Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Another Encounter with the Flu
"Has Huzi had a cold for a long time?"
"Uh~" Lifting the lid of the pot, Wen Quanxin pondered for a moment, seemingly unsure of the answer, then pursed his lips towards Wu Chao across from him: "Hey, Ah Chao, hasn’t Huzi had a cold for about 4 or 5 days now?"
With a slight nod, Wu Chao affirmed, "Including today, it’s the 4th day."
"The 4th day~" Tang Xiaoquan muttered to himself, his brows furrowing even more.
"Ah, in this apocalypse, the most unfortunate ones are kids like Huzi’s age. They’re just starting to think for themselves and learn about the world, and now they’re stuck with this mess, it’s really... sigh~" Lin Muye’s aged face was filled with sorrow.
Tang Xiaoquan didn’t pay attention to what the old man was saying, his mind was entirely consumed by his thoughts, and as these thoughts deepened, his expression became increasingly serious.
"Hey, Quan, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell?" Noticing something off with his brother, Wang Qiang asked with concern.
"Huh?" Tang Xiaoquan responded almost instinctively after a slight pause, only realizing his lapse when he looked up and saw Wang Qiang’s worried eyes.
"Haha, it’s nothing, I’m just thinking," Tang Xiaoquan said with an awkward smile, scratching his head, but soon returned to a serious demeanor and changed the topic: "Um, Uncle Lin, why don’t we let Huzi out to get some sun? It’s not good to stay cooped up in the tent."
Lin Muye paused slightly in scooping rice, then sighed again: "Sigh~ A few days ago, Huzi could still walk outside every day, but lately his cold worsened, and he developed a fever, so..."
"A fever!" Wang Qiang interrupted before the old man could finish speaking.
His sudden reaction clearly startled everyone.
"What’s going on? Why does everyone look so nervous?" Hu Xiaodong appeared in front of everyone after delivering lunch to Huzi’s mother and son.
"Oh~ sorry, I just heard Huzi has a fever, so..."
"So Qiang was worried whether Huzi’s condition might get worse..." Tang Xiaoquan signaled Wang Qiang not to say more, and then turned his attention back, continuing, "By the way, Brother Hu, how is Huzi now? Any better?"
Hu Xiaodong shook his head indifferently and sat down dejectedly: "I just felt his forehead with my hand, it’s very hot, not looking optimistic."
With Hu Xiaodong’s definitive words, the little hope that everyone held instantly plunged into despair.
"Alas, it’s all because we don’t have any medicine, otherwise..." Wu Chao pounded the ground with his fist, angrily turning his face away, and his actions were quite moving.
It seems this person has a good heart, and is someone worth recruiting.
Silently adding a note about Wu Chao’s character in his mind, Tang Xiaoquan poked Wang Qiang again, reminding him not to speak.
"Xiao Wu, don’t blame yourself, it’s not your fault, you’ve done your best. Blame it on the damn heavens for bringing such a catastrophe upon humanity!" Wen Quanxin raised his middle finger angrily to the sky.
"Alright, let’s try to figure out Huzi’s situation later, for now, the main issue is our food supply," pressing down on the group’s discussions, Hu Xiaodong respectfully turned to Lin Muye, saying, "Uncle Lin, could you tell everyone about our resource status?"
"Oh, okay." Lin Muye cleared his throat, a hint of worry passing through his cloudy old eyes: "In terms of water sources, we have 4 bottles of canned drinks, 6 and a half bottles of mineral water, plus some rainwater collected from the past few days. This should last us about 4-5 days."
"But as for food..." Lin Muye shook his head helplessly, it was almost unnecessary for him to elaborate further as everyone already sensed the seriousness of the situation.
His aged hand raised two fingers, stating blandly, "2 bags of instant noodles, that’s all we have left for food supply."
A brief silence followed, as if a heavy stone was pressing down on everyone’s hearts, making it hard to breathe.
"Brother Hu, why don’t we explore further out tomorrow, we might find a big haul."
"Yeah, Brother Hu, we’ve almost searched all the trash and cars on the surrounding streets, we probably won’t find anything more if we keep looking around here. It’d be better to follow Wu’s suggestion and go further, definitely better than standing still."
Seeing the determined expressions of Wu and Wen, Hu Xiaodong gave them an approving look, but still refused, "I can’t let everyone take that risk, we’ve already suffered too many separations on this journey, I can’t let the tragedy repeat, moreover we’re not familiar with the situation in the nearby neighborhoods, so this plan won’t work."
Hu Xiaodong’s rejection was remarkably decisive, a characteristic that Tang Xiaoquan deeply admired.
However, at this moment, Tang Xiaoquan was more concerned about another matter, which was what Hu Xiaodong referred to as "experiencing" earlier.
"Um, Brother Hu, you..."
"Your concerns, Brother Hu, we understand, but if we don’t go out and fight now, we might eventually starve to death!" Wu Chao rebutted, perhaps not noticing Tang Xiaoquan was about to speak.
"I’ve thought carefully about the food supply issue, and there’s a place that might be much safer than if we risk going far."
While speaking, Hu Xiaodong pointedly shifted his gaze to Tang Xiaoquan and said, "This place was suggested by Xiao Tang, let him explain it to everyone."
"Huh?" Hu Xiaodong’s sudden gesture left Tang Xiaoquan a bit at a loss, but he quickly understood the reasoning behind it.
Clearly, Hu Xiaodong was intentionally trying to build closer relationships between the two teams, and discussing resource supply was undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to do so.
Silently giving a thumbs up in his heart, Tang Xiaoquan’s admiration for Hu Xiaodong grew even further.
At the same time, he finally understood the real meaning behind Hu Xiaodong’s earlier statement, "It’s not urgent to discuss now," when talking about searching for resources.
Nodding to Hu Xiaodong to indicate his understanding, Tang Xiaoquan then began, "The location I mentioned is a noodle shop on a nearby street. It’s not too far from here, and the zombies around the shop are spread out. In terms of numbers, we shouldn’t have a problem handling them with our manpower, but transporting might take a bit of effort..."
Thus, after discussing for quite a while and with collective brainstorming, a relatively feasible action plan was soon drawn up...