Big White’s belly fur was incredibly soft. Jiang Si had thought about struggling, but the exhausted muscles all over her body were screaming for rest on this big-cat Simmons mattress.

Jiang Si slowly closed her eyes. The night was chilly, but she didn’t feel the cold.

It was such a heartwarming scene that everyone quieted down while they ate, trying not to disturb them.

An hour later, Jiang Si was woken by an aftershock.

The aftershock was less than a magnitude six and didn’t have much of an impact on the Xiangjiang Grassland.

Still, to be safe in case a stronger one followed, Jiang Si jumped off Big White and told everyone to hurry back to the helicopter.

If a major quake hit, they would take off immediately.

Fortunately, a major quake never came. Instead, the tremor scared off the scorpion swarm.

As everyone was setting up makeshift beds in the helicopter, preparing to sleep, a figure rushed down from the aircraft a hundred meters away. It was a woman. Even before she got close, she shouted her purpose. "Excuse me, is anyone here a doctor? My mother and my brother are having an allergic reaction to the scorpion venom! Can anyone help them? We can trade you food and alcohol."

Food and alcohol were precious commodities in the apocalypse. Any doctor would surely be tempted by such an offer.

The woman’s voice was strangely familiar, sounding just like one of her clients from the Extreme Club.

Jiang Si peered through the window. The woman’s face, obscured by the darkness, was unmistakably Zhuang Feiyue’s.

Having been Zhuang Feiyue’s wingsuit flying instructor for two years, Jiang Si knew her well, but their relationship had always been strictly professional.

No matter how much money she made, someone of her social class wasn’t the kind of person the daughter of a public company’s president would deign to call a friend.

But at the end of the day, she had earned a lot of money from Zhuang Feiyue, which gave her the capital to stockpile the supplies in her dimensional space.

Jiang Si thought for a moment, then had Shen Baoying fetch a bottle of Wind Oil Essence.

Wind Oil Essence contained a high concentration of organic solvents capable of dissolving scorpion venom, which would quickly reduce swelling and pain. The sooner it was applied, the better. If the body absorbed too much venom over time, the toxins would be absorbed by the skin and subcutaneous fat, where they couldn’t be broken down.

The older generation in the mountains used Wind Oil Essence for any ailment. Since they all grew up in the Longquan Natural Forest Reserve, they knew it could counteract scorpion venom.

Shen Baoying took the Wind Oil Essence from Jiang Si and passed it to Jiang Linhai.

The moment Jiang Linhai opened the helicopter door and stepped out, Zhuang Feiyue was so overcome with emotion that her eyes welled up.

She thought Jiang Linhai was the doctor.

But to her surprise, Jiang Linhai stopped several meters away and tossed the bottle of Wind Oil Essence to her.

Zhuang Feiyue stared at the bottle of Wind Oil Essence in her hand, her face etched with doubt. ’Even erythromycin ointment didn’t work. How could this invigorating oil possibly be a cure?’

"The Wind Oil Essence will work," Jiang Linhai said. "Hurry and use it on your mother and brother."

At this point, it was a long shot, but it was all they had.

Zhuang Feiyue sincerely thanked Jiang Linhai and promised to bring the payment over shortly. Then, clutching the Wind Oil Essence, she rushed back to her helicopter.

Only after seeing her return safely to the aircraft did Zhuang Chenshen dare to relax his grip on his pistol.

Zhuang Feiyue applied the Wind Oil Essence to Wang Rongxue and Zhuang Qi Yuan. The cool, tingling sensation immediately eased their pain.

After a good while, both of them had enough strength to speak again.

Jiang Linhai hadn’t lied. The Wind Oil Essence really did work on scorpion venom.

Zhuang Chenshen sighed. "Those people are decent. They didn’t try to gouge us and just gave us the Wind Oil Essence." He then turned to Zhuang Feiyue. "We still need to give them what we promised. We can’t have them thinking we’re the type to go back on our word."

Zhuang Feiyue planned to give them some vacuum-sealed tea eggs, half a bag of rice, and a bottle of alcohol.

But Zhuang Qi Yuan, now sitting up, thought that was too much. "They didn’t demand an exorbitant price, which must mean they have plenty of supplies. Besides, all they gave us was one bottle of Wind Oil Essence. One bottle of alcohol should be enough."

Their bottle of alcohol was 500 milliliters; it would last a long time.

Zhuang Qi Yuan even felt that a full bottle of alcohol was too generous.

Supplies were more precious than gold now. Giving away half a bag of rice and the tea eggs meant losing several days’ worth of rations.

Zhuang Chenshen’s face hardened. He lowered his voice and said, "They were willing to give us the Wind Oil Essence because they were banking on us not daring to break our promise. If we try to fob them off with just one bottle of alcohol, they might get angry, find some excuse, and take everything we have. And then there’d be no one to hear our complaints."

A chill went down Zhuang Qi Yuan’s spine. He glanced out of the corner of his eye toward Jiang Si’s group, and it felt as if a sniper was watching them from the darkness.

「At the crack of dawn.」

Carrying the provisions, Zhuang Feiyue saw Jiang Si stepping down from the helicopter. Her pupils constricted in disbelief.

She stared for a few moments to be sure, and once she confirmed that the sharply dressed woman before her was indeed Jiang Si, her face broke into a look of sheer delight.

"Jiang Si!" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Zhuang Feiyue ran over and greeted her excitedly.

Jiang Si nodded. "Mm." Her polite yet distant demeanor made Zhuang Feiyue freeze in an awkward silence.

’What right do I have to try and act familiar now? I only ever treated her as an instructor, never even adding her on a personal social media account.’

’But what if Jiang Si helps us out for old times’ sake and lends us a barrel of fuel? It would dramatically increase the odds of our flight plan succeeding.’

Zhuang Feiyue placed the items in front of Jiang Si. "Thank you for the Wind Oil Essence last night. Please, accept this food and alcohol."

"Okay."

Jiang Si replied with that single word, clearly not wanting to say more.

Zhuang Feiyue hesitated, glancing at the armed Jiang Linhai. Finally, she swallowed her fear and asked, "Jiang Si, could I... could I trade you more food for a barrel of fuel? Once we reach the Northern Country, I promise I’ll have my brother pay you back double."

As Jiang Si looked at her, seemingly considering the offer, Zhuang Feiyue’s heart hammered in her chest.

Suddenly, a loud roaring filled the sky.

Everyone whipped their heads around to see several helicopters, backlit by the dawn, heading directly toward their position.

They had likely all spotted this location as a viable place to land and rest.

Jiang Si wasn’t short on fuel in her dimensional space, but at that moment, she completely abandoned the thought of lending any to Zhuang Feiyue.

If she lent them fuel and Zhuang Feiyue let it slip, everyone else would think they had supplies to spare.

Besides, with so many aircraft arriving, Zhuang Feiyue could just as easily trade her supplies with one of them for fuel or a seat on their helicopter.

Jiang Si decisively refused Zhuang Feiyue. She waved to her own people. "Get on the helicopter. Now."

Watching helplessly as Jiang Si boarded the helicopter, Zhuang Feiyue stood frozen in place, biting her lip so hard it nearly bled.

The despair of finally finding an acquaintance, only to be refused help, was overwhelming.

She looked up at the helicopters drawing nearer, with no way of knowing if the people inside were friend or foe.

She immediately ran back to her own helicopter. The plan was to wait for the others to land; if things looked bad, they would flee immediately.