Yu Xifeng came to pay a visit.

After more than a week, Old Man Cai’s home had been tidied up.

The house, the front door—everything was spotless to the point where if someone rolled on the ground, they’d probably dirty the floor.

Yu Xifeng was a bit surprised. In her previous life, that Old Man Cai was as sloppy as if he had come from a beggar’s clan.

Though survivors rarely had a neat and spirited appearance, Old Man Cai’s sloppiness was among the worst.

Even dogs would shake their heads at him.

Yu Xifeng glanced at Zhang Qiu, who was bustling about, and roughly figured out who was responsible for this change.

The indoor temperature was not low, yet for some reason, Zhang Qiu still wore a mask.

Yu Xifeng felt a bit regretful; the first time outside it was too cold.

The second time, Zhang Qiu wasn’t wearing a mask, but Yu Xifeng was in pain, so even a celestial being descending to earth couldn’t catch her attention.

Still, she remembered it was a very pretty and outstanding face.

Before the apocalypse, one could at least make a living by relying on their looks.

Zhang Qiu put her bowl down on the table. Old Man Cai sniffled, looking at Yu Xifeng suspiciously, then glanced at Zhang Qiu.

He suspected Zhang Qiu was shamelessly using her looks to cozy up to Yu Xifeng for an easy life.

“My grandson’s useless. I’m sure he’s made you laugh,” Old Man Cai said.

Yu Xifeng looked up somewhat blankly, thinking Old Man Cai was being modest. “Not at all, Zhang Qiu’s quite good.”

At the very least, she looked nice and was tidy.

Hearing this, Old Man Cai became even more convinced of his suspicion, feeling completely humiliated.

He got up and rummaged for a while in the backpack by the bed, pulling out a square mirror stand carved from yellow rosewood with floral patterns.

The style was simple yet elegant.

Since Yu Xifeng had the space, she had handled quite a few antiques. Just by picking it up, she could roughly estimate its value.

This was a good piece.

Not worse than the jewelry her mother had left behind.

Old Man Cai opened the mirror case to reveal many items inside.

He nostalgically touched a moist, translucent jade bracelet.

“This has been passed down in our family for generations.”

Yu Xifeng looked and felt a pulse from her space: “This is quite an old item, with excellent clarity.”

She rarely encountered such quality in the villa when collecting items.

She also touched a golden phoenix pendant, about the size of a coin. The phoenix tail was vivid, seeming ready to spiral out from the jade base.

Just holding it was enough to please the eye.

If it were hers, she might not even want to put it into the space.

Old Man Cai had already moved to the underground shelter but still carried these valuables with him.

Clearly, these things were precious.

Yu Xifeng didn’t say anything.

Old Man Cai had so many things here, and the family’s whole move to the underground shelter meant that truly valuable items would definitely be carried along.

It was a good chance to trade some food for valuables.

Yu Xifeng was also curious about what surprises the space might bring as it evolved.

It was already a mysterious artifact; perhaps it would have unimaginable surprises later.

For now, the space had enough live supplies and territory.

Yu Xifeng wanted more flowerbeds and places like that.

She wanted to grow more vegetables to improve the piglets’ diet and grow more fruit.

Yu Xifeng thought Old Man Cai was showing these items for her to admire—or maybe to brag about his good stuff.

She looked carefully for a while and then steadily placed everything back.

To her surprise, Old Man Cai said these were a gift for her.

!!!

???

It wasn’t that she didn’t want them.

But this wasn’t reasonable.

Counting everything, including today, she and Old Man Cai had only met twice.

Even in her past life, she hadn’t been close enough with him to receive such a big gift.

She was just a wild apprentice.

Sometimes she got a bit of guidance, sometimes she was left to fend for herself.

Yu Xifeng was silent.

She wanted it, but tried to find a reasonable excuse to accept or make a trade.

Not to be modest, she did have some good things.

Except for that gun, there wasn’t much she couldn’t share.

Old Man Cai’s serious expression made Yu Xifeng’s scalp tingle.

She sipped the tea—probably the one Zhang Qiu brought last time.

At the bottom of the tea were soybeans, with a layer of sesame seeds floating on top.

Tea with food—this was Yu Xifeng’s first time eating tea like that.

It was fragrant and warmed her body.

“This is Zhang Qiu’s dowry.”

Yu Xifeng sprayed out her tea, choking dramatically.

“Grandpa!” Zhang Qiu shouted.

“Cough—cough cough—” Yu Xifeng turned aside, her face flushed red.

She couldn’t catch her breath, gasping.

How had she never realized before that Old Man Cai was so… so—

She couldn’t find the right words.

Old Man Cai looked at his grandson worriedly.

He was old now, maybe he’d kick the bucket any day.

Looking at the underground shelter, you could tell.

There weren’t many old men his age left.

Old Man He, who trained martial arts with him, starved himself to death to save food for his children.

His grandson had been fragile since birth—immediately placed in a sterile chamber for two months.

There were too many things that triggered his allergies.

Known allergens included mold spores, poplar pollen, walnut, hazelnut, mango, and almond.

More often, he would have unexplained breathing difficulties with no identifiable allergen.

Due to an immune disorder, he caught colds every time the seasons changed. For many years, he almost never stopped taking medicine.

When the heavy rain came, Old Man Cai, like most, thought it would eventually pass.

Life would return to normal.

But inside, he was anxious.

Every time medicine prices rose, he panicked.

After the rain stopped, Old Man Cai used all his money to buy medicine.

Anything he could think of that Zhang Qiu might need for illness, he bought nearly twenty years’ worth.

This was his best decision.

Of the four suitcases he brought, two were full of medicine. Most of the rest, Old Man Cai carefully wrapped layer by layer and buried somewhere.

From childhood to now, he worried too much about his grandson.

Thinking that he would leave before Zhang Qiu, he felt he wouldn’t rest in peace.

His look at Yu Xifeng was full of hope, pity for the “sucker,” and shame.

Yu Xifeng felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

Old Man Cai didn’t hide Zhang Qiu’s situation from Yu Xifeng.

Yu Xifeng glanced at Zhang Qiu; no wonder she followed Old Man Cai, who didn’t know martial arts either.

Had he died in his past life from allergies and lack of medicine?

“Is there still medicine at home?” Yu Xifeng asked.

“Yes, yes, yes. Don’t worry, the one thing I’m never short of is medicine. This is also her dowry.”

Yu Xifeng: “…”

Please, stop talking.

Her toes were almost about to build a three-room apartment from curling up so much.

This old man had gathered so much medicine, which now was a scarce resource and could be used to seek protection from the authorities.

Zhang Qiu was beautiful, and the dowry was even more astonishing.

The key point was that she was frail. If something happened to her, wouldn’t these things all become hers?

Yu Xifeng’s thoughts drifted off, but Zhang Qiu angrily dragged her back, “Grandpa, what nonsense are you talking about? Things aren’t the way you think! Xiao Yu… Yu Xifeng and I have nothing to do with each other. She’s just a young girl. Don’t act all old and arrogant.”

Exactly, exactly. Yu Xifeng straightened up.

Ridiculous.

Absolutely absurd!