As she spoke, Zhuang Xiao dug out the largest pearl with her bare hands.

Huo Xiao was still reeling from the shock of finding so many pearls when he heard Zhuang Xiao mention that one of them might contain an energy stone. He was a bit skeptical about how she came to that conclusion—but he didn’t question it.

He casually took the pearl from her hand and placed it on his wristwatch scanner. “Beep beep. Energy stone detected. Grade E. Energy value: 472.”

So it really was an energy stone.

This meant that at some point, the river clam must have accidentally swallowed an energy stone and mistook it for a piece of grit or debris, coating it over time with nacre until it became a pearl.

And after all those years, this stone still had such a high energy value—remarkable!

Who knew what its original level had been?

But there was no way to know that now.

“Wow! So it is a pearl with an energy stone!” Zhuang Xiao exclaimed. “Let’s check the others too. Who knows—maybe more of them have energy stones inside.”

She tugged on Huo Xiao’s sleeve excitedly.

The two sat down at the dining table, with the large river clam placed between them.

When she dug out the first pearl earlier, Zhuang Xiao had felt grossed out by the slimy, sticky texture.

But now that she was motivated—these were basically tiny nuggets of money—she powered through.

The clam didn’t disappoint. Altogether, they dug out 41 pearls, including the one with the energy stone.

After washing them clean, the pearls appeared in hues of white, cream, and pale pink.

Under the light, they gleamed with a smooth luster that gave off a peaceful, calming vibe.

Zhuang Xiao kept her eyes on Huo Xiao’s wristwatch as he scanned them one by one.

But, after testing them all, they didn’t find another single pearl with an energy stone.

Zhuang Xiao was a little—just a little—disappointed.

So many pearls… and only one with a stone?

But once she heard Huo Xiao estimate how much the pearls themselves might be worth, her excitement instantly shot back up.

Her big round eyes were practically twinkling with golden leaves of money.

Sell them. Sell them all!

Maybe tomorrow she could head back to the stream and look for more. She didn’t even need to get greedy—just catch another ten or so stupid river clams, and that’d be perfect.

Huo Xiao handed her the pearl that contained the energy stone and said, “Keep this one safe. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the safe zone and sell off part of the harvest. Also, we’ll handle the river shrimp and crabs.”

Zhuang Xiao took the energy stone pearl. “Let’s make it into a necklace. I’ll wear it around my neck.”

A pink pearl this big and round wasn’t something you saw every day—and it had an energy stone inside, too.

Once made into a necklace, it would be a genuine luxury item in the wasteland.

Huo Xiao thought about the radiation damage to human bodies and nodded without hesitation.

This was a good idea—carrying an energy stone close could effectively reduce radiation exposure from the sun.

Seeing him agree, Zhuang Xiao handed the pearl back to him.

Basically, whenever the necklace was done, he could give it to her.

After making proper arrangements for all of the day’s harvest…

Zhuang Xiao was ready to collapse onto her hammock—but just half a meter away from her bed, she heard Huo Xiao’s calm voice:

“You haven’t done your target practice today…”

In another half month, the safe zone would start organizing people to collect wheat.

With Zhuang Xiao’s current physical condition, she wouldn’t be able to handle even basic gathering tasks, let alone emergencies.

Zhuang Xiao turned around with a face full of grievance and lifted her foot—the one “injured” by the crab earlier.

The message was obvious: See? It’s not that I don’t want to train, I’m injured. I’ve got a workplace injury!

But Huo Xiao’s next words snuffed out her budding laziness:

“You don’t need your feet for this.”

Zhuang Xiao: …

She wanted to argue again, but after meeting Huo Xiao’s calm, stern gaze… she chickened out.

Fine. A smart girl knows when to back down.

She consoled herself in her heart: it’s not that she was being lazy, it was just that her legs weren’t cooperating.

Thinking back on the past few days, the fact that she was still alive was already a miracle.

So, dragging her reluctant legs, she picked up the wrist-mounted crossbow and began humming that same old tune:

“Little cabbage, wilting in the field… pick up the bowl, and the tears start to fall…”

Huo Xiao heard her mournful little song and shook his head in exasperation as he turned back to fixing the broken fan.

If he finished it tonight, they could bring it to the safe zone tomorrow.

At first, Zhuang Xiao was still sulking a bit—but after missing the target with dozens of bolts in a row, her mood shifted.

With aim like this, did it even matter if she had a weapon or not?

Her stubbornness kicked in. She suddenly remembered how Huo Xiao had shot that mutated dove right in the eye with a single bolt—and that was a moving target!

Meanwhile, she was just practicing on a stationary one—and after two whole days, she still hadn’t landed a single shot.

The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she felt.

So she focused harder during practice, and her aim visibly improved—at least now she could actually hit the target.

By the time Huo Xiao finished fixing the fan and came back out, he saw Zhuang Xiao still there, practicing over and over again.

He could even see the slight tremble in her arms.

“Too much of anything is no good. That’s enough for today…”

As soon as he called it off, Zhuang Xiao zipped past him like the wind—off came the shoes, up on the bed, blankets pulled over her, all in one fluid motion.

She was exhausted.

Never in her life had she suffered so much.

Huo Xiao stood at the door, turned off the lights, and added faintly, “We’re doing physical training tomorrow morning.”

Zhuang Xiao: …

---

The next morning, Zhuang Xiao woke up with two huge dark circles under her eyes.

She hadn’t slept well at all. All night, her dreams were filled with mutated beasts chasing her—or worse, devouring her. And in the end, every single beast’s face turned into Huo Xiao’s.

It was… horrifying.

But even in that state, Huo Xiao still didn’t go easy on her.

So, they started with something simple and effective: the horse stance.

It builds explosive strength and endurance in the legs, helps train coordination and flexibility, and improves overall physical condition.

The best part? It didn’t require space or equipment.

Perfect for people like them in the slums.

But within five minutes, Zhuang Xiao’s legs were already trembling. Every muscle from the waist down seemed to be rebelling, refusing to stay put.

In the end, she managed to hold out for ten minutes—only because of Huo Xiao’s terrifying stare.

Compared to this, target practice had been a walk in the park.

Still, thinking about those beasts from her dream, she had to admit—yeah, her fitness seriously needed work.

Breakfast was the same old formula, same old taste.

But today, it somehow tasted especially sweet.

While they ate, Huo Xiao shared the day’s plan: first, go find Yan Ming and the others. Then head to the safe zone to sell off yesterday’s river catch.

He also brought up handling the pearls.

Of course, Zhuang Xiao had no objections—mostly because she didn’t have any useful suggestions either.