Chapter 131
At age six, she was already catching on, especially when she kept her brother''s words in mind and
ended up not asking any questions. She saw her brother shelling peanuts and promptly brought
over a folding stool, "Let me help."
"It''s cold, wear a couple moreyers of mittens."
The dog showed hispetitiveness by biting with his teeth.
Ste felt awkward just sitting there, but Jasper wouldn’t let her help. "You rest. Don''t wear yourself
out."
He wasn’t sure about the specifics of what she did, but he knew it wasn’t easy dealing with these
things.
The garden soil was fertile, with about 160 pounds of peanuts harvested from 100 square meters.
Ste seasoned them with salt and spice, boiled them in several pots until they were vorful, and
ate some while they were still hot. The remainder were stored in the pantry in Arcadia, ready to be
taken out whenever they wanted some.
They boiled half of the corn to use for breakfast or snacks.
The wheat yielded a good harvest, but without a threshing machine, they had to resort to the most
primitive method—rubbing the grains out by hand.
Thankfully, the force required to separate the grain from the chaff was weak, and with Jasper’s hard
work, it was all done in a day. Ste then collected the grains and stored them in Arcadia to dry.
After several days of hard work, they were feeling worn out. Ste felt justified in taking it easy.
Rosie hadn''t asked any questions and seemed even more calm, as if she had epted the
inexplicable abundance of food, so Ste took out several bundles of vegetables from the pantry—
lettuce, spinach, kale, and so on.
As she looked at the sudden appearance of the vegetables, Rosie’s eyes shed with surprise, but
she still didn’t ask any questions. She obediently helped her brother prepare the vegetables.
After they finished, Ste praised her. "Rosie, you''re so good. Go y with Cooper and the
bunnies."
Rosie stared at her brother with eager eyes and only ran off excitedly when he nodded in approval.
Once Rosie was gone, they shut the windows and doors, and cooked several pots of vegetables.
Ste stored all of it in the pantry in Arcadia.
With the fresh green vegetables, Rosie’s appetite improved significantly. She smiled contentedly,
"This is so good."
When Ste took Cooper for a walk, Jasper called Rosie over to the couch. "Rosie, do you like
Ste?"
"I do." She didn’t hesitate.
"What if she and Cooper lived with us from now on, would that be okay?"
Rosie was excited, "Really? I like Ste."
And she liked Cooper and the bunnies, too.
Jasper looked at her, "We would have to share our food with Ste, okay?"
"Okay."
Relieved by her answers, Jasper asked, "Did you like the vegetables, corn, and peanuts we had
these past few days?"
"Yes."
"Do you want more in the future?"
"Yes."
"Do you want to know where they came from?"
Rosie paused, looked up at her brother, nodded, then shook her head vigorously. "No." She didn’t
ask because she thought it would upset him.
"They were given to us by Mom and Dad."
Rosie was taken aback, her eyes slowly reddening. "I miss Mom and Dad."
Jasper ruffled her hair affectionately."Don’t be scared. Even though Mom and Dad aren''t with us
anymore, I will take care of you. They are watching us from heaven. And they also gave us these
vegetables, corn, and peanuts to make sure I could take good care of you. There will be more good
things in the future. But we have to keep this a secret. Nobody else can know, not even our friends
like Cody. If they find out, it could put us in danger. Understand?"
Rosie felt both happy and scared. She wished she could sew her mouth shut. "I won''t tell." As long
as she kept this secret, her brother would be safe, and she wouldn’t go hungry. Without realizing it,
this thought became deeply ingrained in her mind.
As Jasper and Rosie started nting the third round of potatoes, Ste used her consciousness to
farm in Arcadia.
She estimated their supplies and found that the food she had stored wouldst her and Cooper a
lifetime, while Jasper’s would onlyst the three of them and Cooper, about five years.
This was only under normal circumstances, and it was uncertain what might happen in the future.
For instance, what if Cooper''s appetite grewrger, or due to the freezing weather, they’d need to
consume more food to maintain their body temperature? What if one day, humans also mutated and
developedrger appetites?
With these considerations, their food supply might be barely enough.
Not to mention, to live well in an apocalyptic world, they werecking many things. She needed to
trade for supplies.
Non-renewable resources were absolutely untouchable, so she needed to grow more food.
That was why she decided to nt all potatoes, as they not only had a short growth cycle, but also
yielded a high harvest.
The third round of cold-resistant potatoes only yielded about 100 pounds. The rest were stored in
Arcadia, ready to be sold to the market in exchange for supplies once the survivors’ crops were
almost mature.
Cooper continued eating his meals and protesting. Whenever Ste and Jasper sat together,
Cooper would forcibly wedge himself in between them.
As his owner, Ste could sense his intense unease. Whether it was being sold to the butcher''s
shop or living a vagrant life, these were painful memories that Cooper didn''t want to face.
He had nightmares, in which he would howl mournfully and his body would twitch uncontrobly.
When he woke up, he would be in a terrible mood, especially when he saw Jasper, his face would
immediately turn sour.
Jasper wasn’t harsh with him; he just intensified his training. "Come on, who knows, maybe one day
you''ll beat me."
Cooper, who was exhausted from the training, perked up immediately. He got up, ready for more
training.
When he met his goal, the trainer rewarded him with a piece of jerky. "Good boy."
‘Wait, why did he feel like wagging his tail? No, he couldn''t be tempted by the enemy. The jerky
must be poisoned.’ Cooper spit it out, refusing Jasper''s treat.
Ste, who was exhausted from training, fell asleep unknowingly with the warm fire crackling in the
living room.
When Jasper returned, he fetched a nket from his room and draped it over her. Ste’s eyes
snapped open, her gaze icy and guarded, with a dagger clutched in her hand. If she hadn''t reacted
in time, she would have stabbed him with the dagger.
Jasper took the dagger from her and put it on the table. "Nightmare?"
Ste wiped off her cold sweat, "Yeah."
A single nightmare drained all of Ste''s energy, making her look at Jasper as if he were a stranger.
Jasper frowned slightly, "Did I make you ufortable?"
It wasn’t exactly that, but he was a factor.
Ste was used to being alone. She grew up without anyone by her side for over a decade, and had
been alone for three years during the apocalypse. Now, with a sudden addition of a man by her
side, who was consistently kind to her, it was challenging for her to adapt to the newfound care she
had never experienced before.
But looking at it another way. There were also benefits.
Having someone to share the workload, take care of household chores, keep herpany, and
discuss problems with was somewhat enticing. After all, humans were emotional beings. Living
alone was possible, but it left one spiritually barren.
Otherwise, why would there be anxiety and panic?
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"No, it''s just that I''m not used to it. Just give me some time."
Ste was attempting to dust off the long-sealed doors of her heart, trying to let the sunlight in to
illuminate the deste darkness within.
Jasper held her hand, "Okay."
They had been together for a while, but Ste was still not quite used to this level of intimacy and
instinctively wanted to pull her hand back. But he didn''t let go.
Just as she was about to speak, he suddenly let her hand free. Ste looked up to find Cooper
squatting across from them. His intense gazes were fixed on Jasper, and he wore a mischievous
grin, grinding his teeth as if to say: let go or face the consequences.