116: Whether it is a burden or not depends on what the person does.
After saying this, Mother Bai looked back at the people who were helping with the work, a trace of guilt rising in her heart.
But when she thought about their current lives and her own situation with three children, she swallowed that bit of guilt down.
She wasn't cold-blooded, and she believed that "good begets good" and "heaven rewards diligence," but right now, she truly couldn't do it.
The situation was already this dire.
If she were too kind to strangers, it would be cruel to her own children.
Their family's food was enough for now, but it would eventually run out. If these people were allowed to stay, it wouldn't be long before nearby survivors would flock to them.
Mother Bai wasn't a selfish person, but she wasn't that magnanimous either.
She knew her daughter had spent an entire night clearing the zombies from the stairwells and streets, fighting for her life to clear this building safely.
But Xiang Mei had brought back a carload of zombies and was too lazy to deal with them, hiding in the garage, waiting to pick up scraps.
If it were anyone else, they would have died long ago.
So, don't blame her for not wanting to be soft-hearted. She couldn't save everyone; she only wanted to protect her own family.
"When did I say they were going to live in our house?" Bai Wanning said coldly, without turning her head.
She looked back at her mother, who was lying on the sofa, stretching and rubbing her swollen feet. "They can live in the empty apartment building. Half the people there were swept away, and there are many empty rooms there."
After the tsunami, those unprepared people downstairs were either swept away or went missing. Now, the apartment building was filled with survivors occupying every corner that could provide shelter from the wind and snow.
Mother Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard her daughter didn't plan to take those people in.
She patted her chest and whispered to Bai Wanning, "I thought you were going to take them in and squeeze in with us. You really scared me."
"I thought you'd be happy because I'm kind," Bai Wanning said with a hint of teasing in her eyes and a light tone.
"Are you making fun of your mom?" Mother Bai playfully slapped her arm, then sighed and lowered her voice, "But ultimately, taking these people in... aren't you afraid our family will be too conspicuous? Attracting trouble?"
Bai Wanning didn't answer immediately, but she had to admit that although her mother was occasionally a bit emotional, she always saw things more clearly than others.
She was naturally cautious, and her awareness of safety was far stronger than many who claimed to be rational.
In the Apocalypse, there was never a shortage of survivors.
It was like fishing in muddy waters; as soon as you reached in, you'd either touch mud or something dirty.
Every corner of the city hid those struggling to survive. As soon as they saw a boat, they'd cling to it like drowning people, not caring if they'd capsize it.
Bai Minghe's cunning was not shallow, but his experience was lacking.
The people he took in this time would quickly become a burden, and Bai Xue... that woman loved face and pretending to be kind even more. By then, she would only take in more people. How long would this boat last then? She probably didn't even know herself.
In contrast, her mom was more reliable.
Although she didn't fully understand the stakes, knowing how to think things through made her stronger than most people.
In the greenhouse, Meng Suisui dropped the fertilizer bag with a "bang," suppressing the nausea rising in her throat.
In her life, when had she ever done such dirty and tiring work? Forget adapting, even looking at it made her feel uncomfortable.
Meng Qibao, who was tilling the soil behind her, felt even worse and couldn't help but complain, "If Anzhi hadn't given away the fertilizer when we weren't around, we wouldn't be in such a mess now... that stuff could have lasted a few more days."
Meng Suisui felt even more choked up listening to him.
She didn't say it aloud, but she also blamed Meng Anzhi in her heart.
That girl actually gave away their supplies without permission, being kind to others? Now she was so hungry her vision was black, and she still had the nerve to talk about kindness?
She shook her head, sighed, and turned to look at Wen Mian.
"Sister Mian, why don't you rest for a bit? You're not feeling well right now; we'll handle the rest," she gently advised.
Meng Qibao also nodded, "Yes, Sister Mian, we can do these tasks."
As he said this, he felt a little uneasy.
As a man, even he struggled with tilling the soil, let alone his frail sister and Wen Mian.
"No need," Wen Mian said, wearing a dirty dress whose color was no longer discernible, and clapped the dirt from her hands.
She stood up, her gaze firm, "I used to be weak, but I can't stay weak forever. I can let you do it for me today, but what about tomorrow? The day after? I have to stand on my own two feet eventually."
Once, she didn't even have to carry her own water bottle.
But she knew she could never return to her glamorous position as a film empress. She had climbed out of the countryside step by step; she could endure hardship and persevere.
She had to change now, otherwise there was only a dead end.
After speaking, she picked up a bucket full of soil, walked to the open space, and began to diligently fill pits and compact the earth.
Bai Zhan, who was nearby, finally got a chance to catch his breath.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, sat down, and had just unscrewed his water bottle for a drink when he heard the door open with a "creak."
Mother Bai walked in, carrying a tray with three steaming bowls of beef bone soup and white rice.
Although it was just the simplest food, as soon as the aroma wafted into the greenhouse, the three people in the room instantly stopped, staring blankly at the food in her hands.
Meng Qibao's stomach had been grumbling for a long time.
He hadn't eaten his fill for almost a week, and that fragrant smell was like a hook, making his heart ache and weaken.
But he and Meng Suisui still remembered that the edible grains had been secretly taken away by Meng Anzhi.
She was always greedy for food and drink, couldn't stand to see good things, and then, in a flash, all the supplies were gone.
When they refused to share, Meng Anzhi would cry and throw tantrums, even calling people to snatch things.
But what happened after the supplies were snatched? No one came to save them, no one helped them, and even those who had joined in the snatching were unwilling to share the food back.
After days of arguing, Meng Anzhi finally quieted down.
She used to love shouting and complaining, but now she was like a stagnant pool, sitting in a corner without saying a word.
And so, they had been hungry for several days.
Finally able to eat a decent meal, Meng Qibao was so excited his eyes turned red.
Looking at the bowl full of white rice, steaming hot, with plump grains, his heart couldn't help but ache.
He had to admit, Bai Wanning's family was indeed loyal; at the very least, they didn't just give them a few grains of rice to get by, but served a whole bowl of filling food.
A few pieces of bone meat and some chopped green onions floated in the soup, and the rich aroma filled the air. Meng Qibao gulped it down, as if to swallow all the hunger of these past days in one go.
Mother Bai saw how hungry they were and said softly, "Come on, don't try to be strong. All of you rest, eat something, and replenish your bodies first. That empty room over there is vacant; you can go rest for two hours and then come back to help with the work."
Seeing the three hesitate, she added, "Don't worry, my daughter cleared out the zombies on the bottom two floors long ago, so there won't be any problems."
"Thank you, thank you all very much," Wen Mian said, putting down her soup bowl and bowing solemnly, her eyes full of gratitude.