The flashlight had limited battery life, and Jiang Miaomiao also brought in a solar-powered charger, but it could only support them for about three days. Therefore, they were reluctant to turn on the lights when not necessary and lived in darkness.
They didn’t know how long they would have to live like this. In fact, just two hours after they entered, she started feeling bored.
Lying on the bedding, she curled up and closed her eyes to rest. In the darkness, she blinked and couldn’t help but call out, “Liu Qiming.”
“Yeah,” came the familiar voice right beside her, which eased her mind a lot.
“Are you sleepy?”
“Not really.”
“Want to chat?”
Liu Qiming chuckled, and his low laughter echoed in the cramped basement.
“Are you scared?” he asked.
She pouted, “I’m not scared at all.”
“Then why did you take the initiative to chat with me?”
Liu Qiming felt that their relationship was quite strange; it wasn’t clear whether it was good or bad. When faced with danger, she was willing to listen to his commands and cooperate with him to get out of danger at all costs.
But once they were back to safety, they would often end up arguing after just a few sentences.
Jiang Miaomiao felt annoyed by his question, “If we don’t chat, then we won’t chat. Who cares, hmph.”
Next to her was a shelf with food piled up. She fumbled in the darkness and found a package of spicy chicken feet. She began to gnaw on it alone.
The sound of gnawing continued, sounding like a little mouse.
Liu Qiming’s voice was gloomy, “Have you heard the story about chicken feet?”
Jiang Miaomiao was puzzled, “What story could there be about chicken feet?”
“Once upon a time, there was a stall owner whose business was always bad, and he was about to go out of business. At the critical moment, he received guidance from a master and transformed his business to sell chicken feet, suddenly becoming very popular.
His chicken feet were unique, and no other place could replicate that taste. But he limited the daily supply to only a hundred portions, making it very difficult to buy.
One day, some other shop owners wanted to steal his secret recipe. They hid in his kitchen and found him dragging a person out of the cabinet, cutting off the person’s hands and feet, and throwing them into the pot to cook…”
Jiang Miaomiao suddenly felt disgusted with the chicken feet in her mouth. She retched and spit them out.
Liu Qiming continued, using his eerie tone as if he was about to die, “The other shop owners were scared, covered in sweat, and wanted to run away. At that moment, the stall owner suddenly bent down, smiled, and said to them, ‘I’ve found tomorrow’s chicken feet…’”
“Ah!”
Her scalp tingled, and she screamed, rushing into his arms and unleashing a barrage of punches on his chest.
“Shut up! Stop talking!”
Liu Qiming patted her head and teased her, “Scaredy-cat.”
She was furious, so she opened her mouth and bit him hard, making him scream in pain.
“Aren’t you going to tell the story anymore?”
“I won’t, let go.”
Only then did she release him.
Liu Qiming touched the wound on his chest and complained, “Your bite is such a waste since you’re not a zombie. Luckily, I’m not a woman; otherwise, you’d have ruined my ability to breastfeed.”
Jiang Miaomiao coldly snorted, “Serves you right for deliberately scaring me.”
She returned to her previous spot to lie down, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the story he had told, which made her nervous. Unable to resist, she moved closer to him.
Liu Qiming seemed bored too. He leaned against the cement wall and suddenly started humming a tune.
His voice was deep and comforting.
The humming was indistinct, and Jiang Miaomiao couldn’t figure out what he was singing.
She wanted to ask him what he was humming, but the atmosphere was so soothing—quiet, dark, with his warmth and singing.
Within a few minutes, she drifted into slumber.
When she woke up, there was light in front of her. Jiang Miaomiao rubbed her eyes and saw that Liu Qiming was cooking.
They didn’t bring down the gas cylinder; it was too heavy and prone to explosions.
Liu Qiming had made a simple diesel stove using an iron bucket, placing a pot on top and fuel below. It was convenient to use.
The flickering light from the stove illuminated the area. Due to the limited space, it wasn’t easy to cook. He had only boiled two packets of instant noodles.
Once the water boiled, he added the noodles and seasoning packs, and the aroma quickly spread.
Jiang Miaomiao sat up slowly and watched him from behind, feeling grateful.
If he hadn’t come to this villa, she might have killed herself long ago. How could she have survived until now?
But even in this post-apocalyptic world, living wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Liu Qiming filled a bowl of noodles and turned around to see her, looking surprised.
“Awake? Are you hungry or not?”
She nodded, and he handed her the bowl. He also filled a bowl for himself, extinguished the stove, and sat beside her in the darkness, eating noodles shoulder to shoulder.
“I don’t know when the zombie tide will end. During this time, we’ll have a hard life, but the supplies in the basement should be enough to last.”
“And after we get through this?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you going to find your friends?”
Liu Qiming fell silent for a few seconds, then replied, “Yes,” and added, “If you’re willing, I can take you with me.”
Jiang Miaomiao shook her head, and then, remembering he couldn’t see her, she said:
“No need, those are your friends, not mine. I’m useless and wasteful. It was fine during peaceful times, but running there now, wouldn’t I just be a burden? I’d rather just fend for myself.”
Lu Qiming said, “It’s okay, I’m strong, I can take care of you.”
Jiang Miaomiao still refused, burying her head to eat noodles without responding.
Instant noodles smell good, but they don’t taste as good as they smell.
She chewed on the Sichuan pepper-flavored noodles, longing for roast duck, fried chicken, pig trotters, or even just a plate of plain blanched bok choy.
Lu Qiming rummaged through the shelves and found a packet of something, tearing it open and sharing half with her.
“Want some kelp strips?”
Jiang Miaomiao eagerly extended her bowl, eating the instant noodles with the kelp strips added a bit more flavor to her mouth.
After eating, she took the rare initiative to wash the dishes.
Worried about using too much water too quickly, she was especially frugal while washing. The used dirty water was thrown into a corner, and the dishes were put back next to the kerosene stove.
After finishing these tasks, she prepared to lie down, but then she suddenly thought of an embarrassing issue.
“How are we going to use the toilet?”
The basement was about fifty square meters, already filled with various supplies, leaving them little space to move. Where would they go to the toilet?
Lu Qiming had also forgotten about this problem. Reminded by her, he considered for a moment and then shone the flashlight toward a corner.
“Let’s go there.”
He moved the surrounding things away and came back saying, “From now on, that corner will serve as the toilet.”
It would be manageable for a day or two, but what if the zombies didn’t leave for half a month? If they had to use that corner as a toilet for half a month, the image of that corner… ugh!
Thinking about it made Jiang Miaomiao feel nauseous, and she grumbled, “Would’ve been better off just turning on the gas.”
Lu Qiming didn’t speak. After eating and drinking their fill, sleepiness came over them, and the two of them transformed into the most qualified pigs in this apocalyptic world, continuing their sleep.
When they woke up again, they heard knocking sounds in their ears.
Jiang Miaomiao reached out for the flashlight, fumbling around for a while until a light lit up in the corner.
Lu Qiming shone the flashlight on her, the light was too glaring, so she instinctively shielded her eyes, and he immediately moved the beam away.
Jiang Miaomiao asked, “What are you doing?”
“Digging a hole.”
“Why are you digging a hole?”
“So that sewage and feces won’t flow everywhere. I’ll pile the dug-up soil beside it, and after using it, I’ll fill some back in. Later, I’ll use the remaining wooden planks to make a cover, so we can cover it when it’s not in use.”
Jiang Miaomiao ran over in surprise.
“But can this floor be dug through?”
She had tried before and couldn’t make a hole even when her hand was broken.
Lu Qiming looked smug.
“Look what this is.”
Jiang Miaomiao had already walked over to him, following the direction of his finger, there was a hole the size of a basin on the ground.
“I’ll dig it a bit deeper, and then it can be used.”
Lu Qiming said, handing her the flashlight and picking up the hammer and chisel again.
Jiang Miaomiao couldn’t help but lift his hand to take a closer look, wondering if his bones were made of iron.
His hand was large and warm, sweaty from the work he had just done.
He laughed, “Do you admire me a lot?”
She immediately let go, “Stop it, I was just checking how thick-skinned and callous you are.”
He laughed and cried at the same time, “One moment a pretty boy, the next moment thick-skinned and callous, it’s tough for me.”
Jiang Miaomiao said, “That’s what you get for always fooling me, not telling the truth.”
Lu Qiming shrugged his shoulders and changed the topic.
“Go back and lie down, don’t block my light.”
Jiang Miaomiao refused to leave, “I’ll help.”
“The best help you can give is by not being in the way here.”
…The way he said it, she felt more comfortable not working.
Jiang Miaomiao returned to her blanket and instinctively thought about grabbing something to eat. The ghost stories he had told popped into her mind, and she silently retracted her hand, closed her eyes, and counted the number of times he shoveled.
1, 2, 3…
At the count of 453, Lu Qiming finished, washed his face and hands with cold water, and came back to lie down and rest.
Not long after, the instant noodles were digested, and they started cooking again.
In the basement, without sunlight, they couldn’t distinguish between day and night.
The only way to tell time was by Jiang Miaomiao’s watch.
Every 12 hours, she would make a mark on the cement wall. When she made the eighth mark, she felt almost driven crazy.
Before moving in, life was boring but bearable.
Now, there was no sunlight, no vegetables, and even the air was murky. The calligraphy and painting she once found tedious had become a luxury.
She stared at the bathtub, even fantasizing about the zombies breaking in, giving her a reason to ignite all the kerosene and end this life.
Lu Qiming was much calmer than her, sticking to a routine of cooking, eating, sleeping, and even insisting on lifting water buckets daily to exercise, quite adapted to this pig-like existence.
When the tally reached the eleventh mark, Jiang Miaomiao leaned against the wall, talking to herself.
Lu Qiming put down the water bucket, wiped his sweat, sat beside her with a peach blossom branch in his hand.
“Let’s make a bet.”
“On what?” she asked listlessly, lifting her head.
“Bet on how long it will take for the zombie tide to pass.”
Lu Qiming was confident, “I guess it will be over in no more than three days.”
Jiang Miaomiao perked up her ears to listen to the sounds outside.
Ever since they moved into the basement, she had been hearing noises above ground, probably the zombies entering the villa.
These days, the noises had gradually become louder and more frequent, clearly indicating an increase in the number of zombies, desperately searching for food.
She shook her head, “It’s not going to be over as quickly as you think.”
“Then how many days do you think?” Liu Qiming asked.
Jiang Miaomiao estimated a number and was about to say it when she realized they hadn’t set the stakes yet, so she asked, “If I win, what will you give me?”
“I’ll bring you all the jewelry from the jewelry store,” Liu Qiming said.
She could tell he liked jewelry, especially that necklace she was wearing. She just didn’t admit it out loud.
Jiang Miaomiao’s heart skipped a beat, “I guess there are ten more days.”
“Alright. What if you lose?” Liu Qiming asked.
She pondered carefully but found that she didn’t have anything to offer as a prize. So she asked him, “What do you want?”
In the darkness, Liu Qiming reached out and patted her head.
“I want you to think about how to solve the danger first when you encounter it, rather than rushing to die.”
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