newbobooks Chapter 124 The Old Man and the Child
Chapter 124 The Old Man and the Child
The young man welcomed Li Chenglong and his companions into the courtyard. At that moment, an elderly man, around sixty years old, emerged from the north room. Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Uncle, we just arrived today. It's too late to go to the city, so we've come here seeking lodging. We certainly won't stay for free." Jiang Hui then stepped forward, taking out some food from his bag. In the apocalypse, food was the best form of currency, capable of paying for almost anything. The old man coughed a few times, then slowly said, "It's just one night's lodging, no need for payment. You have female relatives here; they can stay in the east room. Xiao Qiang, tidy up the east room, make it clean."
The boy named Xiaoqiang, who had been staring at the food Jiang Hui had taken out, heard his grandfather's words and had to go to the east room to tidy up, since there was no electricity. He lit a candle in the east room and cleaned by its light. The old man prepared to welcome the three into the north room: "Come in, the house is a bit run-down, don't mind it too much." Li Chenglong smiled and said, "It's too hot now, we won't go in. It's cool in the yard, why don't we chat here?" The old man agreed: "That's fine."
After they finished speaking, they sat down. Li Chenglong let the old man sit in the only reasonably intact chair, and gave the two small stools to Wang Shuang and the little boy who had just finished tidying up. He and Jiang Hui each carried a dozen or so bricks and stacked them together to make stools. Although it was quite late, the moon had risen early, so the whole yard was still quite bright.
Li Chenglong first introduced himself, and later learned from the old man that the boy named Xiaoqiang was his grandson, and that his ancestors had lived in this village for generations. After the apocalypse broke out, the village was also hit by a meteorite, triggering a zombie crisis. Most of the villagers fled, leaving only the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled to struggle for survival.
Li Chenglong glanced at his watch and instructed Jiang Hui to take out all the food from his backpack so they could have dinner. After putting the car away, Li Chenglong took out three backpacks from his storage space, each stuffed with a lot of things—a way to avoid suspicion. Jiang Hui placed the items on the stone table, and Li Chenglong invited the old man and Xiaoqiang to eat as well. The child was already drooling with envy, but he wouldn't touch anything without his grandfather's permission. The old man thanked Li Chenglong and the others repeatedly, and then asked Xiaoqiang to set up the iron pot in the yard to boil water before finally accepting the food from Li Chenglong.
Jiang Hui took out an unopened pack of Yuxi cigarettes, opened it, handed one to the old man, lit it for him, and then stuffed the rest of the pack into the old man's pocket before asking, "Uncle, we're new here and don't know anything about the situation. Could you tell us about this Chinese Federation?" The old man took a deep drag of his cigarette and slowly said, "This organization first appeared around April in the Gregorian calendar. Actually, at the beginning, because our village didn't have many people, although there was a zombie crisis, there weren't many zombies. Later, with the help of the village's young and strong..." After years of effort, the zombies were cleared out. At that time, there were still over 100 people in our village, including Xiaoqiang's parents. Then, in April, a group of people suddenly came from Xuzhou City, claiming to have established a "Chinese Federation" and needed people. Without explanation, they kidnapped all the able-bodied men in our village. Xiaoqiang managed to escape by hiding in a sweet potato cellar. They not only kidnapped our people but also robbed our grain; every household was ransacked. They came again every two weeks to see if there were any able-bodied men left. This happened three or four times before they finally stopped.
Jiang Hui asked, "What news has there been about those who were arrested?" The old man shook his head: "What news could there be? They're all basically dead. The last time they came, after we old men pressed them for answers, they finally said impatiently that they were all dead and told us not to think about it anymore. In the last few months, fewer and fewer people are still alive in our village. Those who could escape have escaped, and those who couldn't escape have committed suicide. I originally wanted to end it all, but for Xiaoqiang's sake, I've been living on until now. If you don't mind, could you take him with you when you leave tomorrow?"
The old man beckoned to Xiaoqiang, saying, "Come over and kowtow to these brothers and sisters, so they can take you in." Li Chenglong quickly stopped him, saying, "Uncle, it's not that we don't want to take him in, it's just that we've only just arrived here and don't know anyone. We might not be able to take good care of him if we take him in now." The old man also knelt down, saying, "To tell you the truth, I was diagnosed with cancer before the New Year. If it weren't for this grandson, I would have died long ago. Recently, I feel my condition is getting worse every day, and I'm afraid my days are numbered. I'm kneeling down here before you all, please, you must take this child in." As the old man was about to kneel down, Li Chenglong quickly stepped forward to stop him and helped him up.
Before he could speak, Xiaoqiang threw himself into his grandfather's arms: "Grandpa, why didn't you say so sooner? If that's the case, I won't leave. I must stay with you." The old man slapped Xiaoqiang hard: "What, even you don't listen to your grandfather? What use is a big kid like you staying by my side? You're leaving first thing tomorrow morning, do you hear me?" As he spoke, the old man started to cry. Jiang Hui looked at Li Chenglong with questioning eyes, and Wang Shuang was also somewhat moved. Li Chenglong sighed: "Alright, I'll take this child. Don't worry, old man, as long as I have food to eat, I won't let this child go hungry." The old man nodded repeatedly: "Good, good, thank you, gentlemen." He turned to his grandson and said: "Liqiang, you must work hard under this big brother, do you understand?" The boy nodded while crying, unable to speak anymore.
The next morning, Li Chenglong and his two companions quickly washed up and prepared to leave. The old man pulled his grandson aside, giving him a few more words of advice before seeing him off to Li Chenglong: "My three lords, I entrust you with my care." With that, he turned and slowly walked into the north house without looking back. Li Chenglong patted Li Qiang on the shoulder: "Do a good job, understand?" Then he took the boy's hand and walked out. The boy cried and looked back all the way, but didn't see the figure he was expecting, until they were out of the village. However, Li Chenglong saw it with his True Dragon Eye: the old man was standing on a stone, crying as he watched his grandson leave.
Li Chenglong exchanged a glance with Wang Shuang, who nodded in understanding and then vanished in an instant. Jiang Hui wiped away the boy's tears, offering words of comfort and encouragement, while Li Chenglong fell into deep thought. Ten minutes later, Wang Shuang reappeared before them, her backpack gone. The four of them then set off again on the road to Xuzhou City.