"It's nothing," Su Ling held back her laughter as she pulled up Gu Kai Xuan. "Let's return to the shelter and wait for your uncle."

Gu Kai Xuan obediently agreed.

He gave another kiss on Old Jin's head then stood up from the ground.

Su Ling also patted Old Jin's large head. "Come inside too, Old Jin."

Old Jin whimpered again and followed Su Ling into the dilapidated storage warehouse.

By now, the sun had shifted westward, and the air felt even hotter than before.

Without the shelter's roof, the warehouse had become oppressively stuffy.

Su Ling cleared a clean area and laid out the food bags, making sure Gu Kai Xuan had a comfortable place to sit to avoid getting a stomachache from the cold.

Gu Kai Xuan politely thanked Su Ling and then looked at her. "Aunt Su, you're really kind to me. Can you be my aunt?"

He had mentioned this when they first met.

At that time, Su Ling blushed deeply at his words.

Now, she found it amusing. "Why do you want to find an aunt?"

Gu Kai Xuan said earnestly, "Grandma said if I had an aunt, she would love me just like my uncle."

"You're quite clever. You remember such things," Su Ling chuckled.

Gu Kai Xuan grinned. "Because I don't like Li Xueying, and Uncle doesn't like her either."

With not much to do, Su Ling chatted casually with Gu Kai Xuan. "Why is that? Isn't she pretty?"

Gu Kai Xuan hummed and said seriously, "Of course, she's not as pretty as Aunt Su. In my eyes, Aunt Su is the most beautiful."

Su Ling burst into laughter again. He's so young and already so eloquent. I wonder how he'll be when he grows up.

Thinking about the uncertainties of the future and the return to a primitive way of life, Su Ling's mood suddenly darkened.

In just a little over a month, finding food had become a challenge. Most places had lost access to water and electricity, and after several natural disasters, transportation had become the biggest obstacle.

Although people had developed special abilities due to the environment, they had lost much of their civilization.

She wondered if the children of the future would remember that we once had such a prosperous era. Thinking about it, in a few years, we might all have to return to a primitive way of life. Su Ling couldn't help but sigh.

The children of this generation were truly enduring immense hardships.

Looking at Gu Kai Xuan, who blinked his big eyes at her, she couldn't help but pull him into her arms.

At this moment, a brilliant twilight shone into the storage warehouse; the sun was about to set.

But Sheng Hongye had not returned yet.

Su Ling couldn't help but feel worried and was about to go to the door to check.

Suddenly, she heard very light footsteps and signaled Gu Kai Xuan not to speak.

It wasn't Sheng Hongye's footsteps; they were too light for him.

The footsteps quickly approached the entrance of the storage warehouse, making Su Ling tense.

Then, the other party walked in. Judging from her petite stature and the two small braids on her head, this should be a five or six-year-old little girl.

Compared to Gu Kai Xuan, the little girl's clothes were even dirtier and more tattered; the right sleeve was almost reduced to a strip of cloth.

Her face was covered by a dirty blue scarf, and her appearance was barely discernible.

Upon seeing Su Ling, the little girl was clearly startled and immediately ran away.

Su Ling immediately stood up; her earlier speculation about the presence of other people turned out to be correct.

"Little sister, are you all alone?" Su Ling followed her outside the door.

The little girl immediately hid against the wall, nervously looking at her.

Su Ling spoke gently, "You don't need to worry; we are not bad people, and we mean no harm."

The little girl still kept her distance and after a while, asked cautiously, "Then... can you give me some food?"

Su Ling sighed with bitterness, "I'm really sorry, but we haven't found any food ourselves."

The little girl fell silent for a moment and said, "I know where there's food, but I can't get it."

Su Ling immediately asked, "Where is it?"

From yesterday until now, she and Sheng Hongye had only drunk that one bottle of mineral water, and her stomach was painfully empty.

Back when there was food, she would often go without eating for a whole day due to continuous surgeries, and she never felt hungry. Now, she realized how much she craved food.

The little girl pointed to the west, "There's a tunnel over there, and a group of people live in it. They have a lot of food. My mom went to ask for some, but they refused and even hurt her. My little brother is starving to death. Please, sister, save my mom and little brother."

The little girl's voice choked, but she managed to hold back her tears.

"Where are your mom and little brother now?" Su Ling asked.

"They're in the garbage pit over there," the little girl pointed to a spot behind the storage warehouse.

Su Ling went around to the back of the storage warehouse but didn't see anything. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a tall figure striding towards them.

Sheng Hongye had returned.

Seeing his empty hands, Su Ling knew that the result was not ideal.

In the blink of an eye, Sheng Hongye arrived in front of the storage warehouse.

The little girl saw him and took a few steps back.

Su Ling immediately reassured her, "Don't be afraid, this brother is with me and he's a good person."

"She is..." Sheng Hongye looked at the little girl with a slightly hoarse voice.

On such a hot day, going out to search for supplies without water was indeed challenging.

Su Ling sighed helplessly, "She's a survivor, and her mother and little brother are probably in the garbage pit over there."

The little girl pleaded, "We haven't had anything to eat for days. Please, brother, sister, save my mom and my little brother."

Sheng Hongye glanced in that direction and said, "Let's go take a look."

The little girl immediately bowed to them. "Thank you, brother. Thank you, sister."

At that moment, Gu Kai Xuan, who had been hiding behind Su Ling, suddenly ran out. He reached into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out a small piece of chocolate, about the size of a child's palm, and placed it in the little girl's hand.

In a milky voice, he said, "Miss, I only have this. You can have it first."

The little girl looked down at the chocolate, licked her chapped lips, and then tightly held onto it.

"Thank you, but I won't eat it. I'll give it to my little brother," the little girl said and ran toward the garbage pit.

Sheng Hongye and Su Ling exchanged glances and quickly followed, with Gu Kai Xuan and Old Jin in tow.

After walking about seven to eight hundred steps, a massive garbage pit came into view.

At the bottom of the pit, a dazed-looking woman was holding a child of about one year old and trying to feed him something.

To be more precise, it seemed to be the blood flowing from her fingers that she was trying to feed the child...