Chapter 32: Who Knew There Was Green Tea Flavored Toothpaste

Shi Yuebai, having been unexpectedly named, struggled to stretch her neck—though she barely had one to speak of. She cast a glance at Shi Xiangrui, who was currently surrounded by the mercenaries.

Shi Xiangrui had been scrubbed clean, her face no longer possessing the redness and wrinkles she had at birth. Her fuzzy little head squirmed restlessly in the cradle. She opened her tiny mouth, making soft smacking sounds.

"She’s hungry, she must be hungry," Chen Yong guessed, shouting, "Get her something to eat, quick, hurry!"

The rough men gathered around the cradle became instantly nervous. Even Yi Zhe began to fumble about in a fluster.

"What do children this small even eat?"

"I saw something once, outside the Great City..." The mercenary who spoke turned pale. He was trying to search his memory for what a newborn infant might eat in the wasteland, but every image of a newborn he could recall was deeply unsettling. Either the children were born and discarded, or they were born and sold. As for what became of those sold infants, no one dared to dig too deep. They feared that doing so would reveal the most terrifying and dark side of human nature—a realization that would drive anyone in the wasteland to absolute despair.

While the mercenaries scrambled to find food for Shi Xiangrui, Shi Yuebai instructed Shi Yaoyao to lift the baby from the cradle. She stroked the infant's little head, and Shi Xiangrui whimpered before closing her eyes and falling back asleep.

"Why is she asleep again?" Yi Zhe asked, his eyes clear and filled with genuine curiosity as he looked at Shi Yuebai.

"She’s always like this," Shi Yuebai replied. "She’s not quite like other babies."

In the wasteland, most infants who managed to survive until birth were unlike normal babies; they were either born with missing limbs or with obvious abnormalities. A perfectly normal-looking infant was, conversely, a rarity in the wasteland.

Yi Zhe looked at the baby in Shi Yaoyao’s arms once more. He said nothing, seemingly understanding, but Chen Yong, standing nearby, remarked with great pity, "Such a fine-looking child..." Why did she have to be mute? She didn't even know how to cry.

Yi Zhe turned and glared at Chen Yong, who pursed his lips and fell silent. Chen Yong was always a man who spoke his mind without thinking. He offered an apologetic smile to Shi Yuebai.

Shi Yuebai pursed her lips, not blaming Chen Yong. As for Shi Yaoyao, she was clearly a child with intellectual disabilities; she wouldn't even have understood the implication of Chen Yong’s unfinished sentence.

"Yaoyao, go back to scavenging," Shi Yuebai ordered, telling her to put Shi Xiangrui back in the cradle.

Watching Shi Yaoyao bob her head and turn to rummage through the rocks with uncoordinated movements, Yi Zhe turned and sat on a large stone beside Shi Yuebai. "Yuebai, why do you collect so many useless things?"

Shi Yuebai, sitting on the flatbed cart, held up an arm thicker than a plump thigh and sifted through a crate of toothpaste. "They’re quite useful. These are things we are in dire need of."

Survivors in the wasteland, tormented by the scarcity of resources, cared only for food and water. But Shi Yuebai was different. Ever since she had transmigrated into this body, she hadn't consumed a single bite of food. Having solved the most basic problem of survival, she naturally aspired to a higher quality of life.

Yi Zhe sighed and took another long look at her. What a pity for such a girl. Among the members of the Shi family, he had always believed that only the Second Sister-in-law and Shi Yuebai possessed normal intelligence. But Shi Yuebai had a difficult temper. In the past, he could only communicate with the Second Sister-in-law. Now, while he could converse with Shi Yuebai without hindrance, he could never quite grasp the reasoning behind her actions. Perhaps her intelligence had been affected by the wasteland's radiation, just not as obviously as the others.

After a while, Chen Yong called to Yi Zhe from atop a pile of ruins. Yi Zhe stood up. "Alright, Yuebai, you keep looking. Brother Yi will send you back later." He patted the dust off his clothes, grabbed his weapon, and reached Chen Yong’s side with a few swift steps.

Seeing that the mercenaries had all left, Shi Yuebai beckoned to Shi Yaoyao. "Do you want to brush your teeth?"

Shi Yuebai took out a tube of toothpaste, tore off the packaging, and looked at Shi Yaoyao with anticipation. "This crate of toothpaste is a year past its expiration date, Yaoyao. Try it and see if it still works." She retrieved a bottle of purified water and a brand-new toothbrush from Shi Yaoyao's backpack and handed them to her.

On Shi Yaoyao’s wrist was a black, rough-looking radiation detector. It had been traded from the "Oddity." Everyone in the Shi family wore a similar one on their wrists.

[Detection: 0 radiation contamination, purified water.]

The line of text appeared on the detector's screen. Wanting to avoid drawing attention, Shi Yuebai had made everyone in the family set their detectors to silent.

Shi Yaoyao saw the words on the screen. Her little face paused, wearing an expression that looked like deep thought. "Auntie... read?"

For the past few days, her aunt had been making her practice characters. A new realization suddenly dawned in Shi Yaoyao’s muddled mind: this was what they called "writing." She seemed to find these "characters" quite fun, like a new game.

Shi Yuebai pulled Shi Yaoyao’s hand over. Seeing the girl uncontrollably shaking her head, Shi Yuebai placed a hand on her crown to force her still. "Come, Auntie will teach you."

Shi Yuebai pointed to the text on the screen, teaching Shi Yaoyao to read it character by character. Shi Yaoyao stumbled over the words: "De... tection... zero... radiation... contamination... purified water..." She learned one character at a time, repeating them over and over.

After repeating it dozens of times, Shi Yaoyao squatted on the ground, using the toothpaste and brush Shi Yuebai had given her to brush her teeth. Shi Yuebai watched closely—the toothpaste even produced bubbles! Unable to resist, she took a new toothbrush from the crate and joined her. One squatting, one sitting, the two of them brushed their teeth together in front of the ruins.

Shi Yuebai opened her mouth, rinsed, and felt her mood lift significantly. Ah, the sensation of fresh breath. Truly, the era before the wasteland must have been a highly developed civilization with abundant resources. Not only did they have toothpaste, but it was green tea flavored! From today on, she would brush her teeth every morning and night. And not just her—everyone in the Shi family would have to do the same.