Chapter 5: If I Say There’s Enough to Eat, Then There’s Enough

Shi Yuebai pressed her lips together and silently looked at Shi Yaoyao.

Compared to her—a veritable mountain of flesh—Shi Yaoyao looked frighteningly thin.

Especially those legs of hers, as skinny as a toddler’s.

But Shi Yaoyao was already eight years old this year.

Her eyes were wide and innocent, with two trails of snot hanging under her nose as she struggled to hold up the potato in her hands.

On the wasteland, as long as something wasn’t highly irradiated—even a sprouting potato—survivors would eat it.

Of course, when hunger got bad enough, even highly irradiated food wasn’t off-limits.

The only problem was, after eating such food, your body would mutate even faster.

For someone like Shi Yuebai, just one bite of highly irradiated food could make her gain a hundred pounds.

It was dangerous for her.

Earlier, when she’d treated the wound on Shi Yaoyao’s head, Shi Yuebai had burned some of her fat for energy.

But after checking herself internally, she realized she’d started at 750 pounds, and only burned off two.

Now she was still at 748 pounds.

Two pounds in two hours—at her size, it was a drop in the ocean.

Shi Yuebai thought for a moment, then lifted her chubby hand, struggling to reach Shi Yaoyao’s head and pat her short, ragged hair—hair that looked like it had been chewed by a dog.

“Yaoyao, Auntie won’t eat. You eat.”

She sent a wisp of soul power into the top of Shi Yaoyao’s head, probing to see what was really going on with this child’s body.

After a moment, Shi Yuebai withdrew her power.

Shi Yaoyao’s legs had stopped growing ever since the wasteland became irradiated when she was two.

Her brain was the same.

In other words, her upper body had grown with her age, but her legs and mind were still stuck at around two years old.

She wasn’t intellectually disabled because of the radiation; her intelligence had just stopped developing.

Shi Yaoyao always obediently clung to her aunt.

Second Sister-in-law Shi was blind, but she could still hear.

She felt a flicker of surprise in her heart.

Actually, Shi Yaoyao was easy to calm down. She loved her aunt the most. Whenever she screamed and cried, all it took was a word from Shi Yuebai.

Then Shi Yaoyao would quiet down.

But Shi Yuebai never liked to deal with her.

On the contrary, Shi Yuebai was always disgusted by Shi Yaoyao’s closeness, constantly calling her an idiot, a fool.

She’d even say that if Shi Yaoyao got too close, she’d become an idiot too.

Second Sister-in-law Shi had no choice but to keep Shi Yaoyao by her side.

But Shi Yaoyao would always scream, making scavenging so much harder for her.

By the flickering fire, Second Sister-in-law Shi turned her head and wiped away her tears.

Her husband was dead now. Not a single man from the Shi family had survived. She was the only blind one left to hold the family together.

She cautiously tried to discuss things with Shi Yuebai.

“Yuebai, I want to go look for some food. Um… could you watch Yaoyao for a while?”

Afraid Shi Yuebai would refuse, she hurried to explain,

“Yaoyao won’t make trouble for you. I’ll talk to her nicely. She’ll be good, she won’t touch you.”

When Shi Yuebai didn’t answer, Second Sister-in-law Shi gently patted her daughter’s head and asked softly,

“Yaoyao, can you get down from Auntie? Be good, okay?”

“Don’t touch Auntie, just stay by her side, alright?”

Shi Yaoyao nodded obediently, sliding off her aunt’s big belly and sitting quietly beside her.

She tilted her head, her oversized head resting near her aunt, but she made sure not to actually touch her.

Seeing Shi Yaoyao so meek and careful, Shi Yuebai felt a pang of sadness.

The original owner of this body, that wretched woman, had often hit and kicked Shi Yaoyao whenever she got close.

Yet Shi Yaoyao never complained.

Even after being beaten a hundred times, the hundred and first time, she’d still happily try to snuggle up to her aunt.

Second Sister-in-law Shi didn’t hear any scolding from Shi Yuebai, and finally relaxed a little.

Her heart ached, but she thought, Maybe now that all the men are dead, Yuebai has finally grown up a bit.

Maybe she understands how hard things are for me now.

Just as Second Sister-in-law Shi was about to turn and go scavenging—

Shi Yuebai’s cold voice rang out. “Stop right there, you blind fool. Aren’t you afraid Old Chen will skin you alive if you go out?”

Shi Yaoyao could hear the displeasure in Shi Yuebai’s tone.

She shrank back, about to curl up instinctively.

Shi Yuebai reached out and pulled the little one into her arms, soothingly patting her head.

Then she said coldly to Second Sister-in-law Shi,

“No scavenging today. There’s enough supplies to last you both a few more days.”

Second Sister-in-law Shi hesitated. “It’s not enough.”

What was left wouldn’t even fill Shi Yuebai for one meal.

Since the wasteland descended, Shi Yuebai had both hated and resented her own body for becoming so hideous—

And yet she couldn’t stop eating.

She simply couldn’t control her appetite.

Even though she struggled with it, wanting to eat less, when the time came, she’d get hungry.

Her willpower wasn’t enough to fight the radiation-induced changes in her body, or the constant craving for food.

“If I say there’s enough, then there’s enough.”

Great Shaman Shi Yuebai was used to giving orders. Seeing Second Sister-in-law Shi’s miserable face, she softened her tone a little.

She was down and out now, weak, but she needed to unite everyone she could.

“Second Sister-in-law, things aren’t like they used to be. You’re a blind woman—there’s only so much you can do.”

“Don’t worry. Things will turn around. I won’t take food from you and Yaoyao anymore.”

She always said this when she was calm.

Second Sister-in-law Shi clearly didn’t believe her. She kept her head down, wiping her tears, but said nothing. She planned to sneak out scavenging once Shi Yuebai fell asleep.

Otherwise, how could the three of them survive?

She had to do whatever it took to keep them alive.

She still hoped she might find her husband’s body.

It was a foolish hope, but people needed something to hold on to if they wanted to survive in this wasteland.

Second Sister-in-law Shi sat quietly where she was.

Shi Yuebai could tell from her uneasy face exactly what she was planning.

It wasn’t that she wanted to stop Second Sister-in-law Shi from scavenging, but she knew how dangerous people could be.

With all the Shi family men dead, in the eyes of the other men, Second Sister-in-law Shi was nothing but a walking outlet for their desires.

If she left the survivor group and went scavenging alone, she’d either be dragged into someone’s tent—

Or end up in the belly of a mutant beast… or a human.

“Second Sister-in-law, come here.”

Shi Yuebai sighed. When Second Sister-in-law Shi obediently came over, she placed a hand on her shoulder.

A surge of power flowed into Second Sister-in-law Shi’s shoulder.

She felt a wave of heat rush through her body.

Her head grew heavy, and before long, she closed her eyes and fell asleep against Shi Yuebai.

Shi Yuebai looked up at the wide-eyed, bewildered Shi Yaoyao.

“Yaoyao, you sleep too.”

“Let’s rest up, and then we’ll go scavenging together.”

Come on, let me see who’s here!"