Chapter 37: Making Clothes Out of Bedsheets

Shi Yuebai sat in front of a pile of scavenged, brand-new bedsheets.

She had to admit, Shi Yaoyao was truly a little scavenging genius.

She had perfectly understood what Shi Yuebai meant.

Whenever she went out scavenging with Yi Zhe and the other mercenaries, most of the things she found were new, still sealed in their original packaging.

Among them was a huge stack of new bedsheets.

Even though the last place Yi Zhe had taken them scavenging was a collapsed night market street, it didn’t stop that street from having plenty of shops selling household goods.

There were quite a few of those “9.9 yuan for a whole set” bedding stores, too.

Shi Yuebai had just opened up a new bedsheet. She wanted to sew two bedsheets together to make herself a new outfit.

The patched-up clothes she was wearing were just too filthy and tattered.

Many parts had been worn thin by Shi Yuebai herself.

If she kept this up for a few more days, her clothes would be full of holes.

Shi Yuebai’s mother, who had been lying in bed for a few hours, sat up. In the dim light, she tilted her head and asked,

“Sweetie, what are you doing?”

Shi Yuebai didn’t even look back. “Making myself some new clothes.”

As soon as she finished speaking, her mother climbed off the mattress and walked over to her.

There were still chains locked around her wrists, but her hands were already busy.

Shi Yuebai glanced over and saw her mother pull a sewing kit out from who-knows-where.

The leather sewing kit was stiff with starch, but her mother skillfully took out a needle and thread.

She picked through the two bedsheets in Shi Yuebai’s hands.

She found two blue sheets with identical patterns.

Shi Yuebai watched as her mother quickly threaded the needle.

She hurried to fetch the solar lamp Shi Yaoyao used for homework.

Shi Yuebai turned on the lamp and brought it over to her mother.

Her mother glanced at her, a gentle smile on her face.

Maybe it was because she’d washed up in the pool, but under the bright light, her mother’s face looked clean and radiant.

There were deep crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes, but her expression was kind and gentle.

There was no doubt—though Shi Yuebai’s mother was usually a little crazy and never cared much about Shi Xiangrui or Shi Yaoyao, her love for Shi Yuebai ran deep to the bone.

That kind of love wouldn’t disappear just because her mind wasn’t always clear.

“Our Yuebai is a grown girl now. She’s always liked being clean and pretty since she was little. Mommy will make sure this dress turns out especially beautiful.”

Shi Yuebai sat quietly beside her mother, watching her sew the bedsheets together, stitch by stitch.

After about an hour, Shi Yuebai lifted her large hand and pressed her palm to her mother’s back, channeling fat energy into her body.

At times like this, her mother would look up from her sewing.

She’d look at Shi Yuebai, her eyes crinkling with a loving smile.

After doing this so many times—infusing fat energy into others—Shi Yuebai had gained some experience.

She could now channel her fat energy much faster.

Where it used to take her over ten minutes to infuse a couple of ounces of fat energy, now it only took a minute.

In ten minutes, she could make her mother gain a whole pound.

Over these past days, the Shi family hadn’t lost any weight, even though they hadn’t eaten or drunk anything.

Unlike others in the group, who were gaunt and sallow, looking listless and exhausted.

In fact, after cleaning themselves up, every member of the Shi family looked rosy-cheeked and bright-eyed.

With their energy needs met, even heavy labor only served to make the Shi women stronger.

“Yuebai, do you hear something?”

Shi Ersao sat up from her mattress.

Nong Yasi and Shi Yaoyao were still asleep.

But Shi Ersao had sharp ears—she could hear strange noises from far away.

Even in her sleep, she could wake up at the slightest sound.

Shi Yuebai’s mother kept her head down, sewing. Shi Yuebai turned to Shi Ersao and said,

“Someone from the team is coming.”

At those words, Shi Ersao’s face turned deathly pale.

She’d heard the commotion earlier.

But since she was blind, she’d thought it was just mutant beasts outside, and had been anxious for a while.

But after those people who tried to climb the wall ran off, everything went quiet again.

No mutant beasts broke into their tent.

Shi Ersao had gradually relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

But she’d barely slept when now, someone from the team was coming.

“Yuebai, there are about twenty people,” Shi Ersao warned, gripping her pistol and facing the tarp.

Shi Yuebai, as massive as a mountain of meat, struggled to push her flatbed cart.

“I’ll go take a look.”

By the time she reached the edge of the tarp, the twenty-odd men from the team had already gathered outside the Shi family’s rubble wall.

“There, that’s the zombie!”

“Yeah, that’s right, a zombie! No normal person would look like that!”

The men who spoke were shivering, gesturing to the others about the ghostly woman in the wedding dress.

Shi Yuebai lifted the tarp and sat among the patterned stones, her gaze mocking.

Shi Ersao groped her way out.

“What zombie? If there was a zombie, we Shi family would’ve been the first to get eaten.”

“But we’re all still alive and well.”

Dawn was just breaking—the weather looked like it would be good today.

Everyone’s gaze fell on the rubble wall around the Shi family’s place.

There was no sign of any zombie in a wedding dress.

Instead, there was a big clump of hair caught on the wall.

Everyone’s eyes then turned to Shi Yuebai’s head.

Her hair had been cut—what was once long and wild now only reached her shoulders.

Everyone immediately understood.

In the middle of the night, seeing a big clump of black hair on the wall could be pretty creepy.

People in the apocalypse, exposed to radiation, often had moments of confusion—even normal people could get muddled sometimes.

Especially since their team had had bad luck lately—every scavenging trip turned up nothing to eat.

Water prices in the city had gone up again, and life just seemed to be getting harder.

Mistaking a big clump of hair for a female zombie wasn’t impossible.

The team leader glared at the men who’d raised the alarm.

“You guys have nothing better to do than stare at the old, weak, sick, and disabled of the Shi family, huh?”

“If you want to look, fine, but don’t go causing trouble for the team, alright?”

Since there wasn’t much food to be found, the leader had to make everyone scavenge for longer.

That meant getting up even earlier to prepare, heading out before dawn to new scavenging grounds.

At night, they could only head back after dark.

Everyone in the team was exhausted every day.

These guys who had nothing better to do than try to climb the walls of the old and weak were really annoying.

[Author’s note: I forgot to add a chapter title yesterday. Tried several times but the system wouldn’t let me edit it.]"