The Underground Abyss in the Doomsday: The Collapse of Humanity

Chapter 5 Golden Fruit

The potato seedlings that were expelled from the library flowerbed by the director Yu Lao have now settled in the best light-receiving position on the glass roof. Yu Lao, apart from finding it a little funny, would not climb up to the roof to move the small green plant.

Sophia Miller now had to make one more thing to prepare before coming to the library every day: secretly bring clean water from home.

Water resources in slums have always been in short supply. Water charges have been rising again and again, and now account for 20 percent of the average expenditure of slum households. However, the Hengtai Alliance government has no intention of reducing the cost of living for the poor.

As a certain politician said privately: Survival of the fittest is a matter of course, and only by firmly limiting the cost of living for the lower classes can we stop them from giving birth to a large number of natural children like piglets.

Amid her mother's complaints, Sophia Miller quietly used the family's water resources. She knew that doing so would inevitably increase her mother's burden, but looking at the golden fruits in her dream, Sophia Miller thought that her mother would be proud of her after the flowers bloomed and bore fruit. The tender buds grew little by little, and every leaf that grew made Sophia Miller happy for half a day.

After a few months, the plant grew to more than 30 centimeters tall and stopped growing. The little girl's dream of a big tree was finally shattered into pieces. But no matter what, the expectation of half a year has settled into a special feeling. Even if it will always be a small plant, Sophia Miller is satisfied.

One afternoon, she climbed up to the roof to water and loosen the soil as usual. She was very worried recently because the originally green leaves were slowly turning yellow and withering. Could it be that it was sick? Even watering would not make it recover?

When she reached the top, she saw that the tree had withered and fallen down! Sophia Miller quickly ran to the bucket and tried to support the tree in panic. Tears welled up in her eyes and she felt a blockage in her heart.

She placed so much hope on the big tree, but in the end the big tree was gone. Couldn’t she save the small tree too?

Suddenly, a round golden object emerged from the soil under the tilted rhizome. Sophia Miller was stunned for a moment, then reached out and dug out the golden tuber. It turned out that its fruit was in the soil!

Instantly filled with joy, Sophia Miller quickly searched in the soil and found a dozen small fruits one after another. The golden fruits were just the right size to hold in the hand, smooth and glossy, with a great texture!

Sophia Miller took off her coat, carefully wrapped it in it, climbed down the library with an extremely unrestrained mood, and ran towards home. As soon as she ran into the building, she ran into Lin Juemin, the boy next door.

Lin Juemin grew up with Sophia Miller and was also a natural child, but his mother, Mrs. Lin, had high expectations for him and was unreasonably convinced that her son would be successful in the future. The Lin family saved money to buy Lin Juemin an intelligent computer and enrolled him in an online school. Therefore, for little Juemin, Sophia Miller's free life upstairs was his ultimate dream.

He had to sit in front of the smart computer for more than ten hours every day, and the content he browsed was 100% monitored by Mrs. Lin. Not to mention entertainment websites, he didn't even have the chance to play small games. But outside the window, he could always see Sophia Miller coming in and out. The two pigtails raised by the girl when she ran freely always touched his heart.

At this time, Lin Juemin was carrying a garbage bag downstairs and bumped into Sophia Miller in the corridor. He looked at her enviously and asked, "You just came back? What good stuff is hidden in your clothes?"

Sophia Miller hesitated for a moment, reached out from her clothes and took out a potato, and handed it to Lin Juemin. "Golden fruit, I grew it myself! Give it to you!"

The girl's words were very straightforward, without any flattery or boasting, as if she was just talking about an ordinary thing. But for the poor living at the bottom of the building, the word "planting" itself is a miracle.

Lin Juemin happily took the potato. He didn't know that the small tuber in his hand, still covered in mud, was worth as much as the intelligent computer that his family had bought with great savings. He was just happy for the gift Sophia Miller gave him. "What on earth is this?" he asked curiously.

"Golden fruit!" Little Sophia Miller excitedly gave the potato the name he gave it, and looked very proud.

"Is it edible?" The boy rubbed the tuber in his hand. It was hard but had a good texture.

"Of course you can eat it!" the girl answered with certainty.

The narrow corridor is filled with the purest friendship. The smug sweet smile on the girl's face and the envy on the boy's face are interwoven into a different picture. Without the values of the real world, the word "friend" is actually so simple.

"Juemin!" Mrs. Lin's voice came from the second floor, breaking the warm picture. The boy seemed to wake up from a dream in an instant. His body stiffened slightly and he said to the girl apologetically, "My mother called me."

"Oh, it's time for me to go back too." The girl turned sideways and went upstairs with her clothes in her hand. She turned around, made a face at the boy, and disappeared in a flash.

Looking at the empty stairs, Lin Juemin clenched the potato in his hand and sighed secretly. He went downstairs to throw away the garbage and returned home with the potato. Mrs. Lin said to him: "Waste less time with Sophia Miller in the future. It's better to attend more classes. Juemin, you are different from her. Our whole family is counting on you."

Is it different? Lin Juemin stood stupidly at the door, thinking of the pair of flying braids, the boy gradually lost his mind.

"What are you holding in your hand?" Mrs. Lin suddenly snatched the potato from her son's hand.

"Give it back to me!" Lin Juemin suddenly shouted, "It's a golden fruit, Sophia Miller gave it to me!"

Mrs. Lin threw the potatoes into the trash can immediately after hearing this. She pointed at her son's nose with a sullen face and scolded him, "Who told you to accept her stuff? What good things can a prostitute's child have? What if it's radioactive?"

"How could there be radiation? She said she grew them!" The boy retorted unwillingly, looking at the potatoes in the trash can.

"Juemin." Mrs. Lin suppressed her anger, squatted down and hugged her precious son, saying kindly, "You are different from her! You must remember this. Mom was sorry for you when she gave birth to you. She didn't adjust your genes well, but Mom swears to make it up to you. Just hold on for another two or three years, and as soon as your dad gets promoted, our whole family will move out of here! We will find a way to find a good future for you in the future! So don't give up on yourself, and don't hang out with kids like Sophia Miller. People like them will never make it in their lives."