Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 235 Apple Orchard

"Actually, there is another way to make fried rice with eggs, which should be the authentic way."

“In the past, we didn’t have so many rules, so we called this fried rice with eggs. In some places, it’s just fried rice with eggs.”

"For fried rice, you should pour the egg mixture over the rice and fry it. Let's try that next time."

After finishing the meal, Lu Xi'an said this to Yao Wei.

Yao Wei nodded and said, "Yes, we can use fewer eggs, so we can use them sparingly."

Lu Xi'an said, "We should always try it properly the first time. Next time we make it, we'll put in two first. Once we've tried it once, we'll use only one next time we eat it."

Yao Wei said, "Yeah."

After finishing their meal, Lu Xi'an continued driving. They still didn't plan to pass through Tunshan Village, intending to take a detour to the south.

The road to the south is much longer than that to the north, and it will take more time, but that's okay. Their cars don't need gas, so they're free from the constraints of gas stations and can go wherever they want.

If Luo Ping hadn't explicitly stated that the county town south of this road had been occupied by people for over a year and that they had retreated from the south, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei would have planned to head directly south and then detour through Linhai City.

There is a river at the border of Lianghe County and Henan County in the south. It is a tributary of Lianghe River. The river is very narrow and has very little water. It is no exaggeration to call it a stream.

Lu Xi'an even doubted whether there would be any water here if it hadn't rained before.

However, once they arrived, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei took advantage of the available water to fill up the water tank and buckets, and also washed the car.

We had been speeding along the road, which had become muddy due to the rain, and the car was covered in mud, making it an eyesore.

Lu Xi'an directly scooped up water with buckets and poured it onto the car, one bucket at a time. After rinsing it almost clean, he wiped it with a rag—mainly wiping the windows clean so as not to obstruct the view.

They then cleaned the inside of the car as well.

When they encountered a landslide at the foot of Qinshan Mountain, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had to get out of the car and turn it around manually. Inevitably, their feet got covered in mud, which they brought onto the car. Moreover, the car had accumulated a lot of dust from their long journey across the country and needed to be cleaned.

After wiping down all the areas that needed wiping, the two of them also wiped down the floor and the area under their feet. After getting out of the car, they looked back at the brand-new RV and felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

"Honestly, we never thought about fixing up your car when we used to drive it, but this car is so much bigger now, yet we're more enthusiastic about it."

Lu Xi'an smiled and washed the rag clean.

Yao Wei was also washing another rag, saying, "That's an old car."

Lu Xi'an said, "That makes sense."

That car was also picked up by Yao Wei on the road. As long as it could be driven and wouldn't break down, that was fine with Yao Wei. Unlike this car, which was brand new and driven by the two of them right after it came off the factory, how could they be treated the same?
A tiny scratch on a new car can cause heartache for three days, while a missing bumper on an old car is no big deal as long as you keep driving it. It was like this in my past life, and I never imagined it would be the same in this one.

Lu Xi'an wondered when this car would experience its first bump or scratch in this world, and after that, she wondered if Yao Wei and she would still care about it so much.
No matter what happens in the future, washing the car now and looking back will always make me feel much better.

Not bad.

"From now on, when we go to the river, we'll wipe the car down."

Yao Wei suddenly spoke.

Lu Xi'an nodded and smiled, "Okay, whatever you say." In any case, it would only take them a little time, not much effort.

A clean car keeps you in a good mood, isn't that better than anything else?

A breeze was blowing, the car door was open, letting the wind rush in and out.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei waited outside the car, and took the opportunity to clean their shoes so that the car would be clean but their shoes would still be dirty, and they would get the car dirty again.

The car quickly dried out, and the two got in. Yao Wei took the driver's seat and drove, so Lu Xi'an had to sit in the passenger seat and take out "World Atlas I".

Starting the car and continuing on, Yao Wei glanced back at the stream outside the car and said, "There should be more and more water in the south, right? Before, in the north, I hadn't seen any water for a long time; the rivers were all dry."

She was a little worried that the road ahead would be dry and she wouldn't be able to wash her car.

Looking back, Lu Xi'an recalled that he had traveled from north to south and found that water sources were indeed scarce along the way. It was alright when there was ice and snow, as they could break through the ice and drink the water after it melted. However, when the weather was dry and then slightly warmer, they had no choice but to endure the lack of water.

That's why he prepared so many mineral water bottles beforehand.

However, since getting into Yao Wei's car, not all the mineral water bottles have been used. This is partly because the river level gradually rose, and partly because we were traveling faster in the car than before.

Anyway, the north is indeed relatively arid. Yao Wei took a different route than me, and perhaps the places she passed through were even drier than the places I went through.

Lu Xi'an recalled that when he first met Yao Wei, the woman's lips were chapped, as if she hadn't drunk water for a long time. Later, as they traveled further south, her condition gradually improved.

He turned his head and glanced at her. Yao Wei's lips were much more moist than before. He could not only see it, but he had also felt it before.

"what happened?"

Yao Wei noticed Lu Xi'an's gaze and felt somewhat uncomfortable, as if she couldn't even drive properly anymore.

Lu Xi'an smiled and said, "Look at your lips, they're much smoother than before. I remember when I first met you, your lips were so dry."
"Is it because you drank too much water, or because I kissed you?" Yao Wei panicked a little and quickly said, "Don't talk! I need to drive!"

Lu Xi'an had no choice but to shut up.

Not long after crossing the river, you can turn east. After walking a little further, you'll see a north-south road that cuts off this east-west road, forming a T-junction.

Yao Wei turned the steering wheel north, circling back to Tunshan Village, but now she was in the east of Tunshan Village.

Lu Xi'an turned his head and glanced back. On the resonance gene scanner map on the table behind him, a red dot could be seen in the distance, far away from the red dots representing him, Yao Wei, and Jun Shi, proving that there was a new human there.

Lu Xi'an checked the map against the World Atlas I and confirmed that it was the Henan County that Luo Ping had mentioned was occupied by people.

Unexpectedly, the creature occupying that place was a new type of human.

What kind of people would be further south that could possibly drive a new human here?

In any case, avoiding that road was the right choice.

"There's a new type of human in Henan County, but Luo Ping didn't say what kind of new type it is..."

After Lu Xi'an finished reading "World Map I", he told Yao Wei about it.

Yao Wei said, "It's okay, we're not going there anyway."

Lu Xi'an laughed and said, "That's true, we're not going there anyway."

Driving north, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei originally planned to go directly to the north of Tunshan Village and then turn east, but unexpectedly, halfway there, they suddenly found a forked dirt road extending out from the side of the road.

At the end of the dirt road, one can see a courtyard where the houses and walls have collapsed.

The layout and design were strikingly similar to the fruit-picking garden they had encountered in Jianshan City. The difference was that the fruit-picking garden was still well-preserved, and they even managed to find quite a few things in the upstairs cubicles, but here, everything had collapsed.

Furthermore, in the ruins of that garden, rows and rows of trees grew, though there were only a few in some places, and each tree was growing in different ways, some good and some bad. The ground was overgrown with weeds, making the grove of trees appear even more messy. However, Lu Xi'an could still barely make out that it was very neat, with obvious traces of human planting.

After a disaster strikes, where would anyone plant trees in the open?

If these trees were planted by humans, they could only have come from before the disaster.

"Pause."

Lu Xi'an said something to Yao Wei. Yao Wei stepped on the brakes and stopped the car. Following Lu Xi'an's gaze, she glanced at the ruined garden and asked, "Do you want to go take a look?"

"There might be something in the ruins. If the dog is here, we might be able to find something."

"Well, let's go and have a look."

Lu Xi'an said, "I'd like to see these trees too. They look like apple trees. This place might have been an apple orchard back then. It would be great if there were still apples on the trees."

Perhaps because the weather had been nice lately and hadn't been cold, the garden was full of lush, green trees. Lu Xi'an could tell at a glance from the shape of the leaves that they were all apple trees in the abandoned garden.

But he didn't actually see the apple.

Is it because the apple trees mutated and stopped bearing fruit after experiencing the apocalyptic disaster and the X-17 strain of the Ding-1 strain?
Lu Xi'an was unsure, but still somewhat unwilling to give up, and wanted to go in and take a look.

What if there are apples growing on the tree?
What is an apple?

Yao Wei asked.

Lu Xi'an said, "It's a kind of fruit that you can eat."

"Ah."

When Yao Wei heard Lu Xi'an say it was edible, her eyes lit up. She turned the steering wheel and drove onto the small road, swaying as she drove the car into the park.

At the same time, Lu Xi'an had already rolled down the car window and let the dog control the drone to take off, so that they could take immediate action if things went wrong.

The two cannons on the drone have not yet been fired at the enemy, and we don't know what the effect will be after they are fired.
The garden ruins are gone, even the gate is gone. There is a large open space in the collapsed ruins, and another area where only some wood chips remain.

Lu Xi'an looked around and guessed that it might have been a pavilion, but the pavilion had collapsed and the wood that was originally used to build it had been taken away.

The one who said he might take away the timber was Luo Ping.

His mind was racing when he opened the car door and jumped out.

The dog never gave any warning, and Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei didn't notice any danger, so it should be safe here.

So Yao Wei followed her down.

The two walked together to the edge of the woods and glanced around. All they could see was green leaves, with not a single red flower in sight.

Will there be any apples among them?
(End of this chapter)