate, but it's eighty or ninety percent."

Hearing this, Shen Yao puffed her cheeks, "Listening to this makes me want to join the Patrol Team."

Compared to that, the Patrol Team has good benefits, good treatment, and not much danger; it's truly some people's dream job.

"Those recruited are all Gene Awakeners," Cheng Qi stroked Shen Yao's hair and suggested seriously, "Better not. Gene Awakening isn't a good thing."

At least Gene Awakeners die easily. Some people have to awaken, while others just have bad luck and bump into it.

Cheng Qi's genes had been unstable since childhood, and he naturally awakened after growing up. For this, Cheng Ma had cried who knows how many times behind his back. If Cheng Qi hadn't gone out as often as Cheng Ba and Cheng Dage, giving Cheng Ma a bit of comfort, who knows if their family would already be in an uproar.

A full basket of cherries—the two of them couldn't finish them. Fortunately, there was a refrigerator at home, and putting them in could keep them for a while.

Cheng Qi felt a bit embarrassed. At first glance, the home seemed well-stocked, but actually there were none of the snacks girls would like.

Scratching his head, Cheng Qi promised that when he had time he'd go to the Exchange Center to buy some. Recently, the Patrol Team still needed him on duty, he hadn't been able to return to the B District home, and had no chance to add things to the New Home.

Shen Yao helplessly patted Cheng Qi's shoulder. Did she look like a glutton?

"Recently busy with gathering, the storage room will be used," after they marry they'll move out, and without enough grain they'll go hungry.

"I've already greeted the people at the Exchange Center; staple food will be supplied in a few days." He spent connections and money to order a large batch, guaranteeing the two of them could eat for a year and a half.

"My family's harvest this year is not small." The implication: when she has time, she'll rob her own family.

Cheng Qi:...

Cheng Qi laughed out loud, that handsome face looking even easier to bully.

Shen Yao hummed and reached out to rub him, "You can't relax either." Helping each other without affecting one's own family's life is what relatives are for.

Shen Yao had helped the Shen Family earn quite a bit during this period, so taking some things—let alone Shen Jiancheng and Shen Yu, two careless men, even her biological mother Song Ling felt she should take more. Too little would make it seem their Shen Family didn't value it enough, and they had to fill the New Home.

Shen Yao:...

"Mom, just Cheng Qi and the two of us are enough to eat." Taking too much is purely wasting supplies; even with a refrigerator, you can't hoard too much food.

The weather in the Mutated World is truly strange. Even if meat is dried to the extreme, its shelf life is only half a year; past that time it spoils and affects the body.

Shen Yao and Cheng Qi, no matter how much they can eat, can't compare to the populations of the Shen Family and Cheng Family. Just three to five months is enough to handle the Hot Rainy Season.

The cherries in the Cherry Garden were picked clean by the family of four in half a day.

In the afternoon, Shen Yao took Shen Yu to find sweet melons, while Shen Jiancheng and Song Ling went to collect the remaining wood ears.

The sweet melons and wood ears were in two different directions, left and right of the Cherry Garden.

Shen Yu and Shen Yao were in one group, weaving through dense vines and wild grass, taking one step and looking three steps before barely finding the Sweet Melon Field Cheng Qi mentioned.

Mm

How to put it? It's unexpectedly small in area.

Only a few sweet melon seedlings, and not many melons grew on them—averaging five or six per seedling.

Before mutation, sweet melons were adult palm-sized; after mutation, they were as big as a normal cantaloupe.

The rind is pale yellow, and tapping it with a finger makes a crisp sound.

Shen Yu couldn't wait to start testing, but unfortunately the sweet melon yield rate was really low. In this patch, there were at least twenty or thirty melons, but only five were left to put in the back basket.

"Not bad. One can last at least a meal." Selling them would get several hundred points.

Putting five sweet melons into the back basket at once already filled more than half the space. Shen Yu reached out and lifted it—not feeling heavy, but instead wanting to look around the surroundings to see if there were any that slipped through the net.

Shen Yao persuaded Shen Yu to give up. If this Sweet Melon Field were large enough, it couldn't be that only Cheng Qi knew about it; the Patrol Team wouldn't let this place go.

"Go find Dad and Mom; picking some wood ears is fine too," as long as the back basket is filled.

The wish of gatherers is just so simple and unpretentious—no matter how much they seek, they don't actually want to harvest more.

The brother and sister walked back, and all the way the wind was calm and the waves were still, without a single ripple.

Shen Yao felt it was amazing. In novels, the protagonist always encounters accidents while gathering, but here it seemed very safe.

Is this the charm of Passerby A? The World Consciousness is too lazy to target her? Likewise, it wouldn't give her any Golden Finger. Who knows, maybe in other bases the male and female leads are struggling to survive, it's just that Dawn Base doesn't have such a person.

"Here, here."

Shen Yu's voice interrupted Shen Yao's train of thought at the right time. The two climbed up the small path and saw Shen Jiancheng and Song Ling panting with exhaustion, their hands still not forgetting to put tested wood ears into the hemp sack.

The yield rate of wood ears in this place was extremely high; basically all of them could be eaten.

Song Ling and Shen Jiancheng were busy until their eyes were red, with no time to greet Shen Yu and Shen Yao.

Shen Yao also saw mushrooms under the dead wood; after testing they were edible, so she collected them all.

Pale yellow clusters of mushrooms, small and cute, and importantly, the taste was quite good.

Following where the mushrooms appeared, further ahead was a riverbank with water flowing through it; there was no river fish inside, but Shen Yao discovered several tall-looking medicinal herbs.

Wow

Carefully digging out the herbs with a sickle, without damaging the roots and stems, Shen Yao spent quite a long time; she didn't even notice Song Ling coming over.

"This herb, the Exchange Center buys it at a high price all year round," Song Ling touched it, unable to stay idle and went to look elsewhere.

"Not selling, hemostatic medicine, ground into powder for Dad and Brother and them to keep."

Shen Yao carefully put it into her back basket, afraid others would take it away, and tied it up with rope as well.

"Let's look ahead; there seems to be a wood ear forest up front."

The wood ears before their eyes had already been picked clean by them; taking advantage of the remaining hour, they had to hurry.

The four of them moved forward, encountering some small problems more or less along the way. But with Shen Jiancheng and Shen Yu, two men, no small problem would affect the gathering work.

The hemp sacks brought were filled up; Shen Jiancheng and Shen Yu could truly be said to be carrying big and small bundles, with no idle spot on their bodies.

Shen Yao and Song Ling carried back baskets on their backs, dragging lighter wood ears in their hands, muttering that they had to come again tomorrow; this was a miraculous place comparable to the Sweet Potato Garden. They had given up the Sweet Potato Garden, and the wood ears here had to be cheap for their own family no matter what.

"Set off early tomorrow; you've worked hard these past few days, I'll make stewed meat for you."

Song Ling took out the meat reward everyone loved most—not those dry jerky without moisture, but meat frozen in the refrigerator; although not exactly fresh, it still had the taste of meat.

Shen Yu immediately said he could eat a whole pot, hoping Song Ling would be generous with her hand, otherwise there wouldn't be enough.

Song Ling:...

"Courting death, eating eating eating every day, why haven't you succeeded in matchmaking yet? Your younger sister is about to get married, but what about you?" Opening and closing her mouth was all about eating, simply about to make her die of anger.

Song Ling humphed, like a suddenly violent tiger, scaring the remaining three of the Shen Family into trembling together, not daring to say a word.

The four returned to the boarding spot; people had already gathered around.

The big guys had a good harvest, but only the four of them seemed the most exaggerated.

Shen Jiancheng and Shen Yu stood at the very front of the line, looking fierce and formidable on their faces, successfully isolating a batch of ill-intentioned gazes.

Shen Yao and Song Ling felt that their plan to bring the men out was correct; otherwise, the two of them would surely encounter some people's robbery behavior.

Compared to painstakingly gathering by themselves, directly robbing others' labor results was much easier; besides, people who did such things were often both formidable and unscrupulous. The victims of robbery had no good recourse and could only swallow their grievances.

Speaking of which, it was still rather heartbreaking; if there were a way, who would want others to pick the peaches?

The waiting time wasn't long; they only heard a flute sound from afar, and a dilapidated earth-yellow bus appeared before everyone's eyes.

The base's buses were all old vehicles eliminated and remodeled in earlier years; new cars would definitely go to the Patrol Team first, including Mercenary Squads who also made do with old cars, sometimes not even having old cars.

For this, Shen Yu had complained about the environment of their outings; not only dangerous but also tiring on the legs, shouting that a round trip would make their legs walk into a circle.

"Hurry up and get on, hurry up and get on..."

The bus door opened automatically, and two Patrol Team members got off to maintain order.

The people waiting for the bus rushed up with their things in a swarm, crossing the crowd; Shen Yao's group had too many things and could only put some on top of the bus compartment.

"Two points, come pick them up at the base yourselves," the Patrol Team collected the temporary placement fee and told them to hurry up and get on the bus to wait.

Shen Jiancheng grinned, nodded, and pulled Song Ling toward the very back; Shen Yao and Shen Yu were together and didn't need Shen Jiancheng's extra care.

"Ouch, don't squeeze, don't squeeze, what I'm carrying here are all fruits."

"Push me and shout what? So much empty space, do you have to crowd together?"

"..."

Inside the bus compartment it was narrow and crowded; everyone was dissatisfied with having people beside them, wishing to clear the surroundings leaving only themselves.

Shen Jiancheng was tall and sturdy; standing there was like blocking a city wall; cursing and swearing, anyone who saw him would shut their mouths; his intimidation skill was first-rate strong.

Relying on his very intimidating appearance, Shen Jiancheng occupied four seats.

Song Ling and Shen Yao sat inside; outside were Shen Jiancheng and Shen Yu respectively; the back baskets were placed under their feet and guarded by them personally.

An endless stream of people began to board; the originally somewhat spacious environment became increasingly crowded.

Shen Yao frowned, raised her hand to cover herself, reducing speech while keeping her breathing steady.

"Time's up, return to base."

The driver closed the automatic door, stepped on the accelerator, the front of the vehicle turned sharply, making the people standing in the aisle center stagger left and right, and also triggered a new round of complaints inside the bus compartment.

Worse still, an unsecured back basket opened, things inside spilled out, and someone took advantage to steal.

Shen Yao just took it all into her eyes; she sat honestly in her own seat, arms crossed over her chest, like a bystander; no outside sound could disturb her, nor would it affect her.

"Arrived."

Time passed slowly; Shen Yu picked up the back basket and patted Shen Yao's shoulder; the brother and sister waited until the others had mostly dispersed before getting off the bus together.

Shen Jiancheng and Song Ling had already gotten off first and retrieved the hemp sacks placed on the bus roof.

Song Ling still nagged that Shen Yu was too slow; what was loaded here were all wood ears; if someone secretly took a bag, it would be their loss.

"Mom, we're waiting for Dad to come back and get the cart;" carrying the hemp sacks back was too difficult, so Shen Jiancheng had already gone back first to get the cart.

"Wait a bit; your dad is quick with his hands and feet; let's go stand at the base doorway;" there Patrol Team members were watching over, and very few people dared to cause trouble under the other's eyelids.

Shen Yu became the main force moving the hemp sacks; Shen Yao and Song Ling stood to one side cheering him on.

Shen Yu:...

Shen Yu stretched out his hand to wipe the fine sweat beads on his forehead, and very confidently and nonchalantly said these were all small matters; he wasn't tired at all.

Song Ling rolled her eyes and said in a bad mood a sentence that missed the point; before she finished speaking, Shen Yu saw an acquaintance from the Mercenary Team and ran off happily to say hello, returning reluctantly only after a good while.

Shen Yao and Song Ling:... Huh?

What's going on?

"Nothing, just asking if you're going out recently; I was thinking that although there's plenty of meat at home, bringing back more wouldn't be uneatable..." Shen Yu scratched his head, but was directly refused by Song Ling.

"No need, already enough to eat; you and your dad just stay home honestly;" what's the point of going out? Picking some wild vegetables and wild fruit is also quite good.

Not to mention far away, there are places to hunt around the base; a round trip doesn't require walking too far, and it's much safer than going out with the Mercenary Team.

Having already passed the period of most severe food shortage, Song Ling wouldn't fight for it; she just gathered with peace of mind.

Shen Yu:...

Shen Yu wanted to say more, but Shen Yao, quick-eyed and quick-handed, pulled him to one side to lecture him.

"Don't cause trouble, Mom is doing this for your own good," Gene Awakening is not a good term; gaining power more powerful than ordinary people, every use also accelerates the process of Gene Collapse.

How did Shen Jiancheng get into trouble before? Wasn't it because, to support the three of them, he risked his life going out to hunt, causing Gene Instability and having to rely on Stabilizer? Does Shen Yu still want to follow in Shen Jiancheng's footsteps?

Shen Yu scratched his head, indicating he didn't mean that; he just felt that opportunities to go out were rare, and not every time would he be as lucky as this year, able to safely gather enough food for them to eat for several months.