Chapter 147: That Damn Du Hanwen—Xiao Lingye Wants Him Dead!

Most of the shops here are only one or two stories tall.

But this one has three floors, plus a basement and a big courtyard.

At first glance, it looks like Shi Yuebai scored a great deal.

But she didn’t have much faith in the city’s management.

“Don’t worry, you still have your Third Brother.”

Huo Chenggui leaned forward, hands on his knees, and winked at Shi Yuebai.

Feeling that he alone wasn’t convincing enough, Huo Chenggui decisively dragged Yi Zhe into it.

“If your Third Brother isn’t enough, there’s also Commander Yi. Anything you can’t handle, he can. Those management types—half the time, they’re the ones begging him for help.”

Shi Yuebai gave him a sarcastic look.

What she found most incomprehensible about the wasteland was how those in charge relied on mercenaries to defend the city and carve out safe zones, yet at the same time did everything they could to suppress them.

It was like watching someone desperately cling to the last shreds of power, struggling in vain.

Shi Yuebai didn’t say anything more.

She had Shi Yao Yao pack up a huge plastic bag of vacuum-sealed potatoes and mushrooms for Huo Chenggui.

That was his errand fee.

Both the potatoes and mushrooms were boiled in salted water, each bag weighing a full kilogram.

Huo Chenggui’s eyes went wide. “Fourth Sister…”

“No need for thanks. Off you go.”

Shi Yuebai didn’t want to hear any words of gratitude. She found Huo Chenggui annoying and flicked her staff, instantly sending him back to the perimeter.

By the time Huo Chenggui realized what had happened, he was already standing at the city’s edge, two big bags of potatoes and mushrooms in hand.

A few mercenaries spotted him and rushed over.

“Huo, no wonder we couldn’t find you! Where’d you run off to?”

“Whoa, that’s a lot of potatoes and mushrooms… Huo, you hit the jackpot?”

Huo Chenggui explained, “Didn’t cost any points.”

Fourth Sister hadn’t even mentioned points.

But everyone just laughed, pulled out the ledger Captain Qiao left behind, and proactively recorded the new debt.

Fifty bags of potatoes, fifty bags of mushrooms—wow, there’s even a mushroom flavor this time!

The mercenary corps had racked up another 100,000 points in debt to Shi Yuebai, just like that.

They exchanged glances, all silently vowing that as soon as they got their points this month, they’d pay her back in full.

That night, when everything was quiet—

Shi Yuebai teleported herself, Captain Qiao, Pang Zhenggong, Ah Hong, and Nong Yasi straight into her shop in the city.

Second Sister-in-law and Mother stayed home to watch the kids.

“Let’s brainstorm. What can we do with this place?”

Shi Yuebai sat in her wheelchair, surveying the messy three-story building.

The floor plan on the deed looked decent enough.

But in reality, the place was packed with junk.

The 400-square-meter courtyard was full of rocks, and half the wall had collapsed.

The first floor was covered in blood, the furniture overturned and trashed. The second floor was just as bad.

The third floor had already caved in.

As for the basement, Shi Yuebai didn’t even need to look—she knew it was filled with useless broken furniture, busted cars, and other junk.

The shop’s location wasn’t great either—right up against the city wall.

Shi Yuebai turned to Captain Qiao.

Captain Qiao’s scalp tingled. “Well, I think… since we’ve already bought it, the first step is to clear it out.”

He waved his hand. “If we can’t sell things here, why not collect stuff instead?”

In the wasteland, the management had special exchange centers for supplies.

They didn’t just collect food—they also took daily necessities.

They’d buy them for cheap points, then sell them for a bit more.

But daily necessities didn’t fetch much.

They were everywhere.

Scavengers could always find more daily necessities than food.

So even the management wasn’t very enthusiastic about the business.

But right now, Shi Yuebai had plenty of vegetables.

And plenty of daily necessities, too.

But daily necessities couldn’t be duplicated—once you used one, that was one less.

She’d once said that the diapers she’d collected early on were enough for Shi Xiangrui to use until he could walk.

But now, with Shi Fuze added to the family—

And soon, two more babies on the way.

Plus those ten disabled children and a few elderly folks who couldn’t take care of themselves.

Especially those disabled kids who cried all day—they always made a mess inside the second wall.

They couldn’t even pile up a wall, let alone handle their own bathroom needs.

So Shi Yuebai decided that everyone who couldn’t take care of themselves would wear diapers.

Baby diapers, adult diapers—either way, there weren’t enough.

She needed to collect more. Lots more.

Shi Yuebai nodded. “Alright.”

“So, who’s staying here to clear out the rocks?”

Everyone looked at each other.

Honestly, nobody wanted to leave the Tongzi Compound—the life there was just too comfortable.

Plus, everyone had their own responsibilities now, and they’d come to see those jobs as their new careers.

No one wanted to give up what they were doing.

Shi Yuebai snorted. “What use are you all, then?”

With a flick of her staff, she sent them all back to the Tongzi Compound.

If nobody wanted to come to the city, she’d have to find someone else to clear the place out.

She was busy losing weight—she couldn’t do it herself.

Besides, was this really the kind of work a grand witch should be doing?

Absolutely not. A grand witch should be delegating these boring chores to her underlings.

After thinking it over, Shi Yuebai thought of Ying Ruoying.

She hadn’t seen her in a while.

Shi Yuebai teleported herself straight into Xiao Lingye’s team.

Now, this once-mighty muscle team outside the city was a shadow of its former self.

Half of Xiao Lingye’s people had left.

With food running short, fights broke out every other day.

Xiao Lingye himself had a bad temper. When he lost it, he’d kill whoever was nearby.

At first, everyone put up with it because he was the leader.

When they saw him getting angry, they’d scatter as far as possible.

But when the food ran out and he kept losing his temper, no one wanted to put up with him anymore.

Why should they go hungry and still have to deal with his tantrums? They’d had enough.

When Shi Yuebai arrived, the food tent was already empty.

Even the tent had collapsed.

Xiao Lingye was in his own tent, raging. Even from dozens of meters away, Shi Yuebai could hear him clearly.

“Du Hanwen is the biggest traitor! I bet he’s the one who lured Song Yucheng’s excavation team away!”

“I’m going to kill him! I’m going to kill Du Hanwen!”

At first, Du Hanwen had taken the blame for Shi Yuebai.

Ying Ruoying had insisted she saw Du Hanwen’s team steal a bunch of food.

She’d twisted the story.

So Xiao Lingye stubbornly believed it was Du Hanwen who stole all the food.

He sent people to hunt Du Hanwen down.

With no other choice, Du Hanwen started turning his pursuers to his side.

And sure enough, quite a few of them switched teams and joined Du Hanwen.

So, with the story twisted, Xiao Lingye was absolutely convinced Du Hanwen had taken Song Yucheng and the others with him.

That damn Du Hanwen—Xiao Lingye wanted him dead!

(My writing efficiency is pretty good today. The more I write, the more I’m getting into this book. I hope you’re not finding it boring!)"