Thinking of the way this man had kept chattering beside her ear earlier, Ruan Ning felt somewhat unable to bear it.
Back when she was in school, Ruan Ning had also had plenty of pursuers, but none of them had ever been so enthusiastic to the point that it became unbearable. On top of that, this was now the apocalypse, where people casually pulled knives, guns, and abilities on one another, so dealing with this felt even trickier than before.
Sometimes, Ruan Ning actually wished this peacock-like man could be like that burly man who had harassed her at Base Three in B City. At least with him, aside from being overly enthusiastic and making her feel uncomfortable and annoyed, he had not done anything especially out of line. He had not said anything improper, nor had he tried to touch her.
Ruan Ning was the kind of person who would not offend others unless they offended her first. In this kind of situation, aside from keeping her distance, there did not seem to be any other solution.
After getting out of the car, Ruan Ning became smarter this time. She ignored him and quickly moved closer to Gu Yicheng, who naturally came with a cold pressure and powerful aura. She also deliberately walked together with the rest of the team.
She thought that since she had already acted like this, this person probably would not be so tactless as to force his way in and bother her, right?
But even if this person still refused to give up and followed her over, Ruan Ning would absolutely drag Gu Yicheng beside her into being pestered as well.
Who told him to agree to this person’s invitation and come to this base?!
If they had left directly back at the shopping mall, she would not have to miserably stay here now and continue being chatted up.
Fortunately, after Ruan Ning moved over, she discovered that not only did the big boss beside her make no move against her approach, but that flashy peacock was also called away by a man and woman who came out of the base. He did not come over to continue pestering her.
Ruan Ning let out a long sigh of relief.
…
From the outside, this hotel that had been converted into a base had nine floors. Near the entrance, there was a fence made of iron plates. Four people stood beside it guarding the gate, and each of them held a fire axe.
“Why did you come back so late today?” The speaker was the woman among the man and woman who had come out of the hotel. Her gorgeous appearance and tone of voice both gave people a domineering feeling. She did not seem easy to get along with.
The man beside her was the complete opposite. He remained silent the whole time, standing there without saying a single word.
“Sister Sun, the food in the nearby areas around the base has already been picked clean by us and the survivors from other bases. After half a day, we couldn’t find much food at all,” someone in the team replied.
The woman frowned. Her tone was not good; it could even be described as impatient. “Since the nearby food has all been searched, then go somewhere farther away. Your search team’s efficiency is far too low. If this continues, all the survivors in our base will starve to death sooner or later. You bring back so little food every day. How is that enough for people to eat?”
Among the team over there, someone heard her words and felt dissatisfied. A trace of indignation appeared on his face, and he seemed about to say something to refute her. But before he could speak, the person beside him tugged at his sleeve and stopped him. At the same time, no one else spoke either.
The people on Ruan Ning’s side also noticed this scene and understood somewhat. It seemed this base was not only small in scale; there were also problems with its management.
They still did not know what position this woman held in the base, but they could clearly feel that the people they had encountered on the road, who had gone out to collect supplies, had long harboured resentment toward her. Yet, because of something, they dared to be angry but did not dare speak.
“This time, we already went all the way to Yueda Mall to look for food. If you think we’re not good enough, then from now on, you can find someone else to form a team and lead them to search for food,” the man Ruan Ning had labelled as the peacock said.
When he spoke to this woman, he no longer had the eager enthusiasm he used when speaking to Ruan Ning. He looked much more normal.
Ruan Ning was slightly surprised. She had thought this person was the type who would chat up any pretty woman he saw. After all, he possessed every essential trait of a person who liked to flirt: thick skin and overfamiliarity.
“Hmph. The teams and number of people going out to search for supplies were decided long ago. Don’t shirk responsibility and try to drag me into this.” When the woman heard Peacock Man say that she should lead a team out to search for supplies, her arrogance finally restrained somewhat. However, she still looked down on others and had a poor attitude.
Her gaze casually swept over the crowd standing outside the hotel. Suddenly, her eyes paused when she saw the members of the Morning Light Squad who had come over behind the team. She said unhappily, “Who are these people? I remember they aren’t from our base.”
“They’re a team we met while collecting supplies at the mall,” Peacock Man said. “I invited them over to visit the base and join us.”
The woman seemed to have found something to criticise and snorted coldly. “In the future, don’t bring every random messy person into the base. This place isn’t somewhere just anyone can join.”
“I don’t bring just anyone in,” Peacock Man said, not backing down in the slightest. “Since even someone like you can join the base, why can’t their team? I think every single one of them is much stronger than you.”
“Chen Ling, what do you mean by that? If you’re dissatisfied with the leader’s decisions, you can leave the base right now. No one is stopping you.”
“I don’t mean anything else, and I’m not dissatisfied with the leader’s decisions. I’m simply dissatisfied with you.”
The two of them began a lukewarm confrontation right at the hotel entrance. Yet whether it was the people guarding the gate or the others nearby, they all seemed accustomed to it.
Although this entire base currently had only a little more than two hundred people, wherever there were people, there would be conflicts of interest.
Everyone in the Morning Light Squad remained unmoved by what they were saying and did not express any opinions.
However, after listening from the side for quite a while, Ruan Ning became increasingly puzzled about what exactly Gu Yicheng’s purpose was in agreeing to come here. Although she knew he definitely would not lead everyone into a pit without them knowing. She still had that much trust in him.
As long as there was no threat to personal safety, Ruan Ning had nothing to worry about, provided that man called Chen Ling, that peacock man, did not come over and bother her.
After about the time it took to burn an incense stick, the argument over there finally came to a result.
Chen Ling had the upper hand. In the end, the woman turned around angrily and returned to the hotel, leaving only her back to them. As for the man who had come out with her, he also left with her.
Only after the two of them left did Chen Ling walk over. The smiling expression from before returned to his face as he said, “Everyone, I’m sorry. There was a small internal disagreement in our base just now.”
“Right, especially Miss Ruan. You weren’t frightened just now, were you?” As Chen Ling spoke, he revealed a deeply worried expression, as though he regarded her as a fragile porcelain doll.
In fact, Ruan Ning’s appearance was indeed deceptive. She was petite, with delicate features that made people feel protective toward her at first sight.
…Here he goes again. Ruan Ning could not help rolling her eyes inwardly. Her eyes turned, and she suddenly thought of a good idea. She hid slightly behind Gu Yicheng, secretly tugged at his sleeve, and looked at him with a pair of watery eyes, asking softly for help, “Brother.”
His obedient and sensible younger sister was now in trouble. How could an elder brother stand by and do nothing?!
Ruan Ning was now tired and felt she could no longer love. She had barely spoken a few words to this person, so how had he gotten so tangled up with her? Just like that woman who had left earlier, putting everything else aside, purely in terms of appearance, she was also very beautiful and not much inferior to Ruan Ning.
Could it be that he thought she looked easy to bully? But before Ruan Ning transmigrated, her appearance had clearly been similar to now. Why had she never encountered anyone falling in love with her at first sight then?
Ruan Ning once again felt the malice of transmigration toward her. From the very beginning, she had known that this overly beautiful face would bring her a lot of trouble in the apocalypse. Since nothing had happened before, she had slowly relaxed her guard. Now, it seemed she had still been too naive.
“I see it’s getting dark outside. Since your internal disagreement is over, can you take us inside now?” Feeling the girl’s movement beside him, Gu Yicheng’s brows relaxed slightly, but his voice no longer carried its usual gentleness. Instead, it sounded colder and more detached.
Even when he was not speaking, the aura around him made him impossible to ignore. Once he spoke, people instinctively turned their attention to him.
Chen Ling had originally wanted to say a few more words to the person he had fallen for at first sight. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he would see her hand tugging at the sleeve of the man beside her, and also hear her call him “Brother.”
Doubt rose in his heart. He stared at the two of them for a few seconds, and the curve of his smile imperceptibly faded a little.
Chen Ling looked deeply at Gu Yicheng, who remained calm and unreadable at the side, and said with a smile that did not reach his eyes, “Of course. Everyone, follow me. I’ll give you a general introduction to our base.”
Before the apocalypse, this hotel had been a local four-star hotel. Its decor looked fairly luxurious and grand, and it had even been equipped with three elevators. However, now that the power was out, the hotel elevators naturally could not be used. To go upstairs, they could only take the stairs through the safety passage beside them.
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