Chapter 420: Bound to the Birth System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 421: Wasteland Gathering Daily Life (49)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

The patrol team members jumped out of the car, first fired warning shots into the sky, then ran off in pairs to rescue people.

Shen Yao hid behind and stayed motionless, because those around her were all reacting the same way, so she didn't attract any trouble.

But when Qian Zhuang brought people over from behind, Shen Yao was still noticed.

"Sister-in-law"

Qian Zhuang shouted once, looking anxiously at the chaotic crowd not far away.

Shen Yao raised her hand and pointed at the patrol team's position, "Sister-in-law and them are over there."

Using the excuse that everyone lost contact when they first went in, but Shen Yao could remember the direction she came out, thereby inferring Qian Eldest Sister-in-law and the others' approximate whereabouts.

Qian Zhuang hurriedly thanked her upon hearing this, then turned around to call everyone over to rescue people.

Cheng Qi held the child standing behind the team, and only came over to pat Shen Yao's shoulder after everyone had left, "Brother Qian has been anxious all the way."

"Sister-in-law and them went in later, and their positions were mostly at the edge, they'll be fine," Shen Yao had the system help lock onto a position in her spare time, confirming Qian Eldest Sister-in-law was just frightened but not injured, her mood was extremely calm.

Taking the daughter who was restless in Cheng Qi's arms and kept trying to wriggle out, Shen Yao pulled Cheng Qi's wrist and walked back.

Who let them both still be carrying children, completely unable to help with anything.

"Ouch! Doctor, where's the doctor?"

"Someone come quick, this person looks like they're about to stop breathing."

The moment a voice shouted from behind, Shen Yao subconsciously pulled Manman into her arms, and Cheng Qi also raised both hands to cover Shen Yao's ears.

"Don't look back, we'll walk back on foot, leaving the car here can still help Brother Qian and them," Cheng Qi's voice vaguely reached Shen Yao's ears, both of them didn't stop their steps, and soon they were a bit further from the accident point behind them.

Would "Brother Qian and them" have objections? Shen Yao wasn't sure about the relationship between the two parties.

"Qian Zhuang would rather I go back first," so many people had accidents today, cars would definitely be needed for round trips, if he, the car owner, stayed in place, Qian Zhuang couldn't arrange the vehicles.

Leaving enough private space, only taking care of collecting the car afterward, asking nothing at all, that was what Cheng Qi should do.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao handed the back basket to Cheng Qi, she held Manman, and both of them walked back with their heads down.

On the road they met quite a few people talking about this matter, some had experienced it personally, some had heard it through the grapevine, mainly showing how rumors are formed.

"It was someone who discovered a field mouse hole, caught a few edible field mice," then shouted loudly, attracting many opponents, causing a crowd congestion problem, and finally resulting in the accident happening right now.

"Quite a few people got injured and bumped today, you stay home and rest tomorrow, the day after tomorrow I'll drive you to the collection point outside the base."

The area around the base had heavy foot traffic, supply couldn't meet demand, it simply wasn't enough to go around.

Shen Yao nodded silently, she was also a bit frightened by today's events, thinking this place wouldn't be like Dawn Base, but in some aspects, they were no different.

Cheng Qi felt sorry for Shen Yao, but some words spoken would seem pale. When the family of three got home, Cheng Qi used the already settled pearl trade to change the topic.

Shen Yao looked excited, "How much did you sell for?"

Cheng Qi reached out and rubbed Shen Yao's head, put Manman on the ground to let her play by herself, "Not much, but we can choose a house in the Inner District."

Speaking, Cheng Qi sent several photos to Shen Yao's wristwatch, all model diagrams of Inner District houses, not much different from where they lived, the only thing to say was that the Inner District space was narrow, with no front or back courtyard.

Because there were many people in the Inner District, and the Inner District wasn't as large as the Outer District, so the base could only make adjustments in terms of front and back courtyards.

To be honest, life in the Inner District was far less comfortable than in the Outer District.

But the Inner District had advantages the Outer District didn't, such as the right to purchase potions at the Exchange Center, and some including the opening rights of the Base Planting Garden, all directly related to Inner District residents. People with a bit of ability also wanted to move into the Inner District, even if they could live in a large house of over a hundred square meters in the Outer District, but a small house of dozens of square meters in the Inner District was still their goal.

Shen Yao touched her chin, finally selecting three houses to mark separately.

Location and room size were prioritized, not that there weren't better ones, but given their status, these were currently the most suitable.

"What about the original house?" Shen Yao didn't want to sell it directly.

Cheng Qi shook his head, "The base will levy heavy taxes on houses exceeding the quota. We haven't formed a Mercenary Team, can't complete base missions to reduce taxes, keeping the house by force has no advantage at all."

It had to be said, the base had strict restriction conditions regarding real estate.

Similar to Mercenary Team forces, how many missions they completed for the base each year would get corresponding tax reductions, while individuals couldn't complete the missions provided by the base. Heavy taxes could only force them to sell their houses.

In some aspects, this also struck at the base's house-hoarding forces, giving more people choice, instead of taking advantage to hold onto houses in their hands and ask sky-high prices, disrupting market order, causing internal turmoil in the base.

Shen Yao waved her hand, lacking interest, "Then give it to Qian Eldest Sister-in-law's family. I remember Qian Jinbao has been doing this kind of business."

Shen Yao didn't have much need for a house, having a place to live was enough.

But she worried about the Cheng Family and Shen Family at Dawn Base. The two families had come from afar, having a free place to settle wouldn't be bad.

Previously during the cold season, she had privately confirmed with the system that the Dawn Base upper echelon had completely given up. Barring accidents, the Shen Family and Cheng Family would definitely need to hurry and run away.

It was just unknown when her birth mother and mother-in-law would choose to leave.

Song Ling and Cheng Ma, whom Shen Yao was concerned about, were currently in a state of wanting to leave but being unable to.

After barely surviving the hardest cold season, they thought the mild season would be a bit better, but the mild season turned out to be even more miserable compared to the cold season.

The base upper echelon gave up, directly causing the base to lack grain and food during the mild season.

Including the Planting Garden that was opened every year, this year there was not a single movement at all.

The Shen Family lived worse than the Cheng Family. Just as the mild season began, except for the children, all four other members of the family of five went out to make money to buy grain.

But even so, the grain they painstakingly saved was barely enough to eat.

"Relying only on the grain at home, we can't even leave the base area," let alone go to a new base a thousand li away.

Song Ling was rarely anxious, and secretly verified with Shen Jiancheng several times a day.

Shen Jiancheng was almost scratching his head raw. Grain in this mild season was harder to buy than in the cold season. The Exchange Center still limited daily purchases, and Black Market prices had risen who knows how many times. Truly daring to dream.

As for relying on hunting or gathering outside? It could only guarantee normal warmth and fullness. After all, there were two Gene Awakeners in the family with huge appetites per meal. If they didn't eat enough, it would damage their bodies.

"Otherwise, we hold on, wait for the next Mild Season to leave?" This Mild Season they'd stockpile more grain, and next Mild Season run straight away.

Song Ling hesitated, "Wouldn't that be too slow?" A District had people running out and never coming back every day; if they kept living here for several more months, they might not be able to escape even if they wanted to in the end.

"Leaving right now, lacking food would be the least of our worries; this Mild Season is short, I'm afraid it won't be enough," halfway through they'd hit the Hot Rainy Season, and then there'd be no way to survive at all.

Shen Jiancheng's worry was not superfluous; Song Ling could also think of that possibility.

Besides that, there were also Shen Yu and Chen Jia, the young couple, who had safety concerns because their child was too small; the topic of leaving often came to nothing once they started discussing it.

The Shen Family was like this, the Cheng Family was also like this; every family had its own hard-to-recite scripture; to leave as cleanly and decisively as Shen Yao and Cheng Qi, 90% of people couldn't do it.

"So you're saying they still plan to stay at Dawn Base, wait for the next Mild Season?"

Shen Yao's face was full of disbelief; she thought to herself, birth mother and mother-in-law are really something, Dawn Base collapsed like that and they still want to hold on, they have to consider their own safety too.

"Host, the base won't just fall apart directly; there are many people more willing to be their own masters and make their own decisions; how else would they lord it over others if they left the base?"

Based on this thinking, Host absolutely need not be pessimistic about the Shen Family and Cheng Family's future.

Population is forever the prerequisite for a base to develop; the base will definitely provide basic guarantees.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao rolled her eyes, "Keep an eye on things for me; notify me promptly if anything comes up."

Although she couldn't conjure things out of thin air for them, letting the system cheat a little, secretly slipping in some usable skills and free intel, didn't count as a skin-and-bone injury.

Pity the system refused no matter what to open the space again; otherwise she could've arranged one each for the Shen Family and Cheng Family, and the food storage problem would've been alleviated by more than half.

Another early morning; Shen Yao didn't go out of the city to gather, but carried the few round apples from home, brought Manman along, and went to the small courtyard where the Qian Family lived.

Qian Eldest Sister-in-law was lying in the room recuperating from her injuries; now the only ones at home were her and the three children; several elders and Qian Jinbao all lived in the Inner District.

After all, the Qian Family Mercenary Team had many people; the Inner District didn't have that much space, so they could only choose an address in the Outer District; the ones staying here daily were just Qian Eldest Sister-in-law's family of five.

"Sister-in-law's here, quick sit, quick sit; my leg injury still hasn't healed, I won't get down to welcome you."

"Eldest Sister-in-law, you're too courteous; quick lie back down and rest."

"..."

The two exchanged a few polite words upon meeting; Shen Yao set the fruit she'd brought to one side, asking after Qian Eldest Sister-in-law's condition, whether she'd had any discomfort these past few days.

Qian Eldest Sister-in-law gave a "hai" sound, "Body's double-great, eating's double-fragrant."

Patting her not-too-injured arm, Qian Eldest Sister-in-law expressed gratitude for Shen Yao's timely notification back then; otherwise she'd definitely be suffering even more than now.

Don't look at how Qian Eldest Sister-in-law is lively and jumping about now; whenever she recalls that scene at the time, she still has some lingering fear; within her field of vision were all people, not a single bit of breathing space.

By the time she was dug out by Qian Zhuang, she already showed signs of dilated pupils; fortunately there were doctors and nurses around, and they successfully snatched Qian Eldest Sister-in-law's life back.

It's just that Qian Eldest Sister-in-law being this lucky doesn't mean the other people in the mercenary team could all survive.

This time quite a few people suffered minor injuries, a portion suffered serious injuries, and some were just gone directly.

"... Blame the young ones; my heart, it just can't bear it."

Can't blame Qian Eldest Sister-in-law; those who joined her for the excitement were all fine; instead it was the ones who squeezed in on their own who got into trouble; but they were all people she'd called and brought out, and in the end they couldn't return safely; it's a truly indescribable stifling feeling.

Reason and emotion constantly tugged at each other; Qian Eldest Sister-in-law was also a warm-hearted person; she would unconsciously blame problems on herself.

Actually this matter had nothing to do with Qian Eldest Sister-in-law; when the accident happened, no one could have foreseen it.

"Can't put it that way, Little Shen; you're still young yourself, and you have a child under your knees to care for.

Those who met with misfortune, every family heartaches for them; the blame lies in my not should have gone out of the city; if at that time..."

The more Qian Eldest Sister-in-law spoke, the more obsessive she became; Shen Yao was helpless, could only interrupt the other party, and follow along to turn the conversation to other aspects, trying her best to pull Qian Eldest Sister-in-law's thoughts out of that rut.

The effect — well, better than nothing.

When Shen Yao came out of the Qian Family, Qian Eldest Sister-in-law's emotions had finally stabilized somewhat.

Forcing a smiling face to see Shen Yao off; as for whether she'd continue walking into a dead end behind her back, one can only say each person has their own fate.

"System, you think it's possible the World Consciousness is secretly helping us fill pits?"

Shen Yao's one out-of-the-blue sentence directly blasted the system out.

"Host, what do you mean by that?"

"Su Wen died," Shen Yao pinched her wrist, tone calm and waveless.

System:...?!!!

The system recalled who exactly Su Wen was; she was the person who accompanied Host to the Sugarcane Field back then, Host dug the Rabbit Hole, and ultimately obtained several Energy Stones.

"She died; can only say her luck was bad," after all, the people who died in that accident were not few, including the young wife and middle-aged woman who'd quarreled because of the Slum District before; they all perished in it too.

"Perhaps; Su Wen later once secretly returned to the Sugarcane Field alone trying to dig a hole," and even used her wristwatch to indirectly probe Shen Yao's certain sensitive topics.

This person suddenly going offline now; besides surprise, Shen Yao had an indescribable strangeness.

Just like her secret attracted someone's attention; to avoid provoking unnecessary trouble, a comrade hiding in the dark helped dispose of the source.

Hm

Could it be her own brain hole opened too wide? Was it really just an accident?

Not going to think about how exactly Su Wen's incident happened; anyway the person's already gone; back then her indirect probing got no information from Shen Yao; just a passerby; not important.

Throwing these matters to the back of her head, Shen Yao continued taking fruit from the space to visit the injured.

Most were gathering partners she had decent relations with normally; they'd still have to get along in the future; couldn't not walk the human-sentiment.

After visiting all these people, by the time Shen Yao returned home the sky had already darkened.

Manman hugged her little wooden toy amusing herself; Cheng Qi came out of the kitchen carrying the prepared rice and dishes.

Seeing this, Shen Yao quickly ran to the bathroom to tidy herself up with clear water.

Phew

Alive again.

Cheng Qi passed the bowl filled with rice to Shen Yao, turned his head and brought Manman over to sit properly.

"How about it? The Qian Family Mercenary Team plans to compensate the families with casualties in the name of the mercenary team; we have to go out hunting tomorrow on a temporary arrangement."

During this time period, what is most valuable is undoubtedly wild fresh meat.

The Qian Family intends to compensate; regardless of the purpose, they will have to bleed heavily.

Given the Qian Family Mercenary Team's current financial situation, directly taking out such a large sum of points and supplies certainly carries the risk of collapse, so their temporary arrangement to go out hunting tomorrow is imperative.

"It looks fine; the heavily injured are all in the hospital receiving treatment, but tomorrow when you go out hunting, will there be conflict with other forces?"

It's not just them who had an incident; other people at the base also suffered losses to varying degrees.