Chapter 114: Can I Use Candy As a Reward?

South of the Wetland Park.

Yu Hu and Li Niu were walking in the direction of the outpost while carrying a wild boar.

It was hard to catch prey in winter, but they would still be able to catch something if they headed to the fifth ring to explore the ruins of the high-rise buildings.

Normally, small prey like squirrels and hares could be handled by themselves. But if it was a big one like a wild boar, they would need to ask the butcher in the town to deal with it for them. However, the butcher would charge them 30% of the meat as a fee for slaughtering them.

That was a terrible deal.

Those blue-coated people would only charge them 20% of the meat as the fee, and they would never be shorted. So it was worth it for them to travel a few more kilometers.

The wild boar was tied to a wooden stick with the two each carrying one end of the stick on their shoulders. And there was also a little girl, whose face and ears were red from the cold, following closely behind them.

There were not many mutants wandering around outside in this weather, and marauders also rarely left their stronghold, so after failing to dissuade Xiaoyu, Yu Hu could only bring along his little sister at her incessant plea.

The weather was cold, but Xiaoyu was in a great mood at the thought that she would see her Big Brother Chu again soon; so much so that she began to hum songs unconsciously.

All of sudden, the footsteps of her second brother and her elder cousin stopped.

Xiaoyu couldn’t help but also stop curiously. "Brother, what's wrong?"

Yu Hu made a shush gesture to Xiaoyu, then looked at Li Niu and pointed to the front. "Nomad."

Li Niu also saw the figure in the distance, but he was still uncertain. "Are you sure?"

"Mhm."

Li Niu asked in a low voice. "Why are there nomads here?!"

Yu Hu thought for a while, but still couldn’t figure it out. "I don't know, maybe Big Brother Chu took them in." He answered, shaking his head.

In his mind, Big Brother Chu was too kind. Sometimes, he couldn't help but worry about whether Big Brother Chu would be deceived by others.

To be honest, Yu Hu felt a sense of guilt in his heart every time he came here to exchange his prey for stuff.

The salt he bought from here was pure, and he would receive a lot more than what he would get from Old Charlie.

He was really worried that Chu Guang would suffer losses from the exchange.

Xiaoyu looked up at her second brother and elder cousin, and blinked her eyes curiously, not understanding what they were talking about.

She didn't know what nomads were, nor did she feel strange that they were there.

To her, Big Brother Chu was a good person, so it was natural that people would want to live closer to him.

However, things that were not strange to her were still a little strange to Yu Hu and Li Niu.

Whether it was their way of life or cultural practices, these nomads from afar were different from the settled survivors.

Because they were not settling anywhere, they wouldn't care what their neighbors would think of them, and they would pay little attention to whether their actions would offend others.

Maybe it was prejudice, but there were indeed many thieves, liars, and ruffians among them, and sometimes they would even bring terrifying plagues with them...

Yu Hu hid his little sister behind his back and waited for the man to walk away before signaling Li Niu to continue moving.

They were very careful along the way, not wanting to have contact with those refugees. After showing the pass to the guards, they went straight into the outpost through the south gate.

Unlike the last time Yu Hu came, the changes were really big.

Yu Hu remembered very clearly that the last time he came here, the road from the south gate to the warehouse was a dirt road with nothing beside it.

But now, not only was the road covered with a layer of gray stuff, but it was also very solid. Moreover, there were several red brick houses on both sides of the road; the largest house that had its door tightly closed even had a chimney made of bricks on top, and it was emitting black smoke as he approached.

Yu Hu had never seen such a strange building before, and neither did his little sister and Li Niu. All of them widened their eyes curiously.

"Yu Hu, what is that?"

"It should be a chimney, I remember there's one installed on top of the town mayor's house."

"A chimney? What is that for?"

"It seems to be for cooking? I remember it's used to pass smoke out."

"But it's not time to eat yet."

"I don't know, maybe... It's a place to cook for a lot of people."

Anyway, Baker Street didn't have this kind of strange building. Yu Hu thought to himself.

In sharp contrast to the curious expressions on the three people's faces, the blue coats didn’t seem as curious about them as before.

Apart from the last batch of newcomers who had just come, the players were already familiar with them, and their curiosity had already died out.

All of a sudden, Yu Hu’s eyes lit up.

"Brother Chu!" he shouted, greeting Chu Guang from a distance. He was very lucky today because he bumped into Chu Guang who was wandering in the industrial area not long after he entered the outpost.

"Huh? It's been a while. You guys caught something again?" Looking at the wild boar carried by Yu Hu and Li Niu together, a smile appeared on Chu Guang's face.

Good.

We got something good to eat tonight!

The wild boar the previous time had been eaten by the players. He didn’t get to taste it at all. No matter what, he wanted to keep some for himself lest it was completely sold out.

"Mhm! A really big boar!" Xiaoyu gestured with her hands happily, her childish action made Chu Guang chuckle subconsciously.

Glancing at his little sister, Yu Hu said in a low voice, "Xiaoyu misses you a lot."

"Mhm! Xiaoyu misses you a lot!"

"I miss you too," Chu Guang smiled and stroked Xiaoyu's head. He looked at Yu Hu and continued, "You live in that shed now?"

"Mhm," Yu Hu nodded and smiled embarrassedly, "I repaired the shed a little bit. Now it looks more spacious than before. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. It was Xiaoyu who gave it to you. Just be nice to her." Chu Guang said with a smile, "Speaking of which, how's everything? Are there any marauders harassing you?"

"Marauders? I haven't seen those people recently. We are all fine, but you have to be careful," Yu Hu said with a serious expression, "I heard from some old people that there lived a group of people in the north who used bloody handprints as flags. Some hunters were caught by them when they went to the north to look for deer herds, and it was also them who hurt my elder brother and my father last time!"

Bloody handprints?

Is he talking about the Bloodhand Clan?

Well... They won't be able to harm anyone again.

Chu Guang smiled and said lightly. "Don't worry, they won't be able to harass you anymore."

Hearing this, Yu Hu and Li Niu had surprised expressions on their faces. Only Xiaoyu had a look of shock on her face.

Hearing them talking about what happened last time, she remembered something.

"...Speaking of which, Xiaoyu saw two men with very fierce looks taking away a very beautiful elder sister from Baker Street last time."

Hearing Xiaoyu's interjection, Chu Guang suddenly thought of something. "Is that elder sister very pale? And she's probably... This tall, right?" Chu Guang gestured, showing the height that was near his nose.

Xiaoyu frowned. After thinking for a while, she nodded earnestly and said, "Mhm, mhm! Big Brother Chu has seen that elder sister before?"

Not only have I seen it...

The expression on his face was somewhat interesting.

Chu Guang thought about it for a short moment and eventually used a euphemistic way to skip a topic that was too heavy for her. "That elder sister... Mhm, I've sent her away."

So... That person was indeed gifted to those marauders by the old town mayor.

With that said, Chu Guang looked at Yu Hu and Li Niu and said. "Let's not talk about this. It's very cold outside, if you guys trust us, leave the wild boar to Luca, and come sit in the house with me for a while."

Yu Hu, Li Niu, and Xiaoyu nodded immediately.

"Mhm!"

"Okay!"

...

Li Niu was not very familiar with Chu Guang, but Yu Hu was.

It was not even exaggerated to say that in his mind, Chu Guang was the person he trusted the most besides his close relatives.

If it weren't for his help, his elder brother would have already died.

It was truly a life-saving grace.

Besides, Yu Hu didn't think that a good person like Chu Guang would be greedy for a few pieces of meat. If he really wanted it, he would give it all to him for free.

In Yu Hu's view, that was also the way it should be.

Chu Guang brought the three of them to the main building of the nursing home. On the first floor, there was a fairly spacious room, which he had transformed into a reception room.

In this room, there was some simple furniture made by a few new LifestyleProfession players from the Woodworking Cabin.

After Chu Guang lit the charcoal fire and settled the three of them, he went back to the shelter and took a bottle of alcohol and a bottle of milk from the refrigerator.

Milk was given to Xiaoyu.

As for the alcohol... Chu Guang sat in front of the brazier with them, and poured a glass for each of them.

The amount was not much, only about 20ml.

"Try it."

Yu Hu leaned closer to the glass and smelled it, his eyes suddenly lit up. "This is... alcohol?!"

Chu Guang said with a smile. "It's made from shofar potatoes."

Li Niu also said with admiration. "It smells so good!"

No, it should be said that it was too extravagant!

In this hellish winter, they even had surplus grain to make alcohol!

Yu Hu and Li Niu were really envious.

In the past, only during the years when the harvest was particularly good that the elders of their families would use the leftover old grains from the year before to brew a little cloudy grain alcohol, and save them for special festivals or important occasions.

Especially when the sour green wheat cannot be used to brew alcohol, they had to use shofar potatoes or a kind of fruit picked from the wild to make alcohol.

Those fruits could only be seen in autumn and summer, and they couldn't be found in winter.

It was very hard to be able to drink a sip of warm alcohol in such weather conditions.

"Ah, it burns!" Yu Hu was fine as he probably had good alcohol tolerance. However, the young man Li Niu looked strong, but after taking a sip, his entire face turned red like a monkey's ass.

Looking at the dude whose tongue was sticking out, Chu Guang chuckled, "It's a bit strong, so drink it slowly."

It was distilled alcohol after all.

And it was vodka made of mutated potato... Obviously, it made him feel like his throat was burning.

In fact, Chu Guang's alcohol was originally not made for drinking. The reason why the warehouse placed an order like that was so that he could keep some in reserve for medical use.

But the players gave him too much peace of mind.

Since the death penalty had been lowered several times, the seriously injured players would walk back to the outpost by themselves, and then find a place where they wouldn't get in the way of others to give themselves a last hit.

Alcohol was not needed for serious injuries, and there was no need to use it to treat minor wounds; only some wounds that needed stitches would use it a little.

With the experience from the first sip, the two young men were much more cautious and did not drink the alcohol in such a hurry. After taking another sip of the alcohol, their cold bodies quickly warmed up.

"Your life here is so good..." Looking at the burning brazier, Yu Hu said enviously.

"It will get even better," Chu Guang poured another small glass for the two of them and said with a smile, "You can come often in the future. We need manpower here, not only for hunting, but also many other things."

Yu Hu said while patting his chest. "No problem! Brother Chu, if you need me to do anything, just say the word!"

Li Niu also nodded. "Me too."

Chu Guang smiled. "Don't worry, I won't let you help me for free."

At this time, Xiaoyu, who was sitting next to him and sipping on her milk, finally finished it.

Seeing her licking her lips with a satisfied expression, Yu Hu was amused and asked with a smile, "Is it delicious?"

"Mhm!" Xiaoyu nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling. She gave a thumbs up and said, "It tastes like Mama's!"

Yu Hu’s eyes widened slightly and he didn’t know what to say. "?"

“?” Li Niu was also confused.

Chu Guang also raised an eyebrow curiously.

...

The butcher finished slaughtering the boar very soon. After the four sat in the room for a while, Luca knocked on the door and walked into the reception room, respectfully reporting to Chu Guang. "Administrator, your guest's meat is ready."

Chu Guang nodded and looked at the two who were slightly drunk. "Let's go, go get your meat."

The group then came to the warehouse.

Luca had already packed the meat for the two of them in plastic bags and handed them to Yu Hu and Li Niu. As for the fur, it was replaced with three hundred grams of salt as usual.

As for the viscera and bones... They were all in the plastic bucket beside them. The two of them didn't plan to take any, so they left it here.

Seeing that her elder brother and elder cousin were planning to leave, Xiaoyu hesitated for some time and thought for a while before tugging Yu Hu’s sleeves. She signaled for him to lower his head and lean over before whispering sometime to him.

After Yu Hu heard what she said, he was dazed for a moment, then immediately shook his head repeatedly, "How can we do that? Our family has caused enough trouble for Brother Chu!"

"But..."

"No buts. I won’t agree to this!"

Hearing that the content of the discussion between the two seemed to be related to him, Chu Guang looked at the two people curiously. "What are you talking about?"

Seeing Chu Guang looking at him, Yu Hu looked a little embarrassed and hesitant to answer.

However, at this time, his little sister who was standing beside him gathered up her courage and said timidly, "Xiaoyu also wants to help Big Brother Chu. After all... You didn’t need Xiaoyu to help with housekeeping, but you still gave Xiaoyu so much candy."

"Candy?" Yu Hu was dazed for a moment and then glared at his little sister. "When did you eat other people's food? Didn't our dad teach you not to eat whatever others gave you?"

All he knew was that his little sister seemed to be holding some plastic sticks, but he didn’t know that they were candies.

The sugar in candies was much more expensive than salt!

Knowing that she was in the wrong, Xiaoyu, who was being stared at by her old brother, blushed. She didn't know what to say, so she just didn't say anything and turned her face away from Yu Hu, pretending that she didn't hear him.

Looking at them, Chu Guang said with a smile, "This doesn’t count as helping me. This is just a... a trade? You can think of it as a reward.”

Xiaoyu immediately raised her head, her eyes sparkling. "Then, will Xiaoyu be paid for helping?"

"Of course..."

Xiaoyu's eyes lit up instantly. "Then, can I ask for candies as a reward?"

Chu Guang had a lot of lollipops. After all, it was the guaranteed reward of the basic loot box, and he would always get more of it.

It was just that Chu Guang never thought that lollipops would come in handy on such occasions.

"If you want to help me, I happen to have a job that I can give you, and it's a very important job. But... it's so far from your home, and it's a long way to come here. Is there really no problem with you staying here?"

Chu Guang looked at Yu Hu.

Originally, he thought that her elder brother would dissuade her. But unexpectedly, Yu Hu, who was shaking his head repeatedly just now, changed his mind.

"No problem! As long as she can help you, you can get her to do anything you want! Big Brother Chu, if you don’t mind it, my little sister can live here with you. It will save her from traveling a long way!"

Before Chu Guang could react, Xiaoyu also nodded excitedly and raised her arms. "Yes! Xiaoyu is already an adult, and Xiaoyu can take care of herself!"

Li Niu didn't know what to say, but he felt that he should also offer his help, so he thought about it for a while, and then said, “I can help build a shed for her... I'll go pick up the materials now."

Chu Guang coughed dryly, stopping the guy's mindless behavior. "... That's not necessary."