Chapter 24: Has Iron Pot Put on Weight Again?

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Rotten fertilizer, rotten fertilizer, rotten fertilizer—can there be nothing else?
Wait, no!
Qin Xiaoyu’s face was filled with shock. “You can understand what I’m saying?”
[Yes. Wait for me to be reborn, and I will definitely kill you to use as rotten fertilizer.]
“…”
Though the voice was faint, Qin Xiaoyu could still sense deep malice with no hint of softening.
It made sense; every year her mother sprayed it with paraquat, and this year the amount had increased tenfold.
Just now, the whole family had dug it out of the soil.
If she were in its place, she wouldn’t rest until dead or alive either.
“Dad, it’s not safe to leave this here. How about we take it back to the yard and leave it on the cement platform to dry? Once dried, it can be burned as firewood.”
[Ahhhh, such a vicious human brat. If I don’t die, I will definitely...]
Before it could finish, Qin Xiaoyu extended her foot and crushed it bit by bit. Even so, faint curses could still be heard.
An Xian frowned. “This thing isn’t safe even when dried. Burning it is the only way to be sure. It was hard enough to clean up before the mutation; now it’s probably even harder. If it weren’t poisonous, it would be fine, but after the mutation, it even releases toxic gas.”
Qin Xiaoyu quickly nodded in agreement. It wasn’t necessarily extremely dangerous, and the poison wasn’t lethal, but its vitality was incredible.
Even if only a single root segment remained, it could revive again.
Qin Bainian heard this and turned to his two sons. “What are you two standing around for? Go back inside and get the tools. Clean up all this mess and pack it away. Take advantage of the good weather and dry everything out.”
The brothers exchanged a glance and turned to enter the courtyard.
As the courtyard gate opened, Qin Xiaoyu bent down, intending to pick up a papaya from the ground with both hands.
Just as she bent over, she was suddenly lifted aside.
“Step aside, I’ll handle it.” Qin Baisong set his daughter down and bent to pick up one papaya. As he reached for the other, two hands beat him to it.
One glance was enough to recognize those hands belonged to his wife.
“It’s heavy, I’ll take it.” Qin Baisong tried to reach again.
An Xian dodged his hand, gave him a sharp look, and stepped into the courtyard.
“Mom, Iron Pot says it’s hungry and wants some melon.” Qin Xiaoyu quickly said.
An Xian paused. If she remembered correctly, back on the mountain, this fat goose had eaten quite a few green olives.
It had eaten so much that its chest wobbled as it walked.
She turned her head to look—and was stunned.

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That big swollen lump? It had only been about an hour or so, so how had it deflated?
Not believing it, she reached out to touch it.
Sure enough, it was empty.
An Xian fell silent, her fingers trembling slightly, disbelief filling her eyes.
She stuffed the papaya into her husband’s arms, pulled her daughter aside, looked around to make sure it was safe, then quietly asked,
“Xiaoyu, after the apocalypse, do both humans and animals have bigger appetites?”
“Sort of. After the apocalypse, the physical exertion of humans and animals constantly increases, so they must consume enough energy. Also, long-term energy deficiency makes it very difficult to improve physical fitness.”
An Xian pondered, then murmured, “Isn’t this a kind of instinctive self-redemption for both humans and animals?”
Qin Xiaoyu was slightly stunned by this, then finally understood.
Sure enough, Mom was Mom—she saw things much more clearly than she did. Perhaps humanity might be abandoned by nature, but it never ceases its own self-redemption.
Perhaps human potential begins awakening as soon as they cross over.
Animals too.
“Gak!”
“What are you doing? Behave or you’ll be stewed in the iron pot!”
From the kitchen came Iron Pot’s disgruntled honking and Qin Baisong’s impatient voice. The mother and daughter exchanged looks and headed for the kitchen.
As they entered, they saw Iron Pot raise one wing, pointing at Qin Baisong, honking incessantly—perhaps scolding him without pause.
“What’s going on?” An Xian asked, puzzled.
Qin Baisong glared at Iron Pot and said, “Who knows? I just saw this fat goose staring at the papaya, drooling like it was starving. I figured there were plenty of papayas, so I generously cut it in half. But it still wasn’t happy.”
Iron Pot turned to Qin Xiaoyu with an accusing look, pointing at the papaya on the floor and then at the half still on the cutting board.
One glance, and Qin Xiaoyu immediately understood.
Its half was too small.
Qin Xiaoyu sighed and looked up. “Dad, it thinks you cut too small a piece. I promised it half just now.”
Qin Baisong examined the pieces, comparing them, expression difficult to read.
“Is it really necessary? It’s just a little bit smaller.”
“Gak!”
It certainly is!
Now, without Qin Xiaoyu saying a word, Qin Baisong understood and his gaze shifted oddly.

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“Mom was right, you really do raise pets that resemble you. This goose behaves just like you did as a child.”
Qin Xiaoyu glanced at Iron Pot, who turned back to look at her, raising a wing to point at the papaya on the table.
“You’ve already messed up the ones on the ground. If you don’t eat this one, are you planning to go into the pot?” Qin Xiaoyu glared at it. “Stop messing around. Next time when a papaya is ripe, I’ll give you a whole one.”
Iron Pot thought for a moment, then looked toward An Xian.
Clearly, it knew who really held the power in this household.
Seeing its adorable expression, An Xian reached out and petted its head. “Don’t worry, there are plenty of papayas.”
Iron Pot relaxed and quickly resumed eating the papaya.
“Hey, this goose is really clever, huh?” Qin Baisong clicked his tongue in amazement.
An Xian glanced out into the yard. The papaya tree had grown large and strong; the biggest fruit at the top looked even bigger than a watermelon, probably weighing no less than twenty pounds.
As long as nothing went wrong, at its current growth rate, there would be more than enough papayas to eat.
Suddenly remembering something, she turned to her daughter.
Qin Xiaoyu said, “Don’t worry, it’s green.”
An Xian nodded. “It seems its nature is good. Even after being cut once and nearly dying, now that it’s gained energy, it hasn’t gone wild.”
Unlike the bitter lettuce, which she had nurtured with great effort, only for it to attack her first after mutation.
By the way, that mutated bitter lettuce was also eaten by Iron Pot.
Thinking of this, she looked down at Iron Pot again.
“Xiaoyu, has Iron Pot gotten fatter again?” An Xian suddenly asked.
Qin Xiaoyu also looked down and even reached out to lift it.
Startled by being picked up, Iron Pot turned its head briefly, then continued pecking at the papaya as if nothing had happened.
“Fatter by ten pounds?” Qin Xiaoyu guessed uncertainly.
“If it keeps growing like this, the new pot you bought won’t even fit it,” Qin Baisong joked.
Just as he finished speaking, a loud noise came from outside the door.
Curious, the mother and daughter stepped outside to look.
Qin Baisong followed behind, when suddenly something grabbed his rear hard enough to make him scream in pain.
The mother and daughter were startled by his cry and quickly turned around to see what happened.