Chapter 113 - 105: Braised Pork Knuckle, Fried Belt Fish
"Yu?" A crisp female voice came through, interrupting Li Yu's reminiscence.
Little Scruffy looked at Li Yu with some uncertainty because, although Li Yu would occasionally visit his Grandma's house, he hadn't seen Little Scruffy in seven or eight years.
Seeing Little Scruffy's neat row of big white teeth, Li Yu's face broke into a smile and said, "Little Scruffy."
Upon hearing this, Little Scruffy, who rarely got called by this nickname after growing up,
raised her eyebrows slightly, twisted her mouth, and eventually spoke in an old-fashionedly serious tone, "Don't call me Little Scruffy, call me Scruffy King."
Little Scruffy was rather lonely when she was young, but it didn't turn her into an introvert. Instead, she was optimistic and generous, especially courageous, somewhat similar to Li Hang.
Li Yu's smile grew wider upon hearing Little Scruffy's response and then he said, "Alright, alright, Scruffy King."
He was very happy to see Little Scruffy.
Turning to his aunt standing beside him, Li Yu immediately added, "Thank you for taking care of my aunt and uncle during this time."
Little Scruffy scratched her head and then waved her hand dismissively, "No big deal."
At this moment, a middle-aged man came out from inside the room, looking like he was the one talking to Little Scruffy just before.
Li Yu glanced at him before quickly returning his gaze to Little Scruffy and said, "I need to take my Second Uncle away; he's severely injured. Would you like to come with me?"
Little Scruffy looked at Li Yu and then at her aunt, who was full of expectation.
Before Little Scruffy could respond, Li Yu added, "I have braised pork knuckles at my place, and my Grandma is there too. She just made fried fish for me the other day. Want some?"
Little Scruffy, upon hearing this, swallowed loudly,
clearly audible.
But Little Scruffy wasn't the slightest bit embarrassed and nodded at Li Yu, "Alright then, let's go now." She said and started walking towards Li Yu.
Seeing this, Li Yu asked, "Aren't you going to pack your stuff?"
Little Scruffy lifted the bag in her hand and said, "I have all my things here. Oh, right," as if she remembered something, she stopped in her tracks.
Then, she turned to the middle-aged man and said, "Let's swap. I'll trade these things with you for Anti-inflammatory Drugs. Let me tell you, it's a fair deal. You won't be shortchanged or scammed."
The middle-aged man glanced at Li Yu, especially noticing the gun on him, then looked back at Little Scruffy with a troubled expression.
Li Yu felt moved by Little Scruffy; these were all her possessions, and now, to help save his Second Uncle, she was willing to trade them all for Anti-inflammatory Drugs. It was a kindness he had to acknowledge.
Watching Little Scruffy, still tugging at the middle-aged man, trying to coerce him into the exchange,
Li Yu said, "Little Scruffy, there's no need."
Hearing this, Little Scruffy let go of the man's arm and turned around to say something to Li Yu. But before she could utter a word, the middle-aged man seized the chance to run off to the side.
Little Scruffy became frustrated and said to Li Yu, "What do you mean no need? Do you know how scarce the Anti-inflammatory Drugs are now? Didn't you see I was about to close the deal with him?"
Li Yu's heart warmed; he didn't want Little Scruffy to give away all her things for some Anti-inflammatory Drugs, especially since the base had some, and there were also some in the medicine box in the car.
So he said, "It's fine, I have some."
Hearing this, Little Scruffy pouted, then zipped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, walking towards Li Yu.
"Let's go."
Little Scruffy didn't even glance at Director Zhang beside her. Although she knew him, she didn't care; she'd been on her own before. If it hadn't been for Li Yu's Second Uncle and the others, she would have set out on her own long ago.
For her, as long as she could eat her fill, there was no worry for the whole family.
Li Yu looked at Little Scruffy, who still carried that straightforward and no-nonsense air about her.
So he turned around and said to Director Zhang next to him, "We're leaving now."
Director Zhang smiled and nodded, then said to Li Yu, "Are you really not joining us, or perhaps we can cooperate in some way?"
Li Yu looked deeply at Director Zhang and then said, "Let's talk about it later."
Then he nodded amiably towards Captain Lv next to him and said, "See you around."
With that, he led Yang Tianlong and the others towards the gate.
Li Tie and Li Gang, who had been standing outside the gate at the corridor intersection, raised their guns slightly as they saw Li Yu and his group come out and followed them from behind, continually looking back and observing their surroundings as they walked.
Soon, Li Yu arrived at the vehicle, where the back seats of the riot van had been removed, and a small bed was installed temporarily, transforming it into what resembled an emergency medical vehicle.
At this point, Li Hang had already given Second Uncle anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing drugs; his forehead was not as hot, but he was still unconscious.
Li Hang noticed the scruffy girl next to Li Yu and felt she looked oddly familiar, but before he could ask, the scruffy girl also saw him and said, "Hang?"
Li Hang instantly remembered, "Scruffy sis?"
The scruffy girl immediately rolled her eyes. Being called scruffy is one thing, 'sis' is another, but what's with 'scruffy sis'?
So she retorted somewhat irritably, "Call me Scruffy Queen!"
...
Li Hang smiled helplessly and chuckled twice before saying speechlessly, "Get on, Queen Sis."
"Good."
Everyone got into the vehicles, with Second Aunt sitting in the back of the riot van, taking care of Second Uncle at all times.
The scruffy girl was also in the same vehicle as Li Yu and the others, sitting in the middle.
The group drove off towards Yugu Platform.
As the vehicles departed, Director Zhang and Captain Lv remained there, watching. Captain Lv seemed regretful as he watched them leave, and Director Zhang's gaze was inscrutable, lost in thought.
The vehicles soon reached Yugu Platform, where Ding Jiu and the others had already loaded the vehicles and were waiting at the gate.
Li Yu honked the horn, and Ding Jiu understood, immediately started to follow Li Yu's vehicle.
They were headed in the direction out of the city.
Li Yu glanced back at Jiefang City and then at Yugu Platform, pondering for a moment.
He then had Li Tie drive at top speed back to the base.
On the vehicle, Li Yu looked at the scruffy girl next to him and then took out an unopened pack of sealed large chicken legs from his bag, as well as a pack of pickled bamboo shoots, and handed them to her.
He also handed some snacks to Second Aunt.
The scruffy girl looked at Li Yu with a shocked expression, wondering how such good stuff could still exist several months into the apocalypse?
As soon as she got her hands on them, the scruffy girl started eating without reserve, tearing open the packaging and diving in.
Li Yu watched the scruffy girl eating and turned his head away, casually asking, "How about Grandpa Du?"
The scruffy girl paused in her eating.
Li Yu did not hear an answer from the scruffy girl for a long time, and he had already figured it out.
But then he heard the scruffy girl's voice from behind him, "Grandpa and Grandma passed away a few years ago due to poor health."
The scruffy girl's voice was calm, but the calmer she was, the more Li Yu could feel her sadness.
...