Li Dayou's voice was weak. "No matter how many eggs she lays, it's still a token of goodwill from above. Besides, we failed to deliver the mission goods to their destination, even used them without authorization, and needed rescue in the end. If we can make it back alive this time, we'll go back and admit our mistakes."
While massaging the fat hen, Wang Dan swallowed hard. "Ah, Captain, don't say that. I was just thinking how plump this chicken is. The meat's firm, like tendon, and there's a lot of it. Tsk tsk, just look at those wings, enough for several of us to share." He shifted his hands to the drumsticks and shook his head again. "And those legs, thick as my arms! If only we could have a nice big chicken stew…"
The fat hen suddenly froze. She wasn't Tang Monk's flesh, so why did everyone want to eat her? What's wrong with just eating the eggs?
"Cluck cluck cluck!" she flapped her wings furiously and pecked Wang Dan a few times. He yelped in pain but didn't dare fight back against such a precious chicken.
Fluttering her wings, the hen spotted Jing Shu and bolted toward her, scratching the ground with her claws as she ran. Even though she'd only been away for a short while, she'd missed her terribly.
"Master, you're finally here! Those nasty people keep trying to eat me! I wanna go home!" the hen cried, wrapping herself around Jing Shu's leg.
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow and stroked the traumatized hen's head. "So, I heard someone here wants to eat my chicken?"
In the dim light, a woman stood against the glow, carrying a huge crate on her shoulder and a large backpack on her back. Dressed in warm, thick clothes, she looked like a divine being descending from the heavens, bringing hope to everyone.
Li Dayou's eyes widened in surprise. "This, this is the person sent from above…"
Before he could finish, someone rushed in, shouting, "Report! Another one from above just dropped in and landed right in Er Gazi's house. A few packs of compressed biscuits fell with her. After a bit of chaos, the villagers in Gashan Valley grabbed some food, but then… we couldn't find her anymore."
The man's voice trailed off when he spotted the woman standing on their boat, surrounded by crates and bags. He lowered his tone and awkwardly added, "Guess we found her."
The group finally understood. The woman before them was the one sent by headquarters.
Wang Dan clutched his hand, embarrassed. "So… this chicken's yours?"
Jing Shu stroked the hen's head again, looking over the ragged, frail people in front of her. Their clothes hung off their bones, and they looked like a gust of wind could blow them away. She arched an eyebrow. "Who else would it belong to?"
Why did they look even weaker than the villagers outside?
Wang Dan scratched his head. "Don't be mad. We were just joking. It's been so long since we've had chicken that we were just imagining it. HQ didn't say we could eat it, and we wouldn't dare anyway. Oh, right, I'm Wang Dan. This here's our transport team captain, Li Dayou, and these seven are the rest of our members. Three others didn't make it through the mission."
"I'm Jing Shu," she said with a slight frown.
"Jing Shu?"
"She's the one! The most critical person in this entire transport mission!"
"The owner of the seed batch, the one who made huge contributions, who helped our country preserve countless rare plant seeds!"
At once, everyone looked at her with deep respect and admiration.
Supported by his men, Li Dayou straightened his back and gave a formal salute despite his exhaustion. "We've completed our mission without disgrace. We've protected the seeds and finally waited for you!"
Jing Shu sighed softly. She could imagine how much hardship they'd gone through. Starved and thirsty for months, yet they still held on. It wasn't easy. If they hadn't guarded the seeds so carefully, they could've eaten them long ago to survive.
"Why do you all look worse off than the villagers outside? What happened on the way here?" She frowned at Li Dayou, who looked like he might collapse any second. "And what's with that belly? Didn't you have seeds to eat?"
Wang Dan quickly explained, "The seeds are too precious. We couldn't bear to eat them. Every day, we'd check on them carefully. Only the spoiled ones or those that sprouted—we'd eat a few of those. But the captain, he's the one responsible for transporting them. He wouldn't eat a single one, even bad ones.
I know he didn't want to waste them. He gave most to the villagers in Gashan Valley. As for himself, he's been living on dirt. Day after day, he'd eat soil just to fill his stomach. Lately, even dirt won't go down anymore. If you hadn't come when you did…"
No wonder his belly was so bloated. It was full of dirt.
Jing Shu's expression softened. She looked at them with newfound respect. These people had risked their lives to protect the seeds.
Li Dayou shot Wang Dan a glare. Then he turned to Jing Shu and said, "Take Miss Jing to check the seeds. We've lost some along the way. After that, explain what happened these past six months so she can understand. The weather and other uncontrollable factors caused our mission to fail, but we'll still take responsibility for it."
Wang Dan hesitated before replying, "Alright. Xiao Zhao, take care of the captain. I'll show Miss Jing around."
Jing Shu waved her hand. "No rush. The seeds are here, and whatever's spoiled or eaten can't be recovered anyway. What matters now is your situation." She looked around and continued, "Didn't my chicken drop off a batch of compressed biscuits before I came down? The broadcast said clearly that you were supposed to eat them first while waiting for rescue. Why didn't you?"
Wang Dan looked sheepish. "We counted the biscuits and compared it to the next expected supply drop. The captain said there wasn't enough to last long, even if we turned them into water. So we've been rationing. Tonight we were planning to dissolve some in water and share it with the villagers."
Jing Shu was speechless. How could they be starving to death and still refuse to eat? She'd lived through fourteen years of the apocalypse and had rarely seen people this selfless, this… unbelievably disciplined. Still, it was people like them who allowed the country to survive through the end times.
Li Dayou managed a small laugh. "We've got Aunt Wang, the cook. No matter what we give her, she can turn it into something edible. We wouldn't have lasted this long without her."
Jing Shu waved her hand. "Alright, your mission's as good as complete. Now just wait for the next rescue team. I'm starving too, so let's eat something first, then you can tell me what's been going on here."
Li Dayou thought for a moment, then nodded. "Go call Aunt Wang to make dinner. Dissolve the biscuits into water and cook them a bit. Borrow some roof beams from the villagers for fuel."
Over the past six months, they'd burned almost everything they could for warmth. Ever since they were stranded here in this wasteland of waves and debris, they'd been tearing down houses just to keep a fire going.