Chapter 75
“So, is there anything Guanguan wants?”
Wei Cheng gently touched the child’s face. “The last few times, it was always whatever your brother wanted, and then you drew that. Does our Guanguan have any gift he wants for himself?”
The heavy machine gun and the flamethrowers were enough to withstand this crisis, and thanks to Guanguan’s good fortune, both were available at a thirty percent discount.
People could not be too greedy. Going out to earn coins was also a form of training. More importantly, he did not want Guanguan to become a little puppet.
With his hands on his hips, Guanguan proudly declared, “Baby’s Cloud Mall has everything. Baby already has lots and lots of presents!”
Wei Cheng thought for a moment, then rephrased it. “How about this. For the second spin, whatever Guanguan wants, that’s what you draw for. Just follow your heart, okay?”
The moment the first reward came through, all the price tags in the Cloud Mall automatically changed to seventy percent of their original price.
Then the second black-and-silver prize wheel popped up on the panel.
Guanguan reached out and touched the pointer again. The seven little sections trembled slightly as silver starlight spun rapidly around the wheel.
[Congratulations! Baby is truly a big-hearted farm owner! You have drawn a map of the 500-meter area around Full-Belly Farm!]
On the first day they found the farm, the system had rewarded them with a map of the farm itself.
That map had not only helped them clear the 2,000-coin mission, but had also helped them escape the inferno when the White Villa District in Highland Shelter fell.
Outside the farm were steep slopes and dense woods. Back then, the gas station gang had been able to secretly lure a zombie horde over precisely because the people inside had such limited visibility.
Wei Cheng pulled the little chubby child into his arms. “How did Guanguan end up drawing this map?”
Guanguan nuzzled his fluffy head against his brother’s neck and covered his heart with his little hand. “Thought it here.”
“Baby wants to stay forever with brother, uncles, grandpa, and friends. Bad people shouldn’t take our home away.” The child slowly counted on his fingers, looking very sad. “One home, two homes, all got taken by bad people.”
The first home was the orphanage. The second had to be Sun Village.
If they had not run into that wave of roaming thugs back then, the brothers would have stayed peacefully and safely in Sun Village for a while longer.
Choosing to leave on their own and being forced to leave were never the same.
Wei Cheng’s heart tightened.
He had fallen into the same mistake as many adults. He had assumed that since children were small, they would not remember much.
But how could a child like Guanguan, who had grown up in an orphanage, forget places that had once given him warmth?
Moving again and again would only make a child feel insecure and hurt.
He patted the child’s soft back and said firmly, “This time, brother will lead everyone in protecting our home.”
Then he smiled. “Today everything in the Cloud Mall is seventy percent off. Does Guanguan want to go to the toy section and pick something?”
The toys in the toy section also came in different tiers.
Ordinary little trinkets cost a few dozen yuan each. You could buy a whole bundle without even spending one coin. But more expensive things, like a metal remote-control car for children, cost dozens of coins.
Originally, he had planned to wait until the base was finished and then set aside a piece of land behind the cabins to build Guanguan a small children’s playground. It looked like that would have to be postponed again.
Guanguan immediately got excited. “Baby’s going to buy a big car!”
Wei Cheng stood up. “Buy it! Get whatever you want! If there’s something you can’t reach, call brother to help!”
In the blink of an eye, the child had already vanished, leaving only a drawn-out, “Oka oka.”
Guanguan-style English.
Judging by the accent, he had probably learned it from Uncle Yi.
Wei Cheng decisively bought the heavy machine gun.
Its original price was 15,000 coins. At seventy percent off, it came to 10,500.
The flamethrowers were originally 200 coins each. He bought two for 280.
He kept exploring the newly unlocked gun section and found all kinds of bulletproof vests and helmets hanging on the other wall.
Black and army-green camouflage were the most common colors, and each piece was clearly labeled with its weight.
The weight varied from piece to piece, and so did the prices.
A full set of gear ranged from 400 coins to 1,000 coins.
So people on the farm were going to have to start training in body armor sooner or later.
Wei Cheng’s eye for detail was excellent. He had a clear sense of everyone’s height and build on the farm.
Watcher Community usually wore black body armor. In that case, Full-Belly Farm would wear army-green camouflage.
So with a sweep of his hand, he bought five sets of adult body armor and four lighter sets suitable for minors.
That cost another 2,000 coins.
He looked around and found that there was no armor small enough for Guanguan.
Guanguan’s head was round enough that there was a helmet size that fit, though.
After thinking it over, Wei Cheng still bought the smallest set and decided he would alter it for Guanguan himself.
“Honk honk!”
Wei Cheng turned at the sound of the little car’s horn.
There was Guanguan, sitting in a black-and-red electric children’s sports car. His little hands gripped the steering wheel, and both his feet rested in front of him.
Wei Cheng recognized the model. Back when they were in the orphanage, Qiqi’s older sister had once come driving exactly this car.
Guanguan patted the button in the middle of the steering wheel, and the car came to a stop automatically. “Brother, baby wants this car!”
The child was surprisingly capable. He had figured out how to drive it all by himself.
Wei Cheng laughed. “Buy it!”
Then he added, “But Guanguan has to play with it here in the mall for now. Once the farm is calm again, we can take it out to the farm and play with it there, okay?”
There were too many children on the farm. If one child had something like this, the others would surely want one too.
Guanguan was kind-hearted and generous, and the others were all good children too. Bringing out four or five toy electric cars all at once would be far too suspicious.
Once things settled down, he would take them out on a “supply run,” then bring the car back as if he had found it.
“Okay! But can brother play with Guanguan?”
Guanguan was very obedient. Usually, if his brother said no, he would not insist.
Part of that was also because he was still in his sweet little Guanguan stage.
Wei Cheng smiled. “Of course. Why don’t you pick one for brother too, okay?”
Guanguan patted his chest. “Leave it to Guanguan!”
Then he slipped back into the little Ferrari, started it up, and drove off again.
Wei Cheng smiled to himself. By the time Guanguan was grown, the Twisty Car would probably have been upgraded quite a lot. At that point, he would let Guanguan drive a real car.
—
That very night, after the watchtower was completed, Full-Belly Farm held a full-staff meeting.
Little Apricot and Gray Cub attended too.
Gray Cub listened very seriously. Little Apricot, on the other hand, could not understand the tactics. As far as he was concerned, wherever Guanguan and brother pointed, that was where he would bite. For now, it was more important to lick the little one’s fur.
Yi Qi could not stand it anymore and tugged lightly on Little Apricot’s big ear. “Stop licking him. You’re about to lick him into a little calf. In a few days I’ll have to feed you hairball paste.”
Yi Qi said, “We have one heavy machine gun.”
The moment he said that, every adult there was stunned and delighted.
Yi Qi and Shen Zheng had known the good news first, but given the nature of the situation, it had still been the two adults who officially announced it.
Shen Zheng added, “We also have two flamethrowers, two sniper rifles, and ten assault rifles and ten handguns. We have more than enough ammunition too.”
Then he went on, “The watchtower is finished, but our mission still isn’t over. As for why Watcher Community hasn’t come yet, I’m guessing it has something to do with other bases. They’re brutal in how they operate and have made a lot of enemies. But I’m sure they will come. In the meantime, we can’t let our guard down. We have to keep training and practicing coordination.”
“When they do come, Chengcheng and I will handle the heavy machine gun in the watchtower. Uncle Dali will use the flamethrower. Aunt Sumin, you need to keep improving your shooting, because your job will be to cover Uncle Dali. Yi Qi and Director Wang will handle checking the traps and sniping the enemy.”
“As for you children, your job is to stay in the core area with your little crossbows, lock the doors and windows, and absolutely not run outside to make trouble for the adults. Understood?”
The children all answered in unison, “Understood!”
A whole lump of Guanguan, sitting in his brother’s lap, raised his hand. “What about Guanguan and the doggies?”
Gray Cub barked twice too, clearly dissatisfied that no task had been assigned to him.
Wei Cheng said, “Guanguan’s job is to protect Little Apricot and Gray Cub.”
Then he looked into Gray Cub’s ice-blue eyes. “And Gray Cub’s job is to protect Big Brother Little Apricot and Guanguan.”
So the job had been looped right back around.
Gray Cub barked once in protest. Was he supposed to think dogs were as easy to fool as Little Guanguan?
But Guanguan lifted his soft little chin proudly. “Guarantee mission complete!”
Wei Cheng continued, “Uncle Dali, Aunt Sumin, you should move into the core area tomorrow. We don’t know when danger may reach the farm, and Xiaoyue should get familiar with the core area in advance.”
The couple exchanged a look, both delighted. If they were being invited into the core area, that meant they were truly becoming core members of the farm.
Yi Qi quickly added, “The core area is big. There are only five cabins in it, and two of them are down the slope near the watchtower. Since your family is bigger, it’d be fine if you took two.”
Sun Dali waved his hand. “We’re only three people. How could we take two cabins? One is more than enough.”
Shen Zheng lowered his eyes.
With everyone’s roles clearly assigned, they all went back to rest.
Shen Zheng and Yi Qi returned to their cabin one after the other.
Yi Qi flopped into a chair. “I’m exhausted. Finally we can breathe a little.”
Shen Zheng unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, took two swallows, and then said, “Yi Qi, move into the remaining cabin tomorrow.”
Yi Qi straightened up. “Isn’t that too much trouble? Your bed is big enough. Two grown men can fit just fine.”
“Two grown men sleeping together is exactly what makes it troublesome.” Shen Zheng did not quite know how to say it. He had just been feeling increasingly strange lately.
Especially when he woke up in the mornings and saw Yi Qi’s face.
He said stiffly, “I want to sleep alone. Move over there. I haven’t been sleeping comfortably lately.”
Yi Qi slowly stood up. “Have I been making you uncomfortable?”
Shen Zheng took another gulp of water and said nothing.
Yi Qi’s heart sank a little. He lowered his head. “You should’ve told me earlier if sleeping with me was making you uncomfortable. You know I’ve always cared a lot about how you feel.”
The room suddenly became very quiet.
Shen Zheng opened his mouth, then after a long pause finally said, “Yi Qi, are you… are you…”
Yi Qi replied, “Yes. I like men.”
Shen Zheng’s pupils shook violently. He clenched the plastic water bottle in his hand.
So that was it? Just like that? Coming right out and saying it?
Yi Qi took one step closer. Shen Zheng instinctively stepped back, stammering, “R-rabbits don’t eat the grass beside their own burrow. W-what are you doing…”
Yi Qi looked at his flushed face and laughed softly. “I’m a veterinarian. Of course I know whether rabbits eat the grass beside their own burrow.”
Shen Zheng turned his face to the side, nearly crushing the bottle in his hand. “Then… then don’t eat it.”
Yi Qi lowered his voice. “Xiao Zheng, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say whether you like men or women.”
Shen Zheng licked his lips. “I like Guanguan.”
At that, Yi Qi laughed and stepped back to his own place. “I’ll move into the other cabin tonight. There are some things we should wait to talk about until this crisis is over.”
Where there was conflict, there was death.
Even with heavy-duty weapons, they were still made of flesh and blood. No one could predict where a bullet might fly.
If nothing was said aloud, then perhaps nothing would count. In Shen Zheng’s heart, Yi Qi was still only a friend.
If he lost a friend, Xiao Zheng would eventually find another friend. But if he lost a lover, then with Xiao Zheng’s temperament, he might never take another lover again.
A week passed, and there was not a single red dot anywhere near Full-Belly Farm.
No one relaxed. Every day they got up early to train and run mock battle drills.
That night, before dawn, Guanguan jolted awake from his sleep.
“Brother…” Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and found that his brother was nowhere in sight.
Barefoot, the child hugged his little flower and pulled open the curtains of the warm little house.
What he saw was a blaze of firelight shooting into the sky, illuminating the little farm.
The bad people had arrived.
