Chapter 12: Heartrending Screams Are Not Necessarily Grievances
A man around Cheng Shaofeng's age was sitting in the shed, eating beans.
Cheng Shaofeng's beans.
"Ga ba~ Ga ba~ So hard to eat. Ga ba~"
The yellowish-brown beans with a bit of burnt black color had clearly been stir-fried.
Seeing this, Cheng Shaofeng breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ajie, I'm back."
The young man in the shed glanced at the person who came in, put down the knife in his right hand, and looked excited.
He ran over and slapped Cheng Shaofeng on the body.
"Fuck, you're still alive?"
"Damn! If it weren't for the plenty of beans you had saved before, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to guard your little property. I've been eating beans these past few days to the point of almost throwing up! Quick quick quick, how was the harvest this time? Let's go exchange for some vegetable leaves and cakes to eat!"
The young man stopped talking, frowning slightly.
"Where's your bag?"
Cheng Shaofeng: "I encountered raiders."
The man glanced at the disheveled traces on Cheng Shaofeng's body and the slight radiation marks on his hands.
"Shit! You're really lucky to have escaped from those green-skinned muscle bullies. No wonder you're 2 days later than planned. What a pity. We'll have to go to the town chief's black-hearted shop to buy a bag again, and the money will come from your supplies."
"Okay."
The man in front of him was called Wu Jie, a scavenger.
Not only hunters would team up, but scavengers would also help each other.
In the wasteland, mutual help was the key for humans to survive.
Scavenger partners had an unspoken rule: never form a team when going out scavenging, but stay inseparable in town.
Scavengers would always bring all their belongings when going out.
But Cheng Shaofeng and Wu Jie were a bit special, because Wu Jie had good luck.
After his parents died and before teaming up with Wu Jie, Cheng Shaofeng's life was actually very difficult. If it weren't for his parents' friends lending a little help, he might have starved to death.
But one time after teaming up with Wu Jie, he found that his luck had turned for the better!
Every time they went out, they could gain something.
Maybe it was a turn of fortune, or maybe it was a coincidence, but the two had been partnering ever since.
Gradually, the two accumulated more and more property. And one person going out scavenging was almost enough for both of them to eat, so they took turns going out while the other stayed in town.
This was even safer.
This time it was Cheng Shaofeng's turn to go out scavenging, so Wu Jie moved all his belongings into his own house to watch over them.
Cheng Shaofeng took inventory of his belongings and picked up a few relatively well-preserved circuit boards.
These were the goods he had hoarded, waiting for the Giant City merchant teams to come and exchange for some good stuff.
Giant City needed these pre-war quality items, which had no use in Yanjing Town.
If sold directly to the town, the price would be discounted.
Anyway, they had enough resources to eat, so they kept them and waited for the Giant City merchant teams to come and sell them at a good price.
For other scavengers, they had to sell whatever they picked up, otherwise they would starve to death.
'Zero, can you use the things in my hands?' Cheng Shaofeng asked in his mind.
Zero: "Scanning."
A pale blue AR screen overlaid on the shed in front of Cheng Shaofeng's eyes, showing the scanning progress rising rapidly.
A few seconds later.
Zero: "Scan complete! The circuit boards in your hands can extract a total of 4 portions of electronic components."
'Great! Then it's settled.'
With the electronic components in hand, he only needed to purchase some prey from the base as biological materials to make clones.
'It's better for players not to die in the future, otherwise it will be troublesome for me to collect resources.'
The value of materials needed to make a clone was equivalent to enough beans for him to eat for over a month.
In addition to these circuit boards, his collection also included 28 catties of beans, 343 coins, and various odds and ends.
The coins were issued by Giant City, a kind of glossy iron coins that could be used in a large area around Giant City.
With Cheng Shaofeng's experience over the years, he had never heard of a place that did not recognize Giant City's money.
It was also possible that he had never traveled far.
"This money should be enough to buy 3 large prey."
Seeing Cheng Shaofeng carefully counting his property, Wu Jie showed a surprised expression: "Wind bro, you've changed, you've become a stranger."
Cheng Shaofeng was startled.
Some of his little habits were different from his predecessor and had been discovered?
That's right!
Wu Jie and Cheng Shaofeng had been scavenging partners for two years, and they must know each other very well. So if the person in this body had been replaced, Wu Jie would be the first to know!
Cheng Shaofeng said alertly, "No... I don't think so. Maybe I'm just too tired these past few days."
Wu Jie looked up at the outside of the shed: "You never counted your property in front of me when you came back before."
Cheng Shaofeng: "..."
Wu Jie: "You've become distrustful of me. You don't even go to your own house to count."
"It's just that? Don't misunderstand, I just wanted to count my assets and buy some things."
"Hmm? I bought a bag last year and you lost it. Remember to buy a bag first."
"Uh, okay."
"By the way! Draw me the route you took this time. I'm going out scavenging this afternoon. I've been stuck in town these past few days. You watch over my belongings, especially that silicone doll that can make sounds. That's my lifeline. I'm relying on it until I find a woman!"
"..."
Cheng Shaofeng looked at Wu Jie who was already packing his things, feeling a little embarrassed.
If it weren't for his arrival, maybe the two would still be happily scavenging.
But he was no longer the previous Cheng Shaofeng.
"Ajie, I have to go."
Wu Jie: "Go? Where to? Hurry up and wash up and rest in this ghost-like state. I'll go buy a couple of cakes and wrap some vegetables in a bit. After eating, I'll set off. You came back empty-handed. Then according to the law of conservation of luck, I'm bound to have a breakthrough this time. I might even pick up a gun, after all, that's Red City."
Red City, a pre-war city ruin that had not been largely developed by scavengers.
If one had the guts to go, it was possible to gain quite a lot of supplies.
Of course, most scavengers who hoped for luck never made it back.
If it weren't for his consistently good luck after teaming up with Wu Jie, Cheng Shaofeng wouldn't dare go there.
"Ajie, I'm leaving Yanjing Town for a while. I met some friends outside and want to do some things together."
Wu Jie's hand trembled slightly.
"You want to split up?"
"Mm."
"Scavengers, together we live, divided we die. Have you forgotten?"
"This is a grave robber story we heard from the elders in town, right?"
"Oh, you really want to go? There's no safer place than Yanjing Town in the Four Mountains. Your future partner may not be as lucky as me. The elders said that those who live to an old age are not the strongest hunters, the most capable tailors, or the shrewdest merchants, but the luckiest people."
"I'll come and call you over when the time is right in the future."
"I hope you can live till then."
Wu Jie pursed his lips and walked out of the shed to buy cakes at the town's grocery store.
From Cheng Shaofeng's memories, Wu Jie was a very reliable partner, but he had too many secrets now and was too weak. The matter of summoning players could not be exposed. When he became stronger and could explain everything reasonably, he could then give Wu Jie a hand.
"Is being lucky really able to give others a buff? Sounds a bit mystic."
He felt that Wu Jie's so-called good luck couldn't possibly exist for long, and that the two of them just happened to be a bit lucky before. To really treat it as an enhancement status was a bit too disrespectful to science.
Currently, the hunters had not returned yet. Cheng Shaofeng carried his belongings and wandered around, disposing of the odds and ends he had on hand.
He couldn't wait here for the Giant City merchant teams to come.
Most of those who stayed in town during the day were women and a few... old people who had been very lucky in this life.
Those who had work to do did some work, and those who didn't... gathered to chat.
"Recently, it feels like it's getting more and more gloomy here. I always feel uncomfortable and want to bask in the sun."
"Places that are always in the shade are like this. It's good enough to be alive. Otherwise, go outside and find a raider camp. They're out in the open, so you can bask all you want."
"Did you hear strange noises from the town chief's house last night? I seem to have heard a woman screaming miserably."
"Haven't you heard an old saying? What's carried on the shoulders is not necessarily responsibility, what stabs you in the back is not necessarily a knife, kneeling on both knees is not necessarily begging for mercy, and heartrending screams are not necessarily grievances."
"Oh~ so that's how it is... I thought it was... Tsk! The town chief is really in a good mood."
Cheng Shaofeng passed by with a knowing smile and headed to the store.
There was only one store in town that sold everything and bought anything of value.
The shopkeeper was called Zheng Juan, the town chief's 5th wife, in her early 30s, still charming, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses produced in Giant City, with her hair tied up in a bun at the back, and two bulging big pineapples propped up on the table, looking very beautiful.
More beautiful than the vast majority of women in Yanjing Town.
Second only to the town chief's sixth and seventh wives.
"Shaofeng, here to sell again?"
"Mm, take a look at how much these things are worth."
After putting all the odds and ends up, Zheng Juan glanced at them and gave a number.
"20 coins, I'll take them all."
"Deal, directly exchange them for 20 catties of beans for me."
"Oh~ can't exchange for 20 catties. Beans have gone up by 2 mao per catty. At most, I can give you 16 and a half catties, but..."
Zheng Juan leaned close to Cheng Shaofeng, sniffed, and said with a coquettish smile, "But if little brother can sell some other things, I can give you the previous price."
Cheng Shaofeng looked at the table shaking with Zheng Juan's big pineapples, his face unchanged.
"My buddy bought a bag last year. Please get me the same one. Thank you."
Zheng Juan: "?"
Putting the bag in Wu Jie's shed, Cheng Shaofeng boiled some beans with water, eating while waiting for the hunters to return.
"This taste is indeed mediocre. In the future, I'll have to let the players hunt more prey for me to eat."
Cheng Shaofeng didn't notice that during the time when both of them left the shed...
Under his bed... there was an additional pink flower.
Releasing a faint gas.
(End of chapter)
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