"It's not that I'm not being considerate; it's the same snowy weather. What can I do? At least we have Xin Ci on our side, while they have nothing."
"How could they have nothing? Let them time-travel too. Especially that Miss Lan. I think she's the most suitable. It'd save us the annoyance of her sticking around."
"Pfft."
"Pfft~"
"Puh~"
Everyone had been keeping a straight face, but Xiao Ai's words made them burst into laughter.
Xu Ru Yi, however, didn't laugh. She earnestly grabbed Xiao Ai's shoulders and said, "Xiao Ai, you can't say that. How can that Miss Lan compare to our Xin Ci? Our Xin Ci is loved by everyone, admired by flowers and kissed by the moon. As for her? She can only cause tires to burst."
Dun Dun stepped forward, cupped his fists, and said, "Heroes think alike." He then added, "And still on the run."
"Pfft."
"Haha, and preferably with Level 4 monsters chasing her."
"Holy crap, that's a direct ticket to see the ancestors."
"I'm just afraid she won't get to see her ancestors and will end up becoming that monster's lackey."
"Hahaha."
The Base Chief noticed that he was increasingly fond of the people from Long Teng. Being with the people from Long Teng brought no worries.
The Long Teng companions: We regret this, because you have no principles.
The members of other gangs in Long Cheng, listening to the conversation between the Base Chief and Long Teng, felt a chill in their hearts.
Some had already started whispering amongst themselves, "Should we buy more cold-weather gear?"
"Of course, we should buy more. Didn't you hear the Base Chief? Other bases are eyeing our place too."
"Are they shameless or what? They don't work hard themselves and just focus on others. Also, this time the Base Chief isn't being fair. It's already difficult for Fu Xiao Niu to supply us, yet he promised other bases too. Isn't he undermining himself?"
"We don't need to worry about whether the Base Chief is undermining himself or not. He can handle it himself. We should buy more supplies today to prepare, otherwise, I fear we won't be able to get anything later."
"Right, that's the main point. With the Base Chief acting like this, our lives will be even harder in the future."
Those nearby, overhearing them, found their words reasonable and also decided to buy more food and cold-weather supplies today.
The Base Chief: Did I do something wrong?
The companions: Grow a brain!
Fu Xin Ci also didn't expect that as soon as she opened the notice board panel and inputted the food and cold-weather clothing, they were instantly snapped up.
She didn't pay attention to other traded items, but looking at over a dozen hand grenades, she almost went mad with joy.
These were good things, truly useful in critical moments. No matter how many enemies, as long as her strength was sufficient and the quantity of these items was enough, she could eventually blow all the enemies away.
Heh heh, if she knew who traded them to her, she'd definitely give them a bag of rice.
Ah, finally, she'd had enough fun.
Only now did she realize that a good mood could also relieve fatigue.
But next, weren't the notes flying over from the other side a bit scary? Before, they were sent one by one, but why were they piled up today?
When she saw clearly the materials they wanted to reserve, she was also filled with a dilemma. Were they trying to open a shop?
Before Fu Xin Ci could figure out what was going on, she drew a big question mark and asked them what was happening.
When Fu Xin Ci sent back a note with a question mark, Xiao Ai glared at the Base Chief and quickly answered.
After understanding what was happening, Fu Xin Ci exclaimed that it was going to kill her.
Since she felt that more words were useless, she simply wrote down the original owner's age on a note and sent it over.
The few companions from Long Teng were petrified on the spot when they saw the word "eight years old" on the note.
The Base Chief glanced at it, his expression turning even uglier than if he had constipation.
Only Dun Dun's expression changed the fastest. Just as he was about to say something smugly, Xu Jia Can spoke first, "Dun Dun, you must think carefully before you speak."
"Mhm." Dun Dun promptly covered his mouth. The habit of speaking carelessly must not be repeated.
"What should we do?"
No one knew who among the crowd asked the question first. Before the people from Long Teng could speak, the people from other gangs raised their objections to the Base Chief.
Long Cheng A: "Base Chief, you saw it too, right? Fu Xin Ci is only eight years old physically now. Child labor, ah. How could we be so shameless as to exploit a child laborer for the sake of face?"
Long Cheng B: "Yes. If we really push Fu Xin Ci to her limit and something happens to her, we won't have anything to eat in the future."
Long Cheng C: "If we have nothing to eat, we'll all be finished."
"Yes. If we have nothing to eat, won't we just die?"
A heavy atmosphere enveloped the entire trading hall. The people who had been chattering noisily moments ago fell silent.
The Base Chief also understood that these people were waiting for him to state his position, so he skirted the issue and said, "Some bases have already started growing bean sprouts."
"Base Chief, bean sprouts don't need to be grown. As long as you have soybean or mung bean seeds and water, they can sprout," Yang Xin Jie didn't intentionally contradict the Base Chief; she had seen Fu Mama making bean sprouts.
"Xin Ci likes to eat stir-fried bean sprouts with vermicelli. Fu Mama is afraid that the mung bean sprouts sold on the street are made with fertilizer, so she sprouts them herself."
The Captain noticed that Fu Xin Ci seemed to really like eating vermicelli, so he curiously asked, "What else does Xin Ci like to eat stir-fried with vermicelli?"
"Pickled cabbage stir-fried with vermicelli, cabbage stir-fried with vermicelli..."
Before Yang Xin Jie could finish, Dun Dun added, "Celery stir-fried with vermicelli is also delicious."
Xiao Ai: "Xin Ci doesn't eat celery."
"How do you know?" Yang Xin Jie asked with some surprise.
"I guessed," Xiao Ai, seeing everyone looking at her, stammered, "I once found out that she really disliked cilantro. I thought cilantro and celery looked a bit alike, so I guessed she might not like celery either."
"You guessed correctly," Yang Xin Jie said to Xiao Ai, then stared at the Base Chief again and said, "Base Chief, we know you mean well. But have you considered that even if everyone can still find something to eat now, how much of it is actually edible?"
The Base Chief was speechless. He had personally led teams out to search for supplies recently.
Clothing and things were fine. As for food, even if they found it, most of it was already moldy and rotten, completely inedible.
Seeing that the Base Chief remained silent, Yang Xin Jie pointed out a fact, "Unless it's instant food or grains, almost everything else edible is ruined."
The Base Chief was speechless. In fact, he really wanted to ask, "Why is it that when Fu Xin Ci was around, the food found by you people from Long Teng was all edible?"
The few companions seemed to have guessed the Base Chief's thoughts and smiled, a knowing smile.
The Base Chief: Why does he feel like the people from Long Teng are hiding something from him?
The Captain glanced around at his companions, as if seeking their opinion, before slowly saying, "Should we tell everyone this secret?"