Chapter 30: Buying Sheep in Stone Slope Village

Qin Ran jumped in frustration, "Daxia, that’s not fair! You didn’t even count to three, how could you just run off?"

Daxia responded with a line that was infuriating enough to kill. "Only a fool would wait for your one-two-three. I need to finish running quickly so I can come back and eat my sugarcane. You..."

The rest of his words were lost, but Qin Ran was certain they weren't anything kind. Without further delay, he scrambled to give chase. Half a minute later, a dazed look flashed across Qin Ran’s eyes. Where were they? Where had his huge cousin disappeared to? Why couldn't he even catch a glimpse of him?

He ran a bit further, covering about a quarter of the village, before hesitating and deciding to turn back. As soon as he reached the gate, he ran headlong into his little cousin, who had already completed the full circuit. Both Qin Ran and Daxia were stunned.

"Xiaoyu, Second Brother is playing dirty!" Daxia accused, his face full of indignation.

Qin Ran felt awkward. Rolling his eyes, he concocted an excuse. "A grown man like me running through the village like he’s being chased by a ghost—if someone saw me, they’d think something terrible happened. What if I scared the villagers?"

Daxia scoffed, "That’s just an excuse. You’re shameless."

Qin Ran sighed, "Fine, I admit you won, okay?"

"Hmph!"

Regardless, everyone acknowledged Daxia’s speed, though the looks they directed at Qin Xiaoyu were indescribable. This method of training was truly unconventional.

Daxia also received the secret to obtaining endless sunflower seeds, along with a piece of sugarcane a meter long and as thick as an arm. However, the method itself terrified him. After taking a long time to steel himself, he held a broom in one hand and a sack-covered basket in the other, cautiously poking at the sunflower head—once, then again.

*Clatter, clatter, clatter!*

Daxia was soon stunned. The sunflower head really did rattle out seeds just as Sister Xiaoyu had said, and it felt remarkably effective. Before long, he had so many seeds he couldn't carry them anymore, so he quickly stopped. He realized he was still too weak and needed to train harder, ideally keeping pace with his sister.

Grandma Qin inspected the olives; they were large and plump, the best she had ever seen, and she beamed with delight. "We’ll pickle these as a side dish; they’ll last for years. Since the chili tree next door was cut down, let’s ask them for some peppers to pickle two jars of spicy ones. Those are great for appetite, and my little Xiaoyu loves them."

Qin Xiaoyu had other matters to attend to and went to find Grandpa. Tie Guo had eaten too many Tier 2 green olives; she could even see black mist rising from it. It had to be purified with medicine, or it would grow increasingly stupid and temperamental. She couldn't let the brain it had worked so hard to grow degenerate.

Regarding Qin Xiaoyu’s rebirth, no one knew except An Xian. Everyone else was told that Xiaoyu had simply had a series of dreams about the apocalypse. Even An Xian was willing to believe it was just a dream—after all, her daughter’s personality didn't quite match the scenario. Old Qin had heard it from An Xian and felt that his granddaughter had temporarily developed an instinct for precognition, a power that had existed since ancient times. However, such an ability wasn't permanent; it might occur sporadically, or perhaps only once in a lifetime.

Listening to his granddaughter recite the prescription, Old Qin neither fully believed nor doubted her. The results would depend on the experiment. "It’s hard on me, an old bag of bones, having to be tossed back and forth like this," Old Qin sighed, shaking his head.

"Grandpa, do you want to wipe that smirk off your face before you sigh? It’s practically reaching your ears," Qin Xiaoyu teased while rummaging through cabinets to gather the ingredients.

Old Qin: ... Did he? He reflexively touched the corners of his mouth; they were indeed curled upward.

"Actually, Grandpa, you don’t need to worry about being useless in your old age. Don't you like bamboo shoots? From now on, I’ll go to the mountains every day to dig them up for you. If you eat enough mutated plants, your constitution will improve, and you’ll become younger. Then, you’ll have plenty of time to do whatever you want." Qin Xiaoyu weighed the final ingredient and added it to the rest, brushing the dust off her hands. "The medicine is prepared, but since these are common herbs, they aren't as potent as mutated ones; the effects won't be great."

"It’s no use talking about that now. Mutated medicinal herbs aren't easy to come by. Once we test this recipe and confirm it works, we’ll look for the mutated versions." Old Qin picked up the medicine and headed for the kitchen. He would brew a pot and let Tie Guo have a taste.

After breakfast, the Qin brothers headed out. The village had organized a trip to Shipo Village, two villages away, to buy cement from a local distributor. Coincidentally, the sheep the family needed were also in Shipo Village, so they could check on them at the same time.

Upon arriving at Shipo Village, the situation was as expected: the cement had already been claimed by the villagers themselves. There wasn't a single bag to spare, as they didn't even have enough for their own needs. Tangshui Town didn't have any large mountains, but it was filled with small hillocks, and almost every village was built atop one. This had once been an advantage, as the area saw heavy rain, and building on the hills prevented flooding. The vegetation was dense, and since the hills weren't tall, there was no fear of landslides. Now, however, it had become a burden—mutated plants were everywhere, and they were essentially living in a nest of them.

While the Xiaosha Village residents discussed their next move, the Qin brothers and a few acquaintances went to the home of a family surnamed Peng to look at the sheep. The family was troubled; since the apocalypse, their sheep had become impossible to manage. Kept in the shed, they weren't fed enough and would bleat day and night. If they were let out to graze, it was difficult to herd them back. Their strength was growing, their tempers were becoming volatile, and they would even charge at people if provoked.

The Qin family’s arrival to buy the sheep was exactly what they needed. Seeing the brothers' urgency to buy ewes with milk, the Pengs had a plan in mind. They didn't name an exorbitant price, but they were quite shameless in another way: they refused to sell the sheep individually, insisting on a bundled sale of five. The Qin brothers discussed it and decided it was acceptable—if they couldn't be raised well, they could simply slaughter them for meat.

But when it came time to pay and collect the goods, the Peng family hesitated. "It’s the apocalypse now; is money even usable? Don't let this cash end up like waste paper, too dirty even to wipe your backside with," the woman of the house muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

The Qin brothers didn't know what to say. They weren't entirely sure themselves, though they had heard rumors that currency wasn't very effective post-apocalypse, and that everything would eventually be calculated in "points." However, it wasn't completely useless for minor daily transactions. Qin Bainian thought for a moment and said helplessly, "Then tell us, how would you like to trade?"

That hit the nail on the head. The Peng family looked at each other, unsure of what a fair trade would look like—the important thing was not to lose money. On this point, the Qin brothers offered no comment.