10 A Rich Man With Beef Jerky

Yang Xiao smiled and greeted everyone. He did not want to make the atmosphere too serious among so many women.

Huang Wen and the others also forced a smile and said, "Morning! Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yes, I slept very well. Thank you all," Yang Xiao said sincerely.

"It's nothing. This is what we should do," said Huang Wen. Chen Fei and the others were actually a little anxious. They thought, "Get to the point. We're hungry. Hurry up and give us some biscuits and water. We're anxious!"

Yang Xiao saw the hunger in everyone's eyes and understood. He took off his backpack, unzipped it, took out a bottle of water and a large bag of Oreo biscuits, and handed them to Huang Wen.

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately.

"Thank you," said Huang Wen. She distributed the biscuits and took a small sip from the bottle before passing it around.

Meanwhile, Yang Xiao sat down on his own, took out a bottle of water, and gulped down half of it, making everyone envious.

The biscuits were quickly finished by all.

Then Yang Xiao took out a bag of salt-baked chicken wings and started eating loudly, finishing one bag only to take out a ham sausage next, followed by a pack of beef jerky.

Huang Wen and the others watched longingly, salivating. With only one measly biscuit in their stomachs, watching Yang Xiao feast in front of them was pure torture.

Some girls even thought that spending a night with Yang Xiao would be worth it just for a drumstick.

Finally noticing the mood, Yang Xiao looked up at the hungry faces and took pity. He sighed and handed over a large unfinished bag of beef jerky to Huang Wen.

Huang Wen accepted it without hesitation, though her emotions were complex.

"According to our agreement yesterday, this beef jerky is an extra gift, not something I'll provide daily. You need to be mentally prepared," said Yang Xiao indifferently.

The others felt extremely awkward but could only thank him repeatedly.

Yang Xiao then turned and entered the tent, casually saying over his shoulder, "No one is to come in and disturb me for the next half hour."

He could feel another electric current in his body and needed to rest until it passed.

Yang Xiao now basically understood that the current inside his body was accelerating the mutation of his own body, and every time the current was generated, his body became weaker and needed protection.

Huang Wen and everyone tore off a small piece of beef jerky, put it in their mouths, and slowly chewed on it.

Beef jerky was a high-protein food, and a small piece provided much more nutrition compared to biscuits. Many girls put beef jerky in their mouths and sucked on it like candy, reluctant to chew and swallow.

Half an hour later, the current inside Yang Xiao's body disappeared, and he felt that his strength had increased somewhat.

Today was the fourth day after the disaster began.

Checking his backpack, Yang Xiao saw he still had over ten packs of biscuits, chicken wings, beef jerky, and eight bottles of water, which were enough for himself even if he shared some with Huang Wen's group.

Having been hiding halfway up the mountain before, joining the women gave Yang Xiao a new perspective on their hardship. He felt sad seeing them suffer.

No matter how cruel he tried to be, watching fresh lives fade before him was heartbreaking.

Yang Xiao came back out and sat facing the women, who now had a very good impression of him. They hoped this man could be their leader and guide them through the uncertain times ahead.

"Are you all just going to sit here and wait to die?" Yang Xiao asked.

Stunned, Huang Wen explained, "We can't find any more food here at the academy. As girls, we're timid and weak, unable to compete with the boys. The ruins of shops with food have all been claimed by teams who don't let others come near."

"What about the cold storage in the cafeteria?"

"That was cleaned out two days ago, and the frozen meat had been divided up."

Having enough food himself, Yang Xiao had not bothered trying to find more until now. He was purely trying to help these women.

It seemed all the shops and supermarkets, even the academy cafeteria, had been scavenged or claimed by teams. Huang Wen's group had no chance of getting food from them.

Yang Xiao sighed, "Looks like just waiting to die... Hmm, have any of the farmers around here grown vegetables?"

"All vegetables within five kilometers were taken long ago. And we don't dare go too far from the academy. We've heard mutated creatures are appearing in many areas. Some students saw a black dog over a meter tall, like a calf, that killed someone with one bite."

Hearing this, Yang Xiao's heart lurched. The creatures really were mutating.

"There's also a three to four-meter-long monster fish now in the pond at Jade Cloud Mountain. It dragged a student into the water yesterday and bit her to death. We saw it with our own eyes," another girl added.

Having been halfway up the mountain, Yang Xiao knew little of events down below until now.

A tall girl suddenly stood up and said, "I know where there's food!"

Everyone looked at her eagerly. "Where?"

"By the pond at Jade Cloud Mountain. Some families used to live there and planted taro before moving away. I saw the taro still growing well around the pond yesterday. I meant to mention it but got scared off by the fish and forgot until now. Fortunately, Big Brother Yang Xiao reminded me just now, and that's when I remembered this matter."

Taro could keep growing year after year if left undisturbed. The more it grew, the more it spread. With the right conditions, a few plants would cover a large area in three to five years.

Blushing, Yang Xiao coughed and said, "I'm a freshman this year, not a 'big brother.'"

The others laughed. One girl teased, "Didn't you want to be our leader yesterday? That makes you big brother, hehe!"

The atmosphere had been lightened.

Yang Xiao realized that as their "leader," he should act a bit older to avoid awkwardness.

"Are you sure it was taro you saw?" he asked the tall girl.

"Yes, I'm local and came here a lot in high school. I know the area around Jade Cloud Mountain well."

"Well then, we could try digging up that taro so you all can eat more," said Yang Xiao.

Huang Wen and Chen Fei hesitated, voicing their doubts, "But the pond has that water monster. We saw it drag someone in yesterday and bite her to death."

"Is the taro in the water or along the shore?" Yang Xiao asked the tall girl, Chen Lu.

"Both, but more in the water," said Chen Lu.