Chapter 93: Happy New Year’s Day
Hearing the teasing laughter from outside the door, the two people inside who had been wrapped up in tender intimacy immediately separated in embarrassment. Su Ruizhe shot Zhan Yun a fierce glare, then pulled up the quilt and buried himself inside it.
Zhan Yun chuckled as he glanced at the bun-shaped lump on the bed, then strode toward the door.
The moment the door was pulled open, the people outside who had been chatting and laughing all shut their mouths at once—clearly, Zhan Yun’s authority ran deep.
“Is everything ready?” Zhan Yun asked as if nothing had happened.
“All ready,” everyone replied obediently, not daring to keep laughing.
After Su Ruizhe had swallowed the Level Four crystal core, they had begun making preparations to return to the Southern Base.
Over the past two days, the weather had grown increasingly cold. Outside, it had turned into a world of ice and snow, with snow piled everywhere. Driving their off-road vehicles through such thick snow was far from easy.
So Zhan Yun had asked Zheng Yaohua to help see if there were any snow tires available to replace the ones on their vehicles. Snow tires are specially designed for snowy conditions. Although they’re also made of rubber, they have metal studs on the outside to increase traction, making them suitable for cold regions where snow accumulates easily.
Winters in the northwest often saw snowfall as well, so Zheng Yaohua actually knew of a dealership that specialized in snow tires, though it was some distance from the base. The reason Cheng Qicheng and Cheng Jiao had all gone out earlier was to fetch these tires. Fortunately, the weather had previously been extremely hot, and no one had thought to take the snow tires, so they managed to bring back all the ones in the shop.
Just now, Zheng Yaohua had already had people install them on their vehicles and had even given them two spare tires, which were strapped to the roof.
“Good. Then we’ll set off tomorrow morning,” Zhan Yun said. After that, he shot them a cold glance. “And once you’re inside, watch yourselves.”
Knowing his beloved had a thin skin, Zhan Yun deliberately warned them before returning to the room.
The others followed him back in, but no one dared to laugh anymore.
Inside the room, Su Ruizhe had already collected himself. Aside from slightly flushed cheeks and somewhat swollen lips, there was nothing unusual about him.
“Wow, Xiao Zhe, your eyes have turned green!” Zheng Jiahe noticed the change at once.
“Yeah, Xiao Zhe, your eyes are so beautiful now—just like an elf in a fantasy movie!” Cheng Jiao exclaimed in admiration. As a woman, she naturally loved beautiful things, and at that moment, Su Ruizhe’s eyes made her feel almost drawn in.
Su Ruizhe smiled shyly. “This is probably a change that comes with reaching Level Four as an ability user.”
For ability users, advancing from Level Three to Level Four was a major hurdle. Once that barrier was crossed, their strength would increase dramatically.
“Xiao Zhe, then has your ability changed in any way?”
Su Ruizhe answered with a smile, “I’ve already checked. My space has expanded and can hold more things now. My wood-type ability can also transform more plants.”
Su Ruizhe’s space had originally been only around a dozen mu in size, but now it had doubled outright. Not only had the valley become larger, even the cave with preservation and temperature-control functions had doubled in size. What delighted him the most was that he could transform more plants, though the specific functions still needed further study. Even though Su Ruizhe had lived two lifetimes, he had only been in control of his ability for a short time and still had much to research and ponder. Judging by how his ability currently manifested, it seemed to be related to that plant-based game, though the exact reason was still unclear.
Everyone was delighted to hear this, especially Zheng Jiahe, who could hardly wait to pull out that phone and start studying new plant applications with Su Ruizhe.
That evening, they had dinner in Su Ruizhe’s room. They hadn’t eaten properly during the journey, and with Su Ruizhe’s successful advancement putting him in high spirits, he personally cooked a feast for everyone. Winter was naturally the season for mutton, so Su Ruizhe took out a frozen leg of lamb from the cave in his space and made braised lamb. He added napa cabbage and glass noodles, stewing a huge pot full of it. The aroma was irresistible. Paired with fragrant, soft white rice, they nearly wanted to swallow their bowls along with the food.
After tightly shutting the doors and windows, everyone dug in with gusto.
After finishing a hot, sumptuous dinner, they each returned to their own rooms to rest.
They slept soundly through the night.
Early the next morning, after hastily eating a little, they went to bid farewell to Zheng Yaohua and prepared to leave the Northwest Base.
After once again expressing his gratitude, Zheng Yaohua personally saw them out of the base.
Outside, the roads were completely buried under snow, with no trace left of the fierce battle that had taken place earlier.
The snow tires proved to be very effective. There was no longer any need to worry about the vehicles skidding, so their return trip was faster than the journey there—though it still took nearly seven or eight days.
When they returned to the Southern Base, they discovered that large red lanterns had been hung along the city walls. Many places were also decorated with Chinese knots, and red fu characters had been pasted up, giving everything a festive, jubilant air.
“Is it almost New Year already?” Zheng Jiahe asked curiously.
“Probably?” Since the apocalypse began, everyone’s days and nights had been completely thrown off, and they’d spent a long stretch living in a daze, barely keeping track of the date. Now that they tried to recall it, they were all a bit bewildered.
Outside the Southern Base’s gates, vehicles were still coming and going in an endless stream. Long lines stretched out at both entrances, though there were even more vehicles queued at the gate for newcomer registration.
At the other gate—reserved for permanent residents with base ID cards—the line was also long, but entry was quick: once identity information was verified and a simple security check was done, vehicles were allowed inside. Zhan Yun and the others weren’t in any rush to enter the city, so they lined up neatly at the back of the queue. Their off-road vehicles had been modified, but that didn’t draw much attention. It wasn’t until their turn for the entry inspection that the gate guards realized it was Zhan Yun’s team returning!
“Captain Zhan! You’re back!” The soldier on duty happened to be from Zhao Bing’s unit. He recognized them and knew they’d gone out on an extremely difficult mission. Seeing them return safely, his face immediately lit up with joy.
“Yes,” Zhan Yun replied.
He chatted casually with the young soldier for a few moments. Following base regulations, they went through a full identity check and a brief vehicle inspection, after which they were allowed into the city.
Once inside, they discovered that the scene within the city was completely different from outside. There was no snow accumulated on the ground at all—it had been thoroughly cleared away. Driving was smooth and comfortable, and even the snow on the rooftops was being removed by workers.
When Zhan Yun and the others returned to their high-rise building and stepped back into their familiar apartment, they were struck by the feeling of finally being home again.
However, after being away for more than ten days, a fair amount of dust had settled in the rooms. Without even taking a moment to catch their breath, everyone immediately started a collective deep clean. Su Ruizhe took two vacuum cleaners and several cleaning cloths out of his space, and they all got busy.
While they were hard at work, there was a knock at the door. The older brothers and sisters were all occupied with cleaning, so Yu Dongdong toddled over on his short little legs to open it. Standing outside were Jiang Xuzhou and Commander Zhang. When the door opened and they didn’t see anyone at first, they were momentarily taken aback. Only when they looked down did they realize it was the adorable little child who had opened the door.
“Dongdong, right? Do you remember Uncle?” Commander Zhang asked with a smile, patting the child’s head.
“I remember! You’re Uncle Zhang!” Yu Dongdong’s memory was quite good.
“Ah! Such a good boy!” Commander Zhang’s smile deepened. He rummaged in his pocket, took out a small soft candy, and placed it in the child’s palm.
“Thank you, Uncle Zhang,” Yu Dongdong said politely.
At that point, Zhan Yun, Su Ruizhe, and the others also noticed Jiang Xuzhou and Commander Zhang and immediately came over to welcome them inside.
The two highest leaders of the base had rushed over as soon as they heard that Zhan Yun’s team had returned.
“Thanks to your earlier warning, we made preparations for winter in advance and stockpiled some cold-weather supplies. Thankfully, no one froze to death,” Jiang Xuzhou said. Before Zhan Yun and the others had left, they’d mentioned their suspicion that an extremely harsh winter was coming. Jiang Xuzhou and the others had taken the attitude of ‘better safe than sorry’ and immediately began preparing winter supplies. It turned out those preparations were truly put to use.
However, winter arrived far too quickly, and the base’s population was enormous, so at the beginning Jiang Xuzhou and the others were still overwhelmed for a while. They dispatched large numbers of soldiers to search everywhere for supplies, found air conditioners and heaters, installed them throughout the base, and gathered people together for centralized heating for a period of time before finally getting through the hardest stretch.
Jiang Xuzhou also gathered all the plant-type ability users in the base and had them work day and night to accelerate the growth of cotton, which was then made into padded jackets, trousers, and quilts for winter. These were exchanged with base residents for low work-point costs, and the situation had since improved greatly.
Zhan Yun and the others also told Jiang Xuzhou and Commander Zhang about what they’d experienced at the Northwest Base. When Jiang Xuzhou learned that the Level Four zombie had truly been eliminated, he showed an expression of shock mixed with relief.
“I knew you’d be able to do it,” Jiang Xuzhou said, then paused before continuing. “You came back just in time. Tomorrow is New Year’s Day. We were thinking of holding a small celebration tonight—having the cafeteria prepare more lavish food, and after dinner, putting on some singing and dancing performances in the central square. What do you think?”
“That sounds great,” Zhan Yun replied. He felt the arrangement was excellent. After the apocalypse, people’s lives had become far too numb. Holding an event like this would let everyone feel some joy again and see hope for the future.
“Wonderful. It starts at eight tonight. Make sure you’re there on time.”
“No problem.”
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