Chapter 60
At this very moment, in this exact situation, it was especially suitable to say a certain line.
But if he really said it out loud, it would feel a bit too chuunibyou and ruin the current tense, drawn-bow atmosphere.
The black-mink man was also startled. He stopped in his tracks, not daring to come any closer. Looking at Jiang Qingyu’s young and delicate face, he said half-doubtfully, “Don’t tell me your gun is fake?”
“You don’t believe me?” Jiang Qingyu said. “Wait.”
After saying that, he ducked back in through the car window and handed the gun to Fu Jingqiu. “You do it.”
Fu Jingqiu met his eyes. Perhaps because they had developed a certain tacit understanding over this period of time, he understood what Jiang Qingyu meant almost instantly. He took the gun from his hand, leaned past him and out the window, gripping the gun and aiming it at the black-mink man.
His brows were lowered. Even without deliberately trying to look fierce, he still made one’s scalp go numb. The way he held the gun inexplicably gave people the feeling that he was serious.
Black-mink man: “…”
He silently took two steps back.
Fu Jingqiu shook the gun, his tone flat and without much fluctuation. “Hurry up and get lost. Stop blocking the road, or I’ll shoot out your tires.”
The black-mink man bowed to him. “Sorry, brother. We’ll leave now. Sorry for wasting your time. Sorry, sorry.”
The group quickly slipped back into the vehicle after him, completely losing the arrogance they had just now when carrying all kinds of knives and sticks.
The pickup truck turned around and drove forward a little. The black-mink man held the steering wheel, and the warmth inside the vehicle steadied him. Inevitably, he began to feel suspicious.
No matter what, guns were not that easy to get. This was not some foreign country where getting shot was as common as eating. What if they had used a toy gun to fool them? If they had been scared off right after meeting face-to-face, that would be utterly humiliating.
Thinking this, he tentatively reversed the vehicle a little, as if wanting to ram the pickup’s rear into the front of the RV.
Jiang Qingyu had long seen through their petty thoughts. Sitting in the driver’s seat, he saw this and stepped on the accelerator without hesitation, violently crashing toward their pickup!
The pickup was rammed more than ten meters away by the RV. Its front swayed unsteadily, almost tipping sideways into the drainage ditch by the road. The black-mink man frantically turned the steering wheel, cold sweat breaking out all over his back. After the pickup stabilized, he turned his head in lingering fear and looked toward the RV.
He had seen domineering people before, but never anyone this domineering!
If the accelerator had been pressed a little harder, they would probably all be overturned in the filthy ditch right now!
With the system’s help, Jiang Qingyu had controlled the degree just right. It was enough to knock their pickup away without endangering their lives.
Most importantly, the back of their pickup had been smashed into a large dent. It looked shocking, and at the same time, a little comical.
Even more importantly, after such a fierce collision, this RV that looked plain and could even be called old-fashioned was completely unscathed. Not even a bit of paint had been scraped off. Clearly, it had been specially modified. The owner of the vehicle was low-key, but truly capable.
Jiang Qingyu glanced at Fu Jingqiu, who was supporting himself against the back of his seat with one hand and looking down at him. For some reason, he felt just a little guilty and explained, “I had the system help me crash into them. It controlled the force properly.”
Fu Jingqiu pinched the back of his neck. “I didn’t say anything.”
The way Jiang Qingyu looked up at him guiltily was practically identical to Tangyuan.
“Why aren’t you asking me about the gun?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “I knew it was fake before it even got into my hands. But it’s quite realistic. It must have cost quite a bit, right?”
Right. This man was a professional. Playing this trick in front of him was truly showing off a broadsword before Guan Yu.
Jiang Qingyu said, “Not too bad. I was just thinking of getting more things for self-defense. Not only this. At the time, I even found someone to customize a compound bow. It was super expensive, over ten thousand.”
Fu Jingqiu praised him. “That money was well spent.”
Now there was no need for them to stick their heads out and say any more harsh words. The pickup quickly drove back onto the main road, stepped hard on the gas, and swerved away.
Seeing this, Jiang Qingyu snorted lightly. “When they meet someone fiercer than them, don’t they still have to tuck their tails and obediently run away? Judging from their behavior, this probably isn’t their first time. They must have robbed people on the road before.”
Fu Jingqiu said, “They wouldn’t choose this place to cause trouble for no reason. Their lair—no, where they live shouldn’t be too far away.”
Hearing this, it sounded like he did not intend to just let this matter go. Jiang Qingyu asked, “Are you planning to go find them?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “There’s no harm in warning them. Today, they ran into us. If it were someone else, and a conflict broke out, there might be bloodshed.”
The anger from losing games in a row had already mostly dissipated after that fierce collision just now. Jiang Qingyu now seemed to have returned to his obedient-looking face. He stood up and scratched his hair. “Where are we supposed to find them?”
Fu Jingqiu stared at him, the corner of his lips curving slightly in a nearly imperceptible arc. “Let’s go ask around in the nearby village first.”
That was true. The closest place to here was the village they had just passed. The way those men had dressed and spoken did not sound like outsiders. They were very likely residents of the village.
Fu Jingqiu took over control of the RV and turned into the village to look for them. No, it should be said that they went to look for the pickup that had been smashed into such a pitiful state.
People could hide, but what about the vehicle? Cars here were parked directly outside. Although the houses were self-built, they did not have luxurious villa-like setups, nor did they have separate garages to use.
They did not spend much effort before finding the pickup with its back dented in, pitifully parked beside a woodpile between two houses. The doors of the surrounding homes were tightly shut, but the soundproofing of self-built houses was not very good. Standing outside the door, one could still hear laughter and conversation from inside. Clearly, this winter had not affected them too much. Ordinary people were living their lives properly.
After Fu Jingqiu confirmed that the pickup was indeed the one that had stopped them, he turned the steering wheel and headed to the village committee to find someone.
In fact, many places still retained the setup from a decade or so ago. The former production team cadres, village committee, village secretary, and so on—whenever a family hosted a banquet for a happy occasion, if there was even the slightest connection through layers of relatives, they would invite these cadres to attend and would not accept gift money from them.
If any family had conflicts or arguments that escalated, they would also invite them to mediate.
People in one village, neighbors and fellow villagers, had very close relationships. If something happened to any family, whoever could help would lend a hand.
Jiang Qingyu’s hometown was the same kind of place. His grandparents had only moved to the city to raise him. During holidays, they would still return to live there. When he had been younger, he had also played in the fields of the countryside and been taken to banquets held by people in the village.
No matter how rapidly big cities developed, many places still had not changed. If there was anything that had kept up with the times, it was probably the appliances and internet at home. Living standards had improved quite a bit.
Wrapped in his down jacket, when he went with Fu Jingqiu to the village committee to find the cadres, walking along the newly paved concrete path in the village, Jiang Qingyu inevitably felt a little emotional and nostalgic.
The ground beneath his feet was not paved very evenly. Occasionally, he could even see deeply sunken puppy paw prints. He did not know which mischievous child had left those traces. Everything was so familiar.
Half of Jiang Qingyu’s face was buried in his scarf, and he could not help sharing a few things from his childhood with Fu Jingqiu.
To be honest, he had thought about it too. If his grandparents’ health had not been good, he would have quit his job and moved back to the countryside with them to recuperate. When there was nothing to do, he would chat with neighbors, raise dogs, feed chickens, move a few lounge chairs into the yard to bask in the sun during winter, and enjoy the cool air outside in summer evenings.
It sounded like a very old-fashioned way of life, as though there were not much ambition in it, but Jiang Qingyu truly liked it.
He was never someone with much fighting spirit to begin with.
When he said these things, his expression was rarely so soft, and his tone was light, as if he had sunk into his memories. Listening to the scenes and past events he described, Fu Jingqiu could not help feeling a trace of longing in his heart. The idea that had already been taking shape grew even stronger.
He had enlisted early. Training, marches, and missions had become his daily life for the past many years. Having risked himself several times, he had long been prepared to sacrifice himself.
It could even be said that he had been looking forward to the arrival of that day.
Dying in a foreign land had been his dream.
But thinking about it now, it seemed he had never truly “lived.”
During this period of time, Jiang Qingyu had given this word new feelings and a complete meaning. If possible, he wanted to live this kind of life with him.
Plain and ordinary, yet with happiness that could be felt at every moment.
The village committee reception area was not empty. A little old man was warming himself by the fire in the hall. The scent of roasted sweet potatoes was exceptionally domineering. Almost as soon as they lifted the door curtain and entered, the soft, sweet fragrance rushed all over their faces.
Seeing two outsiders come in, the little old man was full of surprise, but he still stood up to greet them.
Toward Fu Jingqiu, this tall and strong-looking young man, his tone was extremely cautious. “Hello. Are you here to visit relatives, or? The shelter is about ten li from here. Did you run into some trouble?”
Fu Jingqiu nodded politely to him and asked courteously, “Excuse me, is the village committee director here?”
Half an hour later, the village director slammed the table in the reception room, his face full of anger. Clearly, he had been furious.
According to him, that pickup belonged to the youngest son of a family in the village, who had returned from working out of town. He had been lying around at home for more than half a year, saying he would rest for a while before going back out to work. Unexpectedly, the zombie outbreak happened, and now he could not leave anymore.
Recently, it seemed he had grown so idle he was asking for trouble, mixing around with a few young men in the village.
They were not afraid of the cold and just liked excitement. Their families were too lazy to control them. But no one had expected that they had gone out to rob people on the road. If word of this got out, how could it possibly sound good?
Fu Jingqiu said, “There are cameras on our vehicle. They won’t be able to run from this. We only have one request right now. Ask them clearly whether they robbed anyone before this, and what money or property they took. If they did, they should turn themselves in today. If not, you need to restrain them so they won’t do it again. Otherwise, we can still take the footage to the police.”
These demands were reasonable, and the village director agreed at once. He found someone to call the black-mink man over, while repeatedly apologizing to them. He also urged them to stay here for a few days. The village committee guesthouse had everything, and they could stop there to rest.
Beside the guesthouse was the elderly community activity center. After the zombies appeared, many elderly people who lived alone had moved over so they could look after one another. The village provided heating, and there was a cafeteria for daily meals. They only needed to pay a small amount of money. If conditions were truly difficult, they could submit a report and have the fees reduced or waived.
Overall, it was quite humane.
Jiang Qingyu did not give an opinion. After all, their route did not include stopping here. Probably because he did not want to see the black-mink man and the others again, nor listen to the noisy questioning and “interrogation,” he carried his small bag filled with self-defense weapons and wandered alone to the community activity center next door.
At this hour, it was still lively. The activity center was extremely warm. Many elderly people were wearing thin sweaters and chatting or watching TV in the hall. The atmosphere looked very cozy.
When they saw him come over, they thought he was a new community staff member and cheerfully greeted Jiang Qingyu. After making a round, he somehow unconsciously clasped his hands behind his back and went to the table tennis room to watch the old men leisurely play back and forth.
Fu Jingqiu stayed at the village committee for half the day, watching as the black-mink man and the others were brought over by their family members, all with ashamed and drooping expressions. They tangled in the reception room for quite a while.
Just as Jiang Qingyu had said, it was indeed noisy and chaotic, giving people headaches just listening to it.
But if the matter was fully handed over to the villagers to resolve, Fu Jingqiu was not entirely reassured. After all, they were all from the same village. Inevitably, there was the possibility they would turn a blind eye and muddle through. He had to be present and keep watch.
Clearly, he had no experience in this area. After wrangling with the parents of these young men, as well as the uncles and aunties who came along to watch the excitement or offer persuasion, for quite some time, they finally negotiated a result he was relatively satisfied with.
When Fu Jingqiu found Jiang Qingyu, the kid had already rolled up his sleeves and was playing table tennis with an old man in full swing.
It had to be said, Jiang Qingyu did have some skill. When he played, he looked quite proper. According to the old men watching from the side, before this, he had already defeated several strong players in the community and was now challenging his way upward.
Fu Jingqiu: “…”
Forget it. If the child liked playing, then let him play.
Fu Jingqiu stood by the side for a while, watching Jiang Qingyu play happily. His eyes were bright, a thin layer of sweat had appeared on his forehead, and when he got excited, he would unconsciously lick his lips. The smile on his face had barely faded.
Of course, when the match occasionally became tricky, his smile ran away from home, and his expression became focused and serious. It made Fu Jingqiu think of when he had held up the gun and chased the black-mink man and the others away.
He went to the vehicle and brought over Jiang Qingyu’s thermos, then packed some fruit. Sitting quietly on a nearby bench, he waited for the other man’s battle to end so he could come here to rest.
Beside him sat an auntie who had come after hearing the news to watch the match. Her face was round, naturally carrying a smiling expression. She was not afraid of Fu Jingqiu’s naturally cold face at all and greeted him with a smile. “Young man, are you two new staff here, or volunteers?”
Fu Jingqiu answered politely, “We came here to handle something.” He pointed at Jiang Qingyu. “He had nothing to do while waiting for me, so he came over.”
The auntie asked, “You came to handle business? From your accent, you don’t sound local.”
Fu Jingqiu nodded. “Yes. We came here traveling. It’s almost been two months.”
The auntie asked, “Then you two are?”
Fu Jingqiu pondered for a few seconds, then answered according to what Jiang Qingyu had said before. “He’s my younger brother.”
“Oh my,” the auntie smiled. “No wonder. You’re both so handsome. Your younger brother is even prettier. He looks so spirited. When he was chatting with us earlier, he kept smiling. He looks so well-behaved.”
Hearing someone else praise Jiang Qingyu, a trace of a smile unconsciously appeared on Fu Jingqiu’s face. “Yes. He’s always been this well-behaved.”
The auntie asked, “From the look of you two, is your business finished? Are you planning to stay here for a few days?”
Fu Jingqiu answered honestly, “We’re not sure yet.”
“It’s very cold outside right now. I heard it will snow in the next two days. Why don’t you just stay here? There are empty rooms, heating, and hot water. Driving isn’t convenient for you, so stay here and have fun for a couple of days!”
Fu Jingqiu smiled and thanked her. “All right. We’ll consider it.”
After saying that, Jiang Qingyu, who had fought on the battlefield for a long time, finally felt tired. He took the initiative to hand the paddle to an old man beside him. He had seen Fu Jingqiu arrive long ago and immediately leaned over to him clingily. “Look at all this sweat on my head. Do you have tissues or a towel? I need to wipe it off.”
Fu Jingqiu had already prepared it. “Yes.” He reminded him, “Don’t take off your clothes. You’ll be fine in a bit.”
He knew Jiang Qingyu was wearing a short-sleeved shirt inside and was afraid that, once he felt hot, he would take off his coat and wander around. If he went somewhere where the heating was not as strong, he might catch a cold.
Jiang Qingyu hesitated for a moment, then said, “Fine.”
Seeing Fu Jingqiu carrying a small bag, he asked, “What’s in there?”
Fu Jingqiu took out his water cup, fruit, and snacks for him. “You played for so long. Are you tired?”
Jiang Qingyu tried a sip of water. The temperature was just right. He tilted his head back and drank some more before answering, “I’m okay, but it was really fun. You don’t know these old men. They’re super competitive. They practically wanted to line up and fight me one by one. It made me a little afraid to keep playing.”
Who was it that played round after round, changing opponents one after another?
Fu Jingqiu only smiled without speaking. He took the towel and wiped Jiang Qingyu’s sweat for him. Jiang Qingyu slightly lowered his head to cooperate with his movements. The auntie beside them watched and felt as if her heart had been struck, whispering to her old sisters that these two brothers had such a good relationship.
After he had rested a little, Fu Jingqiu told him about the black-mink man. It turned out that before them, there really had been vehicles robbed on this road. However, those people had reacted faster, and their vehicles were also good. They immediately reversed, turned around, and ran, so the men had not been able to catch them.
Or there had been vehicles full of strong men, with even more people than them. Who would be robbing whom was hard to say.
The black-mink man’s equipment had been upgraded after repeated attempts at stopping people on the road. They had thought this time should be about right, and that no matter what, they could get some money or supplies. They had not expected to run into Jiang Qingyu, an iron plate.
At the village director’s place, they had originally wanted to complain too, saying they would call the police because Jiang Qingyu and Fu Jingqiu had a gun. But Fu Jingqiu had already prepared for that. He had asked Jiang Qingyu for the model gun and explained briefly in front of everyone.
Now the black-mink man had nothing to say and was harshly scolded by the village cadres. When Fu Jingqiu came over to find Jiang Qingyu, he was still being cursed at.
After listening, Jiang Qingyu laughed happily. “What do you call this? Serves them right. Heaven should have made them run into us.”
And what they ran into was Jiang Qingyu in full explosive fish mode. Even Fu Jingqiu had not expected that the kid would open the car window and directly raise a gun.
Thinking about it afterward, that scene was actually quite funny.
Jiang Qingyu ate red grapes one by one. The texture was crisp, cool, and sweet. His whole person once again became a smooth-furred, obedient child. Watching him, Fu Jingqiu could not help reaching out to knead his earlobe. In a warm voice, he asked, “Do you want to stay here tonight, or leave later?”
Jiang Qingyu was almost used to Fu Jingqiu’s intimate little habit of pinching his earlobe. He looked at the sky outside. “Forget it. It’s already this late. It’ll be dark soon. There’s nothing wrong with staying here for one night. We’ll sleep in the RV when the time comes. No need to borrow a room here. We can just symbolically charge the vehicle and get some water.”
Fu Jingqiu said all right. After resting for a while, Jiang Qingyu took him around the community activity center, greeting the old men and aunties, casually chatting back and forth.
This kind of environment awakened part of his childhood memories. Here, he could be said to be like a fish in water. As he smiled and chatted with them, he told Fu Jingqiu, “Actually, sometimes, it doesn’t matter if you just talk nonsense with them. They just want someone to chat with them. That makes it feel lively.”
“Do you believe it? The most fun time here is probably during New Year. I heard them say that during New Year, everyone gathers together to make dumplings, cook, boil milk tea, and watch the Spring Festival Gala.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “I wonder if there will still be a Spring Festival Gala this year.”
If everything did not completely stop, perhaps there still would be.
It could be seen that Jiang Qingyu really liked this kind of lively, crowded atmosphere and ordinary daily life. Just as he said, he was someone who needed people around him and could not remain alone for too long.
If he had not met Fu Jingqiu, then one day in the future, if Jiang Qingyu happened to meet someone decent by chance, he would still take that person on the road and choose them as his teammate.
In this world, Fu Jingqiu was not the only reliable person. Jiang Qingyu would not necessarily only meet bad people either. He was so good. Luck should favor him.
Love growing over time was not a new phrase.
As long as the person was suitable, falling in love would naturally follow.
Fu Jingqiu quietly stared at Jiang Qingyu’s face, unable to stop himself from thinking: would he also fall for someone else, smile and talk to the person he liked like this, release his dependence, lie on that person’s back, and act spoiled?
Jiang Qingyu crossed one leg over the other and took his phone out of his pocket to check the time. His notification bar was clanging nonstop with new push alerts.
Some said this place had been sealed off, that place had gone under martial control; some said new equipment for detecting the virus was under development; conflict had broken out inside a shelter; a new regulation had recently been issued allowing mortgage and car loan repayments to be suspended; such-and-such company had made a donation, and so on.
Just as he was absorbed in reading, the back of his neck was pinched, neither too lightly nor too heavily. Jiang Qingyu turned to Fu Jingqiu in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Why had this man recently become so fond of touching him here and pinching him there?
Fu Jingqiu said, “It’s snowing.”
Hm? Jiang Qingyu looked up toward the window. Sure enough, snowflakes were already drifting outside. They were not like the snow grains from the past few days that had been wrapped in wind and smashed around randomly. Instead, they fell in large pieces, like torn cotton and shredded fluff. The streetlights outside the activity center illuminated this scene, making it look a little romantic.
Fu Jingqiu asked, “Want to go out and look?”
Before, they had either been on the road or parked in remote places. For safety’s sake, they had not gone out to look at the snow.
Now, the community gate was tightly closed. The old men and aunties here had their temperatures checked every day. No one had gone in or out during this period, and no zombies had appeared in the village. It could still be considered safe.
Jiang Qingyu did not hesitate. He slapped his thigh. “Sure. Let’s go walk around, and take Tangyuan down for a stroll too.”
No matter how many times he saw it, Jiang Qingyu still liked snowy days very much. After all, he had grown up in the south. In winter, he only saw rain, not snow. He naturally had an inexplicable yearning for heavy snow.
As soon as they went out, they were once again wrapped up tightly. Tangyuan received the same treatment. Seeing the snow, it excitedly ran wildly around the yard, then ran back to circle around them and wag its tail, acting cute before continuing to run off.
Jiang Qingyu stretched out his hand and caught a large snowflake. Looking closely, the ice crystal structure of the snowflake was as standard as the model pictures online, layer after layer stacked together. When it fell into his palm, it became one big clump.
Jiang Qingyu poked it with his gloved fingertip and suddenly heard Fu Jingqiu ask, “Before me, had you already thought about finding a teammate to travel with in the future?”
The question came so suddenly that Jiang Qingyu did not react at first. He froze for a few seconds before dragging out his tone and answering, “Ah… I did think about it. Why?”
Fu Jingqiu said, “There was no one suitable?”
What kind of question was that? If there had been someone suitable, would there still be you?
Jiang Qingyu said, “No.”
Fu Jingqiu asked, “Why?”
Jiang Qingyu said inexplicably, “What do you mean why? There are many reasons. No one felt right, it’s difficult to build trust between strangers, and people who can drive here for a road trip have their own cars. For no reason, why would they run over to my little broken car and travel with me? They’re not stupid.”
In that sense, Fu Jingqiu was one of the rare people who met the requirements.
After answering his question, Jiang Qingyu suddenly saw Fu Jingqiu smile.
“?”
That was very strange.
Jiang Qingyu said, “What are you smiling about?”
Fu Jingqiu slowly said, “Thinking about it this way, I should thank my mother.”
Aside from giving him complete freedom, she had also sent him to Jiang Qingyu’s side.
However, as soon as he said this, Jiang Qingyu violently smacked him on the shoulder. His brows stood upright, and he was very unhappy. “Thank her my ass! Why don’t you hold grudges at all!”
Fu Jingqiu: “….” That was not what he meant.
