Chapter 242 - 240: Future Plans

Words : 1242 Updated : Sep 27th, 2025

The vehicle carrying Zeng Liu and others drove out of the county town. Feeling the car’s swaying beneath them, even though it was pitch black outside and there were no windows to see out of from the vehicle body, Zeng Liu and the others still felt an inexplicable emotion. They were somewhat reluctant to leave, after all, the four of them, including Zeng Liu, were locals, and they had always lived here. Though the county town was now abandoned, it remained their hometown, the place where they were born, grew up, attended school, and worked... One could say almost all the memories in their lives were closely tied to this county town, to this land. But now, to survive, they had to leave the hometown where they had lived almost all their lives, which inevitably made Zeng Liu and the others feel a bit strange. No matter what, given the current environment, once they left, it would probably be hard to return in this lifetime, and it would be difficult for anyone to live again in this abandoned county town. Perhaps there might be a post-disaster reconstruction plan in the future, but for people like Zeng Liu, it was a distant matter, and by the time it happened, it was hard to say whether the rebuilt town would even resemble what they remembered. Out of the four, Sister Ning, due to still being ill and physically weak, couldn’t bear it even before the car left the town. Zeng Liu and Little Leaf quickly helped her lie down to rest on the couch. And Little Leaf, because of her young age, didn’t feel much about leaving her homeland; she mainly felt joy about leaving this hopeless place and worry for the still-ill Sister Ning. However, thanks to the timely acquisition of medicine from Chen Xin by Zeng Liu, Sister Ning was much better, though not fully recovered, she was still very weak. With this situation developing, the sadness in Zeng Liu’s heart also faded significantly, replaced largely by anticipation for the future. Since it was Chen Xin’s car, Zeng Liu and the others dared not move around freely. Although they were looking forward to the future new life, they inevitably felt a bit bored. The four of them had lived together for a long time and were quite familiar with each other, so after chatting a bit about some topics, they soon fell into silence. Zeng Liu still couldn’t hold back. After asking Old Tang to keep an eye on Little Leaf and Sister Ning for a while, she went to the driver’s cabin, looking at Chen Xin who was driving, trying to express her gratitude. "Mr. Chen Xin, thank you very much. If it weren’t for your help, we wouldn’t have had the chance to leave the county town. Thank you very much!" Zeng Liu earnestly thanked Chen Xin. She could imagine that without Chen Xin’s help, there was a high chance that the four of them wouldn’t have made it this time. Those wanderers clearly planned to swallow them up, and at that point, their fate would truly be uncertain. Although Chen Xin initially seemed intimidating and scared Zeng Liu, after a night filled with hope and anxiety, now that they had really left the town, Zeng Liu was filled with gratitude for Chen Xin. Chen Xin did not seem to have many feelings about it, giving Zeng Liu a slight nod: "It was nothing, also you helped me with my fracture, think of it as an equivalent exchange." For Chen Xin, the casual rescue of Zeng Liu and the others was truly no big deal, just like picking up a stray cat or dog by the roadside—something that might bring a bit of a sense of achievement, but unlikely to stir much emotion. Zeng Liu seemed to realize that Chen Xin didn’t feel much about it, but it didn’t stop her from being grateful to him. However, with Chen Xin’s consistently indifferent demeanor, Zeng Liu didn’t really know how to express her thanks. Due to the vehicle’s swaying, sitting in the back seat of the driver’s cabin, Zeng Liu didn’t know what to do herself, and didn’t really want to go back and sit quietly with Old Tang and the others. Curious about Chen Xin’s car, she decided to stay in the driver’s cabin. Looking at the radar screen on the control panel, Zeng Liu couldn’t help but ask Chen Xin curiously, "Mr. Chen Xin, is this a radar? What are those dots on it?" "Dots?" Chen Xin glanced at the radar screen beside him after hearing Zeng Liu’s question and answered, "Probably other survivors. The radar can scan for signs of life and moving objects within a five-kilometer radius, so it seems you aren’t the only ones in this town." Upon hearing this, Zeng Liu’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected other living people to be in this dead, abandoned county town. She wanted to ask about these people’s situations, but she didn’t have the standing to inquire, so she gave up on the idea and instead asked Chen Xin, "Mr. Chen Xin, where are we heading next?" "Next, we should head along National Highway G318 to the neighboring county. However, since the population of your county has already been moved, the neighboring county might be in a similar situation." Chen Xin did not have high hopes for this. After all, these two counties along the way were relatively remote. Previously, with National Highway G318 and a newly built expressway, it wasn’t an issue, but they hadn’t economically developed as quickly as other places. However, after the disaster, with snow blocking all roads, these small counties lacking railway transportation were indeed in a situation of internal and external difficulties, with transportation cut off. Not to say the roads were completely impassable, as Chen Xin himself had managed, though it might be more difficult for others. Yet keeping the roads open was still achievable for the Flame Country, though the cost would be high. In the aftermath of a disaster, resources like fuel were scarce, and maintaining an open road required a vast amount of manpower and materials. Unless it was an extremely necessary route, it wasn’t worth the immense cost to maintain. For the Flame Country’s leaders, maintaining the smooth operation of rail transport, which had greater capacity and was easier to maintain, was evidently more cost-effective than keeping road transport smooth. So it wasn’t surprising that the entire population of such small counties was relocated to nearby big cities, as the leaders of the Flame Country couldn’t leave the people in these small counties to fend for themselves. However, even though this was said, if Chen Xin wanted to drop Zeng Liu and the others at the next shelter, he obviously had to drive farther. With the population already evacuated from the two counties along the way, the journey would be utterly desolate. With this thought, Chen Xin couldn’t help but ask Zeng Liu, "I will take you to the next shelter, though it might be in Anhui Province. Do you have any plans afterward?" "Plans..." Hearing this question from Chen Xin, Zeng Liu thought for a moment and shook her head, "I don’t know. Before, it was always about thinking how to survive, and I really haven’t considered future plans." "Then you can start thinking about it now," Chen Xin glanced at Zeng Liu, saying nothing more.

Chapter 242 - 240: Future Plans

Comments (0)