CHAPTER 363: CHAPTER 342: IRRECONCILABLE ENMITY

Fish bladder?

Yao Wei was puzzled and looked at Lu Xi’an.

She originally thought fish bladder was something to eat, after all, it has the word "fish" in it. But she immediately noticed Lu Xi’an’s eye twitch, realizing she was mistaken. Fish bladder must have another use, though she didn’t know what exactly.

Fish bladder...

Lu Xi’an’s eye twitched; how could he not know what fish bladder was used for?

"There’s no need for that. We don’t need those things."

Lu Xi’an said.

How is that possible?!

Hu Xiaodong found it unbelievable. Such a handsome man and woman, how could they have no needs at all?!

Could it be that Neo-Humans can’t?

He felt a bit guilty, as these two Neo-Humans looked quite normal, even more so than the people on their island.

Perhaps they have their own ways; you never know, after all, they’re Neo-Humans, so strong they might not need it.

His thoughts ran wild, but he only thought about it in his head, not daring to say it out loud.

Lu Xi’an asked, "Do you have anything else good?"

Hu Xiaodong racked his brains but couldn’t think of anything at the moment, so he dejectedly said, "We can only go ask around or check other places.

"I can’t think of anything off the top of my head; I don’t play cards and don’t really interact with those people, so I’m not very informed about this stuff."

Lu Xi’an nodded, having no choice but to follow along and see what happens.

The sky was getting dark, and the people working in the fields had already returned home.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei followed Hu Xiaodong along the dirt paths through the fields, along the shell-lined path that the islanders had trampled out. Yet no one jumped out to greet Hu Xiaodong or curiously eyed Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei.

The breeze swayed the drooping wheat spikes, forming waves of wheat; the sunset cast its orange-gold afterglow onto the field ridges, and as their shoes crunched over the exposed soil, there were no roads, yet it felt like the breath of civilization.

In the distance, smoke spiraled lazily upwards, the crackling fire propelling itself into the ears of the two Type A Neo-Humans.

Lu Xi’an felt a unique tranquility and harmony on this small island, the kind of place that was a refuge from the concrete jungle in his past life. The beautiful scenery here also contrasted with the wild barrenness of the mainland.

"My house is just ahead, would you like to stop by and have something to eat?"

Hu Xiaodong suddenly asked.

Lu Xi’an said, "Do you have any of those dry food cakes left? If so, can you give us two? Is one small coin enough?"

"Enough! More than enough."

Hu Xiaodong nodded.

Ahead, under the trees were single-story houses made of brick and wood. In the dim sunlight, a child was crouched outside the house, drawing on the ground. It was Hu Xiaodong’s grandson, Hu Xiaodong.

As soon as Hu Xiaodong saw his grandson, he grinned wide, "My grandson, doing homework. On our island, the kids work in the morning and go to class in the afternoon.

"When I was young, we still had paper and pens, but now there aren’t enough, so they do their homework writing on the ground.

"Back in our day, we had to take our homework to show the teacher, but now they’re on their own. Many kids don’t do their homework, but my grandson is different; he’s self-motivated."

He spoke with great pride, inviting Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei to sit in his house, but they declined.

So, Hu Xiaodong went alone.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei watched from a distance as the grandson, Hu Xiaodong, stood up and ran toward his grandfather, who picked him up, talked to him lovingly for a few words, then put him down.

At this moment, someone inside the house seemed to hear the commotion and came out to greet them.

Hu Xiaodong went over, said something, then went inside, and after a while, came out running with four pancakes made of cornmeal mixed with mashed potatoes and sweet potato.

"Is this enough for you two? If not, I’ll get more."

Hu Xiaodong said.

Lu Xi’an took the pancakes from Hu Xiaodong and gave two to Yao Wei before asking Hu Xiaodong, "This is enough. What size coin do I need for this?"

Hu Xiaodong waved his hands repeatedly, "No need, no need. You’ve already made us enough money. Now that you’re on the island, we should be hospitable to you.

"If you’re only eating a pancake and not coming inside, how could I ask you for money?"

He was thinking long-term and didn’t want to ruin the business over petty matters.

Hearing what he said, Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei didn’t say anything else and each took a pancake and ate it while walking.

The pancake was crispy and slightly sweet, with the potato shreds adding a unique texture to it; it was quite nice.

But the dry food was too dry; constantly chewing made their mouths dry. Fortunately, Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei had brought their cups. They unscrewed the lids and took turns drinking along with the pancakes, and felt quite good.

"Actually, adding some barley inside would be nice; it could diversify the texture."

Route finished eating and then suggested to Hu Xiaodong.

Hu Xiaodong smiled and said, "We used to do that, but the kids didn’t like it, so we added barley later."

Lu Xi’an remembered a question and asked, "Oh, by the way, do you often use fish bladders here, and only have one child?"

Hu Xiaodong replied, "No, not at all."

Lu Xi’an asked, "Then, for generations of Hu Dongs and Hu Xiaodongs, when you have a second child, what happens?"

Hu Xiaodong laughed, "The eldest is always called that; we ignore the second one. I have a brother named Hu Erdong and a sister named Hu Nannan, both have moved out. But I only have one son, and only one grandson."

"I see..."

Lu Xi’an nodded.

And Yao Wei also understood what fish bladder is used for. So when she and Hu Xiaodong went to the place he mentioned, she couldn’t help but glance several times at the wooden rack by the courtyard wall.

— Fish bladders were indeed being dried on the wooden rack.

"Please wait here, I’ll go in and see if Liu is inside."

Hu Xiaodong said to Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei, then walked into the house first.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei could actually hear sounds from inside the room, but the noise seemed to be coming from just one person, so they weren’t sure if it was the "Liu" Hu Xiaodong mentioned.

After Hu Xiaodong entered the room, he lowered his voice while talking to Liu, but Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei could still easily hear:

"Liu, Liu, do you want poker tickets or not?"

The person in the house seemed to be Liu. From his voice, Liu seemed to be a middle-aged man, sounding somewhat despondent: "I don’t want poker tickets, I want a wife..."

Lu Xi’an: "..."

Yao Wei: "..."

In the room, Hu Xiaodong also fell silent for a moment, then said: "Where’s your wife? Why are you asking me for a wife?"

"She’s gone..."

Liu said, his voice becoming even more despondent, and as he grew despondent, he began to sob, "I was so addicted to playing cards that I lost track of home, lost so badly, back and forth several times, my wife didn’t want to live with me anymore, and she just left, boo hoo..."

Hu Xiaodong had to start comforting Liu, convincing him for quite some time before he managed to calm him down.

Liu stopped his tears, sighed, and said: "Oh, this is nobody’s fault but my own.

"Look at you, Da Dong, you never play cards. If I were like you, could I have sunk to this point?

"I should learn from you, never to touch poker tickets again..."

When he got to here, Hu Xiaodong suddenly interrupted him: "Actually... I have some..."

Hu Xiaodong didn’t finish his sentence, as he was interrupted by Lu Xi’an.

"Hu Xiaodong."

Lu Xi’an called out, his voice slightly stern.

Hu Xiaodong’s heart thudded, and he quickly came out of the room without delay.

Only then did Liu realize there were other people in the yard, and he followed them out, surprised to see Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei.

The two were outlanders?! And looked so good, could they be the rumored Neo-Humans?!

He was momentarily scared speechless, but his eyes kept darting towards Hu Xiaodong.

"This guy, bringing two outlanders to the door, causing me trouble?!"

Lu Xi’an also didn’t seem interested in talking to Liu. He merely glanced at Liu, then turned to Hu Xiaodong and said:

"Alright, the man has already quit, and you still want to sell poker tickets to him, isn’t that harming him?

"Don’t ask him anymore, let’s go."

Hu Xiaodong hesitated, then nodded "ah", looked back at Liu, smiled apologetically at him, and then prepared to follow Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei turned and walked toward the yard exit, followed by Hu Xiaodong, who said: "So, shall we go further up?

"I’ll see if anyone else wants poker tickets..."

Lu Xi’an shook his head and said: "Forget it, no need. Tomorrow we’ll go to the morning market and trade other things for supplies.

"These poker tickets aren’t good for you guys at East Island, I won’t bring them out."

He certainly knew that even if he sold the so-called "poker tickets" to someone, it wouldn’t make much difference here.

From what Hu Xiaodong said, it was clear that poker games had long been popular on this island, deep-rooted, and unless he used force to eradicate it, it wouldn’t change anything.

So whether he took out the cash or not wouldn’t affect East Island at all.

But he still didn’t want to get involved in this harmful stuff.

He had sworn enmity against gambling and drugs.

And besides, he still had plenty of cigarettes and alcohol to trade for supplies on the island. Without using the cash, it wasn’t a big deal.

Saving it might be useful elsewhere in the future.

Hu Xiaodong was momentarily disappointed.

Behind them, Liu also understood and shouted: "Wait a minute!"

Lu Xi’an, Yao Wei, and Hu Xiaodong all stopped and turned around to see Liu staring wide-eyed at Hu Xiaodong, saying: "Are you saying... are you saying... they have poker tickets?!"

Before Hu Xiaodong could speak, Liu continued with a fierce expression, gritting his teeth: "Well, well, well, Hu Xiaodong!

"You know I can’t resist temptation, I’ve said I want to change, and you still intend to bring up poker tickets?!

"Hu Xiaodong, you’re a bastard, not a good person!"

After saying this, he suddenly turned to Lu Xi’an and said: "Thank you for stopping him, I don’t know how to address you..."

Lu Xi’an said: "Just call me Mr. Lu."

Mr. Liu: "Oh, Mr. Lu. Really, thank you, Mr. Lu, I know my own vices.

"I’ve tried to quit poker many times, and perhaps if it weren’t for that game, I could do it, but every time I hear about it, when someone tempts me, I can’t help but play.

"If it weren’t like this, my wife wouldn’t have totally lost hope and left.

"I was just planning to hole up at home to quit this thing. But I didn’t expect, Hu Xiaodong, a non-gambler, would come and harm me!

"Lucky that you, Mr. Lu, stopped him. Without you, I would be doomed too! Mr. Lu, you are a good person."

Another good person card...

And after handing out the good person card, Liu glared at Hu Xiaodong: "Hu Xiaodong, you’re a bastard! You’re not human! May your son be born without an asshole!

"How could I know someone like you?! I must not have taken a shit in my past life to know you! Damn you, get lost!"

Hu Xiaodong ran out with his tail between his legs, still wanting to explain a word or two, to say he didn’t mean it, but seeing Liu picking up a brick to throw at him, he quickly dodged.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei also prepared to follow, but Liu suddenly called out to them, saying: "Mr. Lu, and this gentleman..."

— He realized Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei were together.

Lu Xi’an said: "Mr. Yao."

"Mr. Yao."

Liu said, "Both of you are good people, you’ve done me a great favor, I have to thank you."