“That… Do we still need to find them to process the cotton?” Xu Song asked hesitantly when he heard him say that.
Yue Zheng thought for a moment. “This shouldn’t be a problem. Even if it’s someone else, it’s normal for them to acquire some materials for their own use while completing the task. However, the quantity… probably shouldn’t be too large. After we go back later, let’s organize and see how much Mom and Tiancheng Tianyou have accumulated before. We can come to process it the day after tomorrow.”
To entrust processing, you can directly bring the materials to a specialized agency for commissioning. Although there are people in the city who privately take on such processing work, and the processing fees are relatively low, in terms of safety, the official agencies are more reliable – although the processing fees are quite high.
The two of them drove back to the entrance of Zone G, returned the rented car at the rental place, retrieved the remaining deposit, and walked back to the two vacant lots they had rented.
After opening the gate and entering, they saw the twins hanging various sizes of animal skins together with Mother Xu.
The largest one was a wolf skin, and the smaller ones were various skins that Yue Zheng had practiced peeling off, ranging in size, totaling more than ten pieces. This didn’t even include the avian prey and the white fox that had not been processed yet. The feathers of those avian prey with finer and softer feathers had already been plucked by Mother Xu and were currently being disinfected and cleaned, ready to be dried for later use.
“Back already? Did you finish everything?” Mother Xu casually asked when she saw her two children return, and then commanded Mo Tiancheng to control the ivy to set up a display.
“We finished everything,” Xu Song replied, turning around to lock the gate.
Yue Zheng walked over in a few steps and helped his mother-in-law organize the various sizes of animal skins, if these things were not dried quickly, they would be difficult to handle.
Xu Song ran a few steps to the door of the RV and asked, “Mom, how much cotton did we accumulate from the selected seeds before? Is it enough to make quilts?”
Mother Xu held up the piece of deer skin and touched its fur. “There’s probably around five or six catties. It’s not much. It would be enough for a thin blanket, but not for a double-sized one.”
“Then we’ll make some more later and take them for processing.”
Mother Xu agreed and suddenly looked up. “Where are you going to get it processed?”
“At the processing point in the base.”
“Then I remember it was one catty deducted for every ten catties, right?”
“Our team has a discount, so we can get it at 20% off.”
“Well, that’s still quite expensive and not cost-effective.”
Xu Song shrugged. “We don’t know if it’s safe outside…”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Ktlcxlcu atja tfg wbatfg tjv yffc ilnlcu lc atf yjrf obg delaf rbwf alwf, rtf wera xcbk rbwf qfbqif, We Vbcu cbvvfv. “Yxjs, joafg sbe jggjcuf la, kf’ii gfca j mjg ab agjcrqbga la atfgf.”
They cleaned the skins one by one, stretched them out with ivy, and let them dry. Yue Zheng and Xu Song dealt with the frozen prey and the newly caught white fox and rooster in the yard, while Mother Xu went back to the car to prepare lunch.
After inspecting the prey and ensuring that they were all frozen solid without any issues, they treated the white fox skin with saltwater and collected the soft feathers from the rooster. They then arranged all the prey in a corner of the yard.
Using wooden boards made from Tiancheng’s grown wood, they laid down a waterproof cloth on the bottom and placed the prey on top. Finally, they covered it with another layer of waterproof cloth and pressed it down with the boards to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
“With so many skins, we definitely won’t be able to use them all ourselves. Should we sell the remaining ones or exchange them for points?” Xu Song touched the huge wolf skin, which was even bigger than the rabbit skin they had previously. Mother Xu said she wanted to cut a piece to make a carpet for the living room in front of the sofa.
However, the wolf skin had a strong odor, and the current methods of processing were limited. Making it into a blanket would produce an overwhelming smell.
Yue Zheng looked at the wolf skin and then at Abu lying nearby. He suggested, “Why not use it as a blanket for Abu? We can use the white fox skin for the carpet. Its fur is softer than this.”
“Huh? A blanket?” Xu Song was surprised.
“The weather is getting colder, and Abu can’t come inside. If it snows at night, it will be too cold for him outside…” Yue Zheng looked at the tall walls surrounding the yard and suddenly said, “How about we build a shelter?”
“A shelter?”
“Yes, a shelter that can cover the entire yard!” Xu Song’s eyes lit up. “It might snow in the future, and it will rain in the summer. If we build a shelter in the yard, it will provide more privacy and also protect us from the snow…”
Yue Zheng assessed the situation in the yard and nodded. “Although we have waterproof cloth, the quantity is limited, and we will need it for other purposes in the future… It’s better to leave the city again as soon as possible and catch more rats. We can sell the rat meat directly, and after removing the fur, we can use it to make the shelter.”
Xu Song was taken aback by the idea of “catching more rats,” but then he nodded. Yes, although they were disgusting, using their skins to make a shelter wouldn’t give him much psychological burden!
After discussing the plan with Mother Xu, they immediately received her approval. “Let’s do it as soon as possible! How about going out of the city again tomorrow? We can leave everything here…”
“Let’s go out separately tomorrow.” Yue Zheng suddenly suggested, “The two of us can go directly into the city, find a car, and bring back the supplies.”
“Just the two of you?!” Mother Xu was surprised and a bit worried. “Is it okay? Maybe it’s better if we all go together.”
“We have too many things to bring, and it’s not practical to take them all. Me, Xu Song, and Xiao Shu can go, and you, Tiancheng, Tianyou, and Abu can stay at home.”
Xu Song quickly reassured his mother. “If the two of us act together, we’ll be faster. Xiao Shu’s tree hole can hold a lot of things, and you can prepare some convenient food for us to eat on the road. We’ll bring lily of the valley with us, so we can contact you directly if anything happens.”
Reluctantly, Mother Xu nodded in agreement. In fact, most families in the base had men going out of the city to make a living while the elderly, children, and women stayed at home. She was just a little worried about her two children.
In the afternoon, they mobilized everyone to pick cotton seeds. After a night of rest, Xu Song and Yue Zheng set off with light gear. Xiao Shu remained in Xu Song’s pocket, and the two of them carried backpacks as they left the city together.
This time, they didn’t receive any specific tasks. They just registered their departure and headed towards the city.
“Oh, we also promised the kids to get honey, but I don’t think it will be easy to go out later,” Xu Song remarked, looking at the gloomy sky. The base had experienced strong winds all night, and this morning, the sky had become overcast. It seemed like there might be snow in the next few days.
“In that case, let’s head south first. We’ll find a car on the way and get some honey from the south,” Yue Zheng suggested after looking at the weather. They decided to go to the farthest place first.
“On the way back, we can collect supplies and try to find a big vehicle.”
Xu Song nodded, and the two of them quickly walked behind a building where they wouldn’t be seen. They let Xiao Shu grow larger and retrieved the disassembled bicycle parts from its tree hole.
That’s right, Xu Song had dismantled two bicycles in advance and stored them in Xiao Shu’s tree hole, ready to use them temporarily once they left the city.
They quickly assembled the two bicycles, shrunk Xiao Shu back to its small size, and put it in Xu Song’s pocket. Wearing gloves and hats, they pedaled south on the bicycles.
Along the way, the two of them tried to avoid encountering others and steered clear of populated areas as much as possible as they traveled south through the city. It had to be said that City B was really big, especially considering that the base was located in the northern part of the city, while their destination was in the south, making it a diagonal route.
Moreover, the road conditions were difficult, and they had to navigate around large-scale mutant creatures, making their journey slower than when they drove a camper southward last time.
Around noon, the two of them took a brief rest and had lunch in the hall of a bank. Compared to other buildings, the bank was relatively safe. Not only did humans focus on supermarkets, food stores, and convenience stores in the post-apocalyptic world, but mutant creatures also needed to eat. Supermarkets and food stores contained the various food items they required.
Sitting on a plastic chair in the bank, Xu Song ate the preserved meat and pancakes prepared in advance by his mother and exclaimed, “It’s been so long since I’ve been in a place with such a modern atmosphere.”
Yue Zheng smiled and handed him a thermos filled with hot water. “From a time perspective, this place is the ‘past,’ and the base where we currently reside is the ‘present.'”
Xu Song shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to live in this seemingly backward ‘present’ for a long time to come.”
“Have some hot water. We’ll need to hit the road again in the afternoon.”
Xu Song took the thermos, suddenly realized something, looked around, and then smiled at Yue Zheng. “I just realized that it’s been a while since it was just the two of us going out together.”
Initially, Xu Song’s intention was simply to reflect on the situation, but when Yue Zheng heard his words, he raised an eyebrow, extended his hand, and pulled Xu Song into his embrace with a little force.
Xu Song looked up at him inexplicably, only to find his face inches away.
With warm lips and a familiar scent, they immersed themselves in the moment, unable to extricate themselves and unwilling to leave.
Although they were together every night, these past few days had been so busy and tiring during the day that they hardly had any time for intimacy at night. Xu Song’s reflection resonated with Yue Zheng, and so… it was a rare moment for the two of them, and it would be a waste not to savor it properly.
After a while, they reluctantly parted. Xu Song’s hand rested on Yue Zheng’s neck, and Yue Zheng’s hand had already slipped beneath Xu Song’s clothing… If it weren’t for the cold weather, cough cough, someone definitely wouldn’t have wanted to restrain themselves.
“Brush, brush, brush.”
Startled by the sound, they turned their heads and saw a certain silly tree covering its “eyes” with two branches, twisting and turning not far away…
It seemed like it couldn’t be considered a private moment just yet…
Interrupted by the tree, they hastily finished their lunch and set off once again.
The weather outside grew increasingly gloomy, and even though it should have been a sunny afternoon, it appeared exceptionally overcast, resembling dusk.
“Fortunately, we fully charged the batteries a couple of days ago. Otherwise, with this sudden change in weather, we wouldn’t even be able to use solar energy,” Xu Song felt like his exhaled breath had turned into white mist.
“Yeah, let’s move faster and try to get back to the base within today. At the latest, we should return before the heavy snowfall,” Yue Zheng suggested, urging them to pick up the pace.
In the base, Mother Xu continued processing the cotton with Tiancheng and Tianyou, while a delicious mixed stew simmered over the fire. All of this was made from the internal organs taken from the hunted animals.
Previously, when Xu Song and the others went hunting, they would usually discard the internal organs of the prey because they were difficult to preserve and they didn’t have much space to store them.
But now, with Mother Xu around and the availability of space in the vehicle, they decided to keep these things.
Early in the morning, Mother Xu asked the two children to play with the cotton while she thoroughly cleaned the internal organs and simmered them with various spices. The rich aroma filled the entire room, enticing the two children and even catching the attention of Abu outside, who occasionally glanced towards the fire.
The pot on the fire was the largest one that Yue Zheng’s children had found, but even so, only a small portion was cooked. The rest would be prepared slowly later on.
Forgetting Xiao Shu, covering its “eyes”, not noticing, brush, brush, brush…lmao! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🌳
♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️
Finally caught up. Thank you.
This is almost unusual apocalypse novel.