Chapter 52
Just now, from where Fu Jingqiu was standing, he had a perfect view of Jiang Qingyu winking at Xiao Xu.
It was actually Jiang Qingyu who had taught him that word. Back then, Fu Jingqiu hadn’t known what it meant, so Jiang Qingyu had demonstrated it himself—cupping his face while sitting across from him and blinking exaggeratedly. He and his little sister had both winked at him together, one big and one small.
Strange, but also very cute.
Sometimes Jiang Qingyu would use the same trick whenever he acted silly around him, but this was the first time Fu Jingqiu had ever seen him do it in front of someone else.
Fu Jingqiu reached over and pulled him close, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Alright, let’s go. It’s cold outside.”
Jiang Qingyu looked completely confused. “Huh?”
“Oh.” Jiang Qingyu waved at Xiao Xu and the others again. “Bye-bye!”
Fu Jingqiu followed behind him into the vehicle. He nodded at the few people who had come out to see them off, then after a moment’s thought, added, “When we were in Minfeng, we heard that some tourists were trying to seize local people’s houses and shops. You all should be careful too.”
The RV was wonderfully warm. The moment the door shut, Tangyuan pounced over to greet them, clinging to Jiang Qingyu’s pant leg while panting and acting spoiled.
Jiang Qingyu rubbed the puppy’s head a couple times as he took off his coat. “I really didn’t expect to freeload a meal here. They were way too hospitable.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “You were rummaging through the snakeskin sack everywhere. What did you leave them?”
Jiang Qingyu grinned. “You saw that?”
When he had been taking things out, he hadn’t exactly hidden it from Fu Jingqiu. He had even used Fu Jingqiu as cover to avoid Xiao Xu and the others noticing too early and refusing the gifts.
Fu Jingqiu said, “I know you’re soft-hearted. If someone feeds you a meal, you’ll definitely give them something in return.”
“You know me that well?” Jiang Qingyu laughed. “Nothing special, really. Just rice, meat, eggs, stuff like that. A little gesture.”
Fu Jingqiu reached over and ruffled his hair, then slid his hand down to the back of Jiang Qingyu’s neck and gave it a gentle squeeze without saying anything.
Who knew when they’d discover the things Jiang Qingyu had left behind? Once they realized the two of them hadn’t gone far, they’d probably try to return everything.
The RV started moving again. Along this stretch of road, they were the only vehicle. Wind-blown snow had turned the ground into something like a brittle chocolate shell; the tires crushed it into fragments as they rolled over it.
At least it didn’t affect driving. If it had been soft snow instead, they would’ve needed to raise the vehicle to avoid the risk of getting stuck.
If nothing unexpected happened, it would probably be another six to ten hours on the road. Exactly when they’d reach Yecheng still wasn’t certain.
Originally, they’d planned to stay in Hotan for two days, but with conditions like this, another whiteout storm could hit at any time. It was better to drive straight through to somewhere relatively safer, even if it meant resting there for a few extra days.
Honestly speaking, that meal had left Jiang Qingyu a little too full.
He sprawled on the sofa in a daze for a while before remembering to post the lunch photos he’d taken to Moments. Then he sent his cousin a message.
Just two words: You there?
Even he felt like he was being annoying. The moment he sent the message and saw that his cousin hadn’t blocked him, he knew he’d definitely get a reply.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, his cousin responded coolly: So you still remember how to message me? We all thought you’d died out there somewhere.
That was obviously just an angry remark.
During the past few days of plunging temperatures, Jiang Qingyu had continuously updated his private Moments visible only to certain people.
Today it would be homemade cat food for Meimei, tomorrow his own afternoon tea, or maybe a lavish hotpot dinner.
He even added timestamp watermarks to the photos, making sure everyone could tell these weren’t old pre-apocalypse pictures pretending life was peaceful. He was genuinely living well now—well enough to make people jealous.
Honestly, his attitude was already far better than his uncle’s.
But people who benefited from the situation were all the same. They let his parents and wife charge into the front lines while they themselves occasionally popped up behind the scenes to say a few harmless words of advice, acting as though they were so reasonable and fair-minded.
Twisting around on the sofa, Jiang Qingyu held his phone up awkwardly while continuing to message his cousin, politely asking how things were at home and whether they needed any help.
The moment help was mentioned, his cousin’s temper flared instantly. A voice message came through, his tone far from polite:
“Now you know how to help?! Then why did you play dead when we messaged and called you before?!”
Hearing the voice message, Fu Jingqiu glanced over sharply.
Jiang Qingyu met his gaze for two seconds, still smiling calmly. “It’s nothing. Just chatting with relatives.”
“Your uncle?”
“No, his son.”
In some ways, Fu Jingqiu had a strong sense of justice and dislike for wrongdoing. He said bluntly, “What’s there to talk about with him?”
Jiang Qingyu smiled knowingly. “I’m bored anyway. Just finding something to do.”
His fingers moved rapidly across the screen as he typed:
Cousin, honestly, there’s never really been any grudge between us. We even played together when we were kids, and everyone got along back then. If it were just helping you, I’d definitely be willing. But you know how things are between me and Uncle and Auntie. If I send money to you, it’s basically the same as sending it to them. Honestly, I don’t want to.
After he sent that message, the other side stopped sending voice notes. The “typing…” indicator kept appearing at the top of the chat window—it was obvious his cousin was carefully considering his words.
Jiang Qingyu’s attitude was like a signal: if his cousin was willing to separate himself from his parents, perhaps he could gain something.
His cousin knew Jiang Qingyu had come into a large sum of money, though he had no idea exactly how much.
All he knew was that Jiang Qingyu could buy an eight- or nine-million-yuan luxury car without even blinking.
After the great cold wave arrived, life at their home hadn’t been easy.
The military had indeed begun clearing zombies, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t run into newly mutated ones while out buying supplies, so people still had to move in groups.
Prices for necessities kept rising uncontrollably.
Even if authorities issued bans, merchants could simply refuse to sell openly while privately hiking prices. If you needed something, you had no choice but to pay.
On the surface, the city was locked down, with only official transport teams allowed on the highways. But people with connections could still get through.
Everyone viewed the current disaster as temporary. So what if today’s temperatures dropped to minus one hundred degrees? How long could it last? Once spring arrived, once next summer came, things would return to normal.
The opportunity to make money only existed for these few months. Even if people froze to death, they still had to work.
Some state-owned enterprises were willing to step up, but supplies were limited. Everyone wanted to hoard goods—even families who lacked nothing still bought more.
In the end, purchase limits became unavoidable.
These past few days, his cousin had been stuck at home feeling endlessly irritated. Everything was chaotic, his parents argued constantly, and although his fiancée remained calmer, she also felt stifled.
His parents kept saying that if things continued this way, the family would run out of money. They complained that they shouldn’t have spent so much preparing for the wedding, traveling and honeymooning, only to end up struggling now.
His mother proposed selling the gold wedding jewelry. His fiancée refused. Since they were all living together, the household had turned into daily passive-aggressive mockery and arguments. There wasn’t a single peaceful day.
And now, Jiang Qingyu’s WeChat messages offered him another possibility.
After hesitating for a while, his cousin finally sent: Where did you buy your house? Is it in this city?
Hooked.
Jiang Qingyu replied: I do have a place in the city, but I’m not living there right now. I’m living in my vehicle.
In the vehicle?
His cousin frowned instinctively. In his mind, even a Rolls-Royce couldn’t meet ordinary living needs. How could that possibly be comfortable?
Jiang Qingyu sent over photos he’d prepared in advance.
These were genuine photos taken after he’d changed the vehicle’s appearance skin.
The top-tier RV skin looked a bit like a Mercedes heavy truck, except even taller and larger—more like a modified freight truck—with an expanded second floor that looked incredibly imposing.
Jiang Qingyu casually explained that he’d bought it for fun back then and hadn’t expected it to become useful now. Living in it was more comfortable than staying at home, plus he didn’t have to deal with annoying neighbors.
Its fuel tank had been custom-made too. Filling it once cost twenty to thirty thousand yuan, but it could run for over ten thousand kilometers. Its performance was incredible—top-of-the-line configurations everywhere. The heating system was far better than ordinary air conditioning and consumed less energy too.
There were backup solar panels, spare batteries inside the vehicle, and it could sit unmoved for months without any problems.
With the amount of money he had, buying supplies was effortless. He estimated he had enough food to last until next summer.
At the end, he added a strongly suggestive line:
It’s just kind of boring being alone in the RV.
He also sent a photo of a gaming room, saying he hadn’t really felt like gaming lately.
Other than the gaming room photo being fake, every specification and configuration was copied directly from his current RV. Jiang Qingyu had already built up an image in his cousin’s mind of someone recklessly rich, so these kinds of upgrades seemed perfectly normal.
After all, who didn’t have fantasies about apocalypse-safe houses or vehicles? There were tons of virtual videos like that online, and Jiang Qingyu himself had loved watching them during school.
He had crafted a perfect destination for his cousin.
“Why are you chatting with him so happily?”
Fu Jingqiu’s voice suddenly sounded beside him, startling Jiang Qingyu so badly he nearly dropped his phone.
“Aren’t you supposed to have a bad relationship with him? Why chat so long and so much?”
Jiang Qingyu laughed. “You think I’m actually chatting with him? I’m scheming.”
Fu Jingqiu stared at him steadily, clearly waiting for an explanation.
After about ten seconds of eye contact, Jiang Qingyu finally understood what he meant. He rubbed the tip of his nose. “Well… how should I put this? To sum it up simply, I’m planning to do something bad.”
“To your uncle’s family?”
“Yeah.” He blinked slowly twice. “You don’t think I should repay evil with kindness, do you?”
Fu Jingqiu frowned. “Of course not. Even if they never endangered your life, the harm they caused you was still serious. Wanting revenge is completely understandable.”
That answer was basically perfect. Jiang Qingyu felt extremely satisfied hearing it.
Just like the first day Fu Jingqiu joined their little household, Jiang Qingyu had secretly observed how he treated Meimei.
His own family situation was another kind of test. Jiang Qingyu didn’t think of himself as a bad person, but neither was he some fool who could forgive everything. If everyone had to repay evil with kindness, then the world would be full of villains waiting to be forgiven.
Whenever he became close to someone and especially happy, he liked acting spoiled.
He used to do it most with his grandparents.
Sometimes with his roommates too, though back then it was mostly verbal joking around. Nothing like now, where he practically acted without thinking—he simply got up and threw himself at Fu Jingqiu, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and hugging him naturally and intimately.
Fu Jingqiu froze slightly, but his body reacted even faster. He wrapped an arm around Jiang Qingyu’s waist and even lifted him up a little so it would be easier for him to hang onto him.
Jiang Qingyu froze too.
I just wanted a hug? Why did you pick me up and hang me on you?!
Recently he’d been eating and living well, finally putting on a bit of weight, and his complexion looked great. But his waist was still slim enough for Fu Jingqiu to wrap around with one hand.
Lying against Fu Jingqiu’s shoulder and staring blankly at the ground below after being lifted into the air, Jiang Qingyu thought in confusion: How did things develop into this?
Meanwhile, Fu Jingqiu misunderstood completely, assuming Jiang Qingyu had intended to act spoiled like this all along. Back in the team, Fu Jingqiu had always excelled at weighted training. Jiang Qingyu’s weight was nothing to him. If he wanted, he could even hold Jiang Qingyu sitting on one arm.
Each harboring different thoughts, somehow this hug gradually turned into a koala hug.
Thankfully Jiang Qingyu still had his head resting on Fu Jingqiu’s shoulder. If he leaned back even slightly, the posture would become dangerously suggestive.
At least, in Jiang Qingyu’s imagination, it would become the kind of ambiguous situation where he wouldn’t know what to do next.
Fortunately, both of them were complete beginners with weak imaginations. After muddle-headedly hugging for a while, Jiang Qingyu patted Fu Jingqiu’s shoulder, his ears red enough to drip blood. “Put me down.”
Fu Jingqiu obediently complied, letting Jiang Qingyu slide down from his body.
That movement invisibly shortened the distance between them even more. For those few seconds, only two layers of loungewear separated their entire bodies.
Thankfully the fabric didn’t generate static electricity, or the crackling would’ve made things unbearably awkward.
His ears were burning too much, making Jiang Qingyu feel vaguely uncomfortable. Pretending to act naturally, he scratched them lightly. “Uh, so… are we driving for another ten hours today?”
Fu Jingqiu lowered his gaze to him. “If road conditions stay good, maybe not that long.”
“Then… are any roads blocked?”
“No news so far.”
Jiang Qingyu scratched his ears again without realizing that, under Fu Jingqiu’s fixed stare, his reactions were completely obvious.
His skin was fair and clean, but both ears were bright red, glaringly noticeable. If Jiang Qingyu had looked in a mirror, he probably would’ve immediately gone searching for a hat.
Truthfully, he was all bark and no bite. No matter how many indecent thoughts ran through his head, when it came to actual practice, he was completely inexperienced and needed guidance.
The corners of Fu Jingqiu’s lips lifted silently. “Do you have anything to do this afternoon? I’ll keep you company.”
Jiang Qingyu thought for a moment. “Hmm… watch a movie?”
The RV’s multimedia system pulled up an enormous screen. There was even a projector in his bedroom—they could try that sometime too.
As the RV drove steadily onward, Jiang Qingyu magically produced an entire bag of snacks from somewhere and placed them on the foldable table beside the sofa. With a flourish, he gestured dramatically. “Ta-da! Everything’s ready. So? What do you think?”
Fu Jingqiu had never gone on a movie date with anyone before. Even during organized screenings in the military, things weren’t this relaxed—at most someone brought water or maybe soda.
Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t know about popcorn and cola being classic movie companions. Looking at everything Jiang Qingyu had prepared, he smiled slightly and volunteered, “I’ll go get some fruit too.”
The old man melons from the checkpoint staff earlier today could finally be cut open, and he could wash some grapes too.
The sofa had already been flattened into a simple bed.
Not as comfortable as the actual bed in the bedroom, but spacious enough for two people to lie down.
Fu Jingqiu remained very proper. Even though he could’ve laid down to watch, he still sat upright properly on the sofa, casually helping Jiang Qingyu throw away snack wrappers, handing him tissues and wet wipes.
Patient and attentive without the slightest annoyance.
At first Jiang Qingyu watched enthusiastically, but after the initial excitement faded, drowsiness quickly overtook him. His upper and lower eyelids kept fighting to close, making it impossible to sit properly.
It was all this sofa’s fault for being too comfortable, and the blanket covering them was far too effective at making people sleepy.
One moment Jiang Qingyu leaned against him, the next he rested on Fu Jingqiu’s shoulder, then a few minutes later lay down completely, or sprawled sideways across Fu Jingqiu’s lap—whatever felt comfortable.
Eventually, he found the perfect position on Fu Jingqiu’s legs, wrapped himself in the blanket, and fell asleep contentedly to the sound of the movie.
Fu Jingqiu was the type who liked seeing things through to the end. He didn’t wake Jiang Qingyu, simply letting him sleep against him while he seriously finished the movie.
At some point Jiang Qingyu’s phone had ended up on Fu Jingqiu’s side. As the credits rolled, the phone vibrated lightly twice.
At first Fu Jingqiu didn’t realize it was Jiang Qingyu’s phone. He’d casually bought the same model and even the same color.
Only after picking it up and seeing the WeChat notification did he realize it wasn’t his—though by then he’d already seen the message content.
Jiang Qingyu had saved the sender’s contact name as a poop emoji. The person had sent several messages in a row.
“Xiaoyu, we brothers have always gotten along since we were kids. Since you’re alone and I’ve got plenty of people here, it’s not like I can’t leave. I can come stay with you for a while.”
“When are you free to come pick me up?”
“Location pin.”
“Your RV’s luxurious anyway, like a heavy truck. People downstairs here are clearing roads too, so driving shouldn’t be hard.”
“Let me know later.”
When Fu Jingqiu saw the words “heavy truck,” his eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly.
Heavy truck? Compared to a real heavy truck, their vehicle was tiny.
Still…
He had actually noticed it long ago. The RV’s interior seemed much larger than its exterior appearance suggested.
Even with expansions, the outside should still have looked larger.
Yet no matter how he looked at it, Jiang Qingyu’s RV resembled a small camper with limited space. Not to mention the storage compartment underneath that he’d already suspected before.
Judging from how they’d loaded packages back then, if the vehicle could really hold that many boxes, Fu Jingqiu should’ve needed to bend over while walking inside.
And yet now he could stand upright with plenty of space above his head.
At first, Fu Jingqiu had been too disheartened to pay attention to these things.
Later, as he became curious about Jiang Qingyu and his feelings gradually changed into a desire to protect him through the journey, more and more suspicious points began surfacing.
Probably because Jiang Qingyu lacked worldly experience. Fu Jingqiu knew he’d set out on this trip not long after graduating university and hadn’t interacted with many kinds of people.
Normally, when buying things, sellers naturally treated him well because he was the customer.
In Jiang Qingyu’s twenty-something years of life, perhaps the worst people he’d ever met were probably his uncle’s family.
Now it seemed the issue lay with this vehicle.
A superpower? Alien technology? Probably not some classified new invention.
Still, since Jiang Qingyu wasn’t telling him, he would pretend not to know—just like before, accepting every explanation Jiang Qingyu gave him without question.
Very gently, Fu Jingqiu placed the phone back beside Jiang Qingyu. The person lying on his lap slept soundly, one cheek slightly squished from sleeping sideways.
Fu Jingqiu gazed at him quietly for a moment before lightly brushing the back of his fingers against Jiang Qingyu’s other cheek.
When Jiang Qingyu woke up, it was already evening.
Days stayed bright longer here, but that only made the current time feel even less wonderful.
He grabbed his phone and checked the time.
Sure enough.
The RV was still moving. The roads had probably been cleared by snowplows. Tall snowbanks lined both sides, and the streetlights had already turned on, their warm yellow glow reflecting off the snow with an oddly comforting warmth.
He lowered the curtain and slowly crawled up from the sofa.
It was a little cold just after leaving the blanket, so he casually grabbed a coat from the nearby chair and draped it over himself. Seeing no one in the living room, he went to the bedroom to find Fu Jingqiu.
The RV’s interior lights blazed brightly, and the warm environment settled his nerves immediately. Opening the door, he saw Fu Jingqiu indeed inside, currently sewing a piece of clothing.
Looking closer, Jiang Qingyu realized it seemed to be a dog outfit for Tangyuan. He burst out laughing. “What are you doing?”
Fu Jingqiu answered calmly, “Tangyuan’s growing fast. I’m making a few clothes for him in advance.”
“But this scene is just too…” Jiang Qingyu thought for a moment before laughing again. “Very wifely.”
Fu Jingqiu accepted the compliment without hesitation. “Thank you.”
“Road conditions were good today. We should reach our destination in another two hours or so. This time we won’t stay at an RV base—we’re changing locations.”
“Sounds good.” Jiang Qingyu naturally sat beside him, watching his hands continue moving nonstop. “Where are we stopping tonight?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “Probably a park or scenic area parking lot. It should be relatively safer.”
Jiang Qingyu naturally had no objections. He even reached over to fiddle with the fuzzy little sweater Fu Jingqiu was sewing for Tangyuan.
Honestly, the craftsmanship was pretty detailed. The stitches were neat, and it probably wouldn’t chafe when worn. The collar and front legs had extra room too, just in case the puppy grew too quickly.
Jiang Qingyu himself only knew how to patch holes with a few rough stitches as long as it looked fine on the surface.
Fu Jingqiu clearly had real skills.
Maybe because the atmosphere was too warm and cozy, Jiang Qingyu gradually scooted closer until they were pressed together. Resting his cheek on Fu Jingqiu’s shoulder, he pretended to focus intently on the sewing while actually letting his thoughts wander.
He kind of wanted another hug too.
At the very least, hugging had already become a natural form of intimacy between them. He’d just woken up and wanted to cling a little, but Fu Jingqiu was busy right now, so he felt embarrassed to interrupt him.
Without pausing his sewing, Fu Jingqiu asked what he wanted for dinner.
Jiang Qingyu raised an eyebrow. “You’re cooking?”
“I can handle simple dishes.”
Jiang Qingyu deliberately acted picky. “I don’t want anything too simple.” Unconsciously, he rubbed his head lightly against him. “It’s so cold—I want something good.”
Fu Jingqiu answered readily, “Alright, then I’ll learn. What do you want to eat? You can teach me, or I can look up tutorials online.”
Such a good temper.
Jiang Qingyu thought about it. If anyone else talked to him like this, he definitely would’ve snapped back with something like: Just because you want it doesn’t mean I have to cook it for you.
Or: Don’t criticize the cook!
Thinking that, he laughed to himself before explaining, “Actually, it’s fine. Every time you help prep ingredients for me, and that’s the most troublesome part anyway.”
After chatting a little longer, Fu Jingqiu suddenly brought up what happened that afternoon.
“When you fell asleep, someone messaged you. I thought it was my phone and picked it up by mistake. I saw a couple notifications. Sorry.”
Jiang Qingyu froze slightly.
He’d long since lost the habit of checking messages immediately after waking up. Usually he just glanced at the time and tossed the phone aside.
Someone messaged him? Uh… don’t tell him it was his cousin.
Pulling out his phone to check, he found that it was indeed the case.
Fu Jingqiu deliberately teased him, saying lightly, “But if his contact name is already saved as poop, why are you still inviting him to stay in the RV?”
