Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Eating in Private
Qin Shen grabbed her hand and suddenly started running toward the hot spring.
Seeing the look on his face, Jiang Si asked urgently, "What’s wrong?"
They reached an area hidden from the others’ view. The next second, Qin Shen swept her up and leaped onto the giant tree by the hot spring.
The wind WHOOSHED past her ears. After a few more leaps, Qin Shen, still holding her, landed at the top of the giant tree.
Qin Shen’s deep voice finally broke the silence. "Someone’s coming."
Jiang Si opened her eyes and looked out. Just an endless expanse of snow, not a soul in sight.
But she knew Qin Shen’s judgment was never wrong.
She pulled a pair of binoculars from her space. Sitting on Qin Shen’s lap, she looked carefully in the direction he indicated.
After a good while, a group of people the size of sesame seeds gradually appeared in her field of vision.
’He can hear them from this far away.’ Jiang Si glanced at Qin Shen in admiration, only to find him already watching her with a surprisingly docile expression.
She couldn’t resist leaning over and pecking his cheek through his mask.
Qin Shen’s pupils contracted. He reached out, cupped the back of her head, and kissed her in return.
Jiang Si laughed, half-afraid Qin Shen would grab her with both hands and send them both tumbling down.
’Then again,’ she reflected, ’I’m the one who started it.’
The group in her binoculars grew closer, and Jiang Si could gradually make out that it was a party of more than fifty people.
They were Chinese.
Most were young men; the elderly, women, and children made up less than a third of the group.
Jiang Si watched them warily but saw that the elderly, women, and children weren’t tied up or restrained. When they couldn’t walk, someone would even help them. It seemed they were together voluntarily, not by force.
Encountering other Chinese people in the Northern Country wasn’t a total surprise, but when Jiang Si saw who was leading them, her expression suddenly froze.
Qin Shen noticed. "What is it?"
Jiang Si shook her head. "I know someone in that group."
"Who?"
"My old boss from the club, President Zhang. I’ve seen some of the coaches and members with him, too."
When she had flown back to her hometown, President Zhang had still been in S-City. After the global blackout, she had no idea how he had managed to get to the Northern Country.
Remembering how, in her past life, he had managed to climb to the top ranks of a survivor base during the apocalypse, she figured he must be a skilled survivor to have kept his wife and child alive this long.
Qin Shen asked, "Should we drive them away?"
Jiang Si frowned. "The temperature has stabilized for now; it’s not dropping. There are billions of people in the Northern Country. The survivors’ range of activity will only grow larger. We can’t stop them all."
"As long as they keep to themselves and don’t cross too far into our territory and disturb us, it should be fine."
"Mm."
"Let’s go back and tell the others first, so they can prepare."
"Okay."
SWOOSH. Qin Shen wrapped his arm around her waist again and leaped down, like they were bungee jumping.
President Zhang’s wife, Song Yufang, sat on a man-pulled cart with her son. "Aihua, aren’t we stopping to rest soon?" she whined. "My back hurts, my butt is sore, and my eyes are strained. I feel like my son and I are going to be shaken blind."
President Zhang and his men had been carrying their equipment and pulling the two of them for so long without a single complaint about being tired or miserable.
And yet, here she was, kicking up a fuss.
Seeing his men’s displeased expressions, President Zhang quickly snapped at Song Yufang, "Tired of what? You’re the one with all the problems, all day long."
Song Yufang pouted, hugging her son and burying her head. She muttered, "’I was just worried about you, and you blame me.’"
These people were all Zhang Aihua’s former employees. If not for them, they never would have had the chance to take a helicopter to the Northern Country and survive.
’What’s wrong with pulling a cart and carrying some luggage? They should just be obedient and eternally grateful.’
Zhang Aihua ignored her and addressed the group. "The map shows a hot spring up ahead, right next to the ocean. If we can set up camp by the spring and catch some seafood, we’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight. Let’s push on, everyone!"
Zhang Aihua knew very well that they didn’t have absolute power. These men were their greatest asset for survival.
If the men ran off or turned against them, it would be a disaster.
Only by keeping morale stable and establishing himself as the leader of the pack could he openly and justifiably secure benefits for himself.
That was the only way to avoid being oppressed by others.
After placating everyone, Zhang Aihua led them onward, inching their way toward the hot spring.
After a while, Zhang Aihua’s son woke up in his mother’s arms, wailing, "Dad, I’m hungry! I want meat! I want meat!"
Zhang Yiwen had never known hardship; he was used to getting whatever he wanted growing up.
Now, even a piece of meat was a luxury. Zhang Aihua’s heart ached for him.
But among so many people, it had been a long time since anyone had tasted meat.
The canned food they’d hidden away, of course, had to be eaten in private.
Zhang Aihua said sternly, "The ocean is just ahead. Dad will catch fish for you. Be good, or you won’t get any."
Zhang Yiwen’s eyes lit up instantly, showing a sliver of childish innocence. "Then can you get me lobster and abalone, too?"
The very things he’d once grown tired of eating were now the food of his dreams.
Whether they could even catch anything from the ocean was another matter entirely.
Zhang Aihua shot him a glare. "Behave. Sit still and don’t cause a scene, or you’ll get nothing."
After all these days, Zhang Yiwen had learned to be much more obedient.
He meekly shrank back into Song Yufang’s arms, filled with joyful anticipation of the fragrant, hot, roasted fish he would soon be eating.
As dusk approached, the group suddenly felt the surrounding temperature rise slightly.
President Zhang deduced, "The hot spring must be just ahead."
Following the compass and the map, they walked for another ten-odd minutes.
Suddenly, Zhang Yiwen cried out in delight, pointing ahead. "Dad, look! Is that the hot spring? It’s steaming!"
Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and, sure enough, saw an area shrouded in white mist.
Zhang Aihua happily patted his head. "That’s right, that should be the hot spring! Everyone, pick up the pace! We’ll find some wood and build a fire!"
Everyone grew excited, pushing forward with renewed vigor.
Soon, numerous hot springs of varying sizes appeared before them.
The snow around the springs wasn’t as thick.
The men were even more delighted to find some animal tracks on the ground—it meant they might have a chance for a bonus meal.
Zhang Aihua found a flat piece of ground and began setting up a tent. Song Yufang, however, made no move to help. She took Zhang Yiwen to wander around and inspect the pools, trying to figure out which one would be best for a bath.
Zhang Yiwen had inherited some of Zhang Aihua’s cleverness. He reached a hand out to test the water temperature and said to Song Yufang, "Mom, you can go for a soak if you want, but I don’t feel like losing a layer of skin."
Song Yufang tilted her pretty face upward, pointing at the massive, ancient tree. "We’ll just have your dad make us a wooden tub for our bath. Simple."
