Chapter 61 The Dazzling Pumpkin (Bonus Chapter) Approaching Yang Kai
Seeing the deer peeking at the pumpkin with its head held high, Cheng Zhiyu smiled and said to Lin Jiashu, "Ask it if it wants to eat it?"
Lin Jiashu asked.
After eating wild grass for several months, the elk suddenly found the pumpkin to smell really good.
This is no ordinary pumpkin; it's a mutated pumpkin produced by the planting space, which has an extraordinary allure for exotic beasts.
Upon hearing Lin Jiashu's words, the deer anxiously moved its legs. It wanted to eat, but it also felt that the cunning humans might have some kind of conspiracy.
But it smells so good!
Seeing this, Cheng Zhiyu immediately had Cheng Mo use his water-based supernatural abilities to transport the pumpkin over.
Cheng Zhiyu smiled and said, "I'm sorry to have bothered you today. Consider this pumpkin our apology."
Lin Jiashu was a dedicated and responsible translator.
The deer, upon hearing this, exclaimed: "What? Such a good thing?"
It cautiously lowered its head, sniffed the pumpkin in front of it, and couldn't detect anything wrong. In the end, it couldn't resist the temptation and tentatively took a bite.
Deer: !! Smells so good!
It unconsciously opened its mouth wide and chewed rapidly, as if afraid someone would snatch it away.
This pumpkin was specially selected by Cheng Zhiyu. It was a relatively small pumpkin, but it still weighed over ten kilograms. However, compared to the enormous appetite of the mutated elk, this pumpkin was obviously not enough. In no time, the elk ate it all up.
Deer: Delicious, delicious.
It couldn't help but open its clear, big eyes and look at Cheng Zhiyu and the others, its gaze softening considerably.
Cheng Zhiyu said, "Since you've accepted our apology, we're leaving."
Lin Jiashu immediately translated.
Elk:! ! !
Although it had just wanted to drive these humans away, it now doesn't want them to leave.
The innocent deer was completely unaware of the humans' trickery. Seeing that the humans were tired and about to leave, it panicked and hurriedly asked: "Humans, do you still have the delicious food from earlier?"
Lin Jiashu translated the words of the deer.
Cheng Mo and the others had already guessed what Cheng Zhiyu was going to do, and they cooperated by saying, "Zhiyu worked hard to grow these pumpkins, so giving him one is already generous. Don't push your luck."
Lin Jiashu immediately said this and that to the deer.
The elk was a little disappointed. It was understandable; it had been grazing on grass for months, so it would be very difficult to get such delicious pumpkins.
Cheng Zhiyu: "Actually, it's not that hard. The main problem is that growing pumpkins requires water, and there's a water shortage right now. I only have the ones I planted before, so of course I have to be careful with them."
After listening, the deer looked at the spring it was guarding, seemingly conflicted.
So, that delicious food we just ate was grown? Who could be such a bad person to grow something so delicious? Definitely not a bad person!
The deer couldn't resist the temptation of the pumpkin and immediately asked the lion: You can come over, but... you have to provide me with something like that every day.
Cheng Zhiyu tried hard not to laugh and said, "With water, we can grow more pumpkins, and I can give you three every day."
Deer: Three!!!
Wow, so many!
Tempted by the pumpkin, it eventually gave in and allowed them to come to the spring after Cheng Zhiyu gave it an even bigger pumpkin.
Cheng Zhiyu and his group approached the spring and began cleaning up animal carcasses and fallen leaves near the spring.
It's possible that animals fought for the spring water here before, and many of them died here. Their carcasses were left in the water to rot and pollute the water downstream.
To avoid making the deer feel threatened, they did not approach it and quietly cleaned it.
The elk observed them warily for a while, and finding them to be quite well-behaved, it felt relieved and lowered its head to happily eat the pumpkin.
Delicious!
Cheng Zhiyu and his team moved quickly. They waited until fresh water flowed from the spring and the upstream water no longer emitted a foul odor before stopping.
Tian Qiao splashed water on his face; the groundwater was exceptionally cool. He squinted comfortably and said, "Great, now we just need to clean up the section of the river that's away from our village."
Cheng Zhiyu nodded and smiled, generously giving the deer another pumpkin.
Deer: !!! What generous humans!
It found Cheng Zhiyu even more agreeable.
If it weren't for its innate wariness, it would have been tempted to rub against Cheng Zhiyu.
Although Cheng Zhiyu and his companions were curious about how the elk managed to resist the zombie virus, they knew that the elk had not completely let its guard down, so they didn't say much.
Anyway, there will definitely be opportunities in the future.
Cheng Zhiyu told the deer that they would come regularly to clean the river and bring them pumpkins along.
Deer: There's something delicious to eat! I'm so happy!
Cheng Zhiyu and his group said goodbye to the deer. The river was a kilometer away from their village, and it would take them forever to clear it all by themselves.
They decided to return to the base first and have Lin Kang send another group of people over.
Another problem is that the nearest water source to their base is still tens of meters away from the river. Although it is not long, it is outside the base and there is always danger. The water source problem still needs to be solved.
Lin Kang was overjoyed to hear that the spring had been cleaned up: "That's great! With the river cleaned up, the base's water resource problem can be solved."
He immediately sent people to clear the river. The zombies along the way had already been cleared by Cheng Zhiyu and his team, so there was no danger at the moment. Therefore, ordinary people also went with them.
Going out is considered a mission, and the contribution points are not low. Moreover, everyone knows the importance of water resources, so many people are willing to go.
After all, they weren't just ordinary people; Lin Kang also sent superhumans who were friendly to ordinary people to protect them.
Everyone set off with great enthusiasm. Although they were a little nervous, since they were going to leave the base, they were also happy because they would finally have water to drink when they returned.
As for how to get the water, Lin Kang said, "We send people with superpowers to fetch it every day. The distance is only a few dozen meters."
Cheng Zhiyu thought it wouldn't work. Sending superhumans would mean they would have to waste time fetching water every day, increasing costs. Besides, how much water could superhumans fetch each day? Would they be fetching water all the time?
Can ordinary people use water casually?
However, Cheng Zhiyu did not directly refute the other party, but only reminded them: "Our base has more than a thousand people, so the water consumption should be quite large."
“That makes sense. It would be wasteful to send too many people to fetch water, and it wouldn’t be enough if we sent too few.” Lin Kang agreed with him, and frowned. “We can’t send ordinary people either. If they encounter danger, they have no ability to resist.”
Cheng Zhiyu said, "I remember that people in the village used to use water pumps frequently."
Lin Kang slapped his forehead, only then remembering that there was such a thing. He sighed and shook his head: "Sigh, this apocalypse has only been going on for a short time, and I'm already subconsciously only using people to solve problems."
The villagers used to use water pumps to draw water from the river to irrigate their vegetable gardens, so water pumps were not hard to find.
Once the river is cleaned up and water pumps are installed, it won't be long before everyone in the base will have access to drinking water.
——
"Hey? What are you guys talking about?" Seeing several people huddled together, someone curiously came over to ask.
"Great news!" The speaker was in a good mood, smiling broadly. "I heard that Old Cheng's son has cleared the river. Maybe it won't be long before we have water to drink!"
"Really?" Upon hearing this, the man subconsciously licked his dry lips.
"How could it be fake?" The person who spoke glared at him and said, "Old Cheng's son has done a lot of good things for our base."
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, feeling very grateful to Cheng Zhiyu. If it weren't for him, they wouldn't even be able to think about drinking water right now; they would be wondering what to eat for their next meal.
Although they still don't have enough to eat, haven't you seen that the base has started clearing land? Once they start farming, they will have new hope.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on their usually worried faces.
On their way home, Cheng Zhiyu and his companions stopped frequently, and the villagers warmly greeted them with conversation. One villager took out a bottle of tea that he had been saving for a long time and handed it to Cheng Zhiyu, saying, "Child, I don't have anything good to offer, but you can take it."
People always feel that verbal thanks are meaningless and that something tangible is needed, but Cheng Zhiyu, seeing the other person's thin and frail appearance, felt too embarrassed to accept something from someone else for nothing.
Even though tea leaves are of little use for survival now.
However, Cheng Zhiyu did not refuse directly, but said, "I was just thinking of having some tea, but how could I possibly accept your gift?"
The middle-aged man shook his head with a wry smile: "What's the big deal? This tea is useless to me. But you've brought us hope. To be honest, I used to think life was so hard, and I even wondered what the point of living was. But now there's hope again. You tell me, I've endured this for so long, how can I be a deserter!"
Cheng Zhiyu was somewhat moved and said, "I won't accept your things for nothing, otherwise I won't feel at ease. I'll exchange them with something and bring it to you later."
The middle-aged man waved his hand: "No need, no need."
Cheng Zhiyu didn't say anything more; he just needed to know that it would be delivered soon.
After returning home, he cut two pounds of pork and a bucket of water and took them to the middle-aged man.
The other party gave him good tea, which, based on its value before the apocalypse, would definitely not have been exchanged for such a small amount. However, these things had little value after the apocalypse, so Cheng Zhiyu did not dare to give more.
He gave this away. If someone else wanted to exchange it with him, would he exchange it or not? If he didn't exchange it, he would offend someone.
Although he wasn't afraid of offending people, he was too lazy to deal with those relationships.
When the middle-aged man saw that Cheng Zhiyu had actually brought him something, he originally wanted to refuse, but when he saw the meat and the water that was currently in short supply, he couldn't bring himself to say anything to refuse.
Cheng Mo followed Cheng Zhiyu around like a big tail, carrying meat and water and placing them on the table in the middle-aged man's house.
The middle-aged man said with some shame, "Oh, how could I accept your things?"
In his view, Cheng Zhiyu had done so much for the base, and it was only right that he thanked him. He didn't have anything good to offer, so he could only take out the relatively good tea he had stored before the apocalypse.
But to his surprise, the other party sent him something else.
He knew, of course, that the value of tea could not be measured by pre-apocalyptic standards, so he felt that Cheng Zhiyu had given too much.
However, seeing his six-year-old granddaughter staring longingly at the piece of meat, he could only blush and accept it.
After thinking for a moment, he asked Cheng Zhiyu and the others to wait.
He rummaged through the room and pulled out a brand-new tea set, saying, "How can you brew tea without a tea set? I haven't used this set yet. It's not the best, but it's enough. I... don't need this one either. You can take it."
When Cheng Zhiyu was about to refuse, the middle-aged man immediately said, "Just accept it. You can't eat or drink this stuff. Consider it my way of thanking you. If you accept it, I'll feel at ease."
Having said all that, Cheng Zhiyu sighed but ultimately didn't say anything in refusal.
Cheng Mo asked curiously, "How do you use this?"
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Shall I demonstrate for you?"
So he took out his tea set, originally intending to perform without props, but Cheng Mo felt he couldn't understand it, so he planned to learn how to make tea for Zhiyu when he got back.
Zhiyu just held that box of tea and kept saying it was good tea; he must like drinking tea.
Cheng Mo simply brought out a basin of water and let the other party demonstrate slowly.
Middle-aged man: "..."
He shook his head, boiled a kettle of water, and began to brew tea with fluid movements. Despite his rough and rugged appearance, he suddenly became somewhat pleasing to the eye.
After watching it, Cheng Mo felt that he had learned how to make tea. He put away the tea set and planned to make tea for Cheng Zhiyu when he got back.
The middle-aged man escorted Cheng Zhiyu to the door and was about to leave when he heard a cold laugh from the side.
He turned his head and saw his neighbor Xiang Qi standing at the door with his hands behind his back, his face gloomy and full of mockery.
Xiang Qizheng said in a sarcastic tone, "Some people, all they do all day is think about how to flatter others."
The middle-aged man remembered the conflict the other man had had with Cheng Zhiyu and how he had held a grudge against him, and he understood why Xiang Qizheng was doing this.
He sneered, "It's rare to see someone as petty as you. You can't find your son yourself, so you blame others. Why don't you go find him yourself?"
Xiang Qi was hit where it hurt, his face turned bright red, and he raised his voice: "Wu Li! I treated you like a good neighbor, but instead of helping me, you helped that little brat Cheng Zhiyu!"
The middle-aged man, Wu Li, frowned: "Say one more word? I don't know how you have the nerve to do that. If you're so capable, give the rice back."
Xiang Qizheng was speechless for a long time. How could he possibly be willing to return the rice? He wasn't stupid. After stammering for a while, he finally managed to squeeze out, "Why should I return it? It was issued by the base!"
"This belongs to Xiao Cheng!" Wu Li said. "I don't believe you didn't know. You knew it was Xiao Cheng who gave it to you, yet you ate his rice and still cursed him. Bah, shameless!"
Xiang Qizheng's face turned pale and then red. In his memory, Wu Li had always had a good personality and did not like to have conflicts with others, which was why he dared to say those words just now. He really did not expect that Wu Li would scold him so rudely, and he was so angry that he could not speak for a moment.
Wu Li snorted coldly. He wasn't afraid of offending such a ungrateful person who would nitpick over the smallest things.
Ignoring Xiang Qizheng any longer, she turned and went home, leaving Xiang Qizheng stomping his feet in anger: "Just you wait, I bet you'll be sold out and all you'll know is how to count the money for the seller!"
Xiang Qi kept telling himself that Wu Li wouldn't get anywhere with Cheng Zhiyu. That guy was sharp-tongued and disrespectful to his elders. What kind of good person could he be?
However, that night he smelled a delicious aroma coming from next door, and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. His stomach was growling with hunger, and he muttered to his wife, "What's going on? Where did Wu Li get the meat?"
The wife was also too hungry to sleep and said, "It was given by Old Cheng's son. I saw it. It was a big piece of meat, and there was water in it too!"
Xiang Qi was unaware of this; he only saw Wu Li hand a can of tea to Cheng Zhiyu.
The enticing aroma made his mouth water uncontrollably. If only he'd known he could get meat in return…
When his wife heard Xiang Qizheng's words, she laughed at his naivety: "You've offended Old Cheng's son, how could he possibly be willing to trade with you? Besides, what kind of tea is that? It's from a street stall, you can buy a pound for a hundred yuan, how can it compare to Old Wu's tea?"
Xiang Qi was furious that even his own wife wasn't on his side!
He said, "Alright. Stop talking, I have my own plans!"
His wife rolled her eyes, thinking to herself: What kind of plans do you have?
——
They said they would go to Cheng Zhiyu's place. Taking the tea set given to them by Wu Li, they returned home, boiled water, and Cheng Mo began to brew tea.
Tian Qiao and the others were bored, so they all gathered over to watch.
Cheng Mo remained expressionless, completely ignoring their presence, poured a cup of boiling water, and began to brew tea.
Cheng Zhiyu was in high spirits, but then he saw that scalding water had been poured onto Cheng Mo's fingers several times. Looking at Cheng Mo, well... he didn't change his expression at all.
Cheng Zhiyu: "..."
Tian Qiao coughed lightly: "Uh... Brother Hei, aren't your hands hot?"
Cheng Mo looked over with a deep, unsettling gaze.
Tian Qiao: "..."
Cheng Mo said matter-of-factly, "This tea is meant to be this hot, what do you know?"
Tian Qiao: Although I don't know how to brew tea, I do know how to handle people. Who in their right mind could withstand such heat on their fingers?
Even Cheng Mo, who is known for his thick skin, had some redness on his fingers.
Cheng Mo insisted on following the procedure, pouring tea into a cup, handing it to Cheng Zhiyu, and resting his chin on his hand with an expectant look: "Want to try some?"
Cheng Zhiyu took a sip and smiled, "It's delicious."
In fact, he couldn't tell at all what good tea was, but he still praised it anyway.
Cheng Mo was beaming with pride, practically wagging his tail in the air, and said eagerly, "If Zhiyu finishes drinking, I'll make you another one."
Tian Qiao, oblivious to the situation, said, "Brother Hei, I want to drink too."
Cheng Mo immediately demonstrated what it means to change one's expression. He had been smiling and resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Cheng Zhiyu, but when he heard Tian Qiao speak, he looked at her with a cool expression and said, "If you want to drink, then drink. What are you talking to me about?"
Tian Qiao: "..." Okay, I'm not worthy.
Zhou Min chuckled to himself, thinking, "Tian Qiao still has no self-awareness whatsoever."
He quickly said, "Come, come, I'll make it for you."
Tian Qiao exclaimed in surprise, "You can even brew tea?"
"Sure, it's very simple, isn't it?" Zhou Min said, tossing a few tea leaves into each person's cup, then pouring in hot water, and gesturing for them to drink: "Drink up."
The group: "..."
Tian Qiao asked incredulously, "This is what you call making tea?"
"Just tell me whether it's been soaked or not?" Zhou Min blew on the water glass, took a sip, and said, "Anyway, I think they taste about the same."
Tian Qiao: Never mind, he probably couldn't tell the difference anyway.
Tian Manman took a big gulp and exclaimed, "Delicious!"
Tian Qiao and the others were used to it. Tian Manman was not picky about food, so there was nothing he didn't like to eat or drink.
Seeing the commotion, Cheng Zhiyan came over and asked, "What are you all doing?"
"Would you like some tea, Yan Yan?" Tian Qiao said. "Yan Yan, would you like a cup?"
“Brother Tian, how can you drink tea like that?” Cheng Zhiyan laughed and looked at Cheng Zhiyu: “My brother’s way is the correct way to drink it.”
Cheng Mo treated Cheng Zhiyu's younger sister very well, and even brewed tea for her to drink.
Cheng Zhiyan couldn't really taste anything special, but she still praised it, saying, "It's delicious!"
After finishing her cup of tea, she waved and said she was going back to her room.
Cheng Zhiyu pondered for a moment, finished the last sip of tea, found his mother, and asked about Cheng Zhiyan's situation.
“I noticed that every time she went out with other superhumans, she was in a low mood afterward.”
Cheng's mother also noticed, shook her head, and said helplessly, "You've been a little better since you came back. Before, Yan Yan was always frowning. When I asked her what was wrong, she wouldn't say. Sigh."
Cheng Zhiyu knew after a moment's thought that Yan Yan was probably afraid that her parents would worry.
He reassured his worried mother, "It's alright, I'll go and inquire later."
As for how to find out, he immediately thought of Aunt Wang. As a superhuman and an elder, Aunt Wang had taken good care of Cheng Zhiyan, so she should know something.
Cheng Zhiyu found Aunt Wang and explained his purpose. Aunt Wang was somewhat surprised: "Yan Yan didn't tell you?"
Cheng Zhiyu frowned slightly and shook his head, saying, "She didn't mention it."
Aunt Wang sighed, "This child is just too sensible."
She said, "There was nothing we could do before, but now that you're back, there's no need to be afraid of him."
After Aunt Wang finished speaking, she said, "This matter is related to Yang Kai. You know Yang Kai, right? He's the one who fainted that day. This guy used to be a lazy bum in the village, and everyone looked down on him. But after the apocalypse, he suddenly awakened dual-elemental abilities and became a superior person."
This guy is shameless. He's in his thirties and still unmarried, yet he's already eyeing Yan Yan..."
With a loud crash, Aunt Wang watched helplessly as her table fell apart on the spot.
Cheng Zhiyu withdrew his hand: "Sorry, I'll make you a new table later."
Aunt Wang coughed lightly: "He didn't dare to go too far. He said he wanted to pursue Yan Yan, but Yan Yan got annoyed by him and naturally got upset."
Cheng Zhiyu was so angry that his vision blurred. He exhaled and said, "Thank you, I'll be going now. I'll come back later."
Aunt Wang said anxiously, "Xiao Cheng, don't be impulsive."
She wanted to tell Cheng Mo to be more cautious, but then she heard Cheng Mo say, "Zhiyu, who are you going to kill?"
Aunt Wang's legs went weak: "..." She decided to go and take a look anyway.
At this moment, Yang Kai was completely unaware of what was about to happen and was bragging to his underlings.
Henchman A complained, "Brother Yang, you don't know, the moment Cheng Zhiyu came back, he completely stole our thunder!"
“Exactly.” The younger brother was also unhappy. He couldn’t stand seeing ordinary people living well. If they lived well, wouldn’t that make him seem less noble?
Brother C: "Everyone says that Cheng Zhiyu is incredibly powerful, what can we do?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Kai instantly became displeased: "Cheng Zhiyu is powerful? He's just a plant-type ability user. He relies entirely on the other ability users with him; he's all talk and no action. I could kill him with one punch. Heh, if he continues to be so arrogant, I'll teach him a lesson sooner or later, break his legs, and make him kneel on the ground begging for my life!"
The underlings immediately praised, "Brother Yang is awesome! Let's teach him a lesson!"
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than the door suddenly shattered into pieces, and the broken wooden planks cut one of the henchmen's arms, causing him to howl in pain.
Yang Kai was about to curse when he saw Cheng Zhiyu at the door and couldn't help but tremble.
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