Chapter 704: Liao Chen

During the Calamity years, electrical resources were scarce, and electric rebar cutters had been abandoned in favor of manual ones.

"Uncle Huo made this with a jack and steel plates." Xia Qing turned her head and gave Lord Huo Lei a thumbs-up.

Seeing that Xia Qing had been cutting rebar for two hours and could still flick her fingers up easily, Jiang Ying quietly flexed her own fingers and arms, hoping that when she ate later, her hands wouldn't tremble too badly. She followed up, "Uncle Huo, is the frame of this cutter made from angle steel salvaged from a high-voltage transmission tower?"

"Yes, how did you tell?" Lord Huo Lei was a little surprised; he hadn't expected this Miss to know such things.

Jiang Ying explained, "Before my brother joined the army, he often took me scavenging for supplies. We dug up a tower base once and pried this kind of angle steel out of the concrete."

In the first year of the Calamity, a major earthquake collapsed Jiang Ying's home; in the second year, her father was beaten to death trying to protect the family's grain. Fortunately, the army took over the area shortly after and began establishing a safe zone—otherwise not a single one of their family of three would have survived.

After the army arrived, social order was somewhat restored. Jiang's mother scrambled for work everywhere, and eight-year-old Jiang Ying followed twelve-year-old Jiang Hu around picking through trash and assembling all kinds of junk into usable things to trade for points.

The siblings kept scavenging until the sixth year of the Calamity, when Jiang Hu took a free test, his ID card was switched to green, and he could take on missions to earn more points—only then did their family's life get a little easier.

Jiang Ying's nose began to sting and she lowered her head, not daring to think any further.

Xia Qing picked up the thread, "It really has to be you—this is the most labor-saving cutter I've ever used."

Since entering the territory, Lord Huo Lei's temper had become much milder. He replied with a smile, "It doesn't have much to do with skill. If the steel plate is hard enough and the blade is sharp enough, it saves effort. After we eat, I'll sharpen the blade. This afternoon you go tie the stirrups, I'll do the cutting."

Zhao Ze took off his protective mask, wiped his sweat, and walked over to discuss with Xia Qing, "Sister Qing, let's push the pace this afternoon. We'll get the rebar beam done and set it up before three, then pour the concrete for the first-floor slab and beams at the same time, finishing by six. I'll talk to Brother Yue later—add three more people this afternoon?"

To keep out insects and resist earthquakes, the floor, like the walls and roof, had to be laid with rebar and then poured with concrete.

"Good."

Xia Qing agreed to Zhao Ze's arrangement. The concrete had to cure for two days after pouring, and only after confirming no abnormal changes could construction continue. In other words, once today's work was done, they could rest for two days before coming back.

After getting Xia Qing's agreement, Zhao Ze called out loudly, "Everyone stop and go eat! We start work at one-thirty this afternoon."

"Sister Qing, do you think this one's all right now?" Shi Du had adjusted the angle of the stirrup's bent hook and asked Xia Qing to inspect it.

"It's fine." After inspecting, Xia Qing followed everyone toward the cafeteria of Territory Fifteen.

After eating, they could rest here, or go back to the territory for a short break.

When she was with the construction crew, Xia Qing would find a shady, quiet spot to nap after lunch, then continue working in the afternoon. But the labor intensity of building houses in Territory Fifteen was much lower than that of the safe-zone construction crew, so Xia Qing wouldn't feel tired even without a midday nap. So she decided to go back, take a shower, change clothes, and then return to work. Her underclothes had long been soaked through with sweat.

Today's lunch was yellow-rank wild boar stewed with green beans—the boar had been hunted by a team led by Yue Haiying, and the beans were grown in the greenhouse.

The cook in Territory Fifteen was a retired mess sergeant, skilled at making big-pot dishes. Before they even reached the shipping container converted into a cafeteria, the aroma drifted over.

After washing their hands and entering the simple but very clean cafeteria with everyone, Jiang Ying was worrying about how to go get her food when Tan Qi had already brought it over for her. "Sister Qing, Sister Yingzi, over here!"

"Okay." Jiang Ying followed Xia Qing to a clean wooden table and sat down, taking the chopsticks Tan Qi handed her. She had meant to say that Sister Qiqi had served her too much food, but she noticed Xia Qing's portions of dishes and staple food were double hers, and her nose stung again—she almost cried.

Strength evolvers had big appetites; her brother was the same—he had to eat a lot to feel full. To eat his fill, he had joined the army.

"The food smells amazing today, hurry and eat. If it's not enough, we'll go get more." Tan Qi, like a cheerful little bird, urged the two sisters to eat quickly, then bit her chopsticks and gazed at them eagerly, waiting for their feedback.

Xia Qing pretended not to notice the change in Jiang Ying's breathing, took a bite of the stewed meat, and gave a sincere assessment, "Delicious. The meat is stewed just right—it's soaked all the way through."

The Territory Fifteen cook's culinary skills were more than a little better than Xia Qing's. If she weren't afraid of leaking the territory's secrets, she would really love to poach this cook for her own territory.

Jiang Ying, whose fingers ached, couldn't pick up the food. She lowered her head and scooped up a mouthful with her chopsticks, and her taste buds were instantly awakened. Lowering her voice, she asked shyly, "Such delicious food, and fifty points a month lets you eat your fill—am I paying too little?"

Xia Qing smiled. Not only in looks, but also in personality, Jiang Ying was like Hu Zi—quiet and honest. She could recognize at a glance that the cutter's frame was made of angle iron, and she might also know how to modify a bicycle.

But she had just arrived and was still a bit reserved; this wasn't the time to ask about such things.

Tan Qi smiled so hard her eyes crinkled, "Not too little at all! We don't get meat every day either—only when Uncle Yue and the others hunt edible game. Uncle Yue has been going out hunting a lot these past few days, he's so happy."

Yue Haiying wasn't happy because he got to go hunting; he was happy because Zhang Hongda's antidote ingredients were finally complete. He didn't go out specifically to hunt either—it was because the second course of Zhang Hongda's detox treatment needed two people to go help.

Xia Qing ate two bowls of dishes, four steamed buns, and a bowl of mung bean soup, then left Territory Fifteen with a satisfied belly.

Tan Qi and Jiang Ying walked out with Xia Qing; the two of them were heading back to the inspection team's dormitory for an afternoon nap. Tan Junjie had cleared out the dormitory right next to his for Jiang Ying to stay in, and once the house was built, she and Tan Qi would move into the territory together.

After parting from Xia Qing, Tan Qi asked softly, "Sister Yingzi, are you tired?"

"Tired, but my heart feels really steady." The people working here were either lords or her brother's comrades-in-arms—all trustworthy. It was far better than the safe-zone food factory. Jiang Ying secretly resolved that she would adapt to life here as soon as possible, learn to farm, and then bring her mother over.

Jiang's mother had taken over Jiang Ying's position at the food factory, earning a monthly wage of 90 points.

Tan Qi empathized completely and nodded vigorously, "Exactly! That's exactly how it feels!"

To save time at noon, Xia Qing didn't take the northern isolation belt, but instead returned to her own territory through the passage between the two territories.

No sooner had she entered the passage between Territory Six and Territory Fourteen than Xia Qing heard someone walking through the grass stubble inside Territory Fourteen. She pretended not to hear, kept walking forward, and readied herself for combat.