Chapter 330: Preparation
Chapter 330: Preparation
The frequency with which Doll goes through diapers is greater than the frequency women use sanitary napkins. Essentially, a diaper must be changed after every pee. If two consecutive pees pass without a change, Doll’s bottom inevitably becomes red. It’s normal to go through seven or eight diapers a day.
A pack of diapers contains just over 20 pieces. Doll could go through a whole carton of diapers in a week. In a month or so, a full carload of diapers wouldn’t be out of the question.
With such rapid consumption, An Ran certainly hesitates to part with those cars of diapers. Although Zhan Lian hasn’t explicitly said that they are meant for Doll, An Ran has already assumed they are.
But before she can voice her concerns, Zhan Lian drives a small truck into Gaoping on the morning of the departure day. He instructs Yun Tao to move all the supplies from the cars into the small truck.
This truck isn’t large—about the size of a big van before the apocalypse—but it has enough space. An Ran, holding Doll, takes a closer look at the back of the truck. It seems that Zhan Lian has modified it to attach another car to the back.
Seeing Yun Tao and Hengheng loading the diapers into the van, An Ran can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She feels a sense of comfort, as though Zhan Lian were Little Mint’s surrogate father. It seems like Zhan Lian has anticipated all her worries and has taken care of everything, even without her asking.
Zhan Lian handles everything in advance without her needing to say a word.
At six o’clock in the evening, Yun Tao starts a fire, boils some water, and makes a bowl of instant noodles for himself, Hengheng, and Little Mint. Since they might not have enough water next time, he thinks it best to conserve it. After eating the noodles, they can drink the soup.
Little Mint eats a few bites and then vomits. She shakes her head and pushes the noodles toward Hengheng. Hengheng turns to look at her with a sad face.
An Ran doesn’t eat. She moves a small stool outside the door and sits down, holding Doll while watching the scenery. She also absorbs a crystal core. At that moment, she doesn’t feel very hungry. After leaving Tiesi Village, food will likely be scarce, so An Ran thinks it will be better not to take others’ food if she can avoid it. If she can eat less, she will.
Seeing Little Mint walk out of the room, looking listless, she approaches An Ran and squats against the wall. An Ran lowers her head and asks, “What’s wrong? You should eat a little, or your body won’t be able to handle it.”
Little Mint’s face is pale. She shakes her head, leaning against An Ran’s hand. Doll’s little feet in cotton socks kick at Little Mint’s face, but she doesn’t pull away and lets Doll kick her.
An Ran moves Doll’s feet in her hand, sighs, and uses her free hand to touch Little Mint’s head. “Go rest in the car for a while. We’ll leave soon.”
An Ran is worried about Little Mint’s worsening condition. She has been sluggish and unable to eat, often vomiting so much that even the acid in her stomach comes up. If things continue like this, Little Mint’s health will collapse entirely.
So now, An Ran doesn’t need Little Mint to do anything else. With everything packed and gasoline extracted from the vehicles and stored in large barrels in the small cargo van, they just have to wait for Yun Tao and Hengheng to finish their instant noodles before they can head out.