Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Just as she was about to look up and explain the situation, Wang Xiao suddenly turned his head and looked at Xie Yingtang in a tone that was both uncertain and excited:

"Wait! Yingtang, are we stupid? The Huangsha Town market we're going to is right by the river! I remember it clearly, the market stretches along the riverbank!"

These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky, instantly exploding between the three people, and the air seemed to freeze.

Xu Xiaoyan's finger, which was swiping the screen, paused, and Xie Yingtang's expression, which was about to say something, also froze on his face.

Even Wang Xiao himself, after saying those words, belatedly widened his eyes, his face filled with the absurdity of "How could we not have thought of that before?"

For a moment, the three of them looked at each other in silence, with only the occasional crackling of the campfire. An awkward feeling, a mixture of astonishment, realization, and a touch of self-deprecation, lingered in the air.

Previously, they were so focused on finding an independent water source near the lotus pond that they were completely stuck in a fixed mindset.

They completely overlooked the most distinctive feature of their final destination—it was a small town built along a river!

Xu Xiaoyan was the first to recover from the dramatic silence. She took a deep breath, suppressing the mixed feelings of amusement and exasperation, and spoke with a hint of confirmation in her voice:

"So...we don't actually need to blindly search for water here. There's a water source in Huangsha Town market, so our drinking water problem will be solved once we get there, right?"

She paused, looked at Xie Yingtang, and asked the crucial question, "Approximately how far is the Huangsha Town market from here?"

Xie Yingtang quickly composed himself, regaining his usual calm. After a moment's thought, he replied confidently:

"If you follow the main road normally and don't encounter any unexpected delays, it should take about five hours to get there."

Five hours—this number gave Xu Xiaoyan a real jolt of energy.

She picked up a heavy pumpkin, weighed it in her hand, and said:

"Carrying so much stuff for five hours would be too tiring. Why don't we roast this biggest pumpkin now and have it for dinner?"

"We'll eat another one tomorrow morning, so when we set off we only need to carry some lotus root and the last two pumpkins to the market to trade."

She paused, then continued, "As for most of the lotus roots we've hidden, once we reach the market, find suitable trading partners, and reach a preliminary agreement, we'll bring them directly here."

Even if they realize that the lotus pond next door might be the source, so what?

This actually proves that we only have so much 'inventory', and there's nothing more. The only thing we need to guard against is them changing their minds after seeing the actual goods and trying to snatch them by force.

After listening, Xie Yingtang thought for a moment and said:

"When we go to the market in Huangsha Town to trade, we must insist that the other party only allow two or three people to accompany us to the hiding place to pick up the goods. If the number of people is equal, they will not dare to make a move easily."

Once the transaction is complete, we'll take the goods and run immediately, without lingering, to avoid being surrounded by more people, at which point we won't be able to escape even if we want to.

Wang Xiao rubbed his hands excitedly, "That's right! Let them think we emptied our coffers to make this deal! Let's do it!"

The three of them quickly roasted the large pumpkin and shared it. The hot pumpkin flesh helped to dispel some of the chill.

After a short rest, they went down into the lotus pond again, and by the faint moonlight and by touch, they groped among the withered lotus stems.

Time slipped away in the silent, mechanical repetition of labor.

Around 3 a.m., Xu Xiaoyan felt that she had thoroughly reviewed the area she was responsible for twice, and it seemed that all the lotus roots she could sense and that were worth collecting had been incorporated into her space.

She quietly returned to the shore, and under the cover of night, took out about twenty decent-looking lotus roots from her spatial storage, casually piled them on the edge of the pond, and disguised them as if they had just been dug up.

Then, she carefully walked along the slippery pond bank toward the covered bridge in the center of the lotus pond. Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao were still busy in the outer area they were in charge of, their figures indistinct in the dim light.

"Brother Xie, Wang Xiao," she called in a low voice, and only continued after the two looked up:

"I've checked around there twice, and it feels like the bottom is empty; there aren't any decent lotus roots left. How's the situation on your end?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiao scrambled through the mud and pointed to the last area closest to the main road:

"We still have a small patch left to explore. Xiaoyan, you go ashore first and rest at that shabby little hut. Once we've cleaned up this mess, we'll head to the Huangsha Town market."

Xu Xiaoyan looked at him with some surprise, then glanced at Xie Yingtang, who was still silently bending over and groping in the distance:

"Are you leaving right away? Aren't you planning to get some sleep before you go? You've been working all night."

Wang Xiao revealed a smug look and chuckled, "Sleep? I used to be a master at playing games all night long, this is nothing, a piece of cake!"

"It's Old Xie, isn't it?" He deliberately dragged out his words, winking at Xie Yingtang. "Old bones and limbs, probably not good enough, probably won't make it."

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Yingtang's clear, emotionless reply came from afar: "Spreading rumors and slander behind someone's back will come at a price."

Clearly, even from a distance, he was keeping an eye on what was happening here.

Wang Xiao didn't care at all, and even made a face at them before turning back to ask Xu Xiaoyan seriously:

"Never mind him, let's get serious. After we finish harvesting here, we'll put most of the lotus roots into the storage area."

Then we set off immediately, trying to travel as far as possible before dawn. Xiaoyan, are you alright? Can you hold on?

Although Xu Xiaoyan felt physically tired, her mind was in a state of excitement due to her anticipation of the transaction.

She nodded, a relaxed smile on her face, and jokingly echoed Wang Xiao's earlier words, "No problem at all, after all, I'm young."

Her words were loaded with meaning, and Wang Xiao immediately understood. The two exchanged a glance and chuckled in unison.

After Wang Xiao and Xie Yingtang finished cleaning the last section of lotus roots, the three of them quickly counted their final harvest.

In addition to the twenty lotus roots that Xu Xiaoyan had placed on the shore earlier, Wang Xiao and Xie Yingtang successively brought up more than thirty other lotus root sections in good condition.

"That's about it," Xie Yingtang wiped the mud off his face with his arm. "We'll set up a hiding place for this part, take Xiaoyan's pile of lotus roots and two pumpkins, and set off immediately."

They simply rinsed their hands, feet, and faces with the relatively clean water from the pond, and washed twenty lotus root sections in the pond water.

Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao each put a pumpkin in their backpacks, and then each of them picked up seven lotus root sections, while Xu Xiaoyan only needed to be responsible for the remaining six lotus root sections.