Ch 14: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Song Kaiji devoured the wild vegetable pancake in big bites. This was the best meal he had eaten in nearly half a year!

When Shen Qing first handed it to him, the rough, plain-looking grain pancake hadn’t seemed like anything particularly delicious. But in these times, who would be picky about food? Even the dark, hard coarse grain cakes distributed by the base were precious, let alone something given for free. The fact that Shen Qing was willing to share so many with him was already enough to make him grateful.

And after the first bite—the rich, savory, umami taste completely stunned him! Oil, salt, and fresh vegetables were all luxuries that even crystal cores might not be able to buy. He had known that “rich people” ate well, but he hadn’t realized they ate this well!

Originally, he had tried to maintain his image, but the moment Shen Qing left to change his clothes in the shop next door, Song Kaiji threw caution to the wind and wolfed down the rest of the pancakes. The only thing that puzzled him was why Shen Qing had to go next door just to change clothes. They were both men—what was there to be shy about?

But then he recalled how Shen Qing’s face had turned red when he handed him the wild vegetable pancake, how his eyes had sparkled—Song Kaiji accidentally choked and started coughing violently.

Meanwhile, Shen Qing was next door, struggling with the unfamiliar clothes. Everything here was so different from his world that he fumbled around for a while before finally managing to dress himself properly. He neatly folded his old clothes and placed them into his basket.

Afterward, he planned to go with Song Kaiji to check out the stall and also take the opportunity to observe more of this world—he needed to see and understand as much as possible to integrate smoothly and trade without suspicion.

Today’s harvest left his heart burning with excitement. With just a few silver bangles, he could buy land, build a house, and live a comfortable life!

All his previous worries were now easily solved. He would never go hungry or cold again. He could finally buy that iron pot, the large vat for fermenting sauerkraut, and even fabric and cotton to make warm clothes and thick bedding for himself and his mother before the new year.

The only thing left was to find a live-in husband! But now that he had so much money, what kind of person couldn’t he find? If no one caught his eye, he could just buy one from a matchmaker. After all, he wasn’t interested in any of the boys from his village!

Happily, Shen Qing returned to the souvenir shop, only to find Song Kaiji leaning against the wall, coughing so hard he looked like his lungs might come out. Alarmed, Shen Qing quickly pulled out his water pouch and handed it over, but Song Kaiji waved it off and instead took out a bottled water from his space, taking two big gulps before finally calming down.

Water was precious these days. Since he had already received so much from Shen Qing, Song Kaiji felt embarrassed to take his water as well. But when he looked up again, he felt like it might not be such a big deal—Shen Qing was now wearing a hoodie layered with a windbreaker, dark jeans, and… a pair of Old Beijing black cloth shoes.

Song Kaiji: …

He sighed, rummaged through his space, and pulled out a pair of sneakers. “Thanks for the pancakes. I haven’t eaten anything this good in a long time. Consider these shoes my return gift.”

Shen Qing accepted them, looked at his own feet, then at Song Kaiji’s shoes, and hesitated before changing into them. This time, he didn’t bother avoiding Song Kaiji. In the countryside, gers weren’t like the noble ladies or gers from wealthy families, who had to be cautious about showing their feet. In his village, gers worked in the rice fields barefoot like everyone else. No one thought much of it.

However, Song Kaiji suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. He only glanced at Shen Qing’s bare feet before quickly looking away.

Once the shoes were changed, the two of them headed for the base.

Red City Base was built near an amusement park in the suburbs. Because of its remote location, there weren’t many zombies after the apocalypse broke out. However, the Red City authorities hadn’t incorporated the entire amusement park into the base; instead, they used the resort town and surrounding hotels to establish a small base.

The mountain that Shen Qing had emerged from was actually an artificial rock formation inside the amusement park. The apocalypse had struck suddenly, and when it happened, there had been tens of thousands of visitors in the park—many of whom turned into zombies. It had taken over half a year to clear out all the zombies, and the next step for Red City officials was to expand the base and include the entire amusement park.

Before the apocalypse, Song Kaiji had been a junior at Red City University. He was both lucky and unlucky: lucky because he hadn’t been at school when the outbreak happened—otherwise, with the campus population density, he might not have even made it out alive.

But he was also unlucky because he had been in the opposite direction from the base when the apocalypse hit. He had been on his way to a tutoring job in the suburbs. Fortunately, being in a low-population area saved his life. He ended up taking refuge in a coffee shop with two employees, surviving on nothing but coffee and pastries for half a month before they received news that a base had been established near the amusement park.

The three of them set out for the base. A trip that would have taken just two hours by subway ended up taking them nearly a month on foot. Along the way, one of the employees was scratched by a zombie and turned, while the other awakened a fire ability in the chaos.

Song Kaiji’s space ability, on the other hand, didn’t awaken until six months after the apocalypse began. By then, most of the city had already been scavenged by other space ability users who had awakened earlier.

Space ability users had no combat power and could potentially hoard supplies, making them unpopular in other ability-user teams. Unless they had a large stockpile of their own and could form their own team, most groups preferred to temporarily hire space ability users. They would agree in advance on what supplies the space user would carry for them, while the rest of the loot they found along the way belonged to the space user.

For example, a few days ago, Song Kaiji had taken a job to help a team search a canned food factory. All the food in the factory went to the team, while Song Kaiji was only allowed to take non-food items like stainless steel basins, glass bottles, and even a few abandoned electric bikes and bicycles from the factory’s parking area. His space was mostly filled with such take-it-or-leave-it miscellaneous goods.

Still, he wasn’t too bothered—after all, if the base expanded to include the amusement park, with three to four thousand acres of land, people would definitely want bicycles. He’d sell them when the time was right!

“My hometown is in Hong Province, not far from Red City. By car, it’s only a four-hour drive. But my city didn’t establish a base. Before communications completely collapsed, my family told me they would come to Red City Base to find me.”

As he spoke, Song Kaiji pulled out a bicycle and leisurely pedaled toward the base’s southern wall, with Shen Qing seated behind him.

Shen Qing was completely rigid, gripping the seat for dear life. He hadn’t refused Song Kaiji’s offer for a ride—he didn’t want to expose himself—but he really couldn’t understand how such thin wheels could support the weight of two full-grown men! He was terrified of falling, yet he still had to concentrate on memorizing the route.

Fortunately, the ride wasn’t long. As soon as they arrived, Shen Qing immediately jumped off the bike, watching as Song Kaiji stored it back into his space. Then Song Kaiji led him to his usual stall.

“So this is where I set up. I trade for a living, but I also stay here hoping to get news of my family. No matter how busy I am, I always come here every day before dark. If you want to find me, just come here before sundown.”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, and that familiar cloth bundle materialized on the ground. With practiced ease, Song Kaiji spread it out and began arranging his wares.

The reason he specified before dark was that this place changed entirely at night, and by then, he would have already left. The area by the southern wall was the base’s unofficial trading market. Unlike the regulated market inside the base, there was no stall fee here, but the downside was that security was much worse, filled with all sorts of people and hidden dangers. Many who couldn’t afford the entrance fee to the base had pitched tents here, turning it into a sort of outer city.

At night, many women—and even young men—would strip down and offer their bodies in exchange for food or in hopes of finding someone to bring them into the base.

The entrance fee for the base was three crystal cores or one pound of grain, followed by a weekly maintenance fee of one crystal core. Renting a place inside cost extra. Song Kaiji could afford it, but even after all this time since the apocalypse began, there were still many people too afraid to hunt zombies, choosing instead to rely on others—this was how they ended up here.

Song Kaiji had once collected jewelry and cosmetics, thinking that, since so many in this area resorted to selling their bodies, they might need makeup and accessories to present themselves better. But in the end, those who had fallen to this point could barely afford to eat, let alone spend money on such things. He had never sold a single piece.

Shen Qing silently observed everything around him, taking in the unfamiliar world.

And then, he realized something utterly shocking—he hadn’t seen a single man with a pregnancy mark on his forehead.

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