The shop assistant at the butcher shop initially noticed Yu Li standing in front of the shop, staring at the bones with a downtrodden look. He lazily ignored her, not paying much attention—who would have thought that Tu Laoda actually knew her?
He immediately straightened up and enthusiastically asked, “Tu Laoda, do you know this young lady?”
Tu Laoda grunted in affirmation and smiled at Yu Li, asking, “Miss Li, are you here to buy meat?”
He had a face full of beard, looked quite fierce, and somewhat resembled a bandit from the mountains. If not for the fact that the villagers knew his character, anyone encountering him on the road for the first time would probably be scared out of their wits.
Yu Li was still pondering the idea of buying bones to make soup. Hearing his question, she casually nodded.
Having finally made up her mind, she was about to speak and purchase those few bones when she heard Tu Laoda enthusiastically say, “Perfect timing. There’s still some meat inside. Come with me.”
Yu Li’s eyes lit up, and without hesitation, she followed Tu Laoda into the butcher shop.
The front of the shop faced the street, but upon entering, it led to a spacious courtyard.
The courtyard was filled with various items. On the northern side stood a straw shed with two stoves underneath. Large iron pots were placed on the stoves, alongside cutting boards, pig-slaughtering benches, a few wooden barrels, basins, ropes, and other tools. On the ground lay several large banana leaves, and nearby, a few entirely black pig-slaughtering knives were casually placed. The air was faintly filled with a musky, unpleasant smell, mixed with lingering traces of blood.
Seeing the setup in the courtyard, Yu Li immediately understood that this was a place for slaughtering pigs.
The butcher shop sold meat in the front, while pigs were slaughtered in the back courtyard. It wasn’t surprising.
In the courtyard, there was only one man washing tools. He was tall and burly, with bronze-colored skin and a muscular build—clearly the kind of person perfectly suited for the job of pig slaughtering.
There was a well in the courtyard. The man was drawing water from it, pouring it into several basins. The sound of water splashing echoed loudly.
When he saw Tu Laoda bringing a skinny girl into the courtyard, he froze for a moment, looking at them suspiciously.
Tu Laoda called out to him, “Old Zhang, give me that piece of meat in the house today.”
“What for?” Old Zhang asked.
“It’s for this young lady,” Tu Laoda replied, telling Yu Li to wait there. He crossed the courtyard and went into the house, returning with a large piece of meat.
The meat weighed around ten pounds, with a perfect mix of fat and lean. The flesh was crimson and looked incredibly fresh.
This was a piece they had specifically set aside for themselves. In the hot weather, storing it in the cool shade of the house could preserve it for a while.
For people like them, who slaughtered pigs and sold meat, having meat to eat was never a problem. Sometimes, they would even keep some for their own meals.
This particular piece of meat had been prepared by Old Zhang for dinner. He planned to cut it into large chunks, stew it in a big pot with soybean paste and spices, and invite some brothers over to drink and eat.
However, since Tu Laoda said it was needed, Old Zhang nodded and let him take it. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but curiously glance at Yu Li. This was the first time Tu Laoda had given someone meat since returning to the village—it was rather unusual.
Yu Li’s eyes were glued to the piece of meat as soon as she saw it, already imagining all the ways it could be cooked.
But then, remembering her current state of unemployment, she reluctantly looked away and asked, “How much is this meat per pound? I’ll take one pound.”
Just one pound—one pound shouldn’t cost too much.
Tu Laoda immediately burst out laughing. He grabbed a few withered banana leaves from the side, wrapped the large piece of meat in them, and placed it into her basket.
He said, “No need to pay. This is for you.”
Yu Li looked confused. “For me?”
“Indeed,” Tu Laoda explained. “That matter with Xuan… Brother Huai, I still haven’t thanked you. You saved Brother Huai’s life, so you’re my lifesaver too.”
He had been extremely busy these past few days and had just returned from the prefecture capital the day before. He hadn’t had a chance to visit the village to find Yu Li and give her a thank-you gift.
Although Xuan Huaiqing had said he would thank her personally, Tu Laoda still couldn’t just do nothing—what kind of person would that make him?
Unexpectedly, he ran into her in the city today while she was buying meat. It must have been fate.
Yu Li suddenly understood. “This is a thank-you gift?”
Saving Xuan Huaiqing had been a simple effort for her. After handing him over to Tu Laoda, she had completely forgotten about it, never considering whether the other party would feel grateful.
As a genetic warrior who made her living hunting alien species and pollutants, she and her kind would save anyone as long as they weren’t man-eating monsters. They would even rescue a stray dog in trouble, let alone a human being.
Saving lives was a routine thing.
For those who lived in the post-apocalyptic world, humanity’s true enemies were the destructive pollutants and alien species that threatened all life, wreaking havoc on the world and contaminating the environment. Humanity, once rulers of the planet, had faced near extinction under the monstrous threats until they established safe zones and trained genetic warriors capable of fighting back. Only then did they begin to turn the tide.
Having lived through such an apocalypse, human life became incredibly precious. People were needed to carry on the flame of civilization.
As long as someone wasn’t utterly evil, Yu Li would save them.
Tu Laoda hurriedly said, “This isn’t a thank-you gift. Brother Huai broke his leg and can’t move easily. Once his leg heals, he’ll come thank you in person.”
The life of the only son of the General’s Manor wasn’t something that could be repaid with a piece of pork. That would be far too cheap and insincere.
Yu Li let out an “Oh,” and said, “Then I’ll give the meat back to you.”
Since it wasn’t a thank-you gift, she couldn’t accept it.
She wouldn’t accept something unearned. They weren’t related, and she didn’t feel right taking so much meat from them. Although Yu Li craved meat, she was a principled person and would never accept ill-gotten gains.
As she put down her basket and prepared to return the meat, Tu Laoda felt a bit helpless.
He really hadn’t expected this young lady to be so principled.
“Miss Li, just take it,” Tu Laoda explained. “You saved Brother Huai, and no amount of gratitude from me would be excessive.”
Seeing her look at him in confusion, he decided to reveal more. “Brother Huai is my… friend. You saved my friend, so it’s only right that I thank you.”
Yu Li paused mid-action.
She had never had friends before and didn’t know what it was like to have one. However, she knew that people needed friends, and that good friendships could inspire someone to risk their life and limb for a friend.
For people like her—new humans—training camps didn’t only teach combat skills; they also provided cultural education.
They couldn’t raise genetic warriors to be emotionless killing machines. They needed to understand reason and morality. Even though cultural lessons only instilled basic theories, they were enough for the warriors to grasp many principles.
Yu Li wasn’t socially adept, but that didn’t mean she understood nothing.
She stopped refusing and said, “Then I’ll accept it.”
She had saved Tu Laoda’s friend, and he was grateful. Accepting his thank-you gift was proper and reasonable.
Tu Laoda smiled. Seeing her covered in sweat, he said, “Sit down for a while. I’ll get you a bowl of water.”
It was rare to meet someone he owed so much to, and he couldn’t just let her leave without even offering a drink. That would be no way to treat a guest.
Tu Laoda, despite his rugged appearance, was actually very attentive.
Yu Li didn’t refuse and sat down on the stool that Tu Laoda had brought over.
The weather was hot, and she had been running around outside for most of the day. Although she had eaten two bowls of noodles earlier, the soup in them wasn’t much, and she was parched.
Tu Laoda brought over a bowl of tea.
The bowl was made of coarse pottery. For ordinary folks, it was common to drink tea or water straight from such bowls without much formality.
Yu Li didn’t mind and drank it down immediately.
Seeing her finish one bowl, Tu Laoda poured her another, casually making conversation. “Miss Li, what brings you to the county town today? Are you here to buy something?”
“To buy grain,” Yu Li replied honestly. “And to see if there’s any work in town. I want to find a job.”
Tu Laoda paused in surprise and first asked, “Buying grain? Is the Yu family out of food?”
He remembered that the Yu family owned a fair amount of farmland, and the eldest son of the family worked as a clerk in the county town, earning a decent monthly salary. It didn’t seem like the kind of household that would run out of food.
Something didn’t add up either—why would a young girl like her be sent out to buy grain? If grain needed to be purchased, it should have been handled by Yu Er or Yu San (her second or third brothers).
Tu Laoda didn’t spend much time in the village, and when he did, he usually stayed in the mountains. He had little interaction with the villagers, so he didn’t know that Yu Li had been married off to the Fu family last month as a bride to ward off bad luck.
He still assumed Yu Li hadn’t married yet.
Last year, during one of his visits to the village, the village head had casually mentioned that the Yu family was asking for a bride price so high it scared off any potential suitors.