188: Lu Yu: I won’t have children

The old woman standing at the courtyard gate peered inside with shifty eyes and a fake smile.

“I’m a resident of 0-05. I heard a lot of noise next door and guessed new neighbors had moved in, so I specially picked some sweet potatoes for you.”

The old woman held up the bag in her hand.

Inside were special sweet potatoes produced by the officials, a size smaller than the ones Old Mrs. Xu gave Jiang Fei, and there were only 5 of them.

“The food your family is cooking smells so good. I live alone, unlike you all with so many people, so cooking doesn’t waste electricity.”

“There’s still a lot left in that pot. Can you finish it all?”

To put it bluntly, she wanted to freeload a meal.

Jiang Fei’s attitude was cold: “Don’t trouble yourself. We can finish it.”

“Take the sweet potatoes back. We don’t lack them.”

Seeing that Jiang Fei didn’t take the bait, the old woman clicked her tongue: “You child, you’re so impolite. I kindly came to congratulate you on your move, and you should invite me in to sit down.”

“Distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. Our two families should interact more, and we can look out for each other in the future.”

As the old woman stepped into the courtyard, Crippled Wang and Dao Ba stepped forward.

All the younger brothers stood up simultaneously.

They all looked fierce and menacing, making the old woman a little scared. She couldn’t help but retreat to the doorway, finding an excuse for herself.

“I suddenly remembered I left my lights on at home. Well, you all eat, I won’t disturb you.”

The old woman left with an awkward smile, not even putting down the sweet potatoes.

Crippled Wang said disdainfully: “She’s clearly someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong.”

Just then, Old Mrs. Xu slapped her forehead: “I knew she looked familiar! I remember now!”

“She’s Director Ning’s mother-in-law, Miao Xiangfeng!”

Su Liuyuan: “Director Ning has a wife?”

Ling Zhaorui: “We seem to have never met the Director’s wife.”

Xiao Chuxia: “Grandma, you know Miao Xiangfeng?”

The gossipy trio immediately gathered around Old Mrs. Xu.

Old Mrs. Xu recounted the past.

Director Ning and his wife, Xiao Miao, were very much in love, but Xiao Miao had poor health and always had trouble conceiving.

A few years ago, she finally became pregnant, but because she was an older mother, the risks were high, and her poor constitution led to complications during childbirth. She passed away.

The child also didn’t survive.

Before she died, Xiao Miao hoped Director Ning would be kind to her only relative.

Thus, Director Ning had always looked after Miao Xiangfeng.

“Xiao Miao was a good girl, kind and filial, but her mother isn’t even human,” Old Mrs. Xu couldn’t help but curse.

“If it weren’t for Miao Xiangfeng secretly feeding Xiao Miao all sorts of folk remedies to protect the fetus behind Lao Ning’s back, it wouldn’t have ended in two deaths.”

“What’s most infuriating is that Miao Xiangfeng doesn’t think she did anything wrong. Before the apocalypse, she blackmailed Lao Ning with her daughter’s death to buy her a house and give her money to spend, and she loved to take advantage of others everywhere, freeloading meals and drinks.”

Everyone sighed.

Who would have thought that the upright and honest Director Ning would have such an eccentric and outrageous mother-in-law?

Xu Qianyao suddenly realized: “So the ‘damned old hag Miao’ you often told me about, Grandma, was Miao Xiangfeng.”

“I will report today’s events to Director Ning and let him handle it.”

Jiang Fei didn’t take it to heart.

If they didn’t provoke her, then everyone would live in peace.

After dinner, Xu Qianyao helped Old Mrs. Xu home.

Crippled Wang handed the courtyard gate keys to Jiang Fei and the others, then took his younger brothers to wash the dishes and clean up the ground and trash in the courtyard before leaving.

Xiao Chuxia and the other two went home to pack their luggage.

Lu Yu stayed behind, using wooden boards, wire mesh, and tools to help Jiang Fei build cages for chickens and geese in the courtyard.

Since there were only two of them in 0-02, Jiang Fei released Big Yellow, the chicks, and the goslings, and used the Supermarket’s collection function to decorate their new home.

Soft carpets were laid in the living room, and the sofa was replaced with a leather one.

Various cooking utensils and tableware were placed in the kitchen.

The refrigerator was filled with fruits, drinking water, beverages, and more.

All the bedrooms on the second floor were furnished with the best furniture from her Supermarket warehouse.

As for the other empty room, Jiang Fei placed a cat bed, cat climbing frame, litter box, cat toys, and other pet supplies, turning it into Big Yellow’s cat room.

The door was usually open, allowing Big Yellow to come and go freely.

If she needed to clean or had other inconvenient matters, she could also shut Big Yellow inside.

Clearly, Jiang Fei had no intention of returning the cat to its owner.

After raising it for so long, Big Yellow was her baby!

By the time she went downstairs, Lu Yu in the courtyard had also finished his work.

Half of the empty space on the left side was fenced off with wire mesh and wooden boards.

Inside were a feed trough, a water bowl, and a wooden frame about 1.5 meters high, similar to Big Yellow’s cat climbing frame, allowing the chicks and goslings to jump up and perch on it.

This satisfied their habit of perching in high places.

Seeing Lu Yu sitting on a small stool, weaving a nest with dry straw, Jiang Fei squatted beside him and watched, curiously asking: “Is there anything you can’t do?”

Lu Yu thought for a moment and answered seriously: “Give birth.”

“I truly cannot do that great thing.”

Jiang Fei’s eyes lit up with a smile at Lu Yu’s reaction: “Teach me how to weave.”

“Okay.” Lu Yu leaned over and picked up the gloves placed on the tools, handing them to Jiang Fei:

“Dry straw has many small thorns and can easily scratch your skin. Wear gloves when you do it.”

Jiang Fei’s gaze fell on Lu Yu’s hands: “You’re not wearing them?”

“I don’t need to.”

His neighbor’s hands were soft, and her skin was delicate, so they needed good protection.

Recalling their intertwined fingers that day in Huaiyuan Village, Lu Yu’s heart inexplicably quickened. He pretended to be calm as he taught Jiang Fei how to weave straw nests.

However, his gaze occasionally darted towards Jiang Fei’s hands.

The tips of his ears, hidden beneath his bangs, gradually turned red, like the lingering sunset in the sky.

The two quickly finished weaving 4 large straw nests and 4 small straw nests.

The small straw nests were secured by Lu Yu to the wooden frame’s platforms with tools.

The large straw nests were placed on the ground.

Not knowing that Jiang Fei had kept Big Yellow, Lu Yu naturally asked:

“I just checked, the living rooms of 01 and 02 share a wall. Should we open a small doorway, like we did in Mingshang, so Big Yellow can move freely between them?”

Jiang Fei agreed.

If she closed the small door on her side, Big Yellow would still be in her house!

After opening a small doorway in the living room with his tools, Lu Yu returned to 01 to tidy up his own home.

While no one was outside, Jiang Fei took out three commercial vans.

One was sent to Xiao Chuxia next door, one to Lu Yu, and one to Su Liuyuan.

Her teammates’ homes already had gasoline they had stocked up on, so there was no need to send more.

Afterward, she returned to 02, took out planting tools and seeds, and planted potatoes and sweet potatoes in the courtyard.

She used water from the Supermarket’s fountain pool to irrigate the ground.

She wanted to see if the Supermarket’s water had any special effects on crops.

—

As the epidemic became more stable, Ling Zhaorui returned to work at the Planting Base.

Lu Yu and Xiao Chuxia’s vacations ended; one went to work for the Patrol Team, and the other went to the Hospital.

Su Liuyuan, on the other hand, went to Ping An to work as a cashier.

Jiang Fei received a message on her walkie-talkie from A Meng telling her to go inspect the warehouse. She drove her pickup truck to the West Street branch first.

Half a month had passed, and she wondered if Cao Xiuhong had kept her promise to deliver the gold.

Jiang Fei got out of the car and walked into the store.

Jiang Zhengkang put down the rag in his hand and took out a piece of paper from the cashier’s drawer.

“Fei Fei, Cao Xiuhong delivered the gold this morning. This is her sales manifest.”

Jiang Fei took it and looked.

It was more than she expected: 24,000 grams of gold.

There were a total of two suitcases, and Jiang Fei asked Niu Er to help her carry them to the car.

“The next time Cao Xiuhong comes to pick up goods, there’s no need to limit the quantity. Tell her it’s still payable semi-monthly.”

After instructing Jiang Zhengkang, Jiang Fei drove to Mingshang, and casually stored the gold from the back seat into the Supermarket.

System: [Ding—Gold detected: 24,000 grams]

A Meng was already waiting downstairs in Building 2.

Seeing Jiang Fei arrive, he led her up to the third floor.

The doors of the 5 rooms had been replaced with security doors.

All the furniture had been cleared out and handed over to the community for disposal.

Several shelves were placed in the living room of each room.

There were no problems, so A Meng took out the keys.

“Miss Jiang, the boss had master keys made. One key can open all five of these doors. He kept one, and this one he asked me to give to you.”

Jiang Fei accepted the keys.

After A Meng left, she went from room to room placing supplies, and on her way, she replenished the goods in 203 and 204 downstairs.

She hadn’t even reached downstairs when she suddenly heard a piercing alarm outside, accompanied by the official loudspeaker announcement—

“Survivors outside please find shelter immediately! Residents at home, close your doors and windows tightly!”