Chapter 195: Chapter 162: Zhou Qian’s Home
Huai Yu was still a bit worried about the mutant creatures. After all, upon careful reflection, she didn’t seem to have any means of protecting herself. But the highway toll station really sounded interesting, and she wanted to learn more about the Wilderness. After mulling it over, she carefully agreed to it.
After setting a time, the two parted ways. It was only when Huai Yu squeezed onto the bus that she remembered she had to pay two Contribution Points for the fare. Her perfect 15,000 points were ruthlessly broken, making her heart ache instantly. She regretted not buying more things at the trading market.
But the points were already paid. No matter how much it hurt, she couldn’t just get off the bus! She had no choice but to obediently head home.
It was high noon when she returned. Getting off at the bus stop, she retrieved her bicycle from the bushes. As she pedaled rhythmically, the warm breeze and scorching sun on her body made her break a slight sweat. She remembered the unfinished shower stall under the tree and decided to scavenge some materials from her scrap pile to put it together tonight.
But right now, she was going to inspect Zhou Qian’s newly built house!
Not long after riding down the main road, she spotted Zhou Qian’s square little cottage. The house wasn’t large. From the outside, it looked like a single-story building of about eighty or ninety square meters. A row of smaller rooms flanked the main house on either side—the kitchen and a storage room, as well as a toilet and a utility shed.
In the courtyard enclosed by the U-shaped building, on the side near the kitchen, sat a bright green well platform with a winding windlass and a bucket for drawing water. The courtyard ground was paved with crushed stones and rubble. Although not as smooth and easy to maintain as a concrete floor, it had been carefully layered and constructed by Liang Zhu using her Earth Ability.
In front of the house, about two acres of land had been reclaimed. The soil was finely tilled, now baked to a pale yellow by the sun, and the weeds on top had completely dried out. Overall, it looked much more orderly than Huai Yu’s cobbled-together home.
The most striking feature of the property, however, was a utility pole standing outside the courtyard. It wasn’t particularly tall, nor was it made of premium materials, but looking into the distance, there were several more of these poles along the road. They had actually run power lines!
A single wire was pulled into the house. When Huai Yu pushed open the door to the main room, she found the wire hanging from the ceiling beam, waiting for the homeowner to return and choose how to wire it. They had even thoughtfully set aside all the necessary wiring and materials.
Huai Yu was so tempted!
Every time she visited Boss Tang’s shop, she saw him playing video games, constantly talking about the Master’s Sword. Boss Tang had said he would sell her that game console for only two thousand points... She wondered how long it could be played on a full charge, and how much the electricity for a single charge would cost.
The remaining 14,998 points in her smart bracelet felt restless, as if urging her to buy it as soon as possible. Life was already so hard; how could she survive without finding a little joy for herself? The desire for a lavish lifestyle and the reality of frugal living clashed back and forth, tangling Huai Yu’s mind in knots.
She looked around Zhou Qian’s house again. There was a flat, rigid bed identical to a dorm room’s style, with the bedding and mattress set aside. There were two washbasins and two towels, and even toothbrushes and toothpaste had been meticulously prepared. In addition, there was toilet paper, soap, and laundry detergent. The complete set of household supplies that Huai Yu had exhausted herself gathering for her own home were all thoughtfully laid out here.
Although it was only enough for one person to use for two or three days, it was incredibly detail-oriented. She even took a lap around the kitchen and found a small nook left on the earthen stove, containing three lighters.
"..." A pang of jealousy stirred within her.
Pouting her cheeks, she got back on her bike and headed home. On the way, she made up her mind: once she saved up 20,000 points, she would definitely buy the game console! When it ran out of power, she would just come here to charge it! She needed to live a better life too!
Meanwhile, in the hospital, Zhou Qian lay on his bed, drenched in sweat. He hadn’t notified anyone. When the nurse came for her rounds, he even pulled up the blanket, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and relaxed his limbs as much as possible to pretend everything was normal.
Unfortunately for him, today’s nurse was one of the ones Huai Yu had treated to rock candy the other day. Perhaps having a deeper impression of these siblings, she was extremely diligent in checking his medication. Seeing Zhou Qian’s flushed face, she specifically checked his temperature.
"Your temperature is normal. Why is your face so red, and it looks like you’re sweating? Is the blanket too thick?" Since they saw him every day, they were already accustomed to the scars on his face. She reached out to lift the blanket for him. "Let me change it to a thinner one for you."
"..." She didn’t manage to pull it. She tugged again, but the blanket didn’t budge an inch.
Their eyes met. Zhou Qian quickly lowered his eyelashes and said weakly, "I run cold..."
"Oh, oh, oh!" The young nurse instantly understood. "Suffering such a severe injury, dealing with both blood loss and mental torment, it’s normal for your body to be weak... Have you been having cold sweats?
"Our hospital just received a batch of biological supplements. You can apply for them with your Contribution Value."
Those were all excellent products developed by the medical department in recent years, truly capable of nourishing the body. However, Zhou Qian only smiled and said nothing.
The young nurse silently sighed. "That makes sense," she thought. "Anyone willing to choose a biological material prosthesis must be doing it for the Contribution Points subsidy. No matter how good the biological supplements are for the body, don’t they still cost points?"
She offered an understanding smile and thoughtfully picked up the water pitcher by the bed, completely failing to notice that Zhou Qian was tense all over. "There’s still this much water left? Your sister even boiled water at home for you? Actually, our hospital’s water is quite clean too. The Mutant Value is only eleven..."
Having been hospitalized for so many days, Zhou Qian had never known this nurse could chatter so much. Finally, after she left, he silently waited for thirty seconds before immediately throwing off the blanket!
Under the blanket, on the exposed stump of his prosthesis, the adhesive pads of the creeper vine were once again slowly roaming over his already-fused interface. The vines intertwined and wrapped around, and the familiar, aching pain struck once more.
But Zhou Qian knew it was growing stronger.
The moment he drank the first sip of ginseng water, the creeper vine on his leg began to stir restlessly. By the time he finished the entire cup, he could feel a foreign current of energy flow down from his stomach directly to his severed leg. It was like a potent tonic essential for plant growth, condensing entirely at the stump, where it was greedily absorbed by the creeper vine’s adhesive pads.
At the same time, the tendrils on the prosthesis climbed upward, as if clamoring, "Not enough! Not enough! I want more!"
And Zhou Qian had only drank a single cup of water.
He remained silent, determined not to let anyone discover this anomaly, though the growing strength in his leg was undeniably palpable. He endured it quietly. On one hand, cold sweat seeped from his pores due to the intense pain brought by this surging power. On the other, as if famished and dehydrated for a long time, he desperately chugged the water... GLUG GLUG GLUG.
It wasn’t until night fell that he pressed the call button. He offered a faint smile to the new nurse on shift. "Could you please change the bedding? My leg was a bit uncomfortable this afternoon, and I sweated too much."