They were all unfamiliar faces, likely people who had fled from the city to their village.
The burly man in the lead raised a kitchen cleaver and snarled at the others, "This old man looks well-fed. His family must have a lot of supplies. Let's grab him and make his family give us their stuff."
The other men looked like normally honest folk, forced to team up and rob out of desperation. One glanced guiltily at Jiang Chengwu and even muttered, "Sorry about this."
Everyone was just trying to survive.
Jiang Chengwu calmly pulled out a gun, startling everyone into taking a step back. Just as they were about to run, the leader barked in frustration, "It's a toy gun, what are you afraid of! All of you, get him!"
Jiang Chengwu didn't want to waste a bullet, but Jiang Si had warned him to prioritize his safety above all else and not get careless just because he knew how to fight.
Jiang Chengwu raised the pistol, aiming for the spot between the leader's eyebrows. "I'm giving you one last chance. Scram!"
The pitch-black muzzle looked remarkably like a real gun's. The leader felt a shiver of fear, but he refused to believe an old man could just casually pull out a real firearm.
The others didn't dare move. He raised his cleaver and roared ferociously, "Trying to scare me? I'll—"
"BANG—"
A gunshot shattered the silence. The bullet pierced the man's brow, and he collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
The other men, looking as timid as mice, saw the blood trickling from the wound. Their faces went ashen. They screamed and, in an instant, scattered like frightened animals, disappearing into the woods.
When Jiang Si heard the sudden gunshot from inside the house, she worried that Jiang Chengwu was in danger. She was about to go find him when Jiang Linhai blocked her way. "No! I'll go!"
If the person with the gun wasn't Jiang Chengwu, it would be too dangerous for Jiang Si to go.
In the Longquan Forest Nature Reserve, Lu Zhifeng wasn't the only ranger with a firearm.
Jiang Linhai was still limping from his leg injuries. How could Jiang Si let him go? "Dad, listen to me!"
Jiang Linhai's eyes were rimmed with red. "I'll listen to you about anything else!"
While the father and daughter were at a standoff, the sound of familiar footsteps approached. Jiang Si peeked through the peephole—her grandfather was back.
Jiang Si waited until Jiang Chengwu was right at the gate before opening it.
Once inside, everyone rushed to ask, "Who fired the gun?"
"What happened?"
Jiang Chengwu sighed. "I fired it. I ran into some robbers and killed one of them."
Her grandmother's and mother's hearts leaped. They exchanged a look, then quickly tried to soothe him. "As long as you're okay, that's what matters... As long as you're okay..."
Jiang Linhai handed Jiang Chengwu a small vial. "Dad, take one if you feel unwell. It'll help relieve the psychological stress."
This was the anti-depressant medication Jiang Si had given him. He figured Jiang Chengwu needed it more than he did at the moment.
Jiang Chengwu took the vial, looked at it, and shot down Jiang Linhai's gesture, making him wilt. "Eat what? What kind of trouble do you think your old man hasn't seen? Back when the ranger patrol ran into poachers, I charged in with a cleaver to help and even cut up a couple of them. It's not like you don't know that."
Jiang Linhai was speechless. 'Fine,' he thought, 'I'll just keep it for myself.'
The sweet potatoes Zhang Qingzhi had been growing in the burlap sacks had been burrowed into and eaten by rats.
Jiang Si knew she couldn't stay idle, so she gave her a few mushroom grow kits and some potted plants for strawberries, chili peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes. "Grandma, when the weather isn't so hot, we'll go dig up soil. You can plant these for now."
Zhang Qingzhi took them happily. "How do you plant these?"
Jiang Si pointed to the small print on the packaging. "They come with their own nutrient soil and solution. Just put the seeds in, keep them at the right temperature, and water them as needed."
Zhang Qingzhi read the instructions carefully and then glanced at the thermometer. "We need to sterilize the house with high heat, so the temperature is too high right now. We'll plant these the day after tomorrow. You can put them away for now."
"Okay."
Jiang Si returned the potted vegetables to her space. Her mother had already made dinner.
To avoid attracting a sudden swarm of rats, the meal today was simple: a bowl of pickled mustard green noodles for each person, topped with a fried egg and served with a side of the soy-braised beef from yesterday's lunch.
Even though it was just instant noodles, the way her mom made them was the best.
Jiang Si had a habit of fishing all the pickled vegetables out of her bowl before twirling up a steaming clump of noodles and slurping them into her mouth. SLURP.
The steaming, sour broth really hit the spot. It was bursting with flavor.
Jiang Si downed the broth to the last drop, patted her stomach, and left not a single scrap behind.
Seeing her eat with such gusto, her grandmother, who had a poor appetite, was inspired to eat an extra half-bowl of noodles herself.
Jiang Si still thought it wasn't enough. "Grandma, you and Mom need to eat more. We might face all kinds of dangers in the future, so you both need to improve your physical fitness and reaction times as quickly as possible. Once Dad's injury heals a bit more, Grandpa and I will start training you in fitness and survival skills."
'It hasn't been long, and the world is already in such chaos.'
Jiang Si was right. They had to improve their survival skills so they wouldn't hold everyone back.
Her grandmother and mother nodded in unison, their eyes filled with determination. "We'll train seriously."
Jiang Linhai put down his bowl and chopsticks and scratched his back hard. His mother lifted his shirt to take a look, revealing that his back was covered in dense red bumps.
Her mother gasped. "Ma, come take a look! Are these flea bites on Lin Hai's back? Or is this an allergic reaction?"
Their house was clean; they hadn't seen a flea in years.
Her grandmother touched the bumps and, seeing the tell-tale marks, nodded in confirmation. "It's fleas. With all these rats around, it's no surprise they've gotten into the house."
At the mere mention of fleas, Jiang Si started to feel itchy all over.
She took out a tube of erythromycin ointment for her grandmother, then lifted her own shirt. Sure enough, there were faint red dots on her waist.
She had been bitten without even realizing it.
And after a moment, the itching grew more intense, and she couldn't fight the urge to scratch furiously.
Jiang Si applied some of the erythromycin ointment to herself, but it did little to stop the itching.
Jiang Linhai was squirming, scratching uncontrollably. Seeing this, his grandmother said, "Use Wind Oil Essence! It works wonders!"
Jiang Linhai looked over his shoulder at Jiang Si. "Use the Wind Oil Essence on me, but use mint balm on Sisi. It's not as strong."
Shen Baoying rubbed the mint balm on Jiang Si's waist. A cool sensation seeped into her skin, and sure enough, the itching subsided.
Jiang Linhai also let out a sigh of relief.
If there's one flea in the house, there will soon be thousands.
Jiang Si's eyes fell on Big Black and Little Black, who were scratching themselves nonstop. She put on a protective suit, crouched down for a closer look, and—'good grief'.
Big Black and Little Black were crawling with fleas, which had already started laying eggs on their skin.
If all those hatched, it would be difficult to exterminate them even with pesticides.
Jiang Si quickly gave Big Black and Little Black a bath with diluted flea-killer, then handed out insect repellent for everyone to spray in every corner of the house.
Everyone changed out of their clothes, which they threw into the courtyard to be burned.
POP, POP, POP~ The continuous crackling sound of the fleas bursting in the fire showed just how many had been hiding in their clothes.
But it wasn't long before they started finding fleas again in various corners of the house.