bookrandom Chapter 202 Grandma Xin's Request
Chapter 202 Grandma Xin's Request
As night fell, the valley was enveloped in tranquility, with only the babbling of the stream and the faint sounds of whirlpool bulls slowly grazing on the plants in the distance.
The convoy's campfire was lit, its flickering flames illuminating the tired yet relaxed faces.
Xu Si leaned back next to "Nirvana" with a freshly roasted sweet potato in his hand.
The sweet potato has a charred black skin, but when broken open, it reveals a soft, silvery-white flesh, steaming with a pure, long-lost sweet aroma.
He took a bite, and the warm, creamy texture melted on his tongue, giving him an unreal sense of satisfaction. He hadn't tasted this since leaving his hometown.
He didn't want it before, but now that he has it in his mouth, he feels incredibly satisfied.
Not far away, Jiao Jiao was eating a roasted sweet potato, her mouth covered in soot.
The redness and swelling on her arm had subsided considerably after a full day of recovery, but she still had difficulty moving around.
Jiao Jiao ate obediently, but her eyes kept glancing at a small bonfire not far away.
DouDou and Wei Fuzi and the other children were gathered around the small pile of snacks they had exchanged, chattering excitedly.
Because the cows were eating, they were very considerate and didn't disturb them.
The old woman was discussing something with Fu Xiaojian.
"Don't you grill it?" Jiao Jiao murmured curiously.
After waiting for a while, DouDou and the others realized that Jiao Jiao seemed to be talking to them.
"Huh? We're not hungry!" They really weren't hungry, and they genuinely didn't have any particular expectations for sweet potatoes.
The campfire crackled, casting orange-red light across the valley.
DouDou and the other children couldn't resist their curiosity about the pile of "snacks" in the end.
After discussing it for a long time, they finally opened a bag of the most familiar cookies.
It's just the most ordinary kind of thin, crispy biscuit.
"Give it to Grandma Xin first!" Doubao reached out her little hand, but Doudou immediately slapped it away.
"I...I didn't want to eat it!" Doubao said, sounding like a child who had done something wrong.
DouDou, DouBao, and KaoChang all looked at Master Wei.
It was always Master Wei who stepped in at this time.
If they go, they'll easily be persuaded by Grandma Xin, and in the end, all the good food will end up in their mouths.
Only Master Wei remained unmoved by Granny Xin's various rhetoric and never wavered; he wouldn't move unless Granny Xin ate him.
They didn't say anything, they just waited.
Therefore, Grandma Xin had no choice but to eat some food as a form of compromise with Master Wei.
Master Wei was already familiar with the process, so he took the biscuit and walked toward Grandma Xin, who was talking to Fu Xiaojian.
Seemingly noticing something amiss with Fu Xiaojian's expression, Grandma Xin turned her head and saw Master Wei standing to the side holding biscuits. She then understood what was going on.
Seemingly noticing that Grandma Xin had taken notice of them, Master Wei immediately stepped forward.
"You guys eat!"
"……"silence.
"I'm talking to an adult!"
"..." was met with silence once again.
"Alright! I'll take some, just don't bother us while we're talking!" Grandma Xin had no choice but to make up this excuse.
Master Wei remained expressionless and handed over the biscuit in his hand.
After Grandma Xin symbolically took some, he gestured to Fu Xiaojian.
Fu Xiaojian was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hand to express his refusal and gratitude, before Master Wei silently turned and went back.
"Mr. Fu, you flatter me. Young Wei is the most stubborn of all."
Grandma Xin smiled with satisfaction as she watched the little ones happily sharing their snacks.
"Not at all, you've educated them very well!"
In the apocalypse, few children can survive, let alone these little ones who haven't gone astray, which is even more commendable.
In all the time since the apocalypse, the only children they encountered in other convoys were Little Xiao from the Magical Circus and Little Tian from the Blazing Chariot.
Neither of them are ordinary people.
He couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for an old man to survive for so long in the apocalypse with four children.
"Could you consider what we just discussed?" Grandma Xin asked.
Fu Xiaojian was in a dilemma. The team already had many children, including Xiao Luo, Jiao Jiao, and Yao Yao, who were all quite young. Bringing four more children would undoubtedly be unwise.
"Aren't you living well in the valley? Why do you want them to migrate with us? If they migrate with us, they could die at any time!" Fu Xiaojian said.
They had no intention of looting; he said this to reassure the old man before him!
In the apocalypse, humanity is on the verge of collapse.
He wouldn't go so far as to exterminate anyone unless it was absolutely necessary to eliminate them, let alone the elderly and children.
Grandma Xin listened in silence.
The firelight danced on her face, making the wrinkles on her face appear even deeper.
"Mr. Fu is right." Her voice was soft, but exceptionally clear.
"But the safety here... is temporary, it's an illusion."
She looked up at the enormous whirlpool cow that was slowly grazing by the stream.
"Niu Niu survives by eating these grasses along the water's edge. But this valley is only so big. The grass grows in one crop, and it eats it in another. When we first came, the grass was denser, but now, you can see..."
"DouDou was able to form a contract with it by luck. The sweet potatoes we grow are in a special cavity inside their shells, relying on a warm current flowing through their bodies. That warm current... is also weakening."
"When the grass is all gone, his warmth may be gone."
Her voice was flat, simply stating a fact, a fact that had been troubling her day and night.
Fu Xiaojian understood; that meant the implantation cavity required something strange, similar to superhuman energy.
This giant whirlpool is now struggling to make ends meet, and may even dry up one day. No wonder there are only some shrubs near the stream.
No wonder Niu Niu was weak; the other monsters ate humans, which were nutritious.
How could a cow not be weak if it eats grass every day?
"Didn't you ever think of taking him out of the valley to find other habitats?"
"Of course we thought about it, and we even tried it, but its speed..." Grandma Xin hesitated before continuing.
Yes, at Niu Niu's speed.
They might die on the way before finding a new habitat.
If it were just habitat degradation, she wouldn't be in such a hurry.
"Besides, I don't have many days left to live! You don't need to take me away. I'm just an old woman and I'm of no use. Why don't you take Dou Dou and the others with you? The oldest of them is only ten years old!" Grandma Xin said calmly.
These days she's been sleeping longer and longer, and who knows, one day she might never wake up again.
"They haven't even had a proper look at the world, and look how it's become like this!"
Grandma Xin's eyes became even more cloudy.
She wasn't trying to morally blackmail anyone; she just hated this damn world.
Fu Xiaojian hesitated for a long time. He was not alone; he could not make decisions for the entire team.
Although I sympathize with DouDou and the others' plight, he represents the interests of the whole group.
Reason told him that this was a hot potato.
However, his emotions told him that this was a living, breathing life.