CHAPTER 171: SCAVENGING FROM THE DEAD ISN’T ILLEGAL, RIGHT?

What Zhou Dafu hadn’t foreseen was that sometimes, the plot doesn’t unfold as planned. For instance, it’s quite awkward when the stone you intended to kill three birds with suddenly vanishes, and the birds just drop on their own.

When you’re on the run, seeking refuge, and feeling depressed, how do you boost your spirits?

Eat! Savor delicious food! Drink! Consume nutritious beverages!

Lunch featured sandwiches with fresh lettuce tucked between slices of bread, spread with thick, rich cheese, layered with thinly sliced ham, and topped with a fried egg straight from a fat chicken.

Biting into the assembled sandwich, the aroma of meat mingled with the scent of wheat... SLURP. Jing Shu squinted in enjoyment, unconsciously devouring seven or eight of them.

Smoked pork ham also hung in the shed, ready to be sliced whenever desired. Jing Shu stood beside the pork leg, and in no time, the ham visibly dwindled.

At that moment, paired with a bowl of slow-cooked, creamy dried bamboo shoots and old duck soup, it felt as if life had reached its peak.

The gloomy mood that had settled over the family members who had fled their home vanished. Eating well and drinking well, it felt more like an experience of life rather than the terrible situation they had imagined.

Uncle’s family, in particular, developed a new level of respect for Jingshu’s house. The poor were fleeing for their lives, while the wealthy seemed to be on a leisure trip—especially since Jing Shu’s family was not only well-stocked with food but also had such complete equipment for their outing. It was truly enviable.

"Stick with your sister; we’re off to take care of things," Aunt said. She couldn’t bring herself to shamelessly freeload, as there were too many matters she had to arrange. However, when she returned after finishing her tasks, Mrs. Jing surprised her by saying,

"We’ve saved some sandwiches for you and Big Brother. Hurry up and eat."

"Oh, that’s really too kind. All three of us..." Aunt began.

"Eat up," Uncle interjected. "When good things come our way in the future, we should also think of my dear sister."

"Yes," Aunt agreed.

After that, Uncle’s status soared. Without realizing it, he stood taller, and his words carried more weight.

The family didn’t remain idle after lunch. Mr. Jing went off to move bricks, and Grandpa Jing went to dig soil. The two of them planned to build a furnace out of mud bricks to roast sweet potatoes and such, ensuring it wouldn’t be too cold at night.

Jinglai was called away by Li Yuetian for a meeting, which seemed to be about organizing a communal dining hall. With so many people, they had to provide some emergency rations at least once a day. They couldn’t always depend on eating red earthworms.

Those things took a long time to chew properly when eaten raw. If one had to eat them for three meals a day, their jaws would be sore.

Mrs. Jing was busy gathering people from the Agricultural Department, as another batch of vegetables needed to be transported and distributed.

Grandma Jing was occupied with sorting the various foods they had brought and planning the afternoon meal.

Wu You’ai busied himself organizing work and reassuring everyone that there would be food by five in the afternoon, aiming to calm their spirits.

Jing Shu certainly wasn’t idle either. She had gone to Tunnel 4 again because she just wanted to take a look... COUGH, COUGH.

In Tunnel 4, Zhou Daheng’s luxury container was completely set up. Workers were gathered on one side, eating gruel. Jing Shu counted them; the number matched the workers from the morning.

While the luxury container wasn’t as extravagant as a mobile villa, it was certainly no worse than a regular house. The most important thing was that it had cost over a million to build. Its most valuable part was the light steel shell, which was convenient to fold, store, and carry. It was lightweight, stable, and had excellent earthquake and wind resistance.

If only that batch of light steel could be retrofitted onto the RV. The Conqueror had one flaw: its second floor was a lift-style large terrace. Although it could provide an indulgent open bar, and it had a roof, the surroundings were open and not fully connected to the RV—just like a balcony, it leaked wind, snow, and even dirt. I want to turn the second floor of the RV into a lift-style sealed living space. The temperatures during migration are too low, and adding that light steel shell would definitely improve insulation.

Although Jing Shu was quite envious, she wasn’t the type to kill someone for their possessions and then steal their things.

...Twenty minutes later, Jing Shu suddenly changed her mind. Picking up things from the dead shouldn’t be illegal, right? I haven’t killed anyone just because I coveted something. It’s true that one can survive calamities inflicted by Heaven, but not those of one’s own making. No, no, shouldn’t it be ’Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’?

In fact, even Jing Shu couldn’t help marveling at the wonderful bullsh*t of the world. This twist of fate led her, within minutes, to decide to establish the most reliable kind of relationship with a woman she had never met before—one transcending friendship and love, commonly known as an alliance of mutual benefit.

However, Jing Shu hadn’t expected anyone to be near the snake’s cage. From time to time, indescribable sounds came from the luxury container, leading her to believe that the man had moved, and all the workers were eating.

When she climbed in, she discovered Qin Feifei holding a knife, preparing to kill the snake in the cage, yet hesitating. The snake was large, hissing with its tongue flicking, looking dangerous.

Qin Feifei also looked over in surprise. Both of them felt a bit awkward. Qin Feifei had also seized the opportunity when no one was paying attention to come over.

"You, are you here to steal the snake?" Qin Feifei asked, thinking Jing Shu was a thief as she saw her eyes fixed on the snake.

Jing Shu was just scouting the place. She hadn’t expected to encounter someone already. Could it be that man has more than one woman? Or is someone else inside?

"You, are you going to kill this snake?" Jing Shu also asked, as it really looked that way.

"If you want the snake meat, just wait for me to kill it, and I’ll give you the meat. Please don’t tell anyone," Qin Feifei said, clenching her teeth. She only had a short time and had to make a choice.

"Why kill the snake? If you have a grudge against that man, go kill him." Jing Shu sensed something was amiss.

Tears began streaming down Qin Feifei’s face as she wept softly, recounting her grievances: how she had been wronged, threatened daily by Zhou Daheng, crying her days away, how Zhou Daheng treated her, and the countless despicable things he had done.

She even mentioned how Zhou Daheng had gone to great lengths to get two snakes to breed, aiming to create Snake Whip for vigor so that he might "do battle three hundred times a day." This was why she wanted to kill the source of the problem.

She pleaded with Jing Shu to take the snake meat and leave quickly. Qin Feifei explained that with her own abilities, she couldn’t kill Zhou Daheng. Besides, in this law-abiding society, killing him would, at best, lead to mutual destruction, which wasn’t worth it. Her only option was to kill the snake and make it look like it had escaped, preventing Zhou Daheng from being so arrogant toward her in the future.

"You must be angling for an Oscar for Best Actress, aren’t you?"

Qin Feifei: "???"

"Your performance is spot-on. You actually intend to extract the snake’s venom and fabricate the illusion that Zhou Daheng died of snake poison, then frame someone else, allowing yourself to escape scot-free. It just so happens I appeared, so you decided to give me the snake meat. Zhou Daheng isn’t a simple man. His death will definitely be investigated, and they will come straight to me, won’t they?"

"But I like it," Jing Shu said, narrowing her eyes and smiling.