Chapter 61: Two Potatoes Are More Than Enough

Shi Yuebai shamelessly set her sights on the big tent owned by the Pang family.

No one knew where Pang Zhenggong had scavenged it from, but that tent looked fantastic—a physically inflatable model.

Once fully inflated, it was about the size of a one-bedroom apartment.

Inside, it was filled with air and even came with a little sofa.

Not to mention the zippered door and windows—it had everything you could want.

On top of this one-bedroom tent, Pang Zhenggong had also set up two tarps for extra cover.

Compared to the Shi family, the quality of life here was leagues better.

Shi Yaoyao ran over, her big eyes full of curiosity as she stared at the tent.

She clearly repeated her aunt’s request.

Pang Zhenggong paused for a moment, then immediately understood.

He packed up his inflatable tent, the hand pump, and the tarps, and brought them all over to Shi Yuebai.

Shi Yuebai was sitting in the shade, watching Pang Zhenggong’s slightly ingratiating smile.

She pursed her plump lips. “That’s really not necessary.”

“I wouldn’t even know how to set it up.”

She had just asked Yaoyao to inquire, without any real ulterior motive.

But Pang Zhenggong understood anyway.

He put down the pile of stuff and set up the inflatable tent and tarps right in the Shi family’s yard.

The yard was already cramped, and with such a big tent taking up space, there was barely any room left.

But since Pang Zhenggong was so earnest and insisted on giving her the tent, Shi Yuebai wasn’t about to refuse and be ungrateful.

She nodded, her face full of satisfaction.

“Yaoyao, go get some potatoes for Uncle Pang to take home.”

After giving the order, Shi Yuebai didn’t bother worrying about where the Pang family would sleep now that they’d given up their tent.

She just sat in her wheelchair and wheeled a circle around the tent in the limited space.

Hmm, not bad.

The more she looked, the more pleased she was.

The tent was practically brand new—Pang Zhenggong must have just scavenged it, and now she’d gotten it thanks to the move.

Shi Yaoyao obediently went to ask her mother for a plastic bag.

Shi’s mother rummaged around and found the smallest, oldest plastic bag for her.

“This one, it’s the smallest and oldest. I don’t like it.”

She was obsessed with collecting plastic bags of all sizes and colors.

Now she had a whole box of them, all folded neatly.

She hated to use even one.

Shi Yaoyao used the bag her mother gave her, put four potatoes inside—each about the size of an adult’s fist—and handed them to Pang Zhenggong.

At first, Pang Zhenggong wanted to refuse.

He’d been lucky lately and managed to find food several days in a row.

But when he looked down at the bag, at those four freshly dug potatoes, each one still carrying the scent of earth, not a blemish or wormhole in sight—they looked so tempting.

Lately, he’d seen potatoes at home too, leftovers his wife Ah Hong brought back.

He never wanted to eat his wife’s rations, but the potatoes she brought home were nowhere near as fresh as these from the Shi family.

While he hesitated, Shi Yaoyao had already turned away to do her homework.

Times were tough, and the team under the bridge was weak.

Pang Zhenggong spent several times longer scavenging than before, but still couldn’t find much food.

He accepted the four potatoes from the Shi family, went back to his place, and looked around.

His wife and son were both busy.

Ah Hong was already piling up a wall along that weird line drawn on the ground.

Nong Yasi had moved the cement-mixing area outside the Shi family’s wall.

And Pang Ziyuan was sitting in front of a pile of stones, quickly shaping them with his hands.

Pang Zhenggong looked at his own empty plot of land.

He simply turned around, found a stone, and drew a circle on the ground.

When Ah Hong finished her work, she asked curiously,

“Aren’t you going out with the team to look for food today?”

“We already have enough food for the two of us for more than half a month.”

Pang Zhenggong was busy as he spoke. He was thin now, but there was a new spark in his once lifeless eyes.

Ah Hong watched for a while before she realized what that spark was—hope.

“Now that you’re helping the Shi family, they feed you every day.”

Pang Zhenggong marked out the area for a wall and said to his wife,

“If we ration the instant noodles, bottled water, and potatoes at home, we can stretch it for over a month.”

He was already eating less than a cat.

For a grown man doing manual labor, it was nowhere near enough.

His once big belly had already caved in.

But with hope rekindled, he smiled at Ah Hong as he drew lines,

“Didn’t we always want to build a house?”

“Now let’s just put up a wall here, keep it simple.”

He planned to connect their wall to Shi Yuebai’s, forming a square like the Chinese character “tong” (同).

Once the wall was up, they could eat and drink inside, away from the prying eyes of the team.

That way, no one would come asking to borrow food anymore.

Ah Hong stood by his side, watching for a while.

She didn’t know why, but her eyes grew red.

But now that she’d sold herself to Shi Yuebai, there wasn’t much she could do to help Pang Zhenggong.

She only watched for a bit, reminded him not to overwork, then went back to her own tasks.

As long as she worked a day, Shi Yuebai would give her two potatoes and a bottle of water.

After years in the wasteland, Ah Hong’s stomach had shrunk to almost nothing.

She couldn’t even finish two potatoes.

Pang Ziyuan was still weak, too. Except for his arms, which had gained a bit of strength from operating the digging machine, his legs were still useless.

He couldn’t finish the food Yizhe gave him every day, either.

So every day, Ah Hong and Pang Ziyuan had plenty of leftovers.

Combined with what Pang Zhenggong brought home, they really did need a wall to hide all the extra food.

Otherwise, it would just be another endless cycle of lending and never getting anything back.

Ah Hong was still thinking about this as evening fell.

She was just about to finish work when Shi Yaoyao brought her today’s wages.

Ah Hong looked at the potatoes—each two or three times bigger than before.

Still two potatoes for a day’s work, but each one was huge.

She was even less able to finish them now.

With tears in her eyes, Ah Hong looked at Shi Yuebai.

“Yuebai, when I said I’d give you my life, I meant it. Even if…”

Even if Shi Yuebai didn’t give her a bite to eat, she wouldn’t complain.

But not only did Shi Yuebai not shortchange her, she was actually giving her even more.

Shi Yuebai turned around impatiently.

She was trying to get into the inflatable tent.

“Just take it and eat, what’s the big deal? Why so much fuss?”

So annoying.

Everyone in the Shi family could get in, but she was too fat to fit through the door.

(TN: Author’s note: Today is my last day of intermittent fasting. I only lost four or five pounds, not as much as I thought. Someone mentioned exercising together—okay! Let’s do 6,000 steps a day and check in together!)"