When Qin Renhao heard Ruan Ning say she wouldn’t be returning to the safety zone and was heading straight to the capital, he exclaimed in surprise, “You’re leaving the safety zone for good?! You’re not coming back?!”
“Yes,” Ning replied, her expression puzzled by his reaction.
It took Qin Renhao a moment to calm the waves of shock in his heart. Even after he did, a hint of loss flickered in his eyes as he muttered, “I thought you were just out here on a mission, like me… but heading to the capital… that’s pretty far, isn’t it?”
If Ruan Ning were to stay in the safety zone, Qin Renhao believed they would eventually meet again, as long as they were both alive. But if she went to the capital, the chances of them ever crossing paths again would be almost zero.
“The capital is quite far from S City, but I have a reason I must go,” Ning explained. She needed to stick closely to the path set by the powerful male lead.
Qin Renhao gave her a complicated look but didn’t voice the deeper feelings stirring in his heart. Instead, he changed the subject, saying, “Well, I wish you all the best on your journey.”
If not for the dire circumstances they found themselves in, Qin Renhao might have confessed his feelings for her. But now, telling her would only burden her more. What good would come of it?
His parents’ whereabouts were still unknown, and he had to remain in S City’s safety zone to await news of them. He couldn’t leave with her for the capital, and he certainly had no grounds to ask her to stay. Nor did he have the ability to protect her.
Besides, Qin Renhao could tell that Ruan Ning didn’t have the same feelings for him that he held for her. Though it stung, keeping quiet seemed like the best option for now.
“Thanks for the well-wishes,” Ruan Ning accepted Qin Renhao’s kind words with a smile.
They didn’t chat for too long after that. Before leaving, Ruan Ning handed him the remaining iodine and Yunnan Baiyao, thinking he might still have use for them in the future.
Though, she sincerely hoped he wouldn’t need them again.
…
While Ruan Ning had been tending to Qin Renhao’s wounds, the muscle-bound man had already cleared a path through the pile of wrecked cars, making the road passable for their vehicles. Once their team had finished resting, they could head straight for the gas station.
Since they were outside the safety zone, with the risk of zombies lurking nearby, the conditions weren’t as convenient as they had been. For lunch, they didn’t bother setting up to cook and instead settled for the same food as the other group: bread and biscuits with water.
The bread they had wasn’t the soft, fresh kind you’d find at a bakery, topped with meat floss or sugar. It was the standard long-shelf-life bread sold in supermarkets, packed with preservatives—lucky for them, as it hadn’t expired yet.
But in a few more months, no one would care if food had gone bad. As long as it was edible and could fill their stomachs, who would bother with the risk of getting sick from it?
The more Ruan Ning thought about it, the more she pitied herself for landing in a world like this.
She found a quiet corner inside the car dealership, feeling dejected as she slowly ate her small piece of dry bread.
*Sigh* How long would these hard days last…
Just as Ning had finally gotten used to the harshness of the apocalypse, accepting even rough food without issue, that delicious bowl of seafood congee from the male lead had reignited her appetite for real food. Since then, her delicate stomach had started rebelling once more.
Right now, the bread in her hands tasted unbearably bland—dry and flavourless. She desperately wanted to pull out some of the snacks she had stored in her space to comfort herself.
Knowing she wouldn’t eat much, Ruan Ning had only taken one pack of bread from the car, not even bothering to add the jam she had on hand. After all, it was just to fill her stomach. She had to make do.
Halfway through eating, Ruan Ning tried to cheer herself up by thinking that at least her bread wasn’t as bad as the compressed biscuits the rescue team was eating. She had packed some of those too, as they were supposed to be filling. But the taste? Let’s just say it was better left unsaid.
“Why are you sitting here all alone?” A deep, magnetic voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Ruan Ning looked up, startled, to find Gu Yicheng standing before her.
Why does he always move so silently?
“Big brother,” Ruan Ning tilted her head slightly, looking up at the man who, even sitting down, was still much taller than her.
“Is the bread not good?” Gu Yicheng had noticed from a distance that it had taken her almost ten minutes to finish the small piece of bread in her hand.
The rest of the team didn’t seem to mind the taste, and even though Ruan Ning really didn’t enjoy it, she couldn’t admit it out loud. So, she shook her head and replied, “No.”
Ruan Ning sighed, stuffing the remaining half of the bread into her mouth, barely chewing before swallowing it whole.
And then… she choked.
“Cough, cough! Cough, cough!” Ruan Ning coughed painfully, tears springing to her eyes from the reflex, feeling like the air in her lungs was rapidly running out.
Gu Yicheng frowned, quickly unscrewing a bottle of water and handing it to her. As he patted her back to help her catch her breath, he said with mild exasperation, “Take your time. No one’s going to take it from you.”
*I’m not worried about someone else taking it, I’m worried about you!*
Ruan Ning gulped down several large sips of water, finally managing to swallow the chunk of bread that had gotten stuck in her throat.
“How can someone your age still be so impatient?” Gu Yicheng commented, handing her a can of fruit. “Didn’t you say you wanted canned fruit? Here you go.”
…And it was her favorite, yellow peach.
But how did he know she liked this?
Ruan Ning suddenly remembered that she had casually mentioned wanting canned fruit earlier, joking that peach flavour would be the best.
Many brands and products in this world were similar to those in her original world. Ning had eaten this brand of canned fruit before, and it tasted sweet and refreshing.
She stared at the can of yellow peaches in Gu Yicheng’s hand for a long moment, torn inside.
Canned goods were fragile and difficult to carry, making them a lower priority in the apocalypse. People like Su Chen and the others mainly stocked lightweight, easy-to-carry food, not bothering much with taste.
There was no way a store nearby would have something like yellow peach cans.
This was definitely something Gu Yicheng must have taken from his space.
They say, “You can’t take advantage of someone without feeling indebted.” And Ruan Ning had already used so many of Gu Yicheng’s good things—what was one more?
With that thought, she finally convinced herself and smiled brightly as she took the can from Gu Yicheng’s hand.
She made a decision: from now on, she’d be even nicer to him!
This man was like a walking Doraemon in the apocalypse.
*****
After enough rest, it was time for Ruan Ning and the group to head out.
Before they left, Qin Renhao approached Ruan Ning and handed her something.
It was a protection charm, a token of gratitude for helping bandage his wound earlier. He said he hoped it would keep her safe on her journey to the capital.
Since Qin Renhao had put it that way, Ruan Ning felt she couldn’t find a reason to refuse the gift. So, under his hopeful gaze, she placed the protective charm around her neck.
Standing still, Qin Renhao watched with a sense of loss as Ruan Ning boarded the car, which soon drove out of his sight.
However, knowing that the charm would now accompany her in his stead, the sense of loss in Qin Renhao’s heart eased a little.
He silently hoped that one day they would meet again.
…
It seemed like today was just not their day, as they hadn’t travelled very far before encountering yet another small issue, forcing them to stop.
“Captain, there appears to be someone lying in the middle of the road,” reported the driver, Da Cheng.
In the post-apocalyptic world, everyone had become accustomed to seeing bodies.
Just as Su Chen was about to say that it was no big deal, Da Cheng added, “It looks like this person is still alive.”
Su Chen peered through the windshield. The person lying in the road had half their face visible, showing normal human skin—no bloating or deformity typical of zombies.
However, the dark, infected wounds on the person’s back, clearly inflicted by a zombie, were just as evident.
Even after half a month of witnessing countless deaths in the apocalypse, Su Chen couldn’t bring himself to pre-emptively kill someone who only might turn into a zombie. But he also couldn’t save everyone.
With a sigh, Su Chen instructed, “Move him off the road and leave some food and water by his side. If he’s lucky enough to survive, the supplies will help him.”
Although not everyone who got scratched by a zombie turned into one, those who resisted the infection were in the minority.
Just like when Xie Fei had been scratched by a zombie—even though Gu Yicheng had reassured them that Xie Fei might not get infected, the rest of the team had quietly braced for the worst.
Now, seeing this young boy, who appeared even younger than Xie Fei and had been scratched by a zombie, it seemed likely he too wouldn’t make it.
At first, Ruan Ning hadn’t thought much of it when she heard Su Chen over the radio, mentioning someone lying in the middle of the road who needed to be dealt with. But as she caught sight of the person in her peripheral vision, something clicked, and she quickly called out, “Wait, I know him!”
Her voice transmitted through the still-active radio, reaching the other car.
At the same time, all three people in her car turned their eyes to her. Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ning smiled awkwardly and explained, “His name is Xu Chi. He’s my classmate.”
Ning hadn’t expected that within just a few hours today, she would run into two people she knew from different places.
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