Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others didn't urge Tian Erhe. They sat quietly around the stove fire, as if they were waiting patiently for dinner.
After ten seconds or so, Tian Erhe's focus returned, and he shook his head with a wry smile:
"The city is full of corpses, full of irrational 'Heartless.' It's like that on the streets, in the residential areas, and in the shopping malls.
"Those 'Heartless' eat corpses, their mouths bloody, like the most ferocious beasts. They can even climb the curtain walls of high-rise buildings like monkeys, suddenly swing down from nearly ten meters high, and appear behind you. They can even use guns...
"There were eight or nine of us at the time. After encountering such a situation, half of us died quickly.
"Maybe it was because I was young and short, not noticeable, that I didn't get attacked in the first round, so I survived.
"We ran frantically, choosing any direction to escape, and we drilled into a nearby police station.
"Luckily, although those 'Heartless' could shoot and reload magazines, they didn't actively search for weapons. We found many guns and bullets on some corpses in the police station."
Speaking of this, Tian Erhe smiled at Bai Chen and Jiang Baimian:
"Do you think that we relied on those weapons to finally break through the encirclement?
"No. None of us, including the older uncles and aunts, knew how to use guns. The gunshots attracted even more 'Heartless' instead.
"At that time, I thought I couldn't hold on any longer, and I cried.
"Fortunately, fortunately, those uncles and aunts had a strong desire to survive and didn't abandon me. We transferred all the way to the parking lot.
"There was an SUV there, with the door open and the keys in the ignition, but the owner was gone. I think he must have turned into a 'Heartless' and wandered off irrationally somewhere else.
"Relying on this SUV, we smashed a few 'Heartless' and rushed to the street.
"There weren't many 'Heartless' in that area. We seized the opportunity and rushed out of the city all the way. Once we got to the suburbs, it was much safer."
Tian Erhe sighed:
"Before leaving Shuiwei Town, I was still thinking about going home to see if my parents were there, but, in short, I never saw them again."
After reminiscing, Tian Erhe glanced at the iron pot that was gradually steaming with heat and continued:
"We had to return the same way, collecting some food and clothing along the way.
"Then, we abandoned the SUV, took the collected items, crossed the broken road, and found the two cars we had driven out of town.
"And so, we returned to Shuiwei Town.
"Because it was already winter and no rescue came, we all decided not to consider the subsequent earthquake issues and began to requisition the relatively intact buildings in the town. People can't just freeze to death, right?
"Thanks to the Chinese New Year holiday, every household had prepared New Year's goods, and there were a lot of things in the few supermarkets. We didn't worry much about food throughout the winter.
"However, some uncles and aunts suggested that it wasn't good to distribute food like this. It would easily foster laziness and waste valuable time. They suggested exchanging labor for food.
"Most people agreed. Before the real arrival of spring, we divided the several buildings here into many small rooms, repaired the walls, maintained the water channels in the fields outside the town, fixed the water tower of the waterworks here, and became proficient in the use of firearms...
"Later, it proved that these things were very important. Whether it was dealing with famine or defending against roaming beasts, bandits, and 'Heartless,' they all played a big role."
Tian Erhe's eyes became a little unfocused again, as if he had returned to that collective labor of the New Year holiday.
His voice unconsciously lowered slightly:
"When the weather warmed up and the spring cold ended, we finally confirmed one thing:
"Rescue will never come..."
Tian Erhe raised his head and forced a little smile:
"You should be able to guess our subsequent experiences.
"It's nothing more than taking advantage of the opportunity that many 'Heartless' died in the winter to start exploring the ruins of the surrounding cities, collecting food, clothing, guns, ammunition, batteries, and fuel, while organizing production, trying to hunt, and sending people to distant places to see if there were any surviving cities.
"How about it? Do you still want to listen?"
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
"I want to listen!"
After speaking, she showed a bright smile:
"You can talk while eating, and we can listen while eating."
The braised beef in the pot was almost heated up.
At this time, Shang Jianyao touched his stomach:
"I'm going to the restroom first."
"I'm going too." Long Yuehong stood up and followed.
"Okay, wait for you to come back." Jiang Baimian was especially understanding of these two team members who had just arrived on the surface.
When she left the company for the first time and entered the Blackmarsh Wilderness, she also resisted the idea of solving her needs on the spot. She wasn't willing to drill into small woods or hide behind bushes unless she really couldn't hold it in.
Among them, peeing was fine. It took a shorter time, the impact of the environment wasn't that great, and the sense of shame wasn't that strong. Pooping really required courage.
Since coming out this time, according to her observation, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong hadn't pooped yet.
Following Tian Erhe's guidance, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong passed through various areas densely packed with buildings and walked towards the public toilet parallel to the side wall.
In this process, they smelled all kinds of smells. These smells were mixed together, making it impossible to distinguish exactly what they were. They only knew that they were very unpleasant and had to be forcibly endured, otherwise they would inevitably gag.
Shang Jianyao also saw several families gathering together to cook with one stove to save charcoal, saw someone squatting at the door without taking off their clothes covered in mud spots, drinking thin, not-so-white porridge, saw a sick person lying in a building with the door half-open, painfully groaning and taking a spittoon, saw a mother holding a baby who was definitely under 1 year old, forced to let the child pee on the spot because she didn't have time to return home, and saw many children under the age of ten busily helping their parents light fires and cook meals, wipe clothes...
Walking along, under the watchful eyes of wary, defensive, and curious gazes, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong arrived at the public toilet.
On their left was a picture of a woman wearing a skirt, and on the right was a simple drawing of a man.
As soon as they turned to the right, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong's eyes went blank.
This public toilet was completely different from what they imagined. Compared with the public toilet inside "Pangu Biology," it was incredibly crude.
Along the front wall was a long urinal trough, and along the back wall was an equally long, but seemingly wider, latrine trough.
They relied on a device that connected to the women's toilet to flush water regularly. There were no partitions in the middle, and one flush could flush everything.
It was as if they had moved two small streams in.
The only thing that made Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong happy was that Shuiwei Town paid attention to the hygiene of the public toilet and cleaned it relatively cleanly.
"Go?" Long Yuehong was a little hesitant.
"Go." Shang Jianyao took the lead, picked a spot, took off his pants, and squatted down.
Long Yuehong chose a place far away from him and untied his belt furtively.
"This, it feels a little weird..." He couldn't help but turn his head and glanced at Shang Jianyao.
There wasn't anything in the middle of them.
Shang Jianyao pinched his nose:
"Your internal heat is a bit high recently."
"..." Long Yuehong was speechless.
Just when they thought this was the most awkward scene, a group of townspeople from Shuiwei Town rushed in.
They looked Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong up and down. Some went to the urinal trough, and some found a place to squat down.
"This is even weirder." Shang Jianyao said what was in Long Yuehong's heart.
Then, his train of thought turned to a strange place:
"If Mayor Tian was also squatting here, and someone came in and called him Mayor in front of him..."
The Shuiwei Town resident next to Shang Jianyao subconsciously said:
"The mayor's room has a separate toilet."
In this way, the two started chatting in a strange environment, which amazed Long Yuehong.
Finally, Long Yuehong finished his personal business, pulled up his pants, and washed his hands at the sink outside.
He took a deep breath of the relatively fresh air and once again deeply confirmed one thing:
Compared with the vagrant settlements outside, the underground building of "Pangu Biology" was as beautiful as heaven.
A minute or two later, Shang Jianyao also came out and washed his hands.
They didn't discuss the situation of this public toilet and maintained a tacit silence, once again traversing the chaotic area with brick houses, mud houses, and tents.
Suddenly, a little girl ran to Shang Jianyao.
She was probably seven or eight years old. Her hair was relatively smooth, and she wore a light green sweater with many fuzzballs and two obvious holes, and a jacket that was almost knee-length, washed white, and patched in several places.
She was wearing pants that didn't reveal the material, overall gray-blue, patched with pieces of cloth of other colors, and black shoes with soles made of rags. Her face was thin and yellow, but her eyes were bright.
The little girl was holding a pile of sundries, including loose threads, scraps of cloth, faded buttons, broken hair ties, a glass ball with embedded petals, an empty matchbox, and a ball of kneaded plasticine.
She raised her head and looked at Shang Jianyao expectantly:
"Brother, can I exchange these for some of the food you're eating? Just a little bit, okay? Okay?"
From the corner of the wooden shed, the aroma of braised beef drifted over in waves.
Shang Jianyao silently looked at the little girl for two seconds. Before she opened her mouth again, he squatted down, stretched out his finger, and fiddled with the pile of sundries.
He picked out a transparent glass ball with embedded yellow petals, smiled, and stood up:
"This one will do."
"...Thank you, brother, thank you, brother." The little girl was stunned for a moment, then repeatedly thanked him.
Shang Jianyao suddenly turned his head and looked towards the wooden shed where Jiang Baimian and the others were:
"Let's go over there."
The little girl hummed twice and followed closely behind him.
Long Yuehong didn't know what to say, looked left and right, and strode to catch up.
Soon, they returned near the jeep.
"Her?" Jiang Baimian looked at the little girl, expressing her question.
Shang Jianyao said with an obvious smile:
"She exchanged a very good thing for a piece of braised beef with me."
He immediately sat down and picked up his bowl and chopsticks:
"Can we start?"
"Yes." Jiang Baimian exchanged glances with Tian Erhe.
Shang Jianyao quickly picked up a piece of beef, put it in a bowl, and handed it to the little girl.
The little girl swallowed her saliva, hurriedly took it, and was about to stuff the whole piece of beef into her mouth.
But at this moment, Shang Jianyao took the bowl and chopsticks back.
The little girl quickly looked up at him, both dazed and aggrieved.
"Be careful it's hot." Shang Jianyao whispered without any expression.
While speaking, he closed his legs together, put the bowl there, and then held a chopstick in each hand, slowly and carefully tearing the large piece of beef apart, dividing it into several small pieces.
After completing this, he picked up a piece of beef and brought it to the little girl's mouth.
The little girl's eyes lit up, she bit into it, and chewed quickly.
"Is it delicious?" Shang Jianyao kept watching her eat the small piece of beef.
The little girl nodded heavily:
"Delicious!"
Shang Jianyao immediately showed a smile and picked up another piece and handed it over.
Jiang Baimian couldn't help but sigh when she saw this scene:
"You..."
In her sigh, she pointed her chin at the distance.
Shang Jianyao looked up and found that on the square where all kinds of houses were chaotically built, a dozen or twenty children were approaching expectantly, each holding a pile of sundries.
Shang Jianyao's body suddenly stiffened a little.
Tian Erhe sighed and turned his head with a smile, shouting out:
"Go back! Go back!"
The children immediately showed undisguised disappointment and went back home with three steps and a turn of their heads.
ps: Update early on Monday to ask for recommendation tickets, the second update will be at 12:30 noon~