Chapter 402: Chapter 387: Charity Begins at Home

As the saying goes, a single stone can cause a thousand ripples.

The news that Farm 0101 was going to plant fruit trees spread like wildfire, causing a huge stir throughout the farm.

After all, since the apocalypse began, most people hadn’t eaten fruit in years!

One can only imagine the commotion this news caused among the people.

Nearly everyone was talking about it.

Meanwhile, Yang Chi, the one who had announced the news, finally managed to escape a group of overly enthusiastic women on the pretext of getting a drink of water. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he hurried back, his mouth completely dry.

Seeing Gu Xi bent over, organizing planting materials, he hesitated for a moment.

But then he remembered Gu Xi’s abilities. ’She probably heard everything they were saying just now.’

After some thought, he decided not to disturb Gu Xi and went to find Wei Heng instead. "Mr. Wei, what do you think the Liu Family is trying to pull?" ’First, they muddy the waters in City A, and now they want to use this to pressure Gu Xi and latch onto her?’

’They must be insane.’

Wei Heng had naturally overheard the earlier conversation as well, and his expression was grim. As far as he knew, the head of the Liu Family and Mrs. Liu had already fled to the Central Base overnight.

Before leaving, the couple had apparently decided that if they had to go, they wouldn’t let others have it easy. They wanted to throw City A into complete chaos, leaving Gu Xi with a mess to clean up and a host of new problems. It was also a way to remind the Gu Family of their existence—to prove they weren’t entirely useless, at least.

But the members of the Liu Family left behind in City A had to find a way out for themselves, right?

Even if they had been abandoned by the Family Head and treated as cannon fodder.

...In any case, a miserable life was better than no life at all. Simply waiting to die was out of the question.

And so, they set their sights on Gu Xi, hoping to use the chaos left by the Liu Family’s leaders to get in her good graces.

Recalling the information Tang You had shared in a previous communication, Wei Heng frowned slightly. "Whatever the Liu Family is planning, I need you to keep a close eye on the survivors lately. Don’t let anyone manipulate public opinion..."

Although Gu Xi didn’t care about public opinion, Wei Heng didn’t want to see her wronged.

’Why should she have to deal with this?’

Gu Xi had already been through enough over the years.

"Don’t worry about that, Mr. Wei. Right now, everyone’s focused on the fruit trees. But..." Yang Chi hesitated. "Are we really not going to do anything about City A?"

He was still very worried about his cousin, afraid that troublemakers would cause problems that would spill over into the disaster zones...

Wei Heng glanced over at the survivors, who were gathered in small groups, quietly discussing which fruits they should plant in the future. Then he looked at Gu Xi, who was studying her planting materials with a look of serene resignation (as if she had nothing left to live for). Finally, he recalled the make-up homework from Mr. Zhao that he had accidentally seen that morning...

A genuine smile touched Wei Heng’s eyes. He clapped Yang Chi on the shoulder. "You don’t need to worry about that. Gu Xi is here. Besides, your cousin isn’t an idiot."

To maintain stability in a base, the most important things are food and security.

With Gu Xi holding down the fort at the farm, food was not a concern.

As for security at A City Base... it is said that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. A portion of City A’s "guns" were already in Shen Yue’s hands. Now, Mr. Liu had run off to the Central Base under the pretext of accompanying his wife to visit her family, deliberately leaving a complete mess behind.

’Did he think that would be enough to hinder Shen Yue?’

Little did he know, this had actually given Shen Yue the perfect opportunity.

...They say it’s easy to fish in muddy waters, easy to plunder in the midst of chaos. It wouldn’t be long before the remaining "guns" at A City Base fell into Shen Yue’s hands.

’Still, that Liu Bo is a clever one. Even now, he wants to drag the sinking ship of the Liu Family ashore by latching onto Gu Xi’s power.’

’He’s certainly playing his cards well.’

However, since Wei Heng was unsure of Gu Xi’s attitude toward the remaining members of the Liu Family, he couldn’t take any action for the time being. He only instructed Yang Chi to keep a closer watch on the survivors, planning to discuss the matter with Gu Xi after she finished her work.

They say even a wrecked ship has a few good nails. Perhaps the sinking ship of the Liu Family could still be put to some use.

...

Just as Yang Chi returned to the crowd, he heard the exceptionally loud Ms. Wang shouting, "If you ask me, we should plant mutated apples! They’re big and filling..."

Beside her, Ms. Chan was more hesitant. "Won’t just one type of fruit be a little monotonous? And the texture of mutated apples is pretty average... Why don’t we go talk to Miss Gu and ask her to plant a variety of fruits? You know, for a... what’s it called... a balanced diet, wasn’t that what people always talked about before?"

Ms. Chan’s son was a superpower user, so compared to other survivors, she had lived quite well over the years and often flaunted it in front of Ms. Wang.

For instance, her comment about the mutated apples’ texture being "pretty average" was a prime example of her showing off.

Ms. Wang usually put up with it, but she wasn’t going to indulge her this time. She immediately retorted, "We’re lucky to have any fruit at all! Beggars can’t be choosers."

’Doesn’t she see what times we’re living in? We’re lucky to even have fruit to eat, and she’s worried about a balanced diet?’

’What is she dreaming of? I don’t see that "filial" superpower user son of hers bringing her back any of those sour, disgusting wild berries.’

’And now she decides to get all picky?’

Ms. Chan and Ms. Wang had been "frenemies" for years. Of course she could read the subtext in her words and the look in her eyes.

But thinking of her son, who was still in the Land of Death, and remembering what that person had told her before, Ms. Chan wanted to press the issue for the sake of her son’s future and try to steer public opinion. However, just then, the others saw Yang Chi approaching and swarmed him all at once.

Only Ms. Chan was left behind, wanting to say more but finding herself awkwardly alone and ignored.

Ms. Chan stomped her foot in frustration as she watched everyone crowd around Yang Chi, pointedly leaving her out as they began discussing the fruit planting.

Ms. Wang even grabbed Yang Chi’s hand, saying enthusiastically, "Yang, we’ve all discussed it, and we want to plant mutated apples! When do you think Miss Gu will be free? We’re all just idle right now anyway. Why don’t we go ahead and dig the holes for the trees first?"

’Look how eager everyone is.’ He thought. ’Well, that’s not a bad idea.’

Yang Chi had gotten to know everyone quite well over the past two days, so he spoke casually. "Sure, let’s go dig the holes. But the saplings are still in South City and won’t be delivered for a few days. We can use this time to divide up the land, so we can set aside the spots for the fruit trees in advance..."

These saplings were superior varieties that Mr. Zhao had recently cultivated using Gu Xi’s small orchard. He had originally planned to find a pilot site to promote them, but when Gu Xi learned of this, she simply requested a batch directly.

’Got to keep the good stuff in the family, after all.’

Although Gu Xi didn’t care about such things, Yang Chi didn’t want Gu Xi to be an unsung hero. So, he seized the opportunity to announce that Gu Xi was the one providing the saplings.

According to Yang Chi, Gu Xi and the two professors had poured their heart and soul into cultivating these mutated fruit trees, which boasted both excellent taste and high yields...

Gu Xi: ’There’s really no need to exaggerate that much.’

The others weren’t fools. As soon as Yang Chi said this, they all started singing Gu Xi’s praises.

Hearing this, several middle-aged men immediately thumped their chests, promising they weren’t the type to bite the hand that feeds them. They told Yang Chi not to worry; they were not ungrateful people!

—To do something like that would make them worse than animals, wouldn’t it?

Ms. Chan, who had just sheepishly rejoined the group, ready to say something: "..." ’Who is that jab aimed at?’