18. Superpowered Individuals
The last person who dared to utter foul language was kicked to pieces by Shi Dong; the person before that who dared to lay a hand on him was thrown out of the window next door by Shi Dong, and was smashed to pieces.
The man in front of me was clearly new; he was disheveled, his hair was matted into a greasy clump, he was wrapped in a tattered cotton-padded coat, and he smelled terrible.
Fu Yunong was already used to it. At a time like this, it was good enough to be alive, so why bother with daily bathing and hygiene? She ignored the man's smell and just stared at him coldly.
"Hey, didn't you hear me?" Seeing that she didn't react, the man became even more arrogant. He brandished the rusty axe in his hand. "I heard you collect that stuff, so I went to find it myself!" As he spoke, his puffy eyes swept over Fu Yunong in a flirtatious manner.
Shi Dong's face instantly darkened, and he took a step forward.
Fu Yunong reached out to stop her and slowly stood up. The man's eyes were filled with contempt at her appearance. But the next second, a gleaming cleaver suddenly appeared in Fu Yunong's hand!
With a flick of her wrist, the blade flashed, striking straight at the man's face—fast and precise!
All those days of chopping firewood weren't for nothing.
The man didn't even have time to react. He heard a soft "thud" as the machete struck him squarely on the forehead, the blade embedding itself in the bone. His eyes widened in shock as he fell straight backward, motionless.
The people at the door were all stunned. They hadn't even seen what happened before the man died!
Blood splattered on Fu Yunong's face. She casually wiped it away, leaped onto the table to the door, stomped on the man's chest, gripped the hilt of the knife and pulled hard. After wiping the blood off his body, she calmly took out the crystal core. Turning to the still-unresponsive person, she calmly called out, "Next."
It wasn't until they heard these words that everyone snapped out of their daze. When they looked at Fu Yunong again, their eyes held a hint of fear.
Fu Yunong sat back down in the room, and Shi Dong handed her a clean towel, saying in a flat voice, "Wipe yourself off."
Fu Yunong calmly accepted it, but the trembling in her fingertips betrayed her. She kept encouraging herself: Finally, she'd taken this step! Well done, Fu Yunong!
"Miss Fu, do you have any vitamin pills here?"
Fu Yunong looked closely and saw that it was Xiao Linfang and Chen Yin. She had heard that they had moved downstairs and had been inseparable lately.
Her business is now showing some promise, thanks to Xiao Linfang's tireless promotion. Even the news about the Zhou man having grain was brought to her by Xiao Linfang, who never even considered taking advantage of her. Therefore, Fu Yunong had already declared: anyone who comes to her door will receive a discount.
The value of this statement goes beyond its surface meaning. After all, wherever there are people, there are social classes. She can obtain more resources and has a certain degree of influence, which brings her many advantages.
According to Fu Yunong's pricing, one crystal core can be exchanged for twenty vitamin tablets. She counted out twenty tablets and handed them over, then took five more, saying, "Consider it a bonus for you."
"Thank you, Sister Yu Nong!" Xiao Linfang immediately smiled, then, as if remembering something, leaned forward and lowered her voice, saying, "Sister, I have something to tell you..."
Xiao Linfang said that several men, relying on their physical strength, didn't go out to search for crystal cores themselves, but instead watched over the other survivors and collected protection money. If they didn't pay, they would beat them up, and not only did they steal the crystal cores, they are now blocking the entrance to the building downstairs, preventing those who haven't paid from coming up to trade.
Fu Yunong's expression changed slightly, and she immediately told Shi Dong about the situation. Shi Dong frowned after listening and immediately went to verify it. After a short while, she came up and nodded to her, and even came up with an idea: whoever can deal with those people blocking the road will be given a pound of white flour and a pound of mixed grains.
Fu Yunong thought the idea was excellent and put Xiao Linfang in charge of the acceptance inspection.
Wheat flour! Coarse grains! Good stuff!
Before Fu Yunong had even "clocked out," Xiao Linfang rushed over, her face pale and her voice tinged with lingering fear, "Miss Fu, the person... the person has been taken care of... but the scene was just too brutal!"
After the news spread, the ten survivors spontaneously formed a team, men and women alike, and attacked the four men. In the end, each of them grabbed a piece of human tissue and registered it in front of her.
As agreed, Fu Yunong took out some grains and flour and handed them to Xiao Linfang. She also gave her an extra pound of flour as a reward for her hard work.
Xiao Linfang quickly thanked her and hurriedly left with Chen Yin, carrying the grain.
"Get off work" on time.
Fu Yunong closed the door and tallied up her day's earnings: after deducting costs, she had earned a total of 463 points.
The system currently has a balance of 266. As for crystal cores, there are 612 first-level crystal cores and 4 second-level crystal cores. Two second-level crystal cores were absorbed by Shi Dong during the process.
With money in hand, Fu Yunong became generous and bought a whole two pounds of pork ribs.
Heat oil in a pan, then stir-fry the ribs until golden brown. Add spices and stir-fry until fragrant, then drizzle with soy sauce for color. Add hot water and simmer. Once the ribs are tender enough to be easily pierced with chopsticks, add potatoes, corn, and green beans and continue simmering until the vegetables are soft and tender. Season to taste and it's ready to eat!
"Dinner's ready!"
As soon as Fu Yunong finished speaking, Shi Dong quickly scooped two bowls of rice with a rice spoon, and the two of them each ate a bowl with gusto.
The ribs were stewed until tender and falling off the bone, the potatoes absorbed the meaty aroma, and the corn was sweet and refreshing. Fu Yunong scooped a spoonful of broth and mixed it into her rice, eating with great enthusiasm, while even Shi Dong had a smile on his face the whole time.
Shi Dong secretly rejoiced: It was definitely a wise choice to cooperate with Fu Yunong back then, otherwise even with her skills, she would never have been able to live so comfortably!
Downstairs, Chen Yin looked up and sniffed, "Sis, can you smell anything?"
Xiao Linfang sniffed it and shook her head. "No. Are you hungry? It'll be ready soon, let's have a good meal today!"
There are dumplings cooking in the pot, with salt, oil, and a little bit of greens. This is an extremely rare delicacy!
Chen Yin's eyes were full of anticipation, "Mmm!"
*
Today, Fu Yunong drew the [Buff Set], which contains three useful pieces of equipment, each with attribute bonuses: a pair of speed-boosting boots that increase movement speed by 30%; a pair of reinforced gloves that increase strength by 25%; and a pair of tough knee pads that increase resistance to attacks by 20%.
After careful consideration, Fu Yunong put on the enhanced gloves first. She couldn't help but think that if she had had these yesterday, she might have been able to slice the lewd man's head in two. As for the speed-boosting boots, she gave them to Shi Dong. Shi Dong was already skilled, and with the added 30% speed boost, she would be even more formidable.
I've been lucky these past few days. Except for one day when I was in the air force, I've won something the rest of the time. There's food, useful things, and even weapons.
One of the prizes left a particularly deep impression on her: a whole box of "side dish gift packs" containing things like chili sauce and fermented bean curd, as well as fermented soybeans and oil-soaked fish!
She even joked with Shi Dong that they would save money on groceries in the future.
Upon hearing this, Shi Dong gave a helpless smile.
What Fu Yunong didn't know was that Shi Dong had already pieced together most of her system through her words.
The weather had been sunny for several days in a row, and the snow on the ground was frozen hard and slippery. Looking at the weather, Shi Dong couldn't help but wonder if her previous worries were unfounded.
She and Fu Yunong planned to go out and scout ahead. If the weather continued like this, they would have to consider moving. They would eventually have to head north.
Unexpectedly, a group of uninvited guests arrived.
*
Wang Xiaoqin had been sick for several days and only recovered today. Now that she was better, she couldn't resist the urge to go out. She couldn't miss this rare sunny day!
Under her grandmother's repeated instructions, she wrapped herself up in layers of clothing, looking like a dumpling. But the sun outside was really weak, and the snow on the ground was frozen hard and slippery. After staying outside for a while, she couldn't stand the cold anymore and immediately turned around to go home.
She had only taken two steps when she saw everyone else running back in a panic, their faces filled with terror. Before Wang Xiaoqin could react, her wrist was suddenly grabbed tightly, and her older brother's urgent voice rang out, "Run!"
"What happened..." Before she could finish speaking, she saw several unfamiliar figures appear around the corner. One of them raised his hand and waved at the crowd. The last one running let out a scream as something pierced his chest, and his body stiffened and crashed to the ground, clearly not going to live.
The fear of suffocation instantly overwhelmed her, and she scrambled and crawled into the building with all her might.
Rao Zhenrong stared at the fleeing figures, a smug and cruel smile spreading across his face. Yes, that's it! He wanted to see them terrified!
But that's not enough. He needs a bigger stage, a stage where everyone can see that he is the chosen one!
He raised his whip and lashed it hard at the people lying at his feet, shouting arrogantly, "Everyone, come out! If you don't, don't blame me for being impolite!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two men, one old and one young, immediately joined in, shouting arrogantly.
"Everyone come out!"
"Anyone who dares not come out will die!"
Rao Zhenrong turned his head and coldly glanced at the woman beside him, his tone carrying an undeniable pressure, "Aunt, aren't you going to shout?" Before he finished speaking, he raised his hand and lashed out with a whip, and the person on the ground immediately groaned and trembled in pain.
Rao Huaqing forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, "Shout, I'll shout!"
As she spoke, she steeled herself and joined the father and son, shouting along with them.
Seeing this, Rao Zhenrong grinned with satisfaction, then casually sat down, landing right on the back of the person on the ground. Hearing the suppressed cries of pain coming from beneath him, his smile grew even more smug.
However, very few people came out of the stairwell. When Rao Zhenrong saw this, his face immediately darkened.
Rao Huabo, with his sharp eyes, immediately noticed his displeasure and quickly stepped forward, his tone full of flattery, "Son, your brother and I will go and find them all right now, we guarantee none of them will escape!"
Rao Zhenrong snorted through his nose. He stood up, kicked the man on the ground, and said coldly, "Take her with you, don't let either of you get hurt."
As he spoke, he threw over the rope tied around the neck of the person on the ground, and also handed over the whip he was holding.
Rao Huabo's face instantly lit up with a touched smile, and he hurriedly replied, "Oh! Son, don't worry!"
Then he turned to his youngest son and called out, "Zhenqiang, let's go! Let's go find them!"
Alright!
Rao Zhenqiang tugged on the rope, causing the ground to stumble. He didn't care at all, pulling the rope forward with an arrogant expression.
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