Chapter 363: Chapter 363: Repayment

In these apocalyptic times, figuring people out was just too difficult.

For the sake of self-interest, some people were capable of the most monstrous acts. They had to be on their guard.

But looking at the young woman’s sincere expression, the old man, for some unknown reason, found himself starting to believe her. Yet, he was responsible for the many lives behind him.

He still asked cautiously, "Why?"

Stella Sterling knew exactly what he was asking. She thought for a moment, then covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled. "No reason. I just feel like doing a good deed every now and then."

It was a flimsy reason, not even a proper, high-minded excuse.

Giving away so much food in the apocalypse, all in the name of a "good deed"?

Who would possibly believe that?

But as the old man looked at Stella Sterling, for some unknown reason, he felt that the young woman was telling the truth. It was a bizarre, inexplicable feeling.

So, he suddenly bowed to Stella Sterling. "Thank you, young lady. But you don’t have to give us all this food. A portion would be more than enough."

After a moment’s thought, he added, "We appreciate your kindness, but we can’t protect this much food. Rather than letting it fall into someone else’s hands later, it’s better if you take it back now, miss."

"Just a little food will do. We can scavenge for the rest ourselves in the city."

Despite his words, his smile was tinged with bitterness.

Who would ever complain about having too much food? He said they could scavenge, but with no way to grow more crops, the food in this city would eventually run out, even if they turned it upside down.

Moreover, much of the food was buried under heavy rubble. Without proper tools, how could they possibly retrieve it?

But they had no choice. Too much food would likely just attract trouble.

It was better to take a portion and at least have a few full meals. Otherwise, if the food was just left there, it would eventually end up in someone else’s hands anyway. There was no point in that.

Stella Sterling considered this, then nodded.

She then smiled and said, "So, can you accept these things now?"

The survivors exchanged glances. In the end, the old man made the decision. "Thank the young lady," he told the others. "Remember this kindness. If we ever have the chance, we must repay her."

A dozen or so people bowed in Stella Sterling’s direction.

Stella Sterling didn’t accept their bow. She sidestepped away and then beckoned to Andrew Shaw.

Andrew Shaw ran over to her, and Stella Sterling led him away.

Andrew Shaw shot her a surprised glance. ’Was she really planning to just do a good deed and leave?’

’Until this very moment, he’d been wondering if this woman had some other agenda, if she wanted something from these people, which was why she was being so nice to them.’

’But now she was actually planning to leave just like that, without doing anything else.’

"Wait, young lady!"

Just then, the old man who had spoken with Stella Sterling earlier called out to stop her.

Stella Sterling turned to look at him.

The man looked at her, his face filled with gratitude. "We have nothing else to offer in repayment, miss. We truly don’t know how to thank you."

Upon hearing this, Stella Sterling chuckled lightly. "There’s really no need to thank me. This is all stuff I gathered in your city today."

"So now there’s just less for you to find."

The old man was taken aback when he heard this; he hadn’t expected that to be the case.

But he insisted, "Even if you gathered it here, young lady, what you find is yours. This place doesn’t belong to us. We’re still incredibly grateful that you’re willing to share it with us."

As he spoke, he moved to bow to Stella Sterling again. He knew perfectly well she was just trying to make them feel better. The truth was, it didn’t matter where she’d scavenged it; once she found it, it was hers.

Seeing him about to bow again, Stella Sterling quickly stopped him. "I told you, there’s no need to thank me. If you want to thank anyone, you should thank yourselves."

Stella Sterling’s words were rather baffling, but only she understood their meaning.

’It was true that she’d decided to do a good deed on a whim, but that decision also depended on whether these people were worthy.’

’She had called them over and laid the food out before them.’

’But her final decision to actually give them the supplies had only been made a moment ago, when they expressed their gratitude.’

’Their decency had somewhat surprised her.’

’There were more than ten of them, while she and Andrew Shaw were, on the surface, just two people.’

’Just the two of them. If anyone else had seen so many supplies guarded by only two people, they would have likely rushed in and tried to rob them without a second thought.’

’But these people hadn’t done that. Not once.’

’Even though they had a clear advantage in numbers and in the overall situation, they hadn’t taken it.’

’They had only asked if she was really giving the supplies to them. After she confirmed it, they had only expressed their thanks, with no other ulterior moves.’

’That was why Stella Sterling had ultimately decided to truly give them the supplies.’

’Otherwise, if these people had made any suspicious moves or shown any ill intent during that time, they would have ended up with nothing.’

’So perhaps they really should thank themselves.’

The old man was confused by her words. He thought about it for a long time but couldn’t figure out what she meant. Why should they thank themselves?

’Could it be that they had unknowingly done some good deed in the past and helped this young woman, and now she was here to repay them?’

’But he racked his brain and came up with nothing. He had no memory of this young woman at all. Their paths had never crossed, so how could they possibly have helped her!’

Since he couldn’t figure it out, he decided to stop thinking about it.

Seeing that she wouldn’t accept his bow, he didn’t press the matter of formalities.

Instead, he said cheerfully, "In any case, we still want to express our gratitude. While we were scavenging earlier, we found quite a lot of treasure and jewelry. I don’t know if you’d want any of it, but it’s yours if you do."

He looked a little embarrassed as he said this. In these times, jewelry and trinkets were essentially worthless.

And they were nothing compared to food.

But aside from offering something like this to show their gratitude, they had no other way to repay her.

When Stella Sterling heard this, however, her eyes lit up. She hadn’t planned on taking anything from them, but now she’d changed her mind. "Is there a lot?"

The old man was taken aback by her reaction. He paused for a second, then nodded. "Quite a bit."

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