Chapter Ninety: This Is My Sincerity

"All right." Xie Congzhou answered and waved his farewell to the villagers.

A few still hesitated, wondering whether they ought to have the nerve to stay behind, but after glancing at the rescue team bundled in thick clothing, and then at the desolate surroundings with nothing promising in sight, they ultimately turned and followed after them.

Only when the last of those figures vanished from view did Xie Congzhou take out the crude, crooked little map.

It had been given to him by Jiang Huan when they parted earlier, drawn by Jiang Xi herself.

"I'll find a place to park the car. You move whatever you can carry up first," Xie Congzhou instructed them, then went to park.

Scattered on the ground were assorted daily necessities, stripped along the way from ownerless houses and abandoned vehicles. Besides household items, there were auto parts, cotton padding taken from car seats, even the long-neglected advertisement section from some shopping center had been torn down. In short, they took whatever they could, and even hauled off two large trash bins.

By the time Xie Congzhou returned, everyone had already figured out how to divide the load.

The heaviest items were simply lifted by Xie Congzhou himself, and he still managed to move the fastest.

If he had not kept glancing back now and then to see whether anyone had fallen behind, he might have scaled the mountain as if he were carrying nothing at all, flying upward at an astonishing pace.

When someone in the group began gasping so hard they nearly fainted, they finally reached the vicinity of the air-raid shelter.

But no sign of habitation appeared anywhere. Xie Congzhou fixed on one direction, walked briskly over, stopped before the shelter, and called out twice.

Jiang Huan heard her name and stepped outside, only to see a great mass of people crowding before her. Her brows instinctively drew together.

Yet to the others, it was as though they had seen a peerless beauty.

Not that Jiang Huan was some earth-shattering celestial enchantress; it was simply that, in this moment, someone clean and tidy, someone who looked well-fed and well-clothed, was already the equal of a peerless beauty.

Recalling what that man called Gui had said before, that Xie Congzhou was blessed indeed to be dating Miss Jiang, the members of the Xie family who had never seen Jiang Huan before thought to themselves that it must have been a girl like this who took a liking to Xie Congzhou, giving him the confidence to refuse the official base.

Their gaze unconsciously softened.

Jiang Huan wore little expression. "You said there'd only be a few people you were bringing. And this is?"

Including the four Xie Congzhou had already introduced earlier, there were nearly twenty people in this group, more than the number on her side.

When the balance tipped this far, Jiang Huan became less willing to accept them.

Though they had brought things, she looked them over and still saw no food.

Jiang Huan's attitude made it clear she was not delighted to receive them, and the Xie family grew uneasy.

Xie Congzhou made no excuses for himself. He merely asked Jiang Huan to step aside for a word.

Jiang Huan walked away with him for a stretch, yet remained highly guarded. In novels and in real life alike, someone like Xie Congzhou had no small chance of turning traitor or doing harm.

"I can guarantee that the people I brought have no intention of hurting anyone. If any of them do, I am willing to accept whatever punishment you deem fit. Also, we will provide for our own food. If anything needs to be traded for, I will offer whatever you find satisfactory, paying an appropriate price. And I will pay rent for everyone living together here."

Jiang Huan looked at him. Every condition was deeply appealing.

"You're telling the truth?"

"Truthfully. If I am lying, you can drive us away immediately. I know you have a gun. I have one too, and I am willing to hand it over to you."

Jiang Huan lifted her brows. Having a gun was a mighty fine thing anywhere.

As if he had seen her wariness, Xie Congzhou gave her the initiative. "The pistol is on me. The bullets are in the inner pocket of that red backpack. You can take them first."

Jiang Huan said, "Aren't you afraid that after I take it, I'll still drive you out?"

Xie Congzhou seemed utterly certain. "You're not that sort of person."

Jiang Huan was almost amused. How had there managed to be someone this naive in the apocalypse? They had met only a few times, after all.

She truly reached out. If he were only putting on airs, he would certainly resist.

But when Jiang Huan found a pistol in his chest pocket, and then, out of habit, checked his trouser pocket as well and came up with a slingshot, Xie Congzhou simply looked at the slingshot with a faintly embarrassed expression. "I didn't say that one could be taken. I need it."

Jiang Huan laughed. That little look of his was quite a contrast, really; it did not suit his rough, tough exterior at all. Quite particular, too. "I'm not going to be greedy for your things. Besides, when the quake hit, you did pull me once. I'll take you in, and that'll make us even. But you're bringing so many people over, so I need some assurance, or it'll be hard to answer to the others."

Xie Congzhou said he and the others would wait outside for the time being.

So obedient that even Jiang Huan, whose heart had long since gone still, could not help wanting to tease him.

Noticing her own looseness and the urge to mock him, Jiang Huan restrained herself a little. "Then wait there."

After speaking, she returned the slingshot to Xie Congzhou, but kept the pistol. Inside the shelter, she found everyone gathered together and already armed.

Clearly, they too were on guard against the suddenly arrived group.

Even if the people outside looked pitiful, no one had any surplus compassion to spare.

Jiang Huan relayed the conditions Xie Congzhou had offered, and also showed the pistol. "This was given by Xie Congzhou. It's his sincerity. My personal opinion is that we can take them in, but they must quickly find a way to build a few small private rooms to live in, and everything must follow our rules."

"This freezing disaster hasn't even eased up, and now another calamity has come. Right now the base still seems able to save the people around it, but the message Xie Congzhou brought back is that such rescue depends entirely on the kindness of those in power. In the city where he comes from, the current leadership has already taken advantage of the chaos to use ordinary survivors as slaves. So having more people may not necessarily be a bad thing."

"Most importantly, he said their food will be their own responsibility. Even if they need to exchange for anything, they will definitely offer a price that satisfies us."

After some thought, Liu Ling and the others muttered among themselves for a moment, and in the end agreed with Jiang Huan's suggestion. "Since he even handed over his gun, the threat to us has already been reduced to the minimum. Worst case, we'll keep control of the cooking ourselves in the future. As for how we get along later, we'll only know once we've become familiar. If they're good people, we won't make things difficult or be harsh with them the way the leadership over there did."

Bai Weishuang felt that many hands make light work. In fact, the shelter had plenty of corners and recesses where people could sleep, without affecting the space everyone needed for daily movement and chores at all.

"Since there are no objections, then it's settled." Jiang Huan looked at Wang Ping and handed over the pistol, along with several bullets. "Brother Wang, I'm sure I'll often need to lead teams out to stock up on supplies. We can't neglect the safety of the inside. This is for you."

Wang Ping could hardly believe it. Jiang Huan actually trusted him this much.

Bai Weishuang blinked, looking back and forth between Jiang Huan and Wang Ping.

Beside her, Mei Juan's eyes nearly dripped with envy. She also quite wanted a pistol.

With the internal discussion settled, the people outside kept pacing back and forth, hoping Jiang Huan and the others would accept them living here.

The precautions Xie Congzhou had mentioned earlier, they promised they could all meet.

As long as these people were not another second-in-command of that sort, they would work hard and build a new refuge together with everyone else.