Chapter 40
Fu Jingqiu would not suddenly say something like that for no reason.
It was simply that Jiang Qingyu looked very clever, as if no one could possibly fool him, but in reality, he was soft-hearted and easy to talk to.
The current situation was special. If one really had to say it, everyone had reasons they “had no choice” about. If Jiang Qingyu softened his heart because of that, he might suffer a big loss.
Jiang Qingyu might not necessarily be able to do anything that truly went against morality. Fu Jingqiu said this only because he wanted him to protect himself properly and not let people with ulterior motives take advantage of any openings.
He did not want someone to sell misery and act pitiful in front of Jiang Qingyu, only for Jiang Qingyu to soften his heart and stop holding them accountable.
A personality like this was very easy to take advantage of.
However, what he did not know was that Jiang Qingyu had already experienced the kind of situation he was worried about from his eldest uncle’s family.
In front of his grandparents, they would sometimes sell misery and sometimes act tough. All kinds of ugly faces—none of it was new.
Jiang Qingyu mainly wanted to go get his packages. After he had placed a large order at the hot spring hotel that day, because he had paid extra, the shop owners had packed and shipped everything extremely quickly. Not only had they used the fastest courier service, they had also thrown in quite a few extra “gifts.”
There were also some scattered items that had all already arrived at the delivery station.
Other things were one matter, but he really wanted these packages.
So he obediently agreed, hugged his little backpack, and repeatedly promised that he absolutely would not let himself get hurt. Only then did Fu Jingqiu press his brows down and confirm on the map the locations of a small pet hospital and a nearby wholesale market. The two places were not far from each other.
It was raining, so using a drone was not very convenient. The RV carefully drove into the county town, and both of them vigilantly observed their surroundings in case something suddenly changed.
For once, Jiang Qingyu sat in the driver’s seat. He was the one driving.
After all, he knew what capabilities the vehicle had been upgraded with. Even a head-on collision would not be a problem.
In rain like this, there naturally were not many people outdoors. The street shops and vendors had all set up colorful rain canopies outside. The owners of a few scattered shops sat on lounge chairs behind their stalls, arms raised as they scrolled on their phones.
A well-decorated coffee shop had bright, clean windows. The lights were on inside, and the baristas and servers were still working. One could even see a few scattered tourists sitting inside, all with their heads lowered as they looked at their phones.
The small blackboard at the entrance listed the shop’s specialties. Jiang Qingyu glanced at it and finally saw a situation that seemed reasonable—prices had gone up.
Fu Jingqiu relaxed slightly and went to the living area in the back to carry Tangyuan out while putting on a raincoat.
Jiang Qingyu reminded him, “Take an umbrella too.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Okay.”
Tangyuan still did not know what had happened. With all four paws in the air, Fu Jingqiu supported its little belly and held it up. Yet it was not afraid at all. Its eyes were dark and shiny, looking up at its two owners from below. Its mouth opened, and its tongue stuck out, making it look as if it were smiling.
It really was such a good dog.
Jiang Qingyu could not resist rubbing its head a couple more times before finally letting go and allowing Fu Jingqiu to tuck Tangyuan into his arms. Fu Jingqiu fastened the raincoat, took a small bag equipped about the same as Jiang Qingyu’s, and got out of the vehicle.
After seeing Fu Jingqiu enter the pet hospital and stay inside for at least five minutes, Jiang Qingyu received a WeChat message from him, saying that the puppy’s examination would be arranged immediately and that he should rest assured, everything inside was normal.
Jiang Qingyu replied with an okay, then swiftly turned the steering wheel and headed to the delivery station to pick up his things. At this time, even the nearby jade market was open. It was as if everyone had not been affected by the online news about zombies and was still living normally.
The owner and staff of the delivery station were all there. It was just that there was not much work to do on a rainy day. Seeing a person with an obvious out-of-town face come over to pick up things, they even took the initiative to chat with him.
“Here for travel?”
A good opportunity!
Jiang Qingyu answered, “Yeah. Did you see that zombie thing online?”
The delivery station owner said without the slightest concern, “Saw it. So what?”
So… so what?
What did he mean, so what? Those were zombies!
“What’s there to be afraid of? The clever stuff on my neck is still there. So what if zombies come? At worst, I’ll clench my butt and run. I have a vehicle too.”
Jiang Qingyu: “…”
What was he even saying?
The sorting worker at the delivery station also had nothing to do, so he chatted along for a while and helped Jiang Qingyu take and move the packages. He was very enthusiastic.
His Mandarin was better. He said that when he saw the zombie video online a couple days ago, he had also been frightened badly. He had wanted to run or stay at home and not go out.
But someone in his family had advised him that, in any case, the county town had few people. If he stayed at home and did not work, he would still be waiting to die. Where would food and drink come from? It was better to come out and earn some money first, then wait until zombies really appeared to talk about it.
Jiang Qingyu understood.
In densely populated places, forget going out—there was a significant chance of zombies appearing on the same floor. At the beginning, hiding at home was indeed the optimal choice.
And it was not that everyone in this county town was living as usual. Jiang Qingyu believed there were definitely people who were already staying at home and no longer going out. But a portion of people, before truly facing zombies, would firmly believe that they could deal with them.
Of course, Jiang Qingyu had not truly seen one either. Was he not still brave enough to drive into the county town?
No matter what, he was very happy that he could smoothly get his packages.
While he was at it, he went around the nearby wholesale market to see whether there were things he had not bought before. No matter how much, he would first get some ready.
The wind here was even stronger than in the previous county town. In comparison, the rain almost seemed lighter.
But the wind was damp and cold. Jiang Qingyu stood at the entrance for one or two minutes, and his cheeks were blown ice-cold. He had not been down for long, yet he already began missing the warm RV and the blankets.
Thinking about it, he had not even obtained this RV for very long, yet he had already started becoming unable to endure hardship.
Before planning to pick up Fu Jingqiu, he passed by a nang pit barbecue shop. Seeing that the other party’s stove had already heated up, with orange light reflected along its edges, very suitable for warming hands, Jiang Qingyu’s steps paused slightly. After hesitating for a brief moment, he still went over with his umbrella and asked the price.
Sure enough, compared to the prices listed on the restaurant menu, the price had risen by at least thirty percent.
Jiang Qingyu looked at the menu posted on the wall, then looked at the owner.
The owner crossed his arms and said calmly, “I’m not lying to you. Everything’s gone up in price!”
All right. He could understand.
Jiang Qingyu took out his phone. “I’ll buy it. Where do I scan?”
And so, a steaming hot large bag of nang pit barbecue was put into the space. Jiang Qingyu also bought more than a dozen beef and piyazi nang to take away together.
Both sides were very satisfied with this transaction. With the space, he also did not have to worry about the barbecue getting cold and no longer tasting good later.
Once there was a first time, there would be a second. Fu Jingqiu sent a message saying that Tangyuan still had to wait for a report, so Jiang Qingyu simply slipped into the big plate chicken mixed noodle shop next door and restrainedly bought a few portions to take away.
While waiting for the food, Jiang Qingyu chatted with the owner’s wife for a few sentences. Similarly, he asked about the zombies.
Logically speaking, this should actually be the time to stockpile on a large scale. Why were they still opening their doors for business?
The owner’s wife said straightforwardly, “I’d like to, but if you go out now with meat and nang to exchange things with people, why would they bother with you? The herders have cattle and sheep running all over the mountains. If they don’t have toilet paper, they can’t just use their hands to wipe, can they?”
…That made so much sense.
After all, this was the “western granary.” The land was vast, the population was sparse, and resources were abundant.
Setting aside everything else, those nang bigger than a person’s head were enough for an adult man to eat for a while. If one wanted to fill their stomach, it was very easy.
When Jiang Qingyu came out of the noodle shop and saw the bakery and pastry shop next door, he once again found it a little hard to move his feet.
When he entered, the owner was cutting blueberry milk-skin cake. The cake was even bigger than a washbasin, with a thick layer of blueberry jam spread on top. The filling in the middle was blueberry-flavored cheese cream, and the color was very beautiful. Jiang Qingyu looked at it and thought that if this tasted bad, there would have to be ghosts.
There were also grape-tree cheese bread stuffed full of nuts, milk-skin pastries, mille-feuille, nut tarts, and a whole series of solid-looking desserts that looked extremely delicious. Jiang Qingyu was once again eager to move.
Previously, when tourists came over to buy milk-skin cake, they bought it piece by piece for around thirty-something yuan. Jiang Qingyu directly carried away cakes the size of washbasins, and he bought several at once.
During special times, Jiang Qingyu could accept price increases.
When Fu Jingqiu reunited with Jiang Qingyu while carrying Tangyuan, who had been dressed in little clothes, he could clearly sense that Jiang Qingyu’s mood had risen quite a lot.
Jiang Qingyu’s explanation for this was: he had bought lots of supplies and food, so he was in a good mood.
Fu Jingqiu said, “You must have spent quite a lot, right? Do you still have money? If not, I’ll transfer more to you.”
“I do, I do.” Jiang Qingyu was ashamed. What was with Fu Jingqiu’s habit of stuffing money at people whenever there was the slightest disagreement? “You gave enough. Even with price increases, it’s enough.”
As for Fu Jingqiu, he had brought over several bags the size of sacks, all filled with his spoils. Jiang Qingyu almost suspected he had bought back all the already rather expensive cat and dog snacks and toys from the pet hospital.
Tangyuan seemed to know that many things inside were bought for it. It kept circling around those large bags, its tail wagging like a propeller. It looked so happy that it was just short of actually flying.
Fu Jingqiu’s attitude toward this was: they would all be used sooner or later anyway.
In addition, Tangyuan was very healthy. Fu Jingqiu had also specifically had an X-ray taken of its leg. Sure enough, there was no problem at all, nor were there any traces of a previous fracture that had healed.
He was somewhat confused by this, but even the doctor could not provide an answer to solve his confusion, so he could only let it go.
In any case, this trip into the county town went very smoothly, and there were even some unexpected gains.
At least for this period of time, things here would be relatively peaceful.
The vehicle drove past a monument commemorating windbreaks and sand control, slowly heading toward the park parking lot. Forget people coming out for walks; even vehicles were pitifully few. After they parked, Jiang Qingyu pretended to take the barbecue and big plate chicken out of the insulated box and called Fu Jingqiu over to eat.
Tangyuan, this little fellow, had already been so excited that it kept pouncing at Jiang Qingyu the moment it smelled the aroma of food on him. It was just that it was still small, with short arms and short legs, so it could not jump up. It could only be excited on the ground, looking especially energetic.
On a cold rainy night, the table was filled with roasted meat and steaming big plate chicken mixed noodles. The portions were extremely large. Jiang Qingyu also took two small side dishes from the space. Dinner could be called very abundant.
In addition, milk tea here was also very cheap. Jiang Qingyu had brought several pots. At a time like this, drinking it hot into the stomach was the most comfortable.
Tangyuan also finally got to eat meat, as it wished.
Jiang Qingyu rinsed the meat in water, tore it into small chunks and strips, and fed it to Tangyuan. Noodles, potatoes, vegetables—it accepted everything without refusal, eating whatever was given. Its eating manner was not rushed either.
When he pinched meat and fed it to Tangyuan, the puppy would also carefully avoid his fingers so as not to bite him.
Meimei did not care at all about what was happening under the table—she had table privileges.
Occasionally, after eating a couple bites, she would receive touches from her owner or Fu Jingqiu, chin and head scratches, enjoying herself immensely.
Looking at this scene, Jiang Qingyu could not help sighing with emotion.
“It really is a harmonious family with both a cat and a dog.”
