Once Upon in Nanjing-Chapter 7 - 6: The Power of Life

Dandelion is both food and herbal medicine, boiling it into soup leaves a slightly bitter taste. Teacher said dandelion is also known as bedwetting grass, which has a diuretic effect, and if you have kidney stones, you can eat more dandelion.

When cooking porridge or soup, you mainly use the tender leaves of dandelion. Yesterday, Ban Xia picked a big bundle of dandelions from downstairs community, and after leaving the dandelions overnight, their flowers withered, so Ban Xia plucked all the leaves and put them into the pot to boil.

But you can't only use dandelions, because they are as bitter as traditional Chinese medicine and lack calories, so you need to add peeled lotus seeds, salt, and oil, and cook it into a thick mush.

The girl held a palm-leaf fan in one hand and added firewood to the stove with the other, crouching on the floor.

The fire was blazing, the kitchen was filled with smoke, and Ban Xia thought the wild vegetable soup was cooked enough. She stood up, coughing, and took out the last two salted fish from the cupboard, tearing them by hand into shreds, adding chopped purslane to make a cold dish.

After boiling on high heat for a few minutes, the aroma began to emerge.

"The food is ready..." Ban Xia came out of the kitchen carrying the hot pot, "Dandelion lotus seed porridge is done! Coupled with the cold tossed purslane salted fish shreds!"

She excitedly placed the iron pot on the coffee table, "Dad, Mom, come for breakfast!"

She portioned the wild vegetable mush into bowls.

"Dad, Mom, Teacher was right, last night I actually made contact with a living person! A living person! Did you know? And it was a young male! Heaven has finally heard my prayers, finally gave me a handsome guy to help me carry wild vegetables!"

Regarding the person she contacted last night, Ban Xia was not clear on his identity, but it was still a big surprise for her, as she had never contacted anyone before. Is what Teacher said true?

Isn't she the only person in this world?

If there really is a second person in this world, then why haven't they been found before?

But the city is so big, the world so vast, two people are so insignificant, like two fishes in the sea. Can these two fish meet each other in their lifetime?

Ban Xia stirred the wild vegetable mush slowly with a spoon in the porcelain bowl, pondering last night's experience.

But luckily she is not a fish, she has advanced communication tools, ICOM725 shortwave radio!

Ban Xia is unclear about the origin of this shortwave radio. When she was very young and Teacher picked her up and brought her here, that old radio was already in the room. She learned to use the radio all thanks to Teacher's teachings, but she wasn't as skilled at shortwave communication as Teacher. Following Teacher's instructions, she insisted on making external calls every night but never thought she could really contact others.

Teacher's post-apocalyptic survival rule number two: Persist in calling for help!

"Tonight I will try to contact him again, his channel is at 14.255MHZ." Ban Xia took a spoonful of wild vegetable mush into her mouth, then frowned and stuck out her tongue, "Wow, it's both bitter and salty."

Ban Xia licked her lips, then leaned her head on her arms on the coffee table, humming through her nose.

"But he turned off the radio right away, why? Am I so scary? I didn't even have time to say a few words, sigh... Where in the world is he? How many people are there with him? Does he lack food? I don't know, if only I didn't run out of fish, I really want to stay at home and call on the radio all day, but will he be on the channel? I don't know."

Ban Xia doesn't know anything.

"He said he still has a mother, how nice... truly enviable."

After breakfast, Ban Xia got dressed, put on a light blue hoodie, a pair of thick denim pants, and then took down the bow and arrow from the wall.

The bow is homemade, carved from wrist-thick oak, bent slightly after heat treatment, with the bowstring made from three fishing lines twisted together; when not in use, the bow arm and bowstring are stored separately. When using it, Ban Xia needs to string the bow.

She pulled out a long arrow from the quiver, faced the wall, took a deep breath, then stood with feet apart! Turned around! Nocked the arrow! A light "creak—" sound as power transferred from waist to shoulder, left hand in front, right hand behind, in a standard Mediterranean draw, the bowstring was steadily pulled back.

Ban Xia's gaze suddenly sharpened at this moment, her aura piercing like the tip of a spear, unwavering—aiming—bow light but the target real, release!

The word "release!" echoed in the girl's mind, her fingers letting go at the sound, the arrow whizzing past her cheek, lifting a few strands of hair, cutting through the air with a whistling sound, and steadily hitting the thick cowhide on the opposite wall.

With a "clang," the arrowhead penetrated nearly an inch into the cowhide.

A seamless motion, Ban Xia expressionlessly set down the longbow, its string still trembling.

The bow was still usable. The girl took a deep breath; considering its condition, the bow could last a few more months.

Ban Xia was an archery master. She had even surpassed her teacher in archery skills, but the teacher's marksmanship was very precise. Ban Xia often thought that if she had a showdown with the teacher using a bow and arrow, then beyond ten steps, the gun was faster.

Within ten steps, the gun was still faster.

"Mom and Dad, today I must go to Xuanwu Bay. We've run out of fish at home, there's nothing left to eat. I need to catch some more to pickle. I'll probably be back before the Sun sets. Wait for me at home."

Ban Xia slung the bow and arrow and quiver over her shoulder. The bow and arrow could be used for hunting as well as self-defense. If she encountered a horse deer on the way, she could hunt with bow and arrow. If she ran into a wild boar, she could use the bow and arrow to drive it away. If a brown bear appeared, she could put on a dying struggle with her bow and arrow.

"I shouldn't run into any bears, right? I can't be that unlucky."

Next, she slid the Dagger into the sheath in front of her chest; no matter when, a knife must always be carried.

Then, from the TV cabinet, she took out a replica Type 54 pistol, ejected the magazine, checked the number of bullets inside—seventeen in total, not one less—finally stuffing the pistol into the holster on her thigh.

Ban Xia asked why this gun was called a replica Type 54.

The teacher said all handguns were called replica Type 54s.

Knife, gun, bow and arrow, all prepared. Lastly, Ban Xia slung a shoulder bag over herself—the teacher's end-of-world survival rule number three: Whenever you leave the house, you must take a bag!

That was the iron rule.

Even if you're just going out to get some gasoline... Ban Xia would regularly go to the gas station to get gasoline, she still had to take the bag.

The bag was an emergency kit, always stocked with medicine, bandages, a map, fire-starting materials, a flashlight, and spare blades. No matter where Ban Xia went or how long she was gone, she had to carry this bag at all times. The teacher had put a lot of effort into instilling this habit in Ban Xia, having once told her that in this world, no place is absolutely safe. Leaving the shelter means facing life-threatening dangers. The moment you step out of this door, be prepared to be devoured by this world.

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At that time, Ban Xia didn't understand.

Now Ban Xia understood.

All preparations complete, Ban Xia hugged her parents sitting on the sofa firmly, then changed her shoes at the entranceway.

"Dad! Mom! I'm heading out! I'll absolutely come back before it gets dark! You must wait for me!"

The girl waved her hand.

"If I can't make it back... Well, I definitely will. I still have to meet that handsome guy tonight; I can't keep him waiting."

After speaking, she closed the door and then dashed downstairs, charging down eight flights in one go, running out of the entrance of the apartment building.

"I will definitely be back before dark—!"

The girl shouted as she ran. She had this habit, not knowing whom it was meant for; maybe it was for her parents upstairs, maybe it was for the neighborhood, maybe it was for the world—as if as long as someone could hear her, she would be able to return safely and on time as promised.

But what lay before her eyes was a wild, green world where grey concrete was gradually covered by plants, with waist-high weeds growing out of the broken pavements, all the high-rises transformed into enormous giants cloaked in green. Once you stepped out of the apartment building, you would touch that thick, suffocating vitality and wildness. In the years of human absence, the vacated living space was wildly invaded by nature.

Ban Xia's small, light blue figure dove into the underbrush, quickly swallowed by the world.

Nanjing was a long-dead corpse, on which grew lush, towering trees.