Chapter 265 - 232: Convoy

Chapter 265: Chapter 232: Convoy

The appointments and arrangements of the higher-ups in the Guard Army had absolutely nothing to do with an ordinary person like Huai Yu.

Right now, she was just staring up at the rows of sunflowers behind the house, tears silently sliding from the corners of her eyes.

"What’s wrong?" Zhou Qian was in the bamboo forest tunnel helping to chop eggplants. When he looked up and saw the tears in her eyes, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

Huai Yu wiped her tears. "It’s too blinding. Can we even crack its seeds to eat later?"

Zhou Qian fell silent.

He silently glanced at the sunflower petals, which reflected the sunlight like mirrors, and then at Kuang Biao, who had been unusually quiet and dead inside lately. He hesitantly advised, "Sunflower seeds aren’t filling anyway, and they’re so small... Maybe we should just forget about it.

"I heard from my comrades that there’s a mutated sunflower seed on the market in the North District right now. If you try to crack one, it will fight you, and the kernel will prick your tongue like a sword... I’ll ask around later and see if I can buy some."

Huai Yu felt bitterly frustrated. "I’m just craving a snack! I’m not looking for a fight."

Who could she possibly beat in a fight anyway!

Now, she could only stare wistfully at the sunflowers. "Little Kui, since you’re not dating anymore, will you still produce seeds?"

Unfortunately, Little Kui could only express basic emotions; it couldn’t speak. Ever since it burned Kuang Biao, it had grown increasingly cold and hard. Nowadays, it completely ignored everyone.

But that was fine. Even though Little Kui—which was the largest and looked like it had the most seeds—didn’t respond, there were still many ordinary sunflowers around. As long as Huai Yu worked hard to purify them, the ones affected by the polluted rain would become edible too.

With that thought, Huai Yu let go of her obsession.

Glancing at the rows of dried vegetables sunning by the door, she turned to Zhou Qian. "Can we call Sister Chen Xing to drive over and pick up the goods at the end of the month?"

Zhou Qian looked down at the eggplants at hand. "How long will these take?"

Huai Yu did some quick math. "Sun-dry them for two days, then pickle them... about half a month."

She wouldn’t be idle during this half-month, either. It would be time to sun-dry the fermented soybeans. If they brought those along when they went to the Wilderness, they would be delicious in wraps.

Thinking about the twenty-eight thousand points she had just managed to save up, as well as the steady consumption of various expensive ingredients, Huai Yu shook the salt bag. "We need to buy salt again."

Zhou Qian nodded. "Alright, we’ll go to the Golden Yuan District tomorrow morning. You have to come too. You haven’t been out for nearly half a month; just listening to the radio means you’ll miss a lot of news. Flower City recently got a new Garrison. I wonder if there will be any new policies."

Although the Guard Army didn’t—and couldn’t—interfere with civilian affairs, the place they lived was far too close to the Rose Corridor and the Wilderness, so they still needed to pay attention.

However, Zhou Qian frowned. He wondered why the name of that Commander mentioned on the radio, Bai Yu, sounded somewhat familiar to him.

Just as he finished speaking, his ears twitched. He seemed to hear the continuous roar of car engines.

A motorcade...

It was only July. Did the Defense Army have another deployment mission?

He dropped the eggplant in his hand, leaving behind a quick, "I’m going to take a look!" before hurrying up the gentle slope ahead. That rise prevented people on the road from spying on Huai Yu’s house with binoculars, but it also blocked Zhou Qian’s own line of sight.

Huai Yu felt a bit gloomy. "I didn’t hear anything..."

But she wanted to see the commotion too, so after a moment’s hesitation, she ran after him.

The July sun was so scorching it felt like it could burn off a layer of skin. Zhou Qian had grown increasingly tanned during this period. Only Huai Yu—even though she was running and panting like a broken bellows, her cheeks flushed and burning hot—would revert to her snow-white complexion after just one night.

Right now, as she stood panting beside Zhou Qian, he pressed a hand to the top of her head and pushed her down the slope. "You’re too conspicuous!"

"I want to see too!" She struggled, using her hands and feet to climb higher. But the large hand on her head was pressing down hard. Looking like a turtle whose head was being held back from poking out of its shell, her efforts proved completely futile.

Finally, Zhou Qian relented, loosening his grip to let her carefully peek over the top.

"Huh, this isn’t a Defense Army motorcade?"

"Yeah," Zhou Qian nodded. "That’s why I said you were too conspicuous."

If it were the Defense Army, they wouldn’t mind civilians watching from the sidelines since they didn’t take on covert missions. After all, whenever they deployed, nine times out of ten it was a mission to the Wilderness. The casualty rate for those missions was staggeringly high. If family members waiting by the roadside couldn’t even get a single glance, it was highly likely they might never see them again.

But Huai Yu’s skin was incredibly fair, and she was wearing white clothing. She had zero camouflage out here on the hill. When facing an unfamiliar motorcade, it was better to be cautious.

The hand pressing down on her head grew a bit heavier. "It’s the Guard Army."

There were golden crests on the vehicles’ bodies.

Huai Yu was speechless. She hadn’t seen the Guard Army before! She really wanted to look!

[Yuyu peeking.gif]

Vehicle after vehicle coated in a special silvery-white paint drove past. The golden crests on them contained special reflective particles designed to be captured by signal scans as much as possible, even out in the Wilderness. Now, accompanied by the roar of the engines, Zhou Qian realized that this was likely the newly arrived Commander and her direct subordinates.

"Do they sell cars like this?" Huai Yu eventually poked her head out completely, her eyes full of admiration. "I want one."

"Keep dreaming," Zhou Qian replied, his expression unchanged.

"Is it really possible?" Huai Yu grew excited. "It’s so pretty! And so spacious! I’d be willing to pay an extra ten thousand for it! I could transport so many vegetables!"

She thought about it for a second and added, "Twenty thousand... that works too! I’ll buy it in the future!"

The supply of this special paint was limited and was currently prioritized exclusively for the Guard Army. The vehicles Huai Yu usually saw were either the eye-catching fleets of the Defense Army or the motley assortment of red, yellow, and blue cars at the highway entrances. Their main priority was simply being conspicuous enough in the Wilderness.

Now, looking at this pristine and polished Guard Army motorcade, it felt like squatting in a beggar’s den and suddenly spotting Snow White. How could she not be tempted?

Zhou Qian scoffed. "I told you to keep dreaming, and you really went ahead and dreamt! Why don’t you go down there and ask them how many tens of thousands they’d sell it to you for?"

Huai Yu pouted. She wasn’t an idiot!

She angrily yanked Zhou Qian’s hand off her head. "If I can’t buy it, just say so! Is this my fault? It’s clearly just because it’s been too short a time, so I haven’t earned enough points yet!"

She waved her hand domineeringly. "Otherwise, I’d offer a million points! They’d definitely be willing to sell it then."

Zhou Qian considered this and actually nodded. "If they wouldn’t sell it for a million points, that would indeed be a bit foolish."

A million points would be enough for them to build twenty more vehicles.

"But what is the Guard Army doing here?" Huai Yu grew excited. "Are they heading to the Wilderness?"

"No." Zhou Qian shook his head. He couldn’t help but look at her again. He wondered why she was so excited when she had neither a car nor the ability to keep up even if the Guard Army did go to the Wilderness.

Still, he answered, "Didn’t you listen to the radio? The new Commander has arrived in Flower City. They’re probably here to communicate and familiarize themselves with the Defense Army side to facilitate later defense deployments and clearance missions."

However, Huai Yu asked curiously, "Is a Commander in the Guard Army a very high position?"