The same scene unfolded in the city. Gao Shuzhen checked her family's remaining food supplies and found they were only enough for a week. These low-rent housing units hadn't collapsed during the earthquake; they stood there resiliently.

However, since most of the houses in the city collapsed, many citizens gathered in the low-rent housing area. The current housing is allocated according to the number of people. The Lian family of five was only allocated a single room. The house they used to rent had already been taken back and redistributed.

Because one family was too confident and still hoped to return, they didn't store much supplies.

With the earthquake so severe now, no amount of money can buy food. If people want to get food, they have to participate in urban construction; after a day's work, they can receive their daily ration of food.

Despite thorough preparations, many people still lost their lives in the earthquake. Besides digging through the rubble, searching for bodies buried underneath was also a task the family found extremely distasteful.

It's been almost two months since the earthquake, and the family hasn't been able to go out to work even once. They've been surviving on their previous food reserves.

Gao Shuzhen pulled Lian Qingfeng aside: "Old Lian, look, we only have this much grain left at home. What are we going to do next?"

"How about I go to work tomorrow?"

"If you're the only one doing the work, what can you do with that little bit of food? Take Dongxing and Jianpeng with you too."

"Mom, what are you saying? How could I possibly do those kinds of jobs? Besides, I've never done them before." Gao Dongxing, who was lying on the bed, quickly sat up to object upon hearing this.

"Then if no one goes to work, everyone will just starve to death." After saying that, he glanced in Lian Jianpeng's direction.

Zhang Xiaohan immediately bristled: "Aunt Gao, what are you looking at us for? Don't you know Jianpeng isn't in good health? You don't expect us to go out and work to support you, do you?"

Gao Shuzhen was also very angry when she heard this: "None of you are doing any work. Anyway, all the food in the house is here. Once it's all gone, we'll all starve to death together." After saying that, she pushed the grain container in front of everyone.

"How come there's only such a small amount left?" Everyone was dumbfounded.

"That's all we have left. We've only been spending and not bringing in any food lately. We can't buy any even if we have money. What do you suggest we do now?"

Gao Dongxing thought of a way to avoid going to the construction site: "Why don't we go find my uncle and older brother? Their place is in the countryside, they should have food there."

"How do we get there now? Didn't you hear those soldiers say that there are many deep potholes around here, and we have to be extra careful when walking? It usually takes more than an hour to drive from here to their place when the roads are in good condition. Not to mention now, the roads are full of potholes, and you could lose your life if you're not careful. Even if you survive, how long will it take to get there?" Gao Shuzhen ruthlessly shattered Gao Dongxing's beautiful dream.

Thinking about their current situation, Lian Qingfeng finally spoke up: "Tomorrow, whoever it is, must find a job. At least earn enough to cover your daily food rations. Keep the rest for emergencies. Anyone who doesn't go out to work will have to go hungry."

Hearing the head of the family say this, everyone could only dejectedly agree.

Sicheng and his companions finally had their luck on the fourth day.

"Everyone, look ahead! Isn't that a chestnut tree?" During the lunch break, Yun Xun looked around.

"You know what a chestnut tree is? You must be seeing things." After spending a few days with everyone, Uncle Bing's mindset has become younger, and he occasionally cracks a little joke with everyone.

"Just kidding, I still have a complete plant encyclopedia at home. I love looking at the pictures in it when I have nothing to do."

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and saw several taller trees in the distance that were significantly taller than the surrounding trees.

"It really is a chestnut tree. Looks like we're almost there. Wait a minute, let's walk in that direction, that should be it." Uncle Bing could recognize the trees from afar.

The group quickly finished their dry rations, packed up their belongings, and continued exploring in that direction. It took them about three more hours to reach their destination.

"Look, that's an orange tree. I can see lots of red oranges." The monkey also noticed the orange tree in the distance.

Si Cheng then reminded everyone, "Don't rush, explore slowly, and be careful."

In the past few days, everyone also found several pits on the mountain. Fortunately, the pits were not very wide or deep. Everyone found stones and soil to fill the pits.

Hearing this, everyone calmed down and carefully checked the surrounding safety.

"Look, what's that?" Yun Jianying noticed something flash by in the grass on the other side.

"What is that? Could it be a snake?" Thinking of this mollusk, Zhao Dongwei quickly hid behind the bear.

Si Cheng observed for a while and guessed, "It's probably a rabbit. The environment here is very suitable for wild rabbits. Besides, the branches were shaking so much just now; a snake couldn't possibly have made that noise."

After eating dry rations and jerky for several days, everyone was thinking about the delicious roasted rabbit.

The monkey said, "No wonder I haven't seen these animals these past few days. Looks like they've come here."

Si Cheng said, "Don't worry about that for now. This is the orchard. Check all the roads around here. Tonight, everyone can eat fresh fruit, and maybe even the roasted rabbit you've been craving."

"Everyone was on high alert for the roasted rabbit."

Everyone carefully checked under each tree and found no problems before they relaxed and began to examine the orchard closely.

Besides the chestnut trees I saw earlier, there were also orange trees, pear trees, cherry trees, walnut trees, and so on.

Now that the chestnuts and oranges are ripe, looking at the oranges in front of them, and realizing they hadn't eaten fruit in a long time, the group couldn't resist.

"Why is it so sour? No wonder even the birds in the sky don't come to eat it." Yun Jianying, the first to try it, immediately spat it out, his face contorted in pain.

Zhao Dongwei didn't believe him: "Is it that sour? Let me try." He then stuffed a segment of orange into his mouth. "It's quite sweet, maybe it's just sour like yours."

Hearing this, Yunxun and Uncle Bing also put oranges in their mouths.

"Pah!" The two of them quickly spat it out as soon as they reached the intersection.

Si Cheng and his two fellow veteran drivers laughed heartily on the side.

"Brother Cheng, you knew but didn't tell us. That's really unfair of you," Yun Xun complained, frowning.

At this moment, the monkey stepped forward and explained with a smile, "When Dongwei said he wasn't jealous without batting an eye, we already knew it was a trick. We've done these things before, who knew you guys would fall for it so easily?"