Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

"Xiaoyan, Xiaoyan? Are you alright?" Xu Xiaoyan was awakened by an extremely gentle touch and a low call.

She struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, and through her blurry vision came Wang Xiao's concerned face.

His hand was gently patting her shoulder, and a little further away, Xie Yingtang was also standing there, silently watching her.

Consciousness quickly returned.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't get up immediately. Instead, she stretched out her arms and legs while lying on her side. Her bones made a soft cracking sound as she stretched and relaxed her tense muscles.

She rubbed her eyes, her voice hoarse from just waking up, but filled with satisfaction. "I'm fine. I slept very soundly and feel much more energetic."

Seeing that she was alright, Wang Xiao visibly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone became lighter:

"Hey, you scared us! When Lao Xie and I woke up and came to look for you, we saw that there was no one by the fire and everything was packed away. Our hearts sank. We thought something had happened!"

Luckily, I turned around and saw you nestled under this tree, sleeping soundly.

As he spoke, he pointed with some confusion to the abandoned lotus-watching hut not far away:

"Why don't you come and sleep in that little hut with us? It's a bit run-down, but at least it'll keep out the wind, and the ground is more level. It's so hot outside, and there might be bugs."

Xu Xiaoyan sat up and explained in a calm tone:

"You're all sound asleep. If I walk over, I'll inevitably make some noise. I'm afraid of waking you up. You still have physical labor to do at night, so rest is the most important thing. It's fine if I just make do here for a bit."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiao's face immediately showed a touched expression, muttering, "You're being too polite..."

Xie Yingtang's gaze lingered on her calm face for a moment, then swept over the slightly damp mud beneath her and the backpack she was tightly clutching.

His eyes flickered slightly, as if he had thought of something, but in the end he said nothing, only saying lightly, "It's good that you're awake."

Xu Xiaoyan smiled and unzipped her backpack, pulling out a bulging, fully-filled transparent plastic bag.

When the golden and tempting pumpkin cakes inside were revealed, Wang Xiao and Xie Yingtang's eyes lit up.

"Here, try the finished pumpkin pancakes," Xu Xiaoyan said, handing over the bag.

Wang Xiao couldn't wait to reach out and grab one.

Xie Yingtang also took one. The cake was slightly hard to the touch, with the unique texture of being baked, but the simple aroma that mixed the aroma of pumpkin caramel and the original flavor of grains went straight into his nose.

Wang Xiao took a bite. The cake was dry on the outside and chewy on the inside. As he chewed, the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and the aroma of baking filled his mouth. It was much more delicious than the dry, hard, and tough food he had eaten before.

His eyes widened instantly, and he let out a delighted "Mmm!" before swallowing the small biscuit in a few bites. He then jumped up excitedly on the spot.

"Holy crap! This tastes amazing! Xiao Yan, you're incredible! With this, we'll never have to worry about running out of food while traveling again! It's simply delicious!"

Watching him bounce around like a monkey, Xie Yingtang shook his head helplessly, took a bite of the pancake in his hand, chewed slowly, and showed a satisfied look in his eyes.

But he habitually complained to Wang Xiao, "Hey monkey, stop jumping around! What happened to your composure? Can't you be a little more dignified?"

When the long-unheard nickname "Monkey" came out, Wang Xiao's face immediately changed. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he let out a howl and pounced on Xie Yingtang, "Old Xie, how dare you call me by my nickname!"

"I'll beat you up!" He jumped onto Xie Yingtang's back and lightly punched his shoulders and back with his fists.

Xie Yingtang seemed to be used to it, carrying him steadily on his back, letting him make a fuss, and even a barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

While enduring Wang Xiao's "rage," he glanced at the four remaining pumpkins and five dried biscuits beside him and asked:

"Xiaoyan, I see there's still some food left. Did we run out of water?"

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, her tone tinged with regret, "That's right, two bottles of water are just enough to finish this. Speaking of which, if only we could find two more bottles of water..."

With the remaining pumpkins and pancakes, I estimate I can make another two hundred or so pumpkin pancakes. Besides, we haven't even solved our drinking water problem yet.

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet when water was mentioned.

Wang Xiao and Xie Yingtang simultaneously weighed the half-empty water bottles in the side pockets of their backpacks. The bottles felt light, indicating that they had already used up most of their water from the long journey.

In the silence, Wang Xiao suddenly slapped his thigh as if grasping at a lifeline, and looked anxiously at Xie Yingtang:

"Yingtang! I remember now!"

When the two of us and those guys came here to admire the lotus flowers before, didn't someone jokingly say they wanted to have a picnic by some stream nearby?

They even warmly invited us to come!

I had an upset stomach from eating the wrong things back then, and I was in so much pain that I was dying. So you turned it down for me right away. Do you remember that?

Do you remember which stream they were talking about?

Xie Yingtang frowned as he listened to the barrage of questions, trying to recall that dusty past.

He thought for a long time, and finally shook his head, with a hint of uncertainty:

"You were wailing and howling like a banshee at that time, and I was so busy taking care of you that I didn't have the mind to listen carefully to what place names they were talking about."

I don't quite remember what we talked about, but it seems like... we mentioned a stream near some scenic area, but I have no recollection of the exact location.

The trail seemed to have gone cold.

Xu Xiaoyan, who had been listening quietly, took out the smartwatch from her pocket, operated it for a few moments, then looked up at Wang Xiao and asked calmly:

"Don't rush, Wang Xiao. Is this lotus pond famous? If someone develops it, they should give it a name. Do you remember what it's called?"

When you arrived, did you notice any obvious road signs nearby, or know which village this land belongs to? We need a more accurate location.

"I know the name of the lotus pond!" Wang Xiao replied immediately. "It's called 'Quyuan Lotus,' which sounds quite elegant, right? That's what they advertised back then. As for the village name..."

He scratched his head, trying to recall, "This area seems to be under the jurisdiction of Huangcun, but Huangcun is quite far from here."

"Lotus in Quyuan Garden..." Xu Xiaoyan entered this keyword but found nothing.

Entering "Huangcun" again, the location appeared, but it was still futile as it didn't reveal the current location.

Her fingers slid back and forth across the screen of her watch, zooming in and out; the electronic map had limited detail.

Adding to the possibility of discrepancies, even with a diligent search of nearby waterways, no stream markers matching the description were found, except for a few poorly marked and distant main river channels.

An atmosphere of anxiety quietly spread in the silence.