Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

She immediately moved closer to Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao, who were focused on picking fruit, and lowered her voice to make sure only the two of them could hear her. "Brother Xie, Wang Xiao, this forest is too big. The three of us picking together is too inefficient. I'm going to go a little over there." She pointed in a direction that was a corner of the forest that was farther away from the main picking area of ​​the troops and also farther away from Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao's current position. It was a more densely wooded and darker corner. "It looks like not many people go there, and there seem to be a lot of fruit there."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yingtang stopped what he was doing and glanced in the direction she pointed. The area was densely wooded and shadowy. After a moment's thought, he realized that spreading out the mining would indeed cover a larger area. He nodded and solemnly instructed, "Okay, be careful. Don't go too far. Stay within earshot of us. If anything seems amiss, shout immediately." His eyes held his usual caution and concern for his companion.

Wang Xiao was picking with great enthusiasm, sweating profusely. Hearing this, he waved his hand without looking up, his tone filled with the competitive spirit unique to young people, "Alright! Xiao Yan, be careful of the thorns, don't get scratched! Hehe, let's see who picks more later!" He didn't think much of it, just taking it as a strategy to improve efficiency.

Xu Xiaoyan smiled easily and replied, "Don't worry," before deftly picking up the half-empty sack at her feet and walking briskly toward the secluded corner she had chosen.

The further you walk into that area, the dimmer the light becomes. The dense canopy of trees almost completely blocks out the already weak moonlight. Only a few scattered rays of light filter through the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting mottled and fragmented spots of light on the ground. The surroundings are so quiet that you can only hear the rustling of your own footsteps on the fallen leaves and the soil, as well as the faint voices of people in the distance, as if they were being heard through a veil. This place seems to be another world, isolated from the busy picking area outside, quiet and secluded.

Xu Xiaoyan quickly looked around to make sure there was no one nearby. She opened the burlap sack she had brought and casually placed it next to a clump of bushes at her feet, pretending to be picking oranges as a cover. But at that moment, her hands transformed into the most efficient "transportation tools." Her left hand, like the most dexterous picking machine, nimbly reached out and precisely grasped one plump, heavy orange after another. With a slight pressure from her fingertips, a soft "snap" sounded as the stem broke, and the orange fell into her palm.

Immediately following her thought, the orange that had just left the branch, before it could even fully convey its weight and tactile sensation to her palm, vanished from her hand and silently entered the space.

Her right hand would occasionally pluck an orange or two from a branch, not putting them into the storage space, but deliberately making a throwing motion towards the burlap sack at her feet. Sometimes she would even actually throw one or two in, creating a soft "thump" sound, perfectly simulating the illusion of normally filling a sack with fruit. Her movements were smooth and quick, and her left and right hands were perfectly coordinated. From a distance, she looked like an exceptionally skilled picker working diligently.

She moved quickly along the dense orange trees, one by one. The rough bark and the occasional sharp branches inevitably scratched her fingers and the back of her hands, causing a slight sting and a few shallow white marks.

Xu Xiaoyan frowned slightly, and with another thought, a pair of cotton gloves appeared out of thin air in her hands. She quickly put them on, cutting off direct friction, but her hand movements did not slow down at all. She continued to frantically "transfer" the orange-yellow fruits on the branches into her own space with this almost predatory efficiency.

She could clearly "perceive" that the storage area was being filled with orange-yellow, round fruits at an unprecedented speed. This process, where she didn't have to worry about the weight or the capacity, but only needed to focus on "acquiring" the fruits, brought her an indescribable sense of pleasure and security.

Xu Xiaoyan was completely immersed in this efficient "transfer" rhythm, forgetting the passage of time and the fatigue in her body. Her hands mechanically repeated the actions of picking and transferring, her eyes focused and bright, as if the whole world consisted only of the oranges on the branches and the space in her consciousness that was constantly being filled.

She didn't know how much time had passed, until she felt a clear, full "overflow" from the familiar storage space in her mind, as if stuffing in another orange would exceed its capacity, and then she suddenly came back to her senses from that state of ecstasy.

The space was completely filled with bright yellow oranges! There wasn't a single more room! This realization made her pause, and then she let out a long sigh of relief. She subconsciously raised her hand and, using the faint light filtering through the leaves, looked at the watch on her wrist—3:30 a.m. The pale green luminous numbers on the dial clearly showed that there were only half an hour left until the agreed meeting time.

Time was of the essence! She dared not delay for a moment and immediately began to deal with the "obvious" gains, focusing all her attention on the burlap sack at her feet that served as cover.

She crouched down and sorted through the dozens of oranges she had scattered into the bag to make noise, spreading them out at the bottom of the bag. Then, she quickly stood up and started picking oranges from the nearby trees that were still laden with fruit, using both hands to twist them off one by one and put them into the sack.

This time, each orange carried real weight as it fell into the bag with a dull "thump-thump" sound. Soon, the originally shriveled sack swelled up at a visible speed. She did the same, quickly filling the other spare bag she had brought with her until both sacks could no longer hold a single orange. The openings were tied tightly, and the bags felt quite heavy when she held them. Only then did she stop.

She weighed the two bags in her hand and felt that this was about the limit that a woman of normal physical strength could independently carry and transport in such mountainous conditions.

After finishing all this, she bent down and tied the sacks with rope with some difficulty. She carried one on her back and held the other in front of her chest. After adjusting her breathing, she walked towards the meeting place she had agreed upon with Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao.

Back at the meeting point, she carefully placed the two bags on the ground and slowly sat down against the trunk of a thick orange tree. Only then did she feel a strong sense of exhaustion wash over her like a tide. Her arms and shoulders ached and felt numb from the long hours of picking and the final heavy load. She gently massaged her sore shoulder and arm muscles while quietly waiting for her companions to return.

In the distance, the lights in the military area were not yet completely turned off, and the faint sounds of voices and vehicle engines indicated that the large-scale harvesting operation was nearing its end, with final inventory and loading preparations underway.

Before long, she heard heavy, hurried footsteps approaching from afar, accompanied by Wang Xiao's unique shouts, which were full of exhaustion yet unusual excitement, breaking the tranquility of the assembly point.

"My God! I'm exhausted! But... haha, there's just too much, I can't possibly pick it all, I really can't! I feel like I could pick another hundred pounds! No, two hundred pounds!" This was Wang Xiao's voice. Although he was complaining about being tired and his voice was a little hoarse from not drinking water for a long time, his tone was full of extreme excitement of "pain and pleasure," a kind of ecstasy after being hit by a huge harvest.

"That's about enough," Xie Yingtang's voice followed, sounding much calmer, but with a barely perceptible panting. "We've picked enough already; we can't bite off more than we can chew." His words always carried a realistic consideration.

Before the words were finished, the two men emerged one after the other from the shadows at the edge of the woods. Wang Xiao and Xie Yingtang were each carrying three burlap sacks tightly bound with thick hemp rope!

The sacks were stuffed full, bulging so much they seemed about to burst. The heavy weight made it impossible for them to straighten their backs; they could only bend over deeply, making each step extremely difficult.

Their faces and necks were covered with mud left by dried sweat, their hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to their foreheads in clumps, and their lips were white and cracked from dehydration and exertion.

When their gaze swept past Xu Xiaoyan and landed on the two bags of oranges beside her, which looked rather "delicate" in comparison, Wang Xiao's excitement froze for a moment, turning into deep surprise and disbelief.

With a thud, they unloaded the three enormous bags of spoils from their shoulders, kicking up a cloud of dust. Straightening their almost stiff backs, they grimaced and rubbed their shoulders, then couldn't help but ask, their voices filled with bewilderment, "Xiao Yan? You...you spent so much time there, and...you only picked this little bit?" He hadn't expected Xu Xiao Yan, with her usual quick wit and agility, to have such a small harvest.

Xu Xiaoyan's face immediately broke into a vivid smile, a mixture of helplessness, exhaustion, and a touch of slyness. She patted the two bags beside her, which were actually quite heavy, and said in a tone that was both complaining and matter-of-fact, "Wang Xiao, do you understand the situation? It's not that I can only pick this much; it's that this is the most I can safely carry down the mountain by myself!"

She pointed to the three sacks Wang Xiao and his group had, then gestured with her thin arms and legs. "Give me another sack, and believe me, I can roll right down this hillside. What's the point of picking more if you can't carry them down? Are we just going to work so hard to pick them and leave them on the mountain to rot, or let some lucky person get them later?" Her words were clear and logical, taking into full account the limits of her physical strength and actual transport capacity, leaving no room for argument.

Hearing her words, Wang Xiao looked at his three heavy bags of "harvest," and then imagined Xu Xiaoyan struggling to carry three bags of oranges alone along the dark, steep mountain path. He suddenly realized something and slapped his head hard, a look of annoyance and embarrassment on his face. "Oh dear! You're right! Look at my brain! I was so focused on picking as many as possible that I completely forgot about this! These things are so heavy! Xiaoyan, you're so thoughtful! We need to make sure we can carry them!"

Xie Yingtang also put down his burden, stretched his shoulders which were almost numb, and looked at Xu Xiaoyan with approval in his eyes. He nodded and said in a deep voice, "Xiaoyan is right. It is most important to act within one's capabilities. Blindly pursuing quantity will result in not being able to take anything with you in the end, or even getting injured as a result, which is a loss."

He looked up at the sky, where a faint gray-white tinge was beginning to appear in the east. "It's almost time. We still have two bags left at the place where we rested earlier that we haven't moved over yet. Xiao Yan, why don't you sit here and rest for a bit, and keep an eye on these bags while we go and move the last two over."

After saying that, without waiting for Xu Xiaoyan's response, he called to Wang Xiao, and the two turned around again, disappearing somewhat unsteadily into the shadows of the woods in the direction they had come from.

Not long after, the whistle blew from the troop's side, signaling them to assemble and prepare to descend the mountain. The soldiers began to systematically gather and tie up the sacks filled with oranges, ready for transport. A soldier also brought some sturdy ropes to Xu Xiaoyan and her group for reinforcement and carrying.

Xu Xiaoyan cleverly tied her two bags of oranges together with the hemp rope she had been given, making them into a relatively easy load to carry on her back. She tried it out and found it to be very heavy, making her shoulders ache and her steps unsteady. She had to concentrate all her energy to maintain her balance.

But she gritted her teeth and felt she could still manage. After all, there were only two bags. Although it was strenuous, it was still on the edge of the physical limits that a woman in good physical condition could endure.

But Wang Xiao was truly at a loss and in a sorry state. He had been picking so enthusiastically that he had filled four large bags, each sack stuffed full and tightly packed, almost bursting open. He tried to tie all four bags of oranges to himself with rope, but the terrifying total weight almost instantly pressed him to the ground. He staggered a few times, his face turning a purplish-red, and he had great difficulty even standing up. Veins bulged on his forehead and neck, not to mention the more than two hours of rugged and difficult descent down the mountain.

"My God... this... this is too heavy! I can't move it at all!" Wang Xiao grimaced, his voice distorted by the effort, carrying a mournful tone. Looking at his four bags of "sweet burdens," he truly understood for the first time what it meant to be "willing but unable."

Seeing this, Xie Yingtang immediately stepped forward to help. He had Wang Xiao carry the three relatively lighter bags and tied them securely with hemp rope across his chest and back to ensure they wouldn't come loose while walking.

Then, he untied the remaining bag of oranges from Wang Xiao's bag, took off his own sizable backpack which originally contained his personal belongings and a few tools, tidied up the contents, and began to take as many plump oranges as possible from Wang Xiao's bag and stuff them into his backpack until the canvas backpack was bulging and extremely heavy, and the straps creaked under the weight.

In this way, Xie Yingtang carried his original four bags of oranges on his back, and also held a backpack full of oranges in front of him, which was quite heavy.

The immense weight forced him to lean back slightly, making his steps heavy and slow. He had to be extra careful to maintain his balance on the mountain path. With each step, he could clearly feel the loosening of the rocks beneath his feet and the deep pain from the rough hemp rope on his shoulders, which seemed to dig into his bones.