Li Ke took out all the remaining noodles, slowly moved them to the doorway, and started a fire to boil water. No matter what, she had to get as much food as possible. If she wasn't worried that eating the expired and spoiled dried noodles raw would upset her stomach, Li Ke would have eaten them whole.
There was still a small half-bucket of water that Chen Jiaojiao had brought back inside. It was a bit cloudy, but she had boiled it before drinking it. After the apocalypse, many people died from drinking raw water, so those who valued their lives would boil it before drinking.
After boiling water, Li Ke forcefully pulled out the chopstick that had been stuck in Chen Jiaojiao's throat. Then, he returned to the fire and slowly heated the rounded ends of the chopsticks that had been used on Chen Jiaojiao over the fire.
When she felt it was almost burned, she took it back and rubbed the burned end on a brick until it was sharp enough. Then she placed it on her forearm, secured it with a strip of cloth, and pulled her sleeve down.
The water boiled, and Li Ke started cooking noodles, stirring them continuously with chopsticks. She seemed to hear the sound of a motorcycle approaching, so she paused for a moment, then continued.
Li Ke remembered that Chen Jiaojiao seemed to have something in her pocket. When she was cooking noodles, her movements were very small, and she thought Li Ke hadn't noticed because her eyes were closed. However, Li Ke still saw that she had sprinkled something into her rice bowl. Li Ke suspected it was salt.
Li Ke touched Chen Jiaojiao's body and actually felt a small bag of white granules, about the size of a fingernail. She tasted it and found it was salt, as well as a piece of hard candy wrapped in a melted and deformed green candy wrapper.
The commotion outside grew louder, as if many people had returned. Li Ke poured all the salt into the flour and then turned off the fire.
She put all the noodles in, but the water tank was too small. Now the noodles were cooked, and the whole tank was a mushy mess, smelling a bit bitter. Li Ke couldn't even remember what normal noodles tasted like before the apocalypse. Those delicious foods from the past were too far removed from them now.
Li Ke stirred the noodles with chopsticks to cool them down, and when they were almost done, she put them in her mouth. Before she had eaten more than a few bites, she saw a group of people walking towards her. Li Ke poured the remaining water into the noodle container, stirred it a couple more times, and then started eating in large mouthfuls.
She needs to save some energy for herself; if she can't resolve the situation with the other party, she needs to at least have the strength to leave cleanly.
That pinch of salt didn't add any flavor to the noodles, and Li Ke still found it awful. Just before the others arrived, she popped the last piece of candy into her mouth. Mmm, this is really sweet.
Li Ke had good eyesight, and she spotted a familiar figure in the crowd. Despite the pain, she leaned against the wall to stand up and faced the group of people approaching.
As the leader of the Thirteenth Pioneer Group, Zhao Ming was highly capable and naturally lived a good life. His tall and normal physique made him stand out among the people in the settlement.
Of course, he didn't come out alone. Lu Qing was standing next to him, and Zhang Wei and Ye Feng were behind him. All four of them were Li Ke's teammates.
Their group used to have sixteen members, but now only five remain. Six died during the pioneering work, and five left the group.
"Is it really you? You're quite lucky to be alive. Since you're still alive, come back with us." Lu Qing said with a cold smile, standing next to Zhao Ming.
Zhao Ming looked at Li Ke with a complicated expression: "Why are you being so stubborn? I just want you to live a good life."
When Li Ke heard him say that, she almost vomited up what she had just put in her mouth. Lu Qing's face turned even uglier. She said to Zhao Ming in a coquettish voice, "Brother Ming, she is extremely selfish. She doesn't know how to contribute to the team at all. This time, because she ran away, our team's points were all reset to zero. Why are you still being so nice to her?"
Ye Feng chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Zhao, this woman is too ungrateful. There's no need to be too polite to her."
Thinking about the points he lost, Ye Feng was now full of resentment. In this world, it's good enough to have enough to eat, but this woman acted like Joan of Arc, giving up a good life and insisting on courting death!
The youngest, Zhang Wei, also looked at Li Ke with disgust. He was rescued by Lu Qing and always followed Lu Qing's lead.
However, the three who joined the Pioneer Group Thirteen earliest were the eldest, Shen Le, the second, Zhao Ming, and then Li Ke. Those who joined later all benefited from the kindness of these three to some extent.
Lu Qing was rescued and personally brought back by Li Ke. It was Li Ke who pleaded for her joining the family.
But Lu Qing was the first to harbor resentment towards Li Ke, because of jealousy and because of men.
In short, Li Ke, who was not good at handling interpersonal relationships, quickly realized that she was being subtly isolated because of Lu Qing's dissatisfaction.
Li Ke wasn't oblivious. After discovering all this, she planned to leave. Asking her to find a way to repair the relationship was out of the question; such things weren't worth it.
Li Ke rolled her eyes as she listened to these ugly people spouting nonsense: "What? Am I your mother? Do I have to fill your bottles and shove them in your mouths after I'm gone? You trash, have some self-awareness. Who's the selfish one here? If you want to sell me for profit, just say so. I've never seen such shameless things as you!"
“Li Ke, you know perfectly well that our team is short-handed and needs help right now. Boss Qiu also said he would treat you well and give you a stable life. It’s not easy for any of us to live, so why do you have to make things so difficult for everyone?” Lu Qing said with a righteous air, her brows furrowed.
Li Ke stared at her: "If I had known you liked this kind of life, I shouldn't have saved you in the first place. You should be enjoying living with more than ten men and living a life without clothes every day. I was just being nosy back then."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
