He paused, his expression shifting slightly, and feigned ignorance. "What do you mean?"

Li Tianran chuckled, leaning against the car window. "We're all old foxes here. Why are you putting on a show? If you dare eat one of those things in front of me, I'll buy them all!"

"You don't trust me?" the man retorted.

"Enough. Move out of the way…" Li Tianran said, losing patience and reaching for his phone. "Or I'll call the police."

"No, no, no!" The man quickly waved his hands, a sheepish grin appearing on his face. "If you don't want to buy, you don't want to buy. Don't ruin my business… I'll move the truck for you right away."

Vroom!

The truck blocking the road finally created a gap wide enough for a car to pass. Li Tianran floored the accelerator and sped past.

"Brother, was he a liar?" Han Han asked, blinking her eyes as she had witnessed everything.

"Yes!" Li Tianran nodded. The moment the man opened his bag, he recognized that the fruits and vegetables had been irradiated. Although the radiation wasn't strong and the effects weren't obvious, Li Tianran had been farming for so many years that he would be ashamed if he couldn't spot the abnormalities on their skin. "He's a liar, and the worst kind."

With the global cataclysm, there were plenty of people trying to make a quick buck. Li Tianran wasn't too bothered by merchants trying to pass off inferior goods, but there should at least be some limits!

Like those who sold fake medicine to the elderly before the Cataclysm. Their product boxes claimed to contain deer antler and ginseng capsules, but the main ingredient was potato starch. At least potato starch wouldn't kill anyone, right?

Eating those irradiated fruits and vegetables could be fatal!

In the past, people like that would have been arrested and executed a hundred times over for endangering lives for profit. But now, they were becoming alarmingly active.

This made Li Tianran feel even more strongly about the impact the apocalypse had had on the world, which was far more than just a food shortage.

Even the control of the military and police was weaker than before!

Li Tianran suddenly recalled a line from the system's description: "Build a new civilization on the ruins."

Did that mean that the current order and civilization would completely collapse after the full arrival of the Cataclysm?

Li Tianran muttered, "The current system hasn't collapsed yet, but if the second Cataclysm arrives and the rivers and water sources disappear, there will probably be riots that even the military and police can't suppress."

Li Tianran took a deep breath. Honestly, he didn't want the system to collapse and civilization to be cut off.

But he wasn't a god and couldn't change the world on his own.

Now, he could only consider helping others or the country after ensuring his own safety first.

…

What he had seen outside that night further motivated Li Tianran.

Only by seizing the opportunity presented by the system's farm and working hard could he and Han Han avoid ending up like stray cats and dogs on the street!

As soon as they returned to the farm, Han Han clamored for a midnight snack.

Children were energetic and active, so they needed more fuel. At Han Han's age, she was growing quickly, so she needed to eat four meals a day, or she would wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

Li Tianran expertly put on an apron.

His daily tasks were simple now.

Cooking, planting, and harvesting.

However, perhaps due to his parents' nature being passed down in his genes, he didn't find this life boring. On the contrary, he enjoyed it. He always felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction when he watched Han Han munching on the fragrant food he had made with his own hands.

The mutton he had butchered a few days ago had been taken out long ago and had completely thawed.

After cutting two white radishes into small pieces, Li Tianran added water to the stove and blanched the mutton to remove the remaining blood. After washing it again with cold water, he slowly simmered the mutton in an iron pot.

He didn't add too many seasonings, just a little shredded ginger.

The mutton itself was delicious enough, so there was no need for too many strong seasonings. Adding too much would spoil the flavor.

The small fire slowly transmitted the heat through the iron pot, and soon the pot began to bubble.

After about half an hour, the aroma of mutton began to fill the room. Li Tianran then added the radish pieces and sprinkled in some salt.

At this time, Han Han was already holding her small bowl, standing expectantly outside the kitchen, waiting for the midnight snack to come out of the pot.

Ten minutes later, the radishes were fully cooked. Li Tianran gently inserted a chopstick into the mutton and found that it pierced through without any resistance.

Seeing this, Li Tianran casually sprinkled some green scallions on top.

"Mutton and radish soup is ready!"

This midnight snack was quite luxurious.

In addition to two bowls of mutton and radish soup each, the siblings also gnawed on two peppered lamb shanks and had a dessert… a plate of cherries each.

Eating too much at night was obviously not in line with healthy living.

But for some reason, since he started eating anti-radiation vegetables, Li Tianran felt that his appetite had grown. He didn't feel any discomfort after eating so much, and he still felt only 70% full!

Most importantly, Han Han seemed to have an even bigger appetite than him.

Now, the plate of cherries in front of her was already empty…

"It seems that as physical fitness increases, the need for nutrients will also increase…" Li Tianran mused, then glanced at Han Han, whose stats had also increased significantly. "If this continues, will she develop into a humanoid Tyrannosaurus rex? Eating tons of meat in one meal?"

Li Tianran was startled by his own speculation but soon relaxed.

It didn't seem like a big deal.

With the shelter system, even if Han Han's appetite became comparable to Monkey D. Luffy, he could still afford to feed her!

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Tianran habitually logged into the Nancheng Forum.

In the current situation, it was difficult to obtain the truth about the outside world from official reports. Only in this mixed online area could more information be exchanged.

As soon as he opened the forum, countless posts poured out.

Most of them were about people's experiences in the past few days, the difficulties they encountered while grabbing food, and the various terrifying scenes they witnessed.

For example, someone saw a homeless person being attacked by a mutated monster, his entire body gnawed to the bone. Others posted that they had turned against their friends of many years and fought over a few pounds of rice…

Li Tianran casually clicked on a post.

"Yuren (OP): Recently, there have been many incidents of mutated livestock attacking humans around our village. This afternoon, my dad slaughtered the water buffalo that we had raised for more than ten years, sob sob sob… I'm so heartbroken! I often rode on its back when I was little. To commemorate it, my dad sawed off its horns and ground them into a comb. I feel so sad now, and I can't help but cry when I look at the comb…"

Li Tianran sighed silently as he looked at the post. Recently, this kind of thing had been happening frequently, and many people had been forced to kill pets they had raised for many years.

Even the military and police had begun to hunt down stray cats and dogs in the streets.

Li Tianran continued to read, and the expression on his face slowly froze.

"Aishangren (2nd floor): I bet the OP is holding the comb in her left hand and combing her hair while gnawing on beef with her right hand. Sad? No way!"

"Only Shuai Zhege Zi (3rd floor): Can you send me a few pounds of the water buffalo's corpse? I want to commemorate it with you…"

"Wunai (3rd floor): Can the remaining horns and beef be used half for eating and half for freeing the animals?"

"Zhushijiekong (4th floor): I am that water buffalo! Moo moo moo! I'm back from the dead to say a few words. OP, why didn't you commemorate your grandpa by making a urinal out of his skull? You wait until 12 o'clock at night, I'll give you a surprise visit!"

"Yuren (OP): @Zhushijiekong F*** you!"

Li Tianran finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

What was originally a sad thing was instantly transformed by these idiotic netizens' replies.

After exiting that post, Li Tianran refreshed again.

Immediately, several posts with the same title caught his eye.

"High Reward! Seeking Information on the Poster Who Published the Doomsday Prophecy Three Days Ago!"

"Urgently Seeking the Mysterious Doomsday Prophecy Poster on the Forum! Great Rewards for Information!"

"300,000 Reward…"

Li Tianran swiped down, and the expression on his face became increasingly ugly. Two or three out of ten posts were like this!

This meant that the other party had been sparing no effort to find him since three days ago!

"Haunted…" Li Tianran frowned. "Is this never going to end?"