Chapter 100: Reluctant to Trust and Accept Easily

“What do you mean?” Xie Congzhou’s eyes held no trace of greed. “I’ve said before, I have secrets, and I know you have secrets too. Sometimes, to cover up what you most want to hide, you can afford to relax your standards a little. Maybe things aren’t as serious as you think.”

Take him, for example. He had left behind a glaring, fatal question: why, at this critical time, had the base never heard of cultivating any cold-resistant, high-yield crops, yet he, Xie Congzhou, naturally led everyone to plant them on a large scale?

Yet this fatal flaw was handled so skillfully by Xie Congzhou that everyone believed he was simply adept at farming. Without complaint or suspicion, they supported his efforts.

Jiang Huan understood now. Xie Congzhou was giving her an opportunity to “find” a new source of supplies before the natural disaster altered the situation, so they could operate openly and even supplement the harvest.

He was so straightforward it left people at a loss for how to respond.

But Jiang Huan appreciated this approach.

For a partner who knew her secrets and willingly entrusted her with his own, Xie Congzhou always inspired a peculiar sense of trust.

“I think you’re too—”

“Too what?” Jiang Huan was not short, but Xie Congzhou was taller. Hearing her mutter something softly, he leaned down slightly, tilting his face.

Suddenly, Jiang Huan hooked one hand behind his head, producing a dagger with the other and pressing it gently under his chin. “This is the second time you’ve lectured me about secrets. And I don’t need anyone telling me how to handle mine. Tell me—aren’t secrets safer the fewer people know about them?”

Xie Congzhou, uncomfortable with his bowed posture, swallowed hard. The dagger’s tip grazed his skin lightly, leaving no wound, but Jiang Huan instinctively stepped back two centimeters.

She had coated the blade with a mild anesthetic.

If such a big man died here, it would be troublesome to deal with—and even more so to move the body.

“From today on, don’t try to manage my secrets. They belong to me, and I will handle them as I see fit. I won’t interfere with your abilities either. Remember that.”

Her trust and closeness with Xie Congzhou had always been a façade, and now he saw through it clearly.

“You’re right. I apologize,” he said.

Jiang Huan sheathed her dagger and clipped it back on. “But I’ll consider what you said this time. I hope your assumptions won’t be wrong, and our hard work won’t be in vain. Rest assured, when the time comes, you and your kin won’t just have food security—I’ll also reward you generously.”

She preferred their relationship to be strictly professional.

Only such terms made her feel like the one in control.

Only then did she feel safe.

“Everyone trusts you now. We hope you won’t betray our surviving team. If you have any special needs, just say so. If I can provide, I will.”

“Deal.” Xie Congzhou left first, leaving Jiang Huan standing alone for a moment.

She took stock of the food and supplies stored in her space. Aside from some snacks that had been used, most items were untouched.

A pack of tissues might last a week—fifty tons…

Shaking her head, Jiang Huan regained her rhythm.

Well, living in this air-raid shelter was a bit frugal. Before, when she lived in Building Six, she could occupy several floors. Why, after spending time with others, had she lowered herself to their level?

It seemed human nature was stubborn; years of experience couldn’t completely change it.

With a plan forming in her mind, Jiang Huan descended the mountain alone and drove her three-wheeled cart through the city.

The tremors had stopped in recent days, and the temperature had risen, making the roads chaotic. The cracked ice layers made some sections feel like walking a tightrope—extremely difficult to traverse.

After two hours of searching without finding a suitable spot, Jiang Huan decided to rest. Passing a familiar building she had visited before, she parked in a blind spot and sat atop the cart to have a snack.

She picked a pastry from the batch made earlier with the pancake machine—she and her brother had only eaten a small portion. She nibbled on the warm treat, sipping jasmine milk tea, ending her “dim sum” time.

Looking at the somewhat familiar building, she recalled observing a certain faction from the ninth floor. Back then, a group had made the police station their base, creating a notorious organization. When she donated food to the base, she had also indirectly alerted their security to this group.

Memories of the building flickered through her mind as she pondered seriously—perhaps she could dig a large hole beneath the police station with an excavator?

Finding a suitable stash point in such a place was truly—

What was that?

Her eyes brightened as she noticed something.

An armored bank transport vehicle with its rear doors open.

No, no, don’t misunderstand—she wasn’t excited just because she saw such a vehicle.

But the rear doors, though open, weren’t badly damaged. Scattered bills lay around, as if the vehicle had been loaded with cash that someone had taken before abandoning the rest.

Probably realizing the money was useless, no one bothered to pick up the scattered bills.

Jiang Huan approached to inspect. The tires were stuck in the cracks of the ground. The driver’s seat was fine, but the passenger seat was jammed and couldn’t open. She needed the cargo compartment anyway, so she tried to close the doors.

With a light touch, the doors snapped shut perfectly.

She pulled again.

Well, they closed alright—but without the key, she couldn’t open them.

No matter.

It didn’t prevent her from loading supplies inside.

Jiang Huan packed a batch of goods into the vehicle, glanced around, and applied an anti-peep film to the windows herself. Then she hurried back up the mountain.

A few hundred meters from the air-raid shelter, she tested the walkie-talkie—and surprisingly, it connected.

“Hello? Hurry, bring people down, bring as many as possible. I found a vehicle full of supplies, but it’s locked from the inside. I can’t open it.”

“What? A whole truck of stuff?”

Static buzzed through the walkie-talkie as the signal grew noisy. Jiang Huan waited a moment, then saw a dozen or so people running down the mountain.

They treated her like a beloved parent, rushing over.

“We’re here! Let’s get the supplies. Hopefully no one else has seen it.”

“After all this time, it shouldn’t have frozen to junk, right?”

Hearing this, Jiang Huan turned to lead the way, her expression unchanged.

All the supplies she’d packed were items previously frozen on the windward balcony of Building Six—plus a few bags of bread and steamed buns.

The group hurried down the mountain at a swift pace.

But plans and changes always liked to stir conflict.

Before they reached the armored transport, they ran into another team.

The opposing group was well-equipped and spirited—clearly not lacking food or supplies. Seeing Jiang Huan’s group approaching, they immediately raised their guns and shouted, “Stop! Step back, hands up!!”

(End of chapter)