PSW - Chapter 94
Chapter 94
Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan stayed in the small coastal fishing village for five days.
Eleven women, six children. During these five days, just by feeding them and Yu Yinan daily, Zheng Yi could earn 18 Saint Points every day.
Within these five days, to eat the best-tasting seafood, Zheng Yi also bought many seasonings like scallions, ginger, and garlic from the system store. Spicy crab, garlic shrimp, steamed sea fish, stir-fried clams… The smaller sea fish weren't steamed; instead, they were stewed directly into a mixed fish soup. They ate almost every type of ingredient that could be caught in this part of the sea during these five days.
When cooking, Zheng Yi would also add a tube of tasteless nutrient solution. In just five days, the women's complexions improved at a visible rate. They were no longer so lifeless and had even put on a little weight.
Lu Lingying also recovered very well. Or rather, under the triple guarantee of the medicine, the nutrient solution, and Zheng Yi's healing ability, she had already recovered well on the very first day. For the past five days, she had no problem running, jumping, or moving around. She even felt an incredible sense of ease, as if she had never suffered those hardships.
Towards Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan, these women were grateful and devout. Even though Zheng Yi's methods of executing and torturing those men were ruthless, and even though Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan, as ability users, were far stronger than them, they didn't feel the slightest bit of fear.
It wasn't that they hadn't hoped the two could stay and live with them, but they also understood very clearly that it was impossible.
If they wanted to survive in the apocalypse and start over… they had to rely on themselves. After what they had been through, they were no longer willing to depend on or rely on others. On the third day of Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan's stay, after taking inventory of the entire village's food stores and various items, they began to familiarize themselves with the beach. Although they couldn't go out to sea to fish yet, they could do things like gathering small crabs and clams by the shore, or knocking oysters off rocks…
They even found some seeds, reclaimed the muddy patch in the backyard that had been abandoned due to the high-temperature period, and planted some suitable crops.
As for the children, they actually had differing opinions. Some didn't want to raise the boys at all, but the boys were too young, and they couldn't bear to let them fend for themselves. In the end, they took them in. It was just that they doted on the girls a bit more, while with the boys, they were more concerned about whether their character was developing crookedly. If any of them showed any… unhealthy signs, they would probably nip it in the bud and snuff it out immediately.
It was too fast. Just five days. From the day Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan arrived at this small fishing village, the trajectory of their destinies had changed. Looking forward from these five days into the future… it should be a new beginning, the start of something bright.
They took over the techniques for distilling water and purifying crude salt, and also gradually learned how to control the boats. However, the original boats were electric. Since none of them were ability users, for the time being, they could only rely on the solar generator left in the village for power. After one trip out to sea, it would probably be a long time before they could go out again.
"The high-temperature period is over, so the extreme cold period should be next. You can store up enough fuel in advance for heating during the cold period. You can also dig a kiln, chop wood, and burn it to store charcoal."
"Before the extreme cold period, there should be a third downpour. If you want to take a gamble… you can try and see if you can become ability users." Yu Yinan thought for a moment and still brought this up after reminding them about the extreme cold period. Zheng Yi had caught many mutated fish, which they had all eaten, plus there was the nutrient solution… Even if their bodies were previously depleted, they should have recovered by now. After she and Zheng Yi left, the women would continue to eat the mutated fish meat, and by then, their physical fitness might even be a bit stronger than that of ordinary people.
In that case… if they were exposed to the third downpour, they probably wouldn't mutate so easily. Even if they couldn't become ability users, improving their physical fitness would still be good.
After saying all this, Yu Yinan glanced at Zheng Yi. Zheng Yi's dark eyes originally held no emotion, merely watching everything with indifference. But when Yu Yinan looked over, Zheng Yi's eyes curved, and she smiled gently at her, as if in encouragement.
Yu Yinan's ears turned red. Although it still felt a bit unreal, who wouldn't be moved by that smile? She collected her thoughts, took some folded papers from her pocket, and handed them over.
"This is a simple map I drew. It should be clear enough, right? This one is the overall map. This is Chuanyang. I've marked the fishing village here, which is where we are now. This is Zhongshan. From here, this route goes north, like this… Huikong, Hangnu, Pujie."
"These two are maps of the urban areas of Zhongshan and Pujie. Zhongshan has a base with many survivors, and the base leader is a good person, but resource allocation is limited, and… it's the apocalypse, so everyone prioritizes ability users. But if you run into any danger and can't survive here, you can try going there. Pujie is the same. It doesn't have as many people as Zhongshan, but its facilities are more complete, so it's also a good shelter. It's called Humanity's Light Shelter." Yu Yinan spread out the papers and explained them one by one. No one knew what the future held. There wasn't much Yu Yinan could do, other than provide them with a few possible "paths to survival."
She didn't say what might happen if they mentioned Zheng Yi's name in Zhongshan. Even when helping, Yu Yinan knew her limits. Even as Zheng Yi's girlfriend, she wouldn't go over Zheng Yi's head and let others use her name to gain something.
After handing all this over to them, Yu Yinan took a few pieces of candy from her pocket and passed them over along with the hand-drawn maps. She had wanted to say some encouraging words, but in the end, she was too embarrassed to say them. Saying such things so abruptly and solemnly… might be too awkward. In the end, she was just silent for a moment, her ears turning red, before she said softly and sincerely, "Well then, goodbye."
"Thank you, really, thank you so much… Goodbye." Some of the women couldn't help but cry out. Yu Yinan could even hear someone choking out the word "Saint." She waved, didn't linger, and quickly walked to Zheng Yi's side.
"Enjoy your new life." Zheng Yi waved to them and said with a smile, "Goodbye~"
They didn't take anything from the fishing village, even leaving behind the two motorcycles they had acquired earlier. Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan walked up the small path, leaving the fishing village behind.
When they reached the main road, Yu Yinan still felt a bit dazed. She looked at the caltrops still scattered on the road surface. "Are we… going back now?"
"Let's finish exploring Chuanyang," Zheng Yi said. "There's an ocean park and some beach attractions here. Let's go see them all." Even though it was all the same ocean, the scenery was different.
And so, they stayed in Chuanyang for another five days, exploring every part of it.
Strangely enough, they really didn't run into anyone else, nor did they find any other survivor camps. Even when they saw traces of human activity, the traces were from before the high-temperature period at the latest. The other survivors in Chuanyang… perhaps they were dead, had fled to other cities, or had been slaughtered by the people from that small fishing village. After all, when Zheng Yi had gone into the other villagers' houses, she had discovered underground storage rooms and human remains.
"Should we head back?" Yu Yinan asked. "Are we still going to the Zhongshan base?"
Zheng Yi had originally planned to go, but this month's Saint Points had already been credited, so she didn't feel like going anymore. "Let's take another route back to Pujie." It was time to see how Humanity's Light Shelter was developing.
As for the matter of the fragments, perhaps she could mention it to Chu Yi and the shelter's upper management. Maybe they had some information. A whole high-temperature period had passed. She wondered how Humanity's Light was doing now, and how many of the ordinary people had managed to survive it.
"Another route?" Yu Yinan took out her map and looked it over. Heading north from Chuanyang, a completely different route from before… it would probably involve a slight detour west through Qingye, then continuing north to Lingxu and Fengxi, and finally heading east to reach Pujie.
The route back to the city was much more roundabout than the way they came, but that was clearly not something Zheng Yi would care about. She would only look forward to whether they would meet new people or encounter interesting events in the new cities.
Really… But if they went through Qingye, it wouldn't be very far from Yongdu. Yongdu was northwest of Qingye. The distance from Chuanyang to Qingye and from Qingye to Yongdu… wasn't too different.
That pair of siblings, they were from Yongdu, right? Yu Yinan thought of the siblings, Xia Sheng and Xia Cheng. A whole high-temperature period had passed. She wondered if they had successfully found their family, if they were still in Yongdu, or if they had already gone to Pujie.
Yu Yinan briefly planned the route, then pulled out detailed maps of the cities they would pass through and looked them over, plotting their course along the main roads. When she came to her senses and looked up, she saw Zheng Yi staring at her with a beaming smile. Her dark eyes were focused and full of affection. When their gazes met, she showed no shyness at all, instead smiling even more sweetly. "Jiejie, you're so serious~"
"Ah. I-I was just doing a little route planning…" It was nothing worth mentioning. Yu Yinan's ears turned slightly red. She held out the atlas. Although she hadn't drawn out the map yet, she already had a rough plan in her mind. "Th-then, should I drive? Are we going to Qingye now?"
"Okay~ But before we go…" Zheng Yi moved closer to Yu Yinan, stopping abruptly when she was extremely close. She waited until Yu Yinan's entire face was flushed pink before chuckling and pecking the corner of her lips. "Alright~ Let's go."
"…!" Yu Yinan was completely flustered by her. She looked at Zheng Yi and couldn't help but raise her hands to hold Zheng Yi's shoulders. "That… doesn't count." She complained in a low voice, then tentatively and carefully leaned in again, kissing her seriously.
There was still a smile in Zheng Yi's eyes. She showed no sign of refusal, simply accepting it obediently.
Obedient, sweet, considerate, gentle…
Every aspect Zheng Yi displayed now made Yu Yinan's heart flutter and filled her with adoration at every moment.
Only the observing Zero One knew that Zheng Yi didn't always look at Yu Yinan with that kind of gaze. When Yu Yinan wasn't looking, her gaze was as indifferent as ever—devoid of sorrow or joy, without a single ripple.
Only when Yu Yinan looked over would Zheng Yi instantly switch into "perfect girlfriend" mode.
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