Chapter 4: Lump

Li Qingzhi held his eyes closed, beginning to feel his own body.

His body was extremely weak, almost as weak as when he was starving to death in the apocalypse.

The quarry didn’t consider people like the original owner of this body as human at all. They not only made them work hard from dawn till dusk but also only gave them bean dregs and rice bran to eat. Many people who were taken in ended up dying after working for a few years.

The original owner had also been beaten several times for trying to escape, making his body even weaker.

The original owner relied on perseverance to return to Miaoqian Village before the apocalypse. With this body, even if he received treatment from a major hospital before the apocalypse, he might not have survived.

Fortunately, he had a golden finger.

During the apocalypse, some people awakened special abilities related to healing, which could rapidly heal their own or others’ wounds and illnesses.

His golden finger wasn’t that powerful, but it could expel all the bad elements from his body one by one and even adjust his own body, keeping it in the best condition.

He could clear out all the hidden injuries and toxins in the original owner’s body.

But this would be a long process—after crossing over, his golden finger was weaker than when he first awakened in his previous life, and in this world… he was afraid it would be difficult to enhance it.

For this body to fully recover, it would take at least six months, and there needed to be enough food supply.

Look at how skinny he was! Without eating, he wouldn’t be able to gain weight!

Although it would take a long time to recover, Li Qingzhi was hopeful for the future.

Just being alive was satisfying enough for him.

Li Qingzhi controlled the energy to circulate within his body, slowly repairing it, and at the same time, began to consider his future.

At this moment, however, Li Damao and Li Ermao’s gaze fell on the ceramic jar filled with medicine residue.

Li Ermao murmured, “Brother, the medicine seems very delicious…” Their father’s expression when drinking the medicine was like he was savoring some delicacy.

“The medicine doesn’t taste good,” Li Damao replied to his younger brother.

“If it doesn’t taste good, why would dad like it?” Li Ermao said, “Although it smells bad, it might taste good.”

Hearing his younger brother’s words, Li Damao also hesitated.

“Brother, shall we taste a bit?” Li Ermao suggested.

Li Damao said, “This is for dad to eat. We can’t eat it, but… we can dip our fingers and taste a little.”

Li Qingzhi heard the conversation between the two children.

When Li Damao said they couldn’t eat it, he thought this child was more reliable than the other, but he didn’t expect this “reliable” child to immediately suggest tasting it with their fingers…

Li Qingzhi opened his eyes and saw that the two children had already put their hands into the ceramic jar, dipped some medicine juice, and put it into their mouths.

The next moment, their little black faces wrinkled together.

They were too cute!

Li Qingzhi really wanted to hug them and give them a few kisses, but he was too weak to move, so he could only watch them eagerly, then caught their surprised gazes.

Li Qingzhi smiled at them.

When he had taken the medicine, he had found that there was nothing harmful in it.

If the two children drank several jars of it, it might be harmful to them, but just tasting a little like this wouldn’t have any effect on them.

It was because of this that Li Qingzhi didn’t stop them, and then he witnessed the two children with faces wrinkled up like buns.

Unexpectedly, Li Ermao suddenly said something shocking, “Dad, have you lost your mind? How can you like such disgusting medicine?” The last time they were starving, he chewed on mulberry leaves, and his mother said he had lost his mind.

Li Damao looked worried.

Li Qingzhi: “…”

Fortunately, at this moment, Jin Xiaoye came in with a large ceramic bowl.

“I cooked a bowl of noodles for you.” Jin Xiaoye came to the bedside with the bowl, first placed it on the nearby stool, and then helped Li Qingzhi up.

Li Qingzhi leaned his weak body against Jin Xiaoye’s, feeling extremely excited and elated.

It had been six whole years,

Without seeing even one living person.

At first, he dared not see anyone, fearing he would be caught and eaten. Later, it was because… there were no living people left in this world.

Perhaps because of this, he was now excited to see people and thrilled to touch them, even wishing someone would hug him all the time.

His condition was somewhat like skin hunger, but a bit more severe.

But just as living people excited him, so did food.

The smell of food brought Li Qingzhi’s attention back, and his gaze fell on the bowl of noodles.

The noodles Jin Xiaoye made were something the original owner had eaten before. They were made by mixing flour with water to form a batter, then boiling it in a pot of water and adding a bit of salt to make it ready to eat.

However, the bowl of noodles Jin Xiaoye brought today wasn’t the plain kind with just salt. This bowl of noodles had egg drop soup in it!

“My mother sent over some flour. Since you love noodles, eat more.” Jin Xiaoye picked up a piece of grayish noodle with chopsticks and brought it to Li Qingzhi’s mouth.

Miaoqian Village was located in the water town of Jiangnan. The main crops grown here were rice.

The two acres of land the original owner bought were all paddy fields suitable for growing rice.

The climate here was good, and rice could be harvested twice a year, but some families only planted rice once a year and chose to plant wheat when it got cold.

The yield of rice per acre far exceeded that of wheat, so very few families planted wheat. Jin Xiaoye’s family conditions were considered good; they had an acre of land planted with wheat, which provided some flour for making noodles.

The rice eaten by ancient farming families was mostly brown rice, and the flour was mostly whole wheat, so these noodles weren’t white, and they didn’t taste very good.

But for Li Qingzhi, who hadn’t eaten normal food in a very long time, it was already a gourmet dish.

He took a bite, and the taste of grains filled his mouth…

This was food that hadn’t gone bad or rotted!

Seeing Li Qingzhi’s expression, Jin Xiaoye felt even more heartache.

Her life with Li Damao and Li Ermao over the past few years hadn’t been easy. With the added eggs, they couldn’t afford to eat noodles more than once a year.

But seeing Li Qingzhi like this, there was no doubt that Li Qingzhi had suffered even more.

Li Damao and Li Ermao, seeing this, were incredibly envious.

They couldn’t usually afford noodles with eggs either.

“Give… give them some to eat,” Li Qingzhi said to Jin Xiaoye after taking a few bites.

He had the memories of the original owner and knew that the life of an ordinary farming family at this time was not easy.

And he was skinny, Li Damao and Li Ermao were also very thin, with their rib bones clearly visible.

Although he would have liked to finish all the food, he couldn’t bear to see the children’s eager eyes.

Jin Xiaoye said, “I left some for them. Damao Ermao, there are still two bowls in the kitchen. You guys go and eat.”

Li Damao and Li Ermao rushed out eagerly and soon came back with two small pottery bowls.

There was no egg flower in their bowls at all. Jin Xiaoye should have scooped out a bowl for each of them before adding the egg flower to the soup.

Not only that, but there was only a thumb-sized lump of dough in their bowls, and the rest was all water.

However, the two children were very satisfied, holding their bowls and eating earnestly.

Li Qingzhi felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart.

Especially him, leaning against Jin Xiaoye, felt Jin Xiaoye swallowing saliva.

“You… also eat,” Li Qingzhi said to Jin Xiaoye.

“This is for you to eat. What should I eat?” Jin Xiaoye’s voice was not small. “Hurry up and eat. I have to go out later.”

Jin Xiaoye was thinking of borrowing a millstone to grind some fried rice noodles.

Fry the rice with low heat until it is cooked, then grind it into powder with a millstone. This is the most common food for the children who have just been weaned here.

When the two children were young, there was always rice flour prepared at her house, but in the past year, the children grew up, so she stopped bothering with it.

It’s just Li Qingzhi’s situation… he’s probably unable to eat rice directly.

Boiling rice soup consumes too much firewood, and their family’s firewood is simply not enough. Grinding some rice flour is the most convenient, and it can be eaten by just soaking it in water.

Jin Xiaoye’s words sounded a bit harsh, but Li Qingzhi could feel that her words were full of concern.

Li Qingzhi lowered his head and slowly began to eat.

About the future… the first thing he had to do was to ensure that everyone in the family could fill their stomachs!

Jin Xiaoye didn’t prepare many noodles for Li Qingzhi, after all, he was sick, and his appetite shouldn’t be too good.

Therefore, without much effort, Li Qingzhi finished all the food in the bowl. He looked at the bowl in front of him, wishing he could lick the bottom of the bowl.

Unfortunately, Jin Xiaoye did not grant his wish. Seeing him finish the noodles, Jin Xiaoye put him down, instructed the two children not to go out and play, and hurriedly left.

Li Qingzhi watched her leave and then looked at the two children. “Go to bed, it’s time to sleep.”

The original owner had built two rooms, each about twenty square meters. One was for him and Jin Xiaoye, and the other was for Li Laogen.

At this moment, he was lying in the room where he and Jin Xiaoye lived. There were now many things in this room, and there were also grains stacked beside it.

Before, Jin Xiaoye and the two children must have lived in this room. As soon as Li Qingzhi’s voice fell, the two children couldn’t wait to climb onto the bed and lie down on either side of Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi held their two little hands, and his heart settled instantly.

At this moment, Li Ermao suddenly called out, “Dad!”

“Yeah,” Li Qingzhi responded.

Li Ermao suddenly became excited. “Dad!”

“Yeah,” Li Qingzhi responded again.

Li Ermao continued calling, “Daddy, daddy, daddy!”

Li Qingzhi: “…”

Li Damao, who was a bit more stable than his younger brother, also spoke up at this time, “Dad!”

Li Damao and Li Ermao were always called fatherless wild children. Now that a father suddenly appeared, the two became more and more excited and happy, calling out for their father incessantly.

Although Li Qingzhi was tired, he still responded to each call.

Jin Xiaoye was busy in the kitchen outside. She could hear the movement inside the house. As she listened, her eyes became a little red.