Chapter 7 Sweet Paste
The county town is about half a day's bike ride from the village, and it would take even longer by cargo tricycle.
Last winter, when they were still wandering, they passed through this place. The county town was not big, but it was the largest county town they could reach on foot. Compared to the villages that were already truly deserted, there were still people in the county town. Because they saw strangers, Lu An and Zhao Xuan hurriedly passed through there without daring to stay for long. Therefore, Zhao Xuan's impression of the town was only that it was a place with narrow streets and some outdated buildings.
There shouldn't be much left of the supplies. In the early stages of the major disease, these cities with supplies were looted clean. After five years, wave after wave of survivors have come and gone to plunder, so there's definitely no food left. Zhao Xuan thought that even things like blankets and clothes should be almost gone.
The two of them went there not for food, but for electricity.
Luan was going there to find something called a turbine generator.
Zhao Xuan had only a superficial understanding of machinery, but Lu An told her that with a turbine generator, she could start the appliances in her home: lights, refrigerator, washing machine, and even rice milling machine.
Last year, the rice they harvested was milled using an abandoned waterwheel on the upper stream. It took Luan nearly a week to repair the waterwheel, but it was not very efficient. The rice that was milled still had a lot of husks on it. If they could use a rice milling machine, they could not only eat cleanly husked rice, but also get finely sifted bran.
Lu An said that the small turbine generator weighs only thirty or forty pounds and can provide them with basic electricity. As for electrical-related machinery—whether it's a power supply vehicle or electrical appliances—these are the first things people abandon in the early stages of a major illness. These machines, which require certain skills to install, might still be sitting unsold in some farm tool shop in town.
And Lu An happened to know how to install them.
He studied at an engineering university and had always liked to play in his uncle's repair shop when he had nothing to do since he was a child. It is unknown whether his uncle's repair shop made him who he is or whether he has been determined to do this since childhood. If it weren't for the apocalypse, he might already be doing this kind of work.
Now that the two of them have decided to stay in the village permanently, getting electricity is an urgent matter.
It takes two days to travel between the town and the village, and another two days to find supplies. So, four days is not a suitable time to bring food that needs to be steamed or boiled.
Apart from one room they used as a bedroom, the remaining four rooms on the second floor were used as storage rooms. The largest room was used to store various daily necessities, such as pots and pans; another room was used to store bedding and clothing; another room was used to store grain; and the last room was used to store various agricultural and sideline products she made, such as dried chili peppers and dried meat. She found a small jar of flour that she had treasured in this room.
This bag of flour, thanks to its previous owner's meticulous preservation, had remarkably not spoiled. For Zhao Xuan, the expiration date was practically irrelevant; as long as the taste was acceptable, she was willing to eat it. Being from the south, it wasn't that she wasn't good at making noodles; she simply didn't know how. Therefore, she simply kept the flour.
She placed a basket of charcoal in each storage room to prevent moisture, and the can of flour was placed in a sealed Lock & Lock box next to the charcoal.
Light the charcoal fire on the small stove, then place a clean pot on it and heat it slightly. Next, scoop out most of the flour and stir-fry it, adding white sugar, salt, and a handful of sesame seeds. There are no special skills involved, just patience. Stir-fry the flour until it turns slightly yellow, let it cool slightly, and then pack it into a food container.
When you want to eat, just scoop a few spoonfuls into a bowl, mix it with water to make a paste, and eat it. It has the fragrance of wheat and the sweetness of sugar, and it's very filling.
Zhao Xuan was a little slow, and the flour was slightly burnt, but it wasn't a big problem. After boiling a few eggs, that would be their food for the trip to and from town.
As long as they bring enough water, they won't go hungry.
Zhao Xuan is particularly careful about drinking water. She and Lu An only drink boiled water, and even the water she feeds 460 is boiled.
Two tricycles, a jar of sweet flour paste, a few hard-boiled eggs, a small bottle of pickled radishes, a large bucket of water, a thick blanket, two raincoats, and an axe for self-defense—these were the preparations Zhao Xuan made for the two of them to go to the county town.
After preparing enough food for 460 and the chicks, Lu An locked the large iron gate of the yard in the early morning.
460 has gone off to wander around somewhere again this morning. It hasn't been going out much lately because it has taken the neighbor's little hens as its trophies and makes sure to inspect them every morning. As a result, the number of times it has disappeared for several days in a row has decreased significantly.
Don't worry about it not being able to get home; there's a well-hidden dog hole in the corner of the yard that it can crawl through.
The road leading to the county town is a winding sandy road, with lush vegetation on both sides, where everything is sprouting and growing. In the distance, the road extends into flat fields.
Those fields are surrounded by mountains. Because they have been neglected for many years, some have become wetlands, and some have grown trees. The tenacious crops and weeds grow together, but they are obviously no match for these foreign weeds. Perhaps before long, these fields will completely break free from the shackles of farmland and truly return to nature.
Zhao Xuan rode her tricycle closely behind Lu An. It was still early and the weather was cool. A breeze carrying moisture blew on her face, and even though she was wearing a straw hat, she could fully feel the gentle coolness of spring.
Suddenly in a good mood, she started humming a little tune.
Just then, she stopped pedaling and let the bike carry her downhill. As the road turned a corner, the scenery suddenly changed. The barren fields were gone, replaced by rolling hills and rows of tea bushes with tender green leaves.
Southerners love tea, and these vast tea plantations are probably contracted by some large-scale agricultural enterprise, stretching as far as the eye can see. The tea trees are beautiful; even after five years, only some wild grass has grown on the trails. With less manual harvesting, the tea tree canopies resemble Monchhichi's frizzy hair, and all you can see are crisp, tender leaves.
Spring's green always carries a fresh and delicious feeling. Vast swathes of tender, vibrant green spread out, shimmering in the sunlight. At a glance, these greens seem to burst forth in the field of vision. Before the apocalypse, Zhao Xuan had little awareness of the seasons, but now she loves spring. In this season, everything grows, which means she won't freeze or go hungry. It even allows her, well-fed and clothed, the leisure to stop and appreciate the beauty of this little world.
At noon, they found a pavilion to rest in. The pavilion was built in the middle of a tea plantation, next to the road. Zhao Xuan took out two small bowls, made some porridge for the two of them, stirred it with chopsticks, and ate it with eggs and pickled radishes.
Zhao Xuan sipped the sweet porridge, his eyes drifting towards the endless green expanse outside.
It's been raining for the past few days, and today is another cool, overcast day.
A vast expanse of white mist swirls over the distant mountains, bathing the world in a bluish-green hue. Nearby, glistening dewdrops cling to tea leaves, their smooth droplets reflecting the surrounding scenery, each tiny drop creating a miniature ink-wash painting of clouds.
Zhao Xuan reached out and plucked a few tender tea leaves from the nearest plant, brought them close to his nose, and a fresh, wild fragrance filled his nostrils.
She muttered casually, "What kind of tea is this?"
Lu An shook his head. He grew up in the city and had never even seen a rice seedling before the apocalypse.
"Who cares what kind of tea it is?" Zhao Xuan seemed unconcerned about the variety of tea tree. "Let's pick some when we get back, and we can brew some jasmine tea when the jasmine flowers bloom."
Lu An asked, "Do you know how to make tea?"
Zhao Xuan answered confidently, "No, but I have visited the Tea Culture Museum."
Lu An understood. Zhao Xuan's understanding of many things was basically based on theory, but that did not prevent her from turning these theories into practice, even though much of her theory came from her vague memories and other people's unsystematic descriptions.
This time, Zhao Xuan told him that her tea-making theory came from a pre-apocalyptic tea culture museum, and that the source of the information was already very scientific.
“Okay,” Lu An replied, “we’ll come here to pick tea when we get back.”
After they finished eating, they continued on their way. The mountain path, surrounded by greenery, meandered into the unknown distance. The plants on both sides of the road, whether flowers, grasses, or trees, had begun to lean towards the middle of the road. Sometimes they came across a bamboo forest, where the bamboo covered the sky, leaving only a long blue gap. At this moment, even the wind seemed to be green.
They traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping frequently along the way, and arrived at the town of Taiping in the afternoon.
Welcome to Taiping Town!
Before entering the town, a large sign erected by the roadside read the following.
The sign was covered in rust, and the lettering was faded. Two of the four corners of the sign, which was supposed to be fixed in place, were damaged, causing the large sign to hang crookedly, as if it would fall down at any moment.
Looking towards the welcome sign, the drab, gray cluster of buildings was their destination.
The lush, verdant countryside contrasted sharply with the eerie atmosphere of the town. Abandoned vehicles littered the streets, and shops with smashed windows lined both sides. Garbage and dust were everywhere, and even the overgrown grass and trees along the roadside only served to accentuate the town's desolation and decay.
The deathly stillness of the area, combined with the town's name, created a strange and eerie feeling.
Zhao Xuan pushed his tricycle carefully behind Lu An, each step echoing for a long time on the road.
In the early stages of a major disease outbreak, some villages and towns with limited medical resources were quickly abandoned—people died so fast that before they could even react, a small town had already lost its ability to function. The remaining people either fled to big cities or went in the opposite direction to remote mountains and forests.
Zhao Xuan remembered that when they passed through here last autumn, they encountered a few ragged people, but seeing that they looked unfriendly, Lu An hurriedly left with her. Now, they had been walking in Taiping Town for a long time, and apart from sparrows fluttering their wings, they had not seen any other living creatures.
The shops along the road were almost completely looted, and apart from the supplies that had rotted into a muddy mess and were no longer recognizable, there were only a few corpses to be seen.
The bodies had long since turned to bones by the erosion of time and sand, some even incomplete. Most were curled up, and judging from their appearance, they had either died from disease or from external injuries sustained in fights.
Lu An took out two handkerchiefs and put them on herself and Zhao Xuan to cover their mouths and noses—even if the protective function was negligible, it was still more reassuring than wearing nothing at all.
The large shops along the road were almost completely empty, so Lu An turned and walked into some smaller streets. Perhaps because it was adjacent to several villages, Taiping Town had many farm tool shops and seed shops, as well as a number of hardware stores, but most of them had been smashed and looted, and the remaining items had long since rusted away due to the passage of time.
Lu An searched through the shops one by one, grabbing an iron bar to pry open some of the tightly closed doors. Zhao Xuan followed behind on her tricycle, which was tied to her own with a rope. Riding a tricycle is a skill, especially when carrying a load. Zhao Xuan was never good at physical labor, so she rode erratically. Fortunately, Lu An searched slowly, allowing her to keep up and occasionally dismount to rummage through dusty shops, finding packets of expired seeds among the debris.
Seeds are very resilient; maybe these can even be grown. She thought happily.
They didn't find much along the way until they entered a farmers' market. The first floor of the market, which sold grain, had been completely ransacked. Fortunately, some hardware stores and farm tool stores on the second floor were still intact. In a shop with its doors half open, Lu An finally found a household turbine generator.
It seems that someone passing by broke down the shop door, looked around, and then found that the mechanical parts and similar items had nothing to do with what they needed, so they left in a hurry.
After the outer packaging of one turbine generator was brutally torn open, the rest were placed intact in the corner, with no trace of time on them except for a thick layer of dust.
By this time, it was completely dark. Without any lights, the second floor of the mall appeared even more gloomy. Lu An unpacked the intact turbine generators one by one, carefully inspected them, and determined that they should be usable—such devices are commonly used in rural areas of southern China. Some fishponds often have a generator installed to provide oxygen to the fish, and remote logging camps also set up a few for power. As long as there is flowing water, this machine can stably output 220 volts of household electricity. If the appliances are energy-efficient, one turbine generator can easily power a refrigerator, a washing machine, and several light bulbs.
In fact, many rural areas have small hydroelectric power stations built, which are privately contracted. The electricity is sold to the state and then distributed to each household. The small hydroelectric power station's control room is less than ten square meters, but it can supply electricity to the entire village. However, Lu An had previously walked around outside the village and did not find any such small hydroelectric power stations. It is probably because the village where they live is already almost abandoned and it is not worthwhile to build a station. Otherwise, it would be much easier for them to get electricity again.
It was too dark to go out any longer, so Lu An and Zhao Xuan decided to spend the night there. They laid out the thick cardboard box containing the turbine generator in a corner as a makeshift mat, curled up on it, and covered themselves with a thick blanket. The town wasn't as lively as the village at night, with its various bird calls and insect chirps; here it was only quieter, so quiet that even turning over in bed could be heard loudly. After quietly finishing their food, they fell silent. Lu An held Zhao Xuan, patting her back lightly with one hand.
This gave Zhao Xuan the illusion that they were still wandering.
For many days and nights before, they had fallen asleep like this, without anyone taking turns to keep watch, because they had developed the habit of being awakened by the slightest sound.
She gazed at the broken shop door in the distance, where the things inside had now transformed into strange, dark shadows. The shadows, baring their fangs and claws, resembled monsters about to spring into motion.
Outside the mall, the sound of rain gradually began. At first, it was very soft, but then the water droplets hit the awning with great force, making a crisp, drumming sound.
Zhao Xuan whispered in Lu An's ear, "It's raining."
"Hmm," Lu An pulled the blanket up around her, "Go to sleep."
Zhao Xuan originally intended to tell him how wise it was to bring a raincoat in advance, but suddenly felt sleepy and thought it would be the same to tell him tomorrow.
She slowly closed her eyes.
In her dream, she seemed to see Sister Lu holding her beloved dog and talking to her, and Lao Dao, a man with extremely short haircuts. He was one of the camp's managers and the one who, along with Lu An, rescued her from those three men that day.
Then, she dreamed of her parents, the three of them sitting together to celebrate her birthday. Her mother smiled and congratulated her on graduating from high school and getting into her dream university.
Rewinding to her elementary school days, she walked to the repair shop downstairs from her house with an enormous backpack. Inside, she saw a little boy with a dirty face, about her age, looking at her with a board full of electronic circuits.
Zhao Xuan almost laughed; she felt the little boy was holding a Transformer, not this strange thing.
Zhao Xuan woke up at that smile.
Outside, it was already broad daylight.
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