The man froze, his expression shifting slightly. He feigned ignorance and asked, "What do you mean?"
Lin Fan chuckled and leaned lazily against the car window. "We're both old foxes—don't try to play ghost stories with me. These things… if you dare take a bite in front of me, I'll buy the whole lot."
"You don't trust me?" the man asked, pretending to be offended.
"That's enough. Move your truck," Lin Fan said coldly, reaching into his pocket as if to pull out his phone. "Or I'm calling the cops."
"No, no, no!" The man quickly waved his hands, a sheepish grin on his face. "If you don't want to buy, that's fine… just don't ruin my business, okay? I'll move the truck right away."
Vroom vroom!
The truck blocking the middle of the road finally backed up, creating just enough room for cars to pass. Lin Fan stepped on the gas and sped past without hesitation.
"Brother, was he a scammer?" Xin Xin, who had witnessed the entire exchange, blinked and asked curiously.
"Yes," Lin Fan nodded. From the moment the man opened his satchel, Lin Fan had recognized the fruit as having been exposed to radiation. While the contamination wasn't immediately visible, after years of farming, he could spot the abnormalities on the skin at a glance. "He's a scammer—one of the worst kinds."
In a world already descending into chaos, there were plenty of people trying to profit by selling inferior goods. Lin Fan didn't necessarily hate all of them—after all, trying to survive wasn't a crime. But at least have some moral bottom line!
It was like before the Age of Destruction, when some shady street vendors sold fake medicine to elderly people. The packaging claimed it was ginseng and deer antler extract, but the main ingredient was just potato starch. Still… at least potato starch wouldn't kill anyone, right?
But radiated produce? That was deadly.
In the past, people like that would've been arrested and shot a hundred times over. But now, they were running wild.
From this alone, Lin Fan could sense that the global collapse triggered by the apocalypse wasn't just about food shortages.
Even the military and police no longer had the authority or power they once did.
Suddenly, Lin Fan recalled a message he had once seen from the system: "Build a new civilization on the ruins."
Could this be a sign? That the current world order and civilization would completely collapse after the second phase of the Destruction Age?
Lin Fan muttered under his breath, "The system still holds for now. But once the second wave hits and rivers dry up, we might see riots the police and military can't even control."
He took a deep breath. To be honest, he didn't want to see the world fall apart. He didn't want civilization to collapse.
But he wasn't a god. He couldn't change the world alone.
For now, the only thing he could do was ensure his own safety first—then, and only then, could he consider helping others or the country.
---
Everything he had seen tonight only motivated Lin Fan to work harder.
Only by fully utilizing the opportunity the system farm gave him—through hard work—could he and Xin Xin avoid ending up like stray dogs on the streets.
When they returned to the farm, Xin Xin immediately started whining for a late-night snack.
Kids her age were full of energy and burned calories fast. At her stage of growth, she needed four meals a day—otherwise, she'd wake up in the middle of the night from hunger.
Lin Fan expertly tied on an apron.
His daily routine was simple now:
Cook. Farm. Harvest.
Oddly enough, perhaps it was something in his genes passed down from his parents, but he didn't find this life boring. In fact, he found satisfaction in it. Watching Xin Xin happily devour the food he cooked gave him a deep, inexplicable joy.
He had already taken out some lamb meat he'd slaughtered a few days ago—it had fully thawed.
He chopped two white radishes into chunks the size of his finger and filled the pot with water. After blanching the lamb to remove the blood, he rinsed it again in cold water before slowly stewing it in an iron pot.
He didn't use many spices—just a bit of sliced ginger.
Lamb is naturally flavorful. Too many seasonings would only ruin the taste.
The low flame gradually brought the pot to a boil. Within half an hour, the aroma of lamb began to fill the room. Lin Fan then added the radish chunks and sprinkled in some salt.
By this time, Xin Xin was already standing eagerly outside the kitchen, hugging her little bowl, waiting for the midnight feast to be ready.
Ten minutes later, the radish was fully cooked. Lin Fan tested the tenderness of the lamb with a chopstick—it pierced through effortlessly.
He sprinkled in some chopped scallions.
"Lamb and radish stew is ready!"
This late-night snack was a feast.
Each of them had two bowls of stew, plus a spiced lamb trotter, and for dessert… a whole plate of cherries each.
Eating that much at night wasn't exactly healthy.
But strangely, ever since he and Xin Xin started eating the radiation-resistant vegetables, Lin Fan had noticed his appetite growing. Even after all that food, he didn't feel bloated—only about 70% full.
And the shocking part—Xin Xin could eat even more than him.
Her cherry bowl was already empty…
"Looks like as our physical condition improves, our nutritional needs increase too…" Lin Fan thought aloud. He glanced at Xin Xin—her data stats had clearly gone up as well. "At this rate, is she going to turn into a human T-Rex? Eating tons of meat per meal?"
The thought startled him for a moment, but he quickly relaxed.
With the shelter system, even if Xin Xin ended up with an appetite like Monkey D. Luffy, he could still afford to feed her!
After they were full, Lin Fan logged onto the Nancheng Forum, as usual.
In times like these, you couldn't rely on official news for the full picture. It was places like forums—where all kinds of people gathered—that offered real, unfiltered information.
As soon as he opened the site, a flood of new posts poured in.
Most were people sharing their recent experiences: the dangers they faced while scrambling for food, or horrifying things they had witnessed.
One post talked about a homeless man being attacked and eaten to the bone by a mutated creature. Another described how two lifelong friends turned on each other and fought over just a few pounds of rice.
Lin Fan clicked into one of the threads.
"User: Jade Beauty (Original poster)
Lately there's been a lot of livestock going crazy and attacking people around our village. This afternoon, my dad had to kill our old water buffalo that we'd raised for over a decade. I'm heartbroken! I used to ride on its back as a kid. To remember it, my dad sawed off its horn and made it into a comb. Every time I look at that comb, I tear up uncontrollably…"
Lin Fan sighed quietly. Cases like this were becoming more and more common—people being forced to kill the pets or animals they had raised for years.
Even police and soldiers had started rounding up stray dogs and cats in the streets.
He kept scrolling down, but his expression slowly froze.
Comment by "HeartbreakHuman" (2nd floor):
Bet the poster's holding the horn comb in one hand and munching on beef with the other. Heartbroken? Yeah right.
Comment by "Only Left with Handsome" (3rd floor):
Can you send me a few pounds of that buffalo's meat? I want to honor its memory too…
Comment by "Helpless" (3rd floor):
Can we eat half and release the other half in peace?
Comment by "All Things Are Empty" (4th floor):
I am that buffalo! Moo moo! Just came back from the dead to say something: You bastard, if you're gonna make a comb out of my horn, why not make a chamber pot out of your grandpa's skull too? Wait for me at midnight—I'm coming to knock on your door with happiness!
Reply by "Jade Beauty" (Original poster):
@All Things Are Empty: Screw you!
Lin Fan couldn't help but burst into laughter.
What started as a sad story had turned into a ridiculous mess thanks to the troll replies of a bunch of internet clowns.
He exited that thread and refreshed the forum again.
Suddenly, several posts with identical titles popped up.
"Hefty Reward! Looking for the person who posted the doomsday prophecy three days ago!"
"Seeking mysterious prophet from three days ago—generous reward for any info!"
"300,000 reward…"
Lin Fan scrolled down, and his expression turned grim.
Out of every ten threads, two or three were like this.
It was obvious—they had been trying to track him down nonstop since three days ago!
"Persistent bastards…" Lin Fan muttered, frowning. "This again?"