Chapter 46: Supplies, Here I Come
Gu Qingyue sucked in a breath of cold air. “Are there no living people left in this village?”
“Possibly,” Lin Yimu, with his excellent composure, still managed to reply.
The two big trucks in front had already driven quite a distance. Hundreds of zombies immediately rushed towards the van. Black fingernails and tattered faces scratched at the car windows, occasionally hitting them. Seeing cracks appear on the van’s windows, Gu Qingji’s face was even more unsightly than when he thought Gu Qingyue had almost been pecked.
He had now realized that it was he who had directly cut the chickens’ throats, attracting the zombies, and he immediately felt deeply guilty. Gu Qingyue patted his hand to comfort him while also observing the opportunity to break through.
There were too many zombies piled up in one place. Even using the little green branch couldn’t clear a path, and Lu Weiyi’s ability at this level couldn’t perform area-of-effect attacks. Gu Qingyue and Gu Qingji were already holding their weapons, staring intently at the window that might break first. The atmosphere became extremely tense.
Lu Weiyi glanced at the several windows, his gaze settling on the driver’s side, where there were relatively fewer zombies. He handed one of the large roosters in his hand over. “Big Brother Mu, throw it out.”
Lin Yimu glanced in the rearview mirror and immediately understood his meaning. He grabbed the rooster’s neck with one hand and, the moment the driver’s window opened, tore the rooster’s neck and threw it out, quickly closing the window.
The rooster flapped its wings wildly, blood splattering everywhere, instantly attracting the attention of some of the zombies. Lin Yimu’s pressure decreased sharply. He looked for an opportunity to break through, and Lu Weiyi in the back seat threw out the second rooster.
More zombies were lured away, and the car finally rushed out. In an instant, the people inside the car simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
They stopped again at the courier transfer station. Li Zhuang and Antonio immediately cleared the surrounding zombies and, after they entered, blocked the gate.
“Are you guys okay?” Li Zhuang glanced at the shattered car window, sizing up the few people.
Lin Yimu shook his head.
“I tried to manipulate a throwing knife over there, but it was too far, and if I changed direction, it would directly block the way,” Antonio explained to Lu Weiyi why he hadn’t gone to save them.
“Mm, I know,” Besides his own ability, Lu Weiyi was most familiar with metal-based abilities, so he naturally knew that at Antonio’s level, having a throwing knife circle a few meters around him was already good.
“Thanks to Weiyi’s cleverness in using the roosters to attract some of the zombies, we were able to get out of trouble,” Gu Qingyue once again expressed his gratitude to Lu Weiyi, and at the same time said to everyone, “I’m really sorry…”
“I’m sorry,” Gu Qingji, who had been silent the whole way, bowed to the group. “It’s my fault, I dragged everyone down.”
“It’s okay, just be careful next time,” It wasn’t intentional, and besides, they had already gotten out, so there was no need to dwell on it. Lin Yimu patted his shoulder.
“Little Young Master…” Now that they were temporarily safe, Li Zhuang started teasing Lu Weiyi, but Lu Weiyi had become smarter. Before he could say anything, he walked a few steps quickly towards Antonio to open the warehouse door with him.
Li Zhuang smiled, tugging at the corner of his mouth as he watched Lu Weiyi hurry away.
Lin Yimu’s gaze casually swept between the two of them, thoughtful.
The transfer station for express deliveries in the small city wasn’t very big. The several-hundred-square-meter warehouse had boxes of various sizes piled three people high, neatly arranged according to the destination city.
“If there was a girl here, she’d definitely be ecstatic,” Gu Qingyue said, looking somewhat troubled by so many boxes.
“Why would a girl be ecstatic?” Antonio’s understanding of some Chinese culture wasn’t very thorough. Feeling like he would be living here for a long time, he maintained a spirit of not being ashamed to ask about things he didn’t understand.
“Because they like to buy, buy, buy,” Li Zhuang replied, carrying two boxes of food out of the van. “Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat our fill and then work hard.”
“Oh, little Dean brought us self-heating rice and two cans of fish.”
“He wants me to eat well,” Antonio was always straightforward about his lover, feeding everyone a mouthful of dog food. He picked out a can of curry beef first. “This is my favorite flavor.”
“You can tell Dean cares about you a lot,” Gu Qingyue said, as Gu Qingji next to him brought over both of their rice and prepared the self-heating packs.
“Yes, we love each other very much,” Antonio was clearly very happy that others acknowledged his feelings for Dean and was now in the mood to say a few more words.
But Lu Weiyi was about to throw up from listening. He hadn’t spent much time with Antonio before. He mostly went on various missions with Zhuang Mingxu and the others, while Lu Weiyi and Dean idled at the base. Even the occasional time he heard that Antonio was a “doting husband,” he really hadn’t expected it to be this serious. He was clearly spouting all sorts of flowery compliments without hesitation, which really didn’t match his large build.
“Don’t be so sentimental. There are only six boxes of self-heating rice, there’s no choice at all,” Lu Weiyi ruthlessly exposed his self-indulgence.
Probably not expecting someone to be so direct, Antonio, who was just about to further describe how good his relationship with Dean was, was momentarily stunned.
“Pfft,” Li Zhuang laughed first, followed by Gu Qingji’s lips curving upwards. Gu Qingyue politely held back his laughter, while Lin Yimu was surprised that his young master would actually shut someone down and didn’t pay attention to anything else.
As for Antonio, he was silent for a moment, then forcefully tried to save face. “Then we love each other very much, you can’t deny that.”
On this point, Lu Weiyi really had nothing to say. Being able to take someone away after they were bitten by a zombie, without knowing the future, was something few people could do, and Dean did deserve to have Antonio protect him through thick and thin. Lu Weiyi pursed his lips and didn’t say anything.
Li Zhuang was amused to see Lu Weiyi get shut down. He opened a can of fish and first let Lu Weiyi take a piece, saying, “Little friend, don’t be envious. We can have a loving relationship with the canned fish…”
The piece of fish that had already been picked up by Lu Weiyi’s chopsticks was pushed back into the can. Slightly annoyed, he said, “I’m not envious at all.”
“Okay, okay, not envious. Brother was wrong, eat quickly, eat quickly,” Li Zhuang put the fish back on his chopsticks.
“I just wasn’t!” Lu Weiyi said righteously.
“Yes, yes, you weren’t. It’s me, it’s me, I’m so envious and jealous.”
This obviously perfunctory and coaxing tone made Lu Weiyi feel uncomfortable, like he was holding his breath. Continuing to argue would seem like he was trying to cover something up, but not continuing would seem like he was admitting defeat.
He paused, actually not knowing how he should react. It was all Li Zhuang’s fault. Lu Weiyi viciously poked a mouthful of rice, chewing each bite as if he wanted to bite Li Zhuang.
Lin Yimu glanced at Lu Weiyi, silently relieved. Ever since he hadn’t seen Zhuang Mingxu last night, Lu Weiyi’s mood had been somewhat affected. Even if he pretended to be nonchalant, he was still a child after all. Now that Li Zhuang had joked around like this, he should have temporarily forgotten.
The group rested for a while while eating, then split into pairs and began unpacking the express deliveries.
The things were messy and scattered, involving all aspects of life. This was useful, that was indispensable. Seeing that it was almost six o’clock in the afternoon and there were still several layers of things in the warehouse, the group decided to simply move everything back and sort through it slowly.
The unopened boxes were piled around the trucks in a circle, directly exceeding the height of the truck beds. The group secured them with sheets and ropes, and all the opened items were piled in the middle. After doing this, they had filled two trucks with space to spare, so they went to the wet markets as planned.
People had already been to both wet markets. Almost all the edible instant food had been taken away. What was left were things that couldn’t be eaten directly, like potatoes, carrots, rice, flour, and cooking oil.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, water and electricity were completely gone. Most people didn’t have a strong sense of crisis yet, and many things that needed cooking were directly abandoned. By the time instant food in the city became hard to find and they even wanted to put grass in their mouths, they would regret their current abandonment.
Since there was space in the trucks, the group didn’t pick and choose anything. They loaded everything edible onto the trucks in one go. Gu Qingyue even encouraged them to pick out a few edible green vegetables from the rotten ones, saying they could stir-fry a dish when they got back.
It was already dark by the time they finished, and when they returned home, Dean and the little green-haired guy had thoughtfully prepared dinner – a pot of instant noodles.
They ate a few mouthfuls, and by the time they finished moving things, it was almost ten o’clock. Gu Qingyue simply collapsed on Lu Weiyi’s sofa and fell asleep. Gu Qingji borrowed a guest room and carried him in, but he didn’t even wake up.
Lu Weiyi was also extremely tired. This body had been very delicate before the apocalypse, and such a high-intensity day had made his eyelids heavy. Lin Yimu also told him to go back to his room to rest.
The remaining few were still energetic and started unpacking the express deliveries under the light. Lin Yimu, as the only one who had taken care of the “child” Lu Weiyi, made a few of Lu Weiyi’s favorite dishes quite well, so the task of stewing the chicken was handed over to him.
“Chicken stew with mushrooms,” Antonio took a handful of mushrooms he had specifically picked out at the wet market and reiterated his request. He turned back to sit beside Dean, hugged him, and kissed him. “I’ll make something you like to eat too.”
“Mm,” Dean nodded happily and reached up to peck him on the lips.
Lin Yimu turned his head speechlessly, looking at Li Zhuang and Gu Qingji.
Li Zhuang waved his hand. “I’m not picky, just make a lot.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you ask Brother Lin to make a soup?” Gu Qingji was a little embarrassed, but Gu Qingyue also needed to replenish his strength.
“Sure,” Lin Yimu said, quickly pouring a pot of hot water over the chicken they had brought back and starting to pluck the feathers. “The blood has all seeped into the meat, the taste will definitely be a bit off.”
“We’re not that picky, being able to eat is good enough,” Li Zhuang said, a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Two big dishes will take us past midnight. Let’s just eat lunch tomorrow before going out.”
“Okay,” Antonio remembered the worried look in Dean’s eyes when they returned late today and felt he should spend time with him.
“Um, Brother Li, it’s best if you still leave someone at home when you go out,” the little green-haired guy, who had automatically stayed behind to help move things after dinner, spoke up.
As soon as Li Zhuang heard this, he knew it was interesting. “What did you hear?”
“Usually I stand guard at the gate with them. When Brother Lu left today, he asked me to ask around the community if anyone was selling jade ornaments. I went out at noon and heard them say that someone seemed to be jealous of your harvest and reported it to the boss,” he said, referring to Fang Ke, the person in charge of their base. “They want you to cough up some of it. If you all go out during the day, and someone really comes to the door, Dean can’t even understand what they’re saying, he definitely won’t be able to guard it.”
“The human heart is never satisfied,” Li Zhuang scoffed lightly.
Lin Yimu thought that they would be leaving soon, and there was no need to make things too tense in the last few days. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Otherwise, a few of us can take turns staying home.”
“No need, I’ll go talk to him,” Li Zhuang said, lying back on the sofa casually.
Just talking would make someone give up their greed on the supplies? What kind of relationship would that require?
Lin Yimu’s gaze turned to Antonio beside him, who was whispering sweet nothings to Dean, looking like he didn’t care. Gu Qingji was busy looking through the sizes of the newly unpacked clothes, not even knowing if he had heard them. As for the little green-haired guy in the corner, he automatically kept quiet, making himself invisible.
Lin Yimu thought for a moment and didn’t ask any more questions, silently returning to the kitchen to continue stewing the chicken pieces.
