Stock Up For Natural Disasters And Cubs Survive – CH49

Chapter 49

Even though they did not get along with that couple, for a living person to vanish overnight, Yi Qi still asked a few more questions.

“When did she go missing?”

A Ming squatted on the ground with his head in his hands, crying. “I don’t know. I was really sleepy last night, so I went to bed early. When I woke up this morning, she was gone.”

As if suddenly remembering something, he grabbed Granny Bai’s hand. “Aunt Bai, you brought dumplings to Nuan Nuan last night. Did she say anything?”

Granny Bai also looked anxious. “She just cried while eating the dumplings, saying you didn’t care about her, didn’t love her, and that she regretted being with you. I told her to take care of her health and not overthink things. Later, I also got tired, so I went back to rest.”

Then she slapped her palm. “Hurry and go look for her! She’s still pregnant!”

At the word pregnant, A Ming’s eyelids twitched. With red-rimmed eyes, he said, “She only left because she was angry with me. I’m going to find her right now!”

He looked at Yi Qi and Shen Zheng. “Could you… could you lend me your vehicle…”

“No,” Yi Qi refused flatly.

Granny Bai wiped the corners of her eyes and pleaded, “Xiao Qi, Ah Zheng, weren’t you planning to leave today anyway? Why not take A Ming along for part of the way and let him search around the town for Nuan Nuan? I’m begging you.”

Yi Qi and Shen Zheng both softened a little, and at the same time looked toward Wei Cheng, who was standing behind the door.

Wei Cheng opened the door and deliberately spoke in a childlike way. “Uncle Shen, Uncle Yi, please give Uncle A Ming a ride for part of the way.”

Yi Qi tucked his hands into his pockets. “Fine.”

Everyone went back to pack their things.

Guanguan got up wrapped in his little blanket, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “Big brother, Guanguan still hasn’t eaten breffast.”

Wei Cheng took the child off the bed and brought him into the safe house, quickly heating up a carton of milk, then carrying him right back upstairs.

“Brush your teeth first, then drink a carton of milk.”

After giving Guanguan a quick battle-speed toothbrushing, he brought the child back out. By then the milk was warm.

The freshly washed little baby had barely opened his eyes. With one leg crossed over the other, he sank into the warm quilt and hugged the milk bottle, gulping it down.

Wei Cheng stuffed Guanguan’s books, little sweater, and Little Apricot’s dog bowl and toys into the backpack.

At last, everything in the room was packed up.

He had just turned around to dress Guanguan when he saw the empty milk bottle set aside, while the child on the bed was lifting one foot and grunting as he tried to put on a sock. Every one of his pale, plump little toes was straining.

His little mouth was even muttering, “Sockie, sockie, open your mouth. Little foot, little foot, come on in…”

Back at the welfare home, Guanguan had known how to put on his own socks.

Only…

Wei Cheng walked over and laughed. “Guanguan is amazing. But how did you end up putting on big brother’s sock?”

Guanguan shook the saggy sock and seemed to realize it only then. He covered his mouth and giggled. “Baby put on the wrong one!”

“It’s okay. Yours are here.”

Wei Cheng took a pair of flower-bud socks from the cabinet and said with a smile, “Today we’re in a hurry, so big brother will put them on for you. Tomorrow Guanguan can put on his own socks again, okay?”

Guanguan nodded obediently. “Okay!”

Wei Cheng quickly finished getting Guanguan ready, tidied himself up too, then slung on the backpack and led Guanguan and the little black dog outside.

Outside, Yi Qi and Shen Zheng were saying goodbye to the two old people.

Granny Bai’s eyes were red, as though she had a thousand things she wanted to say to these two young men who had grown up with her son. But in the end, she only choked out, “Take care of yourselves.”

Shen Zheng hugged Granny Bai’s shoulder. “Aunt Bai, once Dayuan comes back, everything will be all right. Dayuan will definitely come back.”

When the little black dog passed the kitchen, it barked at the door a few more times.

“Little Apricot.” Wei Cheng tugged the leash and pulled the dog back.

Yi Qi drove, and the rest sat in the back.

The vehicle gradually moved farther and farther away, until the guesthouse hidden in the bamboo grove could no longer be seen.

All the while in the car, A Ming crouched there, clutching his head and muttering, “Where could she have gone? Did she run off? Did she find something good and then…”

Shen Zheng frowned. “Where do you want to get off?”

“I… I want to get off…” A Ming stared blankly ahead and muttered, “at the town up ahead.”

Wei Cheng sat there holding Guanguan without saying a word.

He had agreed to give A Ming a ride not out of some misplaced kindness.

It was only because, for the sake of the old lady who had taken them in for all those days, he wanted the two old people to suffer A Ming’s revenge a little later.

They had fattened that couple for so long. If they were going to kill, they could not just kill one “pig.”

Once one had suddenly been dealt with, it meant one of them had been pushed to the point where they could no longer hold back the urge to kill.

Still, a trick like that could only work once.

A Ming was no fool. There was no one living nearby, and given how lazy his girlfriend was, how far could she possibly have gone? Once he thought it through, he would still return to the guesthouse for revenge.

A Ming got out in the little town and stumbled into the row of ruined buildings.

Yi Qi did not keep driving. Instead, he climbed back into the rear, his face serious. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

Wei Cheng glanced at him and lowered his eyes.

He did not know whether he should speak his thoughts aloud.

After all, Zong Yuan was their long-time friend, the one they always talked about.

Shen Zheng looked puzzled. “What feels wrong?”

Yi Qi shook his head. “A Ming is panicking because he cares too much, so he’s still searching outside. But his girlfriend was basically pampered like an empress by Aunt Bai. How could she willingly give up that kind of easy life and run off by herself? Even if she had succeeded in forcing A Ming out, there’s no way she’d leave.”

Then he shook his head again. “I can’t make sense of it, but I keep feeling that Aunt Bai and Uncle Zong are hiding something from us.”

Wei Cheng said calmly, “Then let’s go back and ask them clearly.”

The two men froze. “Go back?”

“What if the thing they’re hiding from you has to do with Uncle Dayuan?”

The ambulance turned around and sped back toward the guesthouse.

Rolling smoke rose above the guesthouse, confirming the suspicion Yi Qi and Shen Zheng had both been afraid to acknowledge.

The brakes shrieked as they came to a stop. Wei Cheng held the deeply sleeping Guanguan tightly in his arms.

He did not get out. He watched everything coldly, but his heart still felt strangely complicated.

Yi Qi slammed against the gate. “Aunt Bai! Aunt Bai! Uncle Zong! Open the door!”

Shen Zheng had an injury and could not use much force. Anxiously, he said, “Shoot the lock off!”

Yi Qi pulled out his pistol and fired twice at the lock. Only then did the gate slowly open.

The place that was burning was the two-story building they had been living in. Bamboo and wood were highly flammable, and the whole structure was glowing red from the fire. The single-story house across from it had not yet been touched by the flames.

Leaning against the car window, Wei Cheng called out, “Go to the kitchen. There’s a basement. Be careful of zombies.”

The two men’s eyes were red, full of grief. Covering their mouths and noses, they ran into the yard.

Yi Qi pushed open the kitchen’s wooden door with ease. Inside, the kitchen tools were spotless and neatly arranged. Several bloodstained cleavers lay on the counter, and nearby were scattered bits of preserved vegetables.

Shen Zheng instinctively opened the refrigerator and cupboards. The ingredients, rice, and flour inside were nearly gone.

The kitchen was large. The two men checked every corner with their guns, and at last discovered the entrance to the basement.

Yi Qi tightened his grip on the pistol and said in a low voice, “Careful.”

Shen Zheng nodded grimly.

Yi Qi kicked the basement door open, and an extremely thick smell of blood and rot hit them in the face.

Fighting back a retch, Shen Zheng switched on the flashlight from his backpack. “Let’s go.”

In the dim basement, every step was sticky.

Shen Zheng lowered his head and saw that the soles of his shoes were already covered in blood.

The farther down they went, the clearer the sounds of greedy chewing became.

The flashlight beam swept past.

Tears instantly poured down Shen Zheng’s face, and he nearly dropped the flashlight. “Dayuan!”

A tall zombie, already badly decayed, had an iron chain around its neck, the other end secured to a steel spike in the wall.

That handsome, tall Zong Yuan had now become a zombie without a soul.

It was crouching on the ground, stuffing itself with human flesh. The moment it heard movement, it threw itself at the two men, but the chain stopped it from getting close.

At its feet lay a woman with her belly ripped open, and many pieces of preserved vegetables were scattered across the floor. Half her body had already been eaten away.

Judging by the clothes and the length of the hair, it was Nuan Nuan!

“Dayuan!”

Yi Qi took a step forward, only to feel something soft beneath his foot.

When the flashlight shone down, he saw two corpses with fatal wounds to their throats.

Aunt Bai and Uncle Zong!

Yi Qi grabbed Shen Zheng by the arm. “Go!”

Shen Zheng clenched his teeth. “Give them a clean death!”

Yi Qi’s eyes were red. “I can’t do it!”

Shen Zheng raised his gun. “Then I will.”

In the end, it was Yi Qi who lifted his hand and gave Zong Yuan, as well as Zong Yuan’s parents, a merciful end.

Before they left, Shen Zheng noticed a briefcase leaning in the corner.

This was the designer briefcase Aunt Bai had given Dayuan when he first started interning at his own company.

That idiot had even sent them eighteen photos just to show it off.

Not long after, the two of them had received the exact same bag.

Dayuan had said that good brothers should match properly.

Shen Zheng grabbed the briefcase and ran out of the basement.

The fire was already spreading toward the single-story house. The two men did not dare linger any longer and hurriedly drove away.

The jolting of the vehicle woke Guanguan, who had been sleeping soundly in his brother’s arms.

He clung to big brother and acted spoiled for a while, then suddenly heard the small sound of crying. Turning his head, he got alarmed. “Uncle Shen, what’s wrong!”

Shen Zheng wiped at his tears. “Uncle’s fine.”

Inside the briefcase was a diary.

September 18, 3XXX

Two survivors came to the guesthouse.

Dayuan and Old Zong took them in.

September 19, 3XXX

The woman’s husband wasn’t feeling well and kept coughing.

She said it was just a cold. She said her husband hadn’t been bitten by zombies.

Dayuan and Old Zong went to find medicine for him.

September 20, 3XXX

We found cold medicine.

The woman’s husband’s fever got worse.

Dayuan was bitten in the throat by the woman’s husband.

Dayuan died.

She had been lying all along. Her husband had been scratched on the ankle by a zombie.

Old Zong killed the zombie. The woman tried to fight us to the death. I accidentally injured her.

She became Dayuan’s meal.

In the apocalypse, don’t be a good person.

October 6, 3XXX

A couple came.

She said she was pregnant.

Old Zong and I softened again.

October 18, 3XXX

I was tricked again.

This girl isn’t pregnant. She’s a liar.

Originally, we wanted to die together with Dayuan. But I hate liars, so I decided to fatten them up first, and then take them down with us.

November 5, 3XXX

The pigs are getting fatter.

She’s still lying to me.

I heard her say that for the time being, she didn’t want to kill me and Old Zong, because before the apocalypse she had never experienced what it was like to be served by a rich lady.

3XXX…

I thought I was hallucinating. I actually saw Ah Zheng and Xiao Qi, who grew up with Dayuan.

I was so happy. Seeing them was like seeing Dayuan.

I hoped they could stay a little longer.

But I really have gone mad too.

I actually had the thought of killing the two children.

3XXX…

That little black dog’s nose is very sharp.

The kitchen door was opened by accident, and it caught Dayuan’s scent.

Old Zong told me not to hurt innocent children.

Dayuan used to do volunteer work at welfare homes before he died. He would never forgive me.

3XXX…

I dreamed of Dayuan again.

He told me to come down and keep him company with his father, because he was all alone and very scared.

I’m tired.

We’ve decided to let everyone go, and after Dayuan’s birthday, we’ll kill ourselves.

But of all things, she happens to hate preserved-vegetable dumplings.

So I lied to her, said I had a lot of designer handbags, lured her into the kitchen, then cut open the fake belly she had used to deceive who knows how many people, stuffed it full of preserved vegetables, and fed it to Dayuan.

Dayuan ate very happily.

3XXX…

Ah Zheng and Xiao Qi left with the two children.

I feel guilty for harboring evil thoughts toward innocent children.

I begged Xiao Qi to take A Ming away, because I knew that man would come back soon.

Please leave us the time to kill ourselves.

Dayuan, your father and mother are coming to keep you company.

Wei Cheng closed the diary and handed a pack of tissues to Shen Zheng, who was crying so hard he could hardly breathe. “My condolences.”

He hoped that through this, Shen Zheng—who always had a bit too much misplaced kindness—would finally understand that in the apocalypse, you absolutely could not save people casually.

Guanguan wriggled out of his brother’s arms and hugged Shen Zheng’s arm. “Uncle, stop crying. Guanguan’s heart hurts.”

“Good baby.”

Shen Zheng hugged Guanguan tightly. Remembering that Aunt Bai had wanted to kill the children, he felt a lingering fear. Looking at Wei Cheng, he asked, “You already knew that Dayuan had become a zombie, didn’t you? Something this dangerous—why didn’t you say it sooner?”

“Because your surgery was best done at the guesthouse.”

Wei Cheng said calmly, “And besides, Granny Bai looked at you and Uncle Yi more gently than she looked at us. She loved her son too much—she definitely would not have killed you. As for us, we only ate her food when we first arrived and on the first day. After we sensed something was wrong, we never ate anything from her again, so there was nothing to be afraid of.”

That night, the group stopped at a farmhouse beyond the ruined town to rest.

The next day, they once more set out in search of a new base.

On the endless barren highway, Yi Qi turned The Most Dazzling Folk Style up to maximum volume.

Guanguan sat in the passenger seat wearing cool little sunglasses, shaking his head and nodding completely immersed in the beat, his little chubby shoulders bouncing with the rhythm.

“Hahahaha, could it be that our Brother Guanguan’s prenatal education was Phoenix Legend?” Yi Qi laughed loudly.

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