Chapter 21 Spicy Rice Balls
The next morning, Zhao Xuan was reluctantly woken up by Lu An in a soft voice.
"Are you still sleepy? If you are, then you don't need to go this time. I'll find you anything you need." As Lu An spoke, he stuffed a steaming hot rice ball into Zhao Xuan's hand. The rice ball was wrapped in a taro leaf so that Zhao Xuan's hand wouldn't get dirty.
"No, I have to go!" Zhao Xuan opened his eyes with a burst of energy, but then couldn't hold them open any longer and closed them again.
Lu An smiled and said nothing more. He got up very early, cut pig feed, fed the chickens, and even cooked a small pot of rice in his spare time. He didn't have time to cook any other dishes, but he picked a few tender wild taro leaves from the pond early in the morning. When he came back from the farm work, the rice was just cooked, so he wrapped them in the leaves to make rice balls for their breakfast.
He locked all the doors and windows, then patted 460's charcoal-like head. He put most of the rice from the pot, except for the two rice balls they were given for breakfast, into 460's food bowl. Food spoils quickly in the heat; this rice would probably only last two days. If they came back late, 460 would have to crawl out of the dog hole to find something to eat.
Lu An tied Zhao Xuan's small tricycle to the back of his large tricycle with a rope, then helped the yawning Zhao Xuan onto the back of his tricycle, put a wide-brimmed sun hat over her, and finally pushed the tricycle out of the yard.
This time, 460 seemed to know they were going to do something important. It didn't even bark. It wagged its tail and stopped in the yard, not following them, but quietly watching them leave.
With a creak, Lu An locked the large iron gate.
At five in the morning, the temperature was not very hot, and even carried a slightly damp coolness. The sky was already quite bright. Lu An's tricycle made a creaking sound. The road was a bit bumpy because it had not been maintained for many years. The abandoned houses and lush grass and trees swayed and rushed past with the sound of the vehicle.
Yawning, Zhao Xuan nestled comfortably in the truck bed. The rice ball in her hand was still hot. She carefully peeled back the taro leaves. The rice inside wasn't as sticky as glutinous rice, and it crumbled as the leaves were opened, revealing the bright red rice ball core inside, which was a spoonful of chopped chili mixed with a few pieces of dried radish.
The chopped chili peppers were made by Zhao Xuan a month ago after asking Zhang Xiaohe for the recipe. There are many ways to make chili peppers, but chopped chili peppers only require some salt, ginger, garlic, a little white wine, and sugar. All the ingredients were available to Zhao Xuan, and the process was very simple. She took them out to eat after a month of pickling. They are very appetizing to use in summer to mix with green vegetables or as a side dish with rice.
Zhao Xuan likes spicy food. She squeezed the rice ball together through the taro leaves, using brute force to make it into a firm rice ball before taking a big bite. The salty and spicy juice of the chopped chili peppers had already seeped into the rice. Taking a big bite, she could also taste the crispy dried radish. The damp steam hit her face and instantly dried the small beads of sweat that had seeped from the tip of her nose due to the spiciness.
Her mood instantly improved, and she seemed much more energetic.
"Delicious!" she muttered.
"What?" Lu An, who was in front, didn't hear clearly and asked back.
“I said you’re handsome!” Zhao Xuan shouted back.
The two rode for more than ten minutes, laughing and joking, until they reached the main road where they had agreed to meet the Yao family. Yao Yuan and Zhang Xiaohe were already waiting there. They didn't see the dog, assuming that the child had to go herd sheep early in the morning and therefore hadn't come.
Zhao Xuan was already in high spirits. He jumped off the vehicle, untied his small tricycle, and followed behind Lu An's large tricycle.
The four people and four cars set off for Taiping Town once again in a grand procession.
With the Yao couple joining them, the journey became much more lively. They weren't going very fast because Zhang Xiaohe only had one hand. There's a big difference between riding a bike with one hand and riding with one hand. Even when riding with one hand, the other arm can be used to maintain balance, but it's much more strenuous for Zhang Xiaohe. However, this is clearly the result of her practice.
She never complained of being tired along the way, which Zhao Xuan greatly admired. A seemingly frail woman with a missing arm, usually gentle and kind like a jasmine flower, actually possessed more perseverance than anyone else. Perhaps this is what many women who survived the apocalypse were like: weak and frail, but incredibly strong at heart.
It was still the same road, but the trees were much more lush than in spring. In the surrounding wasteland, some crops could be vaguely seen swaying among the weeds, and vines covered the tree trunks, making one's eyes dazzled by the green.
The roadside trees on both sides have grown umbrella-like branches and leaves, which extend freely in all directions until they touch the canopy of the trees on the opposite side. The two rows of trees enclose the narrow country road, forming a green culvert, which is not hot at all when riding inside.
When passing by the tea mountain, Lu An also introduced it to the Yao family. At this time, the tea mountain had turned into a green expanse, and the tea picking season had passed. Although new leaves were still growing, they would not taste very good when used to make tea.
The four of them rested in the same pavilion again. It was probably too hot, and none of them had much of an appetite. So they gulped down several bowls of water and then set off again.
As evening approached, the four arrived at Taiping Town.
Taiping Town remained unchanged, a cluster of gray buildings standing amidst lush greenery, low, old, quiet, and exuding a dusty smell. It was somewhat like a second town in an RPG game, larger than the protagonist's birth village, yet still remaining in a somewhat rudimentary stage.
Night was approaching in two hours, so the four slowed their cycling pace, carefully observing their surroundings as they quietly entered the town. It was the same familiar entrance; Zhao Xuan looked up and walked past the huge sign.
Welcome to Taiping Town!
Zhao Xuan unconsciously read the text aloud again.
"Xuanxuan?" Lu An, who was in front, noticed that Zhao Xuan had fallen behind, so he stopped the car, turned around, and gently called her name.
Zhao Xuan snapped out of his daze, said "Oh," and quickly followed.
Led by Lu An and Zhao Xuan, the four-person team rode straight towards the farmers' market.
The farmers' market hadn't changed much since their last visit. A place abandoned and covered in dust—whether it's been abandoned for five or six years, it's generally indistinguishable.
They rode in through the market entrance, which was missing a door, and parked their bikes in the center of the first-floor lobby. The shops on the first floor had already been thoroughly searched by Lu An and his team last time, so they were no longer of any use. Therefore, they went straight up to the second floor, where some hardware stores and material stores still had a full range of items.
The exterior of this farmers' market is quite trendy, mostly made of glass, which is somewhat out of place with the overall rustic atmosphere of the town. It may have been built not long before the outbreak of the major disease. There are even elevators inside, which is quite fashionable for a town-level building complex.
Because there was a lot of glass, many of the windows were already broken. The four of them walked on the second-floor corridor. The setting sun shone down, some of the light coming through the glass, and some shining directly through the broken windows. The various lights created a mesmerizing effect in the evening, as well as a desolate atmosphere of technological decay after the apocalypse.
Lu An was a man with a built-in map in his mind. He walked in front with an axe in his hand, and Yao Yuan followed behind. Soon they arrived at the familiar hardware store, where the only remaining turbine generator lay quietly, waiting for their arrival.
—This is a defective generator.
Lu An kept it because there was a very obvious dent on the fuselage. It was probably caused by someone searching for supplies trying to cut open the outer packaging but losing control of their strength. Of course, it was also possible that someone saw that the thing was useless and made a random cut out of destructive impulse. Lu An was not sure if the dent would affect the engine.
Yao Yuan asked, "Is this the only turbine engine here?"
Lu An nodded: "There's only one store in the farmers' market that has this, but there should be others elsewhere." However, it would require searching shop by shop on the street, which would expose them all to the public, and that would be too dangerous.
Yao Yuan also realized the problem, so he remained silent for a while.
Zhang Xiaohe walked around the store and came to the counter. As if she had thought of something, she opened the dusty drawer and took out the items one by one: a bunch of useless keys, an outdated calendar, several pens, a thick stack of ledgers, a few sticky notes, and a notebook.
"Yao Yuan, bring me the flashlight." The small shop was located in a dark corner where the sun couldn't reach. Zhang Xiaohe was looking down at her notebook when she called out to Yao Yuan.
Yao Yuan took out a flashlight but didn't hand it to her. Instead, he shone it on her. Zhang Xiaohe flipped through several pages, then pointed to a line of text and murmured, "Jiguang Warehouse, do you know where it is?"
Zhao Xuan was completely confused and asked, "What Jiguang Warehouse?"
"The owner of this store should have stored all the goods in the Jiguang warehouse. This notebook records the monthly warehouse rent transactions."
Lu An thought for a moment and replied, "I don't know where Jiguang Warehouse is, but..." He paused, seemingly unsure, "I remember there's a street in this town called Jiguang Street."
Zhao Xuan felt that in today's world of collapsing civilization, memorizing the street names of a city was a foolish thing to do, since no one would ask her for directions anymore. Now that she thought about it, she realized that she was the only fool.
Lu An led Zhang Xiaohe and Yao Yuan to a broken window and pointed to the way they came in: "We came in through the welcoming road. Turn left and you'll be at the farmers' market, and turn right and you'll be at Jiguang Road. It's written on the sign."
Therefore, Jiguang Warehouse is most likely located on Jiguang Road. The fact that the warehouse and the road share the same name suggests that the warehouse is a prominent building, and it is likely large enough to house more than just generators.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
