Chapter 60

Ye Xiao turned and met a pair of round, bright, puppy-like eyes full of delight and a tiny bit of awe. His anger vanished; he even felt a little... embarrassed.
He lowered his head and covered his mouth with a feigned cough, replaying in his mind whether he'd overreacted. Lin Tantan's snail-like disposition made him very cautious now; he had to watch himself and not cross any lines.
He caught sight of a crowd staring at the two of them and put on a stern face. "What are you standing around like idiots for? Today's work isn't done yet."
The people immediately dispersed and went back to helping count supplies or guarding the supply trucks.
Only then did Ye Xiao say to Lin Tantan, "Sorry for dragging you into that earlier."
Lin Tantan shook her head. "I wasn't really offended. It was just an empty, spiteful line. If he'd gone further, I would've taught him a lesson myself." She smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Still, I'm glad you stood up for me. Thanks, Ye Xiao, you were really handsome just now."
Ye Xiao's gaze flickered. "Really?"
"Mmm-hmm," Lin Tantan nodded earnestly. She regretted not having brought a phone or camera to capture the moment, then again, even if she'd had one it wouldn't have been appropriate to pull it out. She'd have to record it with her own eyes. Luckily, gifted people tended to have excellent memories.
She suddenly thought of something: there were too many of these little regrets, one of them being that she couldn't preserve scenes and images. If only she could draw, then she could sketch them right away.
But she couldn't draw. Maybe she could learn, or have Jiang Xiaotian rig up some black‑tech camera for her to carry and record everything.
Uh, wouldn't that be a little creepy?
Her thoughts ran wild and her expression took on an oddly wistful look. Ye Xiao had no idea what she was imagining, though his ears warmed a little. Could this be a chance? He chose his words carefully. "Honestly, it wasn't much, if he'd only been aiming at me, I would've let it go. But he pointed at you…"
Before he could fumble for the right phrasing, Lin Tantan cut in, "I get it, I get it!" She wore an expression that said she understood everything. "It's fine to target you, but not my brother, that's not okay. I know. If he'd gone after Meimei and the others, you'd have been angry too, right?"
Ye Xiao: "..."
Ye Xiao wiped his face. "Yes."
"Brother," huh. So that's how she defined their relationship? For the first time, Ye Xiao felt like spitting blood.
Lin Tantan thought to herself, Ah, my idol is so warm and protective, even more handsome now! No, I can't say any more, or my infatuation will show. She said, "I just remembered, I left a patient halfway through, so I won't make it home for New Year's Eve dinner. I came to check on this side of things, and I should head back now."
She glanced at the time, just before three. There was still plenty of time. Although the patients originally on her roster had been reassigned, dozens of them, even if each of the others got almost nothing, it would still be a heavy pressure; after all, the cases that reached her were the most serious.
Ye Xiao frowned slightly. "Now?"
After the mutated plant attack, he wasn't comfortable with her going off alone.
Lin Tantan said, "Don't worry. That shantytown is far from the hillside, it's near the city wall. There aren't many plants around; it should be fine. Even if something happens, I can protect myself."
"Don't say that." Ye Xiao was a little helpless. After a moment's thought he agreed, then began scanning who was near her. One Jiang Zhongyi wasn't nearly comforting; those bodyguards wouldn't help Tantan much in real danger.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized he had too few truly reliable people, people he could count on, not mercenaries who might break up after today. Even if those people were powerful gifted, could he really be at ease leaving them by Lin Tantan's side? He couldn't, after all, follow her every moment.
A weight suddenly settled in Ye Xiao's chest.
Seeing him silent for a long while, Lin Tantan asked, "Ye Xiao?"
He snapped back. "I'll escort you to that shantytown."
"No need."
"I need to see the place for myself before I can be sure."
Lin Tantan couldn't talk him out of it and had to agree. When they arrived, Ye Xiao's brow tightened again. It did look unlike a place where mutated plants would spring up, but the environment was terrible, much worse than yesterday. Even though they'd found the cleanest, flattest, driest spot they could and a row of folding tents looked neat and tidy, the patients and their families waiting there were genuinely grubby and disordered.
In such surroundings…
If he were in charge, he would never let people live like this. He would certainly never let Lin Tantan come and go through places like this every day.
He suddenly remembered Zhou Yan's contemptuous, sneering look, and the unnamed nobody who'd dared to mouth off and thus caused Lin Tantan to be insulted. His hand tightened without him noticing.
He left in silence, giving even Xu Tianjin only a casual once‑over before moving on.
Bai Cheng noticed Ye Xiao's unusual mood and raised an eyebrow, was he embarrassed again?
He'd grown used to Ye Xiao's repeated failures. Although Ye Xiao had been the first among them to find someone he liked, Bai Cheng still thought it would be hard for him to be the first to pair off for good.
He didn't make a fuss and asked, "About what I estimated, there's roughly five hundred tons of grain and a lot of supplies. What do you want to do with them?"
Five hundred tons of grain wasn't a huge amount, but it could feed a million people for several days. If the population shrank, it would last even longer.
Suddenly Ye Xiao asked, "How many plant-type ability users are there at the moment?"
Bai Cheng was a little surprised but answered quickly, "Across the whole base, as far as I know there are over a thousand wood‑type gifted, and about two‑thirds of them are focused on planting."
"Too few." Ye Xiao looked up at the parking lot, messy and desolate, full of vehicles both good and bad, and then toward the base farther off, with its haphazard, uneven buildings.
“I went out today and saw every field underwater, there isn't a single crop that can be saved.” Although there aren't many crops in winter, the sight still crushed a lot of people's hopes. Many at the base had been dreaming of leaving to check the fields, maybe travel a little farther afield.
“Ning City's grain reserves are nearly exhausted; only one small granary remains untouched. How many days do you think the remaining stock will last?”
Bai Cheng's expression grew sombre. “Within a month the base will be in chaos. But it'll only be for a while, those who survive will find a way to live. There’s food in other cities; if it’s not in this one, it’ll be in the next. The national granaries could feed the country for two or three years, especially now with the population sharply reduced... If worst comes to worst, we can dig for wild greens and hunt. Mutated animals can be eaten, can’t they? There are probably edible mutated plants too. Once things stabilize we can restart production.”
He wasn't worried about the distant future; it was the immediate food crisis at the Ning City base that posed a nearly unsolvable problem. Some even wished the flu would worsen and take more lives so the survivors would inherit more resources.
They had planned to stand by and watch. If the crisis was going to break out anyway and some people were bound to die, the difference between this group dying and another group dying seemed negligible, cruelly put, it might even be better if the sick perished.
After all, those who fall ill generally have weaker constitutions. That's not absolute, those with good homes, those who don't have to work in the rain for a living, those with ample food and warm supplies are less likely to get sick.
In short, it was a brutal choice.
But Lin Tantan wanted to save people.
So after thinking it over, Ye Xiao went to speak with Lu Jianping, and Lu was persuaded, if this group of patients could be kept alive, they'd be more competitive than those who had never been ill. There was evidence: people who recover from illness often come back stronger. Just look at those in the Yang City convoy who fell sick and were cured by Lin Tantan. Besides, the chance of ability users emerging from the patient population is higher.
If it had only been talk of brotherly love, Lu Jianping would never have committed manpower for nothing.
Ye Xiao was silent for a long time before finally saying, “Of the five hundred tons of grain, we'll keep a hundred tons and hand the rest to Lu Jianping. I'll discuss its use with him.”
Bai Cheng looked up at him. He wasn't surprised about giving it to Lu, it was better than handing it to Li Qun to stir up trouble, but… “Keep a hundred tons? Isn't that too much?”
“Recruit some people, ordinary folks or ability users, both are fine. Skill and character matter. Focus on ability users with healing or agricultural abilities. Promising patients, too. Quality over quantity...”
Ye Xiao spoke slowly. The more Bai Cheng listened, the brighter his eyes became, though he kept a calm face. “What's with the sudden change of heart? Weren't you planning to return to the capital?”
“I can go back to the capital on my own and check things out; that doesn't affect this. To stand by and watch and do nothing, that's not what we should do, is it?” Ye Xiao smiled; his features relaxed and his demeanor brightened, as if he'd shaken free of something that had quietly bound him before. “Before, I wanted to leave.”
He'd been intent on returning to the capital, if not for being trapped by the heavy rains he'd have gone already. Ning City base was never meant to be a long-term stop in his plans; the capital was far away and the journey uncertain. He couldn't take many people, so he decided to bring no extras at all.
But today's events made him suddenly realize that if he couldn't move freely in this small base, what could he accomplish in the capital? Here, even one of Li Qun's minor underlings dared to confront him, what would it be like with the powerful figures in the capital?
He didn't mind for himself, but he couldn't bear to see those around him mistreated.
If you aren't strong enough, how can you protect those you want to protect? Individual strength alone isn't sufficient, without your own forces and people, you'll always be looked down on in this era.
He told Bai Cheng, “Old Bai, perhaps having our own power base is the real way to stand firm.”
Bai Cheng thought, thank God you've finally figured it out, but what had triggered this sudden awakening?
He thought it over and recalled the earlier confrontation, and then he vaguely understood Ye Xiao's mindset.
Being provoked by a bunch of small-time thugs in front of the person you care about, that's humiliating. Watching your loved one take that abuse is even harder to bear, isn't it?
First it was Zhu Xin, now Li Qun's faction. Extrapolate it further, what if someone even more powerful comes along later? Or, when he's not around, someone swaggering in front of her, bossing her around or even harming her, wouldn't that make him explode?