Wang Yan and Chen Na

The middle-aged woman hesitated after hearing Guan Tong's words and turned off her flashlight.

Under the illumination of the truck's headlights, she clearly saw Guan Tong's face. He was young and handsome, appearing to be a student around eighteen or nineteen years old.

Judging by his appearance alone, Guan Tong didn't seem aggressive. However, the fact that he was holding a pair of pliers at the moment made a middle-aged woman with a child feel somewhat nervous and fearful.

She watched Guan Tong warily and said, "I'm from Sun Family Village. I saw online that places with fewer people have less snow, so I brought my daughter here. Young man, where are you from?"

"I'm from Yunhua."

Guan Tong knew Sun Family Village; it was a village about forty kilometers away. He had even passed by it when he drove here earlier.

"Mom, I'm cold..."

At this moment, the little girl's voice rang out from behind the woman. Hearing this, the woman quickly picked up the girl and put her back in the car.

Then, she said to Guan Tong, "Young man, my daughter and I will be staying in the car. If you have a place to stay too, let's just keep to ourselves."

"Okay."

Hearing the middle-aged woman say this, Guan Tong was happy to oblige.

"But be careful not to damage the path I cleared," he reminded her.

"Alright, we'll be careful."

Guan Tong heard the middle-aged woman agree and said no more, turning to head back to his campsite along the path.

The middle-aged woman also returned to the car. Her daughter curiously asked, "Mom, is that big brother also hiding here because he was bullied?"

"I don't know." The woman touched her daughter's forehead and earnestly warned, "These days, you must stay with Mommy at all times. Don't wander off by yourself, understand?"

She hadn't expected anyone to be on Mingdao Mountain. Although Guan Tong didn't look like a bad person, she was with her daughter. Two females facing an unfamiliar adult male in the wilderness required extreme caution.

After all, in this time and place, if any violent crime occurred, even calling the Public Security Bureau wouldn't bring any rescue.

"I understand, Mom. Mom, I'm a little hungry."

"Okay, there's food in the car. Mommy will get it for you."

Before the Apocalypse Rules, the woman had been a long-haul truck driver.

When driving such large vehicles for long distances, she often spent entire days in the truck, so she kept plenty of food stocked. Moreover, before leaving this time, she had specifically taken a large amount of food from home and packed it into the car, enough for her and her daughter to eat for more than twenty days.

She took out a bag of bread and fruit for her daughter, tearing it open for her to eat. She also didn't forget to lock the car doors.

This way, she could sleep soundly at night. If someone wanted to force their way in, they would have to break the window.

The woman kept the crowbar within easy reach, ready for immediate use.

"Mom, I'm full."

"Okay, if you're full, let's get some sleep early."

These large trucks had sleeper berths. Although narrow, they were sufficient for one person to sleep.

When the woman's husband was still alive, they used to drive together, taking turns. When one got tired, they would rest in the sleeper, and the other would drive.

The woman watched her daughter fall asleep on the bed, then leaned back against the car seat, gazing at the snowflakes outside the window. The worry in her eyes couldn't be dispelled.

Because the truck's headlights had been on the entire time, the visibility in the vicinity had improved significantly. Guan Tong also benefited slightly in his camp, able to see his surroundings more clearly.

However, with someone else nearby, he remained somewhat cautious. He broke some stored branches and scattered them on the ground in front of his camp, covering them with snow.

This way, if the mother and daughter crept over in the middle of the night, their feet stepping on the branches hidden in the snow would make a clear sound, allowing Guan Tong to wake up in time.

This might seem overly defensive, but it was necessary for his personal safety.

Guan Tong wouldn't let his guard down just because the other party appeared to be a mother and daughter.

On the contrary, so many people had died since the Apocalypse Rules Era began. The fact that this mother and daughter had survived indicated they possessed extraordinary capabilities.

Furthermore, with "black box" items like Mind Power Artifacts, no one knew what kind of artifacts others possessed. If one underestimated someone perceived as weak, there was a risk of being defeated by a powerful artifact they produced.

Currently, both parties were minding their own business, each resisting the rules to survive, which was the preferred outcome for both.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Guan Tong woke up and looked towards the large truck.

The mother and daughter had not gotten out of the car. This was normal; the large truck itself was essentially their camp. There was no need to come out unless absolutely necessary.

After a glance, Guan Tong averted his gaze and continued with his own tasks.

After a simple meal, he picked up his folding shovel and began clearing the snow that had fallen on his path overnight.

While this task wasn't difficult in itself, its challenge lay in its daily repetition, day after day, for an entire month.

If he slacked off for just one day, the accumulated snow from two days, combined with ice, would increase the difficulty of clearing it by more than one level.

Thus, the day passed with him and the mother-daughter pair coexisting peacefully, without interfering with each other.

Another two peaceful days passed.

Three days later, June 9th.

As Guan Tong was clearing snow after waking up, he saw the mother and daughter also clearing the snow near their car door.

They had no choice but to clear it. If they let the snow pile up, in a few more days, the snow level would reach the car door. It would be troublesome if the frozen snow blocked the door.

The middle-aged woman's method of clearing snow was different from Guan Tong's. She started the large vehicle directly and drove forward slowly, then reversed, changed direction, drove forward again, and reversed.

She relied on the powerful engine of the large vehicle, using its thick, tall tires to smash and crush the snow blocks, compacting them with the tires. It had to be said that this method was indeed much more efficient than clearing snow by hand.

After finishing over there, the car door opened, and the mother and daughter got out and used small tools to clean their tires.

At this moment, Guan Tong was clearing his own path. The little girl saw him and also took a small shovel to help clear snow at the end of the path, tossing it outward.

Seeing this, Guan Tong walked over politely and said thank you, since someone had voluntarily offered to help.

The little girl grinned at him, seeming to find the act very amusing.

Her mother, however, hurried over and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, have we caused you any trouble, young man?"

"It's nothing. I'm thanking your daughter for helping me clear the snow."

"This child isn't helping, she just thinks it's fun," the woman said helplessly. "It's so cold, I wanted her to stay in the car, but she insisted on coming down to play in the snow."

"It's normal for children to be playful."

After a few exchanges like this, the two gradually let down their guard.

Over the past three days, neither party had done anything to make the other uncomfortable. This made them both feel that the other likely had no ill intentions and was just an ordinary citizen.

So after chatting for a while, they learned some basic information about each other.

The woman said her name was Wang Yan. She used to be a truck driver but stopped working after the Apocalypse Rules appeared, and had been taking care of her daughter at home ever since.

Guan Tong also told her that he had been a high school senior before. Work and school stopped afterward, and he wasn't attending school anymore.

"It's good that you made it to high school, young man," Wang Yan said, looking at her daughter Chen Na, who was playing in the snow with a small shovel, and frowning. "My daughter only finished sixth grade before, she hasn't even started middle school yet. My own education isn't high, how can I teach her in the future? Just taking online classes without interacting with people isn't good either."

"Perhaps schools will reopen later," Guan Tong said. "It might just be in a different format."

Wang Yan said, "I heard a while ago that the authorities are planning to open a university in the Capital, recruiting students nationwide..."

"That's the Academy to help students develop Mind Power, right? It probably doesn't teach other basic knowledge."

"Ah? Is that so..." Wang Yan sounded disappointed.

Guan Tong then asked, "Sister Wang, I'm a little curious and wanted to ask a question. I hope you don't mind."

"Heh, feel free to ask."

"The news that places with fewer people received less snowfall spread within hours of the Rules appearing, right? Why did you and your daughter only drive here to take shelter from the snow a few days later?"

Wang Yan's expression became complicated upon hearing this. She hesitated, seemingly unsure how to explain.

At this moment, the little girl Chen Na, who had been squatting on the ground playing in the snow, looked up and pouted angrily, "Someone in the village bullied us! That's why Mom brought me here!"

"Bully?" Guan Tong was quite surprised.

He thought that settlements like villages were different from cities. In cities, many people didn't even know their neighbors and lived completely atomized lives. That's why, when disasters struck, they were more willing to follow official commands and act according to official directives.

But in villages, villagers saw each other every day. Basically, everyone in the village knew each other. In such a situation, after the disaster broke out, they should have quickly banded together to resist it. How could there still be bullying?

Wang Yan didn't want to talk about it, but her daughter Chen Na spoke too quickly. She could only nod helplessly. "Someone saw that we were a mother and daughter alone and took some food from our home. They said they'd return it later, but..."

The little girl Chen Na snorted, "They took a box of instant noodles and a box of yogurt from my house. That was all Mom saved for me!"

"Something like that actually happened."

"Yes. Actually, a box of noodles and a box of milk aren't much, but I felt like this happened just a few days in. If it continues, who knows if they'll come back to take other things..."

Wang Yan sighed as she spoke.

"Actually, it's fine for me, but I can't let my daughter risk going hungry. So, I took her and drove the truck out of the village at night. I figured the truck's gas tank was full, the engine was powerful, and the tires were high, so it would be fine on the snowy roads."

"So that's how it was..."

"Speaking of which, young man, you're quite brave," Wang Yan said. "To dare to come here alone from Yunhua. Yunhua is very far from here, over seven hundred li away."

"It's all for survival."

"Yes. Ever since these Rules came out, I don't hope for anything else. Just being able to live well is enough."

"Today is the 9th, and almost a third of the rule enforcement period has passed," Guan Tong said. "Given the snowfall here, as long as we clear it every day, we should be able to get through it safely."

Wang Yan nodded. "I just don't know how things are in the village, or in Yunhua where you came from. That's a big city, the snow must have been particularly heavy there, right? After this nine-day blizzard, I really don't know what the city will be like..."