Chapter 83: Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils

As the leader, Captain Qiao was naturally someone with foresight and a sense of the bigger picture.

He knew very well that as long as he could make use of Shi Yuebai’s abilities, he could rally a lot of people together.

But right now, Shi Yuebai could barely take care of herself—her powers could only protect a handful of people.

Even Captain Qiao had to squeeze his way in just to get a share of her protection.

Shi Yuebai couldn’t do any more.

She was already at her limit, teetering on the edge of collapse.

At a time like this, if word got out that Shi Yuebai was an ability user, or that she had a lot of food—

Not only would Shi Yuebai die, but all of them would die as well.

“We’re all in this together, Yuebai.”

For once, Captain Qiao revealed his forward-thinking side, giving him a wisdom that set him apart from the mediocre masses.

“If we keep you safe, we’ll have a future.”

“So Yuebai, don’t let us all down.”

The paper airplane by the ditch fell silent.

A gentle breeze rose, and the paper airplane took off lightly.

Before it left, Shi Yuebai’s voice drifted over:

“You’re overestimating me. I only look out for myself—why should I care if you all live or die?”

She had always been selfish. Back in the Witch Tribe, she’d grown up with no one to love her, no one to care for her, raised by the world itself.

She believed in survival of the fittest, in the law of the strong.

Taking over this body was the lowest, ugliest point in Shi Yuebai’s life.

She could barely fend for herself.

If it ever came to the worst, she promised she’d ditch this group of burdens without hesitation.

She’d run faster than a rabbit.

“I heard you have two daughters, both in their teens? Have them move over to this side of the ditch.”

“As wide as you can dig the ditch, that’s how big their safe zone will be.”

After she finished, Shi Yuebai snorted, “Those two daughters of yours are my hostages now. If you ever leak my secret, I’ll kill them both.”

Her words were vicious, full of threat.

At first, Captain Qiao didn’t understand what Shi Yuebai meant.

He scratched his head, thought for a moment, then suddenly grinned and waved up at the paper airplane in the sky.

“Thank you, thank you, Yuebai, thank you so much!”

Those two daughters of his hadn’t attracted much attention a few years ago.

But after five years on the wasteland, Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao had grown up.

Though their minds had been damaged by radiation, it didn’t stop men’s eyes from lingering on them more and more.

Captain Qiao and his wife Xu Xuejiao had been anxious about this for the past two years.

That was also the main reason Captain Qiao was less and less interested in leading the group.

He wanted to move into the big city with his wife and daughters.

At least in the city, his two “foolish” daughters would be much safer.

But now, with Shi Yuebai willing to shelter Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao—

Captain Qiao was so happy he could jump three feet high.

After finishing his work, he rushed home with a plastic bag in hand to share the good news with Xu Xuejiao.

“Why are you so happy?”

Xu Xuejiao couldn’t understand Captain Qiao’s excitement. To her, the Shi family wasn’t a good place.

“Everyone in the group says the women of the Shi family are all kept by the mercenary corps.”

Xu Xuejiao looked at Captain Qiao in disbelief.

“You want our daughters to live over there by the ditch? You’re sending them straight into the fire!”

The more she spoke, the angrier she got, wishing she could shake Captain Qiao until all the water in his brain sloshed out.

“Just do as I say. You don’t understand.”

Captain Qiao couldn’t explain everything.

“Don’t just parrot what everyone else in the group says. For Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao, this is already the best arrangement.”

Seeing how firm Captain Qiao was, Xu Xuejiao turned away, sat down on a mat, and cried bitterly.

She knew, deep down, that rather than letting her daughters be ruined by the monsters and demons of the wasteland, it was better to hand them over to the mercenary corps.

At least Yi Zhe and the others seemed decent.

But still, Xu Xuejiao’s heart ached like it was being stabbed with needles.

What had her daughters done wrong?

They were beautiful, but the radiation had left them simple-minded—was that their fault?

In the fifth year on the wasteland, they’d just turned sixteen or seventeen, in the prime of their youth—was that a crime?

Why couldn’t they have a better fate? Why was their only option to enter the Shi family and be kept by the mercenary corps?

“Listen to me…”

Captain Qiao sat down in front of Xu Xuejiao. “The Shi family isn’t what people say it is.”

With red-rimmed eyes and a face caked in dirt, Xu Xuejiao suddenly looked up, glaring at Captain Qiao with hatred.

“If it’s not like that, then what is it?”

“The Shi family always has food and drink. The Pang family can easily offer a whole box of instant noodles and a box of bottled water as a reward for a job.”

“And you never see the Shi family out scavenging. All their food comes from the mercenary corps.”

To be kept by the mercenary corps was already a good outcome for women on the wasteland.

But as a mother, who could accept it?

Xu Xuejiao turned away, pointing at their own shelterless home.

“You’re always speaking up for the Shi family—because you plan to send Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao there.”

“Otherwise, why did you even give our tarp to the Shi family?”

Captain Qiao was left speechless by his wife’s accusations. He raked his fingers through his hair.

“Fine. But if they don’t go to the Shi family, what do you think will happen to our daughters when we’re dead and gone?”

With their current abilities, there was no way they could get into the big city.

Even if Captain Qiao racked his brains, he couldn’t find a way to get them in any time soon.

Because at that very moment, every survivor outside the city was trying to find a way in.

They say a rising tide lifts all boats, but with so many people trying to get in, the requirements for entry kept getting higher and higher.

Even if Captain Qiao worked for a hundred years, he’d never meet those requirements.

While he and Xu Xuejiao were alive, they could still use their combined strength to shield their two “foolish” daughters from the wind and rain.

No matter how fierce the storm outside, they could still protect that small patch of sky above their heads.

For Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao, that was already a better life than most girls on the wasteland.

But tomorrow and accidents—who could say which would come first?

What if, in the very next moment, Captain Qiao and Xu Xuejiao died?

Who would protect Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao then?

Even if they made it into the city, would their looks guarantee a lifetime of safety, free from bullying?

Xu Xuejiao fell silent.

Suddenly, she found herself hating Captain Qiao.

She hated the wasteland.

She hated the big city, hated all the survivors on the wasteland.

She hated Shi Yuebai and the mercenary corps.

But most of all, she hated her own helplessness.

“Fine. I agree.”

Xu Xuejiao closed her eyes, making the heartbreaking decision.

It wasn’t that parents wanted to push their daughters into the fire.

But when forced to choose between two evils, you pick the lesser one.

---

(If there were any typos, I’ve corrected them. Thank you, everyone.)"

"**Chapter 84: Go Apologize to Yue Bai**

The next morning, Xu Xuejiao and Commander Qiao woke up early and brought Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao to the Shi family compound.

This was Xu Xuejiao’s first time inside the Shi family’s walls.

She had expected to see all sorts of unspeakable scenes here.

But to her surprise, the walled yard, packed with supplies, held only a blood-soaked Shi Yuebai sitting in a wheelchair—

And Pang Zhenggong, lying at her feet, his condition uncertain, alive or dead.

“They just left you here alone?”

Commander Qiao could hardly believe his eyes.

He even felt a surge of anger.

Shi Yuebai was a precious ability user—rarer and more valuable than a giant panda before the apocalypse.

How could the Shi and Pang families leave Shi Yuebai alone in the yard?

They should be worshiping her!

“They’re all busy,”

Shi Yuebai replied coolly, looking at Commander Qiao.

“I told them not to bother me.”

Ever since the Shi family’s tarps had been taken down, Shi Yuebai had slept outside the tent at night.

Which was fine—made it easier for her to bask in the moonlight.

Back in the Wu tribe, Shi Yuebai often sat cross-legged alone under the moon, absorbing the essence of sun and moon.

But now, there was no essence—only radiation.

So all she could do was chase the feeling.

Before Commander Qiao could say anything, Shi Yuebai started scolding him:

“If you’re working for me, you should be up before dawn. Look at the time now!”

“They’ve all been up for ages, working hard.”

Actually, it wasn’t fully light yet.

But Nong Yasi was already pushing a construction cart, sweating buckets, weaving through the piles of supplies.

“Commander Qiao, you can’t be this lazy. Yue Bai will chew you out.”

The Shi and Pang families bustled about.

No one spared a glance at the two beautiful girls behind Xu Xuejiao.

But Xu Xuejiao’s anxious, worried gaze never changed.

She scrutinized Shi Yuebai, wary of everything in the Shi family’s yard.

Shi Yuebai ignored her, closed her eyes, and bowed her head to continue channeling fat energy.

Commander Qiao hurriedly said to Xu Xuejiao,

“Come with me. Find a place to settle Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao. I need to get to work.”

He brought Xu Xuejiao and her daughters to show their faces in front of Shi Yuebai.

As long as Shi Yuebai didn’t say anything, it meant she had no objections.

Commander Qiao let Xu Xuejiao and her daughters sit outside the compound wall to wait.

He rushed off to dig ditches.

Xu Xuejiao was still anxious, but after a while, seeing her daughters playing with a rope at the base of the wall, she got up and walked into the Shi family compound.

By a pile of rubble, Pang Ziyuan kindly warned her,

“Don’t wander around. Aunt will get angry.”

Xu Xuejiao shot Pang Ziyuan a glare.

Ignoring his warning, she marched straight up to Shi Yuebai.

“What are you planning to do with my daughters?”

Her tone was accusatory.

Shi Yuebai slowly looked up, saw the anger on Xu Xuejiao’s face, and let out a cold laugh.

“You talking to me?”

Xu Xuejiao turned her head away, stubborn and aggrieved.

Suppressing her anger, she said, “Shi Yuebai, does your family have to live like this?”

Do you really have to rely on men to survive?

Isn’t there another way—a path you can carve out for yourself, with your own blood and tears, without depending on men?

Shi Yuebai asked, “Do you have another way to survive?”

Of course Xu Xuejiao didn’t. Eyes red, she turned her head away.

It was precisely because she was powerless that she’d forced herself to send her daughters here.

“Then what are you even talking about?” Shi Yuebai snapped.

“Xu Xuejiao, what right do you have to throw a tantrum in front of me?”

“Just because your man had some skills before the apocalypse, and protected you for a few years after, you think you’re above it all now?”

Xu Xuejiao glared at Shi Yuebai. “Why do you have to be so mean?”

“And you think your little tantrum isn’t ugly?”

Shi Yuebai sneered,

“I only took your daughters as hostages and gave your family a slim chance to survive because your husband clings to me like a dog.”

“And now you think you’re somebody, and you resent me? Who gave you the nerve to come talk to me like this?”

Xu Xuejiao had feelings, sure—but what right did she have to them?

Did Shi Yuebai owe her anything? Did she have to beg Xu Xuejiao to let her protect her daughters?

The truth was, Shi Yuebai owed nothing to Commander Qiao’s family.

Xu Xuejiao never understood—her only correct attitude should have been to beg and plead.

Not to harbor resentment and dissatisfaction.

Xu Xuejiao’s face fell.

Ashamed, she turned and walked out of the Shi family compound.

Seeing her two daughters—both in the prime of youth—Xu Xuejiao rushed over, gritted her teeth, and said,

“Come on, let’s go home.”

Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao were lost in their own world, squatting in the corner, who knows what they were thinking.

Xu Xuejiao, heart aching, crouched down and hugged her knees, crying.

She lashed out at Shi Yuebai because she was hurting.

She understood all the logic, but as a mother, she just couldn’t accept it.

Commander Qiao, covered in dirt from the ditch, climbed out and glanced at Xu Xuejiao from a distance.

He brushed off the dust, hurried over to her, and asked,

“What are you crying for?”

Xu Xuejiao looked up, full of grievance. “Shi Yuebai isn’t stupid at all. She’s just so mean.”

Commander Qiao’s face darkened.

He looked toward the compound and asked urgently,

“You made her angry?”

When Xu Xuejiao didn’t answer, Commander Qiao scolded her,

“Why did you have to provoke her? Don’t you know what’s important?”

Shi Yuebai had a temper, a sharp tongue, and was harsh—was this really the first time Xu Xuejiao had noticed?

“She’s got skills, so you have to treat her with respect. What are you making trouble for?”

Commander Qiao was at his wit’s end. He grabbed Xu Xuejiao’s hand and dragged her toward the Shi family compound.

“Go apologize to Yue Bai.”

But as soon as Xu Xuejiao stepped through the compound gate, a woman in a red wedding dress blocked her way.

Her long, straight black hair floated in the air.

Before Xu Xuejiao could even see her clearly, a blast of energy sent her flying.

Shi Yuebai didn’t want to see Xu Xuejiao.

She’d never understand—at the moment she couldn’t step into the Shi family compound, what she’d truly lost.

Commander Qiao’s face went pale. He looked back at Xu Xuejiao, who sat on the ground, stunned.

He looked at Shi Yuebai and pleaded,

“Yue Bai, she didn’t know any better—”

“You get lost too!”

At Shi Yuebai’s command, four or five paper airplanes swooped down from the sky like chickens pecking at rice, poking at Commander Qiao.

Commander Qiao covered his head, “Ow, ow, I was wrong! I’ll leave right now, okay, okay, I’m going!”

(I bought a bucket of wings for my little lamb, but couldn’t resist and ate two myself. Ahhh, I feel so guilty.)"