Given these conditions, Su Mo didn’t mind. She buttoned up her clothes and lay down, "Let’s squeeze in and sleep. I expect more excitement tonight."
Jianxiong sat on the straw mat and nudged Lu Chen towards the edge of the bed, "Boss, you two sleep first. I’ll take the first half of the night, and you two take over for the second half."
Lu Chen didn’t refuse. In the pitch-black room where he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, he accurately found the bed and lay down. Su Mo naturally snuggled into his arms and closed her eyes.
Deep into the night, when everything around was quiet, the slight disturbance of someone climbing over the fence surrounding the house stirred Su Mo from her light sleep. She slightly tilted her head back, and in the darkness, the man’s beautiful phoenix eyes shone brightly.
He tapped her lips with his finger, and Su Mo lay still, not moving. After all, whether or not the grain could be safeguarded was Da Qing’s skill. If it couldn’t, she wouldn’t interfere. The village was already in a precarious state. Even if she helped once, there would be a second and third time. Problems would always arise sooner or later.
Da Qing was no fool, although he was a farmer. But in times of famine like now, hugging a bag of rice, how could one not be a bit vigilant?
Outside Su Mo’s room, sounds soon erupted of pots and pans smashing to the ground, along with children’s cries and men’s curses.
In the early morning, as they tidied up and stepped outside, they saw a new dark red bloodstain on the ground. Su Mo pretended not to see it and went next door to check on the three injured patients. After feeding them Biluochun Tea again, two of them had mostly recovered and were able to talk and thank her. Only the man who had become a one-eyed dragon was still somewhat listless, possibly suffering brain damage, and was slow to recover.
Su Mo personally entered the kitchen, where a huge stove held a big iron pot over a wood-burning fire.
"Miss... Miss, I can cook," said Da Qing’s wife when she saw her come in. Her nervous face didn’t know where to rest her hands. Su Mo replied amiably, "It’s fine. I’ll make breakfast. We have a few patients to take care of."
"Oh... okay," she said, crouching behind the stove and starting to stuff firewood inside, "I’ll help you start the fire."
Su Mo nodded. Without using their rice, she conjured some rice and wild boar meat out of thin air and cooked a big pot of fragrant meat porridge. The woman looked at it, her eyes practically popping out.
Unbothered, Su Mo finished cooking and said, "Let’s eat together."
That was meat! The woman stood in front of the steaming iron pot, almost in tears.
Da Qing rushed back with dew on his clothes and bruises on his knuckles from hitting someone. Seeing Su Mo and the others around the table eating meat porridge, his eyes lit up and he spoke warmly, "This is... meat!"
Su Mo: "Call your son to eat too. Afterward, take us to fix the car."
These people were truly capable, was Da Qing’s first thought, and his respect for them grew by a few notches. The little boy beside him couldn’t care less about the heat as he devoured the meat porridge ravenously.
Glancing at the emaciated child, Su Mo felt a wave of pity. No matter what, this world is always innocent and cruel for children.
Jin Han and the others also came over for a meal, and everyone ate together amid noisy chatter. When they left the yard, the doorway was bustling with people. The whole neighborhood, seeing their smoke rising, had unconsciously gathered round.
The extent of the village’s food shortage was evident in the crowds that had surrounded it.
Without exception, they were all there to borrow grain and water.
Su Mo had anticipated this situation and stayed out of it, standing quietly beside Lu Chen, watching how Da Qing and Da Qiang would respond.
Unsurprisingly, neither of the two men were willing to share the hard-earned food, and even the earlier arrangement to take them to a place to repair their car had changed. Now Da Qing’s wife and children would lead the way, as he and Da Qiang needed to guard the food at home.
Lu Chen didn’t react much but simply let Da Qing’s wife lead the way, taking his people with him.
Su Mo couldn’t help looking back at the small courtyard surrounded by the fence, frowning as she said, "Handing over the grain was a wrong decision, there’s going to be trouble."
"It’s what they asked for; no one else can be blamed," Jianxiong spoke while walking with his hands behind his head like a big-shot, "I clearly saw the commotion last night and that pool of blood."
Yes, the normally honest and placid Da Qing must have been heavy-handed last night.
Their conversation didn’t miss the ears of the mother and son; the woman trembled slightly and said in a low voice, "We had no choice; we can’t leave, and you were the first to arrive with food. If we didn’t rob it, we would have starved to death."
Su Mo’s eyes flickered.
The Volkswagen was directly abandoned, and the three deflated-tyred war vehicles were all driven into a large open warehouse, with its rolling shutter door pulled up high, inside were two agricultural machines and some vehicle-repair equipment.
"These farm machines were allocated to us by a government grant. We didn’t use them for long before the skies changed," the woman said, standing in front of the towering machines, touching them with her hand and sighing.
Lu Chen walked straight to a shelf on the side and began picking up tools like wrenches; Jin Han and Jianxiong also came over to search.
They needed materials to reinforce the wheels, but here, apart from the black soil, there was nothing but dead farmlands and fenced courtyards.
Su Mo looked around and fixed her gaze on the two agricultural machines, one for reaping rice and the other for threshing.
An idea flashed through her mind, and she tapped Lu Chen on the shoulder, pointing to the reaper, "Dismantle that one, and then we can keep the thresher for later. If the refugee camp starts growing rice, we can use it."
Before Lu Chen could speak, Jianxiong had already started shouting, "Great idea!"
This entire exchange also reached the ears of the mother and son unaltered. She turned around, her tone hesitant, "This doesn’t seem right..."
"This belongs to our village... giving it to you..."
"Give us two bags of rice, two boxes of water! You can take these machines away," people outside, another group of frail villagers, followed.
Su Mo pursed her lips, her gaze growing heavy, "Do you plan to shrink back here for the rest of your lives? Without water and food, even if given to you, so many people won’t last long."
"We’re not going out! Who doesn’t know about the monsters outside! Our leader died out there! We’re not leaving!"
"Give us the rice! You can dismantle these two machines however you want!"
"What she says isn’t without reason."
"Actually, it’s not very safe here either..."
Someone in the crowd muttered this, but it was quickly drowned out. Although they were divided in opinion, the intent to trade the farm machines for food remained unchanged.
For Su Mo and her companions, it really didn’t matter. In this new world, bartering was quite normal.
Lu Chen stood straight, his presence exuding authority that silenced the people gathered at the door. He glanced over them with an invisible pressure, "We can trade, two bags of rice, one box of water, for the agricultural machines. So, who will come to fetch them?"