Chapter 129: Midnight Snack, a Leisurely Night

Most people believed this was nothing but baseless gossip. After all, birds of a feather flock together—when a group is full of strong individuals, both the atmosphere and the topics of discussion are bound to be different from those of a ragtag crowd. With capable seniors guiding the newcomers, each generation teaching the next, a positive cycle forms. As long as the people below aren’t completely unambitious, it would be strange if they didn’t turn out well.

Bian Changxi thought the same. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe fate might favor Gu Xu, but if he really had some “golden finger” ability that could help others, yet his closest friends and family kept dying one after another, that would be a cruel irony.

Besides, didn’t Gu Pei, his own younger brother, still not have any powers?

She glanced at Gu Pei, who looked a bit blank, then waved his hand. “I don’t have any abilities. Sigh, I don’t know why—everyone else does, but not me.”

He seemed a little down, feeling rather useless. But after his brother talked to him once, those thoughts faded. Not having powers didn’t mean anything. There were still ways to live without them.

His attitude was surprisingly good, which caught Bian Changxi off guard. But looking around at the fully furnished, clean, and spacious room, she hesitated and asked, “Are there any other rooms?”

“There are only two rooms on the third floor. None left on the second. There are two on the first floor, but it’s a bit noisy down there.”

As if on cue, a car horn blared maliciously from downstairs, followed by the sound of many footsteps. A loud voice called out, “Hey, I heard you finally found the wood-type you’ve been looking for?”

A flash of annoyance crossed Gu Pei’s face. He said helplessly, “That’s our neighbor’s neighbor—An Qianzhe and her group from another villa complex. They’re part of the local security team, and we don’t really get along.”

Then a familiar voice chimed in, “Bro, I heard Miss Bian is here?”

That was Qiu Yun. If Qiu Yun was here, Hu Aiquan couldn’t be far behind.

Bian Changxi and Gu Pei thought the same thing.

If she were staying on the first floor, just the thought of having to open the door and deal with all those people gave Bian Changxi a headache. She asked, puzzled, “Am I really that famous? Or are they just using me as an excuse to come over?”

“You have no idea how valuable wood-type abilities are in the base right now. Every time one appears, all the factions scramble for them. And you were already well-known. But you don’t need to bother with these people—Brother Qiu Feng will handle it.”

At that moment, Aunt Zhao came upstairs with a bucket of water. She said, “Young Master Gu, Miss Bian, Vice Captain Qiu said Miss Bian doesn’t need to go down. He’ll send those people away.”

That was perfect. After seeing Gu Pei and Aunt Zhao out, Bian Changxi closed the door and carefully examined the room’s layout.

The room was huge, with a bed, a built-in wardrobe, a vanity, and a TV wall. There was an en-suite bathroom, and the rest of the space was mostly empty—big enough to roll around or even jog in. She opened the floor-to-ceiling windows to find a large south-facing terrace connected to the rooftop. Standing there, she could see the lights of the surrounding buildings.

She was very satisfied with this room.

Now that she was at the base, she needed a permanent place to stay. If history stayed on track, there would be a little over nine months before the Su City base collapsed from internal and external strife and finally fell. She wanted to live comfortably in the meantime. Ordinary housing couldn’t compare in terms of environment or space—let alone reliable electricity and sanitation. High-end villas like this were naturally her first choice.

But Su City base operated on a strict regional class system. People were divided into ranks, and so were the areas they could live and move in—just like in most apocalypse novels: A, B, C, D zones. This villa area was probably in the B zone, just below the central administrative and research areas, reserved for higher-level managers and those with background or ability.

If she had to fight her way in on her own, she’d be waiting forever.

But just freeloading here? She’d already prepared herself mentally to cling to Gu Xu’s coattails, but was she holding on a little too tightly?

Unable to figure it out, she decided not to think about it. She called over Milk, her dirty-hoofed, wandering beast, and together they entered Ning.

The world spun—much more comfortably than teleportation—and then everything brightened. Lush green lawns, clear streams, rich black soil, fresh and pleasant air, and warm sunlight. She took a deep breath and felt completely refreshed.

Milk froze for a moment, then let out a joyful howl, leapt from Bian Changxi’s hand, and started frolicking everywhere.

Bian Changxi smiled contentedly and went to check on the chicken coop.

After days of hard work, Ning had not only recovered but grown even larger, and time inside was even closer to the outside world. Her chickens, ducks, cows, and fish were growing slowly but healthily.

The hens were brooding again, and it wouldn’t be long before the first batch of chicks hatched. The ducks had learned to float in the stream and returned to their nests to sleep when it was time. The mother cow and her calf spent their days mooing, strolling around the pasture, and munching on grass. The calf had grown a bit, but what frustrated Bian Changxi was that she still hadn’t had time to figure out the milk-processing machine, so she hadn’t tasted fresh milk yet. Plus, cows only produce milk for so long—once the calf grew up, would the mother stop producing milk? For breeding, she’d need to bring in a bull too.

Lost in thought, she fetched some clothes from the warehouse, shooed the nosy Milk over to the chicken coop, and went to bathe in the stream.

After her own digging and willful intervention, the stream had started to branch. It wasn’t obvious yet, but as Ning upgraded, the branches would grow. She bathed in one of the small branches now—no matter how clean the water was, it felt weird to mix water for bathing, drinking, and raising animals.

She planned to dig a few wells later, separating water for drinking, washing, and other uses.

Of course, once she built a house, things would be much easier. She looked at the sunlit second floor, thinking about what kind of house to build.

A villa like this one would be nice.

After her bath, she grabbed Milk and scrubbed him clean and white. Then she sat down to share a snack with him, planning to plant something in the black soil next time, tidied up, and left Ning.

Twenty minutes inside—twenty-four and a half minutes had passed outside. She sat for a bit, wondering if Gu Xu had returned, when there was a knock at the door. Aunt Zhao came in with a tray of snacks.

“Vice Captain Qiu thought you might be hungry, so I brought you a bowl of meat porridge, Miss Bian. Would you like some?”

Uh-oh. Looking at the steaming, fragrant porridge, Bian Changxi regretted eating earlier. Those cold, packaged snacks were nothing compared to this.

Luckily, she hadn’t eaten much so she could sleep. She accepted the bowl and took a sip. “Mmm, this is delicious. It must have simmered for a long time?”

Aunt Zhao smiled. “Heh, Captain Gu often comes home late, and even when he does, he doesn’t like to eat. He works late into the night, so the kitchen always keeps something ready. Only porridge keeps well and stays warm, and it’s easy to eat.”

“Oh.” So this was Gu Xu’s midnight snack. Bian Changxi asked, “Does he come home late often?”

“Sigh, Captain Gu is always busy. For the past two months, he’s worked himself to the bone for us Jiangcheng folks. Thanks to him, almost everyone has a place to live now. We can register accounts and take jobs at the mercenary guild without being bullied, buy and sell at the market without extra taxes, and have ways to get water and electricity. Even outside the base, we don’t have to worry about discrimination or isolation. People are even more polite to Jiangcheng folks because of Captain Gu’s reputation.”

Aunt Zhao’s face lit up with admiration as she rambled on. “Miss Bian, you don’t know—when big groups from other cities arrive, tens of thousands of people, it can take a week just to process entry paperwork. Before that, the well-connected ones camp inside the base, while the rest, like scattered survivors, have to sleep outside and go through inspections one by one. Even after getting in, the base only gives you a plot of land, and you have to build your own shelter. If you can’t build a house, you live in a tent.

“I even heard about a group from a poor mountain area—six or seven thousand people, dirt poor. They were given a patch of land outside the base wall and left there for a month. Their leader went to the admin hall every day, talking until his mouth was dry, but still got nowhere.” She sighed. “To be fair, land and resources in the base are limited. If Captain Gu weren’t so capable, wouldn’t we Jiangcheng folks be in the same boat? He even got us a nice plot to build our own activity center…”

Bian Changxi watched this middle-aged woman get more and more excited, secretly rolling her eyes. Captain Gu really was endlessly charming—here was a die-hard fan right under his nose.

Still, she believed Gu Xu had done these things for Jiangcheng, but he wasn’t actually from there and had no special feelings for the place. There was no need for him to work so hard “for the people.” He wasn’t some saint—she didn’t buy that.

He probably needed the people as a base to achieve certain goals—like power.

She vaguely remembered that Gu Xu had left earlier with a group that looked like the base’s military police. That meant he was being interrogated or investigated. Was it because of her? At the very least, it showed that Gu Xu’s status in the base wasn’t solid yet—he looked impressive on the surface, but there were plenty of obstacles behind the scenes.

After her midnight snack, Bian Changxi spread out fresh bedding from Ning on the big bed, climbed in comfortably, and let out a satisfied sigh. Milk curled up beside her, sprawled out on the pillow without a care, even mimicking her sigh, eyes squinting in contentment. She poked his face, laughing. “You think it’s comfy too, don’t you? Tomorrow you’ll go back to your owner, and you’ll get to sleep on a big bed every day.”"