It’s impossible to eat sweet potatoes.

At more than one o’clock in the afternoon, Shen Shian parked his car on an open road with an unobstructed view. He told Shen Xun that he would eat instant noodles at noon.

He removed the solar panel board and connected it to an induction cooker, poured half a pot of mineral water into the circular ceramic cooking pot and waited for the water to boil.

Tian Yi took out two packets of biscuits and a bottle of fruit milk from the trunk and wanted to give them as a thank you. After being rejected by Shen Shian, he took his family to rest on the other side of the off-road vehicle and did not bother to give again.

Shen Xun drummed his cheeks and squatted beside the induction cooker. This boss is unhappy. If these people were not here, he and An An would be able to go into the space to drink chicken soup and eat braised pork, and toasted sweet potatoes as a snack. What’s so delicious about eating instant noodles?

Shen Shian glanced at him and ignored him. After the water boiled, it would taste better if it was cooked with fresh tomatoes. However he couldn’t take out the fresh tomatoes right now. The water boiled and he poured half a small bottle of cooked tomato sauce and cooked until it’s a brightly colored tomato soup. He added two tablespoons of Lao Gan Ma{n1} to it and stirred well. He then put in four noodles, four eggs, two sliced meats, and two ready-to-eat hams. He sprinkled the oil, seasonings and vegetables. Within a few minutes, a hot aroma burst out.

Note1: Lao Gan Ma or Old Godmother is a brand of chili sauces made in China.

Shen Shian took out the chopsticks and stirred. When the noodles were translucent, he turned off and unplugged the induction cooker and asked the child, “You won’t eat?”

Shen Xun stared at the pot full of instant noodles, swallowed his saliva, and flew over, “Eat.”

Not to eat is a fool.

He couldn’t stand instant noodles, he would vomit when he smelled it. but if it is eaten once in a while, the taste is really fragrant, especially with tomato soup as the base, and he really wanted to eat the delicious noodle but it was too hot. A bite of noodles, a mouthful of meat, and a soup made him really want to eat it.

Shen Xun was holding a huge bowl that was bigger than his face. He ate quickly and was particularly energetic. He couldn’t see that he was abandoning instant noodles as not up to his standard.

“Slow down, don’t burn your tongue.” Shen Shian said, raising his eyes to see two ordinary zombies swaying in the direction from behind, about one hundred meters away from the off-road vehicle. His eyes narrowed but he did not move.

The Tian Yi family on the other side also quickly found the zombies. After half a minute, Tian Yi rushed forward with a twenty-centimeter sharp knife. The action was not particularly agile, and he was slightly hesitant when he started, but after all, he was in his prime. He was physically strong and knew that aiming at the head is the key and he should have experience in dealing with zombies. Although it took a little while, the two zombies were successfully taken care of.

As he wiped the knife and walked back, his wife Ye Ping and their daughter greeted him, “Are you okay? Are there any injuries?”

“It’s all right,” Tian Yi smiled. He handed the knife to his wife, and then hugged his daughter, “Zombies are so stupid. They are slow to respond and can’t run fast, so they are not Daddy’s opponents.”

The little girl hugged his neck, turned her head towards Shen Shi’an, and drew a close voice to his ear, “Daddy, I want to eat instant noodles.”

Tian Yi was a little embarrassed and a little distressed, and it was too late to confirm whether the words were heard by Shen Shian. He held his daughter’s hand and whispered, “Yaoyou, when we left the house, we walked in a hurry and did not bring the noodles. After we get to the base, this dad must find a way to make you eat instant noodles, you can bear it a little bit longer right?”

Ye Ping picked a flower from the roadside and placed it in her daughter’s hand, “Yaoyao, look, is this flower pretty? Mom will help you comb your hair and re-tie two braids, and then mom will tie the flower into the braid, it must be beautiful, just like a little princess, do you want it?”

The family of three whispered softly and returned to the other side of the off-road vehicle.

Shen Shian quickly finished his portion, and told the child to eat slowly. Then he took the solar panel and the induction cooker, took out a packet of instant noodles and a stewed egg from the trunk, and went to Tian Yi’s side, “For your daughter. If you do not have pot and water, I’ll lend you.”

Tian Yi hesitated for a few seconds before striding over, “There are pots. I’m a cook. I don’t have many other things before I leave, and I should not lose it.” Staring at Shen Shian, he looked at the contents he held for a long time, and bowed deeply before taking it, “Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Shen.”

In this world, food and water were a lifesaver. He was pushed by people into the zombies for a packet of biscuits, and he hadn’t seen a person giving away food and water this easily.

While combing her daughter’s hair, Ye Ping secretly wiped her eyes. She held her daughter and thanked him,  “Thank you, Mr. Shen.”

Shen Shian shook his head, thought for a while and said, “Don’t worry, we have half an hour until departure.”

Inside the vehicle, the atmosphere was obviously more harmonious, and the journey in the afternoon was not much different from that in the morning. The closer to Dongming County, the more vehicles and pedestrians they met on the road. It seemed that Tian Yi was right. Survivors from several nearby cities have rushed to the security base after receiving the information from the helicopter.

There were more survivors able to break through the zombies than Shen Shian expected. When the county entrance was half a kilometer away, the vehicle was blocked and unable to move. In front of them were hundreds of meters of vehicles. At the end of the long lines, they could see a barbed wire more than ten meters high erected around the county, with steel bars and metal plates as support at intervals, which looked extremely solid.

An opened gate was at the intersection of the barbed wire and the road. There were two rows of soldiers holding guns, guarding the front of the gate. Above the gate, a red banner more than ten meters long and more than one meter wide printed with “Welcome to Dongming County Security Base” was flying in the wind.

“Here it is,” Tian Yi held his wife and daughter’s hands tightly, almost crying with joy, “We are finally here.”

Shen Shian relaxed his body, followed into the long queue, and moved slowly along the vehicle in front. Since the outbreak of the virus, such a peaceful and orderly traffic jam scene has actually passed away. Although the speed was slow, the lively vocals, roaring engine sounds, and exciting conversation sounds around them made people feel a little relaxed and peaceful from the bottom of their hearts

It really is good. It’s nice to have so many people alive.

It’s just that this speed was really too slow. At first, they were able to move forward at a high speed, but now it was completely motionless. After an entire hour, Shen Shian and others have moved less than five meters.

It happened that the person who got out of the car in front more than 20 minutes ago walked back in the opposite direction, and it seemed as if he had heard something. Tian Yi told Shen Shian that he was going outside and immediately got out of the car and asked. While asking, he took out a crumpled cigarette box from his trouser pocket, “Brother, did you just go to the base door, what’s the situation? We have stopped for more than half an hour without moving, will they ever let us in?”

The other side looked at Tian Yi with caution, but it finally eased when Tian Yi passed a cigarette, “How should I say this, the process is a bit cumbersome. You have to check whether you have a wound, your body temperature is abnormal, and you need to draw blood. Wait slowly, you shouldn’t be anxious. As soon as there is a mix of zombies, we will be doomed then.”

Stopping for a while, he continued, “Right, did you bring your household registration card?”

“I brought it,” Tian Yi even nodded, “The broadcasts and leaflets said that they would take it. How dare I not take it. People who didn’t bring their household registration cards will not be allowed in.”

“That wasn’t the case, it was a blessing to survive for more than a month, and it was unlikely that all survivors could just bring their household registration cards with them, and they will need to apply for a temporary ID.” The other person bowed his head slightly, and approached the lighter in Tian Yi’s palm, lighting the cigarette. “I asked you this, because the soldiers are looking for someone named Shen Shian. If you can prove that you are Shen Shian, you can go in without having to line up. Alas, it was estimated that there is a wealthy or rich official who left a VIP channel for their families. Damn, it’s all chaotic, and someone still walks through the back door.”

Tian Yi didn’t know why he wanted to look back at Mr. Shen, but he held back in time and continued to talk, “As long as he proves that he is Shen Shian, he can go in. Some people could have said that they are Shen Shian, but they haven’t had time to bring their ID cards, and wouldn’t they be able to pass the border?” Both the power and communication networks have been disconnected for so long, and they couldn’t verify fingerprint or dna or anything on the spot.

The other person smiled, “Seven or eight people had already done this, and all of them have been thrown out. I guess we should also check some basic information, for example, at what age do you start working and how many people do you have at home. How can they answer those questions?”

“Excuse me,” The other side looked at the source of the voice, and saw that in the huge off-road vehicle, a young handsome guy poked out half of his body from the window, “The soldiers only looked for Shen Shian. Are there any other ways to skip the traffic?”

The other side looked at him up and down and thought that he was a child from a wealthy family and wanted to know if his father and mother had given him a way out. He spit out a ring of cigarettes, half happy and half jealous, “No, just a quota. If you don’t believe it, you can ask yourself. There have been several people asking if there is any one of them in the quota, but the army will only say one Shen Shian. “What made your relationship more worth than him? Honestly line up with us.”

“Thank you.”

Shen Shian retracted his arm into the car, closed the window glass, and beckoned Tian Yi to return.

When Tian Yi sat back in the back seat, Shen Shian immediately said, “Get off the car.”

Tian Yi glanced at his wife, then asked, “Mr. Shen, you won’t be entering the base with us?”

“No, I have something else to do.” Shen Shian faced them and continued, “I promised to send you to the gate of the base, and now I have done it. After you get off and line up with other people, you should be able to go in without any problems.”

Tian Yi heard the urging meaning in his words and didn’t dare to hesitate. He quickly moved his baggage and backpack out of the car with his wife. At the end, he stood outside the window holding his wife and daughter’s by the co-driver. “Thank you Mr. Shen for helping us so much. Our whole family will always remember it in the heart. No matter what Mr. Shen will do in the future, I wish you all the peace and success.” Shen Shian nodded, “Take care.”

Then he turned on the lights and turned the car. With the perfect adaptability of the off-road vehicle to the terrain, he drove directly into the roadside rice fields, turned around and moved forward. He didn’t return to the road for a long time, and galloped along the original road. He quickly disappeared from the vision of the three.