Chapter 423

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

On the 15th day of the Hot Rain Season, Manman had already adapted to the training Cheng Qi arranged and started whining and fussing to increase the time.

Increase the time? Good grief, she really isn't afraid of being worked hard; just last night before bed she was crying and whimpering about feeling awful.

Called out by Shen Yao for her coquettish behavior last night, Manman's expression turned shy as she covered her face with her hands, but unfortunately her hands were too chubby and too small to cover it completely.

Cheng Qi looked at the dense daily training schedule he had listed, took out pen and paper and scribbled and calculated for a good long while; starting from the 16th day of the Hot Rain Season, Manman began to moderately increase the duration of running, jumping, and other exercises both morning and afternoon.

Because the amount of exercise increased sharply, Manman's appetite and potion usage rate also increased considerably.

Shen Yao had no choice but to take fresh meat from her space and stew and cook it every day to supplement her nutrition.

Although this was extra hard work, Manman's physical development became even more rapid; by the time the 30th day of the Hot Rain Season arrived, the baby fat on Manman's face had receded a few degrees, and the soft flesh all over her body had become firm and solid.

It was as if she had transformed from a fluffy steamed bun into a tight bean bun — the change was not small.

"Giggle giggle giggle giggle giggle"

Manman twisted her head to dodge her own mother's big palm, running circles around the living room sofa, "Ticklish."

"Your legs don't hurt after running so much? Come here, let me knead them," Shen Yao beckoned Manman over, pouring the rubbing medicinal wine onto the child's legs.

Every time this moment came, no matter how rational Shen Yao was, her heart would still ache; the child was too young, clearly she should be living a carefree daily life, but because the environment was harsh, she had to learn survival skills in advance.

"Mama, Manman doesn't hurt."

Little Manman toddled up to her birth mother, pursed her little mouth and planted a kiss.

Shen Yao's heart instantly melted into water; she raised the back of her hand that hadn't touched the medicinal wine and rubbed Manman's round little head, "Manman, you're amazing."

After the mother and daughter finished this tender moment, Shen Yao took out the lunch she had prepared long ago, and only let Manman get down to move around and digest after watching her finish eating.

An amount of exercise that would make other children throw a tantrum was like a fun toy to Manman; not only did she not cry or fuss, she even found it interesting.

Cheng Qi came out of the studio, holding a crossbow he had modified who knows how many times.

The crossbow was exquisite and compact, suitable for a child to use; behind it were also bows and arrows and some knife tools, all for the purpose of training their daughter.

Manman laughed happily and ran over, pouncing onto Cheng Qi's thigh, acting coquettishly to make Daddy strap it on for her.

Cheng Qi bent down, his expression gentle as he fastened the crossbow onto Manman's arm, reminding her to be careful and cautious when using it, for the crossbow was a sharp weapon that could injure people.

"Daddy, Manman knows, Manman will be good, won't use it randomly."

Manman nowadays especially likes to speak in four-character phrases, chattering like a little chatterbox every day, not only speaking on her own initiative but also very willing to talk to herself.

Although the daily routine of caring for the child was tiring, every time the child made a little progress, it would give rise to a spontaneous sense of pride in them as parents.

Cheng Qi and Manman ran to the front of the target board; the target board was placed a few meters away from them. Just as Manman easily raised her little arm, *swish* — a silver flash streaked by, and the arrow was stuck in the center of the target board.

Manman tilted her head up with a face full of joy, accepting the encouragement from Daddy and Mama, her eyes bright and sparkling.

After practicing for a while, sleepiness came over Manman, and Shen Yao led her back to the room to sleep.

By the time Shen Yao returned from the second floor to the first floor living room, Cheng Qi had already tidied up the scattered items, and was muttering to himself about going to the studio to finish making the remaining bows, arrows, and such.

During normal mild seasons, the two of them were busy with livelihood and would always neglect the child; now the Hot Rain Season finally gave them some free time, so they definitely had to spend more time on the child.

"Manman is only so old, some of the things you made are too advanced; better to focus well on the present first.

Right, the Base sent a notification via wristwatch; the rain will lessen or stop recently.

Should we take advantage of the rain stop to make a trip to the bamboo forest outside the Base?"

No matter which Base, outside there will always be a bamboo forest, large or small, lush and thriving; it is also one of the main sources of weaving materials for the Base people's daily tools.

The bamboo forest of Base No. 25 is a bit more special; not only is its annual bamboo yield very large, the bamboo forest's byproducts are also extremely rich.

After this period of research and exploration by Shen Yao, she feels the probability of the bamboo forest having Energy Stones is very high.

Normally there are many people and prying eyes in the bamboo forest, making it hard to search; now setting out during the rain stop, perhaps we can beat the time difference and let others not notice our movements.

Cheng Qi stared into Shen Yao's eyes, and finally nodded, "The bamboo forest after rain will have bamboo shoots and various mushrooms; we'll drive there, go fast and return fast."

Shen Yao pursed her lips and smiled, "Mm."

On the 33rd day of the Hot Rain Season, the torrential unceasing rain outside began to lessen.

Shen Yao stood by the first-floor window looking outside, fortunate that the Inner District's underground drainage system was well-developed; otherwise, with decades of rain pouring down, the entire Base would have turned into a vast ocean.

From behind came the sound of Manman following Cheng Qi and training hard, *hmm hmm hah hah* — the little child's voice sounded milky and cute, making one especially want to grab her into their arms and knead her round and flat.

On the 35th day of the Hot Rain Season, the rain became smaller and smaller; bold people had already opened windows and doors to ventilate.

Shen Yao still stood by the window observing the outside situation, calculating in her heart how many more days until she could leave the house.

On the 37th day of the Hot Rain Season, the rain stopped.

The moment the sky cleared, Shen Yao heard cheers from people in the Inner District.

The sound spread outside, triggering a chain effect; many people followed suit, shouting out one after another.

Shen Yao's wristwatch immediately afterward received a Base notification: this temporary rain stop would probably last until around 3 PM this afternoon.

The Base does not recommend individuals going out; if you go out, remember to take protective measures.

Shen Yao put down her wristwatch, turned and told Manman and Cheng Qi to change clothes; the outermost layer still had to be a Protective Suit, after all it had rained for so many days straight, the air was humid, and for safety's sake it was best to avoid contact with these water vapors as much as possible.

Manman put on the silver-white Protective Suit, revealing her big round eyes.

She looked a bit excited, because after practicing at home for so long, she finally had a chance to run outside and practice for real.

As a bold star-person, Manman didn't resist any blood-seeing daily life; she had a kind of innate fearlessness, which looked very unusual for her current age, yet also unexpectedly fit this Mutated World.

"We'll set off in a bit, be good and listen."

Shen Yao carried Manman down the stairs; Cheng Qi took this time to already have the Vehicle stowed, locked the house door and put on the iron chain; the family of three drove away from the Base.

There was no other destination; they headed for the bamboo forest with a clear goal.

Along the road they saw quite a few ordinary people carrying back baskets and wearing simple protective gear, most from the Slum District, probably hoping to pick some fresh wild vegetables to take back—even just adding a dish to their daily meals was better than only going out without coming back.

Not everyone had enough supplies; this group living at the Edge of the Base had frugality carved into their bones, and even if the Base advised against going out, no one could stop their hearts from wanting to create value.

After about half an hour, the family of three smoothly reached the Periphery of the Bamboo Forest.

At this moment, a layer of white mist drifted inside and outside the Bamboo Forest, the rain vapor that had not yet dispersed.

Shen Yao led Manman, telling the child to run slower; this trip they were going into the area near the Center of the Bamboo Forest, and the time before the rain stopped would all be spent here.

Manman nodded and answered with a string of "en en ah ah," but because her legs were a bit short, she walked like a waddling fat penguin, and even if she wanted to run she couldn't run far.

The system didn't need Shen Yao to speak before it had already learned to find work for itself.

It reconnoitered the entire area within several li, and if not reassured, appropriately expanded the range, while tactfully reminding where the Energy Stones were hidden.

Yes, the news about Energy Stones in the Bamboo Forest was also thanks to this gossip-loving system.

Running out every day to wander around the surrounding Neighborhood, wasn't it easy to hear a bunch of Xiao Dao news?

Plus Shen Yao had developed the habit of browsing the Forum; without needing to deliberately pump for information, she could pin down the approximate location of the Energy Stones here in the Bamboo Forest.

Seeing bamboo shoots breaking through the soil on the road, Shen Yao resisted the urge and did not collect them in time.

But she didn't forget to tease the system; the yield rate of the Bamboo Forest after the rain was truly high, completely opposite to normal logic.

After all, rainwater contained high mutation values; these Bamboo Forests that had absorbed enough rainwater, logically speaking, should not grow low- and mid-mutation bamboo shoots and mushrooms and such, yet the facts were exactly the opposite—the species that grew were basically all edible.

'No one discovered this?' All food, just leaving it out would be very eye-catching.

'Someone discovered it, but these low- and mid-mutation plants are far from the Base, there are no vehicles, and relying purely on walking, it's not cost-effective in terms of time.'

The system explained that they didn't feel it because they had a car as a means of transportation; if it were most people in the Slum District and Outer District, even if they were drooling over the Bamboo Forest's output, they wouldn't come over—a round trip would take three or four hours, not counting the harvested supplies; who could stand that?

Shen Yao:...

What the system said made sense; she had just been living too well lately and had been presumptuous.

Not continuing to chat idly with the system, the family of three arrived at the Center of the Bamboo Forest, only to hear a muffled 'clang,' as Cheng Qi took out tools from his space and silently distributed them to Shen Yao and Manman.

'First dig the bamboo root positions; if there are none, dig bamboo shoots and the mushrooms just sprouting.'

Shen Yao held the hoe and looked up to see dense yellow-green dots everywhere; the puddles emitted red light, with only a few places having faint white light.

That was the color of Energy Stones!

Shen Yao first marked off a small plot for Manman so she could work too, then took the hoe and walked toward the places emitting white light as she dug.

When the bamboo shoots beside her piled up like a small mountain, and the freshly picked mushrooms filled the bamboo basket, Shen Yao finally successfully dug up the first Energy Stone.

A white crystal smaller than a fingernail, emitting faint white light all over.

Shen Yao wiped it and put it in her pocket, then buried her head and continued digging forward.

After about three or four hours, Shen Yao had gone over everything within her visible range, and only then was in the mood to tidy up the bamboo shoots and fresh mushrooms scattered on the ground.

She dumped them all into her space, leaving one basket to take back by car.

Shen Yao returned to the original spot and saw Cheng Qi accompanying the child in hunting bamboo rats.

Manman's crossbow finally had a use; the arrows she brought became attacking weapons, and soon the bamboo rats running amok in the Bamboo Forest were defeated, abandoning helmets and armor.

Seeing her mother return, Manman pointed to the bundled bamboo rat corpses beside her, indicating these were all hunted by her.

'Manman is truly amazing.'

Shen Yao put the bamboo basket down beside, half-squatted and patted Manman's little head.

She looked up and exchanged a glance with Cheng Qi; the purpose of their coming had already been achieved, and it was time to hurry back home.

Drip drip drip—

The alarm on the wristwatch rang, corresponding to the reminder notification sent from the Base; the sky turned gloomy once again, and the rain that had stopped for more than half a day was about to fall again.

Cheng Qi drove the car, and Manman sat in the back feeling very uncomfortable, surging with her body; wearing the protective suit for too long made it unbreathable, and with the current stuffy weather, a person wrapped inside was like a fish out of water, and even opening her mouth to breathe couldn't relieve it.

Manman was still young; previously, when she was excited hunting bamboo rats, she didn't feel it, but now sitting in the car seat, she felt uncomfortable everywhere.

Even the little girl cried and asked her dad and mom to help her take off her clothes; she didn't want to be smothered.

Shen Yao comforted Manman to hold on a bit longer, using the distraction method to let Manman look at the situation outside the window.

Cheng Qi unconsciously sped up the car beneath him; the scenery along the roadside flashed by, accompanied by the occasional thunderclap from the distant sky, and Manman actually became engrossed in watching.

Arriving home before the rain fell again, Shen Yao didn't even have time to deal with the bamboo shoots and fresh mushrooms she brought back, but instead held her daughter and took a hot water bath first; only after feeling refreshed all over did she lazily flip through the things put into her space.

The bamboo shoots and mushrooms were naturally not few, and there were also several thick Mao bamboo; what made her happiest was the Energy Stones wrapped in cloth.

She opened the cloth wrapped on top, revealing several beautiful white crystals.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven—seven in total; she dug up four, and Cheng Qi dug up three.

Their size wasn't comparable to those in the Rabbit Hole, and they hadn't yet been tested by machines, but judging by size and color depth, the energy was at most 300.

Hmm, not bad, I suppose.

Cheng Qi came downstairs after his bath, water drops still falling from his hair.

Manman was already tired and lying on the sofa snoring; Shen Yao found a thin blanket to cover her well, so she wouldn't be blown by the Living Room's air conditioner.

'Run them through the machine?' Cheng Qi suggested.

'Take a look; use up the ones with low energy,' Shen Yao nodded, holding the Energy Stones and going to the Studio.

When she came out again, Shen Yao picked out the three smallest ones and handed them to Cheng Qi: 'You absorb one, and keep two to sell at a high price.'

She hadn't forgotten that after the hot rainy season, the Shen Family and Cheng Family coming to the Outer District to buy houses and the Inner District to find connections all required spending enough benefits to open the way.

What Shen Yao and the others had that was most valuable on them now were these Energy Stones and Energy Pearls.

Energy Pearls were too valuable to sell, but the Energy Stones with relatively lower energy could be sold occasionally without attracting any prying eyes.

Base No. 25 was too large in area; every day there were lucky ones who found Energy Stones here. Energy Stones were not as rare as at Dawn Base, but their selling price was comparable to Dawn Base.

If it weren't for their insufficient background, selling Energy Stones would be a very good business.

Imagine: normally doing nothing, and when the points ran out, selling an Energy Stone; daily supplies all bought from the Exchange Center; without going out there would be no unexpected risks at all. Tsk tsk tsk, their small days would surely be full of flavor.