Chapter 38: A Typical Janky Construction

The men who had been scolded were not convinced.

While the rest of the team was getting ready to go out scavenging, they quietly slipped into Chen Huaihai’s tent.

That’s right—the one who had actually encouraged them to sneak a look inside the Shi family’s tent last night was none other than Chen Huaihai himself.

The Chen family’s tent was made of several layers of tarps, and in the innermost layer huddled a few women.

Each one looked dull-eyed, sallow, and emaciated.

“Chen Da and Chen Er still haven’t come back?”

The first man to enter the tent was named Qu Zhongshun.

He’d been the one leading the charge to the Shi family’s tent yesterday.

Chen Huaihai’s face was still badly bruised.

The injuries were from being beaten by Shi Yuebai, and even after several days, they hadn’t healed.

At Qu Zhongshun’s question, Chen Huaihai shot him an annoyed look.

“No idea where they’ve gone off to. Forget about them.”

The Chen family had plenty of men, all of them strong and of normal intelligence.

So whether they had two more or two fewer sons, it didn’t really matter.

Besides, Chen Huaihai had a lot of women, and a lot of children.

Right now, there were even two pregnant women in his tent.

Their genes were good, and the children born were healthy—

All boys.

In the wasteland, in a family, if you had a lot of healthy, strong, normal men, your clan was bound to prosper.

Chen Huaihai’s brothers were all able to find plenty of food outside and bring it back.

With more food, more people were willing to stick close to the Chen family and help them out.

After a few words, the conversation naturally turned to the old, weak, sick, and disabled in the Shi family.

Chen Huaihai’s gaze grew dark.

“You’re sure you saw zombies crawling on their wall?”

Recently, the women of the Shi family had gotten lucky and managed to cozy up to the mercenary group.

That Shi Yuebai even dared to beat him up in public.

If Chen Huaihai hadn’t been recovering from his injuries, he would’ve killed Shi Yuebai long ago.

He hadn’t been able to move for a few days, but that didn’t stop him from keeping an eye on the Shi family’s “idiots.”

At first, he’d joined the others in the team in mocking the Shi family for wasting their time hauling rocks.

What was most plentiful in the wasteland? Ruins and rubble.

Anyone hauling rocks in the wasteland had to be seriously lacking in brains.

But to his surprise, after just a couple of days, the pile of rubble around the Shi family’s tent had actually turned into a low stone wall.

It looked just like a little courtyard from before the apocalypse.

Those idiots in the Shi family sure knew how to enjoy themselves.

Of course, Chen Huaihai was not pleased, and immediately sent a few people to check it out.

They say you can only think about pleasure when you’re warm and fed.

Just how much food did the Shi family have in their tent?

Enough for those fools to leisurely build a waist-high wall?

Chen Huaihai’s gaze landed on the men beside him.

Qu Zhongshun immediately said,

“We can’t be sure, but there’s definitely a lot of food in the Shi family’s tent. No doubt about it.”

But that wasn’t what he’d said last night when he’d come running to Chen Huaihai in a panic.

Chen Huaihai had been startled too.

If zombies appeared in a place like this, the whole safe zone would have to be reorganized.

He’d have loved to just kill off those old, weak, sick, and disabled in the Shi family.

Now that zombies had shown up near the Shi family, those people were bound to get bitten.

So he told Qu Zhongshun to go make a fuss with the team leader.

Best case, a group would storm the Shi family’s tent and bring all their stuff out for him.

But Shi Yuebai’s eyes were clear, with no sign of zombification.

When Qu Zhongshun and the others found Chen Huaihai, they said everyone in the Shi family had gotten up.

They were still hauling rocks.

And all of them seemed full of energy—whether it was Nong Yasi, Second Sister-in-law Shi, or Little Shi, they all looked like they were on something.

Their spirits couldn’t have been higher.

What’s more, the old, weak, sick, and disabled of the Shi family had gotten clean.

It was hard to describe.

In the wasteland, everyone lived covered in dust, as if carrying a thousand-pound burden.

Even if you weren’t carrying anything, you still walked hunched over, living in constant tension.

But now, the Shi family’s old, weak, sick, and disabled weren’t just clean—they stood up straight.

Chen Huaihai clenched his fists, eyes full of hatred.

“Getting in with the mercenaries—some people really have all the luck.”

Qu Zhongshun nodded,

“They must be sleeping with the mercenaries. Otherwise, why would the mercenaries give them such good resources?”

There was an awkward contempt in his tone.

A few men in the Chen family tent moved their lips.

Honestly, they wanted to say: if sleeping with someone could get you that much stuff,

then those old, weak, sick, and disabled in the Shi family had real skills.

If the mercenaries were willing to protect them, even if it meant sleeping with them, they’d do it too.

There was nothing shameful about it.

In the wasteland, any way to survive was worth respect.

Chen Huaihai spat, “A bunch of whores.”

“If there aren’t any zombies around their tent, then you guys need to figure out a way to make them hand over their food.”

“It’s so hard to find food for the team now. They’re part of the team too, aren’t they?”

Qu Zhongshun nodded immediately, “Exactly, they should contribute to the team.”

Shi Yuebai and the others had no idea that someone was already plotting to target them, these poor, lonely widows.

These past few days, Yi Zhe had run into a mutant beast pack. He messaged Shi Yuebai on the communicator, telling her he wouldn’t be able to take them scavenging for a while.

But he sent Shi Yuebai a map.

[Yi Zhe: This is the new safe zone range that hasn’t been officially announced by the city yet. You guys can scavenge here for the next few days.]

Shi Yuebai glanced at her communicator and replied simply.

[Shi Yuebai: Okay.]

But she didn’t plan to drag everyone out.

The Shi family’s stone wall was only waist-high, and it was just a pile of rubble.

It wasn’t sturdy at all, and offered no privacy.

Shi Yuebai planned to reinforce it with cement.

She didn’t really know how—the original owner’s memories were all about eating, drinking, having fun, and fancy brands.

None of it was useful in the wasteland.

Shi Yuebai asked Guai Guai for advice, and Guai Guai dug up an old, tattered book for her.

“How I Mixed Cement in the Wasteland.”

Shi Yuebai read it for a while, then followed the instructions in the novel: pour cement on the ground, shape it into a ring.

Pour water into the ring, add some small stones, mix it up.

Then slap it right onto the wall!

The process was crude—just stuff the cement mixture into the gaps between the rocks as hard as you can.

Guai Guai, watching from next door, couldn’t help but suggest,

“Shouldn’t you add some sand and smooth it out?”

Shi Yuebai paused,

“No need, let’s just leave it like this. We’ll fix it up when we have the chance.”

After Shi Yuebai’s wild, slapdash efforts, a very rough, not-so-sturdy stone wall took shape.

A textbook example of a janky, shoddy construction.

But Shi Yuebai was very satisfied.

Her home finally had a wall.

Next, her plan was to build this janky wall up to two meters high.

So that no one in the team could easily peek into the Shi family’s business."