Chapter 72

Abel dropped a whole rat into Lin Tu's bowl.

Stiff-legged, a dried fruit pellet clinging to its toes, the rat looked like it had died most unwillingly. Lin Tu truly understood the meaning of despair.

"Actually..." Lin Tu fumbled in her pocket, about to pull out the dried mutton she'd traded for—

"Boom!" A thunderous explosion jolted everyone from the 'blissful' scene.

The sky, which had finally cleared after days, seemed to darken in an instant. The ground shook so violently that people wondered if the house might collapse. But before anyone could think it through, the floorboards beneath their feet began to tremble, and the rat that had just been clamped at the edge of the bowl wobbled dangerously, nearly falling to the ground.

"Careful!" Bu Daixi lunged for the pot, saving the entire pot of tangerine-braised dried rat beside her.

Startled cries of fear mixed with the thick smell of gunpowder drifting in from outside. Only then did everyone snap back to reality.

"War! It's war!" Abel's eyes widened in fury as he shouted, "Quick! To the basement!"

Lin Tu looked out the window. In moments, the dense crack of artillery fire became almost tangible. A fireball fell from the sky, smashing into the street corner, and people scattered like startled birds. The scene reminded Lin Tu of the woodlice and sow bugs that lived under rocks—once you lifted the stone away, they scurried in every direction. At this moment, people were no different from those insects.

"Move!" David grabbed Lin Tu while Abel pulled at Bu Daixi.

"I haven't eaten yet!" Daixi clung stubbornly to the pot's handle, but she was small and weak, unable to lift the heavy pot.

"Go!" Abel nearly cursed aloud, his fierce expression bringing tears to Bu Daixi's eyes.

"I'll take it." Lin Tu walked over, grabbing the pot handle with one hand and picking up the bowl of rat soup Abel had just ladled out with the other. The little girl finally let go.

Amid the dense artillery fire, the group hunched low, protecting the pot, and scrambled quickly toward the basement.

It wasn't really a basement—just a hole dug into the ground. The narrow entrance slanted downward into darkness, wide enough for only one person at a time. Fortunately, the slope had no steps, or someone would surely have tumbled down head over heels in the rush and dark.

At the bottom of the slope was the hiding spot, a space so low they had to stoop. After the seven of them shuffled into position, they sat in a circle.

Scratch, scratch—two matches flared in the darkness, briefly illuminating everyone's pale faces. Aunt Meili lit a candle and placed it on a small ledge above her head, then pulled out a few more candles from behind her and counted them—

"If we ration these, they'll last over a week." Meili then inventoried the supplies. "The emergency food will last a week too."

It was no accident that she knew this place so well. She'd lost a leg hiding from the last wave of fighting, and the basement was the only reason she'd survived. Since then, Aunt Meili had been the one keeping the basement stocked.

The others finally relaxed, and Abel found time to discipline Bu Daixi.

"What did I teach you?" he roared, his voice like a slap across Bu Daixi's face. "What do I always tell you? When you're running for your life, you can't waste a single second. The moment you hear gunfire, you run for cover. You've let every word go in one ear and out the other. Your mother was still thinking of you when she died—how can you face her like this?"

"I'm sorry." At the mention of her mother, tears instantly filled Bu Daixi's eyes. "I won't do it again. I promise."

"She knows," Ju Yi interjected, patting her belly. "You know, right, little Daixi?" Seeing Bu Daixi nod in remorse, she added, "Soon she'll be calling you big sister. You need to be a good example."

"Alright, alright, just don't do it again." Meili chimed in, sparing Bu Daixi from further punishment.

Lin Tu set the 'culprit' pot down in the center of their circle. Honestly, she'd rather that cauldron of dreadful tangerine-braised rat soup had been left outside.

"It's true—we've all gone too long without meat," Abel sighed, handing Lin Tu the bowl with the whole rat in it again.

Lin Tu silently pulled out the pouch of dried mutton she'd been wanting to bring out all along and set it beside the bowl, phrasing it delicately: "I think this might taste a bit better."

If she'd known Abel was going to braise rat with tangerines, she'd have brought out the dried mutton sooner—though dried mutton braised with tangerines didn't sound so appetizing either.

Bu Daixi's eyes lit up immediately, but she didn't reach for it. "Let's have the rat soup first. Sister worked hard to earn that dried mutton. Dried rat is good too—I raised them myself. I kept them so clean, all white and soft. It must taste great."

She said this waving her hands about, eyes sparkling.

Lin Tu looked at the little girl's expectant gaze, paused for a moment, then rummaged through her bag and pulled out several boxes of self-heating hot pot. There was beef meatball flavor, crispy pork flavor, and sliced fatty beef flavor. These were all from her Single-Use Backpack stash—most of it was stored up on Back Mountain, but she kept some convenient foods on her, and today they finally came in handy.

She couldn't let this go on. These people needed to eat something good!

"I also traded for some food from the Rebel Army. Take a look at what you want," Lin Tu said, arranging the self-heating hot pots in a row in the cramped space, emphasizing, "These are special times—rat meat won't fill anyone up. Let's have a proper meal."

Bu Daixi, who'd initially declined, saw the logic in that. Besides, with all those colorful, never-before-seen packages, she was genuinely curious. The hot pot boxes had English labels, and Bu Daixi could read—she pointed at the letters and read aloud: "Beef meatballs? Are those for kicking?"

She was a child raised in war; she'd never seen such a thing.

Lin Tu handed her the spicy beef meatball one, then distributed the rest. She moved too fast for anyone to refuse—the boxes were already in their hands.

"Since Little Miss Lin is kind enough to offer, let's eat," Shi Duoluo said warmly, watching the children drooling with anticipation.

Everyone tore open the packaging. No one had ever eaten this before, so under Lin Tu's guidance, they separated the heating packs from the food and added water to each. Magically, the cold, bland-smelling packages began to emit a powerful aroma.

Finally, under Lin Tu's direction, they lifted the lids.

"Hss!" The spicy, pungent aroma hit Bu Daixi's face and she coughed. Artillery fire thundered overhead, but in that instant, it seemed to vanish from her world. Her cheeks were smudged gray from the basement, but her eyes shone bright.

"So fragrant!" The more it made her cough, the more excited she got, and she cried out in delight.

Lin Tu hadn't brought just the spicy flavor, but tomato and golden soup flavors too. The chili struck straight, the tomato wrapped tenderly, the pickled pepper sauce stood out with its sour heat—the entire basement was taken over by an unprecedented fragrance.

David looked at Lin Tu with some concern. Unlike the kids, he knew this stuff couldn't be cheap—even the Rebel Army might not have it for sale. Using this much in one go...

But then he saw Lin Tu pick a slice of fatty beef from her own bowl and drop it into Daixi's. The little girl's joy was like New Year's. Shi Duoluo watched, laughing at first, then wiping away tears. He fell silent.

He quietly took a bite of his own tomato beef brisket.

"Dad! So delicious!" Little David exclaimed beside him.

It really was delicious... David picked up a piece of tomato beef and put it in Little David's bowl, but the boy dodged.

"Eat, eat—your dad's had plenty of good food." David stretched his arm out to place the beef in his son's bowl, though inwardly he admitted, this particular good thing, he truly hadn't tasted before.

That thought wasn't David's alone. Abel asked in amazement, "How is this made? Why is it so good?!"

"Getting exactly the same flavor requires a lot of ingredients, but actually, we can make something similar with our regular food," Lin Tu perked up. "You don't need that much oil—just use the right spices and change your cooking methods. Water-frying, charcoal-grilling..."

Bu Daixi ate while listening to Lin Tu talk enthusiastically, and Abel joined in discussing cooking techniques with her.

By the time the food was gone and the soup drained, the two still hadn't finished their conversation.

The leftover rat meat, Bu Daixi soaked in the soup, discovering for the first time how good rat could taste. She licked her lips, mulling over the possibility of raising more rats, curled up contentedly beside Lin Tu, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

This idyllic stretch lasted a full two days and a night. Over the next couple of days, Lin Tu didn't bring out more self-heating hot pots, but she'd pull a chocolate candy or a pack of crispy crackers from her pocket now and then. For Daixi, life felt like a dream.

It wasn't until the second night, when the roar of cannons and gunfire finally stopped, that everyone cautiously emerged from the shelter. When they saw the shelter covered in smoke and dust, damaged yet again, Bu Daixi wasn't too devastated.

Shi Duoluo and Abel carefully inspected the house, while Meili rummaged through the cupboards, planning to stuff more supplies into the basement in case of future need.

"I'll go scope out the news," David said, donning his coat and looking at Lin Tu.

She was crouched by the hole in the wall, inspecting the planks she'd brought back. The good news was that no one had come by during those two days—the boards were still lying untouched on the floor. The bad news was that a shell had slammed into the opposite wall of the shelter. That wall hadn't broken through, but this breach had widened further, and none of the pre-cut timber was of any use anymore.

"The windows shattered from the blast. We can use these planks to make shutters instead," Shi Duoluo said, noticing Lin Tu's disappointment, trying to console her. "When no one's around, we can keep them closed. The house will be safer."

But what good was a new window when the house had a hole in it? The sudden war had rendered all her efforts futile. She didn't say much, just nodded at David. "I'll come with you."

That night.

The town, fresh from the ceasefire, was eerily silent. Ruins littered the streets. Every so often, someone would poke their head out from a shelter, then quickly retreat back inside.

Heading south, the closer they got to the Rebel Army's garrison, the worse the bombardment had been. Several times, Lin Tu spotted half-dead people collapsed by the roadside along with their severed limbs, and beggars were everywhere. Not daring to walk straight down the open streets, Lin Tu and David circled around them.

Finally reaching the outskirts of the Rebel Army's camp, Lin Tu nodded at David and was about to take out her Rebel Army badge to identify herself when a grimy figure suddenly rushed out from afar, lunging toward them desperately.

"Help me, Miss Lin, David! Please! I beg you!"