Si Cheng grabbed her hand. "Let's go take a look."
Yun Qi hesitated for a moment before nodding and following his pull forward.
The magnificent ruins lay fallen in the dust, withered grass lying quietly beside them. This was the scene the two saw.
Yun Qi said, "This has changed again from somewhere. It seems like no one has lived here before."
Si Cheng led her slowly forward along the edge of the ruins.
This must have been a small cluster of buildings somewhere else that was moved here due to tectonic shifts.
As Si Cheng observed, he also flipped through some small fragments, hoping to find some information from them.
"Brother Cheng, look here." Yun Qi lifted a metal plate. The words on it were blurred, but they could still be guessed from the original marks.
"What department store? It seems this must be some county town nearby." Si Cheng flipped over two more stone slabs, but found nothing.
Yunqi said, "I remember my uncle's house wasn't far from the neighboring Tang Town. Could this be that Tang Town?"
Si Cheng said, "That possibility cannot be ruled out. If so, it is only part of the story."
Yunqi continued searching the surrounding area. If it was Tang Town, where were the other people in Tang Town? There was no sign of any activity in the area.
However, Yunqi didn't dwell on it too much. The people here were either buried underground or moved to different locations due to the movement of the earth's crust. For example, Hujia Village can no longer be found.
Si Cheng lifted several large cement slabs and actually found some food plastic bags inside, but the contents had already been digested by ants or other insects.
Even so, the two did not give up and continued to move bricks along this route. Based on their experience, although most things in department stores would weather over time, some usable supplies could still be found.
Yun Qi turned his head to look at Si Cheng, "This feeling is really familiar."
Si Cheng spoke in words that Yun Qi was more familiar with, "I hope we can have a good harvest this time, so that we can all hold on for a while longer."
In his previous life, Si Cheng wasn't very strong. It would take the two of them several days to clear a single ruin. Sometimes they could gather some supplies to trade with the locals for food, but other times it was just a waste of energy and they gained nothing.
Yun Qi picked up a small wooden box. "Looks like my luck has been pretty good this time."
After saying that, he opened the wooden box, which was filled with broken glass. It originally contained red wine, but it had been shattered and the wine had already soaked the ground.
Si Cheng glanced at it, looking as if he had already guessed it.
Yun Qi was not discouraged; this was actually good news for her, indicating that the area had not been excavated. She couldn't help but speed up her work.
Toothbrushes, expired toothpaste, rotten face cloths, stiff plastic slippers, iron basins, ceramic shards—all sorts of items were found and placed aside.
Yunqi straightened up and reminded Sicheng, who was still carrying things, "We've been here for quite a while now. If we don't go back soon, they'll start to worry."
Si Cheng hadn't dug through ruins in so long that he became so engrossed in it that he couldn't distinguish between the present and the past.
Seeing that he was ignoring him, Yunqi stepped forward and nudged him, "Go back, and ask them tomorrow if they want to come and look for us."
Si Cheng then came to his senses, glanced at the things they had just cleared out, and said, "Pack up what you can use and then go back."
Despite digging for so long, all they could actually use were iron basins and the like. Everything else was either weathered or rotten, making them completely worthless to take back.
When they returned to the tea seed grove, it was deserted, except for their bags, which remained untouched and waiting for them.
Si Cheng still didn't let Yun Qi do anything. He carried all the things on his back and walked quickly towards the cave.
Si Zhengwei kept an eye on the direction of the tea seed forest, feeling somewhat worried. So much time had passed, why hadn't they returned yet?
He only relaxed when he saw two figures walking towards him hand in hand.
Someone nearby noticed, "Brother Cheng and the others are back."
As soon as he finished speaking, a lot of people rushed forward to surround him.
"Brother Cheng, how's it going? Have you found anything?" Yun Qiao was the fastest to arrive, and she started asking questions even before she got there.
Yunqi handed him the bag of pots and pans he was carrying, saying, "We're pretty lucky. It's up to you whether you're interested or not."
The group of people who had come with her all surrounded Yun Qiao and helped her open the bag.
“Interested, this is definitely interesting,” Zhao Dongwei exclaimed as he picked up a slightly deformed stainless steel basin.
Heaven knows there are only a few bowls at home. If they are chipped or broken, the matriarch of the family will scold him. If he can bring some back this time, I believe the matriarch will be happy.
The others also joined in, with Chen Rongtian remarking, "This should still be new, right? It still looks like it has a tag."
Si Cheng placed the bag inside the encirclement. "We found a large ruin over there. We've only dug up a small corner. Are you interested? If not, we can stay here for another day and let you go treasure hunting."
Yunqi added, "However, we can't guarantee what's inside. We might gain a lot, or we might gain nothing."
Wu Tianxiang said, "Since we have the chance, we should still go and look for them. We are really running out of dishes and basins at home."
Wu Tianxiang said this because his family was large, and each person only carried one set of bowls and chopsticks along the way. If they were damaged, they would have to share with others. Now that there was a chance to find some, he was willing to take the gamble.
The people in Xin San Village and at the village entrance were eager to try their luck, as these were necessities of life, especially iron basins, which they didn't know when they would be available again.
Si Cheng had already guessed that this would happen. "Then let's stay another day. As for how lucky we are, that'll depend on everyone."
This night was not as easy as the previous one. Everyone started cracking tea seed shells by the firelight, trying to lighten the burden on the way back.
The clanging and banging sounds were particularly noisy in the quiet night, even drowning out the cries from the previous night.
The night passed peacefully again. The older folks were completely at ease, while the younger ones felt a little regretful.
"How can these animals be so inconsiderate? So many of us have been here for two nights, and they haven't even come to visit us," Yun Lecang said with some regret. He had missed the wonderful experience of picking tea seeds last time because he hadn't been able to come along.
Yun Yang said with some pride, "That's because they were scared out of their wits last time. They wiped out even groups of them, let alone those fighting alone. They're probably hiding in some corner trembling with fear now."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com