Chapter 114: Running Low on Nutrition

Qing Chen muttered softly from the side, “If you give this away, it’ll be troublesome for us to start a fire.”

Li Shutong carelessly joked, “It’s fine, we’ll just have our in-laws help us with the fire. We don’t need this anymore.”

Qing Chen: “…That seems to make sense. Can we mooch off their dinner tonight then?”

“That’s exactly what I intended,” Li Shutong said.

At this moment, Zhang Tongdan waved towards the forest, “Come on, bring everything out.”

He turned to Qin Cheng, “We just finished discussing the toll fee, now let’s talk business formally. By the way, you need to make it clear to your in-laws that if word of what we do gets out, it won’t just land your whole family in prison, it’ll also get us surrounded by the Second Army Group again. You know, Prison 18 is pretty scary.”

Qing Chen remained silent. To be honest, he didn’t think Prison 18 was that scary. It wasn’t so bad, was it?

If this family really went to Prison 18, they might even live more comfortably.

After all, the number one guy in Prison 18 is standing right here.

From the forest, eight people carried a pile of animal hides. Qin Cheng took out a pair of glasses from the passenger seat’s drawer and carefully examined each hide, muttering, “Can you guys stop using the traps? Those bite marks on the hides make them unusable for coats. Rich people are particular about this, they don’t want any flaws. Tell your wilderness sharpshooters to shoot the animals in the eyes; those hides are the most valuable.”

Zhang Tongdan lit a cigarette, “Our sharpshooters were transferred and aren’t hunting anymore. From now on, these are the only hides we’ll have. You can take them or leave them.”

“I’ll definitely take them, but the price needs to be lower,” Qin Cheng said, then had his wife pull out four boxes from under the back seat of the pickup truck, “There are two boxes of ammunition, plus one box of salt and one box of medicine, all of which you urgently need.”

After speaking, Qin Cheng opened a box and took out four medicine bottles, “But the quality of the hides you brought this time is too poor, so I have to deduct four bottles.”

The wrinkles on Zhang Tongdan’s Face^[-] twisted as he held Qin Cheng’s hand, “You’re too ruthless.”

“Business is business,” Qin Cheng said.

“Next time, I’ll definitely bring you better hides,” Zhang Tongdan said, subtly reaching for the pistol at his waist.

Qin Cheng thought for a moment and put the medicine back in the box, “Okay, remember, I lost out on this deal.”

“Alright, let’s go, brothers,” Zhang Tongdan waved his hand, and all the Wildlanders headed back into the forest, vanishing without a trace in a few minutes.

During this time, Qing Chen kept curiously observing the transaction, finding it quite novel.

Li Shutong whispered with a smile, “I brought you out this time so you could see more of the outside world. You’ve seen the best sights in the city before, this time I’ll let you see the customs and people of the wilderness; it’s quite interesting.”

Wildlanders find it difficult to obtain technologically advanced living supplies, so they need an intermediary to exchange for them.

And established people need animal hides and pets, so they also need someone to supply them.

At this point, Wilderness Hunters like Qin Cheng have found a niche for survival.

Since the development of the commodity economy, the world has become full of business everywhere.

Qing Chen discovered that once he left the iron box of Prison 18, the world was full of surprises and unexpected events.

He saw the wilderness, learned about the survival methods of the Wildlanders, and saw the vast sunset and the girls of the wilderness.

It felt like the air itself was clear and vibrant.

Li Shutong also found that since leaving prison, his student’s disposition had become less gloomy.

Or rather, ever since he took Qing Chen out for the first time, the student had begun to regain the mentality he should have as a young man.

He didn’t need to be particularly steady, he didn’t need to be cautious every second, he didn’t need to restrain himself.

Li Shutong understood why.

Because no one protected this boy before, so he had to grow up slowly among thorns; no one taught him how to mature, but life beat him down according to adult standards.

Now, the boy had a teacher, and it was time to restore his natural disposition.

The world had once owed him, and now his teacher could give it to him.

However, the happiest person at this moment was not Qing Chen, but Qin Yiyi.

It wasn’t because Qing Chen saved her, nor because her family had completed another deal, but because she had discovered that the young man beside her wasn’t some servant deprived of freedom.

At least she’d never seen a servant interacting with their boss like this.

Even if the boss is kind, servants can’t be this relaxed; there are no exceptions.

Qin Yiyi was curious. Were this middle-aged man and the young man father and son? It didn’t seem like it; their looks were completely different. Besides, a father wouldn’t watch his son’s feet get worn out without feeling any pain, and Qing Chen didn’t have the typical teenage rebelliousness.

However, she clearly felt that the relationship between these two was very close, not father and son, but perhaps even better than father and son.

At this time, Qin Cheng called from a distance, “Yiyi, Qin Tong, you two hurry and move the tent over here, we need to get a fire going and cook.”

Qin Yiyi quickly ran over, “Coming, coming!”

Li Shutong didn’t offer to help, but said to Qing Chen, “Let’s go, let our in-laws get busy first, let’s go for a walk around. I heard the sound of a river, maybe we can catch a few fish.”

Qing Chen: “….”

…

Meanwhile, over thirty kilometers south of them, by Zhizhu Lake, more than thirty vehicles formed a circle, and a blazing bonfire burned brightly in the center.

These people’s method of building a bonfire was rather simple and brutal; they simply poured some high-concentration fuel directly onto the firewood, and a single match could quickly ignite it.

By Zhizhu Lake, more than a dozen young people took out their fishing rods, competing to see who could catch fish faster and bigger.

Outside the circle of vehicles, four or five servants were setting up tents for everyone and laying down soft, waterproof, and moisture-proof mats inside.

Compared to Qin Cheng and his group, these people seemed to be on vacation.

In the convoy, only one middle-aged man sat quietly on the roof of a car. Below him, the first mate wearing holographic glasses was controlling a drone to fly to the sentry area.

Next to the bonfire, the strong Li Yino sat on the ground with Nangeng Chen. She picked up a freshly roasted ham from the fire, used her dagger to cut off a large chunk, and stuffed it into Nangeng Chen’s bowl, “Eat.”

Nangeng Chen looked at the meat in the bowl, which was almost bigger than his Face^[-], and said aggrievedly, “I can’t finish it.”

Li Yino said leisurely, “You eat like a little chick pecking at rice every day, when will you ever get stronger?”

“I don’t want to get stronger, I want to be a hacker,” Nangeng Chen weakly said.

“What’s so interesting about being a hacker? Didn’t I promise you that I would find you the best teacher?” Li Yino said indifferently, “Don’t worry, I’ve sent people to arrest that fugitive top hacker. Once we catch him, I’ll have him teach you.”

“Okay,” Nangeng Chen’s eyes lit up.

At this time, a servant came to Li Yino’s side and said, “Miss, the tents are set up.”

Li Yino nodded and looked at Nangeng Chen, “Alright, don’t eat anymore for now; eat later.”

Then, she took Nangeng Chen into the tent…

Nangeng Chen said blankly, “But let me finish my food, I’m running low on nutrition…”

…