A foolish woman, Xia Lingling's secret

"Granny, thank you. Without you, I probably would've croaked." The bespectacled man with the bowl cut smiled.

"It was no trouble." Xia Lingling's tone was flat. She took the bottle of erguotou from the cup holder on her tricycle and gulped down several mouthfuls, as casually as anyone else drank water.

"What are you thanking her for? She owed me this." Beside them, the woman with long, wavy hair folded her arms, her expression cold.

An awkward smile appeared on the bespectacled man's face. He adjusted his glasses, a faint trace of disgust flashing behind the reflective lenses.

This stupid bitch couldn't even say something nice. She just kept using that favor to hold her hostage... Why did women always have ridiculous ideas like "Did I ask you to help?" and "That's what you're supposed to do"?

They wanted everything both ways.

One look at this old woman was enough to tell she wasn't normal. Instead of figuring out how to get her on our side, this idiot was still throwing her weight around. What a moron. Her only redeeming quality was when I needed to get off. She was a slut.

And nice and wet.

"Jiang Shuang, I've repaid the favor your husband did me. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Xia Lingling made no attempt to hide her disgust.

If she hadn't promised the woman's husband that she would look after her, she wouldn't have bothered.

During one supply run, this woman's husband had pulled her to safety and saved her life. She had never forgotten that favor.

Afterward, seven or eight of them had formed a small group, looking out for one another.

The woman's husband had been a good man. He had saved plenty of people as they struggled to survive, and he had catered to his wife's every whim, yet he couldn't get so much as a smile in return. Several people had tried talking to him, but it had done no good.

Later, her husband had gone into the city to find supplies and never made it out. Before he died, he had asked Xia Lingling to help his wife whenever she could.

Even as he died, he had still been worrying about whether she would be all right. When the woman learned of his death, she hadn't shown a trace of grief. Instead, she had hooked up with an Awakened in the convoy, an old man who could control smoke.

When chaos broke out in the convoy, the smoke-controlling old man had fled on his own. Jiang Shuang had begged Xia Lingling for help. Remembering her promise, she had helped, considering the debt repaid.

"No, that doesn't settle it. You need to give me some more supplies." Jiang Shuang looked displeased.

The old woman had collected plenty of supplies along the way.

"Don't even think about it!" Xia Lingling said coldly.

"My husband gave you plenty of food back then!"

"I've already paid him back. Without me, you wouldn't have gotten out. Your husband must've had rotten luck in his past life to end up with someone like you. Back in our village, women like you would've been drowned in a pig cage."

"He was useless. Am I not allowed to admire someone strong? Was I supposed to go find supplies myself after he died?" Jiang Shuang spoke as though it were only natural, reaching for the supplies on the tricycle.

Xia Lingling pressed a hand onto the bag. No matter how hard Jiang Shuang tugged, she couldn't move it.

"Let go! Ji Bo, get over here and help!"

Her voice was shrill.

Tang Chen, who had just walked nearby, frowned.

"No loud disturbances while the convoy is resting."

Jiang Shuang let go. "Who the hell are you?"

"One of the convoy's managers," Tang Chen said coldly. "Keep raising your voice like that, and you'll bear the consequences."

Jiang Shuang fell silent.

Tang Chen registered their names. "All the supplies on the tricycle must be handed over for centralized distribution."

Jiang Shuang grew anxious. "If you take everything, what are we supposed to eat today?"

Centralized distribution? Just some pretty words the convoy used. It was exploitation, plain and simple.

Tang Chen slapped Jiang Shuang across the face with the back of his hand.

Smack!

The slap knocked Jiang Shuang straight to the ground. The cheek she clutched burned and swelled immediately.

"Thinking clearly now?"

Normally, he didn't hit women, but these weren't normal times. Work was irritating enough already, and this woman just kept making a racket.

Ji Bo narrowed his eyes and helped Jiang Shuang up, thinking, Looks like this convoy isn't anything to mess with.

Xia Lingling's gaze shifted slightly. She was still debating whether to reveal that she was an Awakened. She feared that this convoy would be like the previous one, plundering everywhere until they finally picked a fight they couldn't win.

And hadn't they done exactly that? Keep acting arrogant, and sooner or later someone would put you in your place.

This convoy didn't seem like a friendly bunch either.

Once he finished his work, Tang Chen left.

Jiang Shuang watched him with hatred written all over her face. He was only a manager, still just an ordinary person. Once she climbed a little higher, she would make sure he died.

"She seems to have awakened quite some time ago." Hao Ren smiled. "People who've just awakened usually can't wait to tell everyone."

Awakening meant rising straight to the top. No poor person won the lottery without going on a spending spree to make up for everything they had missed.

"Go ask where she stands. If there's a problem, kill her outright!" Su Nian finished his last mouthful of food, his expression calm.

No matter how much ordinary survivors acted up, they couldn't threaten an Awakened. They were simply too weak. But an Awakened was different. He couldn't leave a single land mine buried within his ranks.

His convoy didn't keep unaffiliated members. Join or die.

"I'll go with you." Hao Ren put down his bowl.

The two walked side by side toward Xia Lingling.

Gong Qing scraped his last bit of rice into the basin that had held the stir-fried beef blood, coating the grains with the oil left inside.

Getting to eat Purple-Gold Rice even once wasn't easy. Wen Keyi's mental power was limited. She couldn't spend it growing rice every day. What would she do if danger struck?

"Gong Qing, how have I treated you all this time?" Wen Kele looked perfectly serious.

"What kind of bullshit question is that? You've never treated me well. All you do is punch and kick me." Gong Qing was speechless.

He knew what Wen Kele was after without even having to think.

"Take a guess why I only hit you and not anyone else." Wen Kele's expression grew even more earnest.

"I get it. Don't say another word. I'm already full. I can't swallow any more of your empty promises." Gong Qing walked away carrying his basin.

With brains like hers, she wanted to fool him? She was ten years too early.

"Damn it." Wen Kele turned to Su Yue, the only one left. "You're all I have!"

Su Yue: "..."

"You're an Awakened!" Su Nian cut straight to the point without any preamble.

"I'm just a little stronger than most. Before the apocalypse, I sold roasted snacks. Every day, I carried dozens of pounds of broad beans, soybeans, and corn into the city. I'm in pretty good shape." Drinking her liquor, Xia Lingling wore the kindly smile peculiar to the elderly.

Tang Chen hadn't confiscated the bottle she had been drinking from.

Su Nian smiled. "Sequence pathway, drunken madness body. Sequence Nine, Drinker."

Xia Lingling's pupils abruptly contracted. No wonder the convoy's Awakened had lost so quickly, dying after barely a few exchanges.

They had never been on equal footing to begin with. They had hoped to launch a surprise attack and catch their opponents off guard, only to find them already prepared.

Not far away, Ji Bo's and Jiang Shuang's pupils contracted. This old woman was actually a Sequence Transcendent.

They had thought she had simply gotten lucky and eaten something that strengthened her body, giving her a little extra strength.

They had never imagined she was a Sequence Transcendent.

Why hadn't she said anything after awakening? Why had she stayed at the back, living such a miserable life?

Ji Bo silently cursed Jiang Shuang, that damned bitch.

Regret welled up in Jiang Shuang. If the old woman had told her earlier that she had awakened, she would never have spoken so harshly to her.

Still, it didn't matter. Once she latched on to the convoy leader, the result would be the same. He was surprisingly handsome, too. Just looking at him made her a little aroused. That was her special talent-she could turn it on and off at will.

She didn't need foreplay. Everyone who had experienced it had been full of praise.

Once she hooked up with the leader, that man named Tang Chen would be the first she dealt with. What the hell did he have to be so smug about?

"I did awaken." Xia Lingling put down her liquor bottle, a breeze brushing through her short, snow-white hair.

"I didn't hide it out of malice. I awakened back in the previous convoy, but I never approved of how they did things. I felt they would get into trouble sooner or later, so I kept hiding the fact that I was a Sequence Transcendent."

"I only wanted to stay alive. I meant no harm."

Now she could only tell the truth. Otherwise, she would probably die.