Chapter 111: In the Middle of the Second Awakening
Ning Yuan’s recovery gave the others some confidence. Each person had someone sitting with them, quietly chatting to help distract from the pain. Even the usually solitary Li Zhuang had Zhuang Ai Yi keeping him company, chattering on about what had happened over the past few days.
Li Zhuang seemed to be listening quite well, even asking a few questions now and then, which only encouraged Zhuang Ai Yi to talk more enthusiastically.
Xi Shi had set up a table in one corner of the living room to use as a counter, rolling out dough with a rolling pin. A row of finished flatbreads was lined up to the side. The generator-powered electric griddle wasn’t enough to keep up. When he saw Lu Weiyi awake, he immediately asked if there were more griddles.
“There’s still some chicken left. Should we make chicken soup? We took a bunch of meat—pork and chicken—shouldn’t we go all out for dinner tonight?” Ning Yuan looked at Lu Weiyi expectantly.
“Sure,” Lu Weiyi replied, then pulled out an entire pig and several chickens from his space.
“This weather’s no good for butchering,” Xiong Jie said.
Lu Weiyi then swapped it out for a large portion of already-butchered meat.
“With this cold, hotpot’s the way to go. Let’s make hotpot!” Gu Qingyue suggested.
“Sounds good! Weiyi, do you have any hotpot base?” Ning Yuan, who had been eating flatbreads and buns for days, was clearly ecstatic.
Lu Weiyi pulled out several packages of hotpot base, plus a few divided hotpot pots.
“Let’s wait for the others to wake up, then eat together. I’ll prep the chicken and get the broth going,” Xi Shi asked.
“Sounds good. A hot meal and a good night’s sleep.”
“While we’ve got snow and water, I’m taking a bath,” Lu Weiyi announced, which was met with enthusiastic agreement. No one talked about food anymore—everyone rolled up their sleeves and went outside to gather snow and boil water.
The side room had already been tidied and warmed up. People took turns using the bath bucket and basins. After the others finished bathing, the powered individuals were also fully recovered.
Among the three, Liu Rui showed the most dramatic improvement. Since he had endured most of the process alone, the effect was stronger. Li Zhuang and Antonio were not far behind.
Li Zhuang directly sealed the window they had blocked with boards by packing it with a mud wall—no wind could get through now.
Two tables had been set up in the living room, overflowing with plates of vegetables, meatballs, and other goodies. The chicken soup sent steam and aroma wafting through the room. To complete the festive vibe, Xu Sa had even asked Lu Weiyi for some beer. The lively atmosphere was like a New Year’s celebration.
Once everyone had bathed, they looked completely refreshed—and dinner officially began.
The hotpot base was the standard kind you’d find in supermarkets. Not gourmet by any means, but to people who’d been struggling through the apocalypse for a month, it was incredibly delicious.
With spicy broth and mushroom soup, plus bottles of sesame sauce and a wide variety of dipping options meticulously prepared by Xi Shi, the meal was both warm and festive.
A spoonful of sesame paste, topped with a bit of chopped scallions and minced garlic, a spoonful of oyster sauce, and a scoop of crushed chili peppers—Lu Weiyi dipped a slice of lamb into the spicy broth, swirled it twice, then rolled it through the dipping sauce before handing it to spicy food lover Zhuang Mingxu. Seeing the satisfaction written across Zhuang Mingxu’s face, especially after going over half a month without tasting anything spicy, made Lu Weiyi feel like the apocalypse wasn’t so hard after all.
“Is it flavorful enough? Want another scoop of chili oil?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“Can I?” All the supplies were with Lu Weiyi. During meals, he had never taken out any chili sauce or the like. Zhuang Mingxu had assumed he didn’t have any—until Xu Sa asked for some one day and Zhuang overheard Lu say that he avoided spicy food because of his leg injury to prevent inflammation, so the others should eat it away from him.
After that, even if Zhuang Mingxu felt the meals lacked flavor, he never said a word.
“Yeah,” Lu Weiyi nodded. After they returned, he had asked Gu Qingyue about it. Gu Qingyue said that Zhuang’s leg had already healed, it just hadn’t received proper treatment yet, so it couldn’t move. “You can eat spicy food from now on. I’ve stored a lot of chili, even seeds. When we get back to Qingyuan, we can grow our own.”
After saying this, Lu Weiyi looked down at Zhuang Mingxu’s limp leg and said softly, “When we get back, I’ll find a hospital and bring back a batch of medical equipment. We’ll get your surgery done as soon as possible.”
“I’m not in a rush,” Zhuang Mingxu held Lu Weiyi’s hand gently. “You don’t need to be either—safety first.”
“Brother Mingxu, Xiao Yi, are you two not planning to eat anymore?” Liu Rui, who had fully recovered, and Xu Sa, now energetic again, looked at the two of them whispering tenderly to each other amid a chaotic crowd scrambling for food. It felt wildly out of place.
“Why even remind them? Isn’t it better for us if there are two fewer people grabbing food?” Ning Yuan snatched the slice of meat Xu Sa had just picked up with his chopsticks, gave it a quick roll in the dipping sauce, and popped it into his mouth before Xu Sa could take it back—immediately hissing as it burned his mouth.
“Exactly. Doesn’t it taste better with two less people fighting for food?” Antonio, sitting at another table, reached over and grabbed an uncooked slice of beef from their table and tossed it into his own pot.
“Hey, if you’re going to steal, fine—but you’re even stealing across tables? Is that appropriate?” Ning Yuan shouted as he went over to the other table, trying to see if there was anything he wanted to snatch. But the brawny group there dumped everything into their pot in one go, leaving only some unappealing leafy greens behind.
He considered picking from their pot, but seeing how heavily guarded it was, he knew he didn’t stand a chance. So he returned to Lu Weiyi and started whining, “Mingxu doesn’t seem to have had any meat yet… Weiyi, look…”
“Then maybe you should eat less yourself,” Lu Weiyi said, pulling out another ten boxes of meat without hesitation and joining the competition for food himself.
Hotpot only really comes alive with lots of people. Among the dozen or so of them, they even refilled the broth once, adding various vegetables and meatballs multiple times. By the end, they were all sprawled out on the sofa, bellies full, not wanting to move. Zhuang Ai Yi, who had been constantly fed by Lu Xi, even needed two digestion pills afterward.
Stuffed and content, the group went to bed early.
With plenty of supplies, Li Zhuang sealed off all the windows of the three connected rooms they were staying in, including the living room.
Each room had a small heater, two beds, and thick blankets. It felt like sleeping on clouds—so comfortable that even in sleep, everyone wore a smile.
They divided night watch into two shifts: the first half by Xiong Jie and Xu Sa, the second by Gu Qingyue and Gu Qingzhi.
The powered individuals, each occupying their own room, fell asleep as soon as they lay down. Compared to those who had been waiting here, they had spent the day on the move, used up a lot of energy, and now with full stomachs, even keeping their eyes open was hard.
Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu took Lu Xi and Zhuang Ai Yi to a small side room, just big enough for one large and one small bed. The two half-grown kids didn’t feel cramped at all.
“No… no… let me go… let go…”
In the middle of the night, Lu Xi’s low murmurs woke Lu Weiyi. Just as he opened his eyes, Zhuang Mingxu’s voice sounded beside him, “Maybe he’s having a nightmare?”
“Mm.” Lu Weiyi rubbed his eyes. “You go back to sleep—I’ll check on him.”
“Xiao Xi? Xiao Xi?” He got up and walked to the small bed, reaching out to shake Lu Xi. After a couple of shakes with no response, Lu Weiyi sensed something was wrong. He leaned in under the soft light of the heater and saw that Lu Xi’s face was flushed. One touch to the forehead confirmed it—he was burning up.
“What’s wrong?” Zhuang Mingxu sat up and turned on a small flashlight.
“He’s got a fever.” After a heavy snowfall, most people who developed fevers were on the verge of awakening their abilities. “You rest. I’ll check on the others.”
Only the living room light was on—no one was inside, likely out patrolling the yard.
Lu Weiyi headed to the master bedroom. As soon as he entered, Li Zhuang sat up and asked quietly, “What’s going on?”
“Lu Xi has a fever. Is anyone here running a fever?” As he spoke, Lin Yimu, Ning Yuan, and Antonio also woke up.
They all shook their heads. Lu Weiyi went to the other side room, which housed Xi Shi, Liu Rui, and the Gu brothers. Compared to the others, they were clearly less alert. Lu Weiyi had already walked in before Liu Rui even noticed. When Lu Weiyi asked if anyone had a fever, he was still groggy—Lu Weiyi was speechless.
“Brother Xi?” Lu Weiyi called softly to Xi Shi, who was on the outermost bed.
“Mm?” Xi Shi squinted his eyes at him. “Weiyi? What’s wrong?”
“Do you have a fever? Check Gu Qingzhi and Gu Qingyue too.”
“Me?” Xi Shi touched himself, shook his head, and turned to feel Gu Qingyue. On the other side, Liu Rui, finally catching on, reached out to touch Gu Qingzhi’s forehead.
“No.”
“Fever…”
Just as Xi Shi was saying “no,” Liu Rui stammered—then finally finished the sentence when Lu Weiyi walked over and touched Gu Qingzhi’s forehead himself.
“Weiyi, what’s going on?” A now fully awake Gu Qingyue sat up straight, eyes instantly alert.
“It’s nothing—he has a fever,” Lu Weiyi said. “Let’s move him to the living room.”
“Qingji? Qingji?” As soon as Gu Qingyue heard this, he immediately became anxious. He shook Gu Qingji, but there was no response. He quickly got out of bed. Liu Rui, who was sleeping on the outside, had already put on his shoes. Turning around, he said, “I… I’ll carry him.”
One side of the living room sofa had already been cleared to make space for a bed. Liu Rui placed Gu Qingji down, and Lu Xi was also carried out by Li Zhuang.
Xiong Jie and Xu Sa, who had been out on patrol, came in wrapped in wind and snow. Seeing the situation, they asked, “What’s going on?”
“They both have fevers,” Li Zhuang replied.
Lu Weiyi poured two cups of hot water and handed one to Gu Qingyue. “Give him some to drink.”
“This fever is really bad. Should we give him some fever-reducing medicine?” Gu Qingyue propped Gu Qingji up and touched his forehead again, visibly anxious.
Lu Weiyi yawned and shook his head. He helped Lu Xi drink some water and said to the others, “You all go sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
“It’s about shift change time anyway. Brother Xiong, you two go rest. I’ll keep watch with Weiyi for the second half of the night. If anything happens, we’ll call you,” Gu Qingyue said, glancing at Li Zhuang.
Li Zhuang nodded and returned to his room. Xu Sa and Xiong Jie didn’t argue and went as well.
Compared to others, Lu Weiyi had an easier time keeping watch. He extended his little green sprout into the courtyard, sweeping it around from time to time, and the entire scene was reflected in his mind—no need to actually go outside.
He hadn’t slept well lately and was a bit tired. But with Gu Qingyue constantly giving the two feverish kids water and applying cool compresses, the rustling sounds made it hard for him to fall asleep anyway.
At dawn, Lu Weiyi, who had been lying with his eyes closed, suddenly sat up. “Someone’s coming.”
I wonder what is out there