Chapter 48: Did He Get a Bit of a Beer Belly?

The group leader came over and said something to Shi Yuebai, and Yi Zhe could pretty much guess what it was about.

But Yi Zhe didn’t say much.

He didn’t have the time to deal with this group leader—he still had to set up his own tent.

He didn’t have any extra stuff with him.

Aside from the tent, it was just Yi Zhe himself.

And just like that, he’d moved into the team where the Shi family was.

Wearing his combat uniform, Yi Zhe lay on a self-inflating mattress, using his army backpack as a pillow.

He looked at the communicator in his hand.

Shi Yuebai hadn’t sent any more messages.

Just as Yi Zhe was thinking that Shi Yuebai and the others had probably fallen asleep—

There were some awkward footsteps outside the tent.

It was probably Shi Yaoyao.

Yi Zhe sat up quickly, crossed his legs, and waited.

Shi Yaoyao shook her head and said clearly,

“Uncle Yi, Auntie asked me to bring this over.”

She carefully put what she was holding outside the tent, then turned and ran off.

Yi Zhe, a bit confused, poked his head out of the tent to look at what was left in the moonlight.

Two potatoes, baked in the ashes by the campfire.

Shi Yuebai, even though her own family was struggling, still did this for him.

[Scan: 0 radiation contamination potatoes.]

Yi Zhe’s tightly furrowed brow suddenly relaxed in surprise.

He’d seen 0-radiation potatoes before.

He’d thought the two potatoes the Shi family had before were already a stroke of luck.

But now, here were two more 0-radiation potatoes?

Since the apocalypse, Yi Zhe hadn’t seen this many uncontaminated potatoes.

Shi Yuebai was particular about food quality, and she’d even cooked the potatoes for him.

Yi Zhe ate the two 0-radiation potatoes.

With complicated feelings, he sat cross-legged in his tent, eating every last bit, not even leaving the skins.

The fullness in his stomach made him lie down.

Too lazy to move, he slept the best sleep he’d had since the apocalypse began.

At 4 a.m. the next day, Yi Zhe got up on time.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked to the Shi family’s tarp shelter.

[Yi Zhe: Shi Yuebai, come out—we’re going scavenging.]

A few minutes later, Shi Yuebai came out with a sour look on her face, followed by the Shi family, all yawning.

Everyone shuffled out into the moonlight.

It was Nong Yasi’s first time going scavenging with the Shi family since joining them.

She stood at the edge of their perimeter, holding Shi Yaoyao in her arms, a little nervous as she looked at Shi Yuebai.

“If we all go, what about the stuff in the shelter?”

Inside the Shi family’s tarp, besides a pool’s worth of water, there were also a lot of potatoes and barely-touched cans of cat food.

Shi Yuebai had already told Ah Hong yesterday to finish her chores today while carrying her son.

But who could guarantee that their food wouldn’t get stolen while they were out?

Shi Yuebai said, “No one can get in. Don’t worry.”

Without Shi Yuebai’s permission, no one could enter the Shi family’s shelter.

It was hard enough just to get into the yard.

The only thing Shi Yuebai worried about was that when the sun came up, she’d be exposed to direct sunlight.

When that happened, her weight would balloon.

The stronger the sun, the faster her weight would increase.

Usually, hiding in the Shi family’s place, Shi Yuebai could always find a patch of shade.

Even if her weight still increased, she could burn off the extra fat by constantly using her fat energy.

So she kept her weight fluctuating around 716 jin (about 358 kg).

Just then, Yi Zhe came back from the front line with Chen Yong.

Chen Yong waved hello to Shi Yuebai.

Shi Yuebai turned her head away, looking cold and not wanting to talk.

Yi Zhe patted Chen Yong on the shoulder, then walked up to Shi Yuebai and bent down to look at her.

Seeing her sour expression, Yi Zhe couldn’t help but laugh.

“I know you don’t want to move, but getting out and scavenging with the whole family is pretty good, isn’t it?”

For some reason, Yi Zhe found Shi Yuebai kind of cute.

Dragging her out to scavenge, she was clearly annoyed.

But even her anger was kind of cute.

Shi Yuebai took a deep breath, pursed her lips, and said nothing.

Faced with someone who looked decent, had good abilities, and was determined to protect the Shi family, Shi Yuebai didn’t even know how to lose her temper.

Yi Zhe smiled and patted her head.

He was surprised at how soft and clean her hair felt.

He didn’t think much of it—when he saw Shi Yuebai awkwardly shake her head, he just laughed and pulled Chen Yong away.

Chen Yong felt like Yi Zhe was teasing a pet.

He shook his head and followed Yi Zhe back to the front line.

Soon, the sun came up.

To Shi Yuebai’s despair, today’s sun wasn’t just big—it was huge.

By morning, the temperature was already thirty degrees. By noon, it would be even hotter.

Shi Yuebai sat on a flatbed cart, angrily closed her eyes, and checked her weight internally.

717 jin.

720 jin.

731 jin.

Very quickly, her weight was approaching her original maximum.

Shi Yuebai started to panic.

She beckoned to Shi Yaoyao, “Quick, quick, Yaoyao, come here.”

When Shi Yaoyao came over, Shi Yuebai transferred four jin (about 2 kg) of fat into her body.

Shi Yaoyao shook her head a little, not understanding what her aunt was doing.

“All right, now go get your mom.”

Shi Yuebai called over Second Aunt Shi, Nong Yasi, and her own mother one by one.

Under the pressure of the sun’s radiation and her expanding weight, Shi Yuebai went a little crazy and injected six jin (3 kg) of fat energy into each member of the Shi family.

That was already the maximum a normal human body could handle.

Second Aunt Shi pinched her arm.

She was puzzled—she hadn’t eaten much lately, but her clothes felt tighter.

Her once thin arms now had a bit of meat on them.

Nong Yasi felt the same.

But like Second Aunt Shi, she figured people could go three days without food, but not three days without water.

With Shi Yuebai being a water-type ability user, their skin was hydrated and their cells were full of water.

So it made sense that they looked a little plumper.

“Shi Yuebai.”

Yi Zhe’s voice rang out again.

He came back from the front line, a laser rifle slung over his back, and squatted in front of Shi Yuebai with a smile.

Seeing her scowling, he couldn’t help but tease:

“Still mad? You’ve been sulking all morning.”

Before he finished, Shi Yuebai put her hand on Yi Zhe’s shoulder.

A twisted, wicked grin appeared on her face.

“Not mad, just think the sun’s a bit much today.”

“It is a bit much.”

Yi Zhe was about to check the ground temperature when he suddenly paused.

He felt a surge of heat flow from Shi Yuebai’s palm through his shoulder, spreading into every part of his body.

Sweat broke out on Yi Zhe’s forehead. He felt more energetic, but his belt seemed a bit tight.

He had a strange feeling—did he just get a bit of a beer belly?

Yi Zhe: Gaining weight, painlessly."