More than half a month has passed, and what Lu Yuan was worried about has not happened. The accomplices of the robbers who were caught earlier have not harassed the people in Zone 3.

On this day, two more people died in District 3. Everyone had become accustomed to this kind of thing. Basically, a few people would die every few days. In the past, everyone would still go and help comfort the families of the deceased.

But as time went on, people's enthusiasm gradually faded. It wasn't that they had lost their compassion, but rather that they were getting increasingly hungry and there was more and more sand in the rice. At first, they could pick out a small handful of sand from a pound of rice, and everyone got used to it and didn't take it seriously. A few grains of sand were nothing; they just closed their eyes and ate it without a care.

However, recently everyone has noticed that there is too much sand in the rice. Almost half a pound of sand is added to every pound of rice. Is the rice mixed with sand or the sand mixed with rice?

On this day, Lu Yuan still followed the crowd to queue up. Chen Ke, who was standing in front of him, looked a little unsteady, probably because she had been hungry for too long.

Finally, it was Chen Ke's turn. He carried his bag and followed the staff to receive the food. However, when he saw the supermarket staff stirring the rice bag and then scooping out most of the rice with a rice ladle and pouring it into the bag, Chen Ke, with his sharp eyes, grabbed the staff member's arm.

"Why is your rice full of sand?!"

The other person sneered, "Ha! Don't want to eat anything with sand in it? Go check out what's going on in Zones Two and Five! You're lucky there's anything to eat! You're complaining about too much sand! I'm complaining about too much sand too! Besides, finding sand is quite a hassle!"

"Did you embezzle it?! It was one thing if there was a little sand in the rice before! But this is way too much!"

The other person looked at Chen Ke with displeasure and said, "You'd better not talk nonsense! You should understand what 'loose lips sink ships' means! Next!"

Chen Ke staggered to the side, staring absently at the rice in the bag.

Lu Yuan handed the bag to Chen Ke and nudged her with his elbow, saying, "Alright, don't you know what's going on? It must have been authorized by higher-ups, otherwise they wouldn't dare to mix in any impurities! Go back and pick carefully before you eat!"

"Oh dear! The child needs nutrition right now, but we don't even have anything to eat! How are we going to get through this?"

After saying that, Chen Ke stumbled and left the supermarket.

Seeing the people in Zone 3 struggling to make ends meet, Lu Yuan sighed. The scenes of people walking around that he used to see so often were gone. The rat trap factory had also officially closed down due to a lack of orders. Now, Lu Yuan would sit by the window every day, staring blankly at the sun in the sky.

The next day was the same, but Lu Yuan didn't run into Chen Ke this time. He wondered if Chen Ke had taken the food and left early.

After collecting the rice, Lu Yuan returned home. As soon as he entered the house, he saw a person squatting under a withered tree not far away, sighing. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was Chen Ke.

"Chen Ke, why aren't you going to collect your rice?"

The other person looked up and saw that it was Lu Yuan, and immediately stood up.

"I've been waiting for you. There's something I'd like to discuss with you!"

Lu Yuan was taken aback. He didn't know what the other party wanted to ask and was a little wary. However, he soon felt relieved. Chen Ke was a decent person. He rarely asked for help when he was in trouble. He would always find other solutions and would never make things difficult for others. Lu Yuan understood this very well. After spending so much time together, they had gotten to know each other. Chen Ke was a typical action-oriented person who did more and talked less.

"Speak!"

The other person paused, seemingly organizing their thoughts, but after thinking for a long time, they still couldn't find the right words.

"Alright, I'll just say it straight: my wife is pregnant again, so I'm planning to get her some food. I'm thinking of seeing if anyone goes to the vegetable wholesale market in the city! We can all go together and get some food so we can look out for each other!"

Lu Yuan found it hard to believe what the other person said. He and his wife were living a pretty normal life, yet they still had time to have a baby. It was like they had nothing better to do. But there was nothing he could do. Nowadays, the power supply was intermittent, and there weren't many entertainment options. It was understandable that they would have a baby when they had nothing else to do.

"Damn, Chen Ke, don't you know what's going on in the city? Qingshui City is basically in a no-man's-land now. We were only caught by the police because there weren't enough robbers here before, but the robbers in the city are even more arrogant than before!"

"Sigh! I had no other choice. She's pregnant, I can't just have an abortion. Besides, it's too late to go to the hospital now. Even if I had the money to take my wife for an abortion, we wouldn't be able to get an appointment."

"You know that too! But we don't know if anyone will go. What if no one goes?" Lu Yuan actually wanted to say that no one would go. They could get free food every day. Although there was a lot of sand, at least they wouldn't go hungry. They wouldn't be robbed by bandits if they didn't go out. It was safe to stay at home.

But once you go out, things can get complicated. You never know when a group of robbers might suddenly appear and rob you. If the robbers are in a bad mood, you might end up dead, which would be a huge loss. It's not worth risking your life for a couple of bites of food.

"Hey! Lu Yuan, just do me a favor! I'm really desperate. My wife's belly is getting bigger every day, and I have no choice. I can't just watch her and the baby go hungry because there's nothing to eat!"

Seeing Chen Ke's worried face, Lu Yuan actually wanted to help him, but such help could only help him temporarily, not permanently. If others found out that he was helping him again, who knows what trouble it would cause? There was no need to make trouble for himself.

"Okay, tell me, how can I help?"

"You're popular, everyone listens to you. Just say you're organizing this grain procurement trip, and ask if anyone is willing to go. Then you can help with the statistics, and I'll go get some oil!"

Lu Yuan was about to refuse, but the other party suddenly pulled him aside and whispered, "I can get some gasoline. These things are controlled by the military. I have a cousin who works in the logistics department of the army. I contacted him a few days ago, and he said he could sell me some fuel. I know you don't lack food, so you probably don't have much of this stuff!"

To be honest, Lu Yuan hesitated. He wasn't concerned about the gasoline the other person mentioned, but rather about Chen Ke saying that he had a brother who worked in logistics in the military, which immediately piqued his interest.