Ch 56: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Song Kaiji indeed had a very close relationship with Tang Wenjie. There were four of them in their dormitory—Tang Wenjie was second, and Song Kaiji was third. Their ranks were adjacent, and so were their beds. The roommates all got along very well, and since Tang Wenjie was the only local among them, for three years, Song Kaiji and the other two had eaten countless delicious meals brought from Tang Wenjie’s home.

He and Tang Wenjie were indeed close—closer than he was with Qu Weiwei. If he had the ability, Song Kaiji would never have left Tang Wenjie to fend for himself. But right now, the one with the ability wasn’t him—it was Shen Qing.

Although he had never met Tang Wenjie’s mother, he had long been grateful to her—the big bowl of baby potatoes stewed with beef, the flavorful braised pork ribs with string beans, the slow-cooked, fall-apart pork knuckle… Many of these had ended up in Song Kaiji’s stomach.

Even before he could ask for help, Shen Qing had already stepped up. This moved Song Kaiji even more. Watching Shen Qing hoist Tang Wenjie onto his shoulder and walk off, Song Kaiji wanted to hurry forward and help, but he couldn’t just leave behind Tang Wenjie’s mother.

What he didn’t expect was that as soon as he shouted, multiple voices erupted from the refugee camp: “I am! I am!”

“I’m his mother! Hurry up and take me into the base!”

“I’m his real mother! Get me inside the base first!”

Song Kaiji slapped his forehead. He had acted recklessly in the heat of the moment—how could he just shout like that? If Tang Wenjie hadn’t suddenly collapsed, throwing him into a panic, he would never have made such a foolish mistake.

Several batches of refugees had arrived outside the base in recent days. Occasionally, people would come searching for their lost loved ones, which always stirred up chaos in the refugee camp. Those who couldn’t afford the entry fee were desperate, clinging to any chance to get inside, whether by deception or any other means.

Seeing more and more people closing in on him—some even men among them—Song Kaiji immediately pulled out his crossbow. “Stay back!”

The crowd fell silent for a moment before someone angrily shouted, “Are you seriously going to kill people? This is the base entrance! Do you think there’s no law here?”

“I’m really Tang Wenjie’s mother! If you treat me like this, Wenjie will never forgive you!”

“I’m Tang Wenjie’s father! And this is his younger brother! Forget these women—just take us inside!”

The noise was giving Song Kaiji a headache. He raised his voice and demanded, “Which residential complex does Tang Wenjie’s family live in?”

None of these people actually knew. Instead, they just tried to grab him, repeatedly urging him to hurry up and take them inside. Song Kaiji stepped back cautiously, keeping his crossbow raised. Just as he was about to be completely surrounded, a faint voice emerged from the crowd: “Zijing Garden… Zijing Garden…”

Song Kaiji followed the voice and spotted a medium-built woman, around fifty years old, standing at the entrance of her tent. She hesitated to move forward, unwilling to leave her tent even for a few steps—afraid that if she stepped away, someone might steal or snatch her belongings. She had suffered through that kind of situation too many times on the journey here.

She held onto the edge of her tent with one hand while waving frantically at Song Kaiji with the other.

Taking a closer look at her, Song Kaiji noticed that despite surviving half a year in the apocalypse, she was still of medium build rather than emaciated. Her face showed signs of loose, sagging skin—evidence of rapid weight loss that had left her skin unable to keep up. This suggested that before the apocalypse, she had been quite plump.

That seemed to align well with the fact that Tang Wenjie’s mother was known for her great cooking… Her nose also bore a resemblance to Tang Wenjie’s.

Still not entirely convinced, Song Kaiji moved closer and asked, “What kind of potatoes do you use for your potato and beef stew?”

The middle-aged woman was momentarily stunned.

Her gaze turned blank for a few seconds before she recalled her cooking habits. “Small potatoes, just a bit bigger than a ping pong ball—whole baby potatoes! I even packed braised pork knuckle and pork ribs with string beans for him to take to school!”

“It’s you!” Song Kaiji gritted his teeth—she had given such specific details that even if he was wrong, he would accept it! Without hesitation, he reached behind her, gathered up her entire tent into his space, grabbed her hand, and ran.

Behind them, people continued chasing and wailing, “I’m the real one! She’s lying! I’m Tang Wenjie’s real mother! Take me into the base!”

When Song Kaiji finally arrived at the base entrance with Tang Wenjie’s mother, he was surprised to find that Shen Qing hadn’t brought Tang Wenjie inside. Instead, he had laid him down beside the gate. When he saw Song Kaiji arrive, Shen Qing quickly explained, “They said he has a fever and might be carrying a virus, so they won’t let him in.”

Tang Wenjie’s mother threw herself over her son, gently stroking his burning forehead. “He’s had a low fever for two days, but it wasn’t this bad before. We didn’t dare tell anyone or go looking for medicine, afraid we’d get kicked out of the camp. But he’s never been scratched or bitten by a zombie. It’s been two days, and he hasn’t changed.”

Zombie infections don’t work like this—at most, it takes ten or so minutes before symptoms show. There wouldn’t even be time for a fever to develop! Perhaps the guards at the gate had considered this, which was why they hadn’t taken any extreme measures, only refusing to let him enter for now.

Shen Qing propped his chin on his hand. “Then is there any way to call for a healing ability user to come to the gate and take a look?”

Shen Qing had a bit of a personal agenda when he said that. He wanted to get medical treatment for Miao Shi and even bring her here for healing. But Miao Shi also wanted to treat Grandmother Miao’s legs—did that mean he had to bring her to the base as well? Shen Qing hadn’t yet figured out how to solve that problem, but using this opportunity to find out the cost of a healer’s house call wasn’t a bad idea either.

Song Kaiji looked a little troubled. “Going to the hospital is already expensive, and if we ask a healer to make a house call, I’m afraid…” He glanced at Shen Qing with embarrassment. “I’ve known you for so long, but I haven’t done much for you, and I just keep spending your money…”

Shen Qing suddenly realized why Song Kaiji had been acting so awkward all day. But instead of feeling annoyed, he was actually quite pleased. Even though he often said he trusted Song Kaiji, he wasn’t oblivious to the saying, a cup of rice is gratitude, a bucket of rice is resentment. Over time, who wouldn’t fear that kindness could turn into obligation?

The fact that Song Kaiji was thinking this way showed that he truly had a conscience. It made Shen Qing even more certain that he had chosen the right person to work with. Being around someone who could reflect on his actions and knew boundaries was far better than dealing with someone who only knew how to take and gradually felt entitled to everything.

“You can just repay me well in the future,” Shen Qing said with a big smile. “Do you remember the first time we met? You killed that zombie and saved my life. I can afford all this. I remember the good you’ve done for me, and you remember the good I do for you. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Looking at Shen Qing’s bright and carefree smile, Song Kaiji’s heartbeat quickened. For some reason, he recalled the sensation of Shen Qing’s hair brushing against his cheek. He swallowed hard a few times before finally replying, “Yeah… it’s good.”

Song Kaiji then headed back into the base to find a healer, while Shen Qing stayed behind to watch over Tang Wenjie and his mother. Before leaving, Song Kaiji handed Shen Qing a crossbow. After what had just happened, he was worried that someone might not give up and come back to cause trouble for Shen Qing.

This crossbow was a handmade one, much simpler than the compound crossbow Song Kaiji had sold to Shen Qing, but it could be crafted from wood! Shen Qing found it fascinating and fiddled with it for a while before turning his attention to Tang Wenjie’s mother.

“Aunt,” Shen Qing leaned in, “your journey here must’ve been really difficult, right?”

Tang Wenjie’s mother was a little uncomfortable with the way he addressed her. Who even said Aunt in modern times? Wasn’t it usually Ayi (modern way if pronouncing aunt)? But she had been observing carefully and could tell that between Song Kaiji and Shen Qing, the one making the decisions and spending the money was Shen Qing. Now that this young man was paying for her son’s treatment and offering help, she naturally answered without hesitation. “It really was! Our home was in the northwest part of Hongcheng, and the base is in the southeast. You have no idea how much suffering we went through on the way…”

As Tang Wenjie’s mother spoke more and more, Shen Qing listened intently. He knew too little about this world and even less about what lay beyond Hongcheng Base. He wasn’t comfortable asking Song Kaiji too many questions, so this was a good opportunity to gather information from Tang Wenjie’s mother.

Through her words, Shen Qing learned about the existence of malls outside the base, where the underground floors typically housed food courts and large supermarkets, while the first floors had brand stores and gold shops. The upper floors even sold furniture and home appliances.

There were also gas stations, essential for fueling the vehicles and motorcycles he had seen.

And he learned that, compared to the outside world, Red City Base was practically a paradise. Even the chaotic refugee camp outside the walls was a thousand times better than the small strongholds out there. “We barely escaped death multiple times,” Tang Wenjie’s mother continued. “We even ran into… cannibals.”

Her voice trembled at the mention, and even now, the thought of it made her shudder. Before the apocalypse, she had loved cooking and eating, and she had been a hefty 180-pound woman. In the first two months of the apocalypse, she and Tang Wenjie had holed up at home, eating less but not moving much, so she hadn’t lost weight quickly. She could still vividly recall the greedy glint in those cannibals’ eyes when they saw her.

“It’s all my fault… I was too fat. I couldn’t run fast, I reacted too slowly—so many times, I almost got Wenjie killed along with me,” she choked up, wiping away tears. “I told him to leave me behind, but he wouldn’t. And whenever he found food, he always made sure I ate first. But I was already so fat! What was the point of eating anymore?”

Shen Qing’s pupils contracted as he listened. He couldn’t even imagine such a nightmarish reality. At the same time, he felt deeply grateful—grateful that he had arrived in Red City Base and that the first person he met was Song Kaiji. If that cave of his had opened up somewhere else, leading him to those cannibals instead… how could he have the good life he had now?

Tang Wenjie’s mother’s words gave Shen Qing an even clearer understanding of just how brutal this world was.

“We’re here! Right here!”

Song Kaiji rode in on a bicycle, bringing a healer with him, arriving like a gust of wind. Fortunately, today was a relatively quiet day in the base, and several idle healers had been hanging around the medical station waiting for work. But even so, their fees weren’t cheap—just coming out for a visit cost 50 crystal cores. Treatment, if needed, would be extra.

Luckily, Tang Wenjie didn’t require treatment. The healer placed a hand on his forehead, sensing for a moment, then suddenly smiled. “Congratulations! He’s not sick—he’s about to awaken his ability!”

“What!” Tang Wenjie’s mother was overjoyed. After traveling so far and seeing so much, she knew that as long as someone awakened an ability, even if it was the weakest level one ability, they were far better off than an ordinary person. In smaller strongholds, people were eager to recruit ability users.

But Song Kaiji was a little puzzled. As far as he knew, awakening an ability didn’t come with a fever—he hadn’t had one, and neither had Qu Weiwei.

“Hmm… it’s probably because he’s been eating too little. His body is depleted, and he doesn’t have enough energy to support an immediate awakening, so it’s manifesting as a fever. It looks like he’s about to awaken a rather powerful offensive ability, which is why it’s draining so much energy.” The healer raised a finger. “Ten crystal cores—I can help him awaken. What do you say?”

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