Chapter 2: The Tomatoes I Grow Are the Sweetest

Brother Chen said Tang Miao bravely jumped from the vehicle to save them, so treating her this way felt wrong.

Zhang Xinrou’s voice turned plaintive again: “I don’t mean anything else, I’m just worried Tang Miao might not have noticed her wound.”

Song Mingchen put down his gun and joined in persuading her, “Miao Miao, don’t misunderstand Xinrou. Chao Feng and I will get out of the car.”

Tang Miao smiled stiffly. She had suspected that Zhang Xinrou wasn’t truly kind-hearted; she had been waiting here all along, anticipating her refusal, then planning to accuse her of being uncooperative and deliberately hiding the truth.

“Fine, you all get out. I’ll take off my clothes and let her check.”

In a way, a thorough examination wasn’t wrong.

After closing the RV door, Tang Miao moved swiftly.

Only when Zhang Xinrou confirmed Tang Miao was unharmed did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The group returned to the RV.

Suppressing the unease in his heart, Lin Chaofeng asked, “Brother Chen, where do we head next? This area’s zombies have mostly been cleared out, and there’s barely any food left. We need to move on to the next place to scavenge.”

“There is!” Tang Miao answered quickly. “There’s still food nearby!”

Right where she had just woken up, in a nearby residential building, three rooms stored bread, instant noodles, and other supplies.

Based on the energy needs of the four of them, the stash would last about a week once collected.

They planned to stockpile some food first, then take the three others to find a suitable place to build a farm and settle down, dividing tasks to search for usable resources outside.

Perfect!

Zhang Xinrou’s hand clenched. “How do you know?”

“I guessed. Besides supermarkets and convenience stores, some households must have food stored too.”

Zhang Xinrou fell silent. Tang Miao continued analyzing and discussing with the others. After deliberation, the four chose a seven-story residential building.

Before entering, Tang Miao reminded everyone where food might be stored, then they split into two teams.

Song Mingchen led Tang Miao to Room 201. All other doors were wide open, but this one was firmly shut.

Feeling Song Mingchen’s emotional tension, Tang Miao smiled reassuringly, “It’s okay, this room is safe.”

Though she didn’t know why the door was locked from the inside, Tang Miao clearly sensed no one had lived there for half a month.

And it contained plenty of instant food.

“Miao—”

“Bang!”

The door was kicked open, the lock shattered.

Song Mingchen warned Tang Miao to be careful, but the words caught in his throat.

Tang Miao retracted her foot, shaking her head in disdain.

She patted the wall without another word and punched it.

The cement wall instantly dented, the whole building trembled, cracks spreading from the dent along the corridor walls.

The wall’s material was barely passable—enough to serve as the first layer of defense around the farm.

Tang Miao’s mental strength was very high, but when used for offense or defense, it drained quickly, requiring plenty of rest to recover.

Used for healing and comfort, however, it was quite the opposite.

In other words, she needed sufficiently hard materials from human civilization to enhance the farm’s security.

Tang Miao swaggered into the room, absorbed in her analysis, completely forgetting she wasn’t alone.

Song Mingchen’s lips trembled. Watching her back, he suddenly realized the person before him was no longer the one he once knew.

No wonder Tang Miao hadn’t suspected she was pushed from the car upon waking.

He fell silent, entering the room to rummage through the fridge and drawers for food and usable medicine.

Looking up, he found Tang Miao staring absentmindedly at a frying pan.

“This material’s good, but there’s too little of it. How long will it take to collect enough pans to build a wall?”

“Miao Miao, what’s wrong?”

“Ah? Nothing. You keep looking.” Tang Miao glanced at what Song Mingchen held. “There are two bags of instant noodles under the second bedside table in the bedroom. Remember to take them. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Though she said she was going to the bathroom, Tang Miao carried the frying pan onto the balcony.

Song Mingchen didn’t expose her, turning instead to the bedroom.

On the balcony were many flower pots growing various vegetables.

Perhaps the owner hadn’t watered them in a long time; all the plants had withered.

Tang Miao placed her hand on one pot, channeling her mental energy continuously.

The withered branches began to tremble, yellow leaves gradually turned green again, and new growth sprouted at the tips.

As the branches stretched, flower buds slowly appeared, blooming into a string of small yellow flowers.

Flowering, fruiting, ripening—all happened in just a few seconds.

According to current human knowledge, this bright red crop was called a tomato.

The fruit was flattened or nearly spherical, juicy and smooth-skinned.

On the roughly one-meter-tall tomato plant, seven fist-sized tomatoes grew in total. Tang Miao just picked one.

The green plant quickly withered and died. No matter how much mental energy Tang Miao poured in, it had no effect.

Alas, using mental energy as a shortcut wasn’t sustainable.

Without specialized nutrition supplements from the stars, her mental energy would eventually be overdrawn.

“Brother Chen! Tang Miao! Trouble! Several SUVs are approaching! We have to go!”

Lin Chaofeng and Zhang Xinrou hurried over, each carrying two large bags of food.

They couldn’t let others know they had so much.

Zhang Xinrou immediately noticed the bright red tomato in Tang Miao’s arms. “Where did you get that tomato?”

She and Lin Chaofeng had seen vegetables before, but the ones in the fridge had been frozen and spoiled for over half a month.

Song Mingchen secured his backpack strap and chambered a round. “Forget that for now, let’s retreat!”

Tang Miao ran along, not forgetting to grab her frying pan, but in the rush, she dropped a tomato.

The tomato rolled until it stopped against the washing machine on the balcony.

Strangely, the washing machine lid opened, and a pair of pale gray hands reached out.

The arms were veined with purple-black blood vessels. They dragged the tomato into the washing machine.

“Abba abba, abba...”

Tang Miao, who had just climbed into the RV, froze and looked sharply at the building. “Did you hear that?”

Zhang Xinrou, busy counting food and making notes, answered dismissively, “No, hurry and help sort it.”

Food was precious and must be rationed carefully.

Tang Miao was somewhat distracted. When she scanned with her mental energy, she detected no abnormalities in the building.

She lowered her eyes and sighed. “Stop sorting. There’s no time.”

Before Lin Chaofeng could object, he saw Song Mingchen in the front passenger seat, staring ahead, slowly raising both hands.

From behind the buildings surrounding the RV, behind flower beds, several people swaggered out, each wearing a triumphant smile.

Three of them carried guns.

Outnumbered, the four surrendered to save their lives, getting out of the RV obediently and crouching by the roadside with their heads down.

Lin Chaofeng gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at the group.

Everything they had painstakingly collected was now in the hands of others!

With guns aimed, Zhang Xinrou was so frightened she began to cry.

“Why are you crying? Shut up!” one man spat on the ground, then smiled broadly when he saw the food taken out of the RV.

“Not bad, you four look young and seem good at scavenging. Join us. From now on, you’ll be in charge of foraging, how about that?”

Tang Miao curled her lips, muttering quietly, “Not a chance.”

“Hey! Say that again!”