Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Xu Xiaoyan became increasingly puzzled as she searched.

The beam of the flashlight swept across the silvery trunks of birch trees, with only the occasional lone pine tree standing in the middle of the birch forest.

She had been wandering around this area for over an hour, but the little she had found in the side pocket of her backpack was pitifully small.

It was laid out loosely, and felt light when lifted, a completely different feeling from when I was scavenging my own pine-covered mountain during the day.

She finally couldn't hold back any longer. She straightened up and asked the flashlight beam flickering among the trees in the distance, "Brother, is this the only place on this mountain where pine trees grow?"

The man who called himself Qiu Dayong peeked out from behind a thick birch tree, tilting his flashlight down to avoid shining it into her eyes.

He nodded, his tone carrying a sense of helplessness, as if to say, "Didn't I tell you this already?"

"Yes, didn't I just say that only those two hills near you have a small patch of pine trees? What happened?"

As he spoke, he walked towards Xu Xiaoyan, the dry branches under his feet crunching loudly.

Xu Xiaoyan tucked the flashlight under her arm, freed her hand to squeeze her flat bag, and gave a wry smile:

"Just as I thought! The two hills we are on are almost entirely covered with pine trees of the same species. They are also prone to pests and diseases, so the resin production is naturally high."

She paused, shook the bag in her hand that was barely filled, and her tone carried a hint of self-doubt:

"Come over here now. I've been searching for over an hour and only managed to collect a small half-bag."

I kept thinking that I was seeing things, was too slow, or was looking in the wrong direction, but it turns out it wasn't my problem. There aren't many pine trees on this mountain to begin with.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lan Yue emerged from behind the bushes on the other side. The beam of the flashlight shone on her face, revealing a thin layer of sweat.

She approached the two of them, and without saying a word, she opened the bag in her hand and handed it to them to show them.

The bag contained dozens of pieces of pine resin of varying sizes, some as big as eggs and others barely bigger than soybeans. They were spread out in a thin layer at the bottom of the bag and could be counted at a glance.

"I only found less than two jin," Lan Yue said with a hint of frustration, then added self-consolingly, "It's probably less than two jin, maybe only a jin and a half."

After she finished speaking, she closed the bag, tied a knot, and leaned against a birch tree trunk to catch her breath.

Qiu Dayong reached out and took Lan Yue's bag, weighed it in his hand, and then leaned closer to look at Xu Xiaoyan's equally deflated bag.

He couldn't help but click his tongue, then looked up, his face filled with disbelief.

"These could be exchanged for more than ten compressed biscuits! Aren't you guys being too greedy?"

His tone wasn't accusatory; it was more like a heartfelt expression of emotion.

In his view, earning more than ten compressed biscuits in just over an hour was already a windfall.

But the two girls still looked dissatisfied, as if their efforts had been in vain if they hadn't filled the entire backpack.

Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue were both stunned.

The two exchanged a glance, and the scene from that afternoon flashed through their minds simultaneously.

The backpack was so full that the zipper couldn't be closed, and she was also holding a large bag in her arms. More than 100 kilograms of pine resin were poured onto the scale, and 800 points were quickly added to her account.

The sheer volume and speed of their harvest have raised their "standards" to an absurd level.

Now that we've arrived at this place where pine trees are scarce, after searching for more than an hour, we've only managed to collect less than two pounds, so it naturally feels like we've come up empty-handed.

Xu Xiaoyan was the first to react, a fleeting hint of embarrassment crossing her face before quickly replacing it with a sincere smile as she hastily tried to salvage the situation:

"It's not greed, brother, you've really misunderstood." She paused, organized her thoughts, and softened her tone.

"We're worried that if we miss this opportunity, we won't have another chance. Think about it, there was such a big commotion in our area this evening. Tomorrow morning, these hilltops will definitely be packed with people."

"By then, let alone pine resin, we'll probably have to scrape off a layer of pine bark. We just... want to find as much as we can tonight, every little bit helps."

Lan Yue nodded repeatedly beside her, adding, "Yes, yes, it's not that we think it's too little, it's that we're afraid we won't even be able to find this much in the future."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Dayong's expression slowly changed from "You guys are really ungrateful" to "That makes sense."

He scratched the back of his head and sighed, "That's true. Your mountain strongholds were making such a fuss that once the news spread, things couldn't stay quiet here either."

"Alright, alright, stop standing there. Let's look around some more while no one's around yet."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and went back into the pine forest, where the beam of his flashlight shone brightly again.

Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue looked at each other again, this time with a look of both amusement and exasperation in their eyes.

Blue Moon silently mouthed "greedy," then couldn't help but laugh.

Xu Xiaoyan shook her head and smiled, saying nothing. She turned the flashlight back on and continued searching inch by inch along the tree trunk.

The light show on the distant mountain peaks had gradually thinned out, probably because some people's flashlight batteries had run out, or some people were finally too tired to continue.

After searching for about half an hour, Qiu Dayong emerged from the depths of the forest, his flashlight beam swirling twice on the ground as a signal to the two of them.

He walked closer, slammed the woven bag, which was already half full, onto the ground, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and said, panting heavily:

"That's about it. I've scanned everything I could find. The rest are just small bumps that haven't seeped out yet, and it's not worth scraping them off."

Let's go somewhere else, to that mountain diagonally opposite, the half of the pine forest I mentioned earlier.

As he spoke, he bent down to pick up the woven bag from the ground, his movements swift and efficient, clearly indicating that he had already planned it all out.

Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue exchanged a glance and nodded hastily.

"Okay," Lan Yue responded first. She didn't even have time to tie the bag in her hand before stuffing it into her backpack and zipping it up.

He stood behind Qiu Dayong, ready to set off at any moment.

Xu Xiaoyan followed suit, bending down to pick up her half-full bag from the ground. She weighed it in her hand; it was a little more than before, but still just so-so, probably a little over two pounds.

She tied the bag shut and stuffed it into her backpack. She then checked the flashlight's battery level; the beam was still strong enough to last until the latter half of the night.

"Brother, thank you for leading the way." Xu Xiaoyan pulled her hat brim down and pulled her mask up again, leaving only her eyes showing. "We're not familiar with this area."

Qiu Dayong nodded, said nothing more, picked up the woven bag, and turned to leave.

He took long, hurried steps, showing no intention of waiting for anyone or slowing down.

Clearly, they were driven to a fever pitch by the ratio of "one pound of pine resin for eight compressed biscuits," wishing they could leap to that mountain in one step.