Ch 120: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

“Lao Zhang, have you still not found any information on that woman selling vegetables?” The leaders of the research institute and its affiliated farms sat around a table, all with troubled expressions.

But just a week ago, or even earlier, things were not like this.

Ever since they discovered that the mysterious woman was selling vegetables that could be used for seed-saving, it hadn’t taken long before they successfully crossbred them with existing varieties, creating new strains with moderate yields and stable seed production.

It was precisely because these sustainable new varieties were successfully cultivated on a large scale that the Red City Base authorities gained confidence and hope. Seeing that the research institute had managed to develop new vegetable varieties, they assumed that it was only a matter of time before they could do the same with grains. This was why they started large-scale gold buybacks, leading to a surge in gold prices within the base.

Achieving such significant results naturally brought substantial rewards from the authorities to the research institute. However, along with these rewards came an urgent new directive—overcome challenges, push forward, and develop more seed-stable, high-yield crops as soon as possible.

After the apocalypse, everything was being reshuffled. Red City Base currently had two relatively large military factories, which allowed them to produce their own firearms and ammunition. They also had a sizable population. If they could further improve their agricultural capabilities and achieve food self-sufficiency, they would no longer be reliant on external sources, significantly strengthening their position.

Power—no matter the era—was always something people pursued.

The overall benefits and wages of the research staff had been upgraded, which was certainly good news. But how could they create new crop varieties out of thin air?

Currently, the only three stable vegetable varieties they had—celery, radish, and cabbage—were not developed by them. The celery had been accidentally purchased by Lao Zhang’s wife from an outdoor flea market. The radish and cabbage had been acquired at a high price within the base, sold by that mysterious woman. Fortunately, cabbage and radish were already high-yield crops, so their introduction had temporarily eased the food shortage in Hongcheng Base.

They had originally thought that since the mysterious woman had frequently come out to sell vegetables before, she would reappear soon. Then they could find an excuse—either through coercion or enticement—to make her hand over all the seeds she had. From the perspective of the researchers, directly consuming such precious seeds was a complete waste. These seeds should have been prioritized for research and hybridization!

But no matter how well they had planned, who could have expected that the woman would vanish as if she had evaporated into thin air, never to appear again?

Zhang Helin shook his head in frustration. “I’ve had my wife check the flea market outside the city every day, but she hasn’t seen her again.” He then turned toward the leader of the Third Farm. “Wasn’t it said before that the woman came from the Third Farm? Do you have any leads?”

“That was just a suspicion, wasn’t it? When did it become a confirmed fact that she came from our Third Farm? Who has any proof? I’ve never even seen her, so how would I know if it was someone from our farm or who she even is?” The Third Farm’s leader didn’t even look up as he tossed the issue back to them. “If you ask me, that woman might not be from our farm at all. Maybe she came from another base, stopped by Red City for a short stay, and then moved on to another place.”

The meeting room fell silent. In truth, many people found this theory quite plausible. After all, there were no naturally seed-saving vegetables in Red City Base. If the woman was a local, where could she have gotten them? It was more likely that she had come from a village in an agriculturally developed region outside of Red City, where they had preserved seeds before the apocalypse. If she also happened to have a wood-type ability, she could have been selling a batch of vegetables while passing through the base.

But this was not good news.

“What do we do then? How do we explain this to the higher-ups?” The leader of the Agricultural Division at the research institute ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

“What do we do? If you ask me, you should have just told the truth from the beginning! You guys at the research institute wanted to hog the credit, and now look at the mess you’ve created!” The Third Farm’s leader had a clear understanding of the situation and had no intention of taking the fall with them. If the research institute hadn’t harbored ill intentions—trying to seize the woman’s seeds and take credit for her discovery—they wouldn’t be in such a predicament now!

“You’re saying that now? When the official rewards were handed out, I didn’t see you declining them!” The Agricultural Division head retorted angrily.

“I didn’t know anything about this. The bonuses we received were for working overtime to accelerate crop growth,” the Third Farm leader responded, exchanging a glance with his colleagues. The group stood up together, clearly indicating that they had no intention of getting involved any further. “You guys never consulted with us before reporting this to the higher-ups, so don’t try to drag us into it now.”

Truthfully, he preferred it if the woman wasn’t from the Third Farm. Rumor had it that she was a wood-type ability user who had been severely injured by the mutated willow tree. The way the Third Farm had handled that incident had been disgraceful, and as long as no one brought it up, it would eventually be forgotten. But if this issue grew bigger, it wouldn’t reflect well on him.

As for the research institute, he had been happy to share the spotlight when things were going well, but he certainly wasn’t going to sink with them now.

Seeing the Third Farm leaders making a clean break, the researchers could do nothing but watch them leave. The one who panicked the most was Liu Weiqiang, the second-in-command of the Agricultural Division. He had been the one to propose taking all the credit in their reports to the higher-ups. If they were held accountable, he would be the first one to take the fall!

“What do we do? How are we supposed to explain this to the higher-ups?” Liu Weiqiang was on the verge of collapse. If they had told the truth at the beginning, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, and they would have still received some rewards. But now that they had lied, they couldn’t just change their story without consequences. A disciplinary action would be inevitable, and it would mean no promotions for several years at best. In the apocalypse, who could even be sure they would live for several more years?

The research institute had pulled similar stunts before—especially after the apocalypse—since information was no longer transparent. They had enjoyed the benefits of taking credit for things that weren’t theirs multiple times, which was why Liu Weiqiang had acted so confidently this time. Who could have guessed that the woman would be so elusive and never show up again? This time, they had learned a harsh lesson.

“If there’s really no other way, we can try stalling for time,” Zhang Helin said reluctantly. “It’s been nearly a year since the apocalypse started, and all regions are starting to stabilize. Eventually, bases will start sharing resources. We can just claim that there’s been no progress and hold out until other agricultural bases send seeds over or until we can trade for them with what we have… We can tell the higher-ups that crops are much harder to stabilize than vegetables.”

“Easy for you to say! The higher-ups are pushing us hard because they don’t want to depend on other bases! And besides, it’s not just about crops—even for vegetables, it doesn’t make sense that we only have celery, cabbage, and radish. What if the higher-ups demand we develop more vegetable varieties?”

At that moment, a young man who had been sitting quietly in the corner pushed his glasses up and interjected, “I have an idea. But it might be a bit risky.”

The eyes of Zhang Helin, Liu Weiqiang, and the others immediately focused on him.

“We recently recruited a mental-type ability user at the research institute,” the young man said, his glasses reflecting a cold glint. “To be honest, her ability isn’t very useful. She doesn’t have heightened intelligence or mind control. Instead, she can read people’s memories. It’s a rather weak ability. We only brought her in because she’s still a mental-type ability user, and there’s a chance she could evolve in the future. But right now, she’s on the lowest pay tier, and no one wants to work with her.”

After all, who didn’t have secrets? Especially researchers. There were plenty of scholars in the world, but in the apocalypse, those who had managed to climb the ranks were not just skilled in academics—they were all highly shrewd individuals. And which of these scheming individuals would want someone who could peek into their thoughts and past?

“But in this situation, she could actually be useful. Our biggest obstacle in finding this woman is that the network is down, the base has no surveillance, and we don’t know what she looks like or where she’s been. But this mental-type ability user is like a walking security camera. If we use her to track the woman’s origins—whether or not we find her directly—at least we’ll know where she came from. Then we can hire an ability squad to search that area for seeds. I’m sure the authorities would be willing to allocate more research funds for us to collect samples.”

The others, though wary of the mental-type ability user’s powers, saw some merit in the idea. Only Zhang Helin was particularly resistant—because if they needed to read someone’s memory, wouldn’t they start with his wife? He had no interest in letting strangers dig into his personal life.

The man with glasses chuckled. “Don’t worry, Zhang. There’s no need to read your wife’s memories. We can just track the people who sold us the radish and cabbage later on. As for the flea market outside the city, we can have her scan the memories of the nearby vendors where the woman set up her stall. Your wife only needs to confirm the location.”

Zhang Helin finally relaxed a little but still gave a stern warning. “Make sure she knows her boundaries. If she tries to pry into things she shouldn’t, we have plenty of ways to make sure she won’t survive in Red City Base.”

The man with glasses nodded. “Don’t worry, Zhang. Leave it to me. You won’t even need to be involved—I’ll take care of everything.”

---

Chen Jiaxi had not seen Shen Qing or the others since returning from Zizhou. She had already sensed that she and that group were not aligned in values. In the end, although she had refrained from absorbing those human crystal cores after seeing what had happened to Ge Bingbing, she hadn’t discarded them either.

She feared only the side effects of the cores—not the act of consuming them.

She kept them close at all times. If she ever found herself in a desperate situation, she knew she wouldn’t hesitate to use them.

This was the first time Chen Jiaxi had been assigned a task.

She looked at the six or seven people in front of her—men and women alike—who had been brought unknowingly to the flea market outside the city. The man with glasses handed her a small handful of crystal cores, leaned in, and whispered, “I’ll have to trouble you, Chen. Look into the memories of these vendors and check if, on the 27th of the last lunar month, there was a woman selling celery around here.”

His gaze then swept over the group of people who had been brought along—these were all individuals who had previously purchased vegetables from the mysterious woman. The research institute had later bought those vegetables from them. “Also, check their memories for the woman who sold the vegetables. Trace her origins and whereabouts. If she’s still in the base, finding her would be ideal.”

Chen Jiaxi squeezed the small handful of crystal cores—about eight or nine of them—not a lot, but it was extra income beyond her research institute salary, so there was no reason to refuse. Having just joined the research institute, she also wanted to build good relationships with her colleagues.

She closed her eyes and focused on sensing the memories of the nearby vendors. The 27th of the last lunar month was less than a month ago, and since selling food outside the base was a rare sight, many people had a clear impression of it.

Chen Jiaxi’s eyes suddenly flew open. She hesitated for a moment before diving into the memories of those who had bought vegetables.

A familiar figure appeared multiple times in their memories—Qu Weiwei.

Chen Jiaxi clenched the edge of her sleeve. Under the expectant gaze of the man with glasses, she said, “I saw her, but I can’t clearly track her movements. I need to search more.” She maintained a neutral expression. “Why are you looking for her? Did she steal vegetables from the research institute to sell?”

The man with glasses looked a bit disappointed and casually brushed it off, “Yeah, yeah, the Third Farm is trying to catch an internal thief. Don’t ask too much, Chen. Just keep an eye out for this woman’s whereabouts. Check whose memory is closest to the last time she appeared, and we’ll follow up from there.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll look more carefully.” When the man with glasses wasn’t paying attention, Chen Jiaxi had already withdrawn her “gaze.”

---

Ever since she had been given her task by Shen Qing, Yu Le had been running to the city gates every day. The city gates were the prime location for various ability user teams to recruit new members. Many newly arrived ability users were snatched up immediately, especially those with high ability levels. As an ordinary person and a young girl, Yu Le had been frequently sidelined and bullied at first, but she didn’t let it get to her. She even took the initiative to visit the refugee camp outside the base.

Though rare, ability users could sometimes be found in the refugee camp. Those who lived there often had families and couldn’t afford the entry fee to the base. While many recruiters ignored them, Yu Le did not. She had heard from Qu Weiwei that both Tang Wenjie and Chen Jiaxi had been recruited from the refugee camp!

Yu Le meticulously recorded all ability users’ information in a small notebook. She couldn’t compete with other teams for high-level ability users, so she focused on lower-level ones. Shen Qing had said that abilities could be trained over time, but good character was the most important trait!

After working diligently for three or four days, she finally selected ten candidates and invited Shen Qing and Song Kaiji to interview them.

These individuals were all between levels two and three, had few family members, and were struggling to support themselves. They wanted to join a large team but hadn’t been able to find one willing to take them in. As a result, they weren’t demanding high wages—they just hoped for stable housing and a safe place for their families while they went on missions.

Shen Qing and Song Kaiji conducted the interviews, keeping about two-thirds of the applicants—those who felt right and seemed to have decent character. Of course, it was difficult to judge character in a short meeting, so they would continue evaluating them over time.

Their rented apartments in the outer city still had some time left on the lease, making them the perfect place to accommodate the new recruits. In total, nine new ability users were selected. Including their family members, the group now totaled twenty-one people, so Shen Qing simply rented another unit in the same apartment building for them.

The new recruits consisted of three fire-type users, one water-type, two wood-type, one wind-type, and two earth-type users. Shen Qing’s selection strategy was simple—he wanted a full range of abilities so that their team could handle any situation and be self-sufficient.

The outer-city team would not receive the same benefits as the core team. Shen Qing appointed two seemingly reliable women to cook. Though their skills were far from Mother Tang’s, middle-aged women knew how to make a good stew. Every few days, Yu Le would deliver food supplies. Their meals were simpler—cabbage, radishes, coarse grain pancakes—and they were given seeds so the wood-type users could grow vegetables.

While it couldn’t compare to the meals Shen Qing and the core team enjoyed, in Red City Base, this was already considered excellent treatment. Few ability teams provided vegetables at all, let alone to new recruits. Every new member was delighted.

On their journey to Zizhou, Shen Qing had never required anyone to turn in the crystal cores they collected. Sun Cheng, Chen Jiaxi, and others had all been allowed to keep their earnings. But now, with a larger team, rules had to be set.

From now on, all crystal cores collected during missions would belong to the team. In exchange, the team would provide food, lodging, and a monthly salary—50 crystal cores for level-two ability users and 60 for level-three users. The probation period would last three months, after which members might be promoted to the inner-city team with better benefits.

Ordinary people willing to join missions as designated crystal core collectors would receive 20 cores per month.

Having dedicated core collectors would allow ability users to focus on killing zombies, improving efficiency.

No one had any objections. These benefits were already quite good in Red City Base, especially for lower-level ability users. After joining Tang Wenjie and the others on one mission and experiencing the safety of the iron cage strategy—where the risk of infection was almost nonexistent—the new members became even more loyal. Even the ordinary members enthusiastically signed up to collect crystal cores.

---

Thinking about Sun Cheng, Song Kaiji turned to Yu Le and asked about him. Yu Le, having witnessed firsthand how Sun Cheng’s relationship with Ge Bingbing deteriorated, hesitated before explaining, “I went to find Sun Ge first. I even visited again a few days ago. But his parents are way too indulgent toward his younger brother. Sun Cheng’s father even said he was willing to collect crystal cores himself, but he wouldn’t let Sun Xian do it.”

Yu Le found it utterly baffling. It would be one thing if they were reluctant to let Sun Xian fight zombies—after all, that was dangerous. But the reason she had gone back the second time was that Shen Qing had mentioned that even ordinary people could collect crystal cores. It was such an easy job and aligned perfectly with Ge Bingbing’s demand that Sun Xian contribute. Why would the old man rather do it himself than let his younger son work?

This was the apocalypse—indulgence should have its limits! At this rate, they were doing more harm than good!

“Despite this, the old couple even badmouthed Bingbing Jie to my face. They said that since their family now had someone collecting crystal cores, it shouldn’t matter who was doing it—why did Bingbing Jie have to be so insistent? They called her petty, accused her of stirring up trouble between brothers, and said she wasn’t a good wife.” Since Ge Bingbing had always looked out for Yu Le, even back in Zizhou, Yu Le naturally sided with her and grew increasingly frustrated as she spoke.

Shen Qing, who had been listening, interjected, “And what does Sun Cheng himself think?”

Yu Le hesitated before answering, “Sun Ge just looks conflicted. If he tries to persuade his parents, they scold him, so he doesn’t dare bring it up again.”

“Has he ever directly asked Sun Xian to go collect crystal cores?”

Yu Le thought for a moment. “Not in front of me.”

“That settles it. Don’t ask him again. If Bingbing Jie wants to go talk to Sun Cheng, that’s up to her. Otherwise, let’s drop the subject and not bring him up again.” Shen Qing spoke calmly.

After reading so many books recently, Shen Qing had learned a lot about human nature and relationships. While Sun Xian and his parents were a problem, the real issue was Sun Cheng himself. If he had a clear stance, he wouldn’t be in this situation.

Shen Qing wasn’t against helping people. But Sun Cheng, despite his hardships, was not someone with a clear mind—or at least, not yet. If he ever wised up, Shen Qing wouldn’t mind lending him a hand. After all, making an ally was always better than making an enemy.

But Shen Qing didn’t intend to completely push Sun Cheng away—he simply felt that giving him a little push might accelerate his awakening. If they kept giving him chances, it would only make Sun Cheng feel like he had a safety net, allowing him to keep wavering instead of making a decision.

Yu Le didn’t fully understand the deeper reasoning behind it, but since the boss had spoken, she nodded enthusiastically. Shen Qing then instructed her to continue searching for suitable candidates, but this time there was no rush—the next round of interviews would be held in three months. “Let’s aim to recruit six people for the second batch.”

During this time, Yu Le would be responsible for managing the outer-city team, distributing supplies and wages, and continuing to scout for potential recruits. The young girl had become incredibly busy, and the timid demeanor she once had was completely gone—now, she was full of energy and determination.

Hugging her little notebook, Yu Le bounced away, while Shen Qing turned his head slightly to glance at Song Kaiji. Compared to Sun Cheng, Song Kaiji was far more self-aware. He knew exactly what should and shouldn’t be said—so much so that if Shen Qing told him not to mention something, he wouldn’t even tell Zhang Sujuan.

For a while, Shen Qing had keenly noticed a change in Zhang Sujuan’s attitude toward him—he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but it felt like things were heading in a negative direction.

However, Song Kaiji didn’t let this sentiment fester. Who knew what he did behind the scenes, but before long, Zhang Sujuan’s attitude had returned to normal.

This was how a real man should handle things. In the village, Shen Qing had seen too many cases where a man’s incompetence ruined the relationship between his mother and his wife or husband. Some men were completely brainless—if their mother complained about their spouse’s shortcomings, they would run straight to their spouse and repeat it word for word: “My mother thinks you’re doing this wrong. You should change.”

How idiotic was that? Did they want their family to fall apart?

Then there were men like Sun Cheng, who lacked the ability to mediate conflicts at home and instead dumped all their emotional burdens onto their wives or husbands, expecting them to endure grievances, be understanding, and comfort them—shifting all the negativity onto their partners.

Weak and incompetent.

Not far from the base entrance, a couple—perhaps lovers, perhaps spouses—seemed to have just reunited after a life-or-death ordeal. They were embracing and kissing right at the city gates.

Shen Qing glanced over at them, then turned and planted a loud kiss on Song Kaiji’s cheek.

Song Kaiji, startled, turned back to look at him, covering his face like a shy young bride who had just been taken advantage of. “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“A reward,” Shen Qing said with a bright smile. “Because I think you’re amazing.”

If that couple at the gate could do it, why couldn’t he? Shen Qing’s ears turned a little red, but he still leaned in and kissed Song Kaiji on the other cheek.

The new recruits sneaked glances at the two of them.

Song Kaiji’s breathing grew a little heavier. He pressed his hands on Shen Qing’s shoulders and murmured, “Enough… that’s enough.” His voice was soft and sticky, as if he were coaxing him. “I don’t know what I did to earn this reward… but can I save it up for later? I want to accumulate it and withdraw it all at once—would that be okay?”

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