Chapter 25 – Extreme Heat and Solar Flare

Jiang Linhai hesitated, then glanced at the father and daughter pair with cracked lips. He said, “Wait a moment.”

“Si Si, Lu Zhifeng wants to trade for water. Should we give him some?”

Jiang Si thought for a moment. “We can give a bit, but water is precious. See what he offers in exchange.”

Most people around them were already dead, but that didn’t mean there weren’t hidden dangers.

Anyone who could survive this long was no ordinary person.

They had to be especially cautious about revealing how much supplies they really had.

Jiang Linhai brought out the items Lu Zhifeng had previously left and said, “Our whole family barely has enough to drink. If you want to trade for water, what do you have to offer?”

Lu Zhifeng pulled out some bullets from his bag and said, “Thirty rounds. In exchange for two buckets of water.”

Jiang Linhai frowned. “No, only one bucket of water. And you’ll need to add another thirty rounds.”

“Most people are dead. Bullets are only good for hunting now—if there’s even anything left to hunt. Forget it, then.”

Lu Zhifeng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and pulled out thirty more rounds. “Fine, we’ll trade!”

Jiang Linhai took the bullets, then went inside and brought out a bucket of water.

Lu Zhifeng and Niuniu’s eyes filled with tears. They immediately crouched down like cattle or horses, gulping the water frantically, afraid to waste even a drop of the hard-earned liquid.

Even so, they didn’t dare drink their fill. Once their thirst eased slightly, they quickly stood back up.

Lu Zhifeng asked, “Do you have any large sealed containers for holding water?”

Jiang Linhai found two big plastic buckets for them and also brought a ladle. Lu Zhifeng gratefully accepted them. He and Niuniu carefully filled the buckets, hopeful smiles on their faces.

As a father himself, Jiang Linhai respected Lu Zhifeng’s determination and casually asked, “Are you planning to go looking for water?”

Lu Zhifeng’s expression stiffened. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, “Yeah, we have to. When the time comes… would you mind helping look after Niuniu?”

Even before the apocalypse, the forest had been full of unknown dangers. Lu Zhifeng didn’t want to risk taking Niuniu with him.

Before Jiang Linhai could answer, Niuniu clung to Lu Zhifeng’s leg and cried out, “I want to stay with Dad! Wherever you go, I go! I can shoot—I’ll protect you!”

Looking into her tearful eyes, Lu Zhifeng couldn’t bring himself to hand her off. He patted her head. “Okay, you’ll come with me.”

Niuniu broke into a smile through her tears.

Lu Zhifeng turned back to Jiang Linhai. “Tomorrow night, Niuniu and I will go look for water. If you’re coming too, I’ll come find you then.”

Jiang Linhai wasn’t sure what Jiang Si planned—after all, they weren’t out of water just yet.

Suddenly, Dahei and Xiaohei started barking wildly, baring their teeth and trembling all over.

Jiang Si quickly pulled the family inside and locked the door, raising her pistol and listening closely.

Other than the dogs barking, the house fell completely silent.

“Is anyone there?”

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out.

Dahei and Xiaohei immediately tucked their tails and hid under Jiang Linhai’s legs, trembling in fear.

They hadn’t even acted this scared during the rat or mosquito swarms.

The whole family realized it was the neighbor, Qin Shen.

Jiang Si pressed her back to the door and peered through the peephole. He was dressed in a vest and shorts woven from dried grass, carrying a dozen bamboo tubes on his back. She asked coldly, “What do you want?”

Qin Shen raised one of the bamboo tubes. “Trade for water?”

He had water?

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

Niuniu shook Lu Zhifeng’s arm excitedly. “Dad, he has water too!”

Another source to trade with.

Jiang Si, wary of deception, opened the outer door but kept the gate shut. She reached out with a bowl. “Pour some out for us to see.”

Qin Shen removed the stopper from the bamboo tube and poured water until the bowl was full.

Jiang Si examined it carefully—it was clean water.

Judging by his wild-man look, he must’ve found this source recently, not from stored supplies.

The underground spring she knew about was at least an hour round trip.

Qin Shen couldn’t have returned that fast. Could he have found another source nearby?

Jiang Si’s eyes lit up. She asked, “We’ll trade for the water. But can you also tell us where the water source is?”

Lu Zhifeng clenched his fists excitedly.

Qin Shen replied seriously, “It’s dangerous there.”

But not having water—that was truly dangerous.

Lu Zhifeng couldn’t wait. “That’s fine! We’ll go!”

Qin Shen seemed to think for a moment. “There are seven of you. Plus two dogs outside. If you want the location of the water source—what will you trade?”

Lu Zhifeng blurted out, “I can give you clothes and shoes.”

Qin Shen shook his head. “I want food and medicine.”

Giving firearms to someone you couldn’t fully trust was even more dangerous than being short on water.

And Qin Shen was clearly a strong and capable man. If he had weapons, he’d be even more dangerous.

Lu Zhifeng hesitated—but not for long.

“I’ll give you a hunting rifle and two boxes of bullets.”

He had saved those to ensure Niuniu’s survival.

He couldn’t risk missing the chance to learn where the water was.

“But you have to take me to the source personally. I’ll give you the bullets when we get back.”

Qin Shen agreed without hesitation. “Deal.”

Jiang Si could only trade food and medicine.

“Five hundred jin of rice.”

That was enough to feed Qin Shen for a long time.

She was lowballing the offer.

But at a time like this, he was lucky anyone would give him food at all.

Qin Shen looked at her, his deep eyes reminding her of what had happened earlier that day.

Jiang Si suddenly felt a little guilty and quickly added, “And a few sets of clothes, too? I really can’t spare more food—we have so many people to feed.”

Qin Shen nodded. “Deal.” Then said to the group, “I’ll wait here for you tomorrow night.” He took all the bamboo tubes off his back and handed them to Jiang Si. “Can I trade these for a cooking pot?”

Lu Zhifeng wanted to speak up and offer a trade but held back, since he’d get water tomorrow.

A single pot was nothing.

Jiang Si asked her mother to bring a pot used for cooking noodles. She opened the gate and exchanged items with him.

The bamboo tubes filled with water were heavy. Jiang Si couldn’t carry them all.

Qin Shen, knowing they were still wary of him, placed them by the gate and walked away with the pot.

His decisive nature was… kind of charming.

After Qin Shen left, Lu Zhifeng made two trips to carry everything home before finally retrieving Niuniu.

Jiang Si poured the water from the bamboo tubes into the cistern, setting the tubes aside to use as firewood.

Jiang Linhai squatted down, curiously picked up a piece of bamboo, then exclaimed, “Si Si, look! The claw marks on this bamboo are huge!”

Jiang Si leaned in—the marks on the cut bamboo were larger than a bear’s paw, and every tube had similar marks.

Jiang Linhai speculated, “When Qin Shen said it was dangerous, could he have meant there’s a fierce beast guarding the water source?”