Chapter 28: Separating Us from the Whole Group

Actually, when Nong Yasi traded for cement, she was being a bit naive.

She was completely overwhelmed at the time—trying to keep Shi Mu from running everywhere, looking after Shi Xiangrui, and dealing with all the survivors coming to trade for bread.

By the time she saw those bags of cement, Nong Yasi had already collected a huge pile of clothes.

A sudden idea struck her: maybe she could fix up the toilet behind the Shi family’s tarp.

But she never considered that she didn’t actually know how to repair a toilet.

Let alone the fact that now they also had to build a road.

But once Shi Yuebai made up her mind to do something, there were very few people who could change it.

The next morning, as soon as Second Sister-in-law Shi and Nong Yasi opened their eyes,

Shi Yuebai handed each of them a piece of cloth.

“Our situation is tough right now. We don’t have shovels, and we don’t have a cart to move stones.”

“So all we can do is use our hands—put the rocks onto the cloth, then use the cloth to move the rubble forward.”

Shi Yuebai pointed out the direction for them.

Currently, the Shi family’s tarp was set up at the base of a collapsed bridge pier.

It was the dirtiest, messiest spot, with the most trash and rubble.

That’s why no one in the group liked living there.

They’d banded together to drive the Shi family and the “weirdos” to this spot.

Meanwhile, they themselves lived together on the wider, cleaner riverbed under the bridge.

The public toilet was above, on top of the bridge pier, half-collapsed and half-buried.

According to Shi Yuebai’s plan, they needed to clear a path through the mountain of rubble under the bridge pier—by hand.

The stones they moved would be piled up in front of the Shi family’s tarp,

forming a natural barrier.

“That way, we’ll be separated from the rest of the group.”

Nong Yasi looked out from the Shi family’s tarp.

Shi Yuebai nodded, unconcerned. “That’s right. Otherwise, after we go through all the trouble to fix up the toilet, wouldn’t they just get to use it for free?”

Fat chance!

From now on, anyone who wants to use Shi Yuebai’s toilet will have to pay.

Nong Yasi glanced at Second Sister-in-law Shi, who had already turned to start moving rocks.

There was no point arguing with Shi Yuebai, so she might as well get her assigned work done early.

Nong Yasi hurriedly turned around too, and together they started piling rocks onto the cloth,

then grabbing the four corners to haul the rubble to where Shi Yuebai had pointed.

Shi Yaoyao wobbled to her feet, wanting to help.

Shi Yuebai raised her long stick like a supervisor and said,

“Go practice your writing. Write the character ‘Heaven’ eighty times, ‘Earth’ ninety times, and ‘Human’ a hundred times.”

“When you’re done, do a hundred addition problems within five, then you can come help.”

After settling Yaoyao, she turned to Shi Mu.

After giving birth, Shi Mu acted as if nothing had happened.

It was like she didn’t even know she’d had a child.

As soon as she woke up, she’d start running around crazily,

not even glancing at Shi Xiangrui.

Of everyone in the Shi family, Shi Mu only listened to Shi Yuebai.

When Shi Yuebai looked over, Shi Mu, who was about to get up and run, froze.

She sat down, grinned awkwardly at Shi Yuebai, and giggled, “Hehe.”

Shi Yuebai pinched the bridge of her nose and pointed at the pile of firewood inside the tarp.

“Mom, light the fire, but don’t burn anything else. Heat up some water and take a bath first.”

Shi Mu was far dirtier than Yaoyao or Second Sister-in-law Shi. After giving birth, Shi Yuebai hadn’t had time to look after her.

Nong Yasi had at least put her in adult diapers to deal with the postpartum bleeding,

but Shi Mu didn’t know how to change them herself.

She hadn’t washed herself before or after giving birth, so now she stank to high heaven.

She’d always doted on her children—at least, she did with Shi Yuebai.

Because it was Shi Yuebai giving the order, Shi Mu immediately sat by the fire and started poking at the coals.

The weather had suddenly turned cold that day. Survivors from the group hunched their shoulders, pulled on long sleeves and pants, and gathered outside the Shi family’s tarp.

A thin line of rubble had already been piled up around the patterned area in front of the tarp.

The survivors who’d fainted at the edge of the pattern yesterday had already been dragged away by their families.

Everyone knew Shi Yuebai’s rules: no one was allowed inside the area paved with stones.

So people stood outside the stone pattern and shouted,

“Shi Yuebai! Shi Yuebai! Are you trading bread today?”

Shi Yuebai sat inside the tarp, face expressionless, saying nothing.

A large basin of water sat in front of her.

Nong Yasi, who was clearing rubble behind the tarp, heard the shouting, grabbed a few small loaves of bread, and went out to say,

“Yuebai says today we’re only trading for cement. Ten bags of cement for one loaf. Bring as much as you want.”

Outside, a bunch of survivors holding clothes immediately started complaining.

“Why are you only trading for cement?”

“We know you want clothes! We went out scavenging yesterday and found a bunch of new clothes!”

“Yeah, why aren’t new clothes as good as cement? Why are you discriminating?”

Nong Yasi opened her mouth, then finally said,

“If you want to trade, bring cement. That’s the only thing we’re trading for.”

She turned and took the bread back inside the tarp.

She had too much to do today to waste time arguing with the group.

“Wait, wait!”

A survivor held up a box of disinfectant.

“Do you want this? It’s not expired—latest production date before the apocalypse. Look, I’ve got ten boxes. I’ll trade them for sixty loaves.”

He seemed desperate, pushing his way forward.

Each box contained six bottles of disinfectant, all 1-liter bottles.

He was already dizzy from standing on the stone pattern, but he still held up the box.

Nong Yasi hesitated, glancing back.

Shi Yuebai, still sitting inside, spoke up. “Trade.”

“Dr. Nong, any medical supplies they bring, trade for them.”

“No haggling.”

Medical supplies are always in high demand.

If survivors outside the city found medical supplies while scavenging, they’d usually bring them into the city to trade for food.

But prices in the city were high—sixty bottles of disinfectant might not even get sixty loaves of bread.

The survivor with the disinfectant was getting a good deal from Shi Yuebai.

Nong Yasi immediately reached out, took the box, and handed over the bread.

Box after box of disinfectant was carried into the stone-patterned area.

The survivors were in an uproar and asked Nong Yasi,

“Why do you trade for everything?”

“Do you still want cement? We brought some.”

Some quick survivors had already run off to fetch cement as soon as Nong Yasi came out.

Nong Yasi, sweating from all the work, traded another ten loaves for a hundred bags of cement.

By the time she finished, it was already afternoon.

She looked apologetically at Second Sister-in-law Shi, who had been silently moving rocks by herself the whole time.

“Sorry, Second Sister-in-law, I made you do all my work.”

“It’s fine. Go wash up.”

Second Sister-in-law Shi was so tired her back wouldn’t straighten.

But strangely, she wasn’t hungry.

Not just her—even Shi Mu, Yaoyao, Nong Yasi, and even Shi Xiangrui

didn’t feel hungry.

Shi Xiangrui whimpered twice, Shi Yuebai patted his head, and he fell back asleep.

October 1st, the story will be officially launched, and there will be two chapters a day from then on."