Before leaving the house, the bit of joy in Zhuang Xiao’s heart had completely vanished the moment she saw the world outside.

Today, Huo Xiao wasn’t planning to go far to search for food. Yesterday had already been a vivid lesson— even if he did find something edible, given his current physical condition, he might not be able to keep it.

Besides, today he had someone with him…

Huo Xiao found a relatively quiet spot, pulled Zhuang Xiao down to crouch with him, and taught her how to use the wristwatch and what rules to follow when selecting food.

Zhuang Xiao took out the dagger Huo Xiao had prepared for her from a bundle of tattered cloth. She thought, This doesn’t look too hard. Spotting a plant that looked a lot like baby bok choy, she decided to test it.

The dagger sliced through a leaf. White sap oozed from the cut and dripped onto the wristwatch.

“Beep beep. Highly irradiated mutant. Inedible.”

Immediately, several more beeping alerts sounded from the wristwatches nearby.

“Beep beep. Highly irradiated mutant. Inedible.”
“Beep beep. Highly irradiated mutant. Inedible.”
“Beep beep. Highly irradiated mutant. Inedible.”
…

Zhuang Xiao: …

She had underestimated how brutally nature could punish humanity.

This world hadn’t just made plants unrecognizable—it had outright cut off their edibility. Compared to her world, where humans would eat anything—on land, in the water, or flying in the sky—this was a complete reversal.

Now, nature had declared its protest: You can’t eat anything.

She glanced at the calm and undeterred young man beside her and decided to leave that patch of plants behind. She turned to another patch that at least looked friendlier.

“Beep beep. Highly irradiated mutant. Contains mild neurotoxins. Inedible.”

Good grief. Not only inedible—this one might actually kill you.

Huo Xiao had said before that some people do eat highly irradiated mutants—but only when they have absolutely no other choice. Such plants could cause irreversible damage to the human body.

Eating them was like drinking poison to quench thirst. No one would willingly do it unless they had no other option.

Moderately irradiated mutants were the most commonly found food for regular people. But even “common” was relative—compared to low-radiation or radiation-free mutants, they were simply less rare.

Low-radiation mutants were equivalent to regular food—any harmful substances could be filtered out by the human body’s system. But in the wasteland, only the rich or powerful had access to this kind of food.

Even if a regular person stumbled upon some, they rarely kept it for themselves. They would sell it for points and use those points to buy nutrient solution. Though not popular, nutrient solution was the daily staple for ordinary people in the wasteland.

Even so, not everyone could afford it. Since it was highly filling, people often mixed it with moderately irradiated plants to stretch their meals.

As for the top of the wasteland food chain—that would be the radiation-free mutants, an exceedingly rare resource.

If word got out that such plants had been found in a certain area, people would flock there like tourists to a hotspot, each hoping to be the lucky one to snag a single leaf.

The idea was beautiful. Reality… not so much.

Instead of hoping for a miracle, better to crouch and test leaves properly.

Zhuang Xiao stood up and stretched her arms and legs. She casually glanced at the people nearby—everyone was fully focused, meticulously testing leaf after leaf.

She looked again at Huo Xiao not far away.

Yup. Also empty-handed.

Young man, keep working hard.

She thought about their nutrient supply, which could only last half a month. What else could she do but get back down and become a cold, emotionless cog in the machine?

Let’s try this one.

This plant looked kind of like a kalanchoe—its leaves thick and fleshy, as big as a washbasin. Nothing nearby resembled it, which already made it stand out.

“Beep beep. Moderately irradiated mutant. Edible.”

Zhuang Xiao’s eyes lit up. The surprise came completely out of the blue. With renewed energy, she quickly tested the remaining twenty or thirty leaves.

“Beep beep. Highly irradiated mutant. Inedible.”
“Beep beep. Highly irradiated mutant. Inedible.”
…

She was utterly defeated.

This was what they meant by getting a piece of candy only to be immediately punched in the face.

“Time to go.”

Zhuang Xiao looked up at the sound of the voice and saw Huo Xiao, hands empty. Well then—she wasn’t entirely useless, at least.

More people filled the streets now—likely others returning from foraging. Most of them carried one, two, or even three leaves in their hands.

Of course, there were also some, like the person beside her, who returned empty-handed.

Zhuang Xiao tugged Huo Xiao over and roughly shoved her precious leaf into his arms. “You keep it. It’s safer.”

There. Risk transfer successful!

“Let’s go home.”

Huo Xiao looked down at the leaf in his arms, carefully folded it, and placed it in the bundle of rags.

Back home, Zhuang Xiao flopped onto her straw bed, thoroughly exhausted.

She counted the twelve remaining nutrient solutions—these were her lifelines now. Thinking about how she chugged one this morning, and how she’d only managed to find one edible leaf all afternoon…

Her heart sank.

Even though she’d clung to this guy with a roof over his head, she couldn’t just expect the landlord to solve her food problem.

Besides, she hadn’t paid rent.

And aside from being her landlord, Huo Xiao was also her walking encyclopedia in this world.

For that alone, she couldn’t let her encyclopedia die.

She also thought they got along pretty well. He didn’t talk much, never questioned her origins or past.

A truly kind young man.

At dinner, Zhuang Xiao looked at the green porridge in front of her, then at the neatly arranged leaves beside it. It was obvious Huo Xiao had used his own supplies to cook the meal.

She quietly finished the green porridge, then turned and handed all her nutrient solutions to Huo Xiao.

She was afraid she might sneak some during the night if she kept them.

Huo Xiao didn’t say a word—he just packed them away carefully.

Neither of them said anything more. It was a silent agreement: they were now sharing life together.

For someone used to staying up late, lying down so early made it hard to fall asleep.

Huo Xiao sat at his workbench, concentrating on fixing the electric fan. He’d taken the job from Old Yu at the general store. The hottest weather was right around the corner.

Lots of people at the shop were also fixing old fans.

Truthfully, he was more skilled at making small non-ammo weapons, but with current conditions, he could only take on these simple repair gigs to make ends meet.

They chatted casually, off and on.

Before long, only the sound of Huo Xiao replacing parts remained.

He stood, pulled a blanket out from under the bed, gently covered Zhuang Xiao with it, then tidied up the workbench.

Lights out. Time to sleep.