Chapter 55: Utterly Rude

“Bitches just love to stir up trouble.”

Wei Lingxia didn’t really know why, but she spat out a curse at Ahong.

She stepped forward, blocking Ahong’s path.

Looking at Ahong’s face—which was still fairly decent—Wei Lingxia felt an increasing sense of resentment and imbalance.

Ahong, stopped in her tracks, asked in confusion,

“Auntie, what’s wrong?”

The two of them were actually somewhat related; Wei Lingxia could be considered Ahong’s elder.

Before the apocalypse, they’d been quite close.

Back when they were first hiding from the disaster, they’d stuck together.

And ever since then, they’d been living under this bridge.

Last time, when Wei Lingxia listened to Chen Huaihai and went to the Shi family to demand food, the first person she looked for was Ahong.

Ahong used to trust Wei Lingxia a lot and would listen to whatever she said.

Wei Lingxia told her the Shi family had food, and that if everyone banded together to make a fuss, the Shi family would have to hand it over.

Ahong immediately followed Wei Lingxia.

But in the end, the Shi family’s food was traded away for all sorts of worthless junk.

Wei Lingxia had fulfilled Chen Huaihai’s orders.

But why was it that Ahong was getting closer and closer to those old, weak, sick, and disabled people in the Shi family?

Why, in this hopeless wasteland, did Ahong still have such a bright, happy smile on her face?

Why?

Shouldn’t Ahong be living an even harder life than her?

Wei Lingxia was struggling so much now—she’d do anything just to avoid being beaten to death by Chen Huaihai.

She was Chen Huaihai’s legal wife, with a marriage certificate and everything.

But now, Chen Huaihai’s tarp was full of women.

Wei Lingxia had to act like a housemaid, serving those women.

When Chen Huaihai messed around with those women, Wei Lingxia didn’t even dare utter a word.

She hated those young, pretty women.

If it weren’t for them, Chen Huaihai wouldn’t make her do so much, wouldn’t beat her so badly.

So whenever she saw a pretty woman smiling so freely, Wei Lingxia just wanted to slap that smile right off her face.

“Your son’s still alive, right?”

Wei Lingxia forced a smile, pretending to show concern as she asked Ahong,

“How much work do you have to do for the Shi family every day? Do they still give you food?”

Unless that meddler Yi Zhe had given the Shi family a bunch more food,

last time, most of their supplies had already been tricked away.

There shouldn’t be any extra food left for Ahong and her son.

In the wasteland, survivors were always extra sensitive and guarded when it came to food.

Ahong pressed her lips together, her smile fading a little.

Wei Lingxia’s questions were like, before the apocalypse, someone asking you where your safe was, how much money was in it, and what the code was.

Utterly rude.

“Pang Zhenggong came back and brought a little for the two of us, but not much—barely enough for a couple of days.”

Ahong’s smile returned to her lips.

“We help out the Shi family with some chores, and we get a bite or two to eat each day. You have to keep going somehow.”

“It’s fine if we eat a little less, as long as there’s something to eat.”

She didn’t mention how much food Shi Yuebai actually gave her each day.

Even when Pang Zhenggong asked, Ahong always gave vague answers.

She knew that if she ever revealed the Shi family’s secret, she and her son might never get clean, clear water again.

Thanks to Ahong’s deliberate vagueness and misdirection,

Wei Lingxia and Chen Huaihai—standing behind her—both assumed the Pang family was about to run out of food.

Wei Lingxia, especially, felt her mood lift, a secret delight blooming in her heart.

Some people are just like that: if they’re miserable, they don’t want to see anyone around them doing better.

Facing Ahong, Wei Lingxia felt a strange, subtle sense of superiority.

Chen Huaihai stepped forward, putting on a deliberately earnest tone as he said to Ahong,

“By seniority, I should be considered your uncle.”

“So let me give you some advice: stop hanging around with those idiots in the Shi family.”

When he said “idiots,” Chen Huaihai couldn’t help but glance nervously at the Shi family’s wall.

He was afraid Second Sister Shi might overhear and, unable to take the insult, come charging out and shoot him.

Ahong frowned, unable to hold back,

“Actually, the Shi family is quite…” smart.

She stopped herself in time.

Now that the Pang family had enough food, Ahong finally had the energy to pay attention to the team’s internal grudges.

She knew there was bad blood between the Chen and Shi families.

There was no need for Ahong to explain everything to Chen Huaihai and Wei Lingxia.

Let them keep underestimating the Shi family in their arrogance.

They say you have to know yourself and your enemy to win every battle—so it was good for the Shi family to keep their strength hidden.

Sooner or later, Chen Huaihai would realize the Shi family wasn’t nearly as stupid as he thought.

Even the so-called “idiot” Shi Yaoyao could now write many words, and her thinking was very clear.

Shi Yaoyao’s language skills had been damaged before,

but now the girl was working hard to recover.

Seeing Ahong stop mid-sentence, Chen Huaihai couldn’t help but shoot a contemptuous glance at Shi Yuebai, who was rolling out from behind the wall on a flatbed cart.

Looks like even Ahong didn’t know how to defend the Shi family’s “idiots.”

“They don’t get it at all—do they really think the mercenaries will protect them forever?”

His tone was nasty, his eyes full of arrogance.

He turned to Ahong,

“We’re leaving. You should come with us. Your husband’s got skills—if you join a new group, you won’t have to build walls for people anymore.”

As he spoke, Chen Huaihai’s gaze swept up and down Ahong’s body, naked and lecherous.

In a new group, the women from the Chen family would be used as gifts to curry favor with the others.

In the wasteland, in such harsh conditions, women were consumables.

Of course Chen Huaihai was always on the lookout for new faces.

Wei Lingxia met Chen Huaihai’s eyes. She didn’t need him to spell it out—she knew exactly what he was thinking.

But she said nothing.

Shi Yuebai, just coming out from behind the wall, glanced over at Ahong’s group,

then turned and headed toward the strange tarp.

She didn’t interfere.

If Chen Huaihai offered big rewards and Ahong was tempted, then Ahong would have to bear the consequences herself.

If Shi Yuebai tried to stop her, the Pang family might think she was deliberately blocking their path to a better future.

Then, from behind Shi Yuebai, Ahong’s voice rang out, refusing,

“No, my husband already turned down his friend’s invitation to leave yesterday. I’m not going either.”

Chen Huaihai’s face instantly darkened.

“So you’re planning to stay here and starve to death with the Shi family?”

Wei Lingxia grabbed Ahong’s thin wrist,

“I’m your aunt—how can I just stand by and watch you make the wrong choice?”

“Come with us, quick. You really can’t stay here—you’ll catch the idiot disease too.”

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This morning I drank a bottle of milk, at noon I had a bottle of buffalo milk and an Americano, and tonight I plan to have another bottle of milk.

Yesterday I lost 1.6 jin (about 1.8 pounds). Not sure how much I’ll lose today—I’ll report back tomorrow.

Anyone want to join me?"