Chapter 53

As the year draws to a close, people who have had good or bad years are getting busy. Perhaps it is the series of natural disasters this year that have made people who had lost interest in the New Year start to value it again. Every household is praying that the coming year will be a return to normal life.

Zhang Ming, despite losing his workshop job, didn't feel disappointed. He found a new job in the greenhouse and even transplanted his own sweet potato vines, which he had planted in pots, to the greenhouse, estimating that the sweet potatoes would be ready to be harvested around the Lunar New Year. His girlfriend, Wu Rui, was cleaning the house with Chen Fenfang's daughter, while Chen Fenfang went with the community to sort through supplies. The government had specially organized a group of people to break ice and collect ice; there were quite a few useful supplies frozen in the ice under their feet. Rather than waiting for production, it was better to recycle usable resources first.

Tong Shu had a new goal to strive for, and she was rarely home, often from morning till night. Tong Songming and Shu Hua knew she was heading to the supply ship where the military was stationed, so they weren't too worried. At home, there was still Qin Xiaoxiao to take care of. The whole family was determined to make the New Year as lively as possible behind closed doors, hoping that Qin Xiaoxiao would be influenced by this atmosphere and gradually recover.

Tong Shu unexpectedly had a talent for shooting. When she first tried it, she was not very familiar with the gun and frequently missed the target due to recoil and other issues. After a period of practice, by the evening, she was able to shoot quite well.

"Not bad, quite accurate." The gun Wen Shaocheng lent to Tong Shu was the small gun he had taken out that day. This gun was silent when firing, making it perfect for Tong Shu to practice with. It also didn't require changing magazines; once the energy was used up, it could be recharged by Wen Shaocheng and used again.

Tong Shu was quite happy. She used to enjoy playing shooting games occasionally when she stayed home, and she was quite good at them. She held the gun in her hand, clearly quite fond of it.

Wen Shaocheng was quite busy. He gave Tong Shu a few pointers and then hurriedly returned to the supply ship to handle some business. With the New Year approaching, the supplies still needed to be sorted out, and a lot of data needed to be processed. He was becoming increasingly busy.

Tong Shu was still not satisfied, so she went straight to the island after returning home. After completing her daily training plan in the training room, she asked Tong Songming to make her a slingshot and ran to the edge of the island to continue practicing aiming at the leaves of the ornamental trees.

"What has Shushu been busy with lately? I haven't seen her except when she's eating," Shuli asked Shuhua, who had come to help, while holding a bright red piece of fabric.

Shu Hua shook her head: "She doesn't say anything now, she talks much less."

Shu Li sighed, "It's such a tragedy, those damned beasts have ruined our children like this." She leaned close to Shu Hua's ear and whispered, "Two nights ago, Jiaqiang took a sharpened sickle downstairs in the middle of the night and was spotted by A-Jie. Just as he was about to board the boat, A-Jie stopped him."

Shu Hua was shocked; she had no idea about this. "My brother-in-law has been acting so quietly lately, how come he's..." "Anyone would be furious if their own daughter got into this mess," Shu Li said. "Those people aren't Chinese, and they have guns. We can only hope things will return to normal next year, and the government will have the time to deal with them."

Shu Hua nodded, feeling a tightness in her heart as she thought of Qin Xiaoxiao, who was originally lively and cheerful, now like an empty shell.

...

On the supply ship, after listening to the returning team members report the situation, Wen Shaocheng reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"They got away again?"

"Yes, they moved very quickly, and it seems there are a few Chinese mixed in with them. They are very familiar with the surrounding area." The special forces team members were also very troubled. After the flood, the temperature dropped, which was equivalent to the ground rising more than 20 meters. The trees and buildings that could have been used as cover were all submerged under the ice, which caused their raids to fail repeatedly.

"Make contact with W City, and launch a joint attack if there is any movement. This group has killed many of our Chinese civilians, and we cannot let them grow stronger," Wen Shaocheng said solemnly.

The team members nodded and went to find their other teammates to regroup and set off.

In W City, Hao Jia woke up in a warm room. As soon as she moved, Dong Yeming, who was lying next to her, pulled her over and began to grope her. After a passionate encounter, Hao Jia and Dong Yeming got up and went to the living room of the villa.

"I didn't expect there to be such a nice house in these mountains. Jia, why didn't you say so sooner?" Honma Haruo cut a piece of frozen steak and put it in the pan to fry. This villa was well-equipped and only had one woman living there. Their group immediately took over the place.

Hao Jia looked around but didn't see her father. He was probably out looting supplies with others again. Besides her father, only Honma Haruo could talk to her, but she looked down on this short and sleazy Japanese man. She just snorted and picked up the steak that was grilled on the table to eat.

“...You bitch.” When Haruo Honma saw that she didn’t reply, he glared at her fiercely and cursed in Japanese.

The villa in the mountains belonged to Hao Jia's college roommate. Her father was a well-known wealthy businessman in the area. When his daughter first entered university, he wanted her to integrate into the group as soon as possible. He asked her to invite her roommate to this mountain villa for a vacation during the National Day holiday. All the other girls had a great time, but Hao Jia felt that her roommate was deliberately showing off her wealth and secretly resented her for four years.

When Hao Jia saw her through the peephole, her roommate opened the door without hesitation. Thinking of the incredulous look in her roommate's eyes when she was killed, Hao Jia felt a surge of pleasure.

Fool, as easy to fool as ever.

That roommate was incredibly beautiful; Honma Haruo's eyes were glued to her the moment he walked in. Luckily, Tamura Ichiro had recently broken his hand because of a woman and harbored a deep hatred for beautiful women, so he stabbed her to death. Hao Jia glanced warily at Higashino Ming, who sat at the head of the table. This man was ruthless; if a woman prettier than her appeared beside him, she was sure to meet a terrible end.

"Thanks to Jia this time." Higashino Ming swallowed a piece of steak and said in Japanese. Hao Jia couldn't understand, but when she saw him looking over, she quickly gave him a fawning smile. Higashino Ming turned to Tamura Ichiro beside him: "Tamura, who exactly did you guys mess with that day? They've been chasing us for so many days! Do you know how hard it was for us to find a suitable base?"

Tamura Ichiro was also furious, but he knew he was in the wrong. Higashino Naruto had only asked him and his men to guard the base, but he was greedy and wanted to steal more supplies. Plus, he had lustful thoughts when he saw a pretty woman... Now the base was gone, and he had also gotten into trouble with a well-trained team. It was truly a case of picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon.

"It's my fault, boss. I'll lead the search for supplies next time." Tamura Ichiro bowed his head and admitted his mistake.

Higashino gave an ambiguous hum, and the group dared not laugh or joke anymore, all lowering their heads and eating quietly.

...

On the island, Tong Shu swung her aching arms and stumbled back to the villa.

She threw herself onto the bed, her left hand stroking her abdomen. Even through the thin fabric, she could clearly feel the defined muscle lines.

Tong Shu let out a breath and stared blankly at the ceiling. It seemed that her efforts over the past few days had not been in vain; she was finally seeing some results.

Tong Shu's hands still tremble when she thinks about her plans.

She knew Wen Shaocheng was tracking those people, and she desperately wanted to join them. She wanted to go with them to find those beasts, to witness their annihilation, and then film it to show Qin Xiaoxiao. Tong Shu believed Qin Xiaoxiao would want to see that.

Tong Shu knew that if she made this request to Wen Shaocheng now, it would most likely be rejected. She could only practice desperately and keep practicing to prove that she would not hold them back.

...

At the island shop, Grandpa Tong and Grandma Tong were busy peeling peaches. Another batch of peaches had ripened on the island, and everyone's backpacks were already full. They had to hurry up and make peach preserves to store them. The two old people had used all the Sen coins they had earned in the past few days to exchange for glass jars.

"I remember there used to be a lot of canned goods in the warehouse, but when I went to check today, they all seemed to be empty," Grandma Tong asked Tong Songming, who was carrying peaches. "This is even faster than when we had the little shop. Do you know where they went?"

Tong Songming shook his head, but he thought that Tong Shu had probably taken it away, and most likely traded it away. He went to the service center and saw that the progress of that faith point had changed.

DouDou and DouZi were originally sales clerks at the island store. At this time, they stayed in the store and "huffed and puffed" to help Grandpa Tong and Grandma Tong cut peaches and then carefully stuffed them into jars, waiting for Grandpa Tong to pour in white sugar.

Grandma Tong really likes these two furry little guys. They are getting old and can't help much. Usually, everyone else is running around, while the two of them either stay at home or sit in the store doing some easy work. With these two little hamsters, the work is not so boring.

"Sigh—I really want Doka!" DouDou sighed suddenly while she was busy.

Upon hearing this, Douzi blinked her beady green eyes and became dejected: "I miss him too, and I miss my other friends as well."

The two little hamsters huddled together, chattering away for a while, tears glistening in their eyes.

Grandpa and Grandma Tong are old and hard of hearing, so they couldn't hear what the little thing was saying. They just thought the little thing was quite intelligent and had very expressive features.

...

In the magic hut, Nini was also frantically searching for Doka's whereabouts, but apart from the unchanging vast plains and rolling mountains in the crystal ball, she couldn't see a single hair of Doka.

Nini deflated, plopped down on the floor, looked up at the crystal ball above, and sulked.

"Doka...where have you gone? Why aren't you back yet!"

The mountains and rivers gradually lost their color, revealing a frozen land. The scene inside the crystal ball replaced the harsh realities of the world, but unlike before, in an inconspicuous corner, a brown vine was quietly growing...