Chapter 401

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

When the two cargo trucks behind caught up, everyone saw that not a single person was missing, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, although no one was missing, there were still those who got carelessly injured.

Wild boars are large and thick-skinned; one charges over in a mad rush, and ordinary people can't withstand it.

Even Gene Awakeners won't target wild boars — the meat tastes bad and their defense is hard to break, making them an object of disdain for everyone.

Cheng Qi stepped forward to explain that the cotton field from this morning could no longer be passed; the wild boars weren't just one or two, but a whole small herd.

Relying on the weapons in their hands, they barely managed to fight the wild boars to a draw (not counting injuries on their side); going further would just be delivering food to the wild boars.

Mutated wild boars are omnivorous animals — they eat anything and gnaw anything; even more, because Gene Awakeners have stronger energy on them, they are the top choice on the wild boar menu.

"Better not to go; at least safety is guaranteed." Otherwise, if wild boar ambushes happen a few more times, Song Ling would doubt whether her heart could take it.

Cheng Ma and Song Ling thought the same, or rather, everyone in the whole vehicle had this mindset.

Lost things can be earned back; lost lives are truly gone.

Everyone only busied themselves for one morning, so the corresponding harvest wouldn't be too much.

However, because fewer people came over, plus there was no base taking a cut in the middle, each household still picked quite a lot of cotton.

Shen Yao got two small hemp sacks; after cleaning and sorting, it was just enough to make several sets of thick quilts, and combined with the cotton at home to make cotton-padded clothes and trousers, there was no need to worry about freezing in the Cold Season.

"Tomorrow we'll switch to a different Collection Point; there are many wild cotton fields outside, and we can conveniently pick some other things too."

Cheng Qi put the hawthorns he'd picked in the Courtyard, and took out a bamboo tray to sun-dry them.

Shen Yao brought over a small stool and checked them one by one — who told them to pick in a rush for speed.

After Cheng Qi finished sun-drying the hawthorns, he also came over to help test; the two of them, you one me one, busied themselves for two hours before finishing these several bags of hawthorns.

Separately packing a hemp sack of hawthorns to send to the Shen Family and Cheng Family, Shen Yao and Cheng Qi each carried back a bag of fruit — all picked in Chang Le Town some time ago, durable and long-lasting.

Dinner that day was simple; they kneaded some flour and made two bowls of noodles.

The two slurped them down; Shen Yao rubbed her belly and planned to simmer some hawthorn sauce to drink with water.

Again the sweet taste of hawthorn mixed with white sugar; busy until nearly bedtime in the evening.

Cheng Qi had to urge his own wife to hurry up a bit more; they still had to go out tomorrow, and if she exhausted herself, the one who'd suffer would be himself.

Shen Yao: ……

The following days were just going out to pick cotton, pick wild fruit, pick mountain delicacies, pick all kinds of edible food.

After Cheng Qi started work later, his duties were covered by other members of the Patrol Team.

Although this had some influence on the Shen Family and Cheng Family, the influence wasn't large.

The two families hadn't acted together for too long; afterward they still proceeded at their own pace.

Shen Yao, whether she had business or not, would go out with Song Ling — mother and daughter picking wild vegetables today, wild fruit tomorrow, the day after running to the Planting Garden to scavenge leftovers — until the weather gradually turned cold, and the Base issued several notifications in a row about the arrival of the Cold Season, only then did they slowly stop and stay home, no longer going out.

………

"It's snowing."

Waking after a night's sleep, opening the Window, what she saw was no longer bright Sunlight, but a gloomy sky and snowflakes fluttering down.

Shen Yao held a Thermos Cup in her hands, filled with hot water, warming her hands while watching the scenery.

Cheng Qi was busy in the Kitchen; this morning, as always, Cheng Qi was in charge of Cooking.

The Honey had already been divided with the Base's help; the couple drank a cup of honey water every morning, accumulating day by month, very beneficial for the body.

Falling snowflakes melted the instant they hit the ground, leaving not a trace.

But because the snowflakes were too dense, one after another falling down, the ground still faintly showed a white trace — too pale to see clearly, but believe it won't be long before the surrounding Environment is covered in white snow.

"Time to eat."

Cheng Qi untied his apron and set down the warm honey water in his hand.

The table was laid full with their Breakfast — flower rolls, steamed buns, stuffed buns, several plates of crisp Pickled Vegetables, cold-tossed seasonal vegetables, and a fruit platter.

Shen Yao carried her Thermos Cup over, sat at the table edge, picked up her Chopsticks and clamped a mouthful of food.

Mm

A bit cold on the teeth.

"Not going out today; how about we organize the storage room?"

The storage room has everything — Rice Flour Oil and some Fruit Vegetable meat food.

Before, they had cleared out the Attic, planning to move the freeze-resistant food up there.

Result: these days they were busy with other matters and forgot it behind their heads; right now they happen to have Free Time, so handle it today, and the coming time will be more Relaxed.

Shen Yao heard this and hummed in agreement, "Also take out some hawthorn and autumn pears.

Don't we still have pomelo and lemon at home? Make some honey pomelo sauce, can keep it to drink."

Lifting her head, she sipped a mouthful of warm honey water; the sweet Texture made Shen Yao fall in love with this taste.

A bit of a pity they didn't harvest more honey — don't look at the several dozen jin divided out in the end, but giving some here and there, what's left for their own use is just that little bit.

Barely enough to last through these few months of the Cold Season; when the Mild Season arrives when they can go out collecting, they'll either have to spend a high price to buy honey, or go find a beehive and gamble.

Neither of these two methods sounds good; Shen Yao didn't like either one.

Sigh

The more she drank, the more she felt it a pity in her heart, but no matter how she thought, she couldn't go out to find honey right now — not to mention whether there are still beehives outside, just this temperature of dozens of degrees below zero is enough to make them suffer.

"We have honey at home, pomelo, and also apples, mandarins, and oranges.

If you want to make jam, you might as well make more and just put it in the attic; I can make a separate rack to hold the bottles and jars.

Simple handicrafts are still manageable at the Cultivation Stage, and since there are plenty of useless wooden boards at home, just nailing and chiseling them together makes a rack.

Shen Yao lowered her head in thought; thinking of the abundant fruit resources at home, she became even more tempted, saying, "Then make more."

By boiling water and alternating them, we can also change the flavor, so we won't get tired of eating the same thing.

The two ate while talking, and soon finished all the food on the table.

With clear division of labor, one found handy tools to process the boards, while the other went to the storage room to move fruit, peeling it to boil into sauce.

Mist drifted through the whole kitchen; compared to some families' worried faces, Shen Yao and Cheng Qi here were quite leisurely and content.

Splash splash—

Stewing with the iron pot at home, the originally abundant fruit pulp was cooked until soft, rotten, and thick.

Shen Yao took the jar used for honey and slowly poured the pale yellow honey in, stirring it.

A taste so sweet it was cloying filled Shen Yao's nasal cavity, making her turn her head and sneeze involuntarily.

Cheng Qi had already found the natural-colored boards, only assembly remained; since the project wasn't complex, he also wove a vine curtain to block things, though its effect was limited, it looked pleasant.

Clang clang, gurgle gurgle

The white smoke rising from the chimney blew away the snowflakes about to fall, and also drifted into the surrounding neighbors' homes.

Various complaints were transmitted, but because of the wall blocking them, they were kept outside.

Even in B District with abundant resources, not every family eats like it's the New Year every day; having trade, moderation, and small schemes—that's life.

Shen Yao, to boil the sauce, was busy from morning until nearly evening, and at noon could only grab some steamed buns and flower rolls left from the morning to eat.

Looking at one bottle after another of packaged jam placed on the rack in the attic, Shen Yao touched it affectionately, finally picking up the frozen meat placed to the side and leaving.

At night, no matter what, they had to eat something good; they two could be considered busy for a whole day.

The meat thawed and chopped into pieces, Shen Yao had Cheng Qi take a fish from the refrigerator.

A pot of spicy grilled fish with steamed rice, plus two plates of stir-fried meat slices and a bowl of braised pork; Shen Yao looked up and sniffed her nose, feeling her craftsmanship had improved a lot.

The honey water was replaced with jam; originally Shen Yao wanted to drink some wine, but the wine she brewed wasn't much left, and the newly brewed still needed several months, so Shen Yao could only restrain her mouth and drink other substitutes.

The water mixed with jam wasn't bad, sour and sweet with a bit of aftertaste; Shen Yao suddenly had a whim to add some flavoring herbs, no other effect, just about the same as ginger dispelling cold.

Eating while discussing what to do tomorrow, they both knew that just entering the cold season, people's spirits and bodies were still adapting.

Only after this time of staying at home for too long is the real test.

Many people would choose to commit suicide in the cold season, even whole families dying; every year ordinary people lose their lives for various reasons; all they can do is take good care of themselves.

…………

On the 10th day of the cold season, the snow outside stopped, but everything visible was silver-clad and white-wrapped; even wearing thick padded jackets and cotton clothes, they couldn't go out, only able to stay at home and move around.

Cheng Qi, afraid Shen Yao would be bored, worked in the studio for a while and moved all the exercise tools into the living room, especially the target board for practicing crossbows, hung at different positions according to different distances.

Besides this, Shen Yao and Cheng Qi also got up early together to exercise, increasing stamina while learning simple body techniques, to prevent being unable to save themselves if threatened in the wild.

The air conditioner was on in the room, and there was constantly burning coal and firewood.

Although the living room temperature was only ten-something degrees, compared to the ice and snow outside, it could be said their home was warm like spring.

The two exercised for an hour; Shen Yao was the first to give in and had to stop.

Cheng Qi continued to persist; even though sweat drops on his forehead fell drip drip, he still gritted his teeth and persisted.

Shen Yao didn't sit down, but walked around the living room, holding warm water in her mouth, swallowing it bit by bit slowly.

After a long while, Shen Yao recovered, picked up a towel and simply wiped her cheeks and neck, then raised the crossbow and shot at the target board pfft pfft.

The crossbow, after Cheng Qi's constant improvements, had improved in both range and accuracy; plus Shen Yao herself studied and practiced hard; not to say every arrow hit the ten-ring so exaggeratedly, but within nine rings was normal.

A morning passed in exercise; the two took a shower and ate lunch.

Sleep first in the afternoon; after waking up, they could learn skills on the Wristwatch Forum, or spend points to buy books to relieve boredom; if worse came to worst, they could go to the studio and find something to do.

By the time they finished dinner at night, they would be even more idle; they could sleep early, sleep early and rise early to exercise, or stay up late posting on the forum; anyway, there were many night owls in the base, the base signal was strong, otherwise the wristwatch couldn't be used.

On the 15th day of the cold season, gloomy and freezing, snow melted into ice making it inconvenient to go out.

Shen Yao continued to exercise; Cheng Qi was temporarily called to work overtime, saying some rooms in F District were collapsed by snow and needed the Patrol Team to rescue.

On the 20th day of the cold season, snow continued to drift, temperature dropped by ten degrees, already breaking through the minus thirty-five degree mark; the base began to issue high tide warning notifications.

The wristwatch kept making dripping sounds; Shen Yao found it annoying; she turned and had Cheng Qi move the exercise equipment from the living room into the bedroom to save coal and firewood.

"Less than a month, the temperature dropped quite fast; this time the base will very likely have more deaths."

They in B District are relatively fine; food and supplies aren't too worrying.

But the situation in E District and F District is not optimistic; the cold season has always been harder to endure than the hot rainy season.

Cheng Qi just went to F District once; the person in charge said that 60% inside wouldn't survive this cold season.

"Will the base take action?" Shen Yao thought the base didn't want to drain the pond to catch fish, and just wanted to help E District and F District people.

At least let them have a sufficiently warm environment to live in, persisting until the mild season.

"Yes, several public facilities are being urgently renovated; they probably want to centrally manage E District and F District."

But this would create new conflicts; after all, more people means more disputes, you say one thing I say another, bickering endlessly, no one can help it.

Moreover, once there are more people, living space will be squeezed; public areas are insufficient to support so many people.

"You all at that time" Shen Yao couldn't make up her mind, always feeling this was a thankless task.

Cheng Qi helplessly shrugged his shoulders, "The Patrol Team is just eating this bowl of rice."

Even captains like them had already received messages privately sent by the base; the implication was to let them prepare in advance; the Patrol Team couldn't stand aside.

On the 30th day of the cold season, a whole month passed; for those living in B District, it seemed besides the weather being colder, there wasn't much change.

But for those living near the base exterior, this was a long and endless despair; they were shrouded in a black mist, unable to leave.

Song Ling sent Shen Yao a message, saying Aunt Zhou had an accident; the person was already gone.

Gone?!

It really was as expected.

Shen Yao put down the Wristwatch and asked the Mouth system how Zhou Ying was doing currently.

As a result, the system's one Sentence that Zhou Ying was at the end of her rope left Shen Yao with nothing to say.

Hm, so this is the Frame-Up of one's Own People? It really is Bringing a wolf into the room.

Scratching her head, Shen Yao recalled the karmic entanglement between herself and Zhou Ying; aside from that plea that didn't distinguish between light and heavy, it seemed they had never had a direct Confrontation.

"It seems there will be no Opportunity for me to meet her," the Revenge spoken of Yi Qian seemingly no longer needed either.

System: ……

"Host, it's possible Zhou Ying once Planned something under circumstances you Don't know, only by a fluke it didn't Scheme successfully."

Or one could say the Zhou Family's Appearance at just the right moment made Zhou Ying Directly shift her attention.

By the time the Zhou Family collapses and Zhou Ying thinks again of her old grudge against Shen Yao, she Herself will already be Powerless to reverse the situation, only able to depart with resentment.

Shen Yao: ……

"It sounds rather Pitiful, but none of that has anything to do with me," without Aunt Zhou she would be sad for a while, without Zhou Ying she would only stay silent.