Chapter 68

Lin Tantan was encouraged on, and of course she happily continued to refine the sheep pen.
They raised the walls, worried the mutated sheep might leap over, and even added a roof. Ventilation and observation windows were left around the sides, and a large skylight opened at the center of the top. What emerged was a sheep pen of several dozen square meters, neater, sturdier, and more attractive than most shacks in the slums.
It didn’t take them even an hour.
The engineers were delighted. The workers on the site, the people there to get a share of the mutton, and the onlookers were all stunned. The news that Lin Tantan possessed a third ability was now thoroughly confirmed.
Some were jealous, some envious. Naturally many people began to reassess her.
Anyone with eyes to see knew her earth power was stronger than that of an ordinary earth-user.
Her wood ability already towered above other wood-users, and now her earth power did the same. Rumor had it her metal power was top-tier too...
So besides jealousy and awe aimed at Lin Tantan herself, some resented Ye Xiao’s team for their luck, how did they stumble onto such a nugget?
The more they thought about it, the more indignant they grew. It was maddening!
Lin Tantan couldn’t have cared less what they thought. After the thrill wore off she looked at the pen she had made with satisfaction, watched the mutated sheep being herded inside, and felt deeply fulfilled.
Sigh, the sense of accomplishment from building a shelter beats saving people.
Bai Cheng looked at the pen, his gaze toward Lin Tantan full of astonishment, but he quickly recovered and gave her a thumbs-up with a smile.
Lin Tantan smiled a little shyly.
The engineers pulled her aside and asked if she could help with the landfilling. Lin Tantan said sure, and went back to work.
Raising forty acres by three to five meters was a huge job. Excavators were digging nearby or along the mountain, trucks hauled load after load of earth and stone, and despite the nonstop toil they’d only completed about a third.
Lin Tantan didn’t simply generate soil and dump it, that would cost enormous energy. Instead she used her power to loosen and cut the existing earth, achieving the effect of excavation with much less energy.
So she began helping the excavators move earth.
There were only three excavators, and even with metal-enhanced buckets their efficiency was limited. Lin Tantan loosened the soil so it shifted like sand, easy to shovel. The hired hands started to shovel and carry it by hand, and even those who had eaten the mutton pitched in.
The rate they filled the land visibly increased, and the working atmosphere was unusually upbeat.
Bai Cheng felt conflicted. He’d always been pragmatic and focused on maximizing benefit, but Lin Tantan seemed a different sort. She cheerfully did this and that, sometimes at a loss; she appeared to gain nothing, yet she managed to move and inspire many, lending everything a warmer, more humane feeling.
He smiled and ordered more sheep slaughtered, announcing that for one piece of mutton you had to work here for an hour, this offer was valid only this afternoon.
Those who had missed out earlier and regretted it quickly lined up again.
Not a single one of the dozen or so sheep driven back into the pen remained; they were all gone.
When Ye Xiao and the others returned with several trucks and carts of mutated sheep, they found their field teeming with people, everyone sweating and working with fierce enthusiasm. Beyond that, the smell of cooked mutton drifted everywhere, it smelled as if it could carry ten miles.
What had happened in the few hours he had been away?
Those who had been watching closely for hours found that none of the people who had eaten the mutton had any serious problems, well, a few had stomachaches or diarrhea, but that was due to weakness and long abstinence from meat; suddenly eating a lot had upset them, not the mutton itself, so they eyed the newly arrived trucks of sheep hungrily and began negotiating with Bai Cheng about buying them.
Bai Cheng didn’t agree. He said to wait until tomorrow; only if those who ate the mutton were still fine the next day would people truly trust the meat was safe, making it easier for him to raise the price.
In the end they herded all the mutated sheep into the pen.
Besides the mutated sheep there were other animals: two mutated pigs and chickens that had ballooned to four or five times their normal size. It was guessed these had once belonged to a nearby farm, mutated after the end of the world, fled to the mountains to roam, and, lacking food and unable to compete with other animals, had come down the mountain more often to forage.
Ye Xiao said they’d search the mountain edge tomorrow; they should be able to find a large flock of chickens.
Lin Tantan looked at the chickens, tightly bound yet lively, and asked, “Can they be raised? If we can keep them, we’ll have a steady supply of chicken. And they still lay eggs, right?”
Ye Xiao said they could try. He looked at her, a hint of disapproval in his gaze. “How did you get yourself like this?” There was a clump of dirt in her hair; he reached out and brushed it away.
Lin Tantan chuckled, "Just working!" She knew her appearance probably wasn't great right now, even if it was only her ability, using it for so long was tiring, and she was sweating. "I'm heading back. Are you coming?"
The construction site would be fine with the engineering team there: they'd assign a few people to guard the mutated animals and stand watch. With Xu Qin and Xu Li, the two who hadn't left the base, staying to keep an eye on things for a while longer, the others would return to the villa.
As soon as Lin Tantan went upstairs she stripped off her clothes and took a shower. The villa wasn't short on water, so she didn't use her own supply. Warm water from the shower streamed down from above; she closed her eyes, comfortable and content.
It would be nice to have a bathtub to soak in, maybe she ought to get a big tub.
Under the steam in the shower she grew drowsy. Ugh, she'd overdone it, she'd pushed her earth power a bit too far this afternoon. Now she felt utterly exhausted, and her right hand trembled.
She dressed with some difficulty, yawned, and crawled into bed, but not long after Ye Xiao knocked on the door: "Tantan, dinner's ready."
She still had to eat, she was starving.
Lin Tantan got out of bed to open the door, rubbing her eyes. "Is there lamb?"
She was still in that pale yellow bear-print pajama; her hair wasn't completely dry and her heavy eyelids made her look barely awake. Her fair skin was still a little flushed from the bath, giving her an especially youthful air.
For a moment Ye Xiao couldn't find the words and stood stunned, then recovered. "Yes," he said. "Do you smell it?"
Lin Tantan sniffed and sure enough picked up the scent of roasted lamb, sprinkled with cumin, so tempting it made her mouth water.
Perking up she said, "Come on, let's eat!"
Ye Xiao laughed, "Take it slow." The stairs weren't wide; he walked beside Lin Tantan and their arms brushed.
He glanced over and saw a tousled head, a delicate, dewy face and a slender, fair neck. A faint scent rose from her, the same brand of body wash he used, distributed by Bai Cheng, but on her it mingled with her own scent into a unique, girlish perfume.
Ye Xiao's gaze deepened, but seeing her childish, lamb-obsessed expression, he couldn't help but smile wryly.
Still just a little girl.
The stray, ill-timed thought that flickered in his mind felt improper, even a little base.
He sighed inwardly.
The lamb was indeed the chef's handiwork, roasted until glossy and fragrant, a whole leg that made you want to grab it and bite right in.
There was also mutated chicken, well prepared into a rich, savory chicken soup.
Seeing her stare at the two dishes, the chef, who didn't come around often, beamed, "Miss Lin, try it and tell me if it's to your liking."
Lin Tantan glanced at him. This was the cook who'd fed them back in Yang City. The once pudgy chef was now half his former size; his smile carried more ingratiation than before, but it wasn't off-putting.
He looked at Lin Tantan expectantly, hoping she would like his cooking and ask them to keep him on.
These people didn't seem to like outsiders at their lodgings, so they rarely summoned him. When they didn't call, he had to fend for himself. He was just an ordinary cook, how much could he do? That's why he'd grown so thin. If they hired him long-term, his life would be settled.
He knew these soldiers weren't fickle about food, but if Lin Tantan asked to keep him, it would likely happen. Even if she didn't keep him permanently, pleasing her could mean more work in the future, mutated ingredients would become more common, and their texture and flavor differed from normal meat. Not many cooks could handle them; he'd stand a good chance.
He thought this and meant to be attentive, slicing lamb for her, but before he could, Ye Xiao took the knife and shaved two fragrant slices onto her plate. She smiled, "Thanks."
She reached for her chopsticks but missed; one even slipped from her grasp.
Lin Tantan froze; Ye Xiao's face darkened. "What's wrong?" He set down the knife and took her hand. She hurriedly said, "Oh, it's nothing, my hand's just a bit weak."
But Ye Xiao wouldn't take the easy answer, he inspected her hand, rolled up her sleeve and made Lin Tantan a little embarrassed. Only when he confirmed there were no external wounds did he relax, frowning. "Is it from the blow Zhou Li gave you? Hasn't it healed?"
"Uh, that's part of it." She tried to pick up her chopsticks again. Her hand was fine when empty, but whenever she grabbed something and used force it trembled. The tremor would be bad enough, but she felt weak all over, trembling pitifully, especially when trying to pick up food, it looked as if she were gravely ill.
She awkwardly set her chopsticks down.
Ye Xiao's face went black. "Didn't you say you were fine?"
"I really am okay, it's just... I was a bit tired this afternoon, a little drained..." Lin Tantan tried to cover, but under Ye Xiao's stare her voice dwindled until it could scarcely be heard.
Lin Tantan hung her head, looking guilty as if she'd done something wrong. Ye Xiao looked like a storm was coming. The chef hesitated to speak, and the others noticed and clustered around. "What's going on? What happened?"
It was obvious to everyone that Lin Tantan trusted Ye Xiao above all, and he protected her more closely than anyone else, whether it was Mei Baisheng, whose life she had once saved, or the attentive Bai Cheng; none compared. So what was going on now?
Ye Xiao seemed truly angry.
Bai Cheng had been in the living room and overheard snippets earlier, but hadn't paid much attention until now. Seeing the untouched chopsticks and the discarded pair on the table, he pieced things together and tried to defuse the situation. "Is it the food? We'll have Chef Chen remade it. Tantan, come, try something else first to settle your stomach."
He hauled Lin Tantan up from the chair. Jiang Xiaotian immediately said, "Yes, I have lots of tasty things. Tantan, come over, I'll share with you."
Lin Tantan stole a look at Ye Xiao; seeing his face still sulking, her heart leapt and she decisively climbed down the ladder to go fetch the food with Jiang Xiaotian.
Jiang Xiaotian rummaged under the coffee table like he was digging for treasure and produced a packet of biscuits. "Yes, this is good, milk biscuits. Tasty and healthy. Try one."
Lin Tantan took it, but the packet was heavy and her hand began trembling uncontrollably. Jiang Xiaotian and the others froze. Her reflex was to glance back at Ye Xiao, his expression was even darker and angrier.
"I'm going upstairs first." She slipped away at once, scampering up the stairs like a little rabbit fleeing a wolf, she nearly tripped.
Ye Xiao's heart missed a beat when she almost fell. Luckily she was quick and didn't actually go down; in a blink she vanished onto the second floor, and he felt both exasperated and amused.
With Lin Tantan gone, everyone looked to Ye Xiao. Bai Cheng chuckled, "Are you scolding your daughter? Don't you know how terrifying that stern face of yours is? Back when you were an instructor you probably scared new recruits to tears. Now look, you've scared her off. What's going on?"
Ye Xiao pinched his forehead, headache and helplessness warring in him, and didn't answer Bai Cheng. "Don't worry about us, go ahead and eat." He went into the kitchen, fetched several bowls, picked up the chopsticks Lin Tantan had left, portioned some of the dishes into bowls, filled a bowl with lamb, scooped a bowl of rice, set the tray and carried it upstairs.
The others watched him, then exchanged glances once he left. Bai Cheng said, "Forget it, let them sort their own problems out."
Everyone laughed, except Mei Baisheng and Xu Li, who looked puzzled. What was so funny? The boss was genuinely angry, those two really seemed to have a conflict. Is it really okay to ignore it?
Xu Qin rolled her eyes at them. "Eat, you two little idiots."
Upstairs, Ye Xiao carried a tray of food to Lin Tantan's door, pulled himself together, and knocked. "Tantan, I've brought your meal."
There was no answer. Ye Xiao sighed, "That was my fault earlier. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you." Wait, he hadn't really lost his temper. He wouldn't truly be mad at her; he was just upset. Who knew she'd be that frightened?
Now, could she be mad at him?
Ye Xiao felt uncertain. He couldn't read girls' minds, and Lin Tantan's were especially hard to figure out by ordinary logic.
Still no response. Growing uneasy, he tried the doorknob, it turned; the door wasn't locked.
Ye Xiao pushed the door open but didn't step in. The master bedroom's en suite blocked much of the view, but because Lin Tantan had moved the bed close to the balcony door, he could still see most of it from the doorway, and there she was, sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs hugged to her chest, her back to the entrance.
She sat with her head down, hugging her knees, her silhouette radiating a lonely, pitiable air, her shoulders trembling slightly. Ye Xiao's chest tightened; he ignored any notion of manners and went straight inside.
She wasn't crying, was she? No, he hadn't said anything!
Yet in the past he'd frightened many people to tears without saying a word.
Was his expression really that scary just now?
Ye Xiao felt annoyed, regretful, anxious, and aching with sympathy all at once. But as he stepped closer and saw what Lin Tantan was doing, he froze.
She was indeed sitting with her legs folded, but a phone rested on her knees. Her still-not-healed left arm braced the outside of the phone, carefully keeping it from falling. Her partly impaired, continuously shaking right hand extended an index finger and poked at the screen, placing all manner of odd arrow-and-bomb weapons to take down the little monsters that spawned along the winding path and to defend the bright red carrot at the end.
Because her hand trembled, her controls weren't great; she was utterly absorbed, brow furrowed, completely lost in the game.
Ye Xiao: "..."
She finally set down a fan weapon whose blades spun out and slaughtered the little monsters. She seemed to sigh in relief, reached for the biscuits beside her, grabbed a few and shoved them into her mouth, only for them to slip and tumble out as she trembled.
It was, frankly, pitiful.
Pitiful in an oddly inspiring way, truly determined despite her limitations.
Ye Xiao gave a half-amused, half-exasperated snort.
The sense of danger finally snapped Lin Tantan out of her intense gaming trance. She turned and saw Ye Xiao standing rigidly at the bedside, his smile all the more intimidating, and nearly choked on the biscuit in her mouth.
"Cough, cough!" Lin Tantan hacked, yanking the earbuds from her ears, pale with alarm. "You, cough, how did you get in?"
Ye Xiao set the tray on a side table and hauled the table closer. "What do you think?"
He was so exasperated he couldn't help but laugh.
He'd worried about her injury and told her to go rest at the villa; she refused and spent the whole afternoon immersed in her "honorable labor," making things worse.
And now she was playing games.
So her being frightened by him had been fake, as was any guilt, she hadn't taken it to heart at all, turning right back to her game and getting completely absorbed.
Ye Xiao reached out his hand.
Lin Tantan glanced at that long, broad hand, then at his expression. She bent to pick up the phone that had fallen by her feet during her coughing fit, then halfway down remembered something and instead pushed the phone to him with her foot.
She hid her right hand behind her back.
She might as well have wished that hand didn't exist.
Ye Xiao: "..."
He bent to pick up the phone, didn't put it in his pocket, pulled the table up to the bed and set the dishes out one by one. "Time to eat."
Lin Tantan murmured, "Uh, thanks, I’ll eat right away."
But her eyes stayed fixed on Ye Xiao, waiting for him to leave. He showed no sign of going; instead he pulled over the only chair in the room and sat down, watching her as if she were his meal.
Aw, Ye Xiao has changed, he’s not like this, my idol!
Lin Tantan let out a soft groan in her heart, but she knew she had irritated him enough times already to have no room left for bargaining.
She slid closer to the bed. Ye Xiao’s gaze swept over her bare feet and she instinctively drew them back, as if afraid his stare might cut her, she felt terribly exposed.
She glanced at him again, then obediently reached out her precious right hand from behind her back and picked up the chopsticks to shovel rice. She meant to grab a piece of vegetable, but her fingers lacked strength; to avoid making a fool of herself she kept her head down and just ate.
The rice was a bit sticky, and the bowl slipped as she scooped, so she braced it with her left forearm. When the bowl slid too far away for comfort she nudged it back into place with that arm.
Seeing her left arm tucked into her sleeve made Ye Xiao’s heart suddenly twist painfully.
He rose without warning and took the chopsticks from her hand. Lin Tantan looked up in surprise. He studied her quietly and reached out to pluck a grain of rice from the corner of her mouth.
Her cheeks flushed red; she hurriedly wiped her face and swallowed the rice. "Um, um..."
She couldn’t finish her sentence. Ye Xiao scooped a spoonful of chicken broth and brought it to her lips.
"Ah?" Lin Tantan blurted instinctively. Before she knew it, he’d fed her a mouthful of soup. She swallowed reflexively, and then saw him set the spoon down, pick up a bite of rice with his chopsticks, and lift it to her mouth. "Open up."
He, he was going to feed her?!
It finally registered with Lin Tantan; her face went beet-red.