Li Kaiyan didn't continue speaking, and Leng Erya was too preoccupied to pay attention, completely absorbed in her own world.
Why? Why would they admit it? That's 10 billion! How could they admit it?
What Leng Erya didn't know was that they almost lost their lives for this 10 billion.
...
Lu Manman felt quite happy during this time, as these grandfathers really doted on her like their own child.
He answered all her questions without reservation and did his best to meet her requests.
This feeling seems pretty good.
"Child, come and eat!"
Another morning arrived, and Gu Lin's knocking came as expected.
Lu Manman had gotten used to this name. Her grandfathers said that she definitely had her own name, so they wouldn't give her a new one.
To these old folks, she's still a child, so everyone calls her 'the child'.
Lu Manman opened the door, and Gu Lin handed her the nutrient solution with a loving expression.
"What flavor is it today?" He skillfully took the nutritional supplement and looked at it.
Gu Lin looked at the red liquid, which was left over from before and had been treasured in the instant refrigerator. He wasn't quite sure, "It should be strawberry flavored."
Lu Manman asked, somewhat puzzled, "Didn't you eat?"
Gu Lin paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Hahaha, of course I ate it, but it wasn't the same kind."
"oh!"
Lu Manman nodded and finished it off in one gulp as usual. Hmm, the taste is better than before.
Seeing that Lu Manman was eating with relish, Gu Lin nodded in satisfaction and took the empty bottle. "Child, is there anything you want? We'll go out and look for it for you later."
"No need, you've already sent so many things, but..." Lu Manman declined with a sweet smile, then expressed her thoughts, "I want to go out and take a look, I can help you with the work too."
"Silly child, there are so many of us, we don't need your help. Just stay in this safe zone, and we'll feel at ease."
As expected, they refused again. Every time she mentioned going out, they refused. Lu Manman sighed, "Fine."
After saying a few more words, Gu Lin left, and Lu Manman quietly followed him. She didn't miss the momentary awkwardness on Gu Lin's grandfather's face.
Lu Manman saw Gu Lin enter a small house. Lu Manman cautiously peeked out the window and saw that everyone was there.
"How is it? Is he able to eat it?"
The soundproofing here is poor, and Lu Manman strained her ears to listen; it was Grandpa Qu Fu's voice.
Gu Lin nodded with satisfaction. "Yes, it seems like he likes it more than before."
Zhong Lizhong: "It's a pity there aren't many of this kind, and... we don't have many nutrients left either. We need to make some more quickly."
Chen Hua: "But what we make is not as healthy as what we used to make, and it doesn't taste as good as it used to."
Guji: "No matter what, it's a precious source of nutrition, much better than what we're eating now."
Everyone was discussing it.
Gu Lin waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, alright, let's stop here and eat. I'm starving. We need to eat to have the energy to find nutritional supplements for the child."
Lu Manman saw everyone sitting together, with a dark, sticky mess on the round table.
Everyone took a small bowl to scoop some out and then began to eat it in small bites.
Could it be...?
Lu Manman suddenly opened the door, startling everyone. They hurriedly and nervously put the food away.
Taking advantage of her youth, Lu Manman nimbly scooped some food from their bowls and put it in her mouth.
Oh my god! Lu Manman couldn't hold it in and vomited. She thought the nutritional supplement was bad enough, but this was even worse. It completely changed her understanding of food.
But then, seeing the pained expressions on everyone's faces, Lu Manman realized she had wasted food. She wanted to slap herself to suppress her nausea. "Is this what you eat every day?"
Zhong Lizhong chuckled, "Not really, I just eat it occasionally, and I quite like it."
Qu Fu chimed in, "Yes, it suits our taste."
Lu Manman had mixed feelings. "Don't lie to me. I heard everything. I don't want to take nutritional supplements anymore. I'll just eat these like you guys."
"No!" everyone said in unison.
Lu Manman: "Why?"
The group started to evade the question, but under Lu Manman's repeated questioning, they finally told the truth.
It turns out that this porridge was made from wild grass and leaves, which was barely enough to fill one's stomach. However, since most of the plants on this planet contain various toxins, eating it would cause some side effects. Eating too much would cause pain and weakness all over the body, and eventually death.
Even though they have experimented for generations to discover non-toxic plants, it is now difficult to find non-toxic plants within their current range of activity.
They are currently consuming food with mild toxins, or side effects, the only difference being the degree of these effects.
They used to use the only remaining nutrient extraction equipment to extract nutrients and minimize the toxins in them. However, a few years ago, the nutrient extraction equipment had some problems and was not powerful enough, so they tried to use it sparingly.
I eat these porridges every now and then.
Lu Manman's eyes stung with tears after hearing this. No wonder the grandfathers were all so thin, skin and bones, and their faces were sallow and dark.
“I will eat these from now on. I’m so young, I’ll be fine. Don’t give me any more nutritional supplements. I won’t eat them even if you do.”
Gu Lin frowned. "That won't do. You're not one of us. We've gotten used to this over the years, and our bodies might have evolved. You're from outside, so it's absolutely not acceptable."
"Yes, these are also specialties of our planet, and we really like them."
Zhong Lizhong slurped down the gruel in his bowl in a few bites, even licking the bowl clean. The others did the same; after all, food is precious.
The crowd showered Lu Manman with kind words, coaxing her back into the house.
Lu Manman felt extremely sad. Why did she lose her memory? If she hadn't lost her memory, she could at least tell them about the outside world they longed for. But what could she do for them now?
Lu Manman was in a bad mood and stayed in her house. She thought about it all morning but couldn't remember anything, which made her feel very frustrated.
Knock knock knock!
A knock sounded at the door, and Lu Manman opened it. Zhong Lizhong handed her several pieces of clothing as if they were treasures.
"Child, what do you think of these clothes? Do you like them?"
Lu Manman felt a warmth in her heart. "Thank you, but you don't need to send me any more clothes. I'm almost out of space here."
They were all incredibly kind to Lu Manman. When they saw that her clothes were torn, they all spontaneously brought her new clothes.
Zhong Lizhong said domineeringly, "It's okay if you can't let go, I'll build you another house next door."
He rolled up his sleeves, ready to get to work, but Lu Manman quickly stopped him, smiling sweetly, "No need, no need, this is enough for me, thank you Grandpa Zhong."
They then asked him to sit down and poured him a glass of water. "Grandpa Zhong, I've been here for a while now. When are you going to take me out to work?"
Lu Manman eats and uses everything provided by these grandfathers here, and her activity area is limited to this small safe zone. This kind of freeloading behavior is completely unacceptable to Lu Manman.
Moreover, today she learned that their lives are not easy and are very difficult, which made her even more restless and eager to help them.
Zhong Lizhong said with a serious expression, "You don't need to work. With so many of us, can't we afford to support one child like you?"
Seeing Lu Manman's face fall, Zhong Lizhong continued, "It's dangerous outside. You might not be able to come back if you're not careful. You're not familiar with this place at all, so we absolutely won't let you go out."
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