Pampered By All In Different Planes

Su Zhiruan was lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling in the darkness. Soon, drowsiness overcame her, and she fell asleep next to Wen Qingyu again.

The temperature had returned to the normal teens, but regardless of day or night, there was still a thick fog with extremely low visibility outside.

In this period, she had done everything she could.

The initial tactic of killing one to warn a hundred had been effective. Ever since she had placed those with sinister intentions at the entrance of the base, many who had thought about killing and looting dismissed the idea and started to focus on planning for their futures.

At the beginning of this month, she had invested quite a bit of resources, buying tools from the System Mall that tripled her supplies, of which she distributed nearly a third.

Besides the workers building the base, she had also found many researchers from the agricultural institutes. When she arrived at the institutes, she found many researchers nearly starved to death. The institutes had reserves for disasters, but Jinghua had too many institutes and universities. The authorities couldn't save everyone and had to selectively prioritize.

Of those left, Su Zhiruan saved as many as she could.

Then there were the college students trapped in universities. They were the easiest group to persuade. Untouched by society, their eyes still clear, it barely took Su Zhiruan a few sentences to make them excitedly think the Savior had arrived. They eagerly expressed their determination to follow her back.

Many students crowded around her, chattering happily, mainly because they saw that Su Zhiruan was young and felt she surely wouldn't deceive them. Moreover, many were promoting apocalypse novels they had read, explaining that such narratives always involved the protagonist leading them to rebuild infrastructure and get back on track.

...

And so, with the addition of experienced farmers, agricultural scientists, and agronomy students, they cleared fields and planted crops, using various supplies to build controlled environment greenhouses and the like.

Earlier, Su Zhiruan had bought some seeds and seedlings, which she feared might be ruined by the cold, so she used tools from the System Mall that could still be used directly now.

The appearance of seeds and seedlings immediately caused many to widen their eyes in astonishment.

After all, in the past extreme cold, while storing seeds was easy, keeping crop seedlings alive was not a simple task! Instantly, everyone's impression of Su Zhiruan changed to two words—"mysterious."

The group of college students became even more excited, clamoring day and night that Su Zhiruan and Wen Qingyu were the protagonists of an apocalypse novel. Naturally, many female students recognized Wen Qingyu, who had been a big star before the disaster.

But now seeing Wen Qingyu and Su Zhiruan always together, everyone showed expressions of tacit agreement about their relationship, thinking the two were a perfect match, and nobody disagreed.

After the first batch of rapid-growing vegetables matured, the whole base was abuzz!

Vegetables planted around Qingming festival, like lettuce for all seasons, slow-growing baby bok choy, and water spinach had all come up.

Moreover, in the constructed greenhouse, with double-layer covers, rapid-growing lettuce matured in a favorable temperature with added fertilizers, producing its first yield in less than thirty days.

If it were before the apocalypse, seeing these ordinary vegetables wouldn't stir any special feelings in ordinary people, as these were just the commonest of greens. In fact, most families would have grown some vegetables in flowerpots on their balconies, like chives, which after being harvested would quickly regrow, and homemade were always more reliable.

But now, it's the ninth month of the harsh winter wreaking havoc on this land.

In these nine months, not to mention fresh vegetables or fruits, even green plants had vanished.

Now, suddenly seeing these cultivated fresh vegetables, everyone gazed at the tender lettuces, unable to refrain from imagining their fresh aroma and juicy taste.

Once washed and still dripping with droplets, biting into these, without any seasoning, revealed the pure taste of the greens themselves.

These vegetables were made into porridge by the women in charge of cooking.

Freshly picked vegetables were washed, chopped, and added to the porridge. There wasn't much rice, but plenty of greens, and no spare seasoning except salt. The blend of bok choy and rice made one feel refreshed, a comforting journey from throat to stomach.

Afterward, under Su Zhiruan's leadership, the entire base was fervently built.

Many people joined the cause, attracted by the base's reputation. Some of them even brought essential supplies, having hoarded a significant amount. Among them was a supermarket owner who voluntarily offered his resources to the base, only asking in return for Su Zhiruan to provide shelter.

To these people, both Su Zhiruan and others curiously inquired as to why they would voluntarily surrender such resources just for a place to stay.

The man explained that a supermarket was too conspicuous a landmark not to attract looters. Fearing for his life during such ransacks, he found the base a safer haven and decided to bring his supplies and join.

Alongside him were others who had been hiding in their homes alone, hearing about the base by chance and mustering the courage to leave their shelters and join.

Wen Qingyu was in charge of vetting these people, and once approved, they were assigned to positions that matched their skills.

The base rapidly grew from a mere hundred people to six thousand!

More people meant more labor.

Those with skills were assigned appropriate roles, those physically able but unskilled were sent to farm, and children were grouped together and taken by seasoned teachers to gather resources in the mountains…

In any case, everyone worked methodically to build this hard-won sanctuary, and during this process, both Su Zhiruan and Wen Qingyu were revered.

Whenever newcomers arrived, the old residents would take them aside and recount the origins of the base.

Su Zhiruan became busier as the population grew, with more responsibilities as her followers deepened their trust in her. She had no choice but to shoulder these burdens.

That day,

She went down to inspect.

By then, the entire plain was being utilized for base construction, extending even to the mountains for infrastructure development.

From a distance, the crisscrossed fields and greenhouses were neat and bustling with laborers.

Su Zhiruan stretched her limbs and casually slipped her gun back into her pocket.

Just as she was about to continue on, something caught her eye at the entrance of the base.

She immediately halted.

The two women waiting at the gate to be admitted were none other than Su Mingzhu and their mother!

But now, their demeanor and appearance had drastically changed from what Su Zhiruan remembered when she first arrived in this world!

"Su… Su Zhiruan?!" Su's mother sensed someone watching her and looked around with cloudy eyes.

Her eyes were filled with desolation.