Chapter 241 - Xiang Feng
As Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue walked through the streets on the west side of the camp, the number of things they saw expanded both of their knowledge of what humans would be willing to do in starvation situations.
Some women with a bit of makeup and clothing in poor condition were even working as prostitutes and trying to attract some customers. The price could range from a piece of stale bread and a compressed rice cracker to a packet of instant noodles depending on how clean and how pretty the girl was.
As for the men... Their fates could only be miserable and starving. Without work they had no way to make a living.
After turning a corner, Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue were about to continue when a weak but anxious voice stopped them.
"Sir, please wait a moment!"
Looking over to the side of the dirt road, they both saw a woman in her late thirties to early forties sitting on the ground. Her age was difficult to decipher at this point as her face was covered in dirt and her loose clothing made it almost impossible to tell the real approximate of her age with any accuracy.
Next to the woman was a girl of about ten years old. Her black hair reached to her shoulders but like her face it was covered with dirt and dust. Her clothing consisted mostly of torn pants and a large sheet wrapped around her small body as well as a pair of different colored shoes.
Bai Zemin was about to ignore the woman, but seeing the innocent, pure, but weak look in the little girl's eyes, his heart that was shielded by an invisible armor of stone could not help but be moved so he stopped his steps.
On the way they had seen no less than a dozen hungry children. However, at this moment, Bai Zemin could do nothing about it. Although he was strong, he did not have the power to handle everything and solve all the problems. The only thing he could do was to hope that these children could endure a little longer.
When he took over this whole base and began to apply his own rules, the miserable situation of those who were weak because life had not given them enough time to grow up would be different. At the very least, they would not have to worry about having a bowl of food.
Seeing them stop, the woman's eyes glittered and she said hurriedly, "Please buy me and my daughter! Just two packets of instant noodles and mother and daughter will serve you one night!"
Bai Zemin's expression sank completely when he heard the woman's words.
Even the usually indifferent Shangguan Bing Xue had a noticeable change in her covert expression.
"You... What did you say?" Bai Zemin gritted his teeth and said with difficulty. He looked at the little girl and realized that although she was frightened, she did not refute her mother.
"...You...You sell your little daughter?" Shangguan Bing Xue also couldn't seem to believe what she was hearing so she asked again as if she wanted to make sure her head was wrong because she didn't want to believe the words that came out of the woman's mouth in front of her.
As if realizing the anger coming from the people in front of her, the woman hesitated on what to say next. A look of heartbreaking pain shone in her eyes and tears began to fall down her face as she said in a choked voice, "I... My daughter and I... We have not eaten properly... For over two weeks..."
Only a person who had experienced hunger would be able to understand how terrifying that feeling was. When your body itself begins to devour you alive as your flesh slowly begins to be swallowed by the blood in search of nutrients to survive. The pain of having an empty stomach was not something anyone could endure and even the bravest soldiers would bow down to such a feeling as the days went by.
It was just that Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue had never experienced the feeling of starvation. As people who risked their lives from the first second, in reward for their efforts they gained enough strength to at least be able to feed themselves well. Therefore, none of them could really understand how hard this woman was battling.
In fact, Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue did not know that this was the first time the mother did something like this. She had no choice but to do what she was doing. If she sold herself, with her average appearance and how weak she was, she would not be able to attract any customers. However, there were plenty of perverts in the world, and the desire to have a mother and daughter pair in the same bed was enough to tempt a beast.
"If I don't do it... My daughter will starve to death..." The woman cried disconsolately.
Seeing her mother crying, the little girl crawled over and hugged her with her small hands as if she wanted to show her support. However, the girl's action only made the pain in the mother's heart increase even more.
Bai Zemin, who was about to slap the woman in front of him, finally calmed down a little after hearing the woman's words.
Shangguan Bing Xue also realized that neither she nor anyone else who had not gone through something similar could understand the woman's feelings in front of her. Most of her earlier anger turned to sadness, and her blue eyes flashed as if she had made up her mind.
What right do I have to judge? Bai Zemin scolded himself and took a deep breath to self-calm himself.
He looked at the mother-daughter pair and said in an indifferent tone, "Two packets of instant noodles for one night is not enough. From now on, you and this girl will follow me, and in return I will feed you both. If you are willing then fine, if not then forget it and let's pretend we didn't meet each other today."
After saying this, Bai Zemin put his bag on the ground and opened it, revealing the stuff inside.
Seeing the vast bags of white rice and the large amount of food inside the bag, the woman's eyes glittered with greed and the little girl swallowed heavily. Except for the relief food distributed once a day by the base government, mother and daughter had not eaten anything else; therefore, this was the first time in a long time that they had seen a large amount of food.
The girl's mother was so overwhelmed for a moment that she didn't know what to say. For a person to have all that food, he definitely had to be a high official of the base or a powerful warrior... So why would someone like that want to take two weak and defenseless women like them? At the end of the day, the woman knew that except for her body, she was nothing more than a burden in the present world.
The only one who understood that this was Bai Zemin's way of helping the mother and daughter duo was Shangguan Bing Xue. Her blue eyes trembled faintly and the way she looked at him changed slightly. Although she already knew that he was not a tyrant and that he really cared for people who somehow deserved it, this was the first time she had seen him perform an act of kindness. Even if he acted and spoke indifferently, it was clear to her that he really cared about the two people in front of them; at least for the little girl.
As for why Bai Zemin wanted to take the mother along as well, Shangguan Bing Xue knew indistinctly that it was so as not to separate the little girl from her mother.
In order for the mother to understand Bai Zemin's intention and to ease the worries in the heart of this woman who had suffered enough, Shangguan Bing Xue revealed her face for a few seconds. Although she usually did not care too much, she knew that she was a beautiful woman and, in this case, for the first time, her beauty was not a handicap but a support.
Seeing the practically heavenly appearance of the young woman in front of her, the mother was momentarily stunned. Soon, however, her eyes lit up and she no longer hesitated: "I am willing! My daughter and I are willing to follow you, sir! As long as you feed us both, no matter what you want us to do, our lives are yours!"
With such a charming and beautiful woman in his company, the young man in front of her had no reason to target an average woman like her or her daughter who had not even fully matured. Besides, this young man did not seem to be a pervert, and he had plenty of supplies with him. The girl's mother knew that this might be the only chance life presented to her and her daughter to not die in a corner so she was determined to hold on to this opportunity with all her heart.
Seeing the woman accept, Shangguan Bing Xue sighed in relief and covered her face again. She knew that while Bai Zemin might have been willing to give in this time, if the woman refused his offer then he would definitely have turned away without giving second chances.
Bai Zemin nodded as he heard the woman accept his offer. Indeed, Shangguan Bing Xue's thoughts were 100% correct, and if the woman rejected his offer he would have turned around and left without hesitation.
"What is your name?" he asked calmly.
"My name is Yi Fang and my daughter's name is Xiang Feng." The mother, Yi Fang, responded hurriedly. She tried to stand up abruptly, but she was so weak that she lost her balance instead.
Just as she was about to fall, Bai Zemin grabbed her by the arm and steadied her. His expression didn't change despite the woman's foul smell and instead he took some things out of his bag.
"For now eat this. You can have something better when we finish settling some matters." He said as he handed the mother and daughter duo two big rice crackers and two milk cartons, one for each.
Seeing the rice crackers and milk cartons, Yi Fang's and Xiang Feng's eyes glittered with desire. When was the last time they had seen anything other than relief food? Almost a whole month! As for comfort food such as milk... Those were luxuries they could only dream of but never touch.
Yi Fang took the food that had been given to her and began to eat cautiously while looking at the two people in front of her without wanting to make any offense. She knew that her fate would be good if she followed these two, but miserable if she made them angry.
As for little 10-year-old Xiang Feng, she was just a little girl without too many complex thoughts in her pure and childish mind. She just took a small bite of the cookie in her hands as if she wanted to make it last as long as possible while using her two big eyes to look at the young man who had given her tasty food with curiosity.
"Let's go." Bai Zemin gave the girl a glance and hesitated for a moment before ordering in a calm voice.
Yi Fang and Xiang Feng followed in the footsteps of Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue under the envious eyes of other survivors. Although this particular corner was practically empty, there were still three or four other people besides the mother and daughter duo.
When they saw Yi Fang and Xiang Feng eating and drinking milk, they were all filled with envy. However, none of them dared to try to fight to snatch their food. To begin with, if they were brave people in the first place, they would not be in this situation and would have already become soul evolvers or died in the mouth of some zombie or mutated beast.
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