Chapter 38: Return Journey

"These should be enough, right?"

Zhao Xiao Yan watched Wei Dalei busy for so long, she seemed a bit unwilling.

Chen Mu said: "Enough, I calculate, two packets of noodles, one packet of seasoning, five packets of vegetables..."

Pure seasoning is actually consumed very little; we brought two packets just in case of any accident, after all, judging by importance, the noodle packets containing a lot of edible salt are the most important.

But relatively speaking, the consumption of vegetable packets is the highest.

In fact, Chen Mu isn't too worried about meat; rather, vegetables cannot be guaranteed in the short term.

The existing vegetables will soon rot; within the school grounds, there are only some ornamental greens, perhaps some of them edible, but the difficulty of harvesting may be far greater than catching ants and earthworms.

And these few vegetable packets can at least guarantee vegetarian food for the nine of them for several months.

Chen Mu opened the instant noodle bags one by one.

And Wei Dalei was responsible for crawling in to move the seasoning packets out.

These tasks aren't difficult, just time-consuming.

But the most difficult part, conversely, is to empty a packet of instant noodles.

With Wei Dalei's strength, dragging a noodle cake isn't hard, but taking it out of the plastic bag without tearing the bag is troublesome.

In the end, Wei Dalei, accustomed to using force, still tore the bag to shreds, so only Chen Mu could repair it.

After putting the eight small seasoning packets into the instant noodle bag, the outside sky had already darkened.

This used to take only a few seconds to finish, but now it requires three people working together, taking most of the day to complete, not to mention Wei Dalei, a powerhouse.

"Shall we rest here for the night?"

"No, with all those noodles scattered, reptiles might come; if we wake up tomorrow morning surrounded by ants, that would be bad."

Chen Mu gazed at the mess before him, feeling somewhat helpless.

He originally, like Wei Dalei, thought to finish all the packing work today, then rest overnight on the spot, and set out on the return journey tomorrow morning full of energy.

But he obviously didn't anticipate this scene.

"Then shall we just head back?"

"Traveling at night is too dangerous; we'll first leave the cafeteria area, then find a place to set up camp."

"Okay."

"Old Wei, you're responsible for dragging this big bag of seasoning; I'll push the handcart."

"Can you do it, boss?" Wei Dalei showed a doubtful expression.

Chen Mu full of confidence: "Of course... not possible, so we need to discard some flour."

The sky was completely dark; Shangshi's environmental governance over the years has borne fruit, making stars visible at night, and with no vehicle emissions for the past week, the air has improved even further.

The three came to the slope outside the cafeteria building.

"Let's stay here; we'll leave when it's light."

"Is it safe?"

"No problem."

After Chen Mu finished speaking, he began to work.

A plastic cover larger than before slowly closed over the three's heads.

Eventually it became something like a tent.

The handcart was also covered inside, but the instant noodle bag, being truly too large in volume, could only be left outside; however Chen Mu also sealed its mouth, using the concrete ground to press down its four corners firmly to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.

Because there was plenty of time, Chen Mu carefully made a T-shaped groove around on the ground and slipped the bottom edge of the plastic cover into it, forming a very sturdy component.

Wei Dalei reached out and pushed it, nodding to show satisfaction.

"Rest assured, unless a rat determined to chew plastic shows up, defense against ordinary animals is fine."

Chen Mu still had some confidence, which is why he dared to spend the night outside.

The plastic's translucency was decent; each person leaned against the handcart, looked up at the hazy night sky, chatted casually, and then all fell into deep sleep.

They slept until midnight.

Chen Mu was suddenly awakened by a rustling sound.

He didn't immediately wake Wei Dalei, silently opening a small hole in the plastic cover to look outside.

Under the moonlight, two figures were furtively examining something beside their instant noodle bag.

It was obvious.

Their stuff had been eyed.

Chen Mu wasn't sure if those two were Li Hewei's gang, and for a moment he hesitated whether to rush out directly.

Wei Dalei's snoring did a good job confusing the outsiders, but Chen Mu likewise didn't dare wake him, for if the snoring suddenly stopped, it would clearly tell those two that they'd been discovered.

Just as Chen Mu was agonizing over what to do, the other side suddenly stopped and gathered together.

Although their faces couldn't be seen clearly, judging by their build and movements, they seemed not to be part of Li Hewei's gang.

Moreover, the leader was clearly a woman.

The two discussed briefly on the spot, then glanced a few times toward the "tent"; just as Chen Mu thought they were about to attack, they both turned around and headed toward the cafeteria.

Chen Mu couldn't quickly judge their intention.

Did they think they weren't sure and wanted to call for help?

Or did their conscience kick in, feeling embarrassed to steal others' stuff?

Chen Mu didn't dare follow them to investigate, after all, anyone who dares to wander about at midnight must have some backing.

He didn't dare take the risk; he hurriedly woke Wei Dalei and Zhao Xiao Yan and told them his earlier discovery in full.

"Boss, what should we do?" Wei Dalei, though reckless, also knew that this situation of hidden enemies and clear allies was very disadvantageous for their side; moreover, with Zhao Xiao Yan present, if a fight really broke out, he'd have to watch out for her too.

We can only take a risk; we must hurry.

Traveling at night, the biggest problem is insufficient visibility; by the time danger is spotted, it's already too late to raise a defensive shield.

But compared to those humans of unknown allegiance, Chen Mu would rather take this risk.

Wei Dalei immediately agreed.

The three of them tidied up.

Chen Mu pushed the handcart, Wei Dalei dragged the instant noodle bag.

They returned the way they came.

Along the way, the three of them were extra careful.

However, they hadn't gone far.

Chen Mu suddenly stopped.

"What's up, boss?"

"Nothing, I'm going to the toilet."

Chen Mu walked a short distance away, finished his business, and the three continued on their way.

……

At the same time.

About two meters behind the three.

A man and a woman were furtively following.

"They've stopped." The man lowered his voice and called a halt to the two.

"What did they say?" the woman whispered.

"Shhh..." The man made a hushing gesture, then listened intently for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Nothing, that guy went to pee."

"Are you sure?"

"I faintly heard water sounds; what's wrong, is there a problem?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid we'll be discovered."

"How could that be? Who could have hearing like mine?"

"Being careful is never wrong."

"They're getting up again."

"Follow them."