Chapter 72 Leaving
"Don't worry, they're probably not bad people."
Among the group, only Zhao Wen left by car and returned to the village early to arrange accommodation for everyone.
On the way back, Wang Zhiping found his old neighbor who had agreed to come with him.
The other person was startled when he saw him, his face full of surprise, "I thought you hadn't come yet! So you got in the car? Why didn't you come to see me earlier?"
Wang Zhiping said casually, "I came too early. I took a nap after getting in the car."
The old neighbor’s surname is Geng. He lives in the next building in the community. Wang Zhiping always calls him Brother Geng.
Brother Geng is ten years older than him. There are four people in his family, and his wife is the only woman at home. He has two sons, one is seventeen and the other is fifteen. Although they are not very old, they are tall and strong.
This time, his two sons and their wives stayed at home, so Brother Geng didn't have to worry about the family, but Wang Zhiping's family only had the elderly and the weak left, and they didn't dare to come out as brazenly as he did.
After hearing his answer, the other party didn't think much of it. There were many people around, so the two of them stopped talking and walked behind the crowd, one on each side, silently memorizing the surrounding environment.
After more than an hour, everyone arrived at the village entrance.
Even from a distance, they could see the unharvested wheat in the fields of the neighboring village, shining golden in the sun.
The scene was so spectacular that everyone, whether they had seen it or not, was speechless.
The people of Xiaozhao Village were very satisfied with everyone's expressions and explained.
"Although there were heavy rains this year, we didn't flood here, so the harvest wasn't damaged. I estimate the yield per mu will be above average. If you're willing, go back and work hard. Follow what Awen said. There's a small mill in Dazhao Village that can help grind the wheat into flour when you leave. You should all get a good share."
If you don’t understand something, just ask, “What’s the average?”
Someone who knew the answer next to him was, "One thousand catties per mu."
The person asking the question gasped, "How many kilograms of wheat would it weigh if all of it was harvested?"
"Not many," said the person who brought them back from Xiaozhao Village. "The zombies in other villages haven't been cleared out yet, so we don't dare go there. Currently, the only ones we can collect are from the two nearby villages."
As he spoke, he led everyone into the village.
Zhao Wen had already arranged for them to stay in a dozen empty houses in a corner of the village. "You can stay here first. The rooms are freely allocated. Those who have beds can sleep on them. Every household without beds has mats. You can look for them. The conditions are limited, so please forgive me."
The houses that were vacated were all empty. Any useful items had already been taken away, so there was no need to worry about messing things up or disturbing others.
"The kitchen staff are all prepared and the gas is on. I think it's still usable. You should have brought food with you. You can cook separately or together if you want."
"There are people on duty in the village at night. If you are worried, you can send someone to keep watch with you."
Zhao Wen said, "It's almost five o'clock now. Most people in the village are out working. They will be back around five. You can go to the village entrance later. Whether it's clearing out zombies or harvesting wheat, it's not that difficult with cars and machines."
After he left, everyone looked around the nearby houses. Wang Zhiping discussed it with an old neighbor and chose a house on the east side of the village, at the outermost edge. Although it looked a bit dangerous, it would be easier to escape than the houses inside.
The two rooms on the east side of the house are connected to the kitchen and have two doors for entry and exit, which is very convenient. However, there is only a 1.5-meter-wide bed, which is a bit crowded for two people to sleep on.
As the two were thinking this, they heard the door behind them being pushed again.
Wang Zhiping turned around and was shocked when he saw the person coming.
It was the young man with glasses who had sat next to him in the car before.
The other party obviously recognized him and nodded politely.
Wang Zhiping nodded in a daze and then noticed that there were three equally young and strong men following the man with glasses. The four of them were wearing the same windbreakers and there was a tacit understanding between their movements, and it seemed that they knew each other.
Wang Zhiping was assessing the fighting power of both sides and hesitating whether to give up the only bed in the room when he saw four people coming in and walking directly to the empty room on the other side without saying a word.
Seeing that the other party had no intention of fighting for it, Wang Zhiping and his old neighbor Geng Ge both breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, since the two rooms here were not big, with the six of them, the room looked full. So even if someone came in to check it out later, no one else decided to stay here that night.
Wang Zhiping was lucky enough to keep the bed he slept in at night.
Not long after the assigned rooms were confirmed, everyone did not stay here for long as Zhao Wen had said before. After a few activists discussed it, they decided to take everyone out to explore the village.
What others say and what they are shown may not be the real situation. If you really want to understand, you have to measure it yourself.
Wang Zhiping and the other man thought about it, then followed with their bags and weapons. The four people next door followed them after hearing the noise in the yard.
After walking around the village, they understood why the people of Xiaozhao Village dared to let them in.
Although there didn't seem to be many people in the village, there were people guarding almost every key intersection, and there were even infrared cameras working at every intersection.
In addition, outside the village committee and the granary and drying yard where grain is stored in the village, there are several large dogs tied with heavy chains.
These big dogs look very strong. When they stand upright, they are even taller than humans. Some of them are surprisingly large. They don’t look like dogs, but more like larger cows and horses.
Although they are all tied with iron chains, just looking at them is very intimidating. Not to mention being bold enough to steal food, just looking at them makes people want to walk around them.
On the way, they came to a chicken farm and saw elderly grandpa and grandma slaughtering chickens. Although the scene looked very bloody, some people couldn't help but drool at the sight of the pile of meat in the basin.
In the past, if they saw the scene of killing chickens, they would just feel disgusted and not want to eat meat, but now they just secretly calculate in their hearts how many chickens they can buy with their day's wages if they stay to work.
After walking around like this, they returned to the village entrance and saw tractors returning from the small road in the field with carts full of wheat.
There weren't enough people in the village, and not many cars, so they had to take turns. So Zhao Wen, who usually commanded the troops, drove a tractor out of the village with the villagers, ready to personally take part. When he saw them here, he simply led them out of the village.
Everyone who had just arrived was fortunate enough to see the wheat harvest and the villagers clearing out zombies.
In the fields, three or four combine harvesters were working. With each passing vehicle, only short, bumpy wheat stalks were left in the golden wheat fields.
After harvesting each acre of land, the harvester would stop by the roadside, open the grain bin, and dump the threshed wheat into the back of the tractor. Then, the fully loaded tractor would pull the harvested wheat back one trip at a time.
It looks very easy, and many people who have never done farm work are tempted.
Zhao Wen was driving the car from the front while explaining to everyone standing in the back truck, "The trucks are all driven by technicians, so you just need to lend a hand. It might take a little more effort to unload the truck and pack the bags when we get back to the village, but everything else is easy."
He pointed to the nearby village and said, "Clearing the zombies is a bit more dangerous, so we give them more food. But actually, we are very skilled and perfect at clearing the zombies now, so there is basically no danger."
As he spoke, he pointed his finger at an open space in the distance, where black smoke was rising.
"The corpses of zombies whose cores have been dug out are usually piled up over there and burned en masse. We have special vehicles to transport the corpses. It's not tiring, but it's a bit dirty."
"However, sometimes there are too many corpses and not enough manpower. In order to burn them all before dark, some crystal cores are not dug up in time. If you want them, you can go over there and take a look. You can take the crystal cores you dig up."
When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up.
They greeted Zhao Wen, got out of the car on the side of the road, and then walked towards the open space where the zombie corpses were being burned.
If it were just for the tickets, they wouldn't be so enthusiastic. Didn't they just install a vending machine on the train today? The crystal cores they picked up for free can be exchanged for food, so why not?
The villagers guarding the zombie incineration site heard their intention but did not stop them. They pointed to a pile of unloaded zombies nearby and let them find it themselves.
After being run over by the wheels, the zombies were no longer in human form. It was difficult to see their original shape. They were just a pile of bloody pieces of flesh.
Although it looks a bit disgusting, but when you think about the fact that they are all crystal cores picked up for free, more and more people start to get started.
Before they came, they all brought plastic bags or rubber gloves and held weapons in their hands. Although they were not as easy to use as the villagers' fruit knives, they were still quite handy for digging.
The bodies that had been dug up were piled aside. After they were all dug up, the villagers piled the straw left over from harvesting wheat on top of the bodies and threw a torch on top.
With the help of straw, the body quickly caught fire.
It was getting dark. Seeing the harvesting vehicles outside returning to the village, everyone took the crystal cores they had dug and returned along the same route, leaving only the villagers who had been guarding there.
When they returned to the village, Zhao Wen was waiting at the door of the house that had been assigned to them.
Seeing them come back, he pointed to a dozen buckets of water nearby.
"The water supply to these houses has been cut off because no one is there. You should use this to eat and wash. The tap water in the village is pumped from the well. It's not much, but if you use it sparingly it should be enough."
Some people looked at the water and thought it was quite clean, so they discussed and decided to take a bucket of water and leave. Others thought the groundwater might have been polluted, and were afraid that people from Xiaozhao Village might be doing something bad in the water, so they smiled and left.
Wang Zhiping and Geng Ge stayed behind. Seeing that there were still several buckets of water left, they took one bucket back. Even if they didn't drink it, it would be good for washing hands and cleaning the crystals.
Although they were not short of crystals, they also dug a few. Now it was just right to use this water to clean up.
The two were busy at the door of the house when suddenly a shadow fell in front of them. Looking up, they saw the four young men.
Realizing that he was blocking other people's way, he moved to the side. After they all went in, Wang Zhiping suddenly realized something.
He leaned closer to Brother Geng and asked quietly, "Didn't they follow us when we went to the fields before?"
Brother Geng was stunned by the question, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "It seems so. They were always at the back of the crowd, and I didn't pay much attention to them."
"oh."
Seeing that he was a little concerned, Brother Geng thought about the young men's physiques and their casual movements, and advised, "Don't worry, they probably aren't bad people."
…
【Author’s words】
This is today's update. Thank you for your support. The next chapter will be the day after tomorrow, the 22nd. The next chapter should be on the 23rd. I guess we'll still update in the evening.
The temperature has dropped recently, and it's really cold! It feels like winter is almost here! I checked the calendar and realized it's not just a feeling; winter is really coming soon. The 23rd seems to be Frost Descent, the last solar term of autumn.
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