Zheng Lanxin wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking a bit pale. She had already filled twenty buckets of water this morning, nearing her limit.
"I think these fish are quite fresh. A three- or four-kilogram fish is quite large and hasn't mutated. I'll take them. How about five fish for one bucket of water? That's a good deal, right?" she said with a triumphant look, feeling that although she couldn't fight zombies, she was much more capable than Jian Yi in this aspect.
Jian Yi nodded and complimented her, "Auntie, you're really amazing."
"That's right," Zheng Lanxin accepted the praise without hesitation.
"Jie, I'll make braised fish for you at noon," Chen Junsheng smiled and said. Jian Yi's eyes lit up, and she immediately picked up the basin of fish on the table and carried it to the sink.
"Such extravagance," Zhang Ming muttered under his breath. However, realizing that he could also get a taste of the good fish, he couldn't help but show a bit of excitement. He quickly started to prepare the rice and vegetables they had collected.
With Zheng Lanxin trading water for food, the villagers of Jinggu Village felt like they had entered a new world. Before noon, several villagers with abilities came to the villa to inquire.
"Do you need someone to make furniture, grow plants, or handle anything related to wood? I can control plants and things made of wood."
"Do you need someone to build walls and dig trenches? I can control earth and build very sturdy walls."
"Do you need your iron gate repaired? I can control metal."
The entire village of Jinggu had jointly built a water reservoir on the mountain, so the water in their homes was sourced from there, free from water companies' influence.
When these people arrived, Zheng Lanxin was in the yard watering radish seeds planted that morning with water from the tap.
Jian Yi had said that the land had been infected, and no matter what water was used for irrigation, it would become mutated. So, she didn't want to waste her water with abilities. As for whether the vegetables would be safe to eat after growing, they would see when the time came. To be safe, she divided the garden into two halves, with half of it still irrigated with water from her abilities.
Seeing four or five villagers standing outside their iron gate, two of whom she had seen earlier when selling water in the morning, Zheng Lanxin put down the water ladle in her hand and smiled, waving them over.
"Currently, my family doesn't need any of the services you mentioned. Do you want to buy some water?"
Zheng Lanxin had just recovered for about two hours, and her abilities were almost restored, so she could start providing water again.
Several of them already had access to water at their homes, so they shook their heads and prepared to leave.
At this moment, Jian Yi came out and called them back.
"Who can dig trenches?" she asked.
Zheng Lanxin looked at her curiously and asked, "Why do you need trenches?"
Seeing that the others were also curious, Jian Yi raised her voice a bit and explained to Zheng Lanxin, "Defense is not enough with just one barrier. There's so much open space around, so let's dig another trench and set up traps. If any mutated animals accidentally intrude, it can block them temporarily."
"And it's not safe under the house. There are many mutated bugs living underground. If there's an ability user with petrification abilities, it would be even better. They can petrify all the soil under the house, and our defense will be even stronger."
After speaking, Jian Yi looked at the people outside the gate. One of them, a middle-aged man with a short stature and a stubbled face, immediately raised his hand to indicate that he could dig trenches.
"I, I also know someone with petrification abilities. Should we call him over as well? We don't need much, just three buckets of water a day," he added.
Zheng Lanxin felt intrigued and walked over to open the iron gate, letting the man in. The other villagers, feeling that they had no part in this, left disappointed.
However, they took Jian Yi's words to heart, and after returning home, they started digging trenches and setting traps. The man who stayed behind was named Zhao Kaishan, and Jian Yi insisted on calling him Ah Tu.
At first, Ah Tu corrected her, but as he expanded his trench-digging business, everyone in the village started calling him Ah Tu.
There was another 14-year-old boy with petrification abilities. Jian Yi nicknamed him Xiao Shi Tou (Little Stone).
But you know what? This way, everyone's abilities gradually formed into a kind of profession.
Even Zheng Lanxin couldn't avoid being called "Water Auntie" by the children in the village because she sold water every day in front of her gate.
As they interacted more with the villagers of Jinggu Village, Jian Yi learned about the original owner of the villa. The family's surname was Wu, and they were the richest family in the village. They ran a jewelry store in the county town, but the elderly Wu couple had returned to their hometown in their old age, leaving the business to their son and daughter.
On the night before the apocalypse erupted, the son and daughter, along with their daughter-in-law and grandson, had returned to celebrate the old Wu's sixtieth birthday. They didn't expect the virus outbreak to happen.
According to the villagers, on the day the virus broke out, the elderly couple turned into zombies. The Wu family's daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandson escaped in a car, and one of the sons had gone up the mountain early in the morning and hadn't returned since.
The villagers said that on the day the virus broke out, Wu Peizhen, the missing son, had gone up the mountain early in the morning and hadn't returned.
Jian Yi guessed that he was probably gone.
As for the Wu family's daughter and daughter-in-law, if they were going to return, they would have done so by now. They were either with the majority of survivors heading to safe havens or had died on the road.
In any case, regardless of the outcome, the house of the Wu family had become abandoned property.
Initially, the villagers were quite critical of Jian Yi and her group for occupying the Wu family's villa without permission. However, as they interacted more, and especially after witnessing Jian Yi's proficient use of various mutated plants, the villagers' attitudes became more friendly.
While Jian Yi didn't take the initiative to teach them how to use the mutated plants, the villagers could watch her work from outside the gate and then learn on their own. Jian Yi silently approved of this, realizing that relying solely on her family wouldn't be realistic in the long run.
The villagers needed their ability-imbued water and her survival methods, and she needed their petrification abilities, fire abilities, and wood abilities.
Jinggu Village had a large piece of farmland, and before the apocalypse arrived, the villagers had just had a bountiful harvest. Seeing that the villagers were willing to trade food for water, it was evident that they had ample food reserves.
With enough to eat, people wouldn't go crazy. Furthermore, under the leadership of a smart leader like Jian Yi, the overall environment in Jinggu Village was much safer than the ruthless world outside.
As people busily learned from Jian Yi how to build a defense system, November arrived with a hint of cold air as a cold front swept in.