Chapter 45 - 44: Fate’s Favor

Chapter 45: Chapter 44: Fate’s Favor

Zhou Qian looked a little tired after not seeing her for a few days. However, upon seeing Huai Yu, a smile cracked his stiff face. "Little Yu, what brings you here? Oh! You bought a bike?" he exclaimed, noticing her vintage heavy-duty bicycle.

"Yeah," Huai Yu replied with a smile. "A relative helped me out."

Zhou Qian didn’t pry into which relative it was. Looking at Huai Yu, he knew that only a reliable family could raise such a sweet and well-behaved girl. Then, a realization hit him, and he looked slightly remorseful. "Those zaozi you gave me last time weren’t bought for just a few points, were they? You live alone; you can’t be doing things like this anymore."

He chuckled. "Come on, tell me what you want. It’s on me."

"You’ve already taken great care of me, Captain!" Huai Yu shook her head. She took off her basket and pulled out the flashlight. "I forgot to return this, but it still has power."

Zhou Qian had actually forgotten about the flashlight too. He wanted to tell her to just keep it, but then he remembered she lived in the Rose Corridor and had no way to charge it. He silently took it back.

After a thought, he asked, "Do you want a solar lamp? It won’t work on rainy days like this, but it’s very convenient in the long run."

Huai Yu’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Zhou Qian laughed happily. "Alright. What else do you need? The trading market is too far from here, and it’s not safe for you to buy too many things alone. Just tell me."

If it weren’t for the fact that she had too many purified items, Huai Yu really would have liked to come here to trade all the time. It was a pity she couldn’t. However, coming every now and then was perfectly fine!

She happily counted on her fingers. "Paper and pens, lighters, a shoe brush, stainless steel basins, buckets, an umbrella, clothes hangers, ropes..." After a moment of thought, she added, "A cutting board."

She was too weak, and her multi-purpose shovel wasn’t exactly an axe; she couldn’t hack out a cutting board herself. Plus, chopping vegetables on green bricks was terrible for the knife’s edge. She wondered if two hundred points would be enough for all this. Remembering the solar lamp, she quickly added, "If I don’t have enough points, I’ll just come back and trade for the rest next time."

Zhou Qian smiled again, his gaze softening as he looked at her. He could almost picture her working like a little ant, slowly and diligently building up her home bit by bit. She was so sweet. For a moment, a wave of fatherly affection washed over him. His heart melted completely as he noted down every item she requested and quickly got someone to fetch them.

Looking around, Huai Yu asked with feigned casualness, "Captain, why has this place changed?"

Zhou Qian hesitated for a moment. Seeing how defenseless she looked, he lowered his voice and warned her. "You’ve been listening to the morning broadcasts, right? An inmate escaped from the Third Prison recently. We’ve been setting up defenses and tightening the net, but on the second day of the rainstorm, his corpse suddenly appeared at the camp’s entrance.

"We increased our security because of this.

"Little Yu, don’t get careless just because you live in the Rose Corridor. The fugitive was killed by someone—maybe an Explorer, maybe something else. Regardless, the fact that he was killed and dumped at this camp proves he was hiding nearby.

"It’s a good thing he was killed. Otherwise, with the strange movements in the surrounding forests that day drawing everyone’s attention, you would have been in great danger all alone in the Rose Corridor.

"Remember, the Rose Corridor hates conflict and gore. Once provoked, it will indiscriminately attack everyone. If you’re ever in danger, run away immediately!"

Zhou Qian spoke with utmost gravity, his eyes filled with concern. Looking at Huai Yu’s seemingly clueless expression, he sighed. "If things get too tough, you should move back to the city and live with your relatives. They seem to treat you very well." After all, what ordinary relative would give her both a bicycle and zaozi with such low Mutant Values?

Huai Yu shook her head. After a brief hesitation, she said, "Don’t worry, Captain. My... family says I have a very weak Wood Ability and decent Plant Affinity. So if there’s danger and I run to the edge of the Rose Corridor, it most likely won’t hurt me."

Zhou Qian was stunned. He didn’t have a Superpower himself; like many in the Defense Army, he only had enhanced physical attributes. Hearing this put his mind at ease. "That’s good, then."

He sighed inwardly, thinking it was a shame that such a young girl had what sounded like a complicated family situation. Meanwhile, Huai Yu couldn’t help but think of Lin Xuefeng, remembering how casually he had crushed the violent felon’s skull. She let out a silent sigh.

But soon, she pulled a plastic bag out of her basket. "Captain, this is some fried noodles I made yesterday. I brought you a bowl!"

"No need!" Zhou Qian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Do you know how expensive flour is right now? Keep it for yourself. We eat very well here..."

But Huai Yu pressed her palms together and looked at him pleadingly. "But I just want to thank you..."

Zhou Qian was speechless. He let out an awkward cough.

He really couldn’t resist that look at all! A sudden wave of fatherly resignation washed over him as he looked at the bag of fried noodles. He guessed it was probably only about a hundred grams. The most expensive flour on the market was likely over thirty points a pound now. He reasoned that since Huai Yu even had a bicycle, he might as well accept the gift.

He took the bag just as the logistics staff enthusiastically brought out the items. The silver-white solar desk lamp immediately caught Huai Yu’s eye! She stared at it, unable to look away in her sheer delight.

Her pure, childlike emotion was infectious, bringing a smile to Zhou Qian’s face. "Here’s the solar lamp, a shoe brush, a notebook, two ballpoint pens, a thirty-meter bundle of plastic rope, and two fifty-liter buckets with lids.

"I also got you this. A heavy wooden cutting board would be hard for you to use, so I swapped it for a resin one.

"Five lighters. These two are windproof.

"A set of three stainless steel basins... they’ll make cooking easier.

"The umbrella is a bit heavy, but it’s sturdy. You won’t have to worry about strong winds.

"And a pack of five clothes hangers."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Since I took so many of your things, I threw in a thermal water bottle for you today. Don’t worry, it’s slightly defective, so it didn’t cost many points. Just take it."

Buckets stacked inside buckets, basins nested inside basins—Zhou Qian deftly packed everything into the large basket, organizing it all neat and tidy.

"Ah," Huai Yu said softly. "I might not have enough points..."

Zhou Qian’s expression didn’t change. "It’s not that much. The total is two hundred points. Just take them for now. If you don’t have enough, I’ll cover the rest, and you can pay me back slowly when you have more."

Huai Yu obediently hugged the large basket. It was so big that her thin arms, with her wrists poking out of her wide sleeves, couldn’t wrap all the way around it. She looked down at the basket, then up at Zhou Qian. Her heart felt warm, and tears pricked her eyes.

Life in this era was supposed to be so difficult, yet she was incredibly lucky to meet such genuine and sincere people. She no longer harbored any complaints about this world; fate had already favored her enough.

Meeting Zhou Qian’s inquiring gaze, she silently brought out her wristband and murmured, "Thank you, Captain."