The saying "a mountain looks close but can kill a horse" couldn't be more appropriate to describe the current situation.

According to Squad Leader Chu Che's estimation, they should have met this unknown large convoy very quickly, but...

Half a day had already passed, and they still hadn't caught a glimpse of that convoy's shadow.

During the midday break, Chu Che, based on his understanding of the nearby terrain—after all, they had been circling the area all morning—hand-drew a simple map, his brows tightly furrowed into a deep crease.

Ding Dong's brows were also tightly furrowed into a deep crease at this moment.

Because the potatoes she had planted in the vehicle had all died.

According to her experience, potatoes should be quite easy to grow.

She had once seen a video online where someone managed to grow quite a few potatoes using just a regular household trash can.

There were even special flower pots for potato cultivation sold specifically online.

For this reason, back at the Second Elementary School, Ding Dong had even specially asked someone to make five such potato planting barrels.

But after she planted those collected potatoes, there had been no reaction whatsoever.

Before they had this panel van, Ding Dong had even lived with Iron Lion inside the school bus.

At that time, Ding Dong had also had someone set up a small planting spot at the rear of the school bus.

Later, when Ding Dong acquired a panel van, she moved all these potatoes into the panel van, and naturally brought them along when they left the Second Elementary School.

Almost every day, Ding Dong would check on them, watering when it was time to water, loosening the soil when it was time to loosen the soil.

She treated these potatoes with even more care than she would her own child.

Yet, up to now, there hadn't been the slightest sign of growth.

You have to understand, in order to get a bite of fresh potatoes, Ding Dong had put in no small amount of effort.

It wasn't until just now, when she dug up the potatoes she had planted, that she discovered they had long since rotted.

Ding Dong let out a long sigh.

Had these potatoes also mutated?

Or was it because of the constant displacement and hardship along the journey, making cultivation simply impossible?

Right now, everyone was living a migratory lifestyle, completely unable to settle and engage in long-term living and production in any one area.

Could it be that being constantly on the vehicle, causing soil vibration, was the reason they wouldn't grow?

Ding Dong thought for a long time, feeling there were many problems and numerous difficulties.

Currently, the group's food still relied primarily on scavenging.

Like the dried noodles they ate this morning, which had been expired for several months, and that bottle of Lao Gan Ma.

As soon as it was opened, it was discovered to have already grown mold.

The moment she threw it away, a survivor picked it back up, even saying it was good stuff.

In her previous life, although her living conditions weren't great, she would never eat expired or spoiled food.

But now...

What was distributed to the other survivors were mostly expired bread, or even expired crackers.

Because of this, some people in the convoy had already started experiencing physical discomfort.

Fortunately, they caught quite a few fish yesterday, which somewhat improved the meals.

But continuing like this was ultimately not a solution.

Supplies would eventually be scavenged to completion one day.

Moreover, constantly scavenging in cities was also a very dangerous activity.

If they didn't find a way to produce their own, there would inevitably come a day when they reached a dead end.

So, Ding Dong thought about trying to see if she could grow some vegetables or other food by herself.

Yet reality always made this one-armed, resilient woman feel waves of despair.

"Ding Dong sister, we're about to encounter the large convoy Squad Leader Chu mentioned. Maybe they have a solution, after all, there are so many of them!"

The Pink-haired Girl was also paying attention to Ding Dong's potato planting project.

Seeing the potatoes already rotten in the soil, the Pink-haired Girl kindly comforted her.

Ding Dong shook her head: "It's very difficult. Unless we find a fixed settlement, otherwise, continuing like this..."

She didn't finish the latter half of the sentence, but the Pink-haired Girl naturally knew what the outcome would be.

Today's lunch was still mainly fish.

After eating fish for several days in a row, people were already starting to get a bit tired of it.

"Ding Dong sister, time to eat!"

Zhou Xiaoxiao came to Ding Dong's side carrying a bowl.

Several pieces of fish in the bowl had already covered up the original rice.

Ding Dong's small group had gained one more person: Zhou Xiaoxiao.

Chu Che's convoy had people specifically assigned to help drive.

Iron Lion's vehicle also had a driver.

The Pink-haired Girl's vehicle had a driver too.

Out of the entire convoy's five vehicles, only she and Chen Ye drove themselves.

Chen Ye goes without saying;many people had previously wanted to volunteer.

For example, Xu Lina, who dreamed of sitting in Chen Ye's passenger seat.

But she was still bluntly and unceremoniously rejected by Chen Ye.

Yesterday, when Zhou Xiaoxiao wanted to become Ding Dong's assistant, Ding Dong was still a bit puzzled.

But after only a moment's hesitation, she agreed to Zhou Xiaoxiao's request.

The main reason she agreed was because of that night by Fairy Lake;there were quite a few butterflies around Zhou Xiaoxiao.

According to Squad Leader Chu Che's explanation, people with kind and simple hearts were more likely to attract those butterfly fairies.

Although the number of butterflies around Zhou Xiaoxiao couldn't compare to Iron Lion or Sun Xixi and the like.

It was still considerably better than Chen Ye's.

The former Zhou Xiaoxiao was like a white swan flying in the sky, while the current Zhou Xiaoxiao was like humble mud trampled into the ground.

For a driver's job, who knows how much psychological preparation Zhou Xiaoxiao had to do in her heart when she went to beg Ding Dong yesterday.

At that time, Ding Dong didn't agree immediately.

Zhou Xiaoxiao felt her legs go weak, almost on the verge of tears.

The moment Ding Dong agreed, Zhou Xiaoxiao's eyes turned red.

Her sister was lost in the sandstorm, and her car was gone too.

These two consecutive blows completely changed Zhou Xiaoxiao.

If it were still before the apocalypse, most people in this convoy would have had no intersection with Zhou Xiaoxiao's life.

At most, they would see her glamorous side in TV dramas or movies.

Zhou Xiaoxiao's life existed in a completely different dimension compared to theirs.

But now...

Zhou Xiaoxiao dressed in drab, gray clothes every day, indistinguishable from the other survivors.

When walking, she often kept her head down.

Even if someone spoke to her, she acted very socially anxious.

She minimized contact as much as possible.

She avoided speaking as much as possible.

She absolutely would not do anything that attracted attention.

Going to Ding Dong to get a job was something she had mentally prepared for over several days.

The her now and that confident young girl about to shine brightly back then were completely two different people.

If there were a scale to weigh her...

The current Zhou Xiaoxiao, about 1.7 meters tall, definitely weighed less than 80 pounds.

The whole person also lacked the spirit she once had.

If before, Zhou Xiaoxiao could be the female lead in an idol drama.

Then now, even if she played an extra, no film crew would want her.

Sometimes, Zhou Xiaoxiao wouldn't speak a single word for days.

If no one pointed it out, no one would believe she was the younger sister of the big celebrity Zhou Lan.

She didn't even care about her own tattered and torn clothes, let alone deliberately dress up.

Most of the time, everyone overlooked the existence of such a person.

Even Chen Ye, most of the time, didn't think about the existence of such a person.

Zhou Xiaoxiao originally had excellent personal conditions. Without the car as her final shelter, Zhou Xiaoxiao now lived on Iron Lion's school bus.

The school bus had a complex mix of people, all sorts of characters.

At the beginning, some people had improper thoughts.

If it weren't for the convoy still having rules, Zhou Xiaoxiao's days might have been indescribably miserable.

Fortunately, Ding Dong took her in, and she got a job as a driver and assistant.

It seemed everything was developing in a good direction.

"Squad Leader, Squad Leader, look... what is that over there!"

Just as Ding Dong was holding her rice bowl and eating.

An utterly shocked voice suddenly rang out in the camp.

It was as if the person who made this sound had seen something extremely shocking, something very hard to comprehend.

The voice was filled with fear, panic, and disbelief!