NOVPUBChapter 90: Chapter 90 A Child’s Potential
Chapter 90 -90 A Child’s Potential
As they spoke, they arrived at Shi Liang’s house, and Deng Fang opened the door to see Gu Pan, her smile blooming instantly, “Sister, brother-in-law, come inside quickly.”
In her heart, they were the only ones who treated them like family after the apocalypse. It was impossible to find their real relatives, and those they did find only sought things from them, none truly treated them as their own.
Gu Pan entered the house and said to Deng Fang with a smile, “You two seem to be doing well, that eases my mind.”
Deng Fang replied, “That’s all thanks to the supplies and self-defense techniques you and brother-in-law taught us before. Without your supplies, we would have had a hard time getting through the epidemic.”
“Let’s not stand on ceremony, we can’t stay long and we’ve brought you some more things,” Gu Pan said as she began pulling items out of her backpack.
A bag of freeze-dried vegetables, extremely important given the absence of fruits and vegetables; without vitamins intake humans wouldn’t last, then a bag of dried meat, followed by two bags of compressed biscuits, and then water, ten bottles of mineral water, for emergency use in case they couldn’t find water, which could sustain them for a few days.
Food was unnecessary, as Shi Liang was a second-hand dealer and wouldn’t lack food, but such valuable supplies were hard for them to get. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Shi Liang and Deng Fang watched in awe as Gu Pan pulled so many items out of her bag. Sister really is something; if her bag is this heavy, how much heavier is her brother-in-law’s?
They didn’t know that Gu Pan used the bag as a cover, actually pulling the items from the “Space.”
Finally, Gu Pan pulled out a box of birth control items for Deng Fang, “You absolutely must avoid getting pregnant at this time; it would be very hard to survive.”
Deng Fang took the box, her face slightly red, “I understand, sister, don’t worry.”
Without dwelling further, Gu Pan turned to Shi Liang, “Liangzi, how much gold do you have? We brought food and can trade with you, then we must head back.”
Shi Liang took out all the gold hidden in the crevices of his home, “I have five kilos, saved up by myself, so don’t talk about money, sister.”
Gu Pan looked towards Lu Ruisheng.
Understanding her cue, Lu Ruisheng took out ten kilos of rice, “We have uses for the gold. Let’s trade as it should be traded; otherwise, we won’t come to you in the future. Business is business, and even blood brothers must settle accounts clearly. Besides, people above you know, and if they found out, you’d be in trouble. Gold is more useful to us than food, we’re capable of getting our own food, so however much it needs to be, it will be.”
Shi Liang insisted, “This isn’t business, this is something I saved especially for sister. I don’t have much to give you or help you with; this is just a token of my intention.”
Lu Ruisheng placed his hand on Shi Liang’s shoulder, “If we took this gold like this, your sister would lose sleep over it tonight.”
Gu Pan also chimed in, smiling, “We’re not in need of food for now. It wouldn’t do us much good to take it back. The day we can’t find food, you’ll be the first ones we come to. So save up some supplies, you might see us one day.”
Shi Liang looked at them, “Then I won’t be polite with you, sister, brother-in-law. I’ve always saved food for both of you, in case you need us one day, we will definitely be there without hesitation.”
“Alright, let’s stop with the politeness, you two tidy up at home, we’ll go to the night market to see if we can exchange some more gold,” said Gu Pan.
Shi Liang looked at the rice, “Sister, gold is cheaper now, one kilo of rice for one kilo of gold, you’ve given me half more than you should, you were the one who said there aren’t accounts between brothers, you must take half back.”
This Gu Pan didn’t refuse, “Okay, then we’ll take it with us to the night market to exchange for stuff.”
Shi Liang and Deng Fang saw Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng out, bidding farewell before they left.
Returning to the night market, they exchanged for another five kilos of gold, then rode their motorcycle to a deserted area.
First, they didn’t bring the gold and entered the “Space,” confirming its area was 8120 square meters, then came out and took in the ten kilos of gold, which increased the area to 8320 square meters. Simply put, a hundred square meters required five kilos of gold.
Gold was easier to exchange now, so they went to several other exchange points. The daytime ones had moved to nighttime, though they were late, and many second-hand dealers had left, only small traders remained. However, at three locations, they barely managed to exchange another ten kilos, increasing the area by another 200 square meters, now totaling 8520 square meters.
They could now regularly exchange gold, the bigger the “Space,” the better their survival in the apocalypse.
They only reached home when it was nearly daybreak, the temperature was rising, so they hurriedly closed the windows and turned on the air-cooling fan.
After washing up, they slept, as sleeping during the day had become the routine for most people.
They went out together that night. The day’s haul wasn’t very good; at times like this, without good luck or a clear target, one couldn’t find much, but managing to gather enough supplies for the day wasn’t a loss, at least they didn’t need to dip into their reserves. Having found the rice before, they weren’t worried about survival, so there was no pressure.
They returned quite early today, so they continued to visit a few friends.
Their first stop was Guo Gang’s house. The building was getting increasingly dilapidated, and the human presence dwindled, the epidemic likely having taken many lives.
At Guo Gang’s house, seeing no accumulated dust at the doorstep and recent traces of the door being used, they knocked comfortably, but there was no response from inside.
Gu Pan thought they might be guarded, pretending no one was home if it wasn’t someone they knew.
So she directly announced her name, “Brother, sister-in-law, it’s Gu Pan.”
Soon there was a sound from inside, moving furniture, unlocking chains, and then the door was opened, but the person opening it was shorter than their line of sight, and the voice came from below, “Auntie, uncle, you’re here.”
It was Guo Gang’s daughter, Meng Meng. Her parents had told her she could trust only Uncle Lu Ruisheng and Aunt Gu Pan, and she also liked Gu Pan.
Gu Pan held Meng Meng’s little hand as they entered, “Are you home alone?”
Meng Meng nodded, “Yes, mom and dad went out to find supplies, and I’m watching the house.” She pointed to a handgun on the table next to the door, “I can use this.”
Gu Pan looked at the loaded gun, unable to help but reflect that the apocalypse truly brought unimaginable situations. Such a young child already needed to know how to use a handgun. She wouldn’t have the strength to load it; Guo Gang likely loaded it for her, just in case. They wouldn’t be out long, so it wasn’t necessary to keep it loaded for short periods, and it wouldn’t damage the gun much.
This kind of sentiment could probably only be understood in the apocalypse, but what could be done? Either survive or perish, sometimes taking unconventional paths.
