Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Qi Mo returned home, where the sweltering forty-degree heat (approximately 104°F) made the air feel heavy and suffocating. He watched the chubby baby crawling around the living room.

"It's so hot! Baby Yan, aren't you hot?" Qi Mo said, watching the plump little one crawl behind the sofa.

Upon hearing Daddy’s voice, the chubby baby quickly turned his head and darted behind the sofa in an instant.

He was likely playing his favorite game—hide-and-seek.

It didn’t matter whether anyone else participated—he could entertain himself just fine. Besides, he had Kitty Snowball to keep him company.

Qi Mo placed one knee on the sofa and rested his arms on the backrest, leaning down to call out, “Baby Yan.”

Immediately, the little culprit burst into laughter, his eyes crinkling into crescents. He was clearly delighted.

“Alright then, Daddy is going to make buns now. You play with Snowball, and let me know if you need anything,” Qi Mo said, before heading to the kitchen.

He took out the ingredients he had prepared earlier—the dough had risen perfectly, and the meat filling was seasoned just right.

Kneading, dividing, rolling out wrappers, filling them with meat, and placing them in the steamer for the final rise…

In his previous life, before marrying Huo Liangzhou, he had been spoiled by his parents. After their passing, a live-in maid managed the household. And after marrying Huo Liangzhou? There was no need to even mention it—several chefs worked at home, preparing only his favorite dishes. He had never once entered the kitchen.

But months into the chaos of that life, when Huo Liangzhou went in search of food and they were separated, Qi Mo joined Qi Huai and others heading toward the capital. With no other skills to offer, he was assigned to help in the kitchen. Learning from the kitchen staff, he quickly mastered making dough and other cooking tasks.

Four trays of buns were filled—three were placed on the gas stove to steam, while the fourth would be saved for later.

Once the stove was lit, the kitchen became unbearably hot, so Qi Mo moved his bun-making operation to the living room. When the time came, he simply returned to turn off the heat.

By noon, Qi Mo had steamed twelve batches—fifteen buns per tray, totaling one hundred and eighty meat buns.

Combined with the previous batch, that made one hundred and ninety-five.

Earlier, in his rush, he hadn’t tasted a single one. Now, he set aside five and packed the rest into storage containers.

Carrying the buns into the living room, Qi Mo searched high and low before finally finding Chubby baby, who had sneaked into the bathroom and was about to splash in the toilet water.

Pointing at the toilet, Qi Mo gently tapped Chubby baby’s nose and scolded, “This is for peeing—it’s dirty. You actually wanted to play here? Then you’d be a dirty baby. If you don’t wash up, nobody will want to hold you, understand? Nobody likes a smelly baby, got it?”

Big eyes blinked innocently—what was Daddy saying?

Although Chubby baby didn’t fully understand, he sensed that Daddy was upset. So this place wasn’t for playing—it was only for peeing… Well, peeing was something he understood.

After the lecture, Qi Mo picked up the little one and gave him a thorough wash—better safe than sorry. He hoped Chubby baby hadn’t touched anything messy yet.

Once cleaned up, Qi Mo pulled apart a bun; by now, it was just warm enough not to burn little fingers.

One bite—soft dough, juicy filling, rich flavor—delicious.

Chubby baby opened his mouth like a little bird, eagerly waiting to be fed.

Qi Mo hesitated—the meat filling was too salty for a toddler.

The skin is still tasty, so Daddy gets the meat and Chubby Baby gets the skin!

After feeding the chubby baby a steamed egg custard, Qi Mo had some sushi—salmon, ham, and shrimp varieties—a bowl of black-bone chicken soup, and a cucumber for extra vitamins. Lunch was rushed.

Staring out at the blazing sun, Huo Liangchuan should have reached Jiangcheng by now. Did that jerk Huo Liangzhou even miss me?

Smoke? Smoke! Why is there smoke?

Qi Mo suddenly realized something and nearly jumped in alarm.

He quickly hid the chubby baby and Kitty Snowball away, then dashed up to the third-floor balcony. But as soon as he stepped outside, a wave of heat drove him back inside.

The temperature on the balcony must have been over 110 degrees. Without air conditioning, the outside air felt scalding.

Grabbing his telescope, Qi Mo looked toward the source of the smoke. In just the short time it took him to run upstairs, that thin plume had already expanded several times over…

Flames were already licking upward.

Qi Mo shouted across to Sister Chen’s house: “Auntie Chen! Auntie Chen! The woods outside the village are on fire!”

Chen Xia’s blood ran cold. She immediately yelled to her husband: “Go get the village chief—now!”

“Fire in the woods!” she bellowed.

Her voice carried at least a hundred meters.

Nearby villagers rushed out with buckets of water shouting, “Chen Xia, where’s the fire?”

Before Qi Mo could come downstairs, he saw people running with water and shouted, “Water won’t work! It’s too late! Cut a firebreak!”

By then, the fire had surged through the trees, thick plumes of smoke churning into the sky. The area was too dry—the flames spread fast.

Within minutes, news of the wildfire had spread across the entire village.

The village chief and elders arrived quickly.

No one knew how the fire had started—no one had been near that part of the woods. They cut trees there for watchtowers, and no one would dare smoke in the forest. That rule had long been ingrained.

Qi Mo opened the door and called out, “Village chief, organize people to dig a firebreak. With this heat and all the dead plants, fires will spread like wildfire. No rain means no water, and once it starts, it won’t stop.”

“Move, move, move! Everyone, grab axes, saws, shovels, and hoes! We’ll trap the fire. This part of the woods is blocked by the road. Jing Tan, take your team to guard the road near the village. Jing Xuan, you lead another group to the road at the mountain base—don’t let the fire climb uphill. We can’t afford to lose these trees—they’re our fuel!” the village chief roared.

At his command, the villagers sprinted home.

Axes, saws, even kitchen knives—they grabbed whatever they could.

They all knew the woods well and quickly began cutting brush from open ground, hacking away at the edges to create a firebreak. Most had experience fighting wildfires.

Seeing Qi Mo rush out, the village chief called, “Qi Mo, you’ve got a baby at home. Stay inside—what if the baby gets hurt?”

Qi Mo replied, “It’s fine, Chief. The baby’s safe in the basement. He’s asleep and won’t wake up for at least three hours. I can help.”

With that, Qi Mo joined the villagers near the edge of the woods, clearing brush and lopping off overhanging branches.

Tree after tree stood bare, stripped to their trunks.

The branches were chopped off, and soon women hauled them farther away.

They worked from the outside inward.

The entire village mobilized, and soon a firebreak was cleared around the wildfire...

Meanwhile, they kept extending the firebreak outward.

Qin Lan clearly knew her way around wildfires.

For trees as thick as a man’s thigh, cutting from the base would take a lot of time. Instead, if you cut two or three meters up, you could easily bring them down. Once the branches and leaves were removed, leaving just the trunk, it became much harder to burn.

They buried the withered grass and leaves under dirt.

The fire was boxed in by the firebreak, with lookouts posted every five or six meters.

The villagers continued diligently expanding the firebreak.

According to Qi Mo, there would be no rain in the coming days, and the village chief had also said that they might not be able to buy gas. That meant fuel would be hard to come by.

Trees used to be a renewable resource—after all, they could grow back once cut down.

But now, with no rain, even vegetables couldn’t be grown, let alone trees.

So if they didn’t cut more now, these trees might become a non-renewable resource for the next eight months. A wildfire gave them a legal excuse to fell trees—something that’d normally get them arrested.

They weren’t like Huo Liangchuan, the spoiled rich kid who, even if busted, had his brother’s connections to pay off the fines.

Qi Mo watched as the fire was contained. Every time a spark flew out, Huo Jingtan would rush over with a fire extinguisher to put it out.

These were spare extinguishers from car trunks—there were still some left in the village.

Watching the flames roar, Qi Mo felt a pang of worry. Without plants, who would perform photosynthesis? Who would produce oxygen? Without oxygen, how would people survive?

But then again, Qi Mo thought, in the seven months since the apocalypse began, he’d never run short on oxygen.

Though he didn’t understand why all the plants had died—well, not entirely. Back home, he still had a small greenhouse, just very limited.

So where did the oxygen come from later on?

Ah, right—there was a type of mutant ants. They carried moss on their bodies, though they were quite ferocious and large, each about twenty centimeters long. Wherever they passed, they swept everything clean, even more terrifying than army ants.

They probably produced oxygen.

No wonder, in his previous life, the government never eradicated these mutant ants—at most, they controlled their marching routes.

Qi Mo shook his head—he was overthinking it. He had his space, packed with fruit trees and grazing grass. Oxygen wouldn’t be a problem.

After all, no one knew what the heatwave would do. But based on the scientists’ speculations from his past life, it was said to be followed by a rainy season, and after that, extreme cold.

Once the rainy season arrived, plants would likely regrow, and oxygen would be produced again.

Such matters, crucial to human survival, were beyond Qi Mo’s ability to solve. If the sky fell, let the big shots handle it—that’s just how it was.

All he needed to do was take good care of his Chubby baby and the two little ones on the way. That was enough.

Inside the firebreak, the flames still burned. To speed things up, Qin Lan led a team to light backfires inward, burning up the remaining fuel so the fire would naturally die out.

Meanwhile, another group of villagers was gathering wood—they’d already started building a watchtower.

Not only must they guard against attacks from outsiders, but also against mutant creatures. At the same time, any signs of fire could be detected immediately.

One after another, four- to five-meter-long logs were sawed with grooves, secured with mortise-and-tenon joints, nails, and tightly wound wire.

A seven-meter watchtower was built at the village entrance, and another at the foot of the mountain behind the village, about fifty or sixty meters from Qi Mo's home.

Qi Mo donated two telescopes.

They wouldn’t be much use at night, but they could be used in the morning and evening.

If anyone developed night vision, they would come in handy.

The day was a noisy blur in Huo Village.

Exhausted, Qi Mo took his little one to bathe and eat early, then retreated into his personal space to rest…

Word of the fire in Huo Village spread fast.

The town’s police chief, Huang Ming, came to inquire about the situation and praised the village for its quick response, keeping things from getting worse.

Huang Ming then returned to hold a meeting, encouraging villagers living near the mountains to cut down trees, thinning the forest to reduce density. This way, even if mutant creatures appeared, they could be spotted early, and large-scale fires would be less likely.

Chen Feng was pumped. The five or six brothers he had contacted not only arrived but also brought weapons.

By nightfall, Chen Feng was ready to pull off a big job.

Late at night, a group swiftly approached Huo Village. Among them, one carried a hunting rifle, another a pistol, while the rest wielded either machetes or axes—looking downright dangerous…

In the village, Qin Lan and a villager patrolled the front, while Jing Xuan led a patrol at the back.

On the watchtower, Huo Jingtan removed the glasses perched on his nose—they were just non-prescription glasses, as he wasn’t nearsighted.

Huo Jingxuan, however, had vision that wasn’t sharp enough and could only patrol on the ground.

Leaning against the watchtower and gazing absentmindedly at the stars, Huo Jingxuan seemed to hear faint voices. He lowered his gaze and squinted—by the light of a hurricane lantern, a group of men armed with blades and axes stood just twenty or thirty meters from the watchtower.

Huo Jingtan slammed the copper gong…

Bong bong bong, bong bong… The sound echoed through the village.

The dark village soon flickered to life with oil lamps…

The raiders were here.