Chapter 100: The Ladder Over the Ditch Is Gone

Shi Yuebai didn’t hear a word of what Liang Yimo was saying.

Her eyes were fixed on the backpack slung over Liang Yimo’s shoulder.

Just now, Liang Yimo had taken out two boxes of children’s scallion planting kits from that bag.

But the backpack was still bulging, clearly holding plenty more inside.

Liang Yimo, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to Shi Yuebai’s greedy intentions.

He simply continued explaining about Pang Zhenggong.

From Liang Yimo’s explanation, it was obvious that he and his search-and-rescue excavation team had all agreed on the same story.

They were sticking to their guns: they’d never seen Pang Zhenggong.

As for what Ah Hong had said about Pang Zhenggong coming to them and wanting a share of the team’s equipment—

Liang Yimo brushed that off lightly as well.

Liang Yimo had a baby face, and though he was actually quite old, he looked harmless.

“Ah Zheng is our brother. None of us want to split up with him, let alone harm him.”

Liang Yimo offered a half-hearted explanation, his attitude perfunctory and his words full of holes.

Because deep down, Liang Yimo had never taken Shi Yuebai, nor Ah Hong and Pang Ziyuan behind her, seriously.

He figured as long as he gave them some kind of answer, Shi Yuebai and Ah Hong would just accept it.

In the wasteland, there were too many things that couldn’t be explained clearly—why bother making everything so transparent?

Behind a pile of rubble, Pang Zhenggong clenched a stone in his hand so hard his knuckles turned white.

His eyes were filled with hatred, his jaw tight.

It took everything he had not to rush out and beat Liang Yimo, that ungrateful bastard, to death.

Ten years ago, when Liang Yimo had nowhere else to turn, he’d come begging to Pang Zhenggong.

It was Pang Zhenggong who’d opened a door for him, bringing him into the search-and-rescue excavation team.

It was Pang Zhenggong who’d given the destitute Liang Yimo a steady job and enough to eat.

Most of the team members had, in one way or another, benefited from Pang Zhenggong’s kindness.

But after just a few years in the wasteland, they’d turned on him with fists and clubs.

Pang Ziyuan sat beside his father, the young boy watching him with worry.

He reached out and held his father’s hand.

Pang Zhenggong took a deep breath and released the stone he’d been gripping so tightly.

The sharp edges had already cut into his palm, blood dripping down.

A strained smile appeared on Pang Zhenggong’s chubby face as he patted Pang Ziyuan’s shoulder reassuringly.

Beside the pile of rubble, Ah Hong stood behind Shi Yuebai.

She was trembling all over.

Not from fear, but from sheer anger at Liang Yimo’s shamelessness.

At that moment, Shi Yuebai spoke up:

“If it’s just a misunderstanding, then let’s clear it up and be done with it.”

“Do you have any other business? If not, you can go.”

Shi Yuebai’s tone was calm and indifferent, making Liang Yimo’s evasive perfunctoriness seem even more obvious.

She knew Liang Yimo hadn’t gone to all this trouble to get into the Shi family’s compound just to leave so easily.

Sure enough, a flash of annoyance and impatience crossed Liang Yimo’s eyes.

“Ah Hong is our sister-in-law, and Ziyuan is our nephew. We can’t just leave them here.”

“So we’re here to take them back with us.”

If you want to know how much food the Shi family has behind their walls, you need an excuse to get close.

Using Ah Hong and Pang Ziyuan as a pretext was the perfect way to test the waters.

Shi Yuebai let out a cold laugh. “Neither Ah Hong nor Pang Ziyuan is going anywhere with you.”

Liang Yimo replied, “If they come with us, at least they’ll have something to eat.”

“But you people never go out scavenging. Where do you get your food?”

It was an obvious probe.

In the wasteland, if you could find valuable supplies while scavenging—anything useful besides food—you could trade them in the city for points.

With those points, you could buy food, water, and other necessities.

But points for daily necessities were meager.

And the points needed for food and water were astronomical.

According to the search-and-rescue team’s intel, the Shi family had recently caught the eye of a mercenary group.

They’d received a lot of supplies from them.

Of course, everyone could guess what the Shi family had given up in return.

It was nothing more than trading bodies for food.

The mercenaries wanted it, the Shi family provided it, and in exchange, they got some food.

Nothing more to say about it.

Liang Yimo looked at Ah Hong with open contempt.

The mercenaries would never be interested in Shi Yuebai.

The ones trading their bodies for food were, naturally, the women with decent figures and looks.

But no matter how hard these women tried, how much food could they really get from the mercenaries?

Especially now, with Yi Zhe leading the mercenary group in fierce fighting along the perimeter, they barely had time to worry about the Shi family.

Yet Shi Yuebai and the other women and children were still living so calmly.

Their food stores must be astonishing.

Shi Yuebai said, “Who says we never go out scavenging?”

“We’ll show you tomorrow.”

Liang Yimo pursed his lips, frowning at Shi Yuebai.

Even though this fat woman sat in a wheelchair, looking like a pile of useless lard—

She was nothing but trouble!!!

Whatever he said, Shi Yuebai would contradict him.

Shi Yuebai refused to give a straight answer about whether the Shi family still had food.

Liang Yimo turned his gaze to Ah Hong. “Sister-in-law, do you have anything to eat here?”

“If you’re short on food, you and Ziyuan can come with us to Xiao Lingye’s group.”

“The Shi family’s food stores can’t possibly be bigger than Xiao Lingye’s, right?”

He paused, then added in a magnanimous tone,

“Ah Zheng is our brother. Even if we have to tighten our belts, we’ll take care of you and Ziyuan.”

Ah Hong acted as if she didn’t catch his probing. She smiled faintly.

“Ziyuan and I are doing fine here, even if food is a little scarce.”

Liang Yimo’s frown deepened.

He hadn’t gotten any useful information out of this trip.

He’d even handed over two boxes of children’s scallion kits.

But that wasn’t much of a loss.

Those things were just toys for kids.

In the wasteland, water was scarce enough just to drink—who had extra to waste on growing plants?

So those two boxes of scallion kits were useless to them.

But the very fact that he’d gotten no information only made the Shi family seem even more mysterious.

Liang Yimo made a few more idle remarks, then prepared to leave.

He turned around—only to find that the ladder over the ditch was gone...

Shi Yuebai: Prize quiz! Where did the ladder go?

a) It got eaten.

b) It flew away.

c) Who knows where it went, but it definitely has nothing to do with Shi Yuebai."