Lan Jin thought about it and nodded. "Alright. We can all go to J City Base together first. If it's expensive, we'll just stay once, then at the next base, I can go in alone. All we really need is to ask for directions. Who knows, maybe once we reach J City Base, we can find out the routes to all the other bases too. After that, we could just stay in the space instead. But if it's cheap, I've got so much food stored that I wouldn't mind spending a little. We could all go in and rest for a bit. Honestly, I'm really curious about the base."
The one she was most curious about was J City Base. In her previous life, during the flood disaster, she'd heard that the entire base there had been wiped out. But was that really true? She wanted to see for herself.
It wasn't that she wanted to watch from the sidelines. She just wanted to know how weak a base's defenses could be for something like that to happen.
With their first destination decided, all that was left was to plan the route. But Ling Jiang suddenly said anxiously, "We're not leaving right away, are we? I want to try finding Lao Shi again."
Ever since the rainy season began, Ling Jiang had heard nothing from Officer Shi. After the extreme cold set in, she would take time whenever she could to go out and look for him, always holding onto the hope that he was still alive. Now that they were leaving and would never come back, she couldn't just walk away without trying one more time.
But truthfully, it wasn't as if Officer Shi didn't know where she lived. If he were alive, he should have come looking for her by now. Even if Ling Jiang wasn't home, Grandma Ling was always there. The building wasn't that tall, only seven floors. If he shouted from downstairs, Grandma Ling would definitely have heard.
Besides, their two floors were so heavily guarded that anyone could tell people lived upstairs. Given Ling Jiang's combat ability, there wouldn't be anyone else it could be.
So if Officer Shi had come, he would have known she was still alive.
But he hadn't come.
Lan Jin could understand her wanting to search again. "Go ahead," she said. "I'll lend you the car."
"No need for the car," Ling Jiang replied. "Don't waste fuel. You've got a bicycle, right? Lend me one of those. Lao Shi's home is nearby, so I'll just look around here the next few days. If I don't find him, then… that's just fate."
"Alright," Lan Jin said, then turned to Lao Gao. "You go with her."
"No need. I can go alone."
Lan Jin shook her head. "Times are different now. There are too many ability users outside. It's not safe for you to go alone. If Lao Gao goes with you, it'll be safer. I'll stay here with Xiao Huang and Grandma Ling to burn the rest of the charcoal and cook more food. It's still light out, so it's a good time to go. Our route is simple. We can talk it over tonight when you're back."
They already knew J City Base's location since the insect disaster, but they still needed to plan which places had the best chance of finding supplies and which route would be easiest to travel. That would only take an hour or two, so it wouldn't delay anything.
She brought out two bicycles and handed them over. "Go. Since we're leaving, it's best to leave without regrets."
Lan Jin had no regrets here, nor did Huang Jinghe. Lao Gao supposedly had none either. She wasn't about to let Ling Jiang leave with something weighing on her heart.
Seeing Lan Jin agree, Grandma Ling quickly added, "Go on, it's not that early anymore. Just search nearby today. Tomorrow you can go farther. Wear gloves and a mask so you don't freeze. If you find him, great. If not… then you weren't meant to. Don't dwell on it."
Ling Jiang felt the weight in her chest ease. "Alright. I'll feel better if I try one last time. Then I'll know I've done all I could."
"Go," Lan Jin said. "If you find him, bring him back so we can leave together."
She added one more thing so Ling Jiang wouldn't hesitate later. "We can't take everyone, but we can take him. After all, when it came to Qiao Qiao's matter, he was the one who helped."
Ling Jiang and Lao Gao wasted no time before heading out to search for Lao Shi. Grandma Ling started up the brazier and began simmering all kinds of soups.
The rich aroma drifted through the air.
"Grandma Ling, your cooking is amazing," Lan Jin said. "This smells incredible."
It truly smelled better than anything she made herself.
Grandma Ling smiled. "It's your water that's good."
"No, no, it's definitely your skill," Lan Jin insisted.
She had cooked soups with spring water herself, but they never came out this fragrant. Good ingredients still needed a good cook.
Lan Jin fried up a batch of snacks and handed some to everyone. Qiao Qiao loved them. After Lan Jin added a bit of ketchup for her, the little girl sat in the corner, happily munching away. Every now and then, she fed a bite to Nana, who was always by her side.
But Nana was picky. He wouldn't eat unless it was dipped in ketchup too, which made Grandma Ling laugh. "This Nana is practically human."
By the end of the afternoon, Grandma Ling had simmered three big pots of soup, while Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe had stir-fried a full tub of vegetables. Of course, they were all greens—meat dishes were never this efficient.
As the sky darkened, they finally heard movement. In Grandma Ling's eager gaze, Ling Jiang and Lao Gao returned to Building 12.
They hadn't found him. Not today, and not any other day that week. They hadn't even seen a shadow. With the temperature holding steady at minus 35 degrees for three days now, Lao Gao asked, "Still going to keep looking?"
Ling Jiang hesitated, then shook her head. "When it's time to give up, you give up. If we could find him, we would have by now. Let's pack up and get ready to leave."
After that, she didn't go out again, focusing instead on packing.
Her home, with an elderly resident, had plenty of miscellaneous things. Even though many had been exchanged for contribution points before, small odds and ends still filled the place. Her cardboard boxes weren't enough, so Lan Jin gave her five more, which were just enough to hold it all.
Lao Gao's spare room, however, couldn't be emptied so easily. He packed as much as he could and left the rest. To Lan Jin, most of it was junk, but Lao Gao clung to it stubbornly.
The biggest surprise was the youngest of them all, Huang Jinghe. He had almost no useless items, but an entire spare room filled with supplies. The sight made Lao Gao gape. "So it's just me and Sister Ling who are broke, huh?"