18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 131

At age six, she was already catching on, especially when she kept her brother's words in mind and ended up not asking any questions. She saw her brother shelling peanuts and promptly brought over a folding stool, "Let me help."

"It's cold, wear a couple more layers of mittens."

The dog showed his competitiveness by biting with his teeth.

Stella felt awkward just sitting there, but Jasper wouldn't let her help. "You rest. Don't wear yourself out."

He wasn't sure about the specifics of what she did, but he knew it wasn't easy dealing with these things.

The garden soil was fertile, with about 160 pounds of peanuts harvested from 100 square meters. Stella seasoned them with salt and spice, boiled them in several pots until they were flavorful, and ate some while they were still hot. The remainder were stored in the pantry in Arcadia, ready to be taken out whenever they wanted some.

They boiled half of the corn to use for breakfast or snacks.

The wheat yielded a good harvest, but without a threshing machine, they had to resort to the most primitive method-rubbing the grains out by hand.

Thankfully, the force required to separate the grain from the chaff was weak, and with Jasper's hard work, it was all done in a day. Stella then collected the grains and stored them in Arcadia to dry.

After several days of hard work, they were feeling worn out. Stella felt justified in taking it easy.

Rosie hadn't asked any questions and seemed even more calm, as if she had accepted the inexplicable abundance of food, so Stella took out several bundles of vegetables from the pantry-lettuce, spinach, kale, and so on.

As she looked at the sudden appearance of the vegetables, Rosie's eyes flashed with surprise, but she still didn't ask any questions. She obediently helped her brother prepare the vegetables.

After they finished, Stella praised her. "Rosie, you're so good. Go play with Cooper and the bunnies."

Rosie stared at her brother with eager eyes and only ran off excitedly when he nodded in approval.

Once Rosie was gone, they shut the windows and doors, and cooked several pots of vegetables. Stella stored all of it in the pantry in Arcadia.

With the fresh green vegetables, Rosie's appetite improved significantly. She smiled contentedly, "This is so good."

Stella took Cooper for a walk, Jasper called Rosie over to the couch. "Rosie, do

She didn't

with us from now on, would that

was excited, "Really? I

Cooper

"We would have to share our food

"Okay."

you like the vegetables, corn, and peanuts we had these past

you want more in

"Yes."

you want to know where they came

head vigorously. "No." She didn't ask because she thought it

us by Mom

was taken aback, her eyes slowly reddening. "I miss Mom

and Dad aren't with us anymore, I will take care of you. They are watching us from heaven. And they also gave us these vegetables, corn, and peanuts to make sure I could take good care of you. There will be more good things in the future. But we have to keep this a secret. Nobody else can know,

as she kept this secret, her brother would be safe, and she wouldn't go hungry. Without realizing it, this thought became deeply

Jasper and Rosie started planting the third round of potatoes, Stella used her

supplies and found that the food she had stored would last her and Cooper a lifetime, while Jasper's would only last the three of them and Cooper,

in the future. For instance, what if Cooper's appetite grew larger, or due to the freezing weather, they'd need to consume more food to maintain their body temperature? What if one day, humans also mutated

an apocalyptic world, they were lacking many things. She needed

untouchable, so she needed

as they not only had a short growth cycle, but

Arcadia, ready to be sold to the market in exchange for supplies once the survivors'

Jasper sat together, Cooper

Whether it was being sold to the butcher's shop or living a

which he would howl mournfully and his body would twitch uncontrollably. When he woke up,

his training. "Come on, who knows,

training, perked up