Chapter 393

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

The next day, before dawn, Shen Yao got up, dressed, and went out.

Since Cheng Qi's words were there, they all knew that once the Patrol Team passed by, that Chestnut Forest would basically have nothing left.

So they had to collect as many chestnuts as possible before the Patrol Team passed.

Song Ling and Shen Jiancheng had already brought the family's cart and hemp sacks early; seeing Shen Yao come out, they quickly waved to call her over.

"Will the Patrol Team really pass by? I thought they would go to the Planting Garden."

The base's Planting Garden had many grain crops, one of the main food sources for the Cold Season.

Of course, some grew naturally in the wild, but those without dedicated care had terrible shipping rates, the surroundings were extremely dangerous, and unless absolutely necessary, no one would be desperate enough to run over there.

"Cheng Qi said that this time the Patrol Team was too busy, afraid that family members would lose out, so they arranged to go together uniformly," they not only had that Chestnut Forest to harvest, but also other staple food crops, and even Shen Yao was on the list.

However, compared to these immediate benefits, Cheng Qi valued the Planting Garden harvesting quota afterward more, so he saved time to use later.

After hearing this, Song Ling hummed, "No wonder, then it's reasonable for them to go to Chang Le Town."

After all, Chang Le Town's output was indeed large, extremely famous in the second Mild Season.

The three walked together toward the Base Station, and soon lined up and went out.

The earliest batch of vehicles had already started, with many people sitting in the carriages. However, it was rare to see people from their C District; most were from E District or F District.

Relatively impoverished places made life even harder; they needed to work hard enough in the Mild Season to cope with the more difficult Cold Season.

Shen Yao even saw children only a few years old inside.

There was no way; in this world, children were not valued, and even children lived worse than adults.

Once a child had not grown up while the adults around them left first, then what awaited this child was a road of nine deaths and one life.

Even so, the base's birth rate was still high, after all, giving birth gave point rewards.

Using quantity to compete with quality could always raise the total population base.

The bus left the base for Chang Le Town, and many people inside were discussing what to harvest today.

"Still citrus, large quantity and many, casually picking gives a back basket."

"Citrus prices are cheap, better to pick oranges."

"Hey, their prices are about the same, I say, those who want to earn more should go pick grapes."

"The grape area is dangerous, and there are small flying insects; our few clothes are not enough."

"......"

Blah blah blah, no matter what you pick, it won't be perfect. Either this problem or that problem, anyway, all have pros and cons, it depends on one's choice.

Song Ling also wanted to pick some grapes to take back; autumn grapes were tastier than early-ripening grapes, and Chang Le Town's grapes were large, thin-skinned, and sweet.

"It's just those small flying insects are annoying; one bite takes several days to go down," Song Ling had personally experienced this before, just subconsciously picked a few.

So Song Ling admired those who carried home string after string; truly warriors, not afraid of being stung or bitten at all, truly eye-opening.

Shen Yao remembered this scene, because Chang Le Town was one of the collection points that came every Mild Season; before, Song Ling took her out together, mother and daughter sharing resources.

Now although Shen Yao had married, the mother-daughter relationship was not affected; Song Ling still habitually told her the news she knew, and Shen Yao did not hide things from Song Ling.

"Why not open some medicine? Isn't it said the hospital has special ointment."

Shen Yao buried her head and whispered to Song Ling's ear; this was from last time when they sent Zhou Ying to the hospital, they accidentally overheard when leaving.

As for whether it was true or false? The hospital wouldn't lie, right.

Song Ling found this hard to explain, "The ointment is expensive; the grapes we pick back aren't enough to offset the price."

Shen Yao:... Ah?

"A few days ago I and your dad went to the hospital, your dad's body has some"

"What's wrong with my dad? Didn't he drink this year's Gene Stabilizer?"

"Body is fine, already getting better," Song Ling reached out to press down Shen Yao's voice that was almost shouting, and glanced at Shen Jiancheng sitting in front of them, "Your dad plans to nourish his body, find a job in the base; not only can he accompany me, but also take care of the home situation."

Shen Yao nodded, "This is a good thing."

Shen Jiancheng staying at home was definitely safer than going out; the base was not only the Patrol Team, but also other functional departments and the Labor Department.

It was just that the Patrol Team had a large shortage, and with Cheng Qi working inside, daily recruitment could slightly open the back door.

"Dad wants to join the Patrol Team?" She could discuss with Cheng Qi; if there was a chance, let Cheng Qi help push, also counted as helping family members stand firm; in the long run, having no relatives dragging behind could make the whole clan prosper.

"Your dad and I don't have this idea; the Patrol Team's work is too sought after," at that time they would also have to use Cheng Qi's favor; if Shen Jiancheng could work long-term it was fine, but if he left after a few days it would seem superfluous.

Song Ling pointed outside the window, then pointed to the driver driving ahead and the two staff members maintaining order, "Your dad wants to do this; less work, fewer matters, and easier; if there is any first-hand news then, we will know faster."

No one could see through things more than the driver; which route had more passenger flow, which route's collection point had larger shipping volume, nine out of ten times.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao had to admire Song Ling's observation, and if Shen Jiancheng could really become a base driver, they would have a chance to rent a car to go out on weekdays.

After all, ordinary people wanting to rent a base car without connections wouldn't do.

Shen Yao supported Song Ling's decision and expressed that if there was anything she could do, absolutely don't be courteous; they were one family, they should help each other.

Song Ling:...

"What nonsense, wait for the news," the smile at the corner of her mouth couldn't be suppressed; Song Ling tried hard to stabilize her facial expression, and seeing it was finally difficult, let it be.

The bus stopped at Chang Le Town; the family of three went straight to the destination Chestnut Forest.

"The Patrol Team people are estimated to be picking from the opposite side; Lao Shen, you first knock the chestnuts down from the trees; Yao Yao and I are responsible for picking them up."

As for those hanging too high or unreachable, leave them for now; they must first ensure picking enough chestnuts.

With such a high shipping rate, wasting even one was heartbreaking; Song Ling wished she could carry them all home.

Shen Jiancheng readily agreed, first chopping a stick as thick as an arm with an axe, shaving off the branches, then striking the chestnut tree repeatedly.

Instantly, shelled chestnuts clattered down like a rain of chestnuts.

Shen Yao and Song Ling weren't afraid of being hit on the head, holding open their hemp sacks with one hand while picking up chestnuts with the other; once the sacks were full, they tied them and tossed them by the roadside.

Picking as they went, after Shen Jiancheng finished striking the chestnut tree he turned around and carried the hemp sack back to where they had left their cart; until voices came from ahead, the three stopped their movements and glanced at each other.

"Pick! We keep picking!"

We don't steal or rob, what are we afraid of? Can the Patrol Team just do as they please? Song Ling gritted her teeth and continued burying her head in stuffing chestnuts from the ground into the sack.

Shen Yao followed Song Ling's movements, and Shen Jiancheng simply ran over to help.

The three worked hard to fill the sacks in their hands, and then there was no "then."

The three of them couldn't match the crowd opposite; the Chestnut Forest was only so big, they couldn't possibly snatch the sacks from others' hands, could they?

When Song Ling left she was still indignant, feeling she had lost out; if the Patrol Team hadn't brought people today, they might have picked more.

Shen Yao smiled, "Eating too many chestnuts isn't good; let's go pick fruit."

Before them lay piles of filled sacks, all fresh chestnuts, enough to last them until the end of the Cold Season.

"Pack up, we're going elsewhere; there's nothing good here, we need to change places to continue."

"Let's look to the east side; for now don't go to the locations marked on the map; those marked Collection Points surely have many people; going there we'd not only have to fight over them, but also arouse ill intentions from certain people."

Cheng Qi kept reminding them to pay attention to safety, and their execution standard was to go to remote places where few people went; the roads weren't easy to walk.

But compared to safety, bad roads weren't a problem; at least Song Ling and the others had no complaints.

"What's on the east side?" Song Ling tidied the sacks, tied up Shen Jiancheng's cart, and the three joined forces to push the cart full of sacks forward.

"Seems there are some red dates," not green dates, but normal oval-shaped red dates.

"Date trees, then let's go take a look; dried red dates can be used as medicine." Like when stewing chicken soup at home, they'd choose to add some red dates and goji berries.

Their steps forward paused, then they turned a corner, heading straight for the East Side of Forest.

After walking for over twenty minutes, Song Ling called a halt and plopped down on the ground.

"Rest a bit, drink some water," they hadn't reached the place yet, but Song Ling was already so tired she could barely catch her breath.

The sacks on the cart were still too heavy; even though Shen Jiancheng bore most of the pressure, the remainder was enough to make Song Ling and Shen Yao gasp for a pot.

Shen Yao exercised her body and worked hard at taking medicine, so she could handle this weight; but Song Ling, being older and lacking strength, couldn't bear it, couldn't bear it.

"Dad, Mom, you wait here; I'll go see how much farther it is."

The Red Date Forest benefited from system detection; the system kept saying "soon, soon," but not arriving after twenty minutes was ridiculous.

Hands on her hips, Shen Yao strode forward, still holding a machete in her hand for self-defense.

After walking about ten minutes, a patch of red appeared in Shen Yao's field of vision.

Date trees growing in a winding, rugged manner hung full of red dates, with many fallen on the ground.

She casually picked one and tested it; it was Low Mutation and edible.

Crack crack—

Bringing it to her mouth to taste, a sour-sweet date flavor filled Shen Yao's mouth.

Shen Yao finished the thumb-length red date, and, still unsatisfied, continued picking.

The shipping rate of red dates was relatively low; only about one in ten was edible.

Shen Yao hadn't forgotten Shen Jiancheng and Song Ling waiting at the Original Place; she picked a handful, turned around, and hurried back.

"How is it? The shipping rate and yield of red dates," seeing Shen Yao return, Song Ling stood up to meet her.

"The shipping rate is normal but low, the yield is very high," Shen Yao handed them each a few red dates from her hand and stretched out her hand to wipe her mouth corner.

Song Ling put it to her mouth to taste; the flavor was good, the taste of red dates.

"Go, let's head over there."

With strength, they didn't stop on the journey ahead; the three reached the foot of the red date trees in one breath, and the following lunch was eaten here.

The red date trees were densely packed with red dates, with hardly any leaves.

After mutation, the date trees grew tall; although the red dates hadn't changed much in size, the date tree leaves had become much sparser, making red date picking even more convenient.

Red date after red date was put into the hemp sacks; occasionally they'd accidentally touch a green worm, which was actually edible, but they weren't hungry to that extent yet; they just threw the worms far away.

…………

"Alright, alright, can we take these sacks back?" After picking more she couldn't carry them; Song Ling began to regret not having the freedom to rent a carriage.

"We can; once Cheng Qi gets the paperwork tonight, Dad can drive the three-wheeled vehicle tomorrow."

By then they could arrange one trip at noon and one at night, reducing the number of sacks, and also lowering the possibility of being watched by certain people.

More difficult than when they came; the three dragged and pulled the cart down the mountain, and the sacks on it were even more exaggerated than yesterday.

Shen Jiancheng stepping forward still had deterrence, but couldn't block the covetous gazes.

Bringing back this many sacks for two consecutive days; truly impressive.

Human greed was unavoidable; Shen Yao took the surrounding gazes into her heart; tomorrow she had to change Collection Points no matter what.

"Change Collection Points?" Song Ling was unhappy; just as she was about to refuse, she was directly scared off by the surrounding gazes; it seemed changing Collection Points was acceptable too.

"Where to?"

"Anywhere; a place with mountains and water, not lacking things to eat."

It wasn't that they had to waste time in Chang Le Town; the danger here was too great.

Shen Yao had already noticed several unfriendly gazes; perhaps they wouldn't act now, but if they kept coming, sooner or later they'd draw knives.

Sigh

Feeling nowhere was safe, Shen Yao suddenly felt irritable; even after getting on the bus she wasn't at ease.

Lying in bed at night, Cheng Qi saw Shen Yao was dejected and found it strange.

Until Shen Yao spoke of today's discovery, Cheng Qi pondered for a long while, suggesting Shen Yao act together with the Patrol Team's family members.

"Although many people will cause disputes, we people here don't worry about eating and drinking, and won't reach the point of casualties."

The Patrol Team's family members each have their own temper, but it cannot be denied that the family members generally have a high sense of moral constraint.

Even if conflict occurs between both sides, they won't casually draw knives to fight.

Shen Yao was not at ease about Song Ling and Shen Jiancheng, Cheng Qi suggested they could go together.

"It's just that the Patrol Team's allocation quota is fixed, Mom and Dad's harvest doesn't compare to individual collection."

Two people dividing the same thing and many people dividing it are different concepts.

The Patrol Team has a list of collection points, but the Patrol Team is a huge collective; the quantity of direct metal within it is more than several times that of the Patrol Team itself.

Even if only that few go out every day, just looking at them is very intimidating.

Shen Yao turned over, used her wristwatch to contact Song Ling, and asked for both people's opinions.

Song Ling and Shen Jiancheng unsurprisingly chose refusal; they were more willing to collect alone, bearing their own profits and losses.

Shen Yao:...

"Giving up, I'll go with Mom and Dad, temporarily change places tomorrow to look at the situation," also don't be too pessimistic, who knows we might pass through safely.