Wild rose: A trade, an acre of potatoes

"Beep, beep, beep! Radiation level: 109. High radiation. Not recommended for consumption!"

"..."

She sighed in defeat. She had spent two straight hours testing more than half of them, without finding a single edible bean.

There were a few large trees nearby, and she thought about trying somewhere else.

Her stomach was already starting to feel hungry, so she had to stop and take a few sips of water. She had filled the bamboo flask a little less than halfway with spring water; any more would have been awfully heavy to carry.

She had only taken a few steps forward when that familiar pull returned.

She whipped her head toward the direction she sensed it coming from. It was the tree in front of her.

It was an enormous parasol tree, so thick it would take two people joining arms to encircle it. Its branches and foliage were lush, and every leaf was as big as a banana leaf. It really was an eye-opener.

She walked over and felt the trunk, discovering that the crystal core was at the center of the trunk, level with her eyes.

Before she could feel any joy, she realized that digging the crystal core out with the stone knife in her hand was hardly realistic. Even if she dug all night without eating or drinking, she would never get it out, and the stone knife might not hold up, either.

Right now, she desperately wanted a chainsaw to saw down the tree and get the crystal core out.

With no other choice, she could only mark this crystal core's location for now.

Sang Luoluo looked around. No one was paying attention to this area, so she marked her position on her wristwatch.

She could only go back, find some tools, and return.

She couldn't alert anyone, or the crystal core would be taken from her.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly felt something cool winding around her ankle.

Her scalp instantly prickled. Looking down, she saw a red-patterned snake as thick as her wrist coiling around her.

"Aaaaah!!!!!!!"

Sang Luoluo's screams rang out through every corner of the area.

Sang Luoluo shook her leg, putting the stone knife in her hand to use as well as she struck the snake's head. Luckily, she had noticed it as it made its first coil around her, or it wouldn't have been so easy to shake off.

Her hair was standing on end from fright. She immediately ran toward the guards a short distance away. "A snake-there's a snake!!!"

Everyone nearby heard her shrill cries. At the mention of a snake, they all went on guard.

The red-patterned snake seemed to have claimed the parasol tree as its territory and chased after the intruder, Sang Luoluo, trying to bite her.

Sang Luoluo glanced back and saw the red-patterned snake twisting its huge mass of a body toward her, its tongue flicking out. She was terrified.

I'm not going to die in a snake's jaws today, am I?

"Help!!!!"

The red-patterned snake slithered extremely fast, and Sang Luoluo didn't dare stop for even a single step.

In the distance, Lei Qi heard the sudden cries from this direction. Hearing that a mutant snake was attacking someone, he immediately headed over with his sniper rifle. He saw a girl running and shouting, her face a mess of tears, and could just make out the head of the red-patterned snake following behind her.

He aimed at the red-patterned snake and pulled the trigger. The next instant, the snake's head burst apart. Its body writhed before it died on the ground.

Lei Qi saw that the girl was still running. She tripped over something and let out a muffled grunt, then shakily scrambled back up, swinging the wooden stick in her hand behind her.

Only when she noticed the dead snake some distance away did she stop. She glanced his way and cried even harder.

Lei Qi spoke to the captain over his mic. "Captain, a mutant snake was attacking someone. I've shot it dead. I'm going over to take a look."

The captain, Qi Feng, had naturally heard the screams from his end as well, but he was concentrating on dealing with the mutant animal before him, so he simply acknowledged him.

Lei Qi walked over and confirmed that the mutant snake was thoroughly dead. He glanced at Sang Luoluo and thought she looked somewhat familiar. Looking past her hair, which looked as though a dog had chewed it, he finally remembered and said with a chuckle, "You again. It was just a young snake. It's dead now."

Something occurred to Lei Qi, and he walked over and tested the mutant snake with his wristwatch.

"Beep, beep, beep! Radiation level: 58. Moderate radiation. Recommended for consumption!"

Lei Qi's eyes lit up. He reached out and scooped up the mutant snake's corpse, then looked at Sang Luoluo, whose eyes were still red, some distance away. "I killed this snake, so I'm taking it."

Sang Luoluo nodded. "Thank you."

He had saved her, after all. If he wanted to take an edible snake, then so be it.

Seeing that the basket lying on the ground beside her was completely empty, Lei Qi paused, but he still resolutely took the snake meat. Food was precious in the wasteland. Whether someone could survive depended solely on themselves, and he didn't want to give his own chance of survival to someone else.

After he left, Sang Luoluo came back to her senses. She had scraped her knee in the fall. Leaving it alone, she picked up her basket and limped toward home, leaning on her walking stick.

If she headed back too late, she couldn't guarantee she would make it out of this area before dark.

"Captain, look how lucky I am! I found an edible snake!" Lei Qi showed it off to his teammates before stuffing it into the cloth bag at his side. Under everyone's envious gazes, he said as though telling a joke, "What a coincidence. That girl being chased by the snake was the same little girl the captain saved from a mantis yesterday. It's all thanks to the captain. If he hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't have been lucky enough to find such a big snake today. Back at the base, I can trade it for dozens of tubes of nutrient solution. Hehe."

The others shook their heads, consumed with envy. How was this brat so lucky?

Few mutant animals were edible to begin with, and finding an edible one was even harder. Lei Qi really was far too lucky.

It was dark by the time Sang Luoluo finally reached the shantytown safely.

Her body was utterly exhausted. Hunger swept over her, leaving her dizzy. Summoning the last of her strength, she made her way to the shantytown's trading market with her walking stick.

Only after asking at two shops in succession did she manage to trade her only two points for a tube of original-flavor nutrient solution that would expire in three days.

The moment she got it, she opened it and drank a third.

Only after the hunger faded did she feel alive again.

She didn't dare drink any more of what remained. She had no idea what tomorrow would bring, and this was her only food now.

Chapter 4: Wild rose: A trade, an acre of potatoes

Sang Luoluo dragged her weary body back to her shack, fetched a basin of water, and cleaned the wound on her knee. It should scab over overnight. She still had to go out looking for food tomorrow morning.

She only had this little bit of nutrient solution left. If bad weather struck, she wouldn't even have a chance to go out. Without food, she really would starve to death.

After a quick wash, she climbed onto her little bed and lay down.

She saw a shantytown notice on her wristwatch.

The guards would be heading out on patrol tomorrow, with several dozen large trucks accompanying them. Residents who needed to go out gathering were to assemble at the base's main gate at five in the morning.

A detailed description of the destination followed.

Sang Luoluo perked up and read it carefully. To keep more people from starving to death, the base organized a group scavenging trip every five days, sending guards out with several dozen truckloads of residents to scavenge.

Tomorrow's scavenging destination was a patch of wilderness where the guards had just finished clearing out the large mutant animals. The base had named it Zone 31A. It was roughly twenty kilometers from the base, an hour's journey.

The guards would do their best to ensure the residents' safety. Of course, that was only their best effort. If someone really did have an accident, it would simply be considered bad luck.

This was a wasteland world, after all. The base could only do its best to keep everyone alive; it couldn't guarantee every individual's safety.

Whatever the case, this was good news for her.

It was so far away, and the two points she had earned selling water today had given her motivation. With so many people going scavenging tomorrow, if anyone needed water, she could carry a few bamboo flasks of it to sell.

She had as much spiritual spring water as she wanted. She was going to do this business that required no capital.

Without a source of food, selling water was currently her only source of income.

With that thought, she climbed out of bed again and rummaged through the other bamboo water flasks in a corner of her home. She washed them clean by lamplight and put them in her basket.

Early the next morning, she woke at four thirty. With the tube of nutrient solution between her lips, she shouldered her basket, picked up her stone knife, and headed out.

Following her memories to the base's main gate, she arrived at ten past five. Several hundred people had already gathered. Many had brought their entire families, young and old, each person carrying a large basket on their back. Some had also brought a few urea sacks.

The convoy had already pulled out, and people were climbing aboard one after another.

Someone came over and called out to her.

"Hey, young lady, it's me. You sold me water yesterday."

Sang Luoluo looked at him and gave a somewhat awkward acknowledgment. Seeing that he looked quite well today, she said, "Oh, it's you."

Sang Luoluo's gaze asked him: Did you need something?

The middle-aged man said, "My name's Asuo. Thank you for selling me water yesterday. You saved my life. Speaking of which, your water was really good. Very sweet. As far as I know, there isn't any water like that in the shantytown."

Sang Luoluo eyed him warily. "I found that water outside, too. Do you want to buy more?"

Asuo could understand Sang Luoluo's wariness toward him. He saw that she still had some in her basket. That water tasted wonderful. When he drank it yesterday, he had thought it sweeter than any water he had ever drunk in his life. He had tested it after going home and found that it was low-radiation water, too. Getting it for two points was a bargain. But compared with the shantytown's price of two buckets of water for one point, it was still far too expensive.

But at the thought of that sweet water, Asuo gritted his teeth. "Still two points?"

Sang Luoluo nodded. "Yes."

Asuo said, "Then give me a cup."

Sang Luoluo immediately took a bamboo flask from her basket, filling it the moment her hand touched it. "The water's yours, but the bamboo flask is mine."

Asuo immediately transferred two points to her, but he had only brought one bamboo flask himself, and it was full of water. "Let me use the bamboo flask for now. I'll give you a new one later."

Sang Luoluo nodded. Earning two points made her very happy.

Seeing that she still had a few bamboo flasks in her basket, Asuo thought that this water could sell for quite a few points inside the base. There was no shortage of rich people inside, and they spent generously. Water this sweet was worth far more than these few points.