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墨書 Inktalez
In the end, those who were hiding in the shadows did not come out. Li Yan and Zhou Miao found a can of gasoline in the machine room. The door to the machine room was locked, likely collected by that group. Now it was a bargain for themselves; they felt quite justified about this blatant "robbery."
On the way back, Zhou Miao drove the truck while Li Yan took his Hummer. Since Dr. Qiu and her daughter were unwell, they also got into Li Yan's Hummer. The truck was loaded with a full load of cement, and on top were two diesel generators. Although there wasn't much diesel left in the village, it would be useful to bring it back.
The journey back was not peaceful; they encountered several groups of troublemakers, including many elderly people and children. Zhang Yi looked at the emaciated children and made a firm decision; he was determined to follow Li Yan and the others, not just for himself but also for his child who had lost her mother.
By the time they arrived at Bright Village, it was already past six in the evening. The villagers were very cautious. As soon as they heard the sound of vehicles, everyone in the village got up. When they saw it was Li Yan and the others, they felt relieved to come out. Although only two days had passed, without Li Yan and Zhou Miao, everyone felt uneasy. They hadn’t realized their importance until they were gone.
That night, Dr. Qiu stayed at Li Yan's house. When Zhou Laoyezi saw Dr. Qiu and her daughter, he sighed. He asked Yu Tian to prepare a few more dishes; being able to gather alive was truly a blessing.
Yu Tian cooked a pot of white rice, stewed a hen with plenty of mushrooms and potatoes, stir-fried tomatoes with eggs, and made a plate of lettuce and hand-torn cabbage. A few days ago, someone in the village had slaughtered a sheep, so Yu Tian exchanged some for it and made braised lamb with cumin powder; it tasted quite good.
Dr. Qiu's daughter smelled the aroma and quickly sat down at the table. She obediently sat in front of it while Li Xiaoming politely offered her a large chicken leg. She didn’t know how to be polite and stuffed food into her mouth continuously. Even when she couldn’t fit any more in, she kept eating while occasionally glancing around warily as if afraid someone would snatch her food.
Dr. Qiu's eyes turned red with bitterness; it had only been two short years. Her child had changed so much; she didn’t understand what had happened to this world.
The meal was very quiet; even Li Xiaoming’s son and Tang Zhaodi tried to eat more and talk less. Dr. Qiu hastily ate a few bites before putting down her chopsticks; she knew how precious food was now. This meal could be considered luxurious under current circumstances, but she remained immensely grateful; she would never forget this kindness.
The next day, Li Yan took Dr. Qiu to Zhang Sanye's house. Zhang Mo had already explained everything to his father when he returned home last night. The old man sighed; taking in two more people was no problem at all. Plus, having a doctor in the village meant hope for those suffering from colds or flu.
To ensure fairness, the old man invited everyone over. Upon hearing that Dr. Qiu's family included a doctor—despite having a silly girl—everyone happily voted in favor of them staying. Someone who wasn’t feeling well directly asked Dr. Qiu for help; throughout the morning, people came and went so much that Dr. Qiu didn’t even have time to eat.
Health is essential for living harmoniously and healthily; even those without illness could benefit from a check-up. Although Dr. Qiu could treat patients, she didn’t have any medicine available. Fortunately, being a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, she took several strong young men to nearby areas to look for herbs; spring had just begun, and many seemingly worthless wild plants turned out to be lifesaving treasures.
Li Yan and Zhou Miao discussed and decided to send seven or eight young men and a dozen older women to gather herbs, while the rest focused on repairing the wall.
Once they had cement, everyone was motivated to work. Many villagers had previously worked outside and were familiar with construction sites, making this task feel like returning to their old profession.
Yu Tian was busy every day, trying to move things out of the space without anyone noticing. It wasn't that he felt particularly charitable; he believed that since the village was just starting out, they couldn't afford to distract Li Yan and Zhou Miao with small matters. Additionally, the four of them were farming, and there were several thousand pounds of rice in the space, which would be better allocated to those who truly needed it.
Li Xiaoming was also busy with his friends. While the adults repaired the wall, they patrolled the village with pots in one hand and sticks in the other. If they spotted a stranger, they would bang on the pots loudly.
As a result, Bright Village became known as a tough village within a hundred miles. Refugees and bandits were generally reluctant to provoke them, mainly because the people from Bright Village were capable fighters. The refugees had attempted small-scale robbery operations before, but Zhou Miao had led a group to eliminate them decisively—not just with threats but through actual violence. After a few encounters, most people tried to avoid Bright Village; as long as they didn't provoke them, the villagers could still be reasoned with.
Other villages wanted to replicate Bright Village's success, but they lacked the same level of strength. Moreover, the villagers weren't united enough, leading many residents to consider sneaking into Bright Village instead.
Li Yan frequently received requests for help; today it was from his uncle's son, tomorrow from his aunt's sister. In any case, Li Yan's response was always the same: no acceptance.
Initially, many people protested, questioning why he wouldn't accept them since he was just a village chief. Li Yan remained silent until he called a meeting the next day. He stated that if they wanted to join, they could do so, but all their needs—food, clothing, and sanitation—would be their own responsibility. This meant that if someone received an acre of land in the future, it didn't matter if their family consisted of one person or twenty; they would only receive one acre.
A few individuals attempted to challenge Li Yan's "tyranny." Zhou Miao took his elite team directly to negotiate with them and eventually sent that household away from Bright Village with great enthusiasm while having other villagers see them off. For those unwilling to leave peacefully, Zhou Miao would use his Hummer to tie them up and drop them in the most chaotic areas inhabited by refugees; what happened afterward was not his concern.
It became clear to everyone that their village chief might seem indifferent but was just as ruthless as those in Safe Zone. After this incident, everyone calmed down. In reality, they realized that Li Yan hadn't done anything wrong; there was limited space in the village. Once the wall was built, it established boundaries. Although they intentionally left some land open for twenty houses, the chief stated that these would be for those who contributed to the organization and community in the future—like Dr. Qiu or an orphanage.
Indeed, it was an orphanage—the first dedicated place for children after the apocalypse. Most of these children were from the village; their parents either died or abandoned them for Safe Zone. Left behind were these small children who would have no chance of survival if they ventured out alone.
Most of these kids were quite capable for their age; children nowadays matured quickly. Li Yan allocated several acres of land for them to sustain themselves. Of course, the village would provide appropriate assistance by teaching them how to farm and live. The villagers weren't truly heartless; while they could be ruthless against enemies like autumn leaves swept away by wind, they still felt some sympathy for children they had watched grow up.
Tang Zhaodi also rushed over immediately. Li Xiaoming wanted to go too but glanced at Li Yan and Yu Tian before casting a sidelong look at Zhou Miao... Ultimately deciding against it for now, he thought he'd visit often in the future instead.
After the issues in the village were resolved, the wall was successfully built. Just looking at its height gave a sense of security. Those who initially opposed building the wall before clearing the land had nothing to say now; after all, with the wall in place, the village was indeed much safer. There was no longer any worry about being "raided" at home while out cultivating the land.
Dr. Qiu's status in the village had subtly surpassed that of Li Village Chief. The villagers first prepared a house for her, a spacious five-room flat. Two rooms were for living, while three would serve as future patient wards. Zhang Sanye was teary-eyed; after nearly two years, he finally saw some signs of life returning.
Zhang Yi also moved out, and Yu Tian breathed a sigh of relief, as it would be easier to come and go from now on. His house had not been significantly damaged and only needed minor repairs. The old man also wanted two Tibetan Mastiffs; he let them out for a stroll but made sure they didn't bark too loudly for fear of being heard. By the time everything was settled, it was already the end of April.
Living involves eating, dressing, housing, and transportation, with eating being the most pressing concern. Since they planted wheat seeds, the village organized several small teams to guard day and night; in these times, one had to be wary not only of birds and insects but also of people.
Zhou Laoyezi often wandered around as well. One day he discussed drilling wells with Zhang Sanye. Since the earthquake, all the wells in the village had dried up. Everyone still vividly remembered how difficult last summer had been; Zhang Sanye immediately sought out several young men to help. Drilling wells was essential, and they needed to be deeper this time—many wells last year were too shallow and ended up dry.
The weather remained surprisingly cold. The villagers used plastic film to create greenhouses, and finally, the wheat began to sprout. Just as everyone was starting to feel hopeful, people from the Safe Zone suddenly arrived. A few soldiers arrogantly declared, "The District Chief said that the Safe Zone will be requisitioning grain. Each village must provide 1,500 pounds by the end of the month when someone will come to collect it."
Great! They didn't even need an excuse; this was more blatant than robbery. Where were these scoundrels during the New Year? Now they wanted to collect grain.
"Village Chief, we can't give them our grain! Why should we?" Zhang Hong was the first to jump up in protest. They had been abandoned by the Safe Zone before; how could they have the audacity to come asking for grain now? He had never seen such shamelessness.
"But if we don't give it... they have guns," some voiced differing opinions. In these times, power came from firearms. No matter how justified they felt, they couldn't match bare hands against guns.
"So what? If they can come once for grain, they can come again. Do you not see what state our village is in? Although we've planted wheat seeds, whether we can harvest anything is still uncertain. There’s no government anymore; outside is chaos beyond belief. Who's afraid of whom now?" The man speaking had escaped from town; he understood their current situation better than the villagers did—survival was paramount; without food, there was no life.
After discussing for a long time without reaching a conclusion, Li Yan decided to disperse the meeting. This matter indeed required careful thought; when he and Zhou Miao had left initially, they considered everything except for dealing with bullets. This reminded him of someone—Liu Tao.
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