Jiang Miaomiao sat on the toilet for an hour, not daring to move. Her legs were numb from sitting for so long, and she finally put on her pants and stood up.
The original owner didn’t take care of her body well. Sometimes, to go to work early, she washed her hair with cold water when there was no hot water in the dormitory. Even in the middle of winter, she drank cold water directly, causing her menstrual cycle to be extremely irregular, and when it came, it was overwhelming and uncontrollable.
Without sanitary pads, luckily there was plenty of toilet paper. Jiang Miaomiao tore off a long strip and folded it into a small piece, stuffing it into her underwear.
Toilet paper was not adhesive, so it would move around while walking. It was also not waterproof, so once it got soaked, it would soil her pants.
She didn’t dare to move around freely, so she lay on the bed all day and didn’t leave the bedroom. Whenever she felt the need, she quickly went to change the toilet paper.
Initially, Lan Qiming didn’t intend to intervene, but as he saw that it was already dark outside and she hadn’t eaten anything other than breakfast all day, he couldn’t help but feel worried and came to knock on her door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Are you hungry? I made stir-fried noodles.”
Jiang Miaomiao was changing the paper in the bathroom and replied, “If I’m hungry, I’ll go down myself.”
Lan Qiming didn’t insist, “Alright, I’ll leave the noodles on the coffee table.”
He said and went back to his room. Jiang Miaomiao put on her pants and looked at the garbage bin filled with used toilet paper, feeling distressed.
Every piece of paper was soaked with blood, how should she deal with it?
In the past, she used to throw the garbage directly out of the window, but this was all fresh human blood. Wouldn’t she be advertising to the zombies through a megaphone: “Come and get it! There’s a live person here to eat!”?
After thinking it through, she decided to take decisive action and burn it all.
So she took the garbage bin downstairs, found a small iron bucket, poured some diesel into it, and then dumped the paper inside before lighting it up.
Diesel had excellent combustibility, and the flames surged up in an instant.
Afraid of setting the house on fire, Jiang Miaomiao squatted beside it, waiting for it to burn out.
Lan Qiming heard movement downstairs and grabbed a stool as a weapon, going downstairs to check.
In the flickering firelight, he saw the girl in a white nightgown squatting beside the iron bucket. Her small and pale face was illuminated by the fire, with different shades of color, and a patch of blood was slowly spreading on her pants.
“What are you doing?” He put down the stool.
“Nothing, just go back.”
She didn’t want to discuss this matter with a man she had only known for a few days.
“It’s nighttime now, and the zombies’ hearing and vision are at their peak. If they see a fire, they will definitely gather here.”
She exclaimed, “Then what should we do?”
“Let’s put it out first.”
Lan Qiming found a basin to use as a cover and placed it on top of the bucket, and the fire quickly extinguished.
Jiang Miaomiao was at a loss and stood up with the support of the chair.
“I need to find a…”
She had been squatting for too long, and she was losing blood continuously. As she stood up, her vision darkened, and she fell backward.
Lan Qiming acted quickly, catching her before she hit the ground.
She took a few seconds to open her eyes, her hands and feet were icy cold, and her body felt like wood.
“Thank you, I… I’ll go back to my room and lie down for a while.”
Jiang Miaomiao pushed away his hand, leaning on the wall as she walked upstairs.
Lan Qiming said, “You’d better change your clothes.”
“Huh?”
“Your pants…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, and Jiang Miaomiao reached back and felt a slap-sized stain of blood. She immediately understood what he meant, her face turned red, and she hurriedly quickened her pace, closing the door and never coming out again.
The burning of fresh blood produced a peculiar smell. The odor seeped out through the gaps in the windows, making the zombies restless.
Lan Qiming prepared a spray bottle with disinfectant and sprayed it on every window, sealing them tightly. Then, carrying the iron bucket, he crawled out through the ventilation hole in his room.
Due to the lack of sanitary pads, Jiang Miaomiao couldn’t sleep well the entire night. She lay still, afraid to move. When she finally managed to doze off for a while, she woke up with a stiff neck, and any slight movement caused excruciating pain.
She hadn’t eaten anything yesterday and was half-starved. Feeling her empty stomach, she decided to put aside her embarrassment.
What’s the big deal about menstrual blood? This was the apocalypse, and human flesh was all around!
If her clothes got dirty, they got dirty; she wanted to live a normal life.
Jiang Miaomiao lifted the blanket and noticed a plastic bag stuck to her butt, which was used to prevent leakage. She didn’t care and strode outside. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something on the bedside table. When she looked closer, she froze.
It was a small rectangular object, the packaging was black, and the bold and enlarged colorful characters on the front were particularly eye-catching.
Sophie, Super Sleep 420.
What… where did this come from?
A menstrual pad that fell from the sky?
“Lan Qiming!”
Jiang Miaomiao called out, and Lan Qiming came over with a big bowl in his hands.
“What’s the matter?”
“This thing, did you put it here?”
He glanced at it and nodded.
“I got it from the storage room. How could I go out? It’s a suicide mission with so many zombies outside.”
“How could it be in the storage room? I never bought any.”
“Maybe you bought it and forgot, or someone else delivered the wrong package. Since it’s here, just use it. Are you going to return it now?”
Jiang Miaomiao thought about it, and he was right. She waved her hand and said:
“Okay, you can leave now… Oh, why are you holding the bowl?”
“I’m stewing chicken soup.”
“… Where did we get the chicken? If you dare touch my pickled chicken feet, I’ll fight you.”
Lan Qiming sneered, “Who uses pickled chicken feet to stew chicken soup? When I was looking for things in the warehouse, I found a chicken.”
Jiang Miaomiao didn’t believe it and leaned over to take a look. Indeed, it was fresh chicken meat.
After not having fresh food for so long, the smell of raw chicken meat made her mouth water, and she couldn’t help licking her lips.
“How could there be a chicken in the warehouse?”
“Probably crawled in through some hole.”
“If there’s another chicken that comes in, you must not kill it.”
“Why?”
“To keep it for laying eggs!”
One day, one happiness.
Lan Qiming went downstairs to stew the chicken soup, and Jiang Miaomiao changed into a clean set of clothes, used the menstrual pad, and cleaned both her room and the bathroom. She felt rejuvenated.
The chicken soup was ready, and she drank two bowls in one breath. Then she ate a bowl of rice with the chicken, making her mouth oily.
Lan Qiming frowned, “Your eating manners would scare away the zombies.”
Jiang Miaomiao, full and content, leaned back in her chair, satisfied, and rubbed her belly lazily, saying:
“Considering your cooking skills, big brother, I won’t argue with you.”
He chuckled, “Who’s your big brother?”
“You are, don’t believe it? How old are you?”
“26.”
“Hehe, I’m 27.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Can’t help it, I was born beautiful; 27 looks like 17.”
After eating to her heart’s content, drowsiness overwhelmed her. She yawned and went back to her room to sleep.
Since that day, the basement occasionally produced some good things.
Three or four potatoes.
Carrots secretly growing in a corner.
Withered apples.
There were even chickens, ducks, and rabbits. If there was a river nearby, they might even find fish.
Jiang Miaomiao couldn’t help but wonder if she had rented a feng shui treasure land; otherwise, how could her luck be so good?
But when her period was over, and she regained her strength to personally check the basement, she didn’t encounter such good fortune. Instead, she discovered something else.
Her storage room… was empty?
The shelves only had a few pitiful packets of instant noodles left.
Where were her beef jerky, snail noodles, and pickled chicken feet?
“Lan Qiming!”
Jiang Miaomiao’s heart trembled.
The man ran down wearing printed boxer shorts.
“What’s wrong?”
“Where are my things?”
He said solemnly, “Maybe they were eaten by rats.”
Jiang Miaomiao didn’t believe him and raised her fist to punch him.
“Wu wu wu, you ungrateful person! I kindly took you in, and you actually ate all my things! What do we do now? Wait to starve to death?”
Little did she know that a couple of days ago, when she felt dizzy due to excessive blood loss, she was glad to have someone take care of her, but little did she realize it was like inviting a wolf into her home!
Lan Qiming’s muscles were well-trained, and being hit by him felt hard and painful, not to him, but to her own hand.
Jiang Miaomiao lost her temper completely, sat back in the living room with a blank expression, and didn’t say a word.
Lan Qiming handed her a glass of water, and she opened her mouth to scold him.
“Get away, don’t bother me!”
“Are you really angry?”
How could she not be angry? She hadn’t been bitten by zombies, but now she was going to starve to death. The mere thought was painful.
Lan Qiming suggested, “How about we go out and find some supplies?”
She coldly sneered, “You can go, and I’ll pray for your safe journey to the afterlife.”
“Don’t be so pessimistic. As long as we find the right way, we can come back safely.”
Jiang Miaomiao didn’t want to listen, “What way? Hold hands and be friends with the zombies?”
Lan Qiming was patient, “I’ve been observing them these days and noticed a pattern. When it’s hot at noon, most zombies automatically move to shady places, leaving only about one-third outside.”
There were tens of millions of zombies in this city, even if it’s just one-third, that’s still millions. What difference would it make?
He continued, “At that time, there should be only about two hundred or so wandering around the neighborhood. If we’re fast enough and use something else to attract their attention, we can leave the community. Do you know where the nearest convenience store or supermarket is?”
“There’s a Lawson store at the entrance of the community.”
“Good, let’s go there.”
“Wait!” Jiang Miaomiao asked anxiously, “You said we need to be fast, but we have only two legs each, how can we be fast enough?”
Lan Qiming pushed her to the window and pointed outside.
“Look.”
Outside the yard, there was a perfectly intact white sports car parked.
Jiang Miaomiao: “…I’ve been living here for a month or two and never saw a car there!”
Lan Qiming said, “People always pay attention to what they want to focus on. It’s been there all along, just ignored by you.”
“Impossible!”
“How many moles do I have on my face?”
Jiang Miaomiao tiptoed to take a look.
“No moles,” Lan Qiming said. “You can’t fully notice all the details of someone you see every day, let alone a car parked outside the yard.”
Jiang Miaomiao was convinced by his explanation, but she had another question.
“What are you planning to use to attract their attention?”
Lan Qiming asked her to wait for a moment and went into the bathroom, coming out with several black garbage bags.
The garbage bags were relatively thin, and Jiang Miaomiao immediately recognized what was inside, almost feeling like vomiting.
“You pervert!”
She had been wondering where the sanitary pads had disappeared to.
Lan Qiming didn’t mind her reaction.
“The zombies have a keen sense of smell, and they are very familiar with the smell of human blood. Once they smell it, they will gather around. We just need to use this to divert their attention, drive out and back quickly, and we can replenish our supplies.”
Jiang Miaomiao still found it disgusting but felt powerless to resist.
Using menstrual blood to attract zombies was as embarrassing as running around naked without pants.
Lan Qiming casually said, “I remember there are many delicious snacks in the convenience store: potato chips, spicy sticks, chocolates, and even self-heating rice. There’s also braised pork-flavored self-heating rice. Do you want to have braised pork?”
Unable to resist his temptation, Jiang Miaomiao couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
“Yes.”
At noon, the scorching sun hung high, and the glaring sunlight made it hard to open one’s eyes.
Lan Qiming put the garbage bags into a bucket and climbed up to the rooftop of the villa. He then threw the bucket far away in the opposite direction.
The bloody smell spread out, and all the zombies, including Little Mingxing and Jin Banti, who always hovered outside the window, gathered around.
Once he confirmed that there were no zombies near the car, he returned to the living room and said to Jiang Miaomiao, “We can go now.”
Thinking of the horror of being bitten to death, Jiang Miaomiao hesitated.
“Why don’t you go alone? I won’t go. I’m weak and will only drag you down…”
Lan Qiming moved the sofa, opened the door, and walked over without saying a word. He used his arm to carry her out.
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