Reward for Finding Her Parents

The four men were masters of this place. They, however, looked far less powerful than Xing Feng and his team. Some men, no matter where they went or what difficulty they ran into, were born to be a sovereign. Xing Feng was one of them. He did stupid things sometimes. Yet most of the time, he was reliable. It was also the primary cause that he became one with Gu Mingxuan and other friends who even willingly worked for him in the doomsday.

"What the hell do you want?"

The leader wasn't as rash as his subordinates. His face, however, looked grim as well.

"All survivors must be registered when they enter your base. I'm looking for two persons. If you find them for me, I'll give you 250 kilos of rice as the reward."

Xing Feng didn't even want to say one more word to them, and he got straight to the point. In the doomsday when everything was in short supply, 250 kilos of rice was quite a generous reward. It might not be attractive to a huge base like the southwest base which was administered by three group armies and the provincial government. Yet in such a small sluggish base far from the city, the reward could be rather tempting.

"250 kilos of rice?!"

"Boss…"

They both exclaimed. The leader, obviously, was attracted. To them, merely showing the registration books to these strangers could get them 250 kilos of rice in return. It was a perfect bargain, without doubt! Chu Haoling, on the contrary, was upset. They had already been bullied at the gate, and now they were offering 250 kilos of rice. What a loss!

Yun Che was the only one who wasn't surprised at all. He guessed that Xing Feng would exchange some resources for information directly in case of further trouble. They wouldn't be attracted if the reward was not enough. 250 kilos of rice had been within his estimation, but…

Yun Che threw the cigarette end and walked up to Xing Feng, shoulder to shoulder. He added, "You heard him. If we find the two persons we want, you'll have 250 kilos of rice."

As he finished talking, ten bags of rice cropped up at his feet in good order. 25 kilos for each bag and totally there could be 250 kilos of rice. Since they were helping Zhan Yafei look for her parents, he should offer the reward.

Upon seeing that, neither Chu Haoling nor any other team member wanted to argue, not because Yun Che offered the rice, but because Yun Che and Xing Feng both decided to use this method. There was no reason to argue any longer, even though they would be aggrieved again. Among them, Zhan Yafei felt the worst. Hadn't it been for her, they wouldn't have been put through this. Nor would they have wasted so much rice! In the doomsday, 250 kilos of rice could be a lot! She couldn't even return the favor before she died.

"Okay, then. Bring us the registration books."

The persons who used to be mad at them sent a guy to fetch the registration books right away for fear that Yun Che might regret.

"Are you survivors or are you from another base?"

When a man was sent to fetch the registration books, the leader started to ask around shamelessly. He heard that a base had been built in Lingjiang City, which was known as the biggest one in the southwest. Could it be that they came from that base? If he could make friends with them, he might have more options in case of emergency.

"Are we familiar?"

Neither Xing Feng nor Yun Che took a glance at the leader. Chu Haoling, who used to be chatty, asked coldly. He sounded extremely arrogant. The rest of the team had gone back to their seats, totally ignoring the leader.

"You…"

Out of reflex, the leader was infuriated! Yet he held back his anger at the sight of the rice. He no longer asked for trouble. The man sent to fetch the registration books drove back soon. Two men in the police uniform carried out two baskets of thick registration books from the trunk. Zhan Yafei was the first to rush up! Lu Haixuan, Zhou Zeyu and Leng Yehan walked up one after another and took over the baskets.

"Check them by the date, since the day Uncle Zhan left home till today."

Noticing the dates on each registration book, Yun Che let out a sigh of relief secretly. It would at least save their breath.

"Mm."

They all took up the registration books and reviewed them carefully. Zhan Yafei, as she turned each page, couldn't help trembling. The more pages she turned, the more anxious she got, for fear that her parents had died on their way even before they arrived.

For the moment, there was no other noise except the rustling of paper in the whole region. Those men didn't leave, as if waiting for the result as well. It was understandable, though. Xing Feng and Yun Che said they would give the 250 kilos of rice after they found people they wanted. If they failed, the rice would be taken back. By then, those men would definitely feel aggrieved!

"I got it! Zhan Tianlong. Wang Suhua. They're in the tent district. Tent No. 6 of the second district."

A dozen minutes later, Lu Haixuan screamed. Zhan Yafei pounced and yelled, "Let me have a look…"

As she saw her parents' names Zhan Tianlong and Wang Suhua, excited tears streamed down. At last! At last, she found her parents…

"Take us to the second district."

Looking at his team members who looked rather happy, Xing Feng gave an order directly instead of any negotiation. He was as upset as his men, but more sensible. He knew what was more efficient and he could restrain his anger and make a right choice. But if anyone wanted him to be gentle, that was a daydream.

"No problem. Zhang, take them there."

The leader didn't hesitate at the thought that he was going to get the rice.

"Get in!"

Without saying too much, Xing Feng waved and put the sofa back to his space. He then turned around and got into the Cruiser with Yun Che. The local people, however, were shocked to see two space superfunction possessors. Again, they confirmed that these guys must have been from the southwest base. Otherwise, how could they be so powerful? Among them, two out of ten had space superfunction. Throughout their whole base, there were only two or three.

Noticing the shocked look on their faces, Chu Haoling's lips curled into a sneer. He waved and suddenly, a brand-new Cruiser appeared.

Fuck it! Three space superfunction possessors!

The leader who had a beer belly staggered and nearly crumpled. He was bug-eyed in wonderment! Seriously? Was space superfunction possessors so easy to be seen now? Why were there so many of them at one time?

"Let's go!

Finally feeling proud, Chu Haoling got into the driver's seat directly. Yun Wenqing and Shen Rui shook their heads and followed him. As for the 250 kilos of rice, no one took them back because it belonged to the local guys now. They were upset, yet it didn't mean they would break their promise. 250 kilos of rice! They could afford that!

Tents, as far as they could see, were just like plastic greenhouses in the fields. Compared to the greenhouse, they had only thicker adhesive tapes but no warming effect at all. They were far worse than the formal tents in the southwest base. When the Cruiser came into the tent district, Zhan Yafei wiped her tears as she saw the poor condition of the place where her parents lived. Yang Huaien, sitting next to her, gave her a small package of tissues without saying anything. At this moment, no one would laugh at her for her weakness. If they were in her shoes, they couldn't help weeping, either.

Mostly, common people lived in the tent district. Only a few superfunction possessors would give up living in the prefabricated houses because they didn't want to leave their families or friends. In this place, they wouldn't be given anything to eat unless they chose to work. Two meals, at most. Many people came here with no belongings. It had been only less than a month, and everyone here was emaciated and haggard. Women looked withered with shaggy hair.

"This base is going to be ruined someday."

As Zhou Zeyu looked out of the car window, his pursed his lips. Leaders of this base treated survivors as slaves. Instead of organizing superfunction possessors to go out, training their superfunctions and collecting resources, the leaders only stationed everyone near Longyang Mountain. It wouldn't be long before people got dispirited or even rebelled because of lack of resources. Since the beginning of the war, people in southwest had been famous for their endurance. Over so many years of comfortable life, their courage had been worn away. But it would easily rebound. Once the "slaves" were united, the base would come to its end.

"What a pity for the common people!"

Lu Haixuan agreed helplessly. They didn't think they were saints who could help these people. Yet they still showed sympathy. After all, such were living men, instead of zombies!

No one else echoed, because they knew what they said made sense. The base wouldn't last long.

The Cruiser didn't stop before it moved slowly for more than ten minutes. Yun Che and Xing Feng were the first to get out of the Cruiser. Zhan Yafei, surprisingly, froze in her seat. Instead of pushing her, Yang Huaien sat beside her silently.

"Dad! Dad… Mom…"

A couple of minutes later, Zhan Yafei suddenly rushed out of the Cruiser! Ignoring the gaze around her, she rushed to the guide and grabbed his arms. She asked, "Where is Tent No. 6?"

"No… Zhan, honey…"

Before Zhan Yafei finished her question, a plaintive wail suddenly came out of the tent near them. She turned away stiffly.

"Mom, Mom… Mom…"

The next second, she turned around and dashed to the tent! Yun Che and his men exchanged nervous looks with each other before they collected the Cruisers and followed. Everyone felt depressed. The wail wasn't a good sign, anyway.

Inside the tent, Zhan Tianlong, who was nearly at his last gasp, still held on to his last breath. Wang Suhua passed out because of crying. After she woke up, she burst into tears again. But this time, her daughter's voice rang behind her. Wang Suhua was dumbfounded! In case she was only imagining, she didn't even dare to look back.

"Mom… I'm sorry, I'm late. Sorry…"

Zhan Yafei rushed into the tent, knelt down, and hugged her mother from behind. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and slipped along her mother's neck.

"Fei… is that you? It that really you?"

Grabbing her daughter's hands on her chest, Wang Suhua wept and asked. She, as a matter of fact, recognised her daughter's voice. But… it was so unreal. She feared it was her dream which would be shattered if she moved.

"It's me, Mom. Here I am! I finally found you!"

Burying her head in the curve of her mother's neck, Zhan Yafei cried like a baby. Yun Che and his men all felt touched. But soon, they looked away at the middle-aged man lying on the ground. Could he be Yafei's father?

"Fei, my daughter!"

Having confirmed that she wasn't in a dream, Wang Suhua turned around and hugged Zhan Yafei tightly. They cried buckets.

"Fei, come and check on your dad. He's dying. Oh, no… he…"

Thinking of her husband, Wang Suhua pulled her daughter with one hand and turned around. She held her husband's hand with the other and said, "Honey, our daughter is here. Fei is here… she has come to us! Honey…"

At last, their daughter found them, but her husband was dying. It could be a great misfortune to a middle-aged woman like Wang Suhua, without doubt. Yet in the doomsday, she was still lucky. She had her daughter at least, didn't she?