Chapter 172 - 139: Becoming Neighbors

Chapter 172: Chapter 139: Becoming Neighbors

Little Tian and his wife worked tirelessly to transport the soybeans, while Huai Yu happily rummaged through the pile of junk while it was still light out.

Fen Da had set the metal items aside in their own separate pile. What Huai Yu was digging through right now was the stash of edible goods from the warehouse—or, more accurately, things that were once edible.

After all, these were instant noodles from six years ago, hot and sour glass noodles from seven years ago, and soda crackers from six years ago...

With every packet she unearthed, Huai Yu’s expression grew a little more dismal. As she pulled out food item after food item, she could almost picture what had been going through the minds of Chen Xing and the others when they first gathered these supplies:

"It’s been six years. They definitely can’t be eaten anymore, right?

"But these are instant noodles, hot and sour glass noodles, and soda crackers! What if they’re still good? It’d be such a waste to just throw them away!

"Let’s keep them just in case. Maybe one day we’ll evolve cast-iron stomachs..."

In this day and age, could one still eat things past their expiration dates? Yes, but not much.

If they were only a year past their expiration dates, Huai Yu swore she would treat herself to a deluxe bowl of instant noodles tonight! But alas...

Now, with a long face, she piled the packets to the side one by one. She truly felt it would have been better if she had never looked through them at all. At least then she wouldn’t be dealing with these intense cravings. Now, it felt like a cat was scratching at her heart; she simply couldn’t calm down!

When she dug out a packet of river snail rice noodles that had also expired six years ago, she finally couldn’t take it anymore. She chucked the bag aside, deciding she wasn’t going to look at this pile of junk anymore.

It truly was junk!

These manufacturers were so annoying! Since they were already adding preservatives, why couldn’t they just add a little more? What was the point of a shelf life of only one, two, or three years? Couldn’t they just make it last six years in one go? They had absolutely no sense of crisis. How aggravating!

Drooling with unrequited craving, she resentfully turned to look at another pile of miscellaneous items. Reaching in, she pulled out a small plastic storage rack. "Huh?" she murmured.

Huai Yu brought the rack closer to inspect it carefully. She realized it was perfect for holding all the small trinkets around her house that had nowhere else to go. Her mood instantly brightened.

Next up was a litter box. However, it wasn’t big enough to hold the chicks, the goslings, or Ke Taichiro. Well, they could technically fit, but there wouldn’t be any room to spare. Huai Yu pondered over it for a long while but couldn’t think of a use for it, so she had to set it aside.

Then came... great. Cat food from six years ago.

If this were right at the onset of the catastrophe, it would have been quite sought after. Not only had many people brought along their beloved pets who were like family, but countless humans were starving as well. Whether meant for pets or humans, this cat food could have kept someone going for a while. But now... Huai Yu sighed.

Following that was a bottle of specialized cleaning fluid for a floor washer. Huai Yu stared at it in silence for a long time. No matter how she thought about it, her home’s cement floors wouldn’t have any use for such a thing. She had no choice but to toss it into the reject pile as well.

Right after that was a toiletries set! The packaging was covered in foreign text and looked exceptionally high-end and elegant, with a price tag of 1,098 a set. It smelled of an ultra-luxurious fragrance that hadn’t gone bad at all. It was clearly still usable.

Huai Yu was thrilled and decisively set it aside in her keeper pile. As for the large cat head and the word "cat" printed on the box, she didn’t notice them in the slightest.

It felt so good to find treasure in a pile of garbage!

Huai Yu was full of energy now. Her heart, which had just been wounded by the instant noodles and snail rice noodles, was instantly mended. Her luck continued to soar as she dug out a plastic sports water bottle from the junk!

"Ahhh!" she cried out in delight. Even though she wasn’t short on the tens of points it would cost to buy a water bottle nowadays, it still felt like unearthing a great treasure. Her happiness was supercharged!

This frantic scavenging lasted until night fell.

It was only when her solar lamps could no longer illuminate the massive pile of miscellaneous goods that she reluctantly stopped. She then carried all her newly found treasures back into the house, trip after trip.

She hadn’t noticed while rummaging, but as she stuffed everything inside, her previously spacious little cabin instantly filled up. Humming a cheerful tune, Huai Yu categorized and put away each item, coming to a firm conclusion once more.

She thought, "Uncle Zaozi really has a lot of connections!

"Even though they are connections born from beating people up—or getting beaten up—at the end of the day, they are still connections!"

With that in mind, Huai Yu woke up early the next morning and picked a large basket of fresh cowpeas. Only then did she head over to Flower City Hospital once again, bringing along an extra meal for her patient.

After Labor Day, the number of people coming to the hospital for treatment had clearly increased. However, none of them had any major issues. The entire lobby smelled faintly of medicinal patches for sprains and bruises. It seemed the recent manual labor had indeed been quite grueling for everyone.

Today’s hospital meal was minced meat with cowpeas. These beans, which people had grown tired of eating six years ago, were now a rare treat for Zhou Qian. He had been lying in the hospital for a long time now. As soon as he finished eating, he shared some good news with Huai Yu.

"After today’s checkup, I’ll be fitted for my prosthetic limb tomorrow."

"So soon?" Huai Yu didn’t know much about medicine, but she had pulled Zhou Qian back from death’s door herself. Back then, his mangled leg had been soaking in water, and every day she had worried that an infection might claim his life. But now, it had only been a few days. How could he already be ready for a prosthetic?

Zhou Qian glanced at her. "That’s not fast at all. Everyone’s physical constitution is much stronger now than it was before the catastrophe. Those of us in the Defense Army are the best of the best, so our recovery rates are incredibly fast.

"If I hadn’t lost so much blood and suffered severe nerve damage, I would have been fitted with a biomaterial prosthetic and started the adjustment phase on the third day after the amputation."

Huai Yu didn’t understand any of this technology, which was clearly leaps and bounds ahead of civilian life. She simply asked, "So, are you going to leave after it’s installed?

"I heard that injured soldiers like you get transferred to military academies in the Imperial Capital to be coaches or instructors."

Every person who managed to survive the catastrophe possessed a wealth of survival experience, and the Defense Army soldiers who had directly confronted mutated plants and animals were absolute treasures. Every detail they shared could be the key to someone else’s survival. Even though the government had been quite impoverished these past few years, they still tried every possible method to compensate them in this regard.

This was also one of the reasons why the public showed no resistance to enlisting in the army, despite knowing the inherent dangers.

Zhou Qian shook his head. "Forget it. I’m not the kind of saint whose heart and soul are entirely devoted to the greater good of the nation. I won’t go teach students."

He valued his personal feelings far more than the big picture, and for all these years, he had never considered himself a qualified member of the Defense Army.

Looking earnestly at Huai Yu, he asked, "If I apply to live in District 2 of the Rose Mansion, will you help me build a house?"

Huai Yu was initially overjoyed. "Huh? You’re going to come be my neighbor? Really? Really?!

"Wow! I’ll definitely have a good talk with the Rose Corridor and tell it not to hit you!"

She didn’t hide her surprise in the slightest, and the hospital room was instantly filled with her palpable joy.

But... Huai Yu quickly scrunched up her face. "Do you really want me to help you build a house? That’s so much hard work... I don’t really want to do it..."

She was being completely honest. She didn’t even dare look back on how grueling it had been to build her treehouse. If she had to do it all over again, she might not even have the willpower to push through.

Thus, the young girl thought about it for a moment before saying seriously, "Why don’t you just live in my old treehouse? Even though it got slashed, it hasn’t collapsed yet."