ARBW Chapter 12

A ton of rice sounds like a lot, but in reality, it’s just two thousand jin.

For one person or a family, two thousand jin of rice is quite a bit.

However, for the entire town, with over a hundred people, it really isn’t much.

Pei Yuhuai had them divide it equally among the people, which meant each person would only get a little over ten jin of rice.

They were uncertain if there would be any more food to distribute in the future, so they wanted to take a little more while they could.

Some young people felt that since they were strong and ate more, they should get a larger share.

But the two people in charge of distributing the rice were completely unwilling to comply with their demands.

They had been entrusted with this important task by Pei Yuhuai, hoping to follow him in the future. If they didn’t distribute the rice properly today, they feared Pei Yuhuai would blame them.

To make a good impression on Pei Yuhuai, the two responsible individuals maintained stern faces, showing no signs of yielding.

In the end, perhaps fearing Pei Yuhuai’s anger, after more than half an hour of arguing, they still distributed the rice according to the original plan.

It was manageable for the adults to carry ten jin of rice, but it was quite difficult for the children.

They wanted to make several trips to carry it back, but they were worried that their share would be snatched away after they left.

Finally, a few children gathered together and decided to leave one child behind while the others carried the rice back.

Once they had moved all their share of rice home, they would divide it among themselves, alleviating their fears of it being taken by the adults.

After Lin Mian and Cheng Xiaowan successfully received their rice, they happily returned to their dwelling.

Once home, they enjoyed a delicious meal of rice. Afterward, they went to the Guardian Dormitory, planning to discuss how they would survive in the future.

This place had been abandoned by the town’s organizers, and it was estimated that soon the town would lose its electricity, water supply, and even internet access.

Without electricity and water, even if they had food from Pei Yuhuai, surviving would be very difficult.

Thus, Lin Mian suggested that everyone unite to establish a base together.

It should be noted that their Scarlet Town was located between the Inner City and the Outer City.

This location was quite awkward; if one were to say it belonged to the Inner City, it didn’t quite fit, as it was outside the protection of the Mutants.

But if one were to say it was part of the Outer City, it didn’t fully belong there either.

In such circumstances, once everyone realized that this town had been abandoned by the Inner City, many Lower Class People from the Outer City would surely come to seize territory or resources.

Not only would Lower Class People from the Outer City cause them trouble, but some Nobles from the Inner City would likely do the same.

After all, they were merely Lower Class People who looked good but were of little use.

It was quite common for Nobles to kill Lower Class People.

Then there was the issue of food and water; while the food problem was temporarily resolved with some rice to eat, the water issue would become more troublesome once the town ran out of water. They would need someone to go out and search for a water source.

Many people were aware of these problems, so when Lin Mian proposed that everyone unite to rebuild the town, many reacted skeptically, thinking it was unlikely.

Some felt it would be better to continue following the town’s organizers.

Especially the men, who, unlike women, wouldn’t get pregnant even if they were taken advantage of.

They thought it would be better to leave, as Pei Yuhuai hadn’t restricted their actions.

After leaving, they could continue to seek refuge with the organizers, who would surely welcome them.

Of course, those who thought this way were still a minority; after all, following the organizers didn’t guarantee they would have enough to eat every day.

They would still have to endure abuse, and if they encountered a sadistic person, they might even suffer torment.

Most people were unwilling to seek refuge with the organizers, but they also didn’t dare to leave the town to search for water, resulting in a stalemate.

A seemingly clever teacher looked at Lin Mian and said, “How about this? Lin Mian has a gun and some self-defense capability; why not have him take a few young people to search for water?”

Before Lin Mian could respond, some strong young men were already displeased.

“Why should we? When we asked you to give us a little more rice, you all looked like you’d rather die than comply. Now that you need us to put in some effort, suddenly you remember we’re young and strong?”

“Exactly! Why didn’t you give us more rice? Now that it’s time to work, you think of us?”

“Yeah, we’re not fools! Isn’t Mr. Pei very capable? Let’s just wait and see what he does next.”

…

After a round of arguments, with everyone having food in hand, they decided to wait and see how things would unfold.

They would observe what Pei Yuhuai would do; if he couldn’t support them, they would then consider whether to stay or leave.

Meanwhile, while a group of people was anxious, Pei Yuhuai was having dinner with his family.

Their family had strict rules, and generally, they weren’t allowed to talk during meals, so the atmosphere was quite quiet.

It wasn’t until they finished eating and the housekeeper cleared the table that the family began to chat slowly.

Pei Yuhuai was the youngest in the family, with his older siblings already married.

Given that he was no longer young, every time he returned home, the main topic of conversation was about his marriage.

For instance, at this moment, Pei Yuhuai’s mother suddenly waved her tablet at him.

Pei Yuhuai knew exactly what was coming but obediently sat beside his mother, silently listening as she introduced potential partners.

“Son, what do you think of this one? This girl is twenty-two years old and just graduated from university this year…”

Before she could continue, Pei Yuhuai gently replied, “Just graduating from university is the perfect time to focus on building a career; she probably doesn’t want to date an older man like me.”

“I knew you would say that! So, this time, the people I found are all interested in dating you and marrying into our Pei family.”

Before Pei Yuhuai could respond, his second sister chimed in with a laugh, “Hahaha, Mom, when you tell them he’s Pei Yuhuai, even the pandas in the park would be willing! Who in B City doesn’t know our little brother?”

Hearing this, the old lady immediately became annoyed. She picked up an apple from the table and threw it at her second daughter’s forehead.

“Get lost! Can’t you stop bothering me at the old house?”

The second sister deftly caught the apple, stuffing it into her mouth as she ran upstairs.

Because she had a son who loved to play rock music, her mother couldn’t help but get angry every time she saw her.

Of course, her mother’s disdain for her wasn’t solely because of her son; the main reason was her sharp tongue.

Once the troublesome second daughter was upstairs, the old lady continued to smile as she flipped through the tablet.

“This child is indeed a bit young; dating him might invite gossip. But the next one is different; the next one is already twenty-six…”

As her mother chattered on, Pei Yuhuai accidentally glanced at the tablet and his calm eyes momentarily froze.

Seeing this, the old lady thought there was hope. She focused on the young man on the tablet and said, “Oh, previously, Cai Cai said you might like men. At the time, I thought she was just a child talking nonsense, but now it seems… you really do seem to prefer men a bit more. But that’s okay; our family doesn’t have a throne for you to inherit. We already have plenty of grandchildren, so it’s fine if you don’t want children in the future.”

“Mom, I don’t like men, and I’m not interested in this person.”

The brief moment of hesitation was mainly because the photo of the person on the old lady’s tablet resembled Lin Mian.

It was strange; clearly, he saw Lin Mian as a cartoon character, yet he couldn’t understand why he felt they looked somewhat alike.

“I know my own son; how could I not understand you? You’re just shy. Even if you’re interested, you’ll say you’re not. And you don’t like to take the initiative; you prefer others to revolve around you, and only then can you respond. With your demeanor, it’s really not suitable for you to like girls. How could a girl revolve around a big man like you? Now that I see you like men, that’s not bad; men can be more proactive, which compensates for your lack of initiative.”

Pei Yuhuai felt a bit helpless upon hearing this. It wasn’t that he wasn’t proactive; it was that he hadn’t encountered anyone he particularly liked.

Because he hadn’t met someone he truly liked, he felt there was no need to make a move. If it ended up that he didn’t end up with the person, it would make him seem like a jerk.

So he wanted to find someone he truly liked, with the belief of being together for a lifetime, which would eliminate the possibility of breaking up along the way.

Unexpectedly, in his mother’s eyes, he had become someone who didn’t like to take the initiative.

After finishing his evening routine, Pei Yuhuai lay down to rest, remembering that he hadn’t checked his game’s favorability today. So he took out his spare phone and calmly opened the game.

At this time, it was already nine o’clock in the evening.

Most of the residents in the town had already gone to bed.

Standing in the town square, Pei Yuhuai suddenly felt that finding NPCs to increase favorability at this hour would be quite troublesome.

He thought that it was still early for a task to find a romantic interest, and after hesitating for a moment, he planned to log off again.

Just then, a small figure appeared in front of him.

The newcomer was none other than Lin Mian, who had come out for a walk because he couldn’t sleep.

Lin Mian felt a bit anxious; he thought his physical condition was too poor. If one day Mr. Pei stopped helping him, his fate would still be to be captured.

So he thought that while things were still relatively stable, he should come out and exercise.

Even if one day Mr. Pei no longer helped them, he would still be able to survive on his own.

What he didn’t expect was that while he was walking, he ended up at the small square and happened to run into Pei Yuhuai, who was about to log off.

Pei Yuhuai looked at Lin Mian through the screen, recalling what his mother said about him being passive and always liking others to revolve around him.

So he controlled his character in the game and took the initiative to walk over to Lin Mian. As Lin Mian felt a bit nervous, Pei Yuhuai’s game character patted him.

Choosing to interact with the NPC, Pei Yuhuai greeted him, saying through voice chat, “Good evening.”

Lin Mian, upon hearing this, didn’t know why he was so nervous; he stammered in response, “G-Good evening, Mr. Pei.”

After that, Pei Yuhuai didn’t say anything further but chose to interact and give a gift.

An NPC could receive gifts twice a day. The last gift Pei Yuhuai had given wasn’t very practical, so this time he planned to give something useful.

He looked at the character in the game, whose clothes looked a bit worn, and bought a set of men’s casual wear from the game store.

The clothes were black, dirt-resistant, and the style was casual and elegant, making them more comfortable to wear.

Having given the clothes, it would look odd without suitable shoes.

Pei Yuhuai thought that since Lin Mian lived in the apocalypse and wore casual clothes, he would also buy a pair of sports shoes.

He could predict Lin Mian’s clothing size based on his game character’s height, but he couldn’t predict the shoe size.

So he chose to chat with Lin Mian to find out his shoe size.

Lin Mian was initially a bit confused, not understanding why Pei Yuhuai suddenly asked him for his shoe size.

When Pei Yuhuai handed him the clothes and shoes, Lin Mian finally realized what Pei Yuhuai meant.

He had already received a lot of help from Pei Yuhuai and felt he shouldn’t continue accepting gifts from him.

Even if Pei Yuhuai said they were friends, gifts between friends should be reciprocal, not just him continuously receiving gifts.

But no matter how he thought about it, due to Pei Yuhuai’s strong presence, it felt impossible to refuse him, and in the end, Lin Mian obediently accepted the gifts.

When Lin Mian returned home holding the gifts, Cheng Xiaowan immediately surrounded him with curiosity.

“Did Mr. Pei come again? Are these all gifts from Mr. Pei?”

Lin Mian glanced at the things in his arms awkwardly, taking a long time to slowly nod.

“Ah, ah, ah, why are the gifts he gives you so thoughtful? Does Mr. Pei like you?”

“How… how is that possible? Someone like Mr. Pei could never like me.”