Chapter 63
At breakfast, Wei Cheng told Guanguan and the others that three new survivors had arrived at Full-Belly Farm.
Director Wang was a kind-hearted old man. As he wiped the corners of little Guanguan’s mouth while the child ate with great enthusiasm, he said, “It really is hard to flee for your life with a child. If they’re willing to work properly and don’t try to slack off, then let them stay.”
“Grandpa, thank you. Guanguan is full now.”
With a soft smack, Guanguan jumped off the little stool and clambered onto his brother’s lap, his eyes shining. “Brother, where’s the new child?”
“He’s in the little cabin outside the steel wall.”
Wei Cheng wrapped an arm around Guanguan so he would not fall. “That child’s nickname is Chen Xiaoming. He’s seven this year.”
The moment Wang Xiaotiao heard “seven,” he excitedly pointed at himself. “Me, me, me!”
Director Wang smiled. “Our Xiaotiao is seven this year too.”
Wang Xiaotiao took a huge bite of his egg burger. “Grandpa, Brother Chengcheng, can we play with him later? Now that Qiqi’s gone, it’s no fun playing watermelon ball!”
Sitting steadily on Wei Cheng’s lap, Guanguan kicked his little legs. “That’s exactly right!”
With both hands, he gestured wildly. “Guanguan has to pick up the watermelon ball this many times!”
Of the three children, Guanguan had the shortest, sturdiest, chubbiest legs. A lot of the time when the watermelon ball rolled his way, he could not kick it at all.
Wei Cheng looked at these innocent children, one simpler than the next, and let his gaze settle on Mingming, the earliest-maturing and most sensible of them all. “You can play together, but only when Brother and the uncles are working outside. And you absolutely must not bring this child into the core zone to play, understood?”
Wang Xiaotiao said, “Understood!”
Guanguan followed suit and threw up his chubby little fist. “Understood!” He had not even listened properly before agreeing.
Mingming understood the meaning behind it. Pressing his lips together, he nodded solemnly.
Brother Chengcheng probably did not trust that child’s father and mother. Maybe they were bad people!
He would take good care of his two little brothers!
The weather cleared, and the rain stopped. That meant work on the farm fence had to begin immediately.
After breakfast, everyone went back to change into work clothes.
Wei Cheng carried Guanguan and Little Apricot home as well.
He opened the windows that had been shut for several days to air the place out. Then he turned back to see the child buried in the kitchen, packing snacks and a large water bottle, and said, “Guanguan, come here.”
Guanguan immediately put down the little bamboo basket and trotted over. Looking up, he asked urgently, “What is it? Baby is working!”
“It’s something very important.”
Squatting down, Wei Cheng smiled and asked, “Guanguan, are you willing to let Chen Xiaoming and his parents stay temporarily at the farm?”
Guanguan blinked his big eyes and scratched his cheek. “I don’t know.”
Wei Cheng was an expert at finding loopholes. He cleverly changed the question. “What if Chen Xiaoming and his parents stay at the farm for now and help us work, and in return we let them eat their fill? Is that okay?”
The moment Guanguan heard “eat their fill,” he happily answered, “Okay!”
At the same time, the system’s voice sounded in both their ears.
[Congratulations! Full-Belly Farm has welcomed three unfamiliar survivors! Reward: 3000 Twisty Coins!]
[The core zone has now been successfully established. One-third of the mission is complete. If you want to unlock 50% of the mysterious firearms zone, please hurry and build the perimeter and the watchtower!]
Base: Full-Belly Farm
Twisty Coin Balance: 24,980 (21,980 ? 24,980)
…
Looking at the increased balance, Wei Cheng let out a quiet breath of relief.
Even if the hidden firearms zone were unlocked later, the stronger the weapons, the more Twisty Coins they would cost.
Three thousand coins might be enough for a very powerful weapon.
Besides, if they refused to keep this family, then if one of the family members later died or was injured, the survivors would resent Full-Belly Farm first.
Some people were just like that: they would not hate zombies or villains, but would instead hate the people who had helped them.
And by then, their farm might not even be fully built yet. If it drew mindless zombie hordes, that would be one thing. But if it attracted some vicious little gang, that would turn into another bloody battle. It simply was not worth the trouble.
Keeping them here for now meant 3000 coins in hand, and the mission would be completed quickly. If Chen Fangshun left obediently afterward, Wei Cheng would give them some supplies and gasoline. But if he tried anything, then bullets would not be so polite.
Uncle Yi had asked Wei Cheng before, What exactly feels wrong about that couple?
At the time, Wei Cheng had only said, “Chen Fangshun carries himself differently from ordinary people.”
“Brother? Guanguan heard the sound of money going splash-splash!” Guanguan’s eyes grew round with delight.
“That’s right. Full-Belly Farm has temporarily taken in three survivors, and the system gave you a reward for it.”
Guanguan exclaimed in joy and hurried to grab his little bamboo basket. “Give the uncles more yummy things!”
“Wait a second, Guanguan…”
Wei Cheng looked at the assorted jerky, buttery little bread rolls, and chocolate biscuits inside the basket and said, “For now, we shouldn’t show off our wealth in front of the new survivors. But don’t worry—Brother isn’t some big villain. Since they’re helping us work, we’ll also make sure they get meat to eat. We can share the canned meat and canned vegetables we got from outside.”
Guanguan lowered his plump little face and hugged the big water bottle. “Then can we give the uncles sweet drinks?”
“It’s better if they drink plain boiled water. Brother will fill the bottle once the water is ready.” Wei Cheng knew Guanguan mostly just liked feeding the people he considered family, so he added, “In a couple of days, once the outside work is done, there’ll be a watchtower by our gate. Then Guanguan can feed Uncle Shen and the others delicious things!”
That finally made Guanguan grin again, showing his little sticky-rice teeth. “That’s great!”
After getting ready, the group left the core zone and came to the farm fence line.
Chen Fangshun and Li Rui stood there with their child, waiting.
Yi Qi handed out the work assignments. Looking at the thin, undersized Chen Xiaoming, he said, “Your child is too skinny. Don’t make him work.”
“Thank you, Brother Yi.”
Steadying his son by the shoulder, Chen Fangshun said, “Xiaoming, then you just take good care of the little brothers.”
Chen Xiaoming nodded.
The adults took their tools and went to dig pits for the steel posts.
Wei Cheng was still young and could not be doing heavy labor all the time—it would damage his body’s foundation. So the uncles and Grandpa only let him help by pushing sand and gravel around in the little cart.
Every now and then, he glanced toward the children’s group not far away. Seeing that they were getting along well enough, he relaxed a little.
Yi Qi still remembered Wei Cheng’s earlier words and casually asked Chen Fangshun, “How old are you this year?”
Chen Fangshun swung the shovel with full effort. “Brother Yi, I’m thirty-two.”
Yi Qi looked him over. “You look pretty young. You’re older than me, so stop calling me ‘Brother Yi.’”
Chen Fangshun clenched the shovel handle slightly, then looked up with a smile. “That’s okay. I respect you and Brother Shen from the bottom of my heart. You two are really amazing.”
“What did you do before all this?”
Chen Fangshun wiped his sweat with his shoulder. “Food delivery.”
Yi Qi rolled his eyes. “Which app? Hungry? Meiyuan? I heard there was some kind of delivery war before the apocalypse. You guys must’ve had tons of work, huh?”
Chen Fangshun opened his mouth, then said, “I… I just did it casually for a bit. Didn’t work long.”
Then he looked toward Li Rui, who was straightening the wire with the elderly man behind them. “Wife, work properly. Don’t let the old man strain himself.”
Li Rui answered, “Okay.”
Chen Fangshun turned back with another ingratiating smile. “My wife’s a good cook. If there’s a chance, she can show everyone what she can do.”
“Brother Yi, you’re so handsome—are you married, or do you have a girlfriend? Where is she now? If you want to find her, I can go with you. Then we’d just have to trouble Brother Shen to look after my wife and son…”
Seeing him deliberately change the subject, Yi Qi felt even more certain that something about this man was off. With just a few sentences, the conversation had already been twisted back onto Yi Qi himself.
If Yi Qi really had a wife or girlfriend, he might have let himself get pulled into chatting.
Yi Qi smiled faintly. “I’m gay. I don’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend.”
Chen Fangshun did not seem surprised at all. He nodded. “Once feelings are there, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a man or a woman.”
At that moment, Shen Zheng and Wei Cheng came over, one pushing steel pipes and the other sand.
Shen Zheng gave Yi Qi a punch. “What are you talking about? Yi Qi, why aren’t you working? Look how much they’ve already dug!”
Yi Qi laughed even as he took the hit. “I’m going, I’m going.”
He secretly shot Wei Cheng a look. The two understood each other and stopped trying to pry further into Chen Fangshun’s past.
For now, it was better to just get the work done.
…
There was strength in numbers.
A month later, the farm fence line was already lined with tall steel posts filled with concrete. In another month, they would be able to install the steel plates and wire mesh on top.
Over the past two days, the adults had planned to renovate the main gate first.
Director Wang had not been feeling well recently, so he stayed in the core zone with Guanguan to prepare lunch for everyone.
Grandpa cooked, while Guanguan walked the dog on the grass.
After deworming and finishing his vaccinations, the half-dead gray puppy finally ventured out of the little cabin to explore.
Behind him trailed a black dog with upright ears.
The beautiful little gray dog was rather aloof. He was not very interested in people, nor particularly in other dogs.
Thanks to all the milk he had been drinking lately, he had rounded out a bit. His little paws were plump, and his icy blue eyes made him look both arrogant and intelligent.
“Little Dog Brother!” Guanguan scooped up the creamy little gray pup. “Don’t run outside!”
The gray puppy sniffed Guanguan and gave a soft bark.
Apparently he accepted the title of “big brother.”
Little Xing slunk over like a sneaky little dog and stretched out a paw to tap Guanguan, then dropped into a play bow.
Guanguan remembered Uncle Yi had once explained this pose to him.
“Little Dog Brother, go play with Little Apricot!”
The gray puppy gave another light bark, then curled up into a little gray furball in Guanguan’s arms without moving.
Guanguan sighed. “Little Apricot, Little Dog Brother doesn’t want to play with you. He wants to play with Guanguan! Maybe it’s because you’re too black!”
Little Apricot let out a long mournful howl—one stab after another! Was this dog not being raised anymore?
His ears drooped, and he went straight into a full dog sprawl, burying his face in the grass.
Utterly dejected.
He looked as if he was prepared to suffocate himself to death if no one would play with him.
At that moment, the gray puppy in Guanguan’s arms moved.
He jumped down and trotted over, his little tail sticking up.
Then, with a soft plop, as if by accident, he sat right on top of the big black dog’s head.
The big black dog got so excited that he jolted his head and sent the gray fluffball flying several feet away.
“Little Dog Brother!”
Guanguan hurried over and picked up the border collie puppy.
The puppy burrowed into his little master’s arms, whining pitifully as if he had suffered a terrible injustice. But in the corner where Guanguan could not see, he bared his teeth at the tall black dog nearby.
Very fiercely.
The little black dog’s ears shot straight up: He likes me?
Author’s Note:
Scheming little border collie: Fighting for favor! [sunglasses]
Guardian Little Apricot: He likes me? [heart eyes]
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