Night fell, and the rain was still falling gently.
Jiang Miaomiao laid a cool mat on the large circular bed, wearing a tank top and shorts as she lay on it, sighing from the heat.
Lu Qiming sat beside her, playing with a flashlight.
The beam of light occasionally swept across her, creating a pleasing scene.
Her hair was all sticky from sweat on her neck and face. Jiang Miaomiao grabbed her bangs and pushed them all back, revealing her sweaty face as she said to Lu Qiming.
“I still want to drink some water.”
He casually refused, “No.”
“Why not? It’s really hot.”
During the day, it was quite cool, but at night, it suddenly became stuffy and the air was so humid, it was unbearable.
“You’ve already drunk three bottles in the past two hours. Drinking more will lead to water poisoning.”
Jiang Miaomiao was helpless and had to come up with another idea.
“Then can I take a shower?”
Lu Qiming nodded, and as she was about to climb down from the bed, she suddenly turned back curiously.
“Aren’t you feeling hot?”
He had been sitting quietly in the corner of the bed, looking as leisurely as if he were basking in the cool breeze.
He chuckled, “I am.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“If you don’t believe me, touch it.”
She raised her hand and touched his forehead, indeed feeling sweat. The clothes he changed into in the evening were also wet, as if they were taken out of water.
She found it even more puzzling.
“How can you stand still like this? At least drink some water.”
Lu Qiming said, “A calm mind naturally feels cool. You jump around like a monkey, which only makes you hotter.”
Jiang Miaomiao snorted.
“You keep showing off. See if you feel cool or not. I’m going to take a shower.”
She walked out of the room to fetch water and saw Jiang Rourou, who was also suffering from the heat. She carried it to the bathroom and poured water over its fur, bringing a moment of coolness.
After taking a shower, she came out with cool, damp skin. Jiang Miaomiao finally felt some relief as she climbed back onto the bed, ready to sleep.
However, after a while, the cooling effect of the shower disappeared, and sticky sweat began to emerge again.
She grabbed her hair, wishing she could peel off her own skin.
Suddenly, a cool breeze blew from behind, gently caressing her back, bringing a refreshing sensation that seemed to penetrate her heart and soul. She sighed in comfort.
“It’s so cool!”
Jiang Miaomiao turned her head and found that Lu Qiming had somehow found a plastic fan and was fanning it towards her.
With such high temperatures, she was hot, and he was hot too.
He had a fan but didn’t fan himself, instead fanning her. She felt guilty about it.
Feeling embarrassed, she waved her hand and said, “You can fan yourself, no need to take care of me.”
“Who said I’m taking care of you?” Lu Qiming said, “I’ll fan you for half an hour, and you can fan me for half an hour. We can take turns, how about that?”
Jiang Miaomiao thought about it and felt it was a good idea.
After all, she probably won’t be able to sleep tonight. Instead of feeling dizzy from the heat, it’s better to help each other out.
Now is her time to enjoy.
She adjusted her position, comfortably lying down so that the breeze from Lu Qiming’s fan could reach her whole body. With her eyes closed, she said, “Remember to call me when the time’s up, otherwise, I won’t recognize it.”
“Mhmm.”
Lu Qiming patiently sat behind her, his movements never stopped, just like a giant fortune cat.
Jiang Miaomiao hadn’t slept well for several nights in a row, and she was tired from working during the day. After a while, she fell asleep.
When half an hour passed, Lu Qiming softly called, “Miaomiao?”
No response.
“Pig?”
“You big silly donkey?”
Still no response.
Now he felt relieved and put away the fan, got off the bed, sprinkled some water on the floor beside the bed, and then took out his rifle, slinging it over his shoulder, and walked outside.
When he opened the door, his movements were exceptionally careful, but he still made some noise.
Jiang Miaomiao wasn’t awakened by the noise, but Jiang Rourou, who had a pair of big ears, woke up. It saw the familiar long legs in front of it and immediately climbed onto them with its hind legs.
Lu Qiming: “…”
He resisted the impulse to tear it into pieces and feed it to the zombies, and instead, he closed the door quietly, then ruthlessly pushed it off his legs. He pressed down his voice, speaking coldly:
“Jiang Rourou, you traitorous dog!”
Jiang Rourou returned to its original position, lying obediently, but kept stealing glances at him.
He snorted, brushed off the dog hair on his legs, and left alone.
At ten in the morning, Jiang Miaomiao was still sleeping.
The temperature was comfortable, and the blanket was soft. She hugged the pillow and rubbed her cheek against it, making a contented sound.
Wait a minute!
Why is it so… cool???
She suddenly opened her eyes. The bedroom was still the same bedroom, and the bed was still the same bed, but the air around her was clear and cool, completely different from the past few days. It was probably no more than eighteen or nineteen degrees, making her suspect that she was still in a dream.
Is this really a dream? This dream is too beautiful; she doesn’t want to wake up.
Jiang Miaomiao quickly lay back down, closed her eyes, and continued to sleep.
The next moment, Lu Qiming pushed the door open, holding a bottle of Coke in his hand.
“When you wake up, get up, don’t pretend to sleep.”
His irritating tone and pleasant voice—was she still dreaming?!
Jiang Miaomiao sat up, staring at him with wide eyes, and asked, “Why is it so cool today?”
Even if she liked to sleep in, it wouldn’t be possible to sleep from summer to autumn in one night.
Lu Qiming rolled his eyes and pointed to the top of his head.
She looked up and saw the ventilation outlet of the central air conditioning.
Listening carefully, she heard the sound of airflow coming out from inside.
Jiang Miaomiao was astonished and suddenly realized something. She rushed down from the bed and pressed the switch on the wall.
Click.
The lights turned on.
“We…we have electricity!”
The good news came too suddenly, leaving her stuttering with amazement.
Lu Qiming took a slow sip of Coke. “Yes.”
She noticed that there was a layer of frost on the outside of the Coke bottle, obviously just taken out of the refrigerator, which surprised her even more.
“Where did the electricity come from?”
Lu Qiming raised his chin slightly. “Why should I tell you?”
Jiang Miaomiao remained silent for two seconds, then she pounced into his arms and rubbed him fiercely, as if she wanted to rub the skin on his chest off.
“Good old Lu, Big Brother Lu, Brother Lu, just tell me, I beg you, please…!”
Pfft—
Lu Qiming couldn’t hold back and sprayed Coke all over her.
She screamed and jumped away, frantically looking for tissues.
He quickly handed her the tissue box and helped her dry her hair.
“If you don’t want to tell, then don’t. Why gross me out? I just washed my hair yesterday.”
“Who started grossing out who first?”
Good old Lu, Brother Lu? Ew.
The Coke had too much sugar, and her hair was even stickier after wiping.
Jiang Miaomiao saw that she was about to lose her temper, and Lu Qiming immediately confessed, “I found the backup power source.”
His face, which was still gloomy a moment ago, instantly brightened, and she exclaimed with joy, “Really? Where is it?”
“On the rooftop. There’s a whole set of silent diesel generators up there. When it’s turned on, it can supply electricity for the entire building.”
“…”
She was so excited that she couldn’t find the right words to express herself. She hugged him tightly and jumped up to kiss his cheek.
“I love you!”
Lu Qiming forced a smile, “You better not get too excited yet.”
“Why?”
Having electricity was the best news in the apocalypse!
“The generator needs diesel to work, and there’s very little diesel stored up there. It will only last us for two days at most.”
“Huh?”
Only enough for two days? Happiness came so quickly and disappeared even faster.
Jiang Miaomiao tried to come up with a solution and asked, “It’s just the two of us, and our movement is limited, and we don’t need to supply the entire building with electricity; it’s too wasteful. Can we turn off the power on other floors and only leave the 20th and 24th floors? Or maybe just leave one floor?”
Lu Qiming sighed. “I only turned on the power for this floor.”
“What?”
He looked into her eyes. “The remaining diesel is only enough to supply electricity for this floor for two days.”
“Okay…”
Jiang Miaomiao visibly slumped. He was about to comfort her, but then he saw her suddenly getting excited again. She opened the wardrobe and took out clean clothes to change.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a shower.”
Her clothes were all stained from last night’s sweat, and it was rare to have air conditioning, so she wanted to change into clean clothes and enjoy the next two days in comfort.
After the shower, Jiang Miaomiao put on a pretty floral dress, looking as if she were fluttering like a butterfly. She alternated between moving the drinks into the fridge to chill and going to the supermarket to get a brand new induction cooker and electric rice cooker, saying she wanted to cook in the suite.
Lu Qiming’s eyes were blurry from watching her, and he wanted to go back to his room.
As she passed by him, she suddenly hugged him tightly and kissed him wildly, pressing him onto the coffee table.
“Cough…cough, stop! What are you doing?”
“I’m happy!”
The corners of Jiang Miaomiao’s mouth couldn’t be suppressed, and she laughed heartily.
Kissing when she’s happy? What’s going on?
Lu Qiming was ignited by her kisses, so he hugged her and was about to take it a step further.
She was initially very willing to cooperate, and even took off her clothes, but suddenly she shouted, “Stop!”
He was startled, “What’s wrong?”
“I need to get something.”
“Now?”
“Yes, I need to go now, or it’ll be too late.”
Jiang Miaomiao quickly pushed him away, grabbed her clothes, put them on, and hurriedly ran out the door.
Lu Qiming sat on the floor, looking stunned.
Almost an hour later, she dragged in a huge garbage bag drenched in sweat from outside.
“Quick, come and help.”
Lu Qiming walked over, opened the bag and looked inside. It was full of power banks, USB rechargeable fans, and small rechargeable lamps, and so on.
He turned around and asked, “You went to find these things?”
“Yes, I’m going to charge them all. Even if we don’t have the generator in the future, we can still use the fans.”
Jiang Miaomiao stood under the ventilation outlet, closed her eyes, and lifted her collar to feel the breeze.
Lu Qiming stared at her collarbone, where a few drops of sweat were slowly sliding down. His mouth went dry, and he looked away.
“There are hundreds of these, where did you find them?”
“In the offices, they were on those desks. I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough sockets, so I haven’t brought all of them yet.”
Lu Qiming shrugged, not dampening her enthusiasm, and started looking for sockets while carrying the bag full of items.
Half an hour later, all the sockets on the entire floor were filled with chargers.
At noon, the two of them cooked hot pot using the induction cooker in the suite.
They got the hot pot base from the supermarket, and it had a shelf life of nine months and tasted pretty good.
There were also plenty of ingredients, including bean sprouts, ham sausages, canned luncheon meat, as well as soaked shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, dried tofu sticks, bean curd shreds, and kelp.
In addition, there were shrimp-flavored flour balls, dried scallop-flavored flour balls, and squid-flavored flour balls that Jiang Miaomiao had made herself.
Lu Qiming picked one up and looked skeptical. “Are you sure this is edible?”
“Of course it is! You can rest assured and eat it. The ones they used to sell in supermarkets looked the same.”
She was very confident in her creations.
Lu Qiming rolled his eyes, dropped a few into the hot pot, and then opened the mini-fridge in the suite, taking out two bottles of frozen Coca-Cola.
The cola had been frozen all morning and was as hard as a baseball, so he placed them on the table to let them slowly thaw.
The hot pot quickly boiled, and the spicy and numbing aroma spread throughout the room. The cooked ingredients floated to the surface, covered in red oil, looking very tempting.
Jiang Miaomiao was the first to pick up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of luncheon meat, taking a bite.
“How is it?” Lu Qiming asked expectantly.
She frowned, “It tastes so bad!”
“Really?”
“It’s terrible! I’ve never had hot pot this awful before. Don’t even try it…”
As she spoke, she continued to pick up more ingredients, quickly filling up her bowl.
Lu Qiming: “…Sister, do you have any shame?”
With hot pot to eat, what use was there for shame? She never had it.
Jiang Miaomiao picked up her pace, and Lu Qiming joined in the competition, both of them racing to eat.
“Bark bark! Bark bark!”
The forgotten Jiang Rourou was anxiously circling under the table, desperately tugging at her owner’s legs.
Jiang Miaomiao took a moment to comfort it.
“Good dog, this is too spicy for you, you can’t eat it.”
It whimpered pitifully, and she softened, giving it a small portion.
“Only this much, okay? No more after you finish it.”
Jiang Rourou gratefully stuck out its tongue and licked it for a while before happily finishing it in one gulp.
The ingredients were a bit limited, barely enough to eat.
In the end, they added some vermicelli and drank the hot pot soup.
The soup was incredibly spicy, and Jiang Miaomiao put down her bowl, feeling like her tongue was going to explode. She glanced at the nearby Coca-Cola and quickly grabbed a bottle, intending to open it and drink.
However, the more she hurried, the harder it was to unscrew the cap. She could only look at Lu Qiming for help.
“Could you help me out, please?”
Lu Qiming had been secretly sticking his tongue out, but upon hearing her request, he immediately sat up straight and solemnly refused.
“No, I won’t.”
“Are you even human?”
“Clearly, someone who even steals meat from my bowl isn’t either.”
“That’s because that piece of luncheon meat was originally stolen from my bowl by you!”
“It seems like you don’t want to drink it, I’m going to bed.”
After saying this, Lu Qiming turned to leave, but Jiang Miaomiao rushed over and hugged his arm, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Sob, I’m going to be spiced to death, please open it for me… I beg you…”
He listened to her plea with great pleasure, patted her head, and took the cola.
“Good girl, don’t fight me for food anymore. Eating so much that you can’t even open a bottle cap is a waste… wasted so much…”
Jiang Miaomiao ignored his annoying words, her eyes fixed on the cola.
Lu Qiming grabbed the bottle with his left hand and the cap with his right, and tried to twist it… but it wouldn’t open.
“…”
Must be the posture, he switched hands and tried again, still couldn’t open it.
A hint of disappointment appeared on Jiang Miaomiao’s face, “Can you do it or not?”
Lu Qiming’s forehead started sweating, he tried every method, even using his teeth, but he just couldn’t open the stubborn cola bottle.
After waiting for a while, Jiang Miaomiao couldn’t bear it any longer and was about to take it back.
“Don’t open it, I’ll get a new one.”
“No touching!”
Lu Qiming dodged her hand, his eyes turning red. He searched for tools everywhere, seeming determined not to give up until it was open.
Jiang Miaomiao had no words to say, fearing he would hurt himself, she quickly took Jiang Rourou and returned to her room.
Whether Lu Qiming managed to open the cola or not, she didn’t know, but when she saw him again, there was a bright red circular mark on his forehead, as if it had been hit by the bottle cap.
The air conditioning made her so comfortable that she didn’t want to do anything for the whole afternoon. She sat under the ventilation vent and enjoyed the cool breeze.
“Achoo! Achoo!”
Lu Qiming said in a mournful tone, “Your snot sprayed onto my face.”
“…Nonsense, you were facing away from me just now.”
“Yeah, it sprayed on the wall first, then turned 90 degrees and splashed onto my face.”
He said it so seriously and ordered her, “Change your position.”
“I won’t.”
“Do you want to catch a cold?”
“After tomorrow, I won’t be able to enjoy the cool breeze anymore, so even catching a cold is worth it.”
“Will you change or not?” he lowered his voice.
“I won’t.”
Lu Qiming walked over, ready to carry her. She suddenly slapped her forehead and jumped off the bed to leave.
“Where are you going?”
Is she going to find more power banks again?
“I’m going to wash my hair.”
She ran to the bathroom without looking back and said.
After washing her hair, she looked for the Dyson hairdryer she liked for a long time and finally had a chance to try it out today.
Jiang Miaomiao also found a curling iron beside it and decided to try it too. Sitting in front of the mirror, she curled her hair into loose curls and admired herself for quite a while.
The tools were very easy to use, and she wanted to try again. Lu Qiming’s buzz cut clearly wouldn’t work, so she brought Jiang Rourou in and pressed it down into the bathtub.
Thirty minutes later, Jiang Rourou passed by the mirror with fluffy hair, saw her reflection, and let out a howl before hiding under the bed and refusing to come out.
The supermarket had many electrical appliances, and Jiang Miaomiao wanted to make the most of the available electricity now.
The refrigerator was already filled with drinks, and the rice cooker was cooking porridge. The washing machine couldn’t be used temporarily due to the lack of running water, and the TV couldn’t receive a signal either.
What else could be used?
She searched through the supermarket and found a garment steamer. She ran back and pulled out all their clothes, then earnestly began to iron them.
Lu Qiming went to the gym to use the treadmill and returned all sweaty, planning to take a shower and change clothes. However, when he opened the closet, it was empty.
“Miaomiao, my room…”
He walked to the door of her bedroom and saw her busy doing something, but his voice stopped abruptly, and he asked incomprehensibly, “What are you doing?”
“I’m ironing clothes.”
“We don’t need to meet anyone.”
“I know, I just want to iron them. It makes me happy.”
She held a sleeve and hummed a tune while ironing, looking as cheerful as if it were New Year’s.
Lu Qiming leaned against the door frame and said, “Aren’t you disappointed? We only have electricity for two days.”
She sighed and said, “When pie falls from the sky, you just open your mouth and eat it. Why complain about the size of the pie?”
Lu Qiming couldn’t help but chuckle, walked behind her, hugged her waist, and kissed her ear.
“Miaomiao, I really like you.”
Her face turned red, and she struggled a bit.
“You stink, go take a shower.”
He picked up a neatly ironed t-shirt and beach shorts from the side and walked into the bathroom with a smile.
The hotpot was delicious, but the flavors were too heavy. Eating it consecutively was a bit overwhelming.
In the evening, the two of them had shrimp and mushroom porridge, paired with Wujiang pickled vegetables, light and delicious.
After eating and drinking to their heart’s content, the two lay on the bed, turning off all the lights on the entire floor to avoid attracting zombies.
With the moon hidden and the wind high, the silly dog was in the living room, making it a suitable time for some intimate activities.
Lu Qiming raised his hand and hugged around… where was she?
“Miaomiao?”
An answer came from the foot of the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Why did you go there? Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“I’m not sleeping.”
“Hmm?”
“You go ahead and sleep, don’t mind me. I want to enjoy it until the last minute.”
Well, this might be the last time she can use the air conditioning in the next ten years. She must remember this feeling firmly.
Lu Qiming climbed over helplessly to her side and patted her hand back.
“Be good, go to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Really? Then it’s a good time to do something productive.”
Jiang Miaomiao instantly escaped far away.
“You promised me that you would rest for two days.”
“You don’t want to sleep, and you don’t want to exercise. Are you planning to waste the whole night? You have to choose something.”
After considering for a while, she obediently crawled back and lay down.
“Great!”
Lu Qiming cooed like comforting a child and kissed her forehead. She hummed a couple of times and closed her eyes to sleep.
In the midnight, a figure slipped out of bed stealthily, preparing to leave.
Snap! The light turned on.
Jiang Miaomiao touched the light switch with a serious expression.
“Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom.”
“Do you need to bring a gun to the bathroom?”
“I…”
She interrupted him and said straightforwardly, “I’ve been wanting to ask since this morning. Why do you have to sneak out while I’m sleeping at night? Can’t we go together during the day?”
Lu Qiming felt embarrassed and retracted his foot.
“It’s dangerous outside.”
“Aren’t you dangerous?”
“I can move around more freely alone.”
He quickly explained, “It’s not that I think you are slowing me down, but… well, you understand.”
Of course, she understood. She was indeed slowing him down.
He ran faster than her, jumped higher, and was stronger. This was an undeniable fact.
The problem is…
“Before you go out, can’t you tell me first?”
Waking up in the middle of the night and not finding you, I worry a lot.
Lu Qiming lowered his eyes and didn’t say anything.
She asked, “What do you plan to do today?”
“Find some diesel. We’ve already found the generator, but it’s a waste to only have power for two days.”
“We’ll go together tomorrow during the day.”
“Go together?”
“During the day, the sunlight is strong, and the zombies don’t come out much, so it’s safer than at night. I’ll charge the chainsaw and bring the gun. I can protect myself if I encounter any danger.
If I can’t get out, don’t worry about me, just go on your own, I won’t blame you.”
Lu Qiming frowned.
“Are you sure we must go together?”
“I’m sure.”
If it wasn’t for his repeated requests, she wouldn’t have survived until now. Now that she’s willing to live, he treats her like a pet, facing all the danger alone. What kind of situation is this?
Even if she were a lazy person, she still had to rely on herself to turn things around.
Lu Qiming sighed and went back to bed.
“Alright, we’ll set off tomorrow.”
Jiang Miaomiao turned off the light, cuddled up in his arms, and whispered, “You were the one who approached me first. From now on, no matter where you go, I won’t let you go.”
He smiled bitterly, “You’re quite domineering.”
“Of course. From now on, you belong to me, and you’re not allowed to run away, you know?”
She held his arm dominantly and fell asleep in his embrace.
The next morning, after they had breakfast, they prepared to go out.
Lu Qiming checked the map cached on her phone and found the nearest gas station to the building—it was across from a bus stop, about ten kilometers away from their place.
They had to walk for half a day to get there.
They couldn’t come back for lunch, so they needed to bring water and food.
The machines in gas stations usually required electricity, which was likely not working now. They didn’t know if there was a backup generator.
Even if there was one, it might have been damaged by the flood. So they probably had to pry open the machines to get the fuel.
This required tools such as chainsaws, hammers, wrenches, etc. Jiang Miaomiao found a bag and packed them all together, making a heavy package.
They each carried a gun, but they didn’t wear protective suits. Those suits were not very useful against zombies now, and it was hot outside, which could easily cause heatstroke.
Before they left, she noticed Jiang RouRou.
This chubby little dog probably sensed that something was different about their actions and kept anxiously circling around them.
“You can’t go out, okay.” Jiang Miaomiao squatted in front of it and said gently, “We’ll be back after one day. You stay in the hotel and watch over the place, okay? I’ll prepare food and water for you. Stay in the room and don’t wander around.”
Jiang RouRou licked her nose, and she laughed, then picked it up and headed to the suite.
Lu Qiming followed with water and food.
Jiang Miaomiao carried the dog into the suite and poured food and water into its bowl. She stood up and said, “Let’s go.”
Lu Qiming nodded and took the lead towards the exit.
Just as she was about to step out of the room, suddenly, the door slammed shut! She quickly grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn it, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t open it. It was evident that the door had been locked from the outside.
Lu Qiming’s voice came through the door panel. “I’m sorry, I thought about it, and it’s safer for you to stay here. I’ll go find diesel alone, and I’ll be back.”
“Lu Qiming! Lu Qiming!”
She shouted, but there was no answer from the other side, and his footsteps gradually faded away.
The air conditioning was still blowing, dispersing the stuffy heat in the air, but it couldn’t blow away the anger in her heart.
This man is so unreliable!
“RouRou, from now on, don’t ride on his legs. Just pee on his legs directly! If you do it once, I’ll reward you with a sausage!”
Jiang RouRou didn’t understand her words but could feel that she was also staying behind to accompany it. It wagged its tail happily.
Jiang Miaomiao ran to the window to see how Lu Qiming would leave.
The hallway was blocked by chairs. Would he have to spend a lot of effort moving them?
The supermarket window opened, and a long rope was thrown out, hanging outside the window on the fifteenth floor.
Lu Qiming came out from the inside, his feet pressed against the wall, holding the rope firmly, closing the window, and then starting to descend.
The sunlight was scorching, and even through the window, Jiang Miaomiao could feel the searing heat.
In the glaring sunlight, he carried the heavy bag of tools, swaying and swaying as he descended to the fifteenth floor. He bent over and went in.
Not long after, a familiar figure walked out of the first-floor lobby, braving the scorching sun, heading towards the gas station.
“Hey!”
Jiang Miaomiao shouted, but he probably didn’t hear it, and he quickly disappeared from sight.
So infuriating, what kind of person is he!
She sat on the floor in frustration, hugging the chubby dog, lost in thought.
At noon, she cooked noodles using the electric stove. Subconsciously, she cooked two portions, and when she realized it, her heart ached.
Where was Lu Qiming now?
Was it hot? Did he have something to eat?
What if he encountered a lot of zombies, ran out of bullets, or ran out of power for the chainsaw? What should he do?
She was so worried that she lost her appetite and sat by the window like a statue, waiting for his return.
Hurry back, why hasn’t he come back yet?
She didn’t need electricity or air conditioning anymore. She just wanted him by her side.
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