Chapter 82 Fried Rice Candy
While Yao Yuan was deeply reminiscing about half his life, Lu An turned over in his sleep. He dreamt that Xuanxuan was eating hot pot alone at home. He smiled in his dream, seemingly very reassured that Zhao Xuan was taking good care of him.
After keeping watch for half the night, Yao Yuan woke up Lu An. The two of them could sleep for about five hours a night. They usually went to sleep after sunset, so even though they kept watch every night, they were still able to keep their spirits up.
This area has probably been cleared by Lao Dao, so it's relatively safe. Most of the large camps have their own businesses and no longer engage in road rage or vandalism. The remaining small groups of robbers are not a threat. Yao Yuan is a veteran of many battles, and Lu An has mastered Lao Dao's skills. Either of them could easily take on three opponents.
And so, peacefully and safely, they arrived at the sisters' residence.
Before going, Lu An briefly introduced the two sisters to Yao Yuan. Their surname was Yan, the older sister was named Yan Yan, and the younger sister's nickname was Xiao Xiong.
The two sisters lived in a mountain valley near the sea. It was a stone house surrounded by trees, with very high walls. Unless you were at a high vantage point, you couldn't even see the house inside the walls.
This time, however, even as they approached the stone house, Lu An did not see the little girl with a buzz cut and a gun on the roof.
He sensed something was wrong.
Approaching the house, all was quiet.
There was no gate in the wall outside the house, and it took them a lot of effort to climb over the high wall—the yard was still quiet, without even a poultry.
Yao Yuan and Lu An wore hats and covered their mouths and noses the whole way, afraid of catching the disease. Seeing the eerily quiet house, the two looked at each other and frowned slightly. They were afraid that the two sisters had already died of the disease at home.
Lu An still politely knocked on the door. The door was ajar and opened immediately, letting in a beam of sunlight that sent dust flying everywhere. The room was overturned; cabinets and cupboards were open and empty, not even a blanket or pillow on the bed. The room was so "clean" it looked as if it had been ransacked by a dozen waves of survivors.
Lu An noticed old bloodstains on the table and floor. Yao Yuan looked around the other parts of the house. The small stone house was very simple, with only two rooms. The larger room contained a bed and kitchenware, serving as a combined living room, kitchen, and living room. The smaller room was a storage room.
There were only two rooms in the place, and there wasn't much left in the storage room; it seemed like everything usable had been looted.
Lu An sighed.
The two sisters were likely attacked and killed by robbers in this house. As for why their bodies were not left behind, perhaps they were not dead, but were injured and taken away, or perhaps someone used their bodies as food.
Before leaving, Lu An carved a few words on the wooden table: "If you encounter any difficulties, you can come to me. Lu An."
The two sisters knew that Lu An came from the north of the province. Lu An said that they could find a place called Taiping Town on the map. Once they got to Taiping Town, they should head north and turn right at the fork in the road. They should continue all the way to the end of the road to reach their village.
Although he knew they probably wouldn't have the chance to see his message again.
Besides the engraving, Lu An also placed two jars of fried rice candy on the table—those were specially prepared by Zhao Xuan for the two sisters. The fried rice candy was made from rice harvested a few months ago. It was Zhao Xuan's first time making it, and she put a lot of effort into it, but the finished product wasn't very good. The sugar had been overcooked, and it tasted like caramel. However, Zhao Xuan and Lu An treasured these fried rice candies. Zhao Xuan would only take out two pieces when she was in a particularly good mood and share them with Lu An, calling it "double happiness."
When Zhao Xuan heard that Lu An would be visiting the two girls along the way, she thought for a moment and packed the remaining pieces of fried rice candy into a jar, intending to give them to them. It was too difficult for two girls to survive in the apocalypse, and she had to give them her most sincere gift.
Three years ago, Lu An would never have given two jars of fried rice candy to the dead, but now he thought about it and decided to keep them. The faces of the two sisters were still very vivid in his memory, and leaving the candy was a way of keeping a memento.
Lu An and Yao Yuan left the house.
Unbeknownst to them, the moment they climbed over the wall, a dark gun barrel was already pointed at them from high in the dense forest—a little girl wearing a tattered and dirty military overcoat was quietly hidden in the shadows, holding the gun towards the house, motionless for a long time, like a statue.
The gun in her hand was an AMR-2 sniper rifle. The leader of the salt field by the sea was surnamed Ji, a kind-looking old lady. The old lady said that she was too small, so this sniper rifle with an adjustable stock and low recoil was just right for her. In addition to the gun, she also gave her twenty precious bullets.
Chief Ji said she was a genius with guns, and if possible, the Saltworks Camp—the largest survivor camp in the province—would welcome her to join.
Little Bear, this twelve-year-old girl, already had a well-known name in the saltworks market. A year ago, she started selling her hunted game at the market. Mostly wild boars, or at the very least rabbits—animals that were either highly lethal or fast. A rabbit was killed with a single shot, and a wild boar took at most three shots. All of these were hunted by the little girl herself, and she went to the saltworks market alone to sell them. In the post-apocalyptic world, everyone was malnourished, and she wasn't very tall, just over 1.5 meters. Plus, she was thin, making her look like a little bean sprout. But anyone who came into contact with her could see that her hands were stained with blood. She had been going to and from the market alone several times, always unharmed. A girl like her attracted quite a few people with ulterior motives. Some patient men would follow her out of the saltworks market's protected area. Once outside that area, the armed forces of the saltworks market wouldn't interfere with any more robberies or thefts. But Little Bear always managed to travel between the market and her home unscathed.
Anyone with a discerning eye would know that this little girl's counter-surveillance skills and methods are top-notch. No one knows who taught her these things; all they know is that she's called Little Bear, fierce, and cruel, truly like a bear cub devoid of human emotions.
Within a short time, she caught the attention of Chief Ji. The elderly woman with a full head of silver hair recruited her to the camp, gave her a new gun, and let her stay for a few days. Chief Ji had his men teach her how to use a sniper rifle. The old woman marveled at Xiao Xiong's exceptional talent and told her that the camp needed manpower, and she welcomed Xiao Xiong's joining, offering to train her. The camp had no shortage of food, was very safe, had 24-hour electricity and hot water, and even entertainment facilities. The large ship used as the camp even had a cinema and various sports fields. Each specially recruited member could bring one family member; coincidentally, Xiao Xiong also had an older sister.
Everything was so perfect, but Little Bear still had a cold face and said he needed to discuss it with his sister.
Chief Ji agreed. Little Bear wouldn't run away; she only had twenty bullets. Once she used them up, she would naturally return, being a gun enthusiast. The old lady wasn't giving Little Bear a sniper rifle, but rather finding a reliable owner for the camp's guns.
The little bear hurried home.
Once outside the saltworks area by the sea, Little Bear suddenly smiled genuinely and quickened her pace—she had already wasted too much time learning to shoot, and her sister must be worried sick. A year ago, she started selling her game at the saltworks market, something her sister had strongly opposed. Since they kept geese at home, she couldn't leave her unattended, so Little Bear had to travel alone. Every time Little Bear went out, her sister couldn't sleep all night, and after several trips, she looked haggard. Little Bear felt sorry for her sister and decided to go out alone one last time to sell her game, only to be invited into the saltworks camp.
Little Bear carried a 20-pound gun on her back, a smile always on her lips. This was the last time... She had originally planned to sell her prey one last time, but fate was on her side. She and her sister would finally no longer have to live in fear. She was going to take her sister to live in the salt field camp, where her sister would receive the best protection, and she could systematically learn how to use a gun, which she loved!
The last time.
This really is the last time.
Years later, Little Bear still hates this sentence the most. It sounds just like the boastful words of a gambler before he retires from gambling. There is no last time for a gambler. The only outcome for a gambler is to lose everything.
She sensed something was wrong even when she was far from home. The direction of her home was eerily quiet—the sunlight was blindingly white, and even though it was midday, there were no geese cawing or smoke rising from the chimney… everything was eerily quiet.
The little bear's smile faded.
She changed her route and circled around to above the house, an excellent sniping spot. She stared at the quiet house in the distance, motionless, until two hours later, when she saw a strange man sleepily walk out of the house, carrying a dead goose in his hand.
The man started boiling water and plucked goose feathers in the yard. He plucked them very carefully, gathering the feathers together and placing them in a basket beside him.
Little Bear remembered his sister saying that she was going to kill two geese for Chinese New Year this year, and with the goose feathers she got, plus the ones she had saved up in previous years, she could make a warm winter quilt for Little Bear.
—It seems that even the most brutal bandits have a side that tries to live life to the fullest.
The bear pulled the trigger.
The bullet flew and struck the man in the back of the head with perfect accuracy. An anti-materiel sniper rifle is more than capable of taking a head off. The man didn't utter a sound as his head exploded like popcorn, splattering blood everywhere. His head was gone in an instant, but his lower body remained firmly seated on the bench, his arm hanging down, still clutching a handful of goose feathers.
Hearing the noise, two more men rushed out, cursing in terror. Even though they had survived serious illnesses and had blood on their hands, they still couldn't control their emotions when faced with the threat of advanced weapons they had never seen before.
The two of them even forgot to hide back inside the house.
—Oh, there are two more people.
Two more shots were fired, and the two men fell to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, the little bear saw the window facing him slam shut with a "bang." It seemed there was someone else in the house, and a smart one at that. He must have roughly known his location, so he quickly closed the window to hide his presence.
Even if an ordinary person has a gun, its range wouldn't be enough to hurt her, but her gun can accurately snipe someone's head, unless that person hides in a house for their entire life.
At this moment, Little Bear was certain that his sister had been murdered.
If she hadn't died, the people inside would have used her as a human shield to escape, but they didn't. They must have broken into the house last night. They killed the goose and the sister. They must have done their homework, knowing that only the sister was in the house, which is why they dared to sleep at the crime scene, and even sleep until noon.
The little bear's eyes instantly filled with tears. She blinked, letting the tears flow quickly. She couldn't let her vision blur; she had to avenge her sister.
She stood up to the robbers in the house for a week, without moving an inch. The skin on her elbows and thighs, constantly in contact with the ground, began to fester. For those seven days, she survived on the water she had brought with her and the moss growing nearby.
Her lips were cracked and her mind was becoming hazy. She hadn't slept for several days and couldn't think clearly about many things. Sometimes, in her daze, she felt her sister's voice coming from the familiar house in front of her.
"Little Bear! Little Bear! Come and eat! There's your favorite steamed egg!" The older sister's voice was still as gentle as ever.
She almost got up to answer, but at the last moment reason pulled her back.
On the seventh day, the coward hiding in the house couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to come out. The weather was very hot, the corpses in the yard had long since started to rot, and the sister's corpse in the house should have started to decompose long ago as well.
People cannot stay with corpses for long periods of time. A rotting, smelly corpse not only erodes a person's health but also torments their spirit.
Her older sister is also helping her.
Unable to bear the stench of the corpse any longer, the man inside tore off the cabinet door and tried to rush out, holding the door in his hand.
It was the dead of night, and he would not have been easy to see from such a distance, but this man was too cowardly—he might have a chance to sneak away under the cover of darkness, but he was ridiculously carrying a plank of wood.
The heavy wooden planks slowed his pace, and the paint on them, reflected in the moonlight, made them instantly visible to the little bear.
"Unify—"
Another shot rang out, the bullet easily piercing the wooden plank and creating a large hole in his body.
The man was crushed by the wooden plank and fell to the ground, whereupon he remained motionless.
The bear still didn't move. She waited for two more days until she was sure there were no more living people in the house before she staggered back home.
She tripped and fell on the way, chipping her lip and spitting out blood.
They had tied her sister to a chair, and when they found her body, she had hidden it in the storeroom. The room reeked of a foul stench. Little Bear felt nauseous, but her stomach was empty. She wanted to cry, but severe dehydration left her with no tears. She found a piece of clothing and covered her sister's rotting face, preserving her dignity in her final moments.
Then she wrapped her sister in a blanket and buried her in a quiet valley. She dragged the four robbers' corpses a long way, chopped them up, and threw them onto the road. She wanted these scumbags to be trampled by thousands and trodden by tens of thousands of people.
She thoroughly cleaned her house, but all the items inside were tainted with the stench of decay, so she threw them all away. It was as if the house had been ransacked several times over. A perfectly good home had been transformed into an abandoned place in such a short time.
Little Bear slung her gun over her shoulder, intending to return to the salt field camp, but she turned back halfway and sat down again at the highest sniping point.
She wondered if her sister wouldn't have died if she hadn't insisted on going to the saltworks market again, and if she hadn't been so greedy as to learn how to use a gun.
Her sister clearly disagreed with her going, so why didn't she listen? If she had been on the roof keeping watch, she would have spotted the bandits much sooner. Although her musket was slow to reload, crippling just one of them would have been enough to intimidate the others and drive them away.
It was her own greed and stubbornness that caused her sister's death, and it was her own foolish behavior that caused her to lose her only relative.
She doesn't deserve a life of luxury; she wants to exile herself.
She wanted to atone for her sister's death.
Little Bear truly lived like a wild beast in the mountains. For months, she lived like a savage around her home. She would stare at the familiar yet desolate house for long periods of time. She rarely thought about anything related to her sister—her brain was protecting itself. Who would think about someone who has always been by their side? So by not thinking about her sister, she could deceive herself that her sister was still there, waiting for her to return in that now empty stone house.
Until Lu An and Yao Yuan arrived.
Xiao Xiong Yu Guangzhong saw a figure moving on the courtyard wall. She raised her gun and saw that one of the people was an acquaintance of hers, Lu An.
She had a deep impression of Lu An; he was tall and handsome, but quiet. He was brought by Lao Dao, who called him his younger brother. Xiao Xiong knew that he and Lao Dao were sworn brothers… to be precise, Lao Dao would take care of this person as if he were a younger brother.
Little Bear didn't really like Lu An. In fact, she disliked most humans, except for her sister and Old Knife, who had saved their lives. After they left, her sister sighed, "That Lu An is really handsome." Her sister liked looking at beautiful people, regardless of gender; this was her pre-apocalyptic hobby, and of course, she hadn't changed it after the apocalypse.
The little bear remained noncommittal, but in his heart he thought that being tall and beautiful was no longer useful in this world; being tall was only good for taking a few more bullets because of its larger surface area.
Then, several months later, she saw Lu An again, this time with a strange man.
Little Bear sneered inwardly. She instinctively thought the two men had ill intentions, but unexpectedly, Lu An and the stranger knocked on the door politely. The door was ajar and opened immediately. The two men exchanged a serious glance and went inside.
They came out quickly, closing the door behind them as they left.
The little bear kept its gun pointed at their heads, but didn't fire until they left.
After confirming that they had completely left and would not be returning, Little Bear went home. The furnishings inside remained unchanged, except for two jars of fried rice candy on the table.
The fried rice candy was sealed in two pretty glass jars, each about the size of a fist. The jars were part of a set that Zhao Xuan had brought back from Taiping Town. Of course, Little Bear didn't know any of this. She picked up a jar and stared at the fried rice candy inside.
This is clearly homemade fried rice candy for personal consumption. It contains only simple fried rice, peanuts, and raisins, and is coated with a shiny sugar shell that reflects an enticing light in the sunlight.
After putting down the fried rice candy, Little Bear saw Lu An's message on the table.
"If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to come to me. Here's the way."
The sunshine today is exceptionally good. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the autumn sun always has a yellowish tint. Unlike the scorching white sunlight of summer, sitting in the sun in autumn, embraced by its golden light, I only feel a sense of peace and security.
The little bear sat in the yard, holding two jars of fried rice candy. She wiped her blackened hands on her equally blackened clothes, then reached for the sweet treat—the person who made it must have been making it for the first time, as the sugar was a little burnt, but the rice and peanuts smelled so good, and the sugar and raisins were so sweet…
It's so delicious!
It tastes just as good as the food my sister makes.
As he ate, the little bear's eyes welled up with tears.
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