The World Turned into Zombies, So I Went Back to the Countryside to Farm 43

Chapter 43: Improvement

On the third day of sorting yarn, Jiang Zao felt the muscles on her waist, which were already showing signs of loosening, and finally couldn’t stay idle any longer.

“I also want to go out with you to collect supplies. I want to exercise. I’m going to get moldy if I stay at home any longer.”

However, her eyes still showed no signs of improvement. In the past few days, Wen Zhao and the others had been very considerate of her, not letting her do any heavy or tiring work. But this only made Jiang Zao feel more like a useless person.

Wen Zhao looked at her dejected appearance and put down her basket. “How about I teach you how to assemble a gun?”

She had promised to teach her how to use a gun before, but it had been delayed due to various things until now.

Wen Zhao took out the magazine and placed the various parts of the gun on the table one by one. She taught her how to touch and identify the gun by hand.

This was very suitable for the current Jiang Zao, because in the army, there was also a training program for disassembling and assembling weapons blindfolded.

She first taught her to familiarize herself with the parts one by one, then took them away and repeatedly put them in her hand to strengthen her memory.

Jiang Zao’s learning ability was also very strong. She learned how to disassemble and assemble a handgun in just half an afternoon.

The submachine gun was a little more complicated than the handgun, but she also learned it in just two days.

Wen Zhao pressed her watch and nodded in approval.

“Not bad. 1 minute and 28 seconds. That’s a very fast time.”

“Can you teach me how to use a gun now?” Jiang Zao placed the assembled submachine gun on the table.

“Let’s go to the balcony.”

“Just like archery, if you don’t have the intention to attack, don’t put your finger on the trigger. Put it above the trigger.”

Wen Zhao stood behind Jiang Zao and taught her how to hold the gun by hand. “There will be recoil when the bullet is fired. The stock must be pressed against your shoulder. For archery, you use the web of your hand to press against your chin. For shooting, you use your cheek to press against the top of the stock.”

“Aim with your eyes at the notch…” She remembered that Jiang Zao couldn’t see now and chuckled lowly. “Forget it. Let’s practice the posture first. As long as the posture is correct, it will be twice as effective.”

“Who said I can’t do it with my eyes closed?”

As Wen Zhao was speaking, she stood behind her and helped her adjust the height of the gun barrel. But unexpectedly, Jiang Zao turned her face at this moment, and her soft lips gently brushed against her cheek.

An electric current shot up from the soles of her feet and spread throughout her body. Wen Zhao’s breathing hitched, and her throat moved. Although she knew she didn’t mean to, a blush still flew up to her cheeks.

After a long time without an answer, Jiang Zao tentatively asked again, “Wen Zhao?”

Wen Zhao woke up as if from a dream and jumped away, as if she were some kind of monster. She fled down the balcony.

“Let’s just practice up to here for today. Grandma and Little Mi are coming back soon. I… I’ll go make dinner first!”

Jiang Zao put down the gun, the culprit completely unaware.

“What’s wrong with her?”

By dusk, Li Mi and Jiang Wuni had also returned with the cart. Jiang Wuni fell to the ground as soon as she entered the door. “Aiyo, I’m exhausted. Come and see. We found so many good things today.”

In the past few days, they had searched house by house from back to front. They had moved almost a thousand pounds of rice alone. The good thing about the countryside was that almost every household had stored grain. Looking at the cellar filled with grain, they wouldn’t have to worry for a few years. It was also a temporary escape from the predicament of having to eat sweet potatoes at every meal.

During dinner, Jiang Wuni was still excited. “Tomorrow, we’ll go to the village chief’s house. He’s rich, so the food must be…”

Before she could finish, Li Mi quickened the pace of shoveling rice into her mouth. Only then did Jiang Wuni realize that something was wrong.

“Pah, look at my mouth.”

Wen Zhao patted Li Mi’s head.

“Little Mi, why don’t you stay at home with your Big Sister Jiang tomorrow? Grandma and I will go and collect supplies.”

Although the little girl’s eyes were red, she shook her head firmly. “Big sister, I want to send my mother off one last time.”

Wen Zhao was about to persuade her again.

Jiang Zao: “Let her go.”

After all of the Qian family’s supplies were moved onto the cart, the two of them spread out a haystack in the courtyard and set up a fire.

Wen Zhao handed the torch to Li Mi.

Li Mi walked step by step to the white bones lying in the center of the haystack, tears in her eyes. Even though she was reluctant, she still slowly bent down and lit the haystack.

As the raging flames burned, Li Mi knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face. She finally shouted, “Mom! You can go home now!”

The ashes from the fire seemed to have heard a summons and swirled up, floating into the endless night.

Jiang Wuni knelt before the altar again, holding her prayer beads and muttering.

This time, Jiang Zao didn’t say anything.

The snow began to fall again.

Wen Zhao stepped forward and gently took Li Mi’s hand.

“Little Mi, we’re going home too.”

***

Although Wen Zhao would apply medicine to her eyes every day, and Jiang Zao was also looking forward to it day and night, the year was almost over, but there were still no signs of improvement.

Living in darkness every day, coupled with the various inconveniences brought by blindness, and needing help from others for some simple daily life, made Jiang Zao’s mood very low.

Although she didn’t say it and tried to digest it silently, the smile on her face was obviously less. It was fine when everyone was around during the day, but at night, she would always toss and turn, unable to sleep peacefully.

It was another such night.

Jiang Zao counted on her fingers. It had been eight days, and her eyes were still a complete blur. Would she have to live like a blind person in the future? What if her eyes never got better?

Was it too late to learn to adapt to life in the darkness now?

All kinds of thoughts came to her. As Jiang Zao hugged the quilt and turned over again, a melodious sound of a harmonica faintly came from her ear.

She sat up and listened intently for a moment, then fumbled out of bed and followed the intermittent sound of the harmonica out the door.

When Wen Zhao heard a sound behind her, she put down the harmonica. There was a step to get to the balcony, so she went over to help her up.

“Be careful. Still not asleep?”

“You’re asking the obvious.”

Wen Zhao helped her sit down on the lounge chair on the balcony. She knew that Jiang Zao couldn’t sleep. Several times at night when she passed by her room door, she could hear the sound of her tossing and turning and sighing.

She understood that Jiang Zao was a strong person and was not willing to trouble others, even with small things in her daily life, which was why she had cut bamboo and made wind chimes for her overnight.

Thinking of that night, Wen Zhao had a rare mischievous thought. “Do you want to drink some more? I see that after you drink—”

Before she could finish, her mouth was covered.

Jiang Zao: “…”

“If you mention that again, I’ll kill you.”

Her gritted teeth did not seem threatening. Wen Zhao took her hand down and chuckled lowly.

“It seems you still remember what happened that night quite clearly.”

Jiang Zao pulled her hand out and turned her face away.

“I was drunk. I don’t remember anything.”

“A drunk person will never say they’re drunk. Only a sober person will say they don’t remember anything.”

Ever since her eyes were injured, Wen Zhao would always squat down to talk to her, looking at her at eye level, so that Jiang Zao would know that even if she couldn’t see, she was right beside her.

They had been busy going out to collect supplies these past few days, and there were rarely opportunities for the two of them to be alone like this. Wen Zhao looked at her clear, water-like pupils under the moonlight, which also clearly reflected her own shadow. She asked the question she had been wanting to ask for a long time.

“Jiang Zao, why don’t you want me to leave?”

Wen Zhao’s light words were like a thunderclap in her ears, and even set off a huge wave in her heart.

Yes, why?

Why?

Didn’t we agree at the beginning that I would take in Wen Zhao until her injuries were completely healed? When did things turn out like this? To be honest, I wasn’t as happy as the others when I saw that piece of paper. The only thought that came to my mind was: will Wen Zhao go to the survivor base?

She has her own mission. If she asked Wen Zhao to stay, would she stay? And why should she listen to her and stay?

And why did she want Wen Zhao to stay? Was it just because she didn’t want to lose this trustworthy friend in an apocalypse where everyone was in danger?

Jiang Zao’s mind was in a mess, a tangled mess, even more chaotic than the ball of yarn that Jiang Wuni had given her.

She couldn’t sort it out for a while, so she had to find the simplest exit.

“I… isn’t it a good thing that someone is helping me keep watch at night and hunt? Even Jiang Wuni said…”

Perhaps she couldn’t bear to see her like this. Wen Zhao reached out and smoothed her brow. “Alright, I shouldn’t have asked you at this time. Don’t frown. You don’t look good when you frown.”

“No matter what the reason is, I know you need me, and that’s enough. I will stay here until you’ve thought it through.”

“Don’t be too anxious about your eyes. Relax. Just treat it as a long vacation for yourself. A tense nerve also needs to rest.”

She said it all in one breath and then held out her hand to Jiang Zao again.

“Now, you should go back to sleep.”

Jiang Zao sat there, not moving for a long time. Wen Zhao chuckled.

“What, do you want me to carry you back? It’s not that I’m not…”

“I’ll walk by myself, I’ll walk by myself.”

Jiang Zao quickly stood up, looking as if she were fleeing. Wen Zhao was afraid she would fall and followed her.

That night, a melodious sound of a harmonica always floated outside the window, and it unknowingly soothed her anxiety.

Just as Wen Zhao had said, if there were some things she couldn’t figure out, she should just leave them to time. Anyway… there was still a long way to go.

As long as she was sure that she would not leave for the time being.

With this thought in mind, Jiang Zao gradually fell into a deep sleep.

It wasn’t until Jiang Zao had fallen asleep peacefully that Wen Zhao put down her harmonica. At some point, it had started to snow lightly again, and the snowflakes had dyed her hair with a layer of silver frost.

She lowered her head and wiped the snow from the harmonica.

“Little Wen, is this the meaning of you giving me a harmonica? So that one day, I can play it for the person I like.”

It was strange.

On the ninth day of the new year, when Jiang Zao woke up, she felt a hazy light shining on her eyelids.

Is… the curtain not drawn?

She closed her eyes again. A moment later, she suddenly felt that something was wrong. She had been blind recently and didn’t need to draw the curtains to sleep.

After realizing this, she sat up with a start, rubbed her eyes, and then looked at her hands. Although her vision was still hazy, as if covered by a light veil, she could perceive the light and vaguely see the outline of objects. It was no longer like before, when she would open her eyes every day to a thick darkness.

She excitedly ran out of bed, went down the stairs, and the wind chimes tinkled all the way, like a grand symphony.

Wen Zhao had also just gotten up and was starting a fire in the main hall. When she turned around and saw Jiang Zao running down the stairs, she immediately threw down the fire poker and ran over.

“Are you crazy? You dare to… when your eyes can’t see…”

Before she could finish, Jiang Zao had already plunged into her arms, hugging her waist, and excitedly speaking incoherently.

“Wen Zhao, my eyes can see! They can see!”

Wen Zhao’s raised hand fell again, a smile on her lips. “I know, I know. Alright, alright, you can let go first…”

Before she could finish, Li Mi heard the noise and also ran down from upstairs. “Big sister, are your eyes better?!”

Jiang Zao let go of her and hugged Li Mi. She was laughing and shouting. Kele also ran over to join in the fun, jumping up and frantically pouncing into her arms. Wen Zhao looked at her empty hands, then at the two people and a dog who were hugging each other, and muttered under her breath.

“Alright, so you didn’t come specifically to hug me.”

To celebrate the signs of improvement in Jiang Zao’s eyes, Jiang Wuni was busy in the kitchen early in the morning. First, she cut the potatoes into shreds, then she pushed out the stone mill. The ground rice milk was poured into the cut potato shreds, and various seasonings were added and sprinkled with flour. After being stirred evenly, it was set aside to rest.

She wiped her hands on her apron and ran out to ask.

“Little Zhao, are the beans ground?”

Wen Zhao was pushing the stone mill with difficulty with her left hand, sweating profusely. She replied in a loud voice.

“They’re done, Grandma.”

Jiang Zao picked up the basin on the stool under the stone mill.

“Is this enough?”

Jiang Wuni took it. “It’s enough, it’s enough. It’s quite heavy. I’ll do it, I’ll do it. Don’t spill it. This is the only bit of soybeans we have. We can’t waste it. Scrape off the bean dregs too. They have other uses.”

The ground soybean milk was first filtered once, then poured into a pot. After it boiled, it had to be cooked for another seven or eight minutes to let it boil completely.

“Little Mi, high heat.”

“Eh, alright.” Li Mi put two more large pieces of firewood into the stove.

While waiting for the soybean milk to cook, Jiang Wuni picked up a piece of potato shreds coated with batter and put it into the pot next to it. The hot oil immediately bubbled and sizzled.

When one side was fried to a golden brown, she flipped it to the other side. By the time the soybean milk was cooked, the fragrant and crispy potato cakes were also out of the pot.

Jiang Wuni served four bowls of soybean milk, sprinkled with white sugar, and shouted at the door, “Kele, time to eat. Bring your bowl over.”

A black shadow with a food bowl in its mouth rushed out of the main hall, wagging its tail, baring its teeth in a silly grin, and sat down by Jiang Wuni’s feet.

The kitchen was warm with the fire, so they just gathered around the small table in the kitchen to eat. When Jiang Zao sat down, she saw that Jiang Wuni was still busy by the stove. “Let’s eat first. We can do that later.”

Jiang Wuni was just adding brine to the tofu.

“No rush. You guys eat first. The tofu has to be set while it’s hot.”

Li Mi picked up a piece of potato cake from the plate and stood on her tiptoes to hand it to Jiang Wuni’s mouth. “Grandma, you eat too.”

Jiang Wuni’s mouth was so wide with a smile that it couldn’t close.

“Eat, everyone eat.”

Jiang Zao turned her head. Although she still couldn’t see their faces clearly, the sunlight that shone through the tiles of the kitchen still poured onto them. She seemed to remember her childhood, when she was also like this, talking and laughing with Jiang Wuni in the kitchen.

“Grandma, what is this brine made of?”

“Just a little salt, clean water, and white vinegar. This is the traditional way to set tofu with brine. Back then, when we wanted to eat tofu, we would grind the beans ourselves and set it ourselves, unlike now, when it’s sold everywhere on the street.”

Li Mi watched as she poured the brine in bit by bit, stirring constantly. In a short while, the soybean milk had turned into fluffy tofu curds.

“Wow, it’s so magical. Let me try, Grandma. When I learn, Grandma won’t have to work so hard anymore. I’ll do it!”

…

Wen Zhao picked up a piece of cake and put it on the plate by her hand. “You eat too. It won’t be good when it’s cold.”

Jiang Zao turned her head and smiled knowingly. “Alright.”

Jiang Wuni also served a few bowls of the set tofu curds.

“Do you want sweet or salty?”

Li Mi smiled, showing her canine teeth. “Grandma, I want sweet.”

As expected and within reason, Jiang Zao also wanted sweet.

Wen Zhao smiled slightly. “Grandma, I want salty.”

Sweet tofu curds just needed a little fermented rice. It was sweet but not cloying. Salty tofu curds had a lot more things in them. A spoonful of homemade chili oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar were essential.

Jiang Wuni also cut some wild scallions on top for garnish and sprinkled a few peanuts. After Jiang Zao finished her own bowl, she raised her hand again. “Grandma, I want more. I want salty this time.”

Jiang Wuni was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

“Now you know to call me Grandma. It’s no use calling me Grandma. The rest has all been pressed into tofu. If you eat it, what will we eat this afternoon?”

Wen Zhao pushed her own bowl over.

“I’m full. You can have it.”