Chapter 37: Jiang Nanxing, does it hurt?

Tang Miao set the baby down, patted her bottom, and signaled for her to go find her brother.

"Let's talk after we finish eating. I'll have Lin Chaofeng do the dishes later. Mmm! This spicy diced chicken is delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Chaofeng immediately scooped several spoonfuls onto her plate.

Zhang Xinrou curled her lip in disdain. "Ew, Lin Chaofeng, have you never eaten chicken before?"

Lin Yue, who was sitting nearby, did not want the topic to shift. "Let's talk about it right here; there's no need to wait until we're finished."

She raised her voice several decibels, causing everyone at the table to freeze. Only Song Mingchen remained unmoved, acting as though it were none of his business, and calmly picked at his food.

Tang Miao feigned confusion. "Lin Yue, has something happened?"

"The temporary workers get so much in wages, and even those zombies get vegetables every day. Why do I, the one cooking every single day, only get two eggs? I demand a raise."

Zhang Xinrou blinked and quickly explained, "Lin Yue, you've misunderstood. What Captain Huang and his group receive is called a wage, but in reality, it's relief aid that Tang Miao provides to their safe zone."

Once Captain Huang and his group received their pay, they would inevitably set aside a portion to give to Gu Sui'an.

"That's right," Lin Chaofeng added, slowly setting down her spoon. "Compared to us, the work Captain Huang and the tall, thin guy do is much more exhausting."

Zhang Xinrou poured a bowl of soup for Lin Yue and continued, "The tall, thin guy and his group are a bit different from us. They get hungry every hour or two; they can't survive on just three meals a day like we do."

Tang Miao lost her appetite and put down her chopsticks, though she remained silent.

Lin Yue pushed the hot soup away, completely ungrateful for Zhang Xinrou's gesture. "Then why don't you give us relief aid for our safe zone? From start to finish, you've only had Yang Sen bring back two chickens, which isn't even enough to fill the gaps in our teeth."

Zhang Xinrou grew flustered. "Lin Yue, please calm down. Let's talk about this rationally. Actually, Tang Miao..."

"And what's so tiring about those zombies? Do they even know what 'tired' feels like? My demands aren't high. Besides the eggs, just give me a chicken, a duck, and a goose every day, and that will be enough. I just want equal treatment."

Zhang Xinrou, interrupted, frowned deeply. She exchanged glances with Lin Chaofeng for a few seconds before both looked toward Tang Miao.

Hearing this, Song Mingchen smiled and met Tang Miao's gaze, as if to say: "See, Tang Miao? This is the result of you ignoring advice and saving people indiscriminately."

Tang Miao sighed and nodded repeatedly. "Fine, equal treatment it is."

The gloom on Lin Yue's face vanished instantly. "Really?"

"Really. Daily wages will be one chicken, one duck, and one goose, plus 10 pounds of vegetables. We will hold them in storage for you and issue them all at once when you leave the farm. Xinrou, write up a temporary work badge for her."

"Wait! Do I have to leave the farm?" Lin Yue looked at Zhang Xinrou. "Didn't you say that Tang Miao wouldn't let me leave?"

Zhang Xinrou and Lin Chaofeng said nothing.

"Tell you what," Tang Miao said, appearing thoughtful. "Option one: receive the same treatment as Captain Huang and his group. Option two: keep things as they are, stay permanently on the farm, and don't commit any major mistakes. I'll give you a day to think about it."

Having lost her appetite, Tang Miao ate a few more bites before heading to the seedling field work area to check on Huang Zhiming and his group. Jiang Nanxing, seeing this, picked up the baby and followed along. Zhang Xinrou and Lin Chaofeng remained behind, still attempting to reason with Lin Yue.

Huang Zhiming’s group worked quickly and had already cleared two fields. Tang Miao selected one to begin sowing. Once the sowing was finished, she pulled a set of quilts and pillows from her storage for each of them.

Jiang Nanxing and the baby helped distribute the bedding. He didn't forget to explain, "The wooden cabins haven't been built yet, so please bear with us."

The baby stood with one hand on her hip, hugging a teddy bear with the other. "Abba abba!" (It's okay, we'll sleep with you!)

Night had fully descended, and the third basin of plants began to stir. The baby hung on Tang Miao's back, curiously observing the bright red mushrooms in the soil basin. There were four in total; the smallest and shortest hugged the surface of the soil, while the tallest was no more than five centimeters high.

This time, the test subject was Jiang Nanxing. Tang Miao waited for a long time, but the mushrooms didn't attack. Jiang Nanxing thought for a moment and pressed his finger against the top of a mushroom.

*Poof—*

The cap sprayed a ring of floating spores into the air, which glimmered with a faint fluorescence under the dim lights of the farm. The spores landed on Jiang Nanxing's arm and began to parasitize him. Seconds later, glowing fungal hyphae began to spread across his arm, winding around it.

It wasn't until Tang Miao used her mental energy to clear the hyphae away that they realized the muscles in Jiang Nanxing's arm had withered, leaving behind only bone and a thin layer of skin. Correspondingly, a new mushroom had sprouted in the pot. Perhaps because the nutrients from one of Jiang Nanxing's arms weren't enough, it had barely managed to push a small bump through the soil.

Tang Miao used her mental energy to heal him while asking, "Jiang Nanxing, does it hurt?"

Jiang Nanxing lowered his eyes, clearly in thought. "No pain. I can't feel anything."

Tang Miao was very satisfied that the mushrooms could continue to propagate. Without hesitation, she moved the mushrooms, pot and soil alike, into the isolation zone. She even made several warning signs for everyone to hang around the perimeter of the farm, ensuring that anyone approaching from any direction would see the warnings that climbing the fence was prohibited and entering the isolation zone was forbidden.

Following Tang Miao’s subtle reminder at the dinner table, Lin Yue seemed to quiet down over the next two days. She stopped clamoring for equal treatment to Huang Zhiming and his group, and everyone tacitly assumed she had chosen the second option.

Under the influence of the one-week accelerated growth limit, the farm saw another massive harvest. Gu Sui'an and Li Yong arrived one after another to drop off collected samples in exchange for credit and to purchase supplies. The wooden cabins were also completed, allowing the labor team to move in.

The zombies on the farm spontaneously dug the lake throughout the night, and a few even helped dig the seedling fields in the early hours of the morning. Influenced by them, Huang Zhiming and his group started working overtime, clocking out at 10:30 PM and waking up at 6:00 AM to dig for an hour before holding their morning meeting and eating breakfast. Thanks to their hard work, in just five days, four-fifths of the seedling fields were reclaimed, with the remaining fifth reserved for planting wheat.

"Today is Tuesday, August 19, 2025, 7:30 AM, the 36th day since the apocalypse began. Everyone gets the day off today! No work!"

Tang Miao added silently to herself: Five days left until the second release of the new human gene.

With the seedling field reclamation task finished, the waste sorting and recycling station built ahead of schedule, and all the seedlings planted, Huang Zhiming and his group knew it was time to leave. They silently packed their luggage and swept the wooden cabins clean. They had arrived empty-handed, but left with a pile of daily necessities and clothing.

"Miss Tang, could you help us contact Captain Gu and ask her to send a vehicle to pick us up?"

"No rush. I arranged for her to come tomorrow morning, which is when I'll be leaving the farm as well. We'll head out together tomorrow."

"Understood." Huang Zhiming hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Miss Tang, we discovered something strange over the past few days. I’m not sure if I should mention it."

Tang Miao knew what he wanted to say. She patted Huang Zhiming on the shoulder. "Just pretend you don't know. I have my own arrangements."