Chapter 373: Yin Jin’s Whereabouts
For people to recognize him so precisely and treat him with such respect left him momentarily confused.
But the sincerity in their eyes was undeniable, and it put him in an exceptionally good mood.
“There are… no zombies here?” Dean had taken the two kids to buy some sizzling grilled squid from a street vendor. Yin Jin looked around—compared to the environments he had lived through, this place felt like a hidden paradise.
Looking at the expressions on people’s faces, so reminiscent of the pre-apocalypse days, he began to understand why everyone was so grateful to Lu Weiyi.
In a world tainted by zombies, where human nature was steadily giving way to darkness, Lu Weiyi had built a sanctuary—a pure land.
To the unarmed, helpless ordinary people, he was like a guardian deity.
The newly built district wasn’t large, and it didn’t take long for the group to stroll through it. Just as they were about to head back, Zhuang Mingxu arrived, having just gotten off work.
The deputy base leader rode up on a small electric scooter with zero airs. Even from a distance, they could hear him cheerfully asking shopkeepers about business and fishermen about the coastal waters—friendly and approachable, like a grassroots official from before the end of the world.
His electric scooter had been modified with a child’s seat in the front, and under his broad shoulders, the small vehicle looked even smaller.
“No bigger vehicle?” Dean looked worriedly at the two excited children running toward Zhuang Mingxu and said to Lu Weiyi, “I think… he might crush the thing.”
“That’s unlikely. Pre-apocalypse national electric vehicles were still fairly reliable.” Perhaps because he wasn’t considered a threat, both Lu Weiyi and Dean made no effort to guard themselves around Yin Jin, which allowed him to finally relax. “Besides, this kind of small vehicle is pedal-powered. It uses a smaller battery, saves power, and if it runs out, it can still be used like a bike.”
Yin Jin figured that given the base’s current condition, that practicality was likely the main reason.
Sure enough, Lu Weiyi nodded, affirming his reasoning.
“Xiao Yi.” Zhuang Mingxu greeted Lu Weiyi while holding the hands of the two children. When he saw Yin Jin and the baby he was holding, he gave a slight nod in greeting. “You’re back—why not rest? Still have energy to go out?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Lu Weiyi said as he loaded the armful of miscellaneous gifts into the scooter’s basket and grasped Zhuang Mingxu’s offered hand.
“Big Daddy, Ai Yi is tired. Can I ride the scooter?” After spending the afternoon playing with Dean and eating non-stop, Zhuang Ai Yi was feeling sleepy. Spotting Zhuang Mingxu, he immediately turned on the charm.
“Then you sit in the back. Your little brother can sit in front, and Daddy will push you. Sound good?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“Yes!”
“Okay~”
After the two cheerful replies, both children climbed into the scooter. Zhuang Mingxu held the handlebars with one hand and grasped Lu Weiyi’s with the other.
Yin Jin watched them—at ease and natural—and a fleeting trace of melancholy passed through his eyes, one he didn’t even notice himself.
“Let’s go ahead of them.” Dean, ever carefree, dragged Yin Jin forward past the two, explaining as he caught Yin Jin’s questioning gaze, “It’s safer this way.”
No longer the one being constantly warned, Dean took the opportunity to lecture Yin Jin using all the safety advice he’d ever received. His overly serious tone made him sound so childishly earnest that Yin Jin couldn’t help but smile.
Behind them, Lu Weiyi chatted with Zhuang Mingxu about what had happened throughout the day, not forgetting to ask, puzzled, “It’s strange… everyone seemed to recognize me.”
“You’re the base leader. They should recognize you. Right now, what our base needs most is unity. The more people understand how hard things are outside, and the more we promote your efforts in protecting them—make you into a hero admired by all—the easier it will be to rally everyone when it matters most.”
Zhuang Mingxu’s tone was calm and direct—he didn’t hide the fact that it was all part of his plan. Seeing that Lu Weiyi wasn’t displeased, he didn’t elaborate further. “Did you finish organizing the materials from your last trip?”
“Nope. I’ve been playing with Ai Yi,” Lu Weiyi replied cheerfully, completely unbothered by his own lack of productivity.
“Little Daddy got Ai Yi a car I can drive!” Zhuang Ai Yi excitedly demonstrated with hand motions, describing how he drove: “Like this, like this, beep beep, vroom vroom, and the car goes!”
“It’s a toy car for kids,” Lu Weiyi added, gesturing the size. Zhuang Mingxu immediately understood.
“And did Ai Yi learn how to drive it?” Zhuang Mingxu asked warmly.
“Yes! I even let little brother ride with me!” he declared proudly, patting his chest and tilting his chin up. “I’ll pick up Big Daddy from work from now on!”
“Haha, then Daddy will have his own personal little chauffeur!”
“Yes, I am very happy to serve you, sir,” Zhuang Ai Yi replied, mimicking a movie scene, placing one hand over his chest and bowing slightly, making Zhuang Mingxu burst out laughing.
“Did Taotao learn yet?”
“Not… not yet.” Taotao turned sideways, speaking anxiously while gesturing. “The car was too fast. Taotao went boom and crashed.”
“Then let your brother teach you a few more times.”
“Mm-hmm! I’ll teach little brother!”
…
The three of them chatted back and forth, and soon they were back in the sightseeing cart, heading for the Central Island.
“Dean, you take them back. Xiao Yi and I need to head to South Island for something,” Zhuang Mingxu said as they reached the connecting corridor, handing the driver’s seat over to Dean.
Upon hearing this, Yin Jin’s arms around Qin Nian subtly tensed for a moment, then he lowered his head, feigning nonchalance.
“Oh, okay!” Dean, oblivious, cheerfully set Zhuang Ai Yi down and jumped into the driver’s seat, happily driving off with the three kids toward Central Island.
“We’ve still got a bit of daylight left. Let’s head to South Island to get the inventory sorted,” Zhuang Mingxu explained as he stood at the South Island entrance. He called over a passing base soldier to notify Lin Yimu and have him bring a team there.
“Most of the supplies this time came from the ruined city—food, daily necessities, machines. But after being buried for so long and exposed to extreme heat and cold, some of it has degraded,” Lu Weiyi explained, stepping forward—only to see Zhuang Mingxu stop and lean on the chain barrier, seemingly gazing at the sea. But a closer look revealed that he was staring toward Central Island.
“What are you looking at?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“Use your psychic power to check what Yin Jin’s doing,” Zhuang Mingxu leaned in slightly, wrapping an arm around Lu Weiyi as if in an intimate gesture. From a distance, it looked like a moment of closeness, but his tone remained calm, and his eyes never strayed from the island.
“You think he’ll make a move?” Lu Weiyi instantly understood. “He’s a smart man. I don’t think he will.”
Even so, he quickly dispersed his mental energy over there.
Yin Jin was able to survive the inhuman torment by Zhuang Mobai in the laboratory, and even after experiencing treatment like a worthless object without any dignity, he still maintained a degree of clear-headedness and rationality, which showed the firmness of his character.
A man who bears the strange gazes around him, as well as the whispered discussions behind his back, and yet calmly gives birth to a child and lives together with those who once tortured him—this certainly requires a level of endurance beyond that of ordinary people.
He would never do something detrimental to himself without being sure of his safety, especially since there was an infant completely dependent on him.
Now that the severe cold was approaching, he knew how to choose what was most beneficial for himself and the child.
As Lu Weiyi expected, Dean led Yin Jin into the courtyard. Yin Jin politely greeted Xi Shi when he saw him. Then Dean took him back smoothly to the laboratory. Shortly after, Dean returned alone.
Only then did Lu Weiyi retract his mental energy, and the two of them walked toward South Island. Zhuang Mingxu once again brought up the matter of Yin Jin’s placement.
“I really admire him,” Lu Weiyi did not hide his admiration for Yin Jin. “At first, many people in the lab treated him like some strange curiosity, not even as a person. They openly came to look at his big belly and talked about his body without any shame.”
“He didn’t care at all, as if he heard nothing. Later when the child was born, those people lived nearby. Even though they sometimes liked to tease the child, when they looked at him, they still couldn’t hide that kind of gaze.”
At that time, they were all within Lu Weiyi’s space. Although Lu Weiyi wouldn’t spend energy to investigate everything people were doing, he would occasionally glance over. Those people perhaps didn’t mean harm, but such scrutinizing, mocking stares and gossip were undoubtedly hurtful.
Yet Yin Jin didn’t take it to heart. He calmly and firmly made every step of his plan in such a difficult environment for himself and the child.
“He is a…” Lu Weiyi didn’t know how to describe him.
Zhuang Mingxu added, “He is someone with a very strong inner self.”
“Yes,” Lu Weiyi affirmed. “If it were me, I couldn’t be like him.” Putting himself in Yin Jin’s shoes, Lu Weiyi thought he would have chosen death at the beginning.
He turned to look at Zhuang Mingxu, understanding that this man thought he was a bit softhearted toward Yin Jin. “Maybe because I’m a father now, I understand empathy,” Lu Weiyi explained.
Zhuang Mingxu ruffled his smooth hair and arranged matters properly: “I will give him a chance to live like a normal person.”
Not long after they arrived on South Island, Lin Yimu arrived with hundreds of logistics soldiers, gradually landing on the island.
“Young master, I went back to the villa just now but didn’t see you. Was your journey smooth?” Lin Yimu greeted Lu Weiyi.
“Smooth. We brought back a lot of supplies,” Lu Weiyi greeted others and led them deeper into the base storage area, briefly recounting what they had been through recently.
After the previous discussion with Zhuang Mingxu, he took the time to build an underground warehouse. The supplies originally stored on the surface were all moved downstairs, leaving only empty containers and surrounding vacant rooms.
Lu Weiyi sorted the returned supplies roughly into several areas according to Zhuang Mingxu’s instructions.
“Just relying on our logistics personnel, we can’t clear this out quickly,” Lin Yimu said. They had already scavenged ruins when they were in Qingyuan. With his rich experience, Lin Yimu surveyed the reserves and immediately discussed with Zhuang Mingxu the idea of bringing in ordinary people to help.
