Thinking that relying on Han Yanyan would solve all his problems, Ding Yao was far too optimistic.
Months slipped by, and the rice soup that once sustained Ding Yao began to fall short. Rice soup was merely a makeshift when they ran out of formula, and as Ding Yao grew, the time for solid food arrived. There was no way he could be satisfied with just rice soup.
To prevent the catastrophic mistake of starving a baby, Han Yanyan consulted a child-rearing guide in the vast database of her holographic helmet. She knew the situation all too well, yet was pleased to see Ding Yao go hungry.
Duke Klin, in his previous life, had been born into luxury and privilege, far too strong for this mission’s goal. Han Yanyan had considered this carefully, determined to provide him with a life far different from his past.
This was something the attending officer agreed with.
However, while constructing this world, Han Yanyan had set him up with the premise of “growing alongside the stars,” implying that this baby would develop faster and stronger than others. Han Yanyan needed to hinder his growth; hunger was a useful tool.
When Ding Yao cried from hunger, Han Yanyan merely fed him more rice soup. Lacking nutrients, he was noticeably thinner than a typical baby, not the plump little one he ought to be.
Yet, he could not accuse Han Yanyan of mistreating him. After all, this "little mother" was still a child herself, and it was too difficult for him to grasp her efforts through the cries of an infant.
It wasn’t until he was painfully hungry, crying day and night, that Han Yanyan finally seemed to “respond,” trying to feed him some rice residue.
Only rice residue.
Han Yanyan ate the same. Besides that, she had a bit of jerky. She had set traps in the hills outside the caves to occasionally catch fresh meat, but it was rare. Vegetables and fruits were seldom seen, as edible plants seemed to struggle to grow here.
Ding Yao couldn’t eat the jerky; he could only get some chopped meat mixed into the rice residue when fresh meat was available. During those times, he would gobble it down. Even without parenting experience, he understood that this poor, singular diet would inevitably lead to malnutrition.
At ten months old, he finally managed to speak, grabbing at Han Yanyan's messy hair, and said, “Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!!!”
Upon understanding, Han Yanyan sighed, “I got it.”
She placed him into the pouch on her back and went out to gather rice.
The tea can she bought in the market actually contained seeds for rice. Planted near water and lit by daylight lamps, they could yield harvests in two weeks, with each plant yielding three times before withering away, and they couldn’t reproduce.
This was a genetically modified rice; each grain was as thick as a wrist and as long as a palm. Four or five grains would be enough for both Han Yanyan and Ding Yao for a meal. However, if stored for too long, the taste would deteriorate and become hard. To care for Ding Yao’s digestion, Han Yanyan made sure to eat fresh.
There was a small pond in the cave, and she had drawn water from there. The rice was also grown by that pond. With careful counting of their food intake, she planted batches regularly to ensure a stable food source.
“We’ll head to the valley later and see if we can find seeds for vegetables. More people live there,” she sighed along the way. “If only we could find some reproductive rice seeds. But I’ve heard they’re incredibly expensive and only available in the valley. They say it’s monopolized, hard to obtain. But if we get it, we won’t have to worry about food anymore.”
As Han Yanyan walked with Ding Yao on her back, the echoes of their conversation rang loudly in the tunnel, and she fell silent afterward, moving quietly. Soon, they saw the glow of the daylight lamps. The pond wasn't large, but golden rice covered quite a bit of its area. The environment here was warm and humid; irrigation wasn’t needed as long as the daylight lamp was set, allowing the rice to grow itself.
While Han Yanyan muttered, Ding Yao had already gathered that the mine produced energy ores. All the various machines Han Yanyan used for heating, lighting, cooking, detecting, including her shuttle, operated on this ore.
Due to this value, once the currency became worthless, the ore became the hard currency here.
As Han Yanyan harvested rice, having just pulled up a couple of stalks, she suddenly froze. She swiftly dove into the rice field, lying flat against the ground, not moving at all. She stretched one hand back toward Ding Yao, patting him soothingly.
This motion was merely for show; she knew Ding Yao wouldn’t make a sound.
Ding Yao even held his breath, his sensitive hearing catching a faint noise approaching.
In the beginning, he thought Han Yanyan was the only person in this mine. However, it was just that Han Yanyan hadn’t ventured too far to avoid inconveniencing him. As he grew older and could support his neck, she made the pouch and began taking him deeper into the mine. Occasionally, they would encounter others.
But everyone was on the same page. Upon hearing footsteps echoing in the tunnel, they would scatter in different directions, trying to avoid running into each other. Those mining in the caves or scavenging in the junkyard were at the bottom of the food chain on this planet. Most, like Han Yanyan, were single and vulnerable, trying to avoid direct confrontation.
This planet had once been a prosperous mining world. After decades of exploitation, the resources were completely depleted, causing a mass exodus. However, many remained. They had lived and thrived here for generations; for them, this was home.
Yet the planet was not habitable to begin with; its environment had been artificially altered for mining. With a mass population transfer almost two hundred years ago, most buildings and equipment were now decaying. The city had turned into ruins, and environmental control devices often malfunctioned. The living conditions were rapidly deteriorating.
The planet was remote and uninhabitable, and the former mining resources had been exhausted. The government, well aware that people still lived here, had erased this area from its administrative map. It had become a lawless zone where unscrupulous spaceships dumped their trash to avoid expensive disposal costs.
The harsh environment caused many to leave, and those still remaining were mostly unable to escape. Though shuttles could reach the nearest public spaceship station, descendants of those who had lived here for two hundred years could hardly afford tickets.
Short-range spacecraft couldn’t reach the nearest habitable planet, and the locals had no long-haul ships to dream of escape, just gazing longingly at the gray skies.
Yet, those with long-distance ships were mostly outsiders who, after the government abandoned this planet, treated it as a temporary refuge—space pirates, wanted criminals, and rogues.
Over these ten months, Ding Yao had learned about their surroundings from Han Yanyan’s incessant chatter, becoming aware of their living conditions.
It was just like the apocalypse: scarce resources, a breakdown of order, and the law of the jungle prevailed.
The difference was that from the very beginning of the apocalypse, he wielded powerful abilities, climbing his way to the top of the food chain. Here, he was the weakest at the bottom.
Feeling restless, Ding Yao closed his eyes, thinking it would sharpen his hearing.
Han Yanyan wasn’t one to startle easily; her reactions were spot on. A distant sound grew louder, revealing the fast-approaching footsteps of several people. Han Yanyan, just a teen, had encountered countless dangers over the years, training her alertness.
“There are people growing food here!” a youthful voice exclaimed. The footsteps quickened, as if he began to run.
There were two in their group, the other’s footsteps heavier.
“It has to be her!” the young one said. “My tracker detected her in this mountain area, but I don’t know which entrance she went through.”
Ding Yao and Han Yanyan understood immediately. These people hadn’t stumbled in by accident; they were after Han Yanyan! Just yesterday, she had taken Ding Yao into town to purchase supplies. Each time she went there, she would disguise herself and be extra cautious, fearing surveillance. Yet, she had still been tracked.
“Dean, are you sure it’s her?” the older one inquired.
Dean responded, “Definitely her! I grew up with her; even though I haven’t seen her for years, I recognized her at once, even in disguise. She was moving too fast. I couldn't catch up, so I hurriedly sent out the tracker to follow her here.”
The older man asked, “How does she look now?”
“She was wearing a mask, but I saw her take it off to drink,” Dean hesitated. “Her face was covered in black oil; I was so shocked that I didn’t look closely, but… she’s still quite pretty.”
“Hmph, she better not be ugly,” the older man said. “If she is, we’ll sell her to a brothel!”
“It’s all your fault,” Dean replied unhappily. “Mom always said she’d let me marry Xiaoyan when she grew up, and her dad agreed. It’s all because you wanted to sell her, killed her dad, lost her, and now I can't even find a wife!”
The older man scoffed, “What’s a wife compared to money? She was only eleven or twelve back then, so beautiful! Mr. Maitret loves little girls; he’s bound to pay a handsome price. Plus, with our savings, it’d be enough for two tickets! This planet is nearly finished; do you want to live on this rubbish planet forever?”
Silence fell in the cave for a moment.
Dean murmured, “Two tickets… what about mom?”
The father coldly replied, “We can only afford two tickets, assuming we can catch that girl and sell her for a good price. In any case, I can only take one person off this planet—either you or your mother. You choose.”
Dean fell silent.
The father didn’t expect him to answer. He urged, “Hurry up and find her first; we can discuss the rest later.” With that, he stepped forward.
Dean hurried to catch up, saying, “It’s agreed that if we catch her, I go first.”
The father said, “We’ll see how it goes. You said she has a baby; she’s not a virgin anymore, so you can take your chance. If she is still a virgin, you can’t touch her! Virgins are worth more!”
Their footsteps and voices gradually faded into the distance.
Han Yanyan remained lying flat on the ground, while Ding Yao leaned against her back, gazing upward. This dialogue was enough for him to piece together her past.
Perhaps they were once neighbors, friends, or even people who had acknowledged a marriage arrangement with her. As she grew more beautiful, becoming a “valuable” girl, the boy's father, tempted by profit, killed her father and sought to sell her to a powerful man with peculiar tastes. She had somehow managed to escape, living alone ever since.
Ding Yao was indifferent to her past and her family, but what pleased him was that even with her enemies nearby and memories resurfacing, she remained calm and didn’t let anger cloud her judgment. This was something most people would find difficult to accomplish.
It showed she was composed.
Being composed allowed one to clearly recognize the situation at hand—it was indeed a valuable trait.
Ding Yao couldn’t help but think of the Han Yanyan from the apocalypse. She possessed this quality, and it was one of the reasons he liked her. He preferred women who were intelligent, calm, and capable of being ruthless when needed.
For the first time, he learned that the girl’s name was “Yan.” The pronunciation was similar to Han Yanyan’s “Yan,” leading him to refer to her in his heart as “Little Yan.”
Unbeknownst to him, the “Han Yanyan” he liked and the “Little Yan” in front of him were the same person.
Once the footsteps of those two men faded away completely, Han Yanyan suddenly sprang to her feet. She rapidly plucked the grains from the rice stalks, stuffing them into her bag and pockets. Without hesitation, she ran back toward the direction from where the two men had come.
She was far more familiar with the area than those two. Anticipating the need to park a vehicle, she discerned from which entrance they had entered the mine. She dashed out of the cave and indeed spotted Dean and his father's flying vehicle.
Outside the mine, the air was biting cold. Since the caves were warmer than outside, neither Han Yanyan nor Ding Yao wore thick jackets. Luckily, both wore warming fabric, preventing them from freezing immediately.
Han Yanyan pulled out a small device the size of her palm and pressed it against the car door. The device whirred for a moment and with a click, unlocked the vehicle.
She opened the door and slipped inside, immediately locking it behind her. Placing the device on the dashboard, she continued to crack the system.
In this brief moment of waiting, she carefully removed Ding Yao from the pouch on her back. He was still too young to use a seatbelt, so Han Yanyan carried him in front of her.
The device took longer to crack the flying vehicle's system than the door lock. The sound of the device’s operation was clearly audible inside the flying vehicle.
“That’s my enemy,” Han Yanyan whispered, hugging Ding Yao tightly and lowering her head to speak in his ear. “They killed my father and tried to sell me, and they’re still after me.”
She leaned down even further, her lips barely brushing Ding Yao's ear as she said, “That person is named Leo.”
“Bad guy Leo.”
Her voice was so soft that even if the officer and Leo were monitoring, they couldn’t hear clearly. Only Ding Yao could understand her.
She declared, “I will never let him go.”